Chak de India!🇮🇳

Chak de India! From Mars orbit to the Moon's south pole, from World Cup trophies to a digital payments revolution, India has given its people plenty to cheer about. This page brings together the proudest moments since 2014, year by year and newest first, each backed by an official or independent source.

For Indians in Cyprus, many of these milestones touch daily life here too: UPI payments in Europe, the Vande Bharat flights that brought people home during COVID, Yoga Day on the island, and India and Cyprus becoming Strategic Partners in 2026.

We'll keep adding to this list as new milestones happen.

2026

• India's first Youth Olympics swimming medal (2 November). Bengaluru teenager Dhinidhi Desinghu, 16, took bronze over 100 m freestyle in Dakar in 56.27 seconds; no Indian swimmer had ever stood on a Youth Olympics podium before. Sources: Outlook India – Dhinidhi's bronze, Sunday Guardian – who is Dhinidhi Desinghu
• A Sindhu–Lakshya double in Germany (1 November). At the Hylo Open in Saarbrücken, a BWF Super 500 tournament, Sindhu took the women's crown and Lakshya the men's, India's first double of titles at an event of that level since 2022. Sources: Khel Now – Hylo Open finals, Sportscape – Sindhu and Lakshya win titles
• A new NavIC satellite in orbit (30 October). ISRO's GSLV-F18 rocket lifted the 2,232 kg navigation satellite NVS-03, carrying an Indian-made atomic clock, into its planned orbit from Sriharikota, only 56 days after the previous GSLV flight, the shortest gap between two GSLV launches so far. Sources: ISRO – GSLV-F18/NVS-03 mission, All India Radio – ISRO launches NVS-03
• India's first women's world wrestling champion (30 October). Manisha Bhanwala fought back from 6–0 down to beat the USA's Abigail Nette 8–6 in the 59 kg final in Astana, making her India's first female world champion at senior level, as India's women came home with four medals, their best showing yet. Sources: United World Wrestling – Manisha becomes world champion, IANS – India's best-ever women's worlds
• 150 T20I wickets for Arshdeep Singh (30 October). When he dismissed New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner at Auckland's Eden Park, Arshdeep became the first bowler from India to reach 150 men's T20I wickets. Sources: NewsX – Arshdeep's 150th T20I wicket, Outlook India – 4th T20I report
• One of the world's fastest falls in poverty (October). A World Bank brief estimates that the share of Indians living in extreme poverty dropped from 27.1% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2023, while about 496 million people (49.6 crore) rose above its higher, $4.20-a-day poverty line over the same years. Sources: Outlook India – World Bank poverty brief, BW Businessworld – extreme poverty falls to 2.6%
• Bihar Museum among the world's best (October). Travel guide Worth a Journey placed Patna's Bihar Museum ninth in its 2026 global top 100 museums, the highest anywhere in Asia and ahead of New York's Met and the Louvre in Paris. Sources: Outlook Traveller – Bihar Museum beats the Met and Louvre, Indian Express – global top-10 list
• World-record powerplay (27 October). Chasing 199 against New Zealand in Wellington, India smashed 118 without losing a wicket in the first six overs, the highest powerplay total in men's T20 international history, as Abhishek Sharma hit 113 off 38 balls and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 45 to seal the series. Sources: Gulf News – India's record powerplay, 1News – India seal the series
• India's best-ever Asian Para Games (18–24 October). In Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, India's para-athletes brought home a record 114 medals, 30 of them gold, and finished fourth, the country's highest place yet, with a team roughly half the size of the one sent to Hangzhou. Sources: Sunday Guardian – Record 114 medals, fourth place, The Tribune – India's record haul
• Chinmay Sutar's unbeaten 400 (19 October). In only his second first-class match, the Mizoram batter made 400 not out against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy, becoming just the second Indian to reach 400 in a first-class innings, 78 years after Bhausaheb Nimbalkar's record 443 not out. Sources: Wisden – Sutar enters elite first-class club, Gulf News – 400 runs, 78 years after Nimbalkar
• World champion on wheels, again (18 October). Having already picked up sprint silver over 1,000 m and bronze over 500 m in Paraguay, Tamil Nadu's Anandkumar Velkumar went on to retain his world crown in the 42 km inline skating marathon. Sources: The Bridge – Velkumar wins marathon world title, Sunday Guardian – Marathon world champion for a second year
• Every Indian student wins a medal at the Astronomy Olympiad (5 October). All five members of India's team won medals at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in Hanoi, Vietnam, taking four golds and one silver. Source: Daily Jagran – Five Indian students win 4 gold, 1 silver at IOAA
