A clutch of Indians and issues related to India occupied news space in the world this year with names like Savita Halappanavar, Jacintha Saldnha, Rajat Gupta and Sunita Williams hogging front page news headlines, even as crimes against Indians like the Gurudwara shootings triggered global outrage in 2012.
The fag end of the year saw a 31-year old woman arrested and charged with hate crime murder for shoving an Indian immigrant to death onto a subway train track in New York.
31-year-old Indian woman dentist Savita Halappanavar died in Ireland after doctors refused to terminate her 17-week-long pregnancy, triggering a global outrage and leading to Ireland announcing a change in its abortion policy.
In the UK a hoax call made by two Australian DJs led to the suicide of Indian nurse Jacintha Saldnha.
There were also a number of cases of hate crimes against NRIs this year with one of worst being the killing of six worshippers at a Gurudwara in Wisconsin.
Later in the year, a 24-year Indian student in Bonn was brutally attacked by Islamic extremists.
Three Indians were charged with attempted murder of Praveen Reddy, a student who was critically stabbed in Newham.
An Indian couple facing criminal charges of child abuse in Norway were convicted with the father getting an 18-month jail term and mother being sentenced to 15 months.
Earlier, two NRI children, Abhigyan and Aishwarya, who were kept in foster care by authorities in Norway for nearly a year returned to India after a protracted legal battle and diplomatic pressure.
On the economic front, Wall Street tycoon Rajat Gupta was sentenced to prison for securities fraud and insider trading.
The US witnessed one of the deadliest shootings when a 20-year-old-gunman kills his mother and 27 people including 20 children, when he goes on a shooting rampage inside a US school.
Earlier a masked gunman opens fire at a cinema in Denver killing 12 people.
On a positive note, astronaut Sunita Williams who was commander of the International Space Station, returned to earth after 127 days in space with a new record. Closer home, Bilawal Bhutto makes a formal entry into Pakistan politics.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and interior minister Rehman Malik visit India. Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits India and met the Prime Minister and other leaders.
Other major global news events were: Mohamed Mursi became the fifth President of Egypt.
Barack Obama won a second term as US President. Japan elected a new prime minister Shinzo Abe. Xi Jinping became the ruling Community Party’s General Secretary. Queen Elizabeth celebrated her diamond jubilee – 60 years on the British throne. Russians elect their president Vladamir Putin.
South Koreans elected a new parliament and Thailand elected a new Senate.
In France the Socialist Party’s Francois Hollande defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Following is the diary of events during 2011: Jan 1: Washington: US President Barack Obama signs into law a massive 662-billion defence spending bill that also seeks to suspend a big chunk of USD 1.
1 billion military aid to Pakistan, despite his “serious reservations” about provisions regulating detention and prosecution of suspected terrorists.
Jan 1: Islamabad: India and Pakistan exchange lists of their nuclear installations and facilities under a two-decade -old pact prohibiting attacks on atomic assets, days after senior officials of the two sides held talks here on nuclear and conventional CBMs.
Jan 5: New York: New York private detective is sentenced to 32 years in prison for raping his Indian-origin girlfriend and then implicating her in one of the most elaborate frame-ups in US history for which she was wrongly jailed for seven months.
Jan 5: Washington: The US State Department has posted on its website a new map of India reflecting its long-standing position on the country’s geographical boundaries, acknowledging that it had earlier made a “goof up” that triggers strong protest from New Delhi.
Jan 6: London: The grief-stricken parents of Anuj Bidve makes a tearful visit to the spot where the Indian student was shot dead in an apparent hate crime, as Prime Minister David Cameron gave a personal reassurance that those behind the “horrific” crime would be brought to justice.
Jan 8: Islamabad: Amidst continuing tensions between Pakistan’s government and the powerful army over the memo scandal, President Asif Ali Zardari has said that no one had sought his resignation to defuse the political crisis, making light of suggestions that the military had offered him an “escape” route.
Jan 9: Kuala Lumpur: In a stunning climax to a two year old trial, a Malaysian court acquits opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy charges, and the admittedly surprised former deputy premier immediately set his sights on pushing out the long-serving ruling coalition.
Jan 10: Houston: Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American governor in the US and a possible contender for the White House in future, begins his second term as the chief of Louisiana following a landslide victory.
Jan 10: Jerusalem: India and Israel vows to upgrade their relations in all fields amid the emphasis by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on working out a joint strategy to “checkmate” the scourge of terrorism affecting both the countries.
Jan 13: Vienna: A high-level UN nuclear agency delegation will visit Iran in late January to try to clear up allegations of a covert weapons programme and soothe tensions between Tehran and the West.
Jan 14: Zubair(Iraq): A bomb tears through a procession of Shiae pilgrims heading toward a largely Sunni town in southern Iraq,killing at least 53 people in the latest sign of a power struggle between rival Muslim sects that has escalated since the American military withdrawal.
Jan 14: Islamabad: Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appears to reach out to the powerful army but the powerful Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is reported to have adopted a tough stance and wants withdrawal of his statements critical of the military.
Jan 15: Moscow: A Russian space probe designed to boost the nation’s pride on a bold mission to a moon of Mars comes down in flames, showering fragments into the south Pacific west of Chile’s coast.
