From Payal Kapadia to D Gukesh: 2024 - A year of many firsts for India

Just like any other year, 2024 has had its share of ups and downs. Keeping aside the lows, it can be safe to say that India had major successes in various fields this year. The past 12 months have seen many firsts, and many achievements that we, as Indians, can be proud of.

Be it in the world of sports, science, or entertainment, Indians have shone bright and grabbed the headlines throughout 2024. As we near the end of an eventful 2024, it is time to look back at some of the major achievements by Indians this year:

. Acclaimed filmmaker Payal Kapadia has taken a huge stride in showcasing the 'other side' of current Indian films to a global audience. The 38-year-old scripted history by becoming the first Indian filmmaker to win the prestigious Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival this year for her film All We Imagine as Light on May 25, 2024.

The film bagged the award, the second-most prestigious prize of the festival after the Palme d'Or, which went to American director Sean Baker for Anora .

Kapadia's movie, which was screened, is the first Indian film in 30 years and first ever by an Indian female director to be showcased in the main competition.

All We Imagine as Light 's success does not end with Cannes - the film also received two nominations at the prestigious 82nd Golden Globes in the Best Motion Picture Non-English Language and Best Direction - Motion Picture (where Kapadia is nominated) categories.

. Without a doubt, 2024 has been one of the greatest years in recent memory for Indians in chess. At the forefront of it all was 18-year-old grandmaster D Gukesh, who etched his name in the anals of chess history.

On December 12, 2024, Gukesh became the youngest world chess champion after beating title-holder Ding Liren of China in the 14th and last game of a thrilling showdown that went right down to the wire.

The 18-year-old secured the requisite 7.5 points as against 6.5 of Liren after winning the last classical time control game of the 14-game match that seemed headed for a draw for most part.

. Apart from Payal Kapadia and her film All We Imagine as Light , the 2024 Cannes Film Festival also witnessed another significant milestone for India, when Kolkata-born Anasuya Sengupta, one of the lead stars of Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov's Hindi-language movie The Shameless , bagged the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard category at the event on May 25, 2024.

With this award, Sengupta became the first Indian artiste to win the category's top acting honour, in another historic achievement for India this year.

. Kickstarting the year in stellar fashion, on January 6, 2024, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed the Aditya-L1 spacecraft - India's first space-based observatory to study the Sun - in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, about 1.5 million km from the Earth.

Moreover, the Aditya-L1 completed its first halo orbit around L1 in July, marking a monumental stride in India's solar mission.

. Indian pistol shooter Manu Bhaker became the first Indian athlete post-independence to win two Olympic medals in a single edition.

22-year-old Bhaker clinched bronze medals in the women's 10m air pistol event on July 28, 2024, and in the 10m air pistol mixed team event alongside teammate Sarabjot Singh on July 30, 2024, at the Paris Olympics this year.

She scripted history by becoming the first female shooter from India to win a medal at any Olympics.

. After Gukesh's history-making feat at the World Chess Championship, India's Koneru Humpy clinched her second World Rapid Chess Championship title in New York, beating Irene Sukandar of Indonesia on December 29, 2024, capping off a stellar year for India in the sport.

Humpy had won her first Rapid Chess Championship crown back in 2019 at Georgia and with this victory, she became only the second player after China's Ju Wenjun, and the first Indian to clinch the title more than once.