Current Affairs International Events 2008

Events in January 2008 Jan.
1
International Events 2008
A Sri Lankan Tamil MP, T.Maheswaran, is shot dead at a temple on the outskirts o
f Colombo. Thirty-five persons are killed as a mob torches a church in Eldoret t
own, Kenya. Toll in ethnic riots over poll results goes up to 316. E.U. newcomer
s Cyprus, Malta adopt the euro scrapping the pound and lira. Germany and France
ban smoking in public places.
Jan. 2
Sri Lanka declares the 2002 ceasefire pact with the LTTE “invalid.” Pakistan pos
tpones elections to February 18.
Jan. 3
Pakistan frees four Palestinians convicted of the 1986 hijacking of an American
airliner in Karachi that ended with the death of 22 persons, including an Indian
flight purser Neerja Bhanot. The University of Cambridge announces the launch o
f the “Jawaharlal Nehru Professorship of Indian Business and Enterprise.”
Jan. 5
Scotland Yard begins probe into Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Georgians cast v
otes in a snap general election. ‘Col.’ Charles (Shanmuganathan Ravishankar), Ch
ief of the Liberation Tigers Military Intelligence” is killed in a “random claym
ore attack” by the Sri Lankan Army in Pallamadu, Mannar.
Jan. 6 Jan. 8
Malaysia awards a $1.08-billion project to IRCON. The Sri Lankan Nation Building
Minister, D.M. Dassanayake, is killed in a bomb
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explosion on the Negombo-Colombo main road.
The Maldivian President Mamoon Abdul Gayoom escapes bid on life on a visit to th
e north of the Indian Ocean archipelago. Jan. 9 Jan. 10 Georgian President, Mikh
ail Saakashvili, is declared winner in the snap polls. A suicide bombing near th
e gates of the Lahore High Court kills 23 persons, mostly policemen. U.S. war pl
anes launch their biggest air strike in Iraq since 2003 raining Baghdad outskirt
s with 40,000 pounds of bombs. Jan. 11 Sir Edmund Hillary (88) conqueror of Mt.
Everest on May 29, 1953 dies in an Auckland hospital of heart attack. The Nepal
Government sets Constituent Assembly polls for April 10. The world’s first comme
rcial service from Hobart, Australia to Antarctica, an Airbus A319, touches down
smoothly at the Wilkins glacial blue ice runway. S. Krishnasamy (61), a promine
nt Malaysian Indian politician is shot dead at Johor Baharu. Jan. 12 Opposition
Kuomintang wins elections to the Taiwan legislature called “Legislative Yuan” A
17-member Chinese expedition team reaches Dome A, the highest Antarctic ice cap
summit after a gruelling 21-day journey. Pakistan lawyers decide to end court bo
ycott at a meeting of the Pakistan Bar Council in Peshawar. Jan. 13 The Prime Mi
nister, Manmohan Singh, arrives in China on a three-day visit.
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South African police Chief Jackie Selebie resigns as Interpol president after be
ing indicted of corruption. University of Minnesota researchers report success i
n creating a beating rat heart in a laboratory. Jan. 14 Prime Ministers Manmohan
Singh and Wen Jiabao sign a joint document “A Shared Vision for the 21st Centur
y” after talks in Beijing. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, suggests a three-p
ronged strategy to boost economic ties at the largest ever India-China business
congress in Beijing. NASA’s Messenger Spacecraft makes historic Mercury flyby. J
an. 16 Thirtyone persons, including 26 bus passengers are killed in a wave of vi
olence by the LTTE in Sri Lanka’s Uva province. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
winds up operations as the Ceasefire Agreement ends. Jan. 17 Bhutan’s poll pane
l announces the nation’s first general elections will be held on March 24. Elect
ions to the upper House of Parliament were held on December 31, 2007. Jan. 18 Sp
ain smashes an Islamist terror cell and arrests 14 persons. A journalist from Be
larus Alexander Sdvizhkov is jailed for thee years for printing cartoons of the
Prophet Mohammad. Abhijeet Mahato, an Indian student is found shot dead at an ap
artment complex in North Carolina, the U.S. Jan. 20 Jan. 21 Cuba holds parliamen
tary polls. Serbian ultra-nationalist leader Tomishlav Nokolic wins the first ro
und vote in presidential polls. The run-off is set for February 3.
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Stock markets tumble across the world following fears of U.S. recession, with La
tin America being the worst-affected. Jan. 22 Jan. 23 Everest conqueror Sir Edmu
nd Hillary is given a state funeral by New Zealand. The World Economic Forum sum
mit opens in Davos, Switzerland. Besieged Gaza residents flood Egypt after breac
hing a southern border wall. Jan. 24 A breakthrough in organ transplant eliminat
ing the need for anti-rejection drugs is announced by a U.S. research team. Dr.
Craig Venter of the U.S. creates the world’s first man-made micro-organism. The
Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, heading a nine-party coalition, resigns af
ter losing a confidence vote in the Senate. Jan. 25 The Zimbabwean President, Ro
bert Mugabe dissolves Parliament and sets national elections for March 29. Jan.
27 The former Indonesian President Suharto (86) who ruled the island nation for
32 years with an iron fist dies in a hospital at Jakarta of multiple organ failu
re. A week-long national mourning is declared. Jan. 28 Jan. 29 Samak Sundaravej,
leader of Thailand’s People’s Power Party is elected Prime Minister. Seventeen
civilians, including 11 school children are killed in a claymore attack on a sch
ool bus in Sri Lanka’s Mannar district. Events in February 2008 Feb. 1 Sixty Fou
r persons are killed in twin blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Scientists in
New Zealand and Japan announce creation of ‘No tears’ onion.
Feb. 2
The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, weds girl friend Carla Bruni at the Elyse
e Palace in Paris. Twenty civilians are killed and 80 injured following an explo
sion in a passenger bus at the Dambulla bus stand in central Sri Lanka.
Feb. 3
Twelve civilians are killed and 100 injured as a woman suicide bomber blows hers
elf up in the crowded Fort Railway Station, Colombo. Boris Tadic is re-elected S
erbian President.
Feb. 4
At least 12 civilians are killed and 17 injured in a claymore explosion targetin
g a bus at Ethwatunuwewa in Sri Lanka. Iran launches a rocket designed to carry
its first research satellite Omid (Hope) next year.
Feb. 5
Republican John McCain cements position as frontrunner in U.S. presidential nomi
nation. In the Democratic camp, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are even
ly poised after the Super Tuesday races. France’s Alstom unveils “Automatrice Gr
ande Vitesse”, a new generation of superfast train without locomotive that can t
ravel 1,000 km in three hours.
Feb. 6 Feb. 7
Samak Sundaravej assumes office as Thailand Prime Minister. Dr. Amit Kumar, the
alleged kingpin a multi-crore kidney transplant racket in India is arrested from
a hotel in Saurah, a small Napalese town.
Feb. 8
The former Pakistan Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, died of injuries due to the
impact of the bomb blast, says the Scotland Yard in its report. The Turkish Parl
iament approves statute amendments that will lift a decades-old ban on
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Islamic headscarves at universities.
The former Sri Lankan Minister and dissident of the ruling SLFP, Sripathi Sooria
yaarachchi (45), dies in a road accident at Madagama in the Galgamuwa area. Myan
mar’s military government announces move to hold a referendum on a new constitut
ion. Feb. 10 British pop singer Amy Winehouse (24) wins five Grammy Awards and j
azz veteran Herbie Hancock (67) bags the album of the year award at a function i
n Los Angeles. Feb. 11 East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta is critically wou
nded in an attack by rebels at his residence in Dili. The Prime Minister Xanana
Gusmao is ambushed while travelling in a car. Mansoor Dadullah, a top Taliban le
ader is killed after a shootout near a seminary in Zhob distruct, Baluchistan pr
ovince of Pakistan. U.S. Military prosecutors issue the first charges relating t
o the September 11 attacks Feb. 12 Aborigines make history in Australian Parliam
ent overturning hundreds of years of British tradition in the nation. Imad Mughn
iyeh, a top commander of the Lebanese Hizbullah is killed in an explosion in the
Syrian capital Damascus. Illinois Senator Barack Obama routs New York Senator H
illary Clinton sweeping primaries in Virgina, Maryland the District of Columbia.
