DHAKA: The year 2013 is full of many incidents important to politics, business, science and cultural fields. Some of the major incidents that took place in the year and drew people’s attention are listed below for the readers of banglanews24.com.
January
Palestine Authority officially becomes State of Palestine
The Palestinian Authority officially changed its name to the State of Palestine, according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas officially signed his first decrees that bear the name of the State of Palestine.
Messi crowned world’s best for 4th time
Argentina star Lionel Messi cemented his status as the greatest player on the planet by becoming the first player to win FIFA’s prestigious Ballon d’Or title on four separate occasions. The Barcelona forward, who broke a number of records in 2012, beat teammate Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to an award voted for by national coaches, captains and journalists.
World’s oldest woman dies at 115
Koto Okubo, world’s oldest female, died at 115 at a nursing home in Kawasaki City in Japan. Her relatives declined to release the cause of her death and family details. Born December 24, 1897, Okubo held her title for less than a month following the death of Dina Manfredini of the United States.
55 killed in Algerian army air strike
Twenty three hostages and 32 hostage-takers died in an air strike by the Algerian armed forces. The kidnappers attacked a gas plant deep in the Algerian desert.
Obama takes oath for 2nd term
US president Barack Obama officially began his second term, following a private oath-taking ceremony at the White House. The quiet ceremony, administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, marked a sharp contrast with the electrifying atmosphere in Washington four years ago when Obama became the first African-American to be sworn-in as the commander-in-chief of the United States.
NASA sends Mona Lisa to moon
The ‘Mona Lisa’ has been to the moon and back. The famous face was used in an experiment and carried in a laser beam to a man-made satellite orbiting the moon.
Toyota, BMW work for green vehicles
Toyota Motor and BMW Group are working together on next-generation batteries for green vehicles called ‘lithium-air’ as their collaboration, first announced in late 2011, moves ahead in fuel cells, sports vehicles and other fields.
231 killed in Brazil nightclub fire
Two hundred and thirty one people were killed in a nightclub fire caused by a pyrotechnics show in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria. The victims died of asphyxiation or from being trampled, and there were as many as 500 people inside the club when the fire broke out.
February
Curiosity Mars rover takes historic drill sample
Nasa’s Curiosity Mars rover finally drilled deep enough into a rock to acquire a powdered sample for analysis. The fine grey tailings from the 6cm-hole will be sieved and inspected before being delivered to the robot’s onboard labs in the coming days.
36 dead in stampede at India railway station
Thirty-six people died in a stampede at the Allahabad Railway station in India. The stampede happened on a footbridge between two platforms of the station. There were several thousands of people at the station, many on their way back from Allahabad after a holy dip in the Ganga at the Maha Kumbh Mela.
Third nuclear test by North Korea
North Korea successfully carried out its third underground nuclear test, a move that has drawn international condemnation. Pyongyang said the test involved a ‘miniaturised’ device and was carried out in a ‘perfect manner’.
100th self-immolation bid over Tibet reported
A Tibetan monk doused himself in petrol in a Kathmandu restaurant and set himself on fire, marking the 100th self-immolation bid in a wave of protests against Chinese rule since 2009. He had burned himself in an eatery near Kathmandu’s Boudhanath Stupa, one of the world’s holiest Buddhist shrines, terrifying tourists who were having breakfast.
Horsemeat scandal spreads to Asia
Fears over a Europe-wide food fraud scandal concerning horsemeat sold as beef have spread to Hong Kong after an imported brand of ‘beef’ lasagne was pulled from shelves. Hong Kong authorities last week ordered a top local supermarket chain to remove the lasagne made by frozen food giant Findus, one of the firms at the centre of the scandal.
British PM regrets colonial Indian massacre
David Cameron became the first serving British prime minister to voice regret about one of the bloodiest episodes in colonial India, a massacre of unarmed civilians in the city of Amritsar in 1919. The killings, known in India as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, were described by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian independence movement, as having shaken the foundations of the British Empire.
Marathon at the age of 101
The world’s oldest marathon runner ran his last race at the age of 101. Fauja Singh finished the Hong Kong marathon’s 10-kilometer race in a time of 1 hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds. Singh, a Sikh, wore a saffron turban and sported a flowing white beard.
