2023 is about to be completed. This post reminds us of what made this year special for India. We achieved spectacular success in all sectors be it science, sports or geo-politics. Let's relive some of them.

India is on the moon.

Chandrayaan 2 lander was just a few meters short of land on the moon, and this year, we covered that distance too. Chandrayaan 3 landed successfully on the moon, and India became the first country to land on the south pole. This compelled some international media houses that used to create jokes out of India's achievements to praise it.

After the successful Moon mission, ISRO launched a mission to study the Sun. This will reach its destination in the first week of 2024. And will remain there for the next 5 years to aid the research about the Sun, including its corona, solar storms and L1 point itself.

This year will make the New York Times think twice before publishing cartoons about India. We no longer want to knock on the door of the elite club, we are that elite club which can bring any mission to completion with limited available resources.

Yes, G-20 is not an achievement because every member will have a chance to host it on a rotation basis. But what made it special was execution. This G20 was the people's G20, where it doesn't remain confined to the capital region. It reached out to small cities and the people of India.

As the leader of the global south, India changed G20 forever by adding a new member - the African Union. G20 is now G21. India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor was also announced to rival China's BRI and has the potential to completely transform the picture of India-Europe trade through the Middle East. Amidst all odds, the Delhi Declaration was adopted, which was a huge success of diplomacy.

UNLF was an almost 60 years old insurgent group, fighting with the state for secession of Manipur from India. This event occurred towards the end of 2023 when the United National Liberation Front(UNLF) signed a peace agreement. It is time for the North Eastern states to be part of the growth story of India. The government's intent seems pretty clear too. Lots of infrastructure building is taking place in the northeastern state constituting railways, highways, airports and bridges. G20 meetings were also held there.

This marks the beginning of the new era of peace in the North East in general and Manipur in particular. It is hoped that the return of the UNLF to the mainstream will also encourage other valley-based armed groups to participate in the peace process in due course.

As soon as I completed this post, there is news of ULFA another insurgent group from Assam signed a peace deal with Assam and central government in presence of HM Amit Shah. This marks a significant milestone in Assam's journey towards peace and development.

2023 was a special year for sports. We have lost the cricket world cup but just like we have developed the habit of getting into semis and finals, we will start crossing that final line too. But we have good news from cricket also. Virat Kohli breaks the record of none other than Sachin Tendulkar by scoring his 50th ODI century. And clinched both gold medals at the Asian games.

Chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa reached the finals of the World Cup. Tough luck in the finals, but the journey to the final was nothing short of remarkable. With this feat, Praggnanandhaa joined the ranks of legendary players such as Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen, becoming the third-youngest chess prodigy in history to qualify for the prestigious Candidates tournament.

Asian Games 2023 became a watershed moment in India's sporting history. 107 medals, including 28 gold is the best ever tally, way higher than the previous high of 70 medals in 2018. Many of these medals came from rarely known sports in India, increasing the diversification of excellence. The rowers, squash players, kabaddi stars, roller-skating, wushu and the hockey team impressed all.

Indian para-athletes replicated the feat of the Asian games and even bettered it by achieving a historic medal tally of 111 medals, including 29 gold.

Sheetal Devi, from the state of Jammu & Kashmir, the first and the only international para-archer without upper limbs, clinched 2 gold medals and became the world number 1 para archer in the women's compound open section of the para world archery rankings.

Make in India defence is a huge success. This year defence exports crossed unprecedented ₹16,000 crore And this just marks the beginning of the long journey. India exported Brahmos missiles to the Philippines. Pinaka rocket launchers, Akash air defence system, armoured vehicles and Tejas are on the line to be exported to different countries like Egypt, Armenia, Brazil, Malaysia and many other African, ASEAN and South American nations.

This year is very special for Indian filmmakers too. The Elephant Whisperers has won an Oscar award in the best documentary short category. It was produced by Guneet Monga and directed by Kartiki Gonsalves.

How can we forget Naatu Naatu which has taken the world by storm as we saw audiences across the world dancing on the track won the Oscar award for best original song.

RBI announced the Vostro account a few years before to facilitate trade in the Indian rupee and this year marks the historic leap towards that goal. As I am writing this there is news of the first ever rupee payment for the purchase of crude oil from UAE.

The Russia - Ukraine conflict made one thing very clear if we depend on the dollar, it can hurt us and can dictate our policies during tough times. If we take a look at the pillars of a strong US economy today, the petro dollar will be surely one of them. UAE accepting the Indian rupee is a landmark achievement. Since UAE is a very influential Gulf country, can impact the decisions of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC group countries.

RBI is in talks with 60 banks from 18 other countries to settle transactions in rupee.

As climate change is affecting us more and more, we have started seeing natural disasters of increased intensity in the different parts of the planet. Following the motto of G20, India was always first or one of the first countries to reach out for help.

Turkey faced the worst earthquake this year, and India leaving all differences behind immediately launched Operation Dost. NDRF and the Indian army helped in the relief operations. Operation Ajay, Operation Kaveri, and Operation Ganga are other such examples.

The government stepped up its capex budget in recent years to improve India's infrastructure, create jobs and accelerate economic growth. The state-of-the-art infrastructure projects are inaugurated throughout the country.

Unleashing rail volution with around 30 Vande Bharat train flagged off, a couple of Amrit Bharat trains, India's first RRTS Namo Bharat on Delhi-Meerut route, inauguration of 402 km long eastern dedicated freight corridor to strengthen logistic sectors.

Northeast welcomed its first AIIMS near Guwahati.

Aviation boom with Tezu Airport in Arunachal Pradesh, Shivamogga Airport in Karnataka, Ayodhya Airport in UP, new terminals opening at Chennai, Bangalore, Kanpur, etc.

And the list of achievements goes on. Imagine from that fact that I have not mentioned about DRDO, UPI, religious corridors, tourism, dream rally of share markets, diamond bourse, shedding symbols of colonization, etc.

2023 is a year full of challenges such as prolonged Russia - Ukraine conflicts, Israel - hamas war, and fluctuations of crude oil prices are some of the hurdles in the way. But amidst all such challenges, India continues its growth trajectory. But at the same time, we do have some areas of concern too that need to be addressed so that we have an even better 2024. Some of them are

The pace of make in India is something that needs improvements in the coming year and we have to be on the list of the top 10 exporters at any cost. We do have an ambitious target of ₹35,000 crores by 2024-25, we have to take our share from around 0.2% to at least 3%. Many African and ASEAN countries will be keen to purchase Tejas aircraft and the BrahMos missile system. But at the same time, we have to increase defence research spending. Other competitor countries are spending billions of dollars in defence R&D and India cannot afford to lag.

The same thing was highlighted in the recent report by a Parliamentary panel.

Recently we heard about reports of some shops being attacked in Bengaluru. Businesses love stability and we have to provide them that stability. As India is on a growth trajectory, several efforts will be made to destabilize the country. It's on us to foil all such efforts. When it comes to India, we all are part of one single nation. Language differences, north-south can not divide us.

There are challenges but we will overcome them. The phoenix will rise again without any doubt. 2023 was India's comeback year and 2024 will mark the continuation of that journey. IMF predicts that India will be an economic bright spot in the world economy. 2024 will also be the Olympic year, and India will achieve a historical medal tally in Paris. $4 Trillion economy is on the card and expected to cross the mark in 2024.

In short, this is the civilization, a country that survived not one but two successive waves of colonization and still stands strong. So, never bet against India. The best is yet to come.