Feb. 13 Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announces a snap genera
l election. The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, delivers an apology in Pa
rliament for past injustices to aborigines.
Feb. 14
Stephen Kazmierczak (27) a former student opens fire at a classroom at Northern
Illinois University in Deklab, Illinois killing five persons before turning the
gun on self. Hizbullah declares open war on Israel.
Feb. 15
Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett (63) missing since September 3, 2007 is dec
lared dead. Mark Beaumont (25), a Scotsman sets a record by cycling around the w
orld in 194 days and 17 hours.
Feb. 16
“Elite Squad” (“Tropa Squad”), a political thriller by Brazilian director Jose P
adilha bags the Berlin Film Festival’s Gold Bear for best film.
Feb. 17
Eighty persons are killed in a blast on the outskirts of Afghanistan’s southern
city of Kandahar. Kosovo declares independence from Serbia after a vote in ethni
c Albanian dominated Parliament.
Feb. 18
Low turnout marks Pakistan general elections. Fourteen persons are killed in ele
ctionrelated violence.
Feb. 19
Pakistan general elections result in hang verdict. The PPP emerges the single la
rgest party followed closely by the Nawaz Sharif – led Pakistan Muslim League. P
akistan Muslim League (Q) an ally of President Musharraf is routed. Fidel Ruiz C
astro (81), steps down as Cuban President after a 49-year-rule during which he o
utlasted nine American presidents.
Feb. 20
The U.S. Navy launches an interceptor missile to shoot down a non-functioning Na
tional Reconnaissance Office Satellite over the Pacific Ocean.
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Feb. 21
Israel launches an incursion into Gaza Strip.
The PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari and the PML (N) chief Nawaz Sharif agree to work
together on government formation. Feb. 24 The Coen brothers’ crime saga “No Cou
ntry for Old Men” bags four Academy awards, including best picture at the 80th A
nnual Academy Awards, in Hollywood, California. Daniel Day-Lewis gets Best Actor
Oscar (“There Will Be Blood”) and Marion Cotillard is named Best Actress (“La V
ie En Rose”). Cuba’s National Assembly unanimously elects Mr. Raul Castro Ruz (7
6) President in place of brother Fidel Castro. Jose Ramon Machado named Vice-Pre
sident. Lee Myung-bak is formally inaugurated South Korean President. Feb. 25 Th
e Pakistan Army’s Surgeon-General Lt. Gen. Mushtaq Ahmed Baig and seven others a
re killed after a suicide bomber blows himself up near his staff car at a busy i
ntersection in Rawalpindi. Feb. 26 A vault carved into the Arctic permafrost and
filled with samples of the most important seeds to serve as a Noah’s Ark of foo
d crops in the event of a global catastrophe is inaugurated in Norway’s Svalbard
archipelago, some 1,000 km from the North Pole. Feb. 27 Pakistan government dro
ps all corruption charges against the PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari. Microsoft is
fined a record $ 1.35 billion (euros 899 million) by the European Commission for
using high prices to discourage software competition. Britain is jolted by an e
arthquake, the biggest to hit the nation in nearly 25 years, damaging property w
orth £ 10 million
An online encyclopaedia of life (at www.eol.org) crashes as soon as public unvei
ling. Iraq’s presidency council gives its nod for the execution of Saddam Hussei
n’s cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as “Chemical Ali” for the genocidal camp
aign against Iraq’s Kurds in the 1980s. Feb. 28 Thailand’s deposed Prime Ministe
r Thaksin Shinawatra receives a hero’s welcome on return home after 17 months of
self-imposed exile. Kenya’s leaders agree to form a coalition government after
marathon talks in the capital Nariobi. Fifty persons are killed in a suicide bom
b attack on a funeral procession in Mingora in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Pr
ovince. Events in March 2008 Mar. 1 Israel kills 46 Palestinians in its deadlies
t and deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005. A suicide
bombing leaves 20 dead in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency. Mar. 2 Russia’s pres
idential candidate Dmitry Anatolievich Medvedev sweeps polls winning about two-t
hirds of votes cast. The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in Iraq o
n a visit, the first since the 1979 revolution. Palestinian President Mahmoud Ab
bas snaps contacts with Israel after the toll in the blitz on Gaza’s Jabaliya re
fugee camp by the Jewish state goes up to 120. Thirtytwo persons are killed in a
suicide bombing on a grand ‘sirga’ of five tribes in Zarghon village near Darra
Adam Khel.
Mar. 3
Kashmir Singh, the death row prisoner who spent 35 years in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat
jail is freed following a presidential pardon. Israel pulls out its ground forc
es from Gaza Strip following an international outcry. The U.N. Security Council
imposes fresh sanctions against Iran.
Mar. 4
Seven persons are killed and 19 injured in a suicide attack at the gates of the
Pakistan Navy War College in the heart of Lahore. The Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf rejects the mercy petition of Sarabjit Singh condemned to death for al
leged role in bomb blasts in 1990.
Mar. 6
K. Sivanesan, a pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance MP is killed in a claymore mine
attack in Sri Lanka’s Wanni region. A Palestinian gunman kills eight students o
f a prominent Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. Sixty eight persons are killed and 1
54 injured in coordinated bombings in a packed shopping area in Karrada district
, Central Baghdad. A Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout nicknamed “Merchant of Deat
h” is arrested in a hotel in the Thailand capital Bangkok.
Mar. 7
Global equities selloff gathers speed hit by growing U.S. recession fears, a plu
nging dollar. The euro rockets to a record high $1.5431.
Mar. 8
Malaysian Indian Congress leader Samy Vellu loses parliamentary seat of Sungai S
iput in the Perak State seeking a ninth successive term. Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak retain seats in snap gen
eral elections. The Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica resigns following
a crisis over the
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independence of Kosovo. Mar. 9
Spaniards cast ballots in general elections. Polling held for Senate seats too.
The Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) announce deci
sion to form a historic coalition government to be led by the former in Murree n
ear Islamabad.
Mar. 10
Spanish Premier Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero’s Socialist Party (PSOE) wins gene
ral elections. The party gains in Senate polls too. Local bodies polls are held
in Sri Lanka’s Batticaloa district after 14 years.
Mar. 11
Twentyfour persons are killed and 170 injured in twin suicide attacks in Lahore,
Pakistan. Punjab headquarters of the Federal Investigation Agency is reduced to
a rubble. A Chinese vessel with e-tagged containers sails out from Shanghai to
Savannah in the U.S. marking the opening of the world’s first international e-ta
gged container route. The Tamil Viduthalai Pullikkal, the party formed by former
Tamil Tiger leaders wins a majority in Batticaloa local bodies polls. Jayant Pa
tel, an Indian-born surgeon is arrested by the FBI on charges of manslaughter fo
r the death of 17 patients in Australia.
Mar. 12 Mar. 13
Eliot Spitzer resigns as New York Governor in the wake of a prostitution scandal
. The U.S. Dow Jones industrial average falls more than 200 points. European and
Asian markets sink following the dollar’s drop to a 12-year low against the yen
.
Mar. 14
Iranians cast votes in parliamentary polls. Europe’s biggest ever fraud trial op
ens in Italy to reach a verdict in the 2003 collapse of
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the dairy group Parmalat which left euros 14 billion in debts. Nineteen persons
are killed and 382 people injured as violence erupts in the Tibetan Capital Lhas
a after protesters led by Buddhist monks clash with troops. Mar. 15 China’s Parl
iament endorses Hu Jintao for a second five-year term as President. Xi Jinping i
s appointed Vice-President. Five persons are killed and 200 injured as a series
of blasts rocks an Albanian army munitions depot outside the capital Tirana. Mar
. 16 Pakistan announces that Sarabjit Singh of India caught in 1990 and convicte
d for spying will be hanged on April 1. Wen Jiabao is re-elected China’s Premier
for a second five-year term. Conservatives win a majority in Iranian parliament
ary polls. Anura Bandaranaike (58) senior Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader known a
s the “Crown Prince” dies at his residence in Colombo. Voting gets under way in
French local body polls. Mar. 17 Pakistan’s newly elected members take oath as M
Ps at the 13th National Assembly inauguration in the capital Islamabad. Left win
g wave sweeps French local polls dealing a blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy and
his right wing Conservative Party. Former Beatle Paul McCartney reaches a £25 m
illion divorce settlement with his estranged wife Heather Mills. Asian stocks su
ffer fresh turmoil as the dollar slumps to a fresh record low against the euro a
nd a 12-year trough against the yen.
