2006 - The Year in Review

Hello people, here i am again to bother you with yet another post. But this time its not going to be utter rubbish-I'm trying to make some sense here. I'll be reviewing something. Yeah, lets go back in time and see how 2006 behaved. It is fun reviewing a whole year and that too from a global perspective. A lot of issues have been studied and discussed and then, finally, posted here. Be it the Sensex, FIFA World Cup, Mittal-Arcelor, 7/11, you name it. 2006 was very eventful and recapitulating the events which have 'been there, done that', would definitely be interesting. Hope all my readers enjoy it... so here we go... (In the process, I will be making an effort to revive a lost tradition. I'll try and use English as purely as possible. I'll try and make people realise how beautiful the original English language is. No sms-lingo, no internet-jargon, just pure English. PURE, ENGLISH! u gEt it??? juz pURe eng mAtE ^^^ err... :p)

THE 2006 NEWSMAKERS

The Reservations Debate

Hmmm... here's an interesting one for you first up. This is something i feel for, very strongly. Anti-reservation protests took place in various parts of India in opposition to the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) decision to implement reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in central and private institutes of higher education.
The human resource development minister Arjun Singh promised to implement a 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in institutes of higher education (IITs, NITs, IIMs and AIIMS). Students protested against this reservation, as the proposal, if implemented, would reduce seats for the general category from the existing 77.5 per cent to 50.5 per cent. Others also protested claiming that the governments's proposal was driven by vote-bank politics. The student against reservation formed a group 'Youth for Equality' and demanded that the government should roll back its decision.
On the 13th of May 2006, medical students protesting in Mumbai were lathi-charged by the police. The health infrastructure of a number of cities was crippled as the resident doctors too joined the medical students in the nationwide strike. Nearly 150 students went on a month long hunger strike in AIIMS. On 27 May, a huge rally was organized in Delhi. Almost 1 lakh participants from all over India attended the rally and it was declared that the strike by students and junior doctors would continue. A national coordination committee, comprising representatives of medical colleges, IITs and other institutions was formed to lead the agitation. Later the government assured the students that the number of seats in the concerned institutes will be increased so that the total number of general category seats was not affected.

Mumbai 7/11

Our very own 9/11 version, wasnt it? On 11 July 2006, Mumbai experienced a major terror blow that brought back memories of the 1993 serial blasts and the London Underground bombings. The financial capital of India was hit by a series of seven bomb blasts, targeted at the local trains, the backbone of Mumbai's transportation system. The first blast took place at 6.24 p.m., and the explosions continued for approximately eleven minutes, until 6.35. About 200 people died and over 700 were injured. The blasts took place at Matunga, Khar, Mahim, Jogeshwari, Borivali and Bhayandar; most of them were on moving trains while two were at stations. India's rail systems and airports were put on high alert after the explosions in Mumbai. Mumbai's entire rail network was shut down. Phone lines to Mumbai from New Delhi were jammed.
On 14 July, Lashkar-e-Qahhar, a terrorist organisation possibly linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the bombings. In an e-mail to an Indian TV channel, it said that the blasts were part of a series of attacks aimed at other sites such as the Mumbai International Airport, the Gateway of India, Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in New Delhi.
On 26 October, Mumbai police released the full list of terrorists wanted for the 7/11 blasts; most of them were Pakistani nationals.

India-USA Nuclear Deal

Yaaaayyy!!! USA and India finalised a nuclear deal after talks between President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi when the former visited India in February-March 2006. For India, which has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), this nuclear deal will end years of international isolation over its nuclear policy and will give access to US civil nuclear technology. The deal required approval from US Congress, which will then be asked to pass legislation allowing civil nuclear cooperation to go ahead. The approval has been given. This deal is one big success of the current UPA regime.
This deal will boost global efforts to develop new sources of energy, particularly those that won't increase the level of climate-warming gases. In exchange for this import, India will disentangle its civilian nuclear programme from its weapons-building facilities, subjecting the civilian side to inspections designed to ensure that the technology isn't diverted for military purposes.