Jan 15: Colombo: Ahead of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna’s visit here, India and Sri Lanka agree to step up dialogue among fishermen communities of both countries and discuss measures for faster release of those arrested for intrusion in each other’s waters.
Jan 17: Colombo: India asks Sri Lanka to “seize” the opportunity of achieving genuine national reconciliation through recommendations of a post-war panel, as Colombo assures it of its commitment to resolve the long-standing ethnic conflict by devolving powers to the Tamil-dominated provinces.
Jan 17: Gigilo Island (Italy): The captain of the doomed Italian cruise liner denies he had abandoned ship, as rescue divers find another five bodies in the wreckage, bringing the death toll to 11.
Jan 18: Islamabad: Pakistani authorities will arrest former President Pervez Musharraf if he returns to the country as announced at the end of January after nearly three years in self-exile, says Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
Jan 18: New York/Houston: Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia and other popular websites go dark as search engine Google blotted its logo as part of protests to stop Internet piracy legislation being considered by the US Congress.
Jan 19: London: Thirty-seven people, including actor Jude Law reach out-of-court settlement with media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News International in cases related phone-hacking, with the possibility that more people of the 742 victims may make claims in future.
Jan 20: Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina accuses the “desperate” opposition of “plotting” against her government after the army foils a coup plot by some “fanatic” serving and retired military officers.
Jan 21: Islamabad: Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim says that Islamabad can grant “full” Most Favoured Nation-status to India only after a “negative list” trade regime between the two countries is phased out.
Jan 21: Abuja: At least 162 people are killed and several others,including Indians injured as militants launch a series of coordinated bomb attacks targeting police stations and the headquarters of Nigeria’s secret police in the Muslim dominated northern city of Kano.
Jan 22: New York: Two days after he scrapped his plans to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival citing threats to his life, an “angry” Salman Rushdie charges that he is being lied to by the Rajasthan police, who “invented” a plot to keep him away from the event.
Jan 22: Islamabad/Washington: Controversial Pakistani- American businessman Mansoor Ijaz charges that Pakistan government is behind a “massive cover-up” under which it is trying to prevent him from testifying in Islamabad over memo scandal.
Jan 23: Brussels: The EU slaps an embargo on Iran’s oil exports as part of a package of tough new sanctions aimed at blocking funds for Tehran’s suspect nuclear drive and pressing it to return to talks.
Jan 24: Abuja: There is no let up in violence in Nigeria as the toll from the last week’s multiple bombings and gun attacks by radical Islamists in the northern city of Kano touches 185, including an Indian national from Gujarat.
Jan 25: Washington: Stepping up his campaign against outsourcing, US President Barack Obama announces a series of measures that would offer incentives to those firms which will create jobs in the country, a move that may also affect companies in India.
Jan 26: Washington: A host of issues like the civil nuclear cooperation, Iran and Afghanistan figure in talks between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian envoy Nirupama Rao, with both agreeing to work for consolidating the “tremendous progress” made in boosting Indo-US strategic ties.
Jan 26: Washington: Indian pharma major Ranbaxy faces the possibility of a permanent injunction which requires it to make fundamental changes to its plants both in the US and India and will prevent it from manufacturing drugs at certain facilities in the US.
Jan 27: Washington: Twitter announces that it can now selectively censor tweets on a country-by-country basis, a move which may augur well for India which reportedly urged social media websites to remove offensive contents.
Jan 27: Dubai: Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf defers his plans to return home from self-exile after repeated threats by the country’s leadership that the former general would be arrested upon arrival, an official of his party says.
Jan 28: Davos: India and the European Union (EU)say they are making steady progress towards concluding the ambitious bilateral trade opening pact on goods, services and investment.
Jan 28: Davos: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says there was “no chance” of a military coup in Pakistan as the army desires democracy and stability in the country.
Jan 29: Davos: The 5-day annual World Economic Forum meeting concludes here with global CEOs listing job creation, income inequality and high energy prices as the most pressing areas of concern in 2012 for the world economy, including emerging markets like India.
Jan 30: New York: Asking Pakistani government to take on the military and intelligence services, Human Rights Watch blasts the ISI and calls for redoubling of efforts to identify the killers of investigative reporter Saleem Shahzad Jan 31: London: A Lithuanian national arrested in the UK for the twin murders of Indian-origin Avtar Singh Kolar and his British wife in Birmingham earlier this month, was found hanging in jail.
Jan 31: Chicago: US government has asked a court here to deny Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Rana’s plea for a new trial in cases related to the Mumbai and Denmark terror plots, arguing that the court was right in convicting him for aiding Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Feb 1: London: Four al-Qaeda inspired Britons, including a man of Indian origin, has pleaded guilty to plotting a Mumbai-style attack on the London Stock Exchange, the American embassy and other targets during the run up to Christmas in 2010.
Feb 1: London: A “disappointed” British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would do “everything he can” to “encourage” India to reconsider its decision to acquire 126 French-made Rafale fighter jets instead of the UK-backed Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.
Feb 3: Kuala Lumpur: Indian Air Force Chief N A K Browne holds wide ranging talks with authorities here on bilateral defence cooperation in a bid to further bolster strong military ties with the key South-East Asian neighbour.