Mar. 18
Russia and the U.S. agree to set up a broad strategic agenda for bilateral coope
ration agree talks between Defence Minister in Moscow. Mohd. Najib Tun Razak is
made Malaysian Defence Minister. Syed Hamid Albar gets Home and Rais Yatim gets
Foreign Affairs in the ministerial line-up unveiled by Prime Minister Abdullah A
hmad Badawi. Fifty persons are killed after a suicide bomber attacks Shia worksh
ippers in the holy city of Karbala in Iraq. Twentynine others die in a series of
attacks.
Mar. 19
Fahmida Mirza of the Pakistan People’s Party is elected National Assembly Speake
r. Faisal Karim Kundi is elected Deputy Speaker.Mar. 19 Pakistan President Perve
z Musharraf stays the execution of Sarabjit Singh till April 30.
Mar. 20
Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme takes over as Belgian Prime Minister to
end nine months of deadlock.
Mar. 21
Rival Cypriot leaders agree to reopen Ledra Street running through the heart of
Cyprus divided capital Nicosia. The barricades are in place since 1963.
Mar. 22
Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang wins the Taiwanese presidential polls,
defeating Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party. Electorate vetoes pr
opositions on U.N. membership.
Mar. 23
Sixty persons are killed in Iraq. The high security green zone where the U.S. em
bassy is located comes under rocket attack.
Mar. 24
Yousuf Raza Gillani is elected Pakistan Prime Minister and orders release of the
ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary and other judges detained since Novembe
r 3, 2007. Druk Phuensum Tshogpa or the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party of for
mer Prime
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Minister Jigmi Thinley wins Bhutan’s first ever parliamentary polls by a landsli
de. Mar. 25 Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani is sworn in Pakistan Prime Minister by the
President retired General Pervez Musharraf. Mar. 26 Tata Motors acquires Britain
’s most famous names in automobile manufacturing, Jaguar and Land Rover, in a $2
.3 billion deal with Ford, their American owners. Mar. 27 French serial killer M
ichel Fourniret (65) dubbed the “Ogre of the Ardennes” goes on trial for the mur
der of seven young women and girls, between 1987 and 2001, in Charleville- Mezie
res near the Belgian border. American John Griggs Thompson and Belgian-born Jacq
ues Tits win the $1.2 million Abel prize for mathematics for group theory in alg
ebra. Mar. 29 Zimbabweans cast ballots in presidential, parliamentary and local
government elections. At least 230 people are killed in five days of clashes bet
ween Shia gunmen and troops in Iraq. Seventyfive persons are killed and 498 woun
ded in Sadr city alone. Singer Miley Cyrus of Hannah Montana fame and the Jonas
Brothers — Joe, Kevin and Nick top draws at the Kids Choice Awards in Los Angele
s. Mar. 31 A 24-member Pakistan Cabinet is sworn in by President Pervez Musharra
f. Shah Mahmood Qureshi is Foreign Affairs Minister. Sherry Rehman gets Informat
ion Ministry and Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar Defence portfolio. Negotiators from 164
countries begin work on drawing a battle plan against global warming in Thailan
d capital Bangkok. Events in April 2008 Apr. 1 India’s Kamalesh Sharma takes ove
r as the Commonwealth Secretary General.
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Turkey’s Supreme Court decides to hear a case calling for the closure of the rul
ing Justice and Development Party and banning the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Er
dogan, President Abdullah Gul from politics for five years. Finland’s Foreign Mi
nister Ilkka Kanerva is sacked for sending suggestive text messages to an erotic
dancer Johanna Tukiainen. Apr. 2 Apr. 3 President Robert Mugabe’s party loses c
ontrol of Zimbabwe’s Parliament. Russia scuttles bid to induct Ukraine and Georg
ia into the NATO at a summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest. Ledra Street, th
e barricaded boulevard in the heart of Nicosia, the last divided capital in Euro
pe is thrown open for traffic. Apr. 5 The Druk Phuensum Tshogpa president Jigmi
Y. Thinley is endorsed Bhutan’s Prime Minister-elect by the party executive meet
ing in Thimphu. Apr. 6 Jeyaraj Fernandopulle Sri Lanka’s Highways Minister and 1
3 others are killed while attending a marathon race in Weliveriya town near Colo
mbo. Montenegrins cast votes in president polls. Apr. 8 Sri Lanka’s ultra-nation
alist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana splits. Britain’s High Court rules that the gove
rnment cannot alter the terms of the High Skilled Migrants Programme. India and
Venezuela sign a historic agreement to invest $400 million to develop the San Cr
istobal oil field. Apr. 9 The Navy becomes the first Indian team to ski to the N
orth Pole Jigme Y. Thinley assumes office as Bhutan’s first elected Prime Minist
er.
Apr. 10
Nepali voters cast ballots in a historic Constituent Assembly election. Sabeel A
hmed, brother of Kafeel Ahmed who died in the botched terror attack on the Glasg
ow airport in 2007, gets 18-month jail sentence for withholding information on t
he plot from British police.
Apr. 11 Apr. 12
China’s first domestically-made bullet train rolls off the production line. Two
Border Roads Organisation personnel are killed in a suicide attack in Afghanista
n’s Nimroz province.
Apr. 13
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki names Opposition leader Raila Odinga Prime Ministe
r. Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi to be Deputy Prime Ministers. Italians ca
st ballots in general elections. Seventynine LTTE cadres and 13 soldiers are kil
led in fire fighting in Sri Lanka’s north.
Apr. 14
Eighteen schoolgirls are burnt to death after fire engulfs a dormitory at Budo J
unior School near the Ugandam capital Kampala.
Apr. 15
Over 80 persons are killed after a plane crashes shortly after take-off at Goma
in Congo. More than 50 persons are killed in car bomb attacks in Iraq Italians v
ote to power Silvio Berlusconi and his People of Freedom party wins majority in
both the Lower House and the Senate.
Apr. 17
Fortynine mourners are killed and 55 injured as a suicide bomber strikes at a fu
neral in a Sunni Arab village northern Iraq. Mexico and India sign agreements on
cooperation in renewable energy and on Air
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Services after talks between President’s Pelipe Calderon and Pratibha Patil. Apr
. 20 India and Saudi Arabia reach agreement on establishing a Saudi –India inves
tment fund. Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement is ratified.
Apr. 21 India and Chile sign four agreements covering air services, S and T, An
tarctica expeditions and sports cooperation. Apr. 23 Intense fighting leaves 90
people – 52 LTTE cadres and 38 army men dead in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna peninsula. Ap
r. 24 A draft framework agreement on starting work on the $7.6 billion Turkmenis
tan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) gas pipeline, project in 2010 is sig
ned in Islamabad. Relatives meet death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh lodged in Kot
Lakhpat jail in Lahore, Pakistan. Apr. 25 Apr. 26 Iranians cast votes in run-of
f parliamentary polls. The Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan is sack
ed. Abdul Moiz Bothari is named acting Foreign Secretary. Apr. 27 Afghan Preside
nt Hamid Karzai escapes bid on life by Taliban fighters during a military parade
in Kabul. LTTE aircraft drops three bombs on Sri Lankan Army positions in the n
orth. Apr. 28 Seventy persons are killed and 416 injured as a high-speed passeng
er train jumps track and smashes into another train in China’s Shandong province
. Apr. 29 The U.N. decides to set up a task force to tackle the global food cris
is to be headed by the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Apr. 30
The British House of Lords rejects government move to push through new rules aga
inst non-EU doctors.