Nepalese woman scales Mt Everest twice within days
A Nepalese climber was confirmed as the first woman to scale Mount Everest twice in a single season, Guinness World Records said, after she made the second summit within days of the first. Chhurim Sherpa, 29, reached the 8,848-metre peak on May 12 last year before returning to base camp for a well-earned rest and then repeating the stunning feat a mere week later.
19 tourists dead in balloon crashes in Egypt
Nineteen tourists, some of them British and French, are reported to have died in a hot air balloon crash near the southern Egyptian city of Luxor. A fire and an explosion were heard before the balloon plunged onto fields west of Luxor.
World’s tallest hotel opens in Dubai
The JW Marriott brand officially opened the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai. Acquiring the coveted title of World’s Tallest hotel from the Guinness Book of World Records, the 72-storey property is the first JW Marriott Marquis outside of North America and the 59th addition to the brand’s global luxury portfolio.
March
Pope Benedict XVI formally resigns
Pope Benedict XVI officially resigned, saying that he now ‘will simply be a pilgrim’ starting his last journey on earth. Benedict vowed ‘unconditional obedience and reverence’ to his successor. He stepped down after nearly eight years in office, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez died at the age of 58 after suffering from cancer for nearly two years. Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced Chavez’s death without saying what exactly killed Chavez, although the government earlier had announced that a severe new respiratory infection had severely weakened him.
World’s oldest woman turns 115 in Japan
The world’s oldest woman celebrated her 115th birthday in a Japanese nursing home with her favourite mackerel sushi dish on the menu. Misao Okawa, a descendant of kimono merchants in the city of Osaka, western Japan, told a broadcaster that she had never expected to live to such a great age but had managed it ‘thanks to everybody’.
Argentina’s Bergoglio elected Pope
Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been elected the Catholic Church’s Pope, taking the name Francis. The 76-year-old from Buenos Aires is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to be pontiff. Appearing on a balcony over St Peter’s Square in Rome, he asked the faithful to pray for him, with cheers erupting as he gave a blessing.
UN body adopts women’s rights declaration
A United Nations policy-making body agreed upon a declaration urging an end to violence against women and girls despite concerns from conservative Muslim countries and the Vatican about references to women’s sexual and reproductive rights.
Tibet mudslide buries 83
In Tibet, a massive mudslide at a gold mine buried 83 workers in piles of earth up to 30 metres deep. The workers were buried when mud, rock and debris swept through the mine in Gyama village in Maizhokunggar county and covered an area measuring around four square kilometres, about 70 kilometres east of the regional capital Lhasa.
April
Margaret Thatcher dies after stroke
Former UK prime minister Baroness Thatcher died at 87 following a stroke. Baroness Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the first woman to hold the post. Her family is expected to make a further statement later. Baroness Thatcher, born Margaret Roberts, became the Conservative MP for Finchley, north London in 1959, retiring from the Commons in 1992.
Test-tube baby pioneer Robert Edwards dies
The IVF pioneer whose work led to the world’s first ‘test tube baby’ died at the age of 87. Professor Sir Robert Edwards was knighted in 2011, five decades after he began experimenting with IVF. His work led to the birth of ‘test-tube baby’ Louise Brown at Oldham General Hospital in 1978.
Suu Kyi arrives in Japan after 27 years
Myanmar’s democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Japan, her first visit to the country where she spent time as a university researcher nearly three decades ago. A group of well-wishers including Burmese gathered at Tokyo’s Narita airport to greet Suu Kyi, now her country’s opposition leader, but were denied the chance to meet her as she left through a backdoor.
Deadly blasts hit Boston Marathon
Three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. TV footage showed bloodied runners and spectators being treated at the scene and the road strewn with debris.
40 dead in Iran earthquake
Iran had been struck by its most powerful earthquake for nearly 40 years, with tremors felt across Pakistan, India and the Middle East. The epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake was near the south-east city of Khash, close to the Pakistani border. Iranian state TV reported at least 40 people killed.
70 killed in US fertilizer plant blast
Seventy people died and hundreds of others injured in a large explosion at a fertiliser plant in the US state of Texas, local emergency authorities say. West Emergency Medical Services (EMS) director George Smith said the explosion was held at West Fertilizer plant in the city of West, located about 32 kilometres north of Waco.
Pervez Musharraf arrested
Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf was arrested by the police in Islamabad from his farmhouse. He had been closeted in the farmhouse when the High Court cancelled his bail plea in a case related to the dismissal of judges when he was Pakistan’s president.
