Year Ender 2023: From Chandrayaan-3 to Manipur violence - Top 10 most searched news events in India

Google revealed the year's top searches a few weeks before the end of 2023, highlighting the subjects, inquiries, and passions that dominated online searches in India. Every category is covered in the 'Year in search 2023' list, including news, entertainment, memes, travel, recipes, and more. The launch of Chandrayaan-3, which captured global interest and made India the fourth nation to land on the moon, was the most searched-for event of the year. 

1. Chandrayaan-3

In a year marked by technological advancements and space exploration, India's ambitious lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, has emerged as the most searched term on Google in 2023.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) successful soft landing on the Moon's surface on August 23, 2023, not only etched India's name in the annals of space history but also captured the imagination of millions worldwide.

2. Karnataka Election Results

Congress has won the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections by the biggest vote share and seats after a whopping 34 years. For the BJP, these polls in Karnataka were just as existentially important as for the Congress as the State was its only bastion in southern India, and its presence there was a strong argument to fight the perception of the BJP being a Hindi-speaking party.

3. Israel News

Shocked Israelis woke on the last day of the Jewish high holidays to the wail of sirens as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza and armed militants broke down the hi-tech barriers surrounding the strip to enter Israel, shooting and taking hostages.

Both the astounding and unprecedented attack by Islamic Jihad and Hamas, as well as Israel's disastrous intelligence lapse, will have long-term effects. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, said that the Palestinians would suffer greatly and that Israel was at war.

4. Satish Kaushik

Satish Kaushik and his friends celebrated Holi on March 8 in a farmhouse owned by Vikas Malu in Gurugram, and then he went to bed around 9:30pm and his health deteriorated around 12am. He then called the manager and explained that he was having trouble breathing. His manager took him to Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, where he died at 1.43am despite receiving Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

5. Budget 2023

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, introduced the Union Budget 2023–24 to the Parliament.  Ahead of the general elections in 2024 and the nine state Assembly elections this year, she delivered a pragmatic, somewhat populist, but growth-oriented budget that gave a special big push to capital expenditure and warmed the hearts of middle-class income taxpayers with tax slab overhauls.

6. Turkey Earthquake

A massive earthquake that occurred early in February in south-eastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border, claimed tens of thousands of lives and injured countless more.

There were many aftershocks to the earthquake that struck close to the town of Gaziantep, one of which was nearly as big as the original.

7. Atiq Ahmed

On April 15, Atiq Ahmed, accused in the 2005 murder case, and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

8. Matthew Perry

Perry, who played the sardonic Chandler Bing in the beloved sitcom, was found dead at his home in late October. He was 54 years old. 

Early news reports said that he appeared to have drowned, while other sources said first responders had been called to a cardiac arrest, adding drugs were not found at the scene.

10. Odisha Train accident

A signalling error was behind the Odisha triple-train crash in June which killed 295 people, the Ministry of Railways said. The Ministry of Railways said lapses in the signalling- circuit-alteration at North Signal Goomty station caused the Coromandel Express to enter the loop line, instead of the main line.

The passenger train then crashed into a goods train already parked on the loop line. The collision also included another passenger train -- the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express -- whose coaches derailed due to the impact of the crash between the Coromandel express and the goods train.

9. Manipur News

The Nagas are the second-largest community in Manipur after the majority Meiteis. Manipur has been witnessing an ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and Kukis since May 3. The violence has left over 200 persons dead and displaced nearly 60,000 people.