• A golden sweep and a string of firsts at the Asian Games (19 September–4 October). India came fourth in Aichi-Nagoya with 85 medals (21 gold, 27 silver, 37 bronze), its best haul after Hangzhou; the men's and women's hockey teams both won gold for the first time at the same Games, booking places at LA 2028, both cricket teams kept their titles, and Suchika Tariyal (MMA) and Jay Meena (soft tennis) won India's first-ever medals in their sports. PM Modi honoured the team in New Delhi on 15 October. Sources: Olympics.com – India medal tally, Olympics.com – Hockey gold and Olympic quota, Asianet – First MMA medal, The Statesman – PM honours the team
• Kumkum Mohod and Pranavi Urs win historic golds (2–3 October). Seventeen-year-old Kumkum became India's first women's individual recurve archery champion at the Asian Games, a day after helping India win its first-ever women's recurve team gold and end South Korea's long dominance, while Pranavi Urs became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games golf gold. Sources: The Week – Kumkum Mohod's historic gold, Olympics.com – Pranavi Urs makes Indian golf history
• India's first private thermal-imaging payload reaches orbit (1 October). TAPAS-1, built by Ahmedabad start-up Satleo Labs, flew on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare from California and was placed in a roughly 500 km orbit to map heat across cities, crops and disaster zones. Source: Inc42 – Indian payloads aboard SpaceX Falcon 9
• Captain Smit Machchhar, a hero at 33,000 feet (30 September). Badly injured by his own co-pilot in an attack on flydubai flight FZ1073, the Mumbai-born pilot fought his way to open the cockpit door so the crew and passengers could take back control, and all 174 people on board landed safely. Source: Business Standard – PM Modi hails Captain Smit Machchhar as a hero
• A record 406-run ODI chase (30 September). Led by Shubman Gill's unbeaten 223, which included the fastest double-century in ODI history (117 balls), India chased down 406 against the West Indies in Guwahati, only the second successful 400-plus chase in one-day international history. Sources: ESPNcricinfo – India vs West Indies, 2nd ODI, Outlook India – Gill's record double-century
• India named best chess nation for a third Olympiad running (27 September). At the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, India's men took silver and the women bronze, enough to win the Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy for the best overall nation, as India also did in 2022 and 2024. Sources: AIR – India retain Nona Gaprindashvili Trophy, FIDE – Final round report
• Top 10 at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 (September). Young Indian tradespeople won six silver medals and 20 Medals for Excellence to finish 10th of the competing nations, up from 13th in 2024, with baker Smriti Nambiar named Best of Nation. Source: ANI – India ranks 10th at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026
• Dhiraj Bommadevara makes archery history (14 September). He became the first Indian man to win the recurve title at the Archery World Cup Final, beating Japan's Junya Nakanishi in a shoot-off in Saltillo, Mexico. Source: Olympics.com – Dhiraj Bommadevara creates history
• India's first eye in geosynchronous orbit (4 September). ISRO's GSLV-F17 placed EOS-05 in orbit, India's first imaging satellite to watch the country from geosynchronous orbit and its heaviest Earth-observation satellite yet. Source: ISRO – GSLV-F17/EOS-05 mission
• Fourth at the Commonwealth Games (July–August). With a smaller team and several of its strongest sports left off the programme, India still finished fourth in Glasgow with 39 medals, 13 of them gold, and Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian weightlifter to win three Commonwealth golds in a row. Sources: Drishti IAS – India at the Commonwealth Games 2026, Esquire India – Full list of medal winners
• A home-grown private rocket reaches orbit for the first time (18 July). Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 lifted off from Sriharikota and put its payloads into low-Earth orbit on its very first flight, making India the third nation, after the US and China, whose own private rocket companies have reached orbit. Source: ISRO – First private orbital launch lifts off from Sriharikota; IEEE Spectrum – India's first private orbital launch
• Gaganyaan crew module passes key tests (July). India's first human spaceflight programme moved a big step closer, with ISRO testing the systems that will carry Indian astronauts. Source: ISRO – Gaganyaan crew module tests
• India and Cyprus become Strategic Partners (May). President Christodoulides' state visit to India lifted ties to a Strategic Partnership, good news for every Indian living on the island. Source: PMIndia – India–Cyprus Joint Statement
• T20 World Champions again (8 March). Team India lifted the ICC Men's T20 World Cup for a second time in a row. Source: PIB – PM congratulates Team India