203 killed in China earthquake
China officials confirmed 203 people died in a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck China’s southwestern Sichuan province. The shallow quake hit near the city of Ya’an, on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and injured almost 1,000 people.
200 killed in Nigeria violence
Fighting between Nigeria’s military and the armed group Boko Haram left 200 people dead in a fishing community in the nation’s far northeast. The fighting in Baga began and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad.
36 die in Russia hospital fire
Thirty six people killed in a fire at psychiatric hospital in the Moscow region. The blaze started shortly at the No 14 hospital in Ramenskiy village. Most of the victims were believed to be local patients.
51 dead in Afghan bus-oil tanker crash
A passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker in Afghanistan, killing 51 people and injuring several others, with women and children among the victims. The incident happened in Ab Band district of Ghazni province, on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar, the capital of the south and Afghanistan’s second largest city, on what is one of the most dangerous roads in the country.
May
Over 130 dead in Darfur tribal fighting
More than 130 people have been killed in the latest outbreak of tribal fighting in western Sudan’s Darfur region, a tribal leader said. A land dispute caused the fighting in Edd al-Fursan, about 100 kilometres southwest of the South Darfur state capital Nyala.
Ruling coalition wins again in Malaysia
Malaysia’s ruling party extended its decades-long grip on power after one of the country’s most hotly contested parliamentary votes. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Barisan Nasional coalition has ruled Malaysia for 56 years. Razak, the son and nephew of former prime ministers, has been in office since 2009 and appears to have won a new mandate in vote.
China mine blast kills 27
An explosion at a coal mine in China’s south-west Sichuan province has killed at least 27 people. The blast happened in Taozigou coal mine in the city of Luzhou. More than 100 miners were working underground when the accident happened.
50 killed in Turkey car bombings
The death toll in twin car bombings in a Turkish town near the Syrian border increased to 50 after another body was recovered and a victim died in hospital. The attacks in the town of Reyhanli were the deadliest since the start of the uprising against the regime in neighbouring Syria two years ago.
Thein Sein in landmark White House visit
Myanmar president Thein Sein was in a landmark trip to the White House, becoming the first leader to visit the US capital in nearly 50 years. However, Sein’s visit was criticised by activists and lawmakers concerned that Myanmar has yet to address a number of alarming human rights issues.
51 killed in US tornado
Fifty one people were killed after a huge tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs. About 120 people, including 70 children, are being treated for injuries in hospitals around Moore.
80-year-old youth climbs Everest
An 80-year old Japanese mountaineer reached the summit of Mount Everest, making him the oldest man to scale the world’s highest peak. Yuichiro Miura, who climbed Everest when he was 70 and then again at 75, reached the peak.
AU celebrates 50th jubilee in Addis Ababa
African leaders gathered to witness celebrations in Addis Ababa for the 50th jubilee of the continental bloc, with its many problems set aside for a day to mark the progress that had been made. The fifty-four-member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established amid the heady days as independence from colonial rule swept the continent in 1963.
Australia ranked ‘happiest’ nation again
Sydney Opera House Australia won the title of world’s happiest industralised nation for three years. Australia ranked as the world’s happiest nation among developed economies for the third year running.
June
Queen Elizabeth II marks 60 years since her coronation
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II marked the 60th anniversary of her coronation in private after indulging in her passion for horses with a day at the races. The 87-year-old monarch and her husband Prince Philip spent at the Epsom Derby, echoing the events of a year ago that kicked off her Diamond Jubilee party.
119 killed in Chinese poultry processing plant fire
A fire at a poultry processing plant in China has killed at least 119 people. The fire broke out at a slaughterhouse in Dehui in Jilin province. About 100 workers had managed to escape from the plant. The complicated interior structure of the building and narrow exits made the rescue work more difficult.
India’s rupee hits record low against the dollar
India’s rupee hit a record low of 57.54 against the dollar on growing demand for dollars among oil importers, while the greenback was also boosted by upbeat US jobs data. The partially convertible rupee hit its previous low of 57.32 against the dollar on June 28 last year.
Hassan Rouhani wins Iran presidential election
Reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani has won Iran’s presidential election, securing just over 50% of the vote and so avoiding the need for a run-off. Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was well behind in second place. Turnout was estimated at 72.2% among the 50 million Iranians who were eligible to vote to choose a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was ineligible to stand again.
