It turned out to be a celebratory occasion for the AIADMK government when its Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa snapped up a major victory on the vexed Cauvery water sharing issue when the Centre notified the tribunal order in the Gazette in February, giving the water adjudication award a legal sanctity and paving way for its implementation.
Despite snapping its long political alliance with Congress, DMK patriarch M Karunandihi brought to fore his political acumen and managed to get his former ally to vote for his daughter Kanimozhi, one of the accused in the 2G spectrum scam, to ensure her a second term in Rajya Sabha.
The successful launch of Mars Orbitor Mission by ISRO erased the strains of disappointment that had struck the scientists following failure of GSLV 5 during the year. The mission catapulted India into a club of select nations engaged in study of the red planet.
The year also witnessed the emergence of a new world chess champion when Norway's Magnus Carlsen dethroned five time champion Vishwanathan Anand from India in November.