Events in the year 1978 in the Republic of India.
Incumbents President of India – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Prime Minister of India – Morarji Desai Vice President of India – B.D. Jatti Chief Justice of India – Mirza Hameedullah Beg (until 21 February), Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud (starting 22 February)
Governors Andhra Pradesh – Sharda Mukherjee (until 15 August), K. C. Abraham (starting 15 August) Assam – L. P. Singh Bihar – Jagannath Kaushal Gujarat – Kambanthodath Kunhan Vishwanatham (until 14 August), Sharda Mukherjee (starting 14 August) Haryana – Harcharan Singh Brar Himachal Pradesh – Amin ud-din Ahmad Khan Jammu and Kashmir – L. K. Jha Karnataka – Govind Narain Kerala – Jothi Venkatachalam Madhya Pradesh – N. N. Wanchu (until 16 August), C. M. Poonacha (starting 16 August) Maharashtra – Sri Sadiq Ali Manipur – L.P. Singh Meghalaya – L.P. Singh Nagaland – L.P. Singh Odisha – Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Punjab – Jaisukh Lal Hathi Rajasthan – Raghukul Tilak Sikkim – B B Lal Tamil Nadu – Prabhudas Patwari Tripura – L. P. Singh Uttar Pradesh – Ganpatrao Devji Tapase West Bengal – Anthony Lancelot Dias
Events National income - 1,126,714 million 1 January – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes into the Arabian Sea after taking off shortly near Bombay, killing all 213 on board. 16 January – Morarji Desai led government demonetizes high denomination banknotes. 29 March – Dr. Leo Rebello pioneers a 60 lessons distance learning course in Naturopathy to train Naturopaths to serve in India's 560,000 villages. 1 May – Launch of District Industrial Centre by Minister of Industries George Fernandes. 7 November – Indira Gandhi is re-elected to the Indian parliament. 19 December – Indira Gandhi is arrested and jailed for a week for breach of privilege and contempt of parliament. Births January to June 4 January – Ramana (actor), actor and producer. 13 January – Ashmit Patel, actor. 16 January Vijay Sethupathi, actor. 21 March – Rani Mukerji, actress. 28 March – Nafisa Joseph, model, MTV VJ, Miss India 1997 (d.2004). 16 April – Lara Dutta, actress, Miss Universe in 2000. 5 May – Sandeep Baswana, actor. 25 June – Aftab Shivdasani, actor.
July to December 17 August – Disha Vakani, actress. 21 August – Bhumika Chawla, actress. 31 August – Jayasurya, actor. 4 October – Soha Ali Khan, actress. 18 October Jyothika, actress. 20 October – Virender Sehwag, cricketer. 1 November – Manju Warrier, actress. 25 November – Sameer Dad, field hockey player. 25 November – Rakhi Sawant, actress
Deaths 19 February – Pankaj Mullick, singer and composer (b. 1905). 20 May – P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri, Sanskrit scholar (b. 1890). 7 June – I. K. Taimni, chemist (b. 1898). 18 November – Dhirendra Nath Ganguly, film entrepreneur, actor and director (b. 1893).
See also Bollywood films of 1978
References