Feb 5: Washington: Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney secures an overwhelming victory in the Nevada caucuses, recording his second straight win that cemented his position as the party front-runner to take on President Barack Obama in the November 6 polls.
Feb 5: London: Public unease has given way to increasing fury here over giving millions of pounds in aid to an increasingly prosperous India, as the David Cameron government continues to resist pressure to stop it despite being in the throes of an economic crisis.
Feb 6: Islamabad: Acknowledging that Pakistan “cannot afford wars” in the 21st century, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the Kashmir issue will have to be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Feb 7: Colombo: Describing India’s Sri Lanka policy as “too north-centric”, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy seeks more Indian engagement in developmental projects in this country, even as he advocated the need for a political solution to the Tamil issue.
Feb 8: Washington: The Indo-Iran rice trade will not be “sanctioned” under the American curbs on Tehran as food and medical exports were exempted from the measures, a top US official says, amid reports that the Islamic republic was defaulting on rice payments to India.
Feb 8: Beijing: Describing Tibet issue as an internal affair of China, India says it was “willing to offer any help” to ease the recent spurt in tensions, striking a cautious note on the self immolations by Buddhist monks and subsequent violence.
Feb 9: Beijing: Concerned over the Chinese troop presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India takes up the issue with the top leadership.
Feb 10: Beijing: Describing the situation in Tibet as “grave”, China orders authorities there to prepare themselves for “a war against secessionist sabotage” by the Dalai Lama amid reports that security forces shot dead two Tibetan protesters.
Feb 11: Male: Maldives’ ousted president Mohammed Nasheed says he was disappointed with India over its response to the political turmoil without having properly understood the ground situation in his country.
Feb 12: Male: Maldives’ new President Mohamed Waheed Hassan inducts seven members into his expanded cabinet, including the country’s first woman Attorney General and an aide of former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, as he tries to cement his position as the head of a ‘unity government’.
Feb 12: London: Three Indians have been charged with attempted murder of Praveen Reddy, an MBA student here, who was critically stabbed in Newham here.
Feb13: Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Iran and its “protege” Hezbollah of carrying out the twin bomb attacks on Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia.
Feb 14: Jerusalem: Israel goes into a state of heightened alert following attacks in India and Georgia, and botched attempts in Thailand, accusing Iran of posing a danger not only to the region’s stability but the world as a whole.
Feb 14: Bangkok: An Iranian sets off three blasts in Bangkok, blowing off his own legs while one of his compatriots was arrested when he attempts to flee to Malaysia, a day after Israeli embassy cars are targeted in Indian and Georgian capitals.
Feb 15: Jerusalem: Accusing Iran of being the world’s “biggest exporter” of terror, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks the global community to draw a “red line” against Tehran’s alleged support to acts of terrorism following a series of blasts in India and Thailand.
Male: With the political crisis in Maldives persisting, ousted President Mohammad Nasheed rejected a police summons to record his statement on his controversial order to arrest a key judge, even as India’s top diplomat has arrived here to take stock of the situation.
Feb 16: United Nations: Israel lodges a complaint before the UN chief over the alleged terror campaign launched by Iran and its “proxy” Hezbollah against Israeli targets in recent weeks, including in India and Thailand.
Feb 16: Male: Giving a four-day deadline to ousted President Mohammad Nasheed’s MDP, Maldives’ new regime asks the party to join the national unity government but it sticks to its demand for snap polls, even as India’s Foreign Secretary met all stakeholders here to help ease the political crisis.
Feb 18: Newark: The biggest names in entertainment clap hands, sway to gospel hymns and sing along with the choir at Whitney Houston’s hometown funeral in the church where the future pop star once wowed the congregation as a young girl.
Feb 18: Islamabad: Pakistan’s top leadership react angrily to a resolution introduced in the US Congress seeking the right to self-determination for Baloch people, with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani describing the move as an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
Feb 19: London: Amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf, Britain says it will not be “wise” for Israel to launch pre-emptive military strikes on Iran’s atomic installations as it would have “enormous downsides.
” Feb 20: Rome: Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi warns of “considerable differences” with India over the alleged killing of two Indian fishermen mistaken for pirates by Italian soldiers on an oil tanker.
Feb 20: Tehran: A delegation from the UN nuclear watchdog arrives in Tehran for a two-day visit aimed at seeking a solution to a dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme according to the ISNA news agency.
Feb 21: Karachi/Islamabad: Pakistan will seek Interpol help to bring back Pervez Musharraf to face trial over ex- Premier Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Interior Minister Rehman Malik says, a month after the former military ruler deferred indefinitely plans to return home to contest polls.
Feb 23: Buenos Aires: Desperate families search for loved ones after a massive train crash in Buenos Aires kill 50 people, injure nearly 700 and leave dozens trapped for hours in the wreckage.
Feb 24: Kabul: Anti-US protesters try to storm a US consulate and march on NATO headquarters in Kabul as violent demonstrations over the burning of Qurans pushes into fourth day, killing 24 people.
Feb 25: Houston: US Congress members from the largest rice-growing states are on warpath, ask Iraq to resume buying US long-grain rice, instead of from India.
Feb 26: London: Twenty four people of India-origin are among the nearly 3,000 suspects being tried for last year’s shocking riots in London and other towns of England, new analysis of data shows, contradicting the belief that Asians had stayed away from the violence.