Events in May 2008 May 1 The world’s longest sea bridge is inaugurated in the Ya
ngtze River delta in China. The 36 km long Hangzhou Bay Bridge in Ningbo, Zhejia
ng province links Shanghai with Ningbo. May 2 Pakistan puts off indefinitely exe
cution of Sarabjit Singh a death row prisoner. The Labour Party in Britain suffe
rs its worst defeat in local body elections in 40 years. Zimbabwe opposition lea
der Morgan Tsvangirai fails to win outright majority,to boycott the run-off poll
s. May 3 The Sri Lanka Cabinet gives its nod for a proposal to set up a Special
Task Force to oversee development initiatives in the Northern Province districts
. Londoners elect Tory candidate Boris Johnson Mayor, ending Ken Livingstone’s e
ight-year reign. Cyclone Nargis leaves 78,000 people dead in Myanmar. Bogalay, a
town in the Irrawaddy delta bears the brunt. Over 56,000 persons are missing. M
ay 6 Russia, the U.S. sign a civilian nuclear power pact that will give the latt
er access to Russian technology. Britain announces second phase of immigration r
ules aimed at curbing entry of nonE.D. foreign workers, especially skilled worke
rs. Irish Premier Bertie Ahern quits after being at the helm for 11 years. May 7
Dmitry Medvedev is sworn in Russian President and nominates his predecessor
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Vladimir Putin Prime Minister. May 8 May 9
Russian Parliament confirms Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister. Lebanese militant
group Hezbollah takes over most of west Beirut and forces a shutdown of pro-gove
rnment media outlets.
May 10
The first-ever elections to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council is held peace
fully. Myanmar holds a rare referendum to secure mandate for a new military-scri
pted draft statute.
May 11
The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance wins elections to the Eastern Provin
cial Council, Sri Lanka. Serbs cast ballots in parliamentary polls.
May 12
At least 8,700 people are killed, including 900 school students after a major ea
rthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale rips through southwest China’s Sichu
an province. The Pakistan Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif pulls out of the Fed
eral Cabinet following differences with the Pakistan People’s Party over the rei
nstatement of judges sacked last year. The Commonwealth readmits Pakistan revoki
ng a six-month long suspension.
May 13
China quake toll crosses 12,000. Aftershocks continue to jolt Sichuan throughout
the day. Three Gorges dam unaffected. Wenchuan county, the epicentre, reports 5
7 deaths.
May 14
A pregnant woman and a girl are pulled out alive from under the debris in China’
s Dujiangyan and Beichuan regions. The toll touches 19,500.
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The 14-day Cannes Film Festival opens. May 15 May 16
One hundred people are killed in a pipeline explosion in Lagos, Nigeria. The Pri
me Minister, Manmohan Singh, pledges to extend the Indian rail network to Bhutan
during talks with his counterpart Jigmi Y. Thinley in Thimphu. Russia, India, C
hina and Brazil institutionalise their four-way group BRIC after Foreign Ministe
rs’ meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillay
an is sworn in Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council.
May 17
The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, addresses the first-ever joint sitting of th
e Bhutan Parliament in Thimphu. Announces decision to begin work on the ‘Golden
Jubilee Rail Line’, the first-ever rain link into the Himalayan kingdom from Has
himara, northern Bengal. Kuwaitis cast votes in landmark parliamentary elections
. Taliban frees Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kabul Tariq Azizuddin after three month
s after being kidnapped in the Khyber tribal area on February 11. Soldiers find
a man Wu Jianping, alive under a collapsed building 127 hours after the devastat
ing earthquake in southwest China.
May 18
militants in Afghaniztan free an Indian Muhammad Naeem (40) after being kidnappe
d on April 21. Islamists win Kuwaiti parliamentary polls.
May 19
The China earthquake toll touches 34,073. Companies suffer $9.5 billion in damag
e. A three-day national mourning for the first time in the country’s history beg
ins.
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Mahathir Mohammad quits Malaysia’s ruling party to press for leadership change.
May 20 Scientists announce “resurrection” of a gene from the extinct Tasmanian t
iger by implanting it in a mouse May 21 Pakistan reactor for a “grand reconcilia
tion” with India through dialogue, says Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi af
ter talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Rival Lebanese leader
s clinch a deal to end an 18-month political feud. Balasegaram Kandish alias “Br
igadier Balraj”, a key commander of the LTTE dies of a heart attack in Vanni. Th
e Awami National Party-led government in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province
signs a 15-point peace accord with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. May 24
Two Sydney women Cheryl Bart and her daughter Nikki create history as the first
mother-daughter team to climb Mt. Everest. May 25 Lebanon’s Parliament elects A
rmy Chief General Michel Sleiman president. An aftershock measuring 6.4 on the R
ichter scale jolts Qingchuan county in southwest China’s Sichuan province leavin
g six dead and 400 injured. The toll in the May 12 quake stands at 62,664. Min B
ahadur Sherchan (75) becomes the oldest person to reach the summit of Mt. Everes
t. French Classroom drama “Entre les Murs” (The Class) directed by Lawrent Cante
t bags the Palm d’or for best picture at the Cannes film festival. Benicio Del T
oro and Sandra Corveloni get Best Actor and Best Actress awards.
May 26
NASA’s Phoenix probe sends back never-seen pictures of Mars’ North Pole after a
near perfect landing, topping a 10 month journey. At least seven persons are kil
led and 62 injured after a bomb explosion in a train on the outskirts of the Sri
Lankan capital Colombo. The former president of the erstwhile Soviet Union, Mic
hael Gorbachev is conferred the lift time achievement award at the Energy Global
Awards in Brussels.
May 27
Members of Nepal’s newly elected 601-member Constituent Assembly take oath. Myan
mar’s military junta extends the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
who has been in detention continuously since May 2003. Nepal is declared a Fede
ral Democratic Republic by the Constituent Assembly ending the 240-year-rule of
the Shah Dynasty.
May 28
Diplomats from 100 countries reach an agreement on a treaty on banning cluster b
ombs.
Events in June 2008 Jun. 1 Jun. 2 Phoenix Mars Lander starts digging for life. S
ix persons are killed and 30 injured in a car bomb blast outside the Danish emba
ssy in Islamabad. The U.S. shuttle Discovery docks with the International Space
Station delivering a bus-sized Japanese laboratory. Jun. 3 the U.N. Secretary-Ge
neral Ban Ki-moon maps out a twin tack strategy to tackle soaring food prices at
a summit hosted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome
Jun. 4
Barack Obama wins presidential nomination of the Democratic Party in the battle
for the White House against Republican John McCain.
Jun. 5
The 18th Global Summit of Women informally called the “Davos for Women” opens in
the Vietnam capital Hanoi. Turkish constitutional court overturns a law allowin
g women to wear headscarves at university. The U.S. Chief of Naval Staff Michael
Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne are sacked over problems with han
dling nuclear weapons.
Jun. 6
The External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee confers the Padma Bhushan award o
n Chinese Indologist Ji Xianlin (97) in Beijing. Luisa Dias Diago, first woman P
rime Minster of Mozambique receives the Global Women’s Leadership Award in Hanoi
.
Jun. 8
Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone bag the best male and female debut of the year a
ward for roles in “Saawariya” and “Om Shanti Om” at IIFA awards in Bangkok. Shah
baz Sharif takes over as Chief Minister of Punjab province in Pakistan. Seven pe
ople are killed in a stabbing spree in Japan’s Akihabara district by a youth Tom
ohiro Kato.
Jun. 10
Nepal’s former king Gyanendra leaves the Narayanhiti palace. The former Banglade
shi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is freed after 11 months in jail.
Jun. 11
The Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, formally apologises to the natives
for abuse of children in government-run residential schools.
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Jun. 12
A “long march” from Lahore to Islamabad seeking reinstatement of sacked judges i
s launched.
Jun. 13
Ireland rejects Lisbon reforms treaty in a tense referendum plunging the Europea
n Union into a crisis. The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (
ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation sign two agreements on weekend charte
red flights and Chinese tourists’ travel to Taiwan. One Thousand and one hundred
inmates escape after Taliban rebels raid a jail in Kandahar.
Jun. 14
Zac Sunderland (16), a U.S. sailor sets sail for a solo circum navigation form M
arina del Rey in California. Elian Gonzalez, who was at the centre of an interna
tional custody battle eight years ago, joins Cuba’s Young Communist Union.
Jun. 15
The Kathmandu palace of Nepal’s deposed king is opened to the public as a nation
al museum.
Jun. 16
California begins issuing same-sex marriage licences as a historic court ruling
legalising gay and lesbian weddings takes effect. Six hundred Taliban militants
take over villages in Arghandab district on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanist
an.
