Year 2011 : Recap

As today is the last working day of the year 2011 and I don't have any work to do (:-P), I decided to utilize it by writing a small summary for the year that was. I intend to compile a few important stories that touched us all through the year. Here it goes:

January '11:

# MNP launched in India. Mr. Manmohan Singh launched MNP in India on Jan 20th.Now, mobile subscribers in all service areas across the country have the choice of selecting their telecom service provider within the Licensed Service Area without changing their number provided a minimum period of 90 days has elapsed after subscription to the mobile service of the current service provider.

# Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi passed away on January 24, 2011. He was an Indian vocalist in the Hindustani classical tradition. A member of the Kirana Gharana (school), he is renowned for the khayal form of singing, as well as for his popular renditions of devotional music (bhajans and abhangs). He was the most recent recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, awarded in 2008.

You might remember him from the popular Doordashan video "mile sur mera tumhara...".

February '11:

# The Central Bureau of Investigation on Feb 2 arrested the former Union Communications and Information Technology Minister, A. Raja, and two officers who had worked under him, for their role in the grant of licences and allocation of 2G spectrum during 2008 in violation of established guidelines and procedures.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India had in its report estimated a presumptive loss ranging from Rs. 57,000 crore to Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer in the allocation of spectrum in 2007-08.

# The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup kick started. It was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It was Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a World Cup. Fourteen national cricket teams competed in the tournament, including ten full members and four associate members. The first match was played on 19 February 2011 with co-hosts India and Bangladesh facing off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. The opening ceremony was held on 17 February 2011 at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka.

 March '11:

# Powerful Quake and Tsunami Devastate Northern Japan on March 11. It was no normal Saturday morning as Japan reeled after an earthquake and a tsunami struck it in deadly tandem. The 8.9-magnitude earthquake set off a devastating tsunami that sent walls of water washing over coastal cities in the north. Concerns mounted over possible radiation leaks from two nuclear plants near the earthquake zone.

April '11:

 # It was a moment cherished by a billion Indians on Saturday. The moment India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lifted the glittering ICC World Cup, ending a 28-year drought of World one-day championship wins for a cricket mad nation.

India won the tournament defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final in Mumbai. India became the first nation to win a World Cup final on home soil. India's Yuvraj Singh was declared the man of the tournament.

# Anna Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nation-wide protests in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.

May '11:

# Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said. Bin Laden was shot dead at a compound near Islamabad, in a ground operation based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged last August. Mr Obama said US forces took possession of the body after "a firefight". Bin Laden is believed to have ordered the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001 and a number of others. He was top of the US' "most wanted" list.

The son of a wealthy Saudi construction family, Bin Laden grew up in a privileged world. But soon after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan he joined the mujahideen there and fought alongside them with his Arab followers, a group that later formed the nucleus for al-Qaeda.

# Mamata Banerjee, who ended the uninterrupted 34-year reign of the Left in West Bengal, scripted history when she was sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of the state at the head of a Trinamool Congress-Congress coalition government.

The 56-year-old leader was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of the state at an impressive ceremony here by Governor M K Narayanan, who also administered the oath of office and secrecy to her.

June '11:

# M F Husain died, aged 95, on 9 June 2011, following a heart attack. He had been unwell for several months. He died at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery on 10 June 2011.

Maqbool Fida Husain commonly known as MF, was an eminent painter of Indian origin, although a Qatari national at the time of his death. He has been widely regarded as the "Picasso of India" and has influenced a whole generation of artists in the country.

July '11:

# Three bomb blasts rocked India's largest city, Mumbai, in congested areas during the evening rush hour Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring more than 100 others.

The bombings Wednesday brought back haunting memories in a city that has suffered before, including the massive assault by Pakistani gunmen that killed 164 people in November 2008.

Forensic experts and security forces using sniffer dogs pored over the bloody scenes, looking for evidence. Dazed survivors were comforted and police hosed down burning debris in the streets.