Qatar’s emir transfers power to son
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar, transferred the ‘reins of power’ to his son. The announcement to hand over power to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was made by the outgoing emir in an address to the nation.
Australia PM Gillard ousted
Kevin Rudd has ousted prime minister Julia Gillard as leader of Australia’s Labor party. He won 57 votes in a leadership ballot called by Gillard. Gillard received 45 votes.
Floods, landslides kill 1,000 in India
Around 1,000 people died in devastating flash floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains in northern India. ‘The official information with us is that about 1,000 people have died,’ Yashpal Arya, the disaster relief minister for the worst-hit state of Uttarakhand, told media.
July
Croatia becomes 28th EU member
Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union, with crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb. Fireworks lit the sky as membership became effective, with President Ivo Josipovic describing the event as historic. It comes almost two decades after Croatia’s brutal war of independence.
World’s largest building opens in China
The superlatives in China continue – the latest symbol of China’s ‘bigger is much, much better’ ethos is open for business. Located in Chengdu with population of 14 million, capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, the New Century Global Center is the largest freestanding building in the world, Chinese officials say.
NASA discovery of new Neptune moon
The Hubble Space Telescope discovered a tiny moon orbiting Neptune, the 14th known to be circling the distant planet, NASA said on its website. ‘The moon, designated S/2004 N 1, is estimated to be no more than 12 miles across, making it the smallest known moon in the Neptunian system,’ NASA said in a statement.
Catherine gives birth to royal baby
The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was delivered at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London. The Duke of Cambridge said in a statement the couple ‘could not be happier’. The news has been displayed on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in line with tradition.
August
India unveils aircraft carrier
India unveiled its first home-built aircraft carrier from a shipyard in southern Kerala state. The 37,500 tonne INS Vikrant is expected to go for extensive trials in 2016 before being inducted into the navy by 2018, reports say. With this, India joins a select group of countries capable of building such a vessel.
525 killed in Egypt
Egypt says 525 people were killed when security forces stormed Islamist protest camps in Cairo after a stand-off lasting weeks. Most of the victims died in the capital but there was violence around the country on the bloodiest day since the pro-democracy uprising two years ago.
50 years of ‘I Have a Dream’ speech marked
Tens of thousands gathered to mark 50 years since the March on Washington, the civil rights watershed where Martin Luther King Jr famously declared, ‘I have a dream’. Under blue skies, the predominantly, but by no means exclusively, African American crowd swelled around the Reflecting Pool, cheering a procession of speakers who addressed them from the white marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Malala awarded Children’s Peace Prize
Pakistan’s teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by a Taliban militant last October after campaigning for girls’ right to education, won the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize.
September
Broadcaster, writer Sir David Frost dies
Veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost died at the age of 74 after a suspected heart attack. Sir David’s career spanned journalism, comedy writing and daytime television presenting, including The Frost Report and That Was The Week That Was. Internationally, he will be remembered for his revealing interviews with former US president Richard Nixon.
108 killed in Philippine ferry sinking
Philippine divers recovered more dead bodies from a ferry that sank after colliding with a cargo ship, raising the death toll from the incident to 108. Rescuers were able to save 733 people after the crash, the latest in a long list of sea mishaps to hit the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.
Bo Xilai sentenced to life
A Chinese court sentenced former leading politician Bo Xilai to life in prison after finding him guilty on charges of graft, accepting bribes and abuse of power. The Jinan Intermediate People`s Court announced the verdict against Bo.
Pakistan church blasts claim 81 lives
Twin explosions at All Saint’s Church in Pakistan’s Peshawar killed 78 people and wounded 130 others. The victims of the blast included children and women who were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital.
110 killed in Mexico storm
The number of people confirmed to have died as a result of Tropical Storms Manuel and Ingrid in Mexico now stands at 110. A landslide destroyed the village of La Pintada in western Guerrero state.
Pakistan quake kills 356
The death toll from a massive earthquake that jolted southwest Pakistan rose to 356, with officials saying that thousands have been left homeless and about 300,000 people had been affected in remote parts of Balochistan province. The 7.7-magnitude quake struck in the province, toppling thousands of mud-built homes as it spread havoc through Awaran and Kech districts and the southwestern parts of the country.