Jun. 18
Afghan troops and NATO forces launch a huge offensive against Taliban militants
in Arghandab district.
Jun. 20
Jason 2, a French-U.S. satellite designed to provide precise monitoring of risin
g sea
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level is launched into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Jun. 21
The Pakistan government decides to commute the sentences of all prisoners on de
ath row to life term. Hundreds of people are feared killed after a ferry mv Prin
cess of the Stars sinks in rough seas during Typhoon Fengshen off Sibuyan island
in central Philippines. Jun. 22 Zimbabwe Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai qu
its the June 27 Presidential runoff. Jun. 23 European Union states slap new sanc
tions against Iran, including an asset freeze on Bank Melli its biggest bank ove
r its refusal to curb nuclear programme. The Lahore High Court bars the Pakistan
Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif from contesting the June 28 by election t
o the National Assembly. Jun. 25 India-born British author Salman Rushdie is kni
ghted by Queen Elizabeth II for his “services to literature”. Jun. 26 The U.S. S
upreme Court says Americans have the right to own guns for self-defence and hunt
ing. The ruling strikes down Washington’s 32-year-old ban on handguns. Girija Pr
asad Koirala resigns as Nepal Prime Minister. North Korea hands over detailed “N
uclear list.” U.S. says it will lift key trade sanctions and remove it from the
terrorism black list. Jun. 27 Jun. 28 North Korea demolishes cooling lower at th
e Yongbyon nuclear complex. Bill Gates leaves the job of running Microsoft. An I
ndonesian-born Indian Varsha Sabhanani is sentenced to 11 years in jail in the U
.S. for enslaving her two Indonesian housekeepers.
Jun. 29
Robert Mugabe is sworn in Zimbabwe President for a sixth term. Israel approves p
risoner exchange with Hizbollah. Thomas Beatie (34), a U.S. man who was born a w
oman before undergoing gender realignment surgery gives birth to a baby girl at
a hospital in Bend, Oregon.
Events in July 2008 Jul. 2 Jul. 3 Usha Chammar of Gujarat is crowned ‘Princess o
f Sanitation Workers’ at the U.N. The former Colombian presidential candidate In
grid Betancourt and 14 others being held hostage since 2003 by FARC rebels are a
irlifted to freedom by the army in a daredevil operation. Jul. 4 Jul. 5 China an
d Taiwan begin direct flights. Record-setting Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie comp
letes a 110-day voyage from Hawaii without a port call in Nishinomiya, Japan. Ju
l. 6 Twenty persons, including 15 policemen are killed and many injured as a sui
cide bomber blows himself up some distance away from the Lal Masjid in Pakistan
capital Islamabad. The U.N. Development Programme is killed in the Somali capita
l Mogadishu. Twentytwo people are killed after air strikes hit a wedding party i
n Afghanistan. More than a dozen civilians die in strikes in Nuristan province a
day earlier. Jul. 7 Fortyone persons including senior Indian diplomat V. Venkat
eswara Rao and Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta are killed after a suicide bomber rams
his car into the gates of the Indian Embassy in Kabul. One person is killed and
40 injured in a series of seven bomb blasts in the Pakistani
port city of Karachi. Jul. 8
The G8 summit in Toyako, Japan affirms to stick to the goal of cutting global gr
eenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2050.
Jul. 10
Salman Rushdie wins the Best of Booker prize for his pathbreaking novel Midnight
’s Children after a global vote by readers. Inderjit Singh Reyat convicted in th
e 1988 Kanishkha bombing is granted bail by a Canadian judge after serving nearl
y 20 years in prison.
Jul. 11
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman names Fouad Siniora as the head of a new unity
government. Russia and China veto sanctions on Zimbabwe’s leaders. An Indian-Am
erican couple found guilty of enslaving two workers are ordered to pay $1 millio
n in back wages by a U.S. court.
Jul. 13
A summit of leaders of 43 countries belonging to the European Union and the Medi
terranean region opens in Paris, France. Twenty four people are killed in a suic
ide attack on a bazaar in southern Afghanistan.
Jul. 14
The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor calls for the arrest of Sudane
se President Omar Al-Bashir for genocide and war crimes in Darfur. Miss Venezuel
a Dayana Mendoza (22) is crowned Miss Universe 2008 in a contest in the Vietname
se city of Nha Trang.
Jul. 15
Asian and European stock markets plummet following erosion of investor confidenc
e in the U.S. financial system. Video grabs of the questioning of a Guantanamo d
etenus in February 2003 are
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released for the first time. Jul. 16
Israel, Hizbollah exchange prisoners. Among the freed is Samit Qantar who has sp
ent 30 years in an Israeli prison. Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s de facto opposition
leader is arrested in Kuala Lumpur on charge of sexually assaulting his male ai
de.
Jul. 17
Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim is freed on bail. Human trial for vaccine against
HIV is cancelled.
Jul. 18 Jul. 19
Cuba begins land reforms. Nepal’s first presidential polls fail to produce clear
winner paving the way for run-off. Paramanda Jha of the Madhesi Janadikhar Foru
m wins the vice-presidential election. Pope Benedict XVI offers a historic full
apology for child sex abuse by Australian priests, in a candle light vigil in Sy
dney.
Jul. 21
Russia and China end decades-old boundary dispute and give up some of their terr
itorial claims. Nepali Congress leader Ram Baran Yadav is elected Nepal’s first
President. Bosnian Serb war-time President Radovan Karadzic wanted for genocide
during the 1992-95 Bosnian war is held near Belgrade after 13 years on the run.
Jul. 22
In the biggest such occurrence in three years, a chunk of Arctic ice cracks afte
r separating from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off Ellesmere Island in the Canadian A
rctic archipelago.
Jul. 23
Ram Baran Yadav is sworn in Nepal President. Paramananda Jha takes oath as ViceP
resident.
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Jul. 24
Indian-origin ICC judge Navanetham Pillay is appointed the United Nations’ new H
uman Rights Commissioner.
Jul. 25
A Boeing 747-400 flying to Melbourne makes an emergency landing in Manila after
a mid-air rupture leaves a gaping hole in its fuselage. A German medical team pe
rforms the world’s first transplant of two full arms on a farmer who lost both h
is limbs in an accident six years ago.
Jul. 27
Election to the National Assembly in Vietnam passes off peacefully. Seventeen pe
ople are killed and more than 150 injured after two bombs rip through a crowded
street in Istanbul, Turkey.
Jul. 28
At least 57 people are killed and 300 injured after suicide bombers target a Shi
a pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish rally in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk
. One of Al-Qaeda’s top bombmakers, Abu Khabab al-Masri, is killed in an air str
ike on a house in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan.
Jul. 29
The nine-day WTO talks in Geneva to salvage the Doha trade round collapses follo
wing a deadlock between the U.S. and India over proposals to protect poor farmer
s. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is extradited from Serbia to stand trial
for war crimes at The Hague. A group of Russian scientists reaches the bottom o
f Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest fresh water lake in Russia’s far east, for th
e first time ever.
Jul. 30
The Phoenix spacecraft confirms presence of ice lurking below the Martian permaf
rost.
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Jul. 31
Doctor couple Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte of India, Grace Padaca, a woman Ph
ilippines provincial Governor among the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay awardees. The Briti
sh House of Lords upholds the government’s decision to drop probe into charges a
gainst BAE Systems that it paid commission to win a defence deal with Saudi Arab
ia.
Events in August 2008 Aug. 1 The International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Gov
ernors meeting in Vienna approves the safeguards agreement with India. Nine moun
taineers are killed in an avalanche near the submit of the Himalayan peak K2. Ge
orgia attacks its breakaway territory of South Ossetia. Aug. 2 Terrorism “single
biggest threat” to stability and progress, says the Prime Minister Manmohan Sin
gh at the inaugural of the 15th SAARC Summit in Colombo. Nod for SAARC Conventio
n on Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Aug. 3 The SAARC Summit adopts the Colombo
Declaration titled “Partnership for growth of our people.” Leaders resolve to jo
intly fight terror and trans-national organised crime. Aug. 4 An attack on a bor
der patrol in China’s Xinjiang region leaves 16 policemen dead just four days ah
ead of the Olympics. Aug. 7 Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom signs and ad
opts a Constitution that allows multi-party elections. Aug. 8 The 29th Olympic G
ames gets off a colourful start in the Chinese capital Beijing.