Feb 26: London: Mired in litigation and embarrassment, media baron Rupert Murdoch hits back at his critics by launching the Sunday edition of the mass circulation The Sun tabloid with a promise not to repeat the mistakes of the phone-hacking scandal.
Feb 27: Islamabad: Bulldozers raze to the ground the three-storey house in Pakistan, where the most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden hid for more than five years, dogging the biggest manhunt in the world.
Feb 28: London: Indian citizens with permission to settle in the UK permanently will need to apply for a biometric residence permit (BRP) as part of changes in immigration rules intended to make it harder for non-EU nationals to work illegally and abuse the benefit system.
Mar 2: Washington: The US has said it is strongly supportive of India’s investment in the civil nuclear power sector and does not favour its NGOs opposing anti-nuclear activities in the country.
Mar 4: Moscow: Russians vote in marathon presidential polls as strongman Vladimir Putin faces fresh allegations of rigging and fraud, putting a question mark on the legitimacy of the vote, which is set to return him to the Kremlin for a record third term.
Mar 4: Dubai: India will soon have an authority to monitor and facilitate migration of its citizens to other countries, with a comprehensive database of Indians working abroad, says Minister for Oversees Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi.
Mar 6: Islamabad: Pakistani authorities pastes a summons at ex-President Pervez Musharraf’s farmhouse that directed him to return from self-exile and appear in Supreme Court on March 22 in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, days after the government sought an Interpol Red Corner notice for his arrest.
Mar 6: Beijing: India and China operationalised the recent agreement on border coordination mechanism by framing mutually agreed rules to avert conflict at their disputed frontier.
Mar 7: Washington: Mitt Romney has narrowly won the crucial swing State of Ohio, a development which could prolong the Republican presidential race, even though the former Massachusetts Governor maintained his frontrunner status with wins in four other States on ‘Super Tuesday’.
Mar 7: Male: Maldives’ former president Mohamed Nasheed wants a foreign body to probe the circumstances of the “coup” that ousted him last month and plunged the country into political crisis.
Mar 9: Dhaka: The commerce ministry has said India’s ban on cotton export was against global trade norms, and repeatedly stopping the shipments of the natural fibre by the country impacted Bangladesh’s textiles industry Mar 10: Islamabad: Pakistan’s new ISI chief, Lt Gen Zahir-ul-Islam, is the nephew of Indian National Army hero Shah Nawaz Khan and through him, shares a tenuous link with Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan.
Mar 10: Cairo: Egypt begins registering candidates who will contest the historic May election to pick Hosni Mubarak’s democratic successor, kicking off the country’s first free presidential race.
Mar 11: Sendai/Tokyo: A moment of silence, solemn prayers and candlelight vigils mark the first anniversary of Japan’s massive quake and tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people and triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since 1986, with leaders vowing to rebuild the nation.
Mar 12: Singapore: The BRICS group of nations are exploring the possibility of establishing a South-South Development Bank as an emerging economies’ alternative to the existing West-led financial institutions, and will hold a meeting in New Delhi next week to discuss its feasibility.
Mar 13: Dhaka: In one of the worst boat tragedies in recent times in Bangladesh, at least 35 people, including women and children, were killed and over 150 missing when a ferry packed with nearly 300 passengers capsized in a river after a head-on collision with an oil tanker.
Mar 13: London: In an early morning swoop, media baron Rupert Murdoch’s aide and the former editor of the News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, and her husband were arrested along with four others in connection with the widening probe into the phone hacking scandal here.
Mar 14: Washington: US and Britan underlines their commitment to a transition plan agreed among NATO partners despite a number of bloody incidents involving American troops in recent weeks.
Mar 15: London/Colombo: Pressure mounts on Sri Lanka over its rights record as a British channel broadcast a documentary suggesting that slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son was killed by army after the boy surrendered, prompting Colombo to reject it as “baseless and unacceptable”.
Mar 7: Washington: Mitt Romney has narrowly won the crucial swing State of Ohio, a development which could prolong the Republican presidential race, even though the former Massachusetts Governor maintained his frontrunner status with wins in four other States on ‘Super Tuesday’.
Mar 7: Male: Maldives’ former president Mohamed Nasheed wants a foreign body to probe the circumstances of the “coup” that ousted him last month and plunged the country into political crisis.
Mar 9: Dhaka: The commerce ministry has said India’s ban on cotton export was against global trade norms, and repeatedly stopping the shipments of the natural fibre by the country impacted Bangladesh’s textiles industry Mar 10: Islamabad: Pakistan’s new ISI chief, Lt Gen Zahir-ul-Islam, is the nephew of Indian National Army hero Shah Nawaz Khan and through him, shares a tenuous link with Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan.
Mar 10: Cairo: Egypt begins registering candidates who will contest the historic May election to pick Hosni Mubarak’s democratic successor, kicking off the country’s first free presidential race.
Mar 11: Sendai/Tokyo: A moment of silence, solemn prayers and candlelight vigils mark the first anniversary of Japan’s massive quake and tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people and triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis since 1986, with leaders vowing to rebuild the nation.
Mar 12: Singapore: The BRICS group of nations are exploring the possibility of establishing a South-South Development Bank as an emerging economies’ alternative to the existing West-led financial institutions, and will hold a meeting in New Delhi next week to discuss its feasibility.