August '11:

# London Riots. Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson.

Following a peaceful march on 6 August 2011 in relation to the police response to the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by Metropolitan Police Service firearms officers on 4 August 2011, a riot began in Tottenham, North London. In the following days, rioting spread to several London boroughs and districts and eventually to some other areas of England, with the most severe disturbances outside London occurring in Bristol and cities in the Midlands and North West of England. Related localised outbreaks also occurred in many smaller towns and cities in England.

# Veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, hailed as 'Elvis Presley of India' and whose famous yell 'Yahoo' signified the arrival of a rebel star against the reigning trio of his time Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar, passed away here on Aug 14 morning due to chronic renal failure.

Shammi Kapoor is hailed as one of the most entertaining lead actors that Hindi cinema has ever produced. He was one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema during the late 1950s, the 1960s and early '70s. He made his Bollywood debut in 1953 with the film Jeevan Jyoti, and went on to deliver hits like Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Dil Tera Diwana, Professor, China Town, Rajkumar, Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Vidhaata. He received the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1968 for his performance in Brahmachari and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Vidhaata in 1982.

September '11:

#  Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a protest movement which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters. The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption, and the undue influence of corporations—particularly from the financial services sector—on government. The protesters' slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing income and wealth inequality in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. The protests in New York City have sparked similar Occupy protests and movements around the world.

# A strong earthquake shook northeastern India and Nepal on 18 September evening, touching off landslides, wrecking buildings and sending people fleeing into the streets of Katmandu, the Nepalese capital, and other cities.

At least 111 people were killed in the earthquake. Most of the deaths occurred in Sikkim, with reports of fatalities in and near Singtam in the East Sikkim district. Several buildings collapsed in Gangtok. The quake came just a few days after an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hit Haryana's Sonipat district, sending tremors in New Delhi.

October '11:

  # Steven P. Jobs, the charismatic technology pioneer who co-founded Apple Inc. and transformed one industry after another, from computers and smartphones to music and movies, has died. He was 56.

Apple announced the death of Jobs — whose legacy included the Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

# Dennis Ritchie, founder of Unix and C, dies at 70. He was an American computer scientist who "helped shape the digital era." He created the C programming language and, with long-time colleague Ken Thompson, the Unix operating system. Ritchie was the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department when he retired in 2007. He was the 'R' in K&R C and commonly known by his username dmr.

The C language is widely used today in application, operating system, and embedded system development, and its influence is seen in most modern programming languages. Unix has also been influential, establishing concepts and principles that are now precepts of computing. Salute to him!!!

November '11:

#  Celebrated Indian singer Bhupen Hazarika dies. Hazarika was best known for his folk songs and ballads, sung in a number of Indian languages, but he also sang and wrote music for hundreds of films.

He was known as the Bard of Brahmaputra after the river flowing through his native Assam state in eastern India. He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Indian cinema's highest honour, for his contribution to film music. He sang one of my favourite songs "dil hoom hoom kare...".

Known for writing bold lyrics with themes of communal amity, universal justice and empathy, his songs have become popular among all sections of ethnic and religious communities in Assam, besides West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is acknowledged widely in the Hindi film industry for introducing Hindi film to the sounds and folk music of Assam and Northeast India.

December '11:

# India's Sehwag smashes world record 219 in one-day international. India's Virender Sehwag plundered the highest score in one-day international cricket as his team routed the West Indies by 153-runs Thursday to clinch their five-match series.

Sehwag broke the previous best of 200 not out by his legendary compatriot Sachin Tendulkar as he took advantage of a perfect batting wicket at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

He picked up 25 boundaries and seven sixes, surviving a dropped catch by West Indies captain Darren Sammy while on 170.

He was finally caught in the deep off Kieron Pollard after putting on 176 for the first wicket with Gautam Gambhir (67) and 140 for the second with Suresh Raina (55).

# Bollywood legend Dev Anand dies at 88 in London. His career spanned more than 65 years with acting in 114 Hindi films of which 110 have him play the main lead actor.

The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002 for his contribution to Indian cinema.

His films included Guide, Paying Guest and Jewel Thief. Over the course of his 65-year career, which began in 1946, Anand became one of India's iconic actor-directors.

He was the evergreen superstar of Indian Cinema.



That's all from me. In case, I have missed something, do suggest! ;)

//Shivam