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Georgia launches a full-scale military assault against South Ossetia and reduces
to ruins the capital Tskhinvali. Serial bombings rock Xinjiang region in China.
Seven bombers are killed. Aug. 9 Russia foils Georiga plan for an offensive aga
inst South Ossetia. Two thousand persons were killed in attacks. Moscow takes co
ntrol of regional capital Tskhinvali. Aug. 10 Aug. 11 Georgia pulls out forces f
rom South Ossetia under heavy Russian fire. Abhinav Bindra wins the Olympic gold
medal for the 10-metre air rifle event bagging for independent India its first
individual Olympic gold. Russia sends more troops to Abkhazia another breakaway
region of Georgia. Aug. 12 Russia agrees to a peace pact brokered by France to e
nd the Caucasus crisis and halts military operations. Georgia pulls out of Commo
nwealth of Independent States. Aug. 13 Ceasefire in Georgia. Fourteens persons a
re killed as a bomb blast risk through a shopping street in the Lebanese capital
Tripoli. Aug. 15 Pushpa Kamal Dahal popularly known as Prachanda, chairman of t
he Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), is elected the first Prime Minister of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal by a four-fifths majority. Aug. 16 Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev signs a peace plan to end war with Georgia. U.S. ace
swimmer Michael Phelps ties Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven gold medals in a s
ingle Olympics. Aug. 17 Michael Phelps wins an unprecedented eighth gold medal a
t the Beijing Olympic Games.
Aug. 18
Pervez Musharraf resigns as Pakistan President after an eight-year rule. Prachan
da is sworn in first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
Russia begins troops pullout from Georgia.
Aug. 19
At least 39 persons are killed in a suicide bombing in Pakistan’s North-West Fro
ntier Province town of Deras Ismail Khan. A car bomb attack on a police school i
n Algeria leaves 43 deads.
Aug. 20
At least 153 people are killed after fire engulfs a Spanair flight during take o
ff in Madrid airport. The U.S. signs a deal with Warsaw to deploy 10 anti-missil
es in Poland.
Aug. 21
At least 65 people are killed in twin suicide bombings at the gates of Pakistan
Ordnance Factory in Wah cantonment near Taxila.
Aug. 24
The Beijing Olympic Games conclude after 16 glorious days. Sixtyfive people are
killed after a plane crashes soon after take-off from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek
.
Aug. 25
The Pakistan Muslim League (N) pulls out of the Pakistan People’s Party led coal
ition government. Lovemore Moyo of the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change
takes oath as Zimbabwe Speaker.
Aug. 26
Russia recognises Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as i
ndependent states.
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Malaysia’s Opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim wins a big victory in a by-electi
on. Aug. 27 The Pakistan government restores eight of the 60 judges sacked by th
e former President Pervez Musharraf in November 2007. Aug. 28 India and the Asso
ciation of Southeast Asian Nations clinch a trade pact that will create a new fr
ee trade area of 1.7 billion people and cover 11 countries, in Singapore. Aug. 2
9 Australian police drops its probe against Indian doctor Mohammad Haneef wrongl
y accused of involvement in the failed U.K. car bombings. Aug. 31 Eight persons
are presented the 2008 Ramon Magsaysay awards at a function in the Philippines c
apital Manila. Events in September 2008 Sep. 1 Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fuku
da resigns after being at the helm for about a year. More than 100 people are ki
lled in two days of clashes between Shia and Sunni tribes in the Kurram tribal a
gency on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Nearly 2 million people flee the Gulf
of Mexico coast as Hurricane Gustav lashes Louisiana. Sep. 2 Thailand’s Prime Mi
nister Samak Sundaravej proclaims a state of Emergency in Bangkok to quell a wee
k-long street rebellion against his rule. Sep. 5 Sep. 6 Angolans cast votes in g
eneral elections. The Nuclear Suppliers Group lifts its 16-year-old embargo on n
uclear commerce with India after three days of roller-coaster negotiations in th
e Austrian capital Vienna. Asif Ali Zardari is elected Pakistan President.
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Sep. 7
The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces plan to hold snap parliamen
tary elections.
Sep. 8 Sep. 9
Hurricane Ike pounds Cuba as 90,000 flee to shelters. Asif Ali Zardari is sworn
in Pakistan President. The Constitutional Court in Bangkok disqualifies Thailand
’s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Russia establishes diplomatic ties with Abkh
azia and South Ossetia. The LTTE launches an air raid on the Sri Lankan Air Forc
e station in Vavuniya.
Sep. 10
The biggest physics experiment in history, Large Hadron Collider tests begin und
er the aegis of the European Organization for Nuclear Research on the French-Swi
ss border. Fuel assurances contained in 123 Agreement with India not binding, de
clares the U.S. President George W. Bush in a message to the Congress.
Sep. 11
The former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is released from jail after bei
ng held a year earlier on graft charges.
Sep. 12
Seventeen persons are killed and 135 people injured as a commuter train smashes
into a freight train in Los Angeles.
Sep. 13
Russia withdraws all its forces from western Georgia. Hurricane Ike lashes Texas
bringing a monster ocean surge, knocking out power and flooding coastal areas.
Sep. 14
At least 88 persons are killed after a Russian plane crashes on the outskirts of
Perm in Ural mountains while preparing to land.
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Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat lifts Bangkok emergency. Sep.
15 Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
sign a power-sharing deal in Harare. Major U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers
Holdings files for bankruptcy protection, while the world’s largest retail brok
erage Merrill Lynch agrees to be taken over by Bank of America. Sep. 16 Sep. 17
Asian stock markets suffer heavy losses after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. T
he U.S. Federal Reserve bails out insurance firm American International Group of
fering a $85-billion package, staving off a financial meltdown. Thailand’s actin
g Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is elected to the top post by the House of Re
presentatives in Bangkok. At least 16 persons are killed following a car bomb at
tack on the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Australia issues licence
allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos. Sep. 18 Israeli Foreign Mini
ster Tzipi Livni wins leadership primary of the ruling Kadima party. The Large H
adron Collider is shut down by the CERN for two months due to a mechanical failu
re. Sep. 19 U.S. stock markets stage a huge rally. Short selling or betting agai
nst financial stocks is banned temporarily. Sep. 20 At least 60 persons, includi
ng the Czech envoy Ivo Zdarek are killed and 266 injured following a massive bla
st outside the Marriott hotel in Islamabad triggered by an
explosives-laden truck. Sep. 21
At least 43 persons are killed and 88 injured in a night club fire in south Chin
a’s Shenzhen city. South African President Thabo Mbeki resigns. The Israeli Prim
e Minister, Ehud Olmert quits office. Global financial services provider Morgan
Stanley and Goldman Sachs get U.S. Federal Reserve Board nod to turn bank holdin
g companies.
Sep. 23
“Like slavery and piracy, terrorism has no place in the modern world,” says the
U.S. President George W.Bush in his farewell speech to the U.N. General Assembly
. Matti Juhani Saari opens fire killing nine persons at the Kanhajoki School of
Hospitality in western Finland before turning the weapon on himself. Win Tin (78
) Myanmar’s longest-serving political prisoner is freed from Insein Prison after
19 years behind bars.
Sep. 24
Taro Aso takes charge as Japan’s Prime Minister. Hirofumi Nakasone is named Fore
ign Minister and Yasukazu Hamada becomes Defence Minister. China and Venezuela s
ign an oil cooperation deal and several economic pacts.
Sep. 25
India and Pakistan agree to begin cross-LoC trade from October 21, 2008 followin
g talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari in
New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Wagah-Atari Border, Muna
bao-Khokrapar rail link to be thrown open for trade. China launches Shenzhou-7 i
ts third manned spacecraft with three taikonauts on board from the Jiuquan Satel
lite Launch Centre in Gansu province.
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Sep. 24 Sep. 26
Washington Mutual Inc., one of the largest U.S. banks collapses. The Prime Minis
ter Manmohan Singh lauds the U.S. President George W.Bush’s personal role in the
“massive transformation” of the India-U.S. ties centred on the nuclear agreemen
t. Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy makes history by flying across the English Channe
l from France using a jet-powered wing.