Mar 13: Dhaka: In one of the worst boat tragedies in recent times in Bangladesh, at least 35 people, including women and children, were killed and over 150 missing when a ferry packed with nearly 300 passengers capsized in a river after a head-on collision with an oil tanker.
Mar 13: London: In an early morning swoop, media baron Rupert Murdoch’s aide and the former editor of the News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, and her husband were arrested along with four others in connection with the widening probe into the phone hacking scandal here.
Mar 14: Washington: US and Britan underlines their commitment to a transition plan agreed among NATO partners despite a number of bloody incidents involving American troops in recent weeks.
Mar 15: London/Colombo: Pressure mounts on Sri Lanka over its rights record as a British channel broadcast a documentary suggesting that slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son was killed by army after the boy surrendered, prompting Colombo to reject it as “baseless and unacceptable”.
Mar 16: Washington: Amid reports claiming America has threatened India with sanctions if it does not reduce its Iranian oil imports by June end, US officials say Washington and New Delhi are having “productive conversations” on the issue and termed the report as “highly speculative”.
Mar 19: Male: Amidst opposition supporters picketing Parliament and violence on the streets, Maldives President Mohammed Waheed gives his maiden Presidential address saying he is open for early elections.
Mar 20: Baghdad: A wave of attacks kill 50 people in more than a dozen Iraqi cities on the anniversary of the US-led invasion of the country and just days before Baghdad hosts a landmark Arab summit.
Mar 20: Islamabad: Setting tough conditions for re- engagement with the US, a Pakistani Parliamentary commission demands an end to CIA-operated drone strikes and a civil nuclear deal similar to the Indo-US agreement besides 38 other demands.
Mar 21: Islamabad: The Pakistan government issues a notification for switching over to a negative list regime for trade with India, under which the import of only 1,209 Indian products will be barred.
Mar 22: Geneva: Overcoming its dithering, India votes for a US-sponsored resolution at the UN’s top human rights body censuring Sri Lanka for alleged rights violations during the war against LTTE.
Mar 23: Beijing: China apparently acknowledges that it has discontinued its policy of issuing stapled visas to people from Jammu and Kashmir, suggesting that there have been no such cases in recent times.
Washington: US President Barack Obama nominates Dartmouth College President and global health expert Jim Yong Kim for the post of World Bank President, amid emerging nations pitching for a merit-based selection process.
Mar 24: Seoul: Seeking a weapons free world, leaders from 58 countries will discuss measures to secure all fissile material across the globe at the Nuclear Security Summit here next week, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set to share steps conceived by India to tackle the challenge of nuclear terrorism.
Mar 24: Seoul: Ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit here next week, India voiced concerns over Pakistan’s nuclear programme saying it has “very little confidence” on the capabilities of its western neighbour on securing its atomic assets.
Mar 25: Seoul: Seeking to expand their strategic ties, India and South Korea agree to step up political and security cooperation, as they vowed to double the bilateral trade to an ambitious USD 40 billion by 2015.
Mar 26: Beijing: Days after India and China agree to have maritime cooperation, Beijing favours greater military ties with New Delhi, saying such exchanges would help build more “confidence and trust” between the two countries.
Mar 27: Seoul: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani have expressed their desire to intensify the bilateral dialogue process for further engagements as they had an informal chat here, their second in two days at the Nuclear Security Summit.
Mar 27: Beijing: China has accused the Dalai Lama of “masterminding” the self-immolation bid by a Tibetan activist in New Delhi ahead of the visit of President Hu Jintao to attract world attention on Tibet independence.
Mar 28: Washington: In a move that is expected to hit Indian IT companies majorly, the US government has decided to hike H-1B visa fee from next fiscal.
Mar 29: Damascus: President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to work to make a success of envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan, state news agency SANA says, as Arab leaders urged dialogue and an end to Syria’s bloody crackdown on dissent.
Mar 29: Oslo: After being kept in foster care for nearly ten months, NRI children Abhigyan and Aishwariya will be handed to their patenral uncle, Norway’s Child Welfare Service (CWS).
Mar 29: Beijing: India asks China to allow two Indian traders facing legal proceedings in this country to return home pending resolution of their case, but Beijing said they cannot leave without paying dues to local businessmen.
Mar 30: Washington: Separatist Kashmiri leader and Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq is “supported and controlled” by ISI, a US Attorney has claimed before a court.
Mar 30: Colombo: More than a week after the UN’s top rights body censured it for alleged war crimes in the conflict with LTTE, Sri Lanka said it had turned down a request by India and the US to amend the American-sponsored resolution against it at the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
Mar 31: Sydney: Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House plunged into darkness for the annual Earth Hour campaign, leading a global effort to raise awareness about climate change.
Mar 31: Hat Yai: Suspected Muslim insurgents stage the most deadly attack in years in Thailand’s restive south, killing 11 people and wounding 110 with car bombs.
Apr 1: Yangon, Apr 1: Myanmar’s opposition claims a historic victory for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in her first bid for a seat in parliament, sparking scenes of jubilation among supporters.
Apr 7: Islamabad: A massive avalanche slams into a Pakistan Army base in Siachen sector close to the border with India, burying over 100 soldiers, who were asleep, under snow and triggering a frantic search for survivors.