2025

• Diwali joins UNESCO's heritage list (10 December). Meeting at Delhi's Red Fort, UNESCO's heritage committee added Deepavali to its list of the world's intangible cultural heritage, making the festival of lights India's 16th entry, alongside Yoga, the Kumbh Mela, Durga Puja and Garba. Source: AIR – UNESCO adds Deepavali to its heritage list
• India's women are World Champions (November). The Women in Blue won the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup for the first time. Source: PIB – PM congratulates the team
• Divya Deshmukh wins the Women's World Cup (28 July). In an all-Indian final in Batumi, Georgia, she beat Koneru Humpy in the tiebreaks to become only the third winner of the FIDE Women's World Cup and the first from India, earning the grandmaster title in the process. Source: FIDE – Divya Deshmukh becomes Women's World Cup champion
• Shubhanshu Shukla reaches the International Space Station (June–July). On the Axiom-4 mission he became the first Indian aboard the ISS, and the first Indian in space in more than 40 years. Source: ISRO – Axiom-4 mission concluded
• Extreme poverty falls sharply (April–June). World Bank data released in 2025 showed the share of Indians in extreme poverty dropping from 16.2% in 2011-12 to 2.3% in 2022-23 on its older $2.15-a-day line, about 17 crore people, and from 27.1% to 5.3% on its newer, stricter $3-a-day line, with the biggest gains in villages. Sources: PIB – Poverty factsheet (April 2025), News On AIR – World Bank's $3-a-day update (June 2025)
• World's 4th-largest economy. IMF estimates from April 2025 put India ahead of Japan in nominal GDP (a projection, not a final count). Source: PIB – India becoming an economic powerhouse
• Champions Trophy winners, unbeaten (9 March). India chased down New Zealand's 251 in the Dubai final to win by four wickets, lifting the ICC Champions Trophy for the third time without losing a single match. Source: Wikipedia – 2025 Champions Trophy final
• SpaDeX docks in orbit (16 January). India became only the fourth country to dock two spacecraft in space. Source: ISRO – SpaDeX docking

2024

• The youngest world chess champion ever (12 December). At just 18, Gukesh Dommaraju beat China's Ding Liren in the last game of their title match in Singapore, becoming the youngest undisputed world champion and only the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, to hold the crown. Source: Al Jazeera – Gukesh becomes youngest world champion
• Double gold at the Chess Olympiad (22 September). In Budapest, India's men and women both topped their sections, winning Olympiad team gold for the first time. Sources: AIR – India clinch historic double gold, Al Jazeera – Historic double team gold
• Best-ever Paralympics (28 August–8 September). India's para-athletes came home from Paris with a record 29 medals, seven of them gold, ten more than their previous best in Tokyo. Source: The Bridge – Full list of Indian medallists in Paris
• T20 World Cup winners (June). India won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, ending an 11-year wait for a global title. Source: PIB – PM hosts the T20 World Cup winners
• The largest election ever held (April–June). About 98 crore registered voters, and 64.6 crore votes cast. Source: PIB – The largest electoral exercise in the world
• Aditya-L1 reaches its destination (6 January). India's solar observatory settled into its halo orbit around the L1 point, 1.5 million km from Earth. Source: ISRO – Halo orbit insertion

2023

• More than 100 Asian Games medals for the first time (23 September–8 October). India's best-ever Asian Games in Hangzhou ended with 107 medals, 28 of them gold. Source: The Bridge – India finish with 107 medals
• G20 New Delhi Summit (9–10 September). Leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration unanimously, and the African Union became a permanent G20 member at India's initiative. Source: MEA – New Delhi Leaders' Declaration (PDF)
• Aditya-L1 launches (2 September). India's first mission to study the Sun. Source: ISRO – Aditya-L1
• Neeraj Chopra becomes world champion (27 August). A javelin throw of 88.17 m in Budapest brought India its first-ever gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. Source: The Quint – Neeraj Chopra secures gold in Budapest
• Chandrayaan-3 lands near the Moon's south pole (23 August). India became the first country to land there; 23 August is now National Space Day. Source: ISRO – Chandrayaan-3
• Two Oscars in one night (12 March). At the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, "Naatu Naatu" from the Telugu film RRR won Best Original Song, and the Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers won Best Documentary Short. Sources: New India Samachar (PIB) – Indian films boom at the Oscars, Newslaundry – And the Oscar goes to…

2022

• India takes over the G20 Presidency (1 December). Under the theme "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: One Earth, One Family, One Future". Source: PIB – India's G20 Presidency
• INS Vikrant commissioned (2 September). India's first home-built aircraft carrier, with 76% Indian-made content. Source: PIB – PM commissions INS Vikrant
• 200 crore vaccine doses (July). Source: PIB – 200 crore vaccinations
• Thomas Cup champions (15 May). India's men's badminton team beat defending champions Indonesia 3–0 in Bangkok to win the Thomas Cup for the first time. Source: Olympic Council of Asia – India's first Thomas Cup title