Sep. 27
Taikonaut Zhai Zhigang starts China’s first spacewalk. Seventeen persons are kil
led in a massive bomb blast in Syrian capital Damascus. The U.S. House of Repres
entatives passes the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal.
Sep. 28
The Shenzhou-7 space shuttle with three taikonauts aboard lands safely at Siziwa
ng Banner in Inner Mongolia in China after a 68-hour flight including a 25-minut
e spacewalk. Austria’s far-Right notches up big gains in snap parliamentary poll
s for electing a House for a five-year term for the first time. Malalai Kakar, h
ead of Kandahar’s department of crimes against women, is shot dead by Taliban gu
nmen in front of her house. The U.S. seals an unprecedented $ 700 billion Wall S
treet bailout package.
Sep. 29
The U.S. House of Representatives defeats a $ 700 billion emergency bailout pack
age to bolster the financial industry. The Asian and European bourses tumble. Th
e ninth India-Euruopean Union summit in Marseille, France welcomes India’s emerg
ence out of the nuclear denial regime. At least 25 persons are killed as the LTT
E bombs a military base in Vavuniya in
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coordination with a ground attack by “Black Tiger” suicide fighters. Sep. 30 Ind
ia and France sign a framework agreement for civil nuclear cooperation, after ta
lks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris
. Gurkhas win right to settle in Britain after a landmark judgment by the High C
ourt. Events in October 2008 Oct. 1 Sarvodaya couple Krishnammal Jagannathan and
Sankaralingam Jagannathan share the Right Livelihood Award or “alternative Nobe
l.” An American Journalist, a Swissborn doctor and an activist from Somalia are
the other winners. Russia’s Supreme Court rehabilitates the last Romanov monarch
Czar Nicholas II and his family killed by a revolutionary firing squad in 1918.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrates 50 years of operat
ion. The U.S. Senate approves a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.
Oct. 2 The U.S. Senate gives nod for the U.S.- India Agreement for Cooperation C
oncerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. The Awami National Party leader Asfan
dyar Wali Khan escapes bid on life by a suicide bomber in the North West Frontie
r Province, Pakistan. Oct. 5 Oct. 6 Russia begins pullback from Georgia. World s
tock markets plunge touching four-year lows in London and New York. Dow Jones go
es below the 10000-mark intraday since October 2004. Germany’s Harald Zur Hausen
and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier share the 20
08 Nobel Prize for medicine.
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Major General (Retd.) Janaka Perera is among 28 persons killed in a suicide bomb
attack in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Oct. 7 Two Japanese scientists, Makoto Kobay
ashi and Toshihide Maskawa and a Tokyoborn American citizen Yoichiro Nambu share
the 2008 Nobel Physics Prize for discoveries in sub-atomic particles. Thailand
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat flees from Parliament and his Deputy Chavalit Y
ongchaiyudh resigns following growing anti-government protests. Oct. 8 The U.S.
President George W. Bush signs the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Appro
val and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act in Washington. Osamu Shimomura of Japa
n and Americans Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien win the Nobel Chemistry Prize for
a fluorescent protein derived from a jellyfish. Maldivians cast votes in presid
ential polls. The Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolves Parliament and
calls for a snap poll on December 7. Russia finishes troops pullout from Georgi
a. Oct. 9 French writer Marie Gustave Le Clezio is awarded the Nobel Literature
Prize. The trial in the attack on the Glasgow airport on June 30, 2007 begins. W
all Street registers record losses. Oct. 10 Finland’s former President Martti Ah
tisaari is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a long career of peacemaking around
the world from Namibia to Kosovo. Fifty persons are killed and 100 others injur
ed after a suicide bomber strikes at a meeting of tribal elders in Pakistan’s Aw
rakzai region.
Japan’s Yamato Life Insurance Co. files for bankruptcy.
India signs a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement with the U.S. Oct. 11 Aust
rian extreme right leader Joerg Haider dies in a car crash near his home town of
Klagenfurt in Austria’s Carinthia province. The U.S. takes off North Korea of “
terror list.” Oct. 12 India’s Sister Alphonsa is declared a saint by Pope Benedi
ct XVI at a ceremony in Vatican City and named St. Alphonsa of Immaculate Concep
tion. Oct. 13 U.S. Economist Paul Krugman is awarded the Nobel Economics Prize f
or his trade analysis theory. Global stock markets soar as governments step in p
umping more money into banks crippled by the credit crunch. Oct. 14 Arvind Adiga
, the Chennai-born author wins the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for his debut novel
The White Tiger. Oct. 15 Stephen Harper is re-elected Canadian Prime Minister. M
alaysia bans the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) accusing it of threatening
national security. Oct. 22 India and Japan sign a declaration on security cooper
ation after talks between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Taro Aso in Tokyo.
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson sets out from New York on Yacht Virgin M
oney on a quest to break the world record for crossing the Atlantic set in March
2003. Oct. 23 A British team launches an attempt to set a new land speed record
with the
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Bloodhound Supersonic car that could reach 1,600 kmph. Oct. 24 Reforms agenda mu
st take on board the “economically damaging role of excessive speculative activi
ty,” says the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the seventh AsiaEurope meeting in
Beijing. British tycoon Richard Branson abandons bid to break the Trans Atlanti
c sailing record. Oct. 26 Eight persons are killed as U.S. troops launch a helic
opter raid on a Syrian village on the Iraqi border. Oct. 28 The LTTE drops two i
mprovised bombs on the Kelanitissa power station on the outskirts of Colombo, af
ter dropping three bombs on a military camp in Mannar district. Maldivians cast
ballots in run-off presidential polls. Oct. 29 Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed wins the M
aldivian presidential run-off unseating the incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at th
e helm for the past 30 years. At least 215 people are killed 375 injured and 15,
000 rendered homeless after a strong earthquake strikes a remote valley in Baloc
histan, Pakistan. The hilltop resort of Ziarat and eight surrounding villages be
ar the brunt. Oct. 30 The Sri Lankan Army wrests control of Nachchikuda ‘a major
strongpoint’ of the LTTE. Events in November 2008 Nov. 2 Rupiah Banda is sworn
in Zambian President. Russia, Libya sign a civilian nuclear deal.
Nov. 4
Democrat Senator from Illinois Barack Obama an African-American wins the U.S. pr
esidential polls defeating Republican John McCain. Iranian Parliament impeaches
Interior Minister Ali Kordan for being in possession of a fake Oxford University
honorary degree.
Nov. 6
Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk is crowned Bhutan’s Fifth Druk Gyalpo, or Dragon K
ing by his father Jigme Singye Wangchuk at a coronation ceremony in Thimphu.
Nov. 7
Fifty school children and teachers are killed after a school in Petionville on t
he outskirts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince caves in.Oman and India agree
to set up a joint investment fund whose seed money could go up to $1.5 billion.
Two MoUs inked to ensure welfare of Indian workforce and priority for Indians i
n recruitment. The U.K. revokes the visa of Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister, Th
akshin Shinatwara, making him unable to return to London where he has been livin
g in exile.
Nov. 8
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark loses power to John Key a multimillionair
e former banker in general elections. Twenty people are killed of gas poisoning
in an accident aboard a new Russian nuclear submarine, to be leased to India, du
ring underwater sea trial in the Sea of Japan.
Nov. 9
All the three perpetrators of the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia that
left 202 killed, on death row are executed by a firing squad at a prison complex
in central Java. China unveils a $570-billion stimulus package to offset advers
e global economic
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Page 42
conditions by boosting domestic demand. Nov. 10
India signs a “landmark” defence agreement with Qatar, besides pact on security
and law enforcement. At least 31 persons are killed and 71 wounded in twin bomb
blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Nov. 11
Mohammed Nasheed is sworn in Maldives President and Mohammed Waheed Hassan takes
oath as Vice-President.
Nov. 13
Global stock markets fall after Germany announces recession. The U.N. to send 3,
000 more troops to Congo to bolster the world’s largest peacekeeping mission. Il
ustrado, a novel by Filipino author Miguel Syjuco wins the $10,000 Man Asian Lit
erary Prize.
Nov. 14 Nov. 15
Ann E. Dunwoody becomes the first woman four-star general in the U.S. military.