Apr 10: Washington: The Indian Embassy here received a bomb threat call this morning following which its premises, the chancery and Ambassador Nirupama Rao’s residence all had to be temporarily evacuated and searched.
Apr 10: Sanaa: Heavy clashes overnight between al-Qaeda -linked militants and the Yemeni military in the country’s south have killed 63 people, bringing the two-day death toll in the fighting to 127, according to army officials.
Apr 10: Washington: Indian-Americans ¿ Bobby Jindal and Nikky Haley are emerging as possible vice-presidential running mate of Mitt Romney, who is expected to bag the Republican Party’s nomination for presidential polls.
Apr 11: Banda Aceh/Bangkok: Two massive earthquakes off Indonesian waters trigger fears of a devastating tsunami sending panic across the country and the nations along the Indian Ocean coast but there were no deadly waves or damage reported from anywhere.
Apr 11: Beijing: China’s Chongqing city witnesses major demonstrations hours before its top administrator and Communist Party leader Bo Xilai was removed, plunging the country into its biggest political crises in decades.
Apr 13: Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari appeals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow the release and repatriation on humanitarian grounds of Khalil Chishti, an 80 -year-old Pakistani given a life sentence in India after being convicted for murder.
Apr 13: New Haven: Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan is detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University here.
Apr 14: Istanbul: A new Iranian willingness to discuss its nuclear programme in crunch negotiations with world powers raises the chances of a second round of more in-depth talks very soon, diplomats say.
Apr 14: Washington: The US rules out any pattern or racial profiling in the detention of Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan twice in the US in the past three years.
Apr 15: Kabul: Taliban militants unleash a wave of coordinated suicide and gun attacks in Afghanistan targeting the diplomatic area, NATO bases, and the Parliament at seven locations in Kabul and three other eastern cities but no Indian target is attacked.
Apr 16: Kabul: Afghan forces regain control over parts of the capital Kabul after killing all the 36 Taliban militants – some wearing burqas – who unleash the biggest wave of coordinated suicide attacks in a decade.
Apr 16: Oslo: The right-wing fanatic behind a bomb- and-shooting massacre that killed 77 people in Norway admit to the “acts” but pleads not guilty to criminal charges, saying he is acting in self-defence.
Apr 17: Colombo: Here to assess the condition of ethnic Tamils post-war, an Indian Parliamentary delegation nudges Sri Lanka to quickly resolve the decades-old conflict by devolving powers to areas dominated by minority Tamils envisaged under a Constitutional amendment.
Apr 19: Islamabad: Pakistan says there is no change in its policy on the Siachen dispute with India, a day after its army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said the issue must be resolved.
Apr 19: Baghdad: A wave of apparently coordinated bombing and shooting attacks in seven different provinces across Iraq kill at least 38 people and more than 170 people are wounded, security officials say.
Apr 21: Islamabad: A total of 127 people are killed as a Boeing 737-200 of Bhoja Air crashes a short distance from the international airport in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, the second such accident in less than two years.
Apr 22: Paris: Socialist champion Francois Hollande stamps his authority on the French presidential race, winning the first round of polling and setting up a May 6 run-off with incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
Apr 22: Washington: Dismissing the perception of policy paralysis in UPA-2, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says that compulsions of coalition politics are forcing the government to evolve consensus on major issues and is confident that key reform legislations will be passed.
Apr 23: Stavanger (Norway): A Norwegian court hands over the two NRI children in foster care to their paternal uncle, ending months of custody row that saw India stepping up diplomatic pressure on Norway to send back the kids, taken away by the authorities here last year.
Apr 23: London: The Murdoch media in Britain continues to suffer knocks with a new probe being launched into news- gathering practices at Sky News while the father and son duo prepare to appear before the high profile inquiry into the email hacking.
Apr 24: Moscow: President-in-waiting Vladimir Putin announces he will quit as the head of the ruling United Russia party after his inauguration on May 7 and nominates incumbent Dmitry Medvedev as his successor.
Apr 24: Cairo: Egypt’s military rulers have barred prominent political figures in the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak from running in the country’s first ever free presidential elections.
Apr 25: Islamabad: Days after India tested its most potent Agni-V missile, Pakistan test-fires the nuclear-capable Hatf-4 ballistic missile with improvements in range to hit targets anywhere in India.
Apr 25: Washington: The US says that there is no change in its policy towards issuing visas to Indian students.
“I don’t think we’ve changed our policy with regard to the way we interview applicants,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland tell reporters.
Apr 26: Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is convicted by the Supreme Court for contempt for refusing to pursue graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and is given only a token sentence but still questions remained over his membership of Parliament.
Apr 27: United Nations: After a gap of more than two decades, India’s nominee Justice Dalveer Bhandari is overwhelmingly elected as a judge of the International Court of Justice, defeating his Filipino rival in the UN General Assembly as well as the Security Council.
Apr 27: Islamabad: Fourteen members of Osama bin Laden’s family, including his three widows, are deported to Saudi Arabia by Pakistan, days before the first death anniversary of the al-Qaeda chief who was killed in a covert operation by US commandos Apr 29: Victoria (Seychelles): In the backdrop of the menace posed by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, India says it is determined to work with Seychelles to ensure a secure environment for the benefit of the two countries.