The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of the Sensex

The Sensitive Index has never been so sensitive! During the past three years, the Sensex has almost tripled. It was the second-best performer in the period, behind only Pakistan's Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index. India delivered the second-fastest pace of growth among the world's twenty-biggest economies, thereby drawing international investors. Sensex passed the magical 12,000 mark on 20 April 2006. On the 11th of May it reached an all-time high of 12,671. On 18 May, the Sensex registered an 826-points fall to close at 11,391. This largest ever intra-day crash in the history of Sensex led to suspension of trading for the first time since 17 May 2004. The downward slide continued. On 6 June, the Sensex closed below 10,000; on 14 June, below 9,000. The flow of foreign funds out of the economy was sighted as the major reason. However, the market managed to bounce back. By the end of June, the Sensex moved up to cross the 10,000 mark again; September 15, crossed the 12,000 mark. On the 13th of Oct (my month), the Sensex registered a new all-time high of 12,690; 16 October, 12,953. On the 30th of October, the Sensex crossed the 13,000 mark for the very first time. I'd like you to allow me to include 4 January 2007 too here, because the Sensex crossed 14,000 that day. The bull-run shall, hopefully, continue.

FIFA World Cup 2006

I love this game! The 2006 edition of FIFA World Cup was the eighteenth of its kind, held from 9 June to 9 July in Germany. Italy won title defeating France in a penalty shootout in the final. This was Italy's fourth world championship title. Germany defeated Portugal to finish third.
Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six continents participated in the qualification process. Thirty-two teams qualified from this process for the final tournament.
The finals were played in twelve German cities and in total, sixty-four games were played. The opening match was played between Germany and Costa Rica at Munich. In the group stage the thirty-two teams were divided into eight groups of four teams each. Two best teams from each group then advanced to the knockout stage.
Almost all expected teams qualified for the knockout. Even in the quarter-finals, all the favourite teams from the knockout stage registered their berth. Germany beat Argentina, Portugal beat England, France and Italy did the same to Brazil and Ukraine respectively.
In the semi-finals Italy beat Germany while France beat Portugal. Germany defeated Portugal to finish third.
An unusual incident in the final match was Zidane's angry reaction to comments made by Italian defender Marco Materazzi. Near the end of extra-time, Zidane firmly planted his head into Materazzi's chest and was sent-off by the referee. The score remained 1-1 after extra-time and Italy won 5-3 on penalties.
The various awards: Golden Ball - Zinedine Zidane (FRA), Silver Ball - Fabio Cannavaro (ITA), Bronze Ball - Andrea Pirlo (ITA), Lev Yeshin (best goalkeeper) - Gianlugi Buffon (ITA), Golden Boot - Miroslav Klose (GER), Young Player - Lucas Podolski (GER).
Players received a record-breaking 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards, with the match between Portugal and the Netherlands accounting for sixteen yellows and four reds.

Pluto is No Longer A Planet

Sniff, sniff!!! Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. Pluto's small size and orbit had been long argued by some astronomers. On 24 August 2006, the International Astronomical Union passed a new definitionof planet that excludes Pluto and puts it in a new category of 'dwarf planet'.
Scientists agrred that for a celestial body to qualify as a planet:
- it must be in orbit around the sun
- it must be large enough that it takes on a nearly round shape
- it must have cleared its orbit of other objects
Pluto was automatically disqualified because its highly elliptical orbit overlaps with that of Neptune. A non-satellite body fulfilling only the first two of these criteria is classified as a dwarf planet, while that satisfying only the first criterion is termed a 'small solar system body' (SSSB). The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially identified Ceres, Pluto and 2003 U B313 (Eris) as dwarf planets. People all over the world protested against this move of the IAU because a relatively small percentage of the 9000-strong membership had participated in the final voting.

Mittal Steel and Arcelor Deal

I loved Mittal's 'Never Say Die' attitude. In January 2006, the Netherland-based Mittal Steel made a $22.3 billion bid (phewww!!! almost 1 lakh crores) for Luxembourg-based Arcelor to create a mega-steel company with an output three times bigger than its three nearest rivals combined. Mittal Steel and Arcelor were the world's largest and second-largest steel manufacturers, respectively. Loss of jobs was the major concern due to which France, Luxembourg and Spain governments objected against this bid. Finally Mittal Steel and Arcelor of Luxembourg agreed upon a 26.9 billion euros ($33.6 billion) merger to create a steel group. The new business is called Arcelor Mittal.