The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moots a coordinated global fiscal stimulus to
mitigate the severity of recession addressing the G-20 Summit in Washington. Dec
laration focuses on reforming international financial institutions. The Sri Lank
an military captures Pooneryn, the last strategic sea base of the LTTE. Army ope
ns up a land route to Jaffna after 20 years.
Nov. 16
Somali pirates hijack Sirius Star, a Saudi Arabian oil supertanker 830 km off th
e Kenyan coast.
Nov. 17
Iraq and the U.S. sign troop pullout pact requiring Washington to withdraw its s
oldiers by 2011.
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Page 43
Japan slides into recession in seven years. Nov. 20 Nov. 22
Deepening global recessionary trend pushes the world stocks to 5-1/2 year lows.
I am for no-first-use of nuclear weapons, says the Pakistan President Asif Ali Z
ardari and assures Islamabad will not interfere in Jammu and Kashmir.
Nov. 23
The U.S. government to plough a fresh $20 billion to rescue banking giant Citigr
oup. To shoulder most of the potential losses on $306 billion of high risk asset
s.
Nov. 24
Hundreds of LTTE cadres are killed as the Sri Lankan military tries to gain cont
rol over Kilinochchi.People’s Alliance for Democracy, an umbrella alliance of an
tigovernment groups in Thailand lays siege to Parliament. Take control of state-
of-theart Suvarnabhumi airport.
Nov. 25
Maninderpal Singh Kohli is sentenced to lifer by a London court in the 2003 murd
er of 17-year-old British schoolgirl Hannah Foster. The British government rolls
out its controversial biometric identity cards scheme for non-European foreign
nationals.
Nov. 27
Iraq’s Parliament gives nod for a landmark military pact that will see all U.S.
troops pull out by 2011-end.
Events in December 2008 Dec. 1 Hillary Clinton is named U.S. Secretary of State,
Robert Gates to continue as Defence Secretary. Susan Rice to be Ambassador to t
he U.N. Dec. 2 An Iraqi Court condemns Saddam Hussein’s hatchetman ‘Chemical Ali
’ to death for war crimes. Thailand’s constitutional court unseats Prime Ministe
r Somchai Wongsawat and
disbands his People’s Power Party for electoral fraud.
Israel bids emotional farewell to Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka kil
led in the terror attack at Nariman House in Mumbai. Dec. 3 Norway becomes the f
irst signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions finalised in Dublin in May
. Dec. 4 Wrangling over pollution trading rights holds up a major climate change
accord even as EU Environment Ministers begin a key meeting in Brussels.Armed r
obbers pull off one of the world’s biggest jewellery heists at a Paris store and
make off with valuables worth $102 million. Dec. 5 At least 22 persons are kill
ed and 70 injured in a massive car bomb explosion in a crowded market in Peshawa
r in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. Dec. 6 The Malaysian State of Mala
cca presents ‘Datuk’ title to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, making him the fir
st foreign actor to get the honour. A youth Alexis Grigoropoulos dies in Greek p
olice firing after 30 youth attack a police car. Dec. 7 The London weekly, The O
bserver confirms that Mohammed Ajmal Amir, the lone surviving Mumbai mayhem susp
ect hails from Faridkot village in Okara district of Pakistan. At least 160 vehi
cles meant for use by the NATO forces in Afghanistan are destroyed by pro-Taliba
n militants in Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistan military mounts an “intelligence-led
operation” against a banned militant organisation in Pakistan – administered Ka
shmir and effects arrests of among others,
LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, suspected to be the mastermind behind the M
umbai attacks. Dec. 8 Hundred more NATO vehicles are set ablaze by militants at
a container depot in Peshawar.Krishnammal Jagannathan of Tamil Nadu receives the
Right Livelihood Award, known as alternative Nobel Prize in Stockholm. Grand fu
neral for Russia’s Orthodox Patriot Alexy II. Tribune Co., owner of the Los Ange
les Times, Chicago Tribune files for bankruptcy. Dec. 9 The Illinois Governor Ro
d Blagojevich is arrested for bid to sell U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s re
cently open Senate seat. Greek protesters clash with police guarding Parliament.
Unrest spreads across more than 10 cities. Lord Swraj Paul becomes the first As
ian Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords. Dec. 10 The former President o
f Finland Martti Ahtisaari is presented with the Nobel Peace Prize at a function
in the Norwegian capital Oslo. A general strike cripples Greece. Thousands take
out a march to Parliament. The slain former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir
Bhutto is awarded the U.N. Human Rights Award. The U.S. automakers get a $14 bil
lion government lifeline. Two Indian Navy officers of a large crude carrier are
jailed by a South Korean court for an oil spill on the Yellow Sea coast on Decem
ber 7, 2007. Dec. 11 Pakistan begins a countrywide crackdown on Lashkar-e-Taiba
front organisation
Page 46
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Jamat-ud-Dawah. and places its leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed under house arrest in
Lahore for three months following U.N. sanctions. At least 45 persons are kille
d and 93 injured in a suicide blast at a restaurant in Kirkuk, Iraq. U.S. Presid
ent – elect Barack Obama chooses Chinese – American Steven Chu for Energy Secret
ary post. The U.S. Senate rejects the Federal government’s bailout package for t
roubled auto majors General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Bernard Madoff, former ch
airman, Nasdaq Stock Market is arrested for a $ 50 billion fraud.Dec. 12. A Brit
ish court absolves Scotland Yard officers who shot dead a Brazilian youth Jean C
harles de Menezes at a London underground station on July 22, 2005 mistaking him
to be a terrorist of unlawful killing. Dec. 12 Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso
announces a new $255 billion stimulus package to shore up his country’s economy
. Asian stocks tumble on hefty losses on the Wall Street. The U.N. Framework Con
vention on Climate Change Summit in Poznan, Poland operationalises an Adaptation
Fund. Dec. 13 Ksenya Sukhinova is crowned Miss World 2008 at an extravaganza in
the South African capital Johannesburg. Dec. 14 The first model of Japan’s bull
et train has a farewell run 44 years after it transformed overland travel. Somal
ia’s Prime Minister Hassan Hussein Nur is sacked by the President Abdullahi
Yusuf Ahmed. Dec. 15
China and Taiwan start direct air and sea transport and postal services, a histo
rical step in cross-strait relations. Thailand’s House of Representatives elects
Abhisit Vejjajiva Prime Minister. Najam Sethi Editor-in-Chief of Friday Times a
nd Daily Times in Pakistan is awarded the 2009 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual
freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers.
Dec. 16
The Woolwich Crown Court finds a U.K. – based Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla guilty
of plotting to bomb the Glasgow airport on June 30, 2007.
Dec. 17
Bangladesh lifts emergency that was imposed in January 2007 ahead of parliamenta
ry polls slated for December 29.The Time magazine names U.S. President – elect B
arack Obama Person of The Year 2008.
Dec. 18
The U.N. – based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sentences to life Th
eoneste Bagosora for masterminding the 1994 genocide. Rangzieb Ahmed, a British
Pakistani, accused of being a high-profile Al-Qaeda activist is found guilty of
“directing terrorism”.
Dec. 19
NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul creates history by becoming the first Asian to
preside over the House Of Lords. Hamas ends six-month-old ceasefire with Israel
. The U.S. gives $ 13.4 billion in emergency loans to prevent the collapse of Ge
neral Motors and Chrysler. Japan unveils Auriga Leader, the world’s first large
ship partially using solar power at
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Page 48
a shipyard in Kobe. Dec. 22
A 36-member Thailand Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjejiva is sworn
in in Bangkok.
Dec. 23
Australia’s high-power probe clears Dr. Mohamed Haneef saying he “was wrongly ch
arged” in July 2007 on suspected links to a terrorist plot in Britain.
Dec. 24 Dec. 27 Dec. 29
Palestinian fighters in Gaza launch a barrage of rockets into Israel. Over 200 p
ersons are killed in an Israeli air raid on Gaza. The Awami League-led Grand All
iance heading for a landslide in Bangladesh elections. Somalia’s President Abdul
lahi Yusuf Ahmed resigns.
Dec. 30
The Awami League gets a massive mandate bagging 230 seats in the 299-member Parl
iament. Israel begins naval attack even as the toll in the air raid touches 385.
An Air New Zealand jet part fuelled by vegetable oil completes a two-hour fligh
t.
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