1961 in India

Events in the year 1961 in the Republic of India.

Incumbents

 * President of India – Rajendra Prasad
 * Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru
 * Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
 * Chief Justice of India – Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha

Governors

 * Andhra Pradesh – Bhim Sen Sachar
 * Assam – Vishnu Sahay (until 13 January), Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh (starting 13 January)
 * Bihar – Zakir Hussain
 * Gujarat – Mehdi Nawaz Jung
 * Karnataka – Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
 * Kerala – V. V. Giri
 * Madhya Pradesh – Hari Vinayak Pataskar
 * Maharashtra – Sri Prakasa
 * Odisha – Yeshwant Narayan Sukthankar
 * Punjab – Narahar Vishnu Gadgil
 * Rajasthan – Gurumukh Nihal Singh
 * Uttar Pradesh – Burgula Ramakrishna Rao
 * West Bengal – Padmaja Naidu

Events

 * National income - ₹186,821 million
 * 20 January – Queen Elizabeth II start of Royal visit.
 * 5 February - Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad formed against imposition of Assamese language in Barak Valley by Bimala Prasad Chaliha government.
 * 4 March – the first Aircraft carrier of Indian Navy, INS Vikrant (1961) was commissioned.
 * 19 April - Indian Foreign Service officer K. Sankara Pillai assassinated at Indian High Commission, Ottawa by a youth of Yugoslavian origins. This is the first martyr-ship of an Indian Diplomat.
 * 19 May - Eleven Bengali Language Movement workers of Barak Valley including Kamala Bhattacharya killed in Assam Rifles firings at Silchar.
 * 29 May – Nearly 32 people died in a coastal village in Kollam, Kerala due to chelonitoxism after consuming Turtle meat.
 * 23 June - Sainik School system was established by Defence Minister of India, V. K. Krishna Menon.
 * 12 July – Panshet Dam bursts in Pune causing a massive flood in the city of Pune. Over 1,000 people die.
 * 2 October - Shipping Corporation of India is incorporated by amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation.
 * 14 October - Jawaharlal Nehru commissions the first Electric locomotive that is made in India at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works.
 * 1 November – The Hungry generation movement is launched in Calcutta.
 * 17-19 December – Goa is officially ceded to India after 400 years of Portuguese rule.

Law

 * 5 December – Supreme Court of India held that land taking under Kerala Agrarian Relations Act, 1961 is not protected from judicial scrutiny of Article 31(A).


 * The Tenth and Eleventh Amendments of the Constitution of India (1961)
 * Anti-dowry Act

Births

 * 7 January – Supriya Pathak, actress.
 * 22 February - Mansoor Ali Khan, actor, music composer, writer and producer.
 * 12 June – Jagadish, actor.
 * 6 July – Vandana Chavan, politician and lawyer.
 * 19 July – Harsha Bhogle, cricket commentator and journalist
 * 15 August – Suhasini Maniratnam, actress, producer and director.
 * 19 November – Vivek, actor and comedian. (d. 2021).

Full date unknown

 * V. M. Girija, poet.