Apr 30: Oslo: Norwegian telecom company Telenor says it will write down USD 682 million (Norwegian Krone 3.
9 billion) to remove accounting exposure to India due to uncertain business environment in the sector.
Apr 30: Islamabad: Al-Qaeda names computer literare Farman Ali Shinwari, a resident of the restive Khyber tribal region and whose brothers have been associated with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, as its new chief in Pakistan.
May 2: Naypyidaw: Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is sworn in as a member of parliament, opening a new chapter in the Nobel laureate’s near quarter-century struggle against authoritarian rule.
May 2: Beijing: The week-long drama over a blind Chinese dissident taking refuge in the US Embassy here ends, with the American envoy driving him out of the premises for medical care and to be reunited with his family, hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives for talks.
May 3: Kathmandu: All the ministers in Nepal’s coalition government resign en-mass after major political parties in the country reach a deal to form a new national unity government within two days in a bid to end the current political deadlock.
May 4: Beijing: China and the US appear to have found a way out of a messy diplomatic row, with Beijing agreeing to let a blind Chinese dissident at the centre of the crisis to leave the country and Washington assuring all assistance to give him asylum.
May 4: Washington: Ailing Air India is slapped a fine of USD 80,000 by US authorities for failing to post customer service and tarmac delay contingency plans on its website and adequately inform passengers about its optional fees May 5: Dhaka: Describing India and Bangladesh as very important partner of the US, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says America wants to see the two nations as leaders in many fronts in the international arena.
Clinton is on the second leg of her tri-nation South Asia tour including India.
May 6: Paris: Francois Hollande is elected France’s first Socialist president in nearly two decades, dealing a humiliating defeat to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and shaking up European politics.
May 6: Dhaka: India announces writing off a USD 200 million credit to Bangladesh and said it was committed to implementing all bilateral agreements, setting a positive tone ahead of the first meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission in New Delhi.
May 7: Damascus: Syrians cast ballots in parliamentary elections billed by the regime as key to President Bashar Assad’s political reforms, but the opposition dismissed the vote as a sham meant to preserve his autocratic rule.
May 7: Lahore: Underlining that enhanced trade will create “increased space”, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar calls on India to show “flexibility” and meet Pakistan “half way” in normalising relations and resolving “core issues” like the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.
May 7: Moscow: Vladimir Putin is sworn in as Russian President for a record third term and vowed to protect rights and freedoms, even as demonstrations marked his second coming to the Kremlin that was marred by allegations of vote rigging.
May 8: Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauds the steps taken by India to reduce its dependence on Iranian oil saying that New Delhi has put itself on the line to get Iran back to the negotiating table.
May 8: Washington: US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter has decided to step down this summer after serving less than two years and is likely to be replaced by a diplomat serving in Afghanistan, a move that comes at a time when the bilateral ties are at a critical juncture.
May 8: WashingtonL: The US has foiled an attempt by al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to blow up a passenger plane and seized a sophisticated explosive device bearing the “hallmarks” of the 2009 underwear bomb.
May 10: Cidahu (Indonesia): Helicopters spot the scattered wreckage of a Russian-made passenger plane on the side of a mist-shrouded mountain after it disappeared during a demonstration flight in Indonesia with 47 people on board. There was no sign of survivors.
May 12: Washington: A far-reaching legislation has been introduced in the US Congress that would deduct USD 50 million from the aid to Islamabad for every American killed by terrorists operating from the safe havens in Pakistan with the “support” of ISI.
May 12: London: British Indian artist Anish Kapoor unveils Britain’s tallest sculpture, a twisted tangle of steel sponsored by ArcelorMittal, next to the Olympic Stadium that he called ‘awkward but beautiful’.
May 13 Dhaka: A special Bangladeshi tribunal indicts an 89-year-old former chief of fundamentalist Jamaat- e-Islami on 61 charges for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, months after he was arrested.
May 13: London: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has said that Chinese agents have trained bogus female devotees to kill him with poison while seeking blessings.
May 14: Kathmandu: Thirteen Indian pilgrims are among 15 persons killed when a small plane with 21 people on board crashed in northern Nepal after hitting a hill top while attempting to land at a high-altitude airport.
May 14: Islamabad: Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership holds a crucial meeting and discussed the country’s troubled relations with the US ahead of a key NATO summit in Chicago that is expected to make important decisions about the endgame in Afghanistan.
May 15: Washington: The United States slaps sanctions against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s two top aides – Chhota Shakeel and Tiger Memon ¿ for their role in drug trafficking in the region.
May 16: Islamabad: Police in the Pakistani capital say several Western embassies had received parcels containing a mysterious poisonous powder and a warning against the reopening of NATO supply routes to Afghanistan that were closed nearly six months ago.
May 18: New York: Social networking site Facebook, whose 900 million user strength is only behind China and India’s populations, go public as its much sought-after shares got listed at Nasdaq and the stock is trading at USD 41.
10, much above its IPO price of USD 38 in early trade May 19: Washington: The leaders of the G-8 group of the world’s most powerful economies say they want debt-stricken Greece to remain in the eurozone and vowed to promote economic growth to reinvigorate their economies in the face of the European debt crisis.