2021

• 100 crore COVID vaccine doses (21 October). Reached in about nine months. Source: PIB – India achieves one billion vaccinations
• A record medal haul at the Tokyo Paralympics (5 September). India's para-athletes won 19 medals, five of them gold, far more than in any earlier Paralympics. Source: The Bridge – A record 19 medals in Tokyo
• Neeraj Chopra wins Olympic gold (7 August). His javelin gold in Tokyo was India's first-ever Olympic medal in athletics. Source: Olympics.com – Neeraj Chopra wins gold
• An Olympic hockey medal after 41 years (5 August). Fighting back from 3–1 down, India's men beat Germany 5–4 in Tokyo to win bronze, their first Olympic hockey medal since the 1980 gold. Source: Tokyo 2020 media release – India beat Germany to win bronze

2020

• National Education Policy 2020 (29 July). India's first new education policy in 34 years, with a push for learning in the mother tongue. Source: PIB – Cabinet approves NEP 2020
• Vande Bharat Mission (from May). The world's largest evacuation of its kind brought more than 30 lakh Indians home during COVID, including Indians stranded in Cyprus. Source: PIB – Vande Bharat Mission

2019

• Villages declared open-defecation free (2 October). More than 10 crore household toilets were built in five years. Source: PIB – Open defecation free villages
• PV Sindhu, world champion (25 August). Her 21–7, 21–7 win over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in Basel made her India's first badminton world champion. Source: Scroll – Sindhu becomes first Indian world champion
• Jal Jeevan Mission launched (August). Rural homes with tap water have since gone from 17% to over 80%. Source: PIB – Jal Jeevan Mission

2018

• Statue of Unity unveiled (31 October). At 182 metres, the tribute to Sardar Patel is the world's tallest statue. Source: PIB – Statue of Unity dedicated to the nation
• Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY launched (23 September). The world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme, with ₹5 lakh cover per family. Source: PIB – PM launches PM-JAY
• Every inhabited village electrified (28 April). The last one to be connected was Leisang in Manipur. Source: PIB – 100% village electrification (PDF)

2017

• Kumbh Mela joins UNESCO's heritage list (7 December). Meeting in Jeju, South Korea, UNESCO's heritage committee added the Kumbh Mela to its list of humanity's intangible cultural heritage, describing it as the largest peaceful gathering of pilgrims on earth. Source: Prayagraj district administration – Kumbh Mela inscribed by UNESCO
• GST rolls out (1 July). "One Nation, One Tax" replaced 17 taxes and 13 cesses. Source: PIB – One Nation, One Tax
• 104 satellites in one launch (15 February). ISRO's PSLV-C37 set a world record at the time. Source: ISRO – PSLV-C37

2016

• Yoga joins UNESCO's heritage list (1 December). At its meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, UNESCO added yoga, India's ancient practice for body and mind, to its list of the world's intangible cultural heritage. Source: Viet Nam News (AFP) – UN adds yoga to heritage list
• Ujjwala Yojana launched (May). Free LPG connections for women in poor households, now more than 10 crore. Source: PIB – Ujjwala Yojana
• UPI launched (April). Now the world's largest real-time payments system, accepted in 11 countries including Greece. Source: PIB – UPI completes 10 years

2015

• Digital India launched (1 July). The foundation of today's digital public services. Source: Digital India – About
• The first International Day of Yoga (21 June). Celebrated around the world, Cyprus included. Source: UN News – International Day of Yoga

2014

• The UN declares 21 June the International Day of Yoga (11 December). India proposed it, and a record 175 countries co-sponsored the resolution. Source: UN – Yoga: Stretching Across the Globe
• Swachh Bharat Mission launched (2 October). The world's largest sanitation campaign. Source: PIB – Universal access to toilets in rural areas
• Mangalyaan reaches Mars (24 September). India became the first country to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt. Source: ISRO – Mars Orbiter Mission
• Jan Dhan Yojana launched (28 August). A Guinness record 1.8 crore bank accounts were opened in one week, and more than 56 crore by 2025. Source: PIB – 11 years of PM Jan Dhan Yojana

A note on sources: most links are official Government of India pages (PIB, ISRO, MEA and scheme portals), which present each programme in its best light. Sports and UN items come from independent bodies. Economy rankings are IMF estimates, not final counts.