Uttar Pradesh – Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh (until 31 March), Mohammed Usman Arif (starting 31 March)
West Bengal – Uma Shankar Dikshit
Events
National income - ₹2,845,341 million
16 January - Coomar Narain an employee of SLM Maneklal Industries and certain personal staff of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India were arrested in connection with leaking of classified documents to foreign agents under Official Secrets Act (India).[1] The person who caught coomair Narainan was Mr Ved Parkash Sharma, a CBI officer by chance. This is explained in a recently published book by Kalol Bhattacharjee in 2024.
18 February - Anti reservation protest in Gujarat turns into six month long 1985 Gujarat riots.[2]
10 March - India won the first World Championship of Cricket held at Australia by defeating Pakistan in the final.[3]
30 March - The Special Protection Group is created
10 April – Chakravarty Committee was set up by the RBI to review the working of monetary system. Its recommendations had far reaching consequences eventually removing India from the 500-year-old silver standard
5 June - R. Balakrishna Pillai, a minister from Kerala resigns following controversial speech (Punjab Model needed for Kerala) from him that encourage terrorism.[4]
23 June – Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, blows up 31,000 feet (9,500 m) above the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard.
17 July - Karamchedu massacre of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh.
24 July - Rajiv–Longowal Accord
15 August - Assam Accord signed between Government of India and Assam agitators.
26 September – 1985 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.[5]
By mid-1985, the statutory preemption on banks' resources in the form of the Statutory Liquidity Ratio and the Cash Reserve Ratio exceeded 45%.
Texas Instruments, a multinational corporation, starts its India operations in Bangalore and helps create infrastructure to export software via satellite communications from India for the first time.
Narmada Bachao Andolan started by Medha Patkar
Law
24 May - Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act is came into effect after presidential assent.
2 September - Indira Gandhi National Open University is established by an Act of Indian Parliament.
14 November - The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is passed by Parliament came into force.
The Administrative tribunals in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Allahabad were established by Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.
Births
Durga Shakti Nagpal
16 January - Sidharth Malhotra, actor and former model
17 February – Sivakarthikeyan, actor, producer, lyricist, TV anchor.