Australia Sets Record ODI Score, South Africa Breaks it, Sri Lanka Breaks it again

You think you know this game? Think again! On 12 March 2006 at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, one-day cricket was at its best. In an ODI contested between Australia and South Africa, Australia batted first and how!!! They piled up a jaw-dropping total of 434 runs for the loss of just 4 wickets in their alloted quota of 50 overs, setting the highest team score in an ODI surpassing the previous best of Sri Lanka's 398, set in 1998. The Aussie batsmen were in a destructive mood, and their captain Ricky Ponting led the way with a 105-ball 164. Now if that wasn't enough, then there's more. This record lasted for only a few hours as South Africa successfully chased that mammoth total. Herschelle Gibbs made a 111-ball 175 and the South Africans reached the target with one ball to spare. Thier unbelievable score of 438 for 9 was the new highest ODI score ever. What they did not know was that Sri Lanka were waiting for an opportunity to regain the record once more. The Sri Lankans accomplished this against the Dutch team in Amsteelveen on 4 July 2006 by scoring 443 for 9 in 50 overs, setting the world record of the highest one-day international total afresh. The total number of runs scored in a single day in the Wanderers match (872) is, however, a record that is likely to stand for some time to come.

Death of Pramod Mahajan

This was one of the saddest days of the year! On the morning of 22 April 2006, Pramod Mahajan, former Union minister and a master-strategist, fund raiser and election manager of the Bharatiya Janta Party, was shot by his younger brother Pravin Mahajan inside the former's apartment in Mumbai. He was taken to the Hinduja hospital where they found out that he had multiple organ failure and he underwent an operation on 23 April. After fighting for twelve days, Mahajan suffered from cardiac arrest and died on 3 May 2006. He was fifty-six.

The Youngest Long Distance Runner

Chhote Miyan! Four-year-old Budhia Singh is the world's youngest marathon runner. Considered an athletic phenomenon, Budhia, born in Bhubaneshwar, has participated in races of upto 60 kms which he ran in roughly six hours and thirty minutes. On 1 May 2006, Budhia completed a 65 km run from Puri to Bhubaneshwar injust over six hours.

Jet Airways-Air Sahara Deal Falls Through

On 21 June 2006, Jet Airways' deal to buy Air Sahara fell through after a deadline to complete it passed without an agreement. The $500 million deal would have been the biggest in India's aviation, creating the country's largest airline. Jet Airways pulled out of the deal, claiming that it did not receive the necessary regulatory approvals before the final date of closure of the deal.

Warren Buffet Donates $37 billion to Charity

What, on mother earth, was he thinking! On 25 June 2006, Warren Buffet announced a donation of about $37 billion to Bill Gates' charitable foundation. The donation is supposedly the largest-ever charitable gift in the US. He will hand over 10 million shares in his Berkshire Hathaway firm to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Prince Makes Headlines

It was princely down there! Prince, a six-year old boy who fell into a borewell in Kurukshetra, topped the media charts for the 21-23 July 2006 weekend, till he was rescued by the army on Sunday.

Kiran Desai's The Inheritance Of Loss wins the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction

You've made us proud lady! On the 10th of October 2006, Kiran Desai's novel The Inheritance of Loss' won the very prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for 2006. Harvey McGrath, Chairman of the Man Group plc, presented Kiran Desai with a cheque of 50,000 Pounds. Kiran Desai is the first Indian-born writer to win the prestigious literary award since Arundhati Roy. Desai is also the youngest woman ever to win the Booker in its thirty-eight-year history.

Amitabh Bachchan Awarded Legion d'Honneur

Congratulations Big B, err... Dr. Amitabh Bachchan. On 11 October 2006, Amitabh Bachchan's sixty-fourth birthday, the French government announced that it is conferring its highest honour, the Legion d'Honneur, on the Legend on Indian cinema. French President Jacques Chirac bestowed the honour on Bachchan as a tribute to his exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond.

Racing Legend Michael Schumacher Retires

We'll miss you Schumi! Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher retired from Formula One after the Brazilian Grand Prix on 22 October 2006. He ended his career with a record ninety-one F1 titles including seven in his final season. Schumi also holds tha record for the most Grand Prix starts (250) and most pole positions (68). He won the driver's world championship in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. He's statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen, and the most successful Formula One driver in history. He was the world's first billionaire athlete, with an annual salary reported to be around $80 million in 2004.

That is it friends. This is all i could manage, and i hope it did make sense this time. As you can see, 2006 was a very eventful year. Lots more could be written about it still, but then, i can't take my readers for granted, yet again. The figures and all the essential facts mentioned in the post have been collected from a trusted source, whose identity I'm not going to reveal. Who will read my blog then? After having all these (and more) events in it, 2006 passed by even before we could say 'Happy New Year'. 2-bond or 2-007 (:p) is here and will hopefully have a greater number of happy events than 2006. Your thoughts about the year-gone and the year-ahead will be appreciated. So do not hesistate in posting your comments.

Thank You.