1998: Key Events

• The I.K. Gujral-led United Front coalition government falls after the report of the Jain Commission on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination claims the participation of the DMK in training Tamil militants in Sri Lanka.

• The BJP forms a government led by A.B. Vajpayee. The new government announces several changes in the Prasar Bharati Act of 1990, affecting Doordarshan’s future as an autonomous enterprise, as well as in the proposed Broad- cast Bill.

• Riots in Bombay following the desecration of an Ambedkar statue.

• The Women’s Reservation Bill is withdrawn by the government following stiff opposition by practically every major political party.

• India explodes the H-Bomb at Pokharan.

• The Prime Minister’s ‘Task Force’ on Informa- tion Technology announces the plan of having ‘internet kiosks’ at every public telephone booth in India.

• The government declares the film industry as a legitimate industry qualifying it for institutional finance.