May 20: Colombo: Sri Lanka’s war hero Sarath Fonseka is set to walk out of prison as President Mahinda Rajapaksa signs the orders for the imminent release of his former Army Chief turned political rival after two years of incarceration.
May 20: New York: Facebook’s billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg caps an extremely eventful week with a surprising update about his relationship status – he married his long time girlfriend Priscilla Chan in a private ceremony.
May 22: Vienna: Despite some remaining differences, a deal has been reached with Iran that will allow the UN nuclear agency to restart a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran has secretly worked on developing nuclear arms says the UN nuclear chief.
May 23: Islamabad: A Pakistani doctor who ran a fake vaccination campaign for the CIA to help find Osama bin Laden is sentenced to 33 years of rigorous imprisonment for committing treason under harsh British-era tribal laws.
May 27: United Nations: The United Nations has strongly condemned the massacre of at least 92 civilians, including 32 children, in a village near Homs in Syria, leading global calls for urgent action against those responsible for the “appalling and brutal crime.
” May 28: Nay Pyi Taw: Embarking on a “new journey” of bilateral cooperation, India extends a USD 500 million line of credit to Myanmar as it signed 15 agreements on fields like trade, energy and connectivity with this resource-rich nation, which pledges not to allow its territory to be used by terrorists to target India.
May 29: Yangon: In her first visit abroad in 24 years, most of which were spent under house arrest, Myanmar’s democracy Icon Aung San Suu Kyi leaves for Thailand to attend a World Economic Forum meet ahead of her European tour, ending a long spell of isolation and announcing her arrival on the global stage.
May 30: Islamabad: Pakistan Army declares dead all the 139 soldiers buried alive by an avalanche at a high-altitude camp in the Siachen sector, proclaiming them as “shuhada” (martyrs).
May 30:Islamabad: A Pakistani doctor, who helped CIA track Osama bin Laden, is sentenced to 33-years in jail by a tribal court on charges of links with the banned Lashkar-e- Islam militant group and its chief Mangal Bagh Afridi and not for his involvement with the American spy agency.
May 30: London: Britain’s Supreme Court rules that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden to face accusations of sex offences.
May 31: Cairo: Days after holding its first free and fair presidential election, Egypt does away with a three decade old state of emergency, with the ruling military council stating that it would not be further extended.
Jun 2: Cairo: Egypt’s ousted President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life in prison after a court here found him guilty of complicity in the killing of protesters during a popular uprising against his 30-year rule, capping months of legal proceedings against the first Arab leader to be tried in person.
Jun 4: Lagos: Nigeria plunges into a state of mourning after a horrific air tragedy saw a passenger plane crash into a residential area, killing all 153 people on board including an Indian co-pilot, and over 40 others on the ground.
Jun 4: Dhaka: A senior member of Bangladesh’s largest fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami is indicted by a special tribunal on seven charges, including genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the nation’s liberation war in 1971.
Jun 5: Islamabad: The judge conducting the trial of LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks is changed for the fifth time, raising questions about progress in the case.
Jun 6: Beijing: India tells China that it sees improving bilateral ties as a priority of its foreign policy and expresses desire to expand strategic cooperation, setting aside concerns here over future direction of the relations in the backdrop of the big US push into the Asia-Pacific region.
Jun 8: Washington: Against the backdrop of Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan’s detention at a New York airport, the US has ruled out any separate screening for VIPs and celebrities unless they have diplomatic exemption.
Jun 8: New Delhi/Washington: India will seek access to Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley’s wife Shazia and his accomplice in Mumbai terror attack, Tahawuur Hussain Rana, during the third Indo-US strategic dialogue to be held in Washington next week.
Jun 9: Singapore: Vidya Balan is named the best actress at the 13th IIFA awards tonight for her portrayal of south siren Silk Smitha in “The Dirty Picture”, while Ranbir Kapoor took home the best actor award for “Rockstar”.
Jun 9: Lahore: Pakistan’s ruling PPP demands immediate resignation of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry amid calls from legal experts that he separate himself from benches hearing cases against a real estate tycoon from whom his son allegedly received millions of rupees.
Jun 10: Lahore: Pakistan now has the best-ever ties with India and is working on measures to import electricity and gas from the neighbouring country, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said describing these steps as a “revolution”.
Jun 11: Kabul: As many as 100 people are feared dead in an earthquake and landslide that buried more than 20 houses in northern Afghanistan.
Jun 11: Washington: The US said it would exempt India and six other countries from financial sanctions because they have significantly cut purchases of Iranian oil.
Jun 13: Washington: Focusing on five key areas including security cooperation and trade, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says India and the United States are moving to forge a new and more mature phase of ties, as the 3rd Indo-US Strategic Dialogue kicked off here.
Jun 13: Karachi: Mehdi Hassan, the India-born ‘Emperor of Ghazals’ who captivated millions of fans in the subcontinent with hits like ‘patta, patta, boota boota’ and ‘ab ke hum bichhade’ in a five-decade-long musical journey, dies in a hospital here of multiple organ failure.
Jun 13: Beijing: Four Indian naval warships, on a first in six years goodwill tour to China, docked at the Shanghai port to a warm reception by the Chinese navy, as the two forces work to overcome mistrust and warm up for maritime cooperation.
—PTI