October
Italy boat disaster kills 232
Italian divers recovered dozens more bodies from a boat carrying African migrants that sank. Thirty-eight bodies were freed from the hull, which divers had previously been unable to access. The official death toll now stands at 232.
Turkey lifts decades-old ban on Islamic head scarf
Turkey lifted a ban on women wearing the Islamic head scarf in state institutions, ending a decades-old restriction as part of a package of reforms meant to bolster democracy. The ban, whose roots date back almost 90 years to the early days of the Turkish Republic, kept many women from joining the public work force, but secularists see its abolition as evidence of the government pushing an Islamic agenda.
115 dead in India temple stampede
One hundred and fifteen pilgrims including children were killed and more than 100 injured in a stampede at Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh in India. The tragedy was allegedly caused by rumour that the bridge on Sindh River, through which the pilgrims were heading towards temple, was collapsing after a tractor trolley rammed into it and fell into the river.
Rock legend Lou Reed dies at 71
US singer and former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed has died at the age of 71. Known for tracks including Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side, Reed was considered one of the most influential singers and songwriters in rock. The Velvet Underground became renowned for their fusion of art and music and for collaborating with Andy Warhol.
November
Pak Taliban chief killed in drone strike
A US drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, in North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan. Drones fired four missiles at a compound in Danda Darpa Khel, a village about five kilometres from North Waziristan’s capital, Miranshah, killing at least four people.
India launches first rocket to Mars
India launched its first rocket to Mars, aiming to put a satellite in orbit around the red planet at a lower cost than previous missions and potentially positioning the emerging Asian nation as a budget player in the global space race. The Mars Orbiter Mission blasted off from the southeastern coast with the satellite scheduled to start orbiting Mars by September, searching for methane and signs of minerals.
Typhoon Haiyan kills 1,200 in Philippine
The Philippine Red Cross estimated that more than 1,000 people were killed in the coastal city of Tacloban and at least 200 in hard-hit Samar province when one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall slammed into the country. The numbers came from preliminary reports by Red Cross teams in Tacloban and Samar, among the most devastated areas hit by typhoon Haiyan.
Author Doris Lessing dies
British Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died aged 94. Her best-known works include The Golden Notebook, Memoirs of a Survivor and The Summer Before the Dark. She became the oldest winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature when in 2007 she won the award for her life`s work aged 88.
‘Selfie’ becomes word of the year
Michelle Obama shared one with her ‘first dog’ Bo, Hillary Clinton tweeted one with her daughter Chelsea. Now ‘selfie’, the smartphone self-portrait, has been declared word of the year for 2013, according to Britain’s Oxford University Press. ‘Selfie’ saw a huge jump in usage in the past year, bursting from the confines of Instagram and Twitter to become mainstream shorthand for any self-taken photograph.
Double Nobel Prize winning biochemist Fred dies
Fred Sanger, a double Nobel Prize-winning British biochemist whose work pioneered research into the human genome, died at the age of 95. Sanger, who once described himself as ‘just a chap who messed about in his lab’, worked with colleagues to develop a rapid method of DNA sequencing, a way to ‘read DNA’, which became the forerunner for the work on mapping the human genome.
Iran nuclear deal reached
A historic deal was struck between Iran and six world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program that slows the country’s nuclear development programme in exchange for lifting some sanctions while a more formal agreement remained worked out. The agreement, described as an ‘initial, six-month’ deal, includes ‘substantial limitations that will help prevent Iran from creating a nuclear weapon’, US president Barack Obama said in a nationally televised address.
December
Malala gets 2013 UN Human Rights Prize
Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt last year, has been awarded the 2013 UN Human Rights Prize, an honour previously given to icons like late Nelson Mandela in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights.
China’s first lunar rover lands on moon
A space module carrying China’s first lunar rover landed on the moon. It was the first soft landing on the moon in nearly four decades and a major step for the emerging superpower`s ambitious space programme.
Scientists burst into applause as a computer generated image representing the spacecraft was seen landing on the moon’s surface via screens at a Beijing control centre, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) showed, 12 days after Chang’e-3 blasted off on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.
Unrest in Thailand
More than tens of thousands protesters gathered in Thailand’s capital with anti-government slogans simmering tensions between Bangkok’s middle classes and the mostly rural supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The protests led by the opposition Democrat Party marked the biggest demonstrations since 2010, when Thaksin’s red-shirted supporters paralyzed Bangkok to try to remove a Democrat-led government.
Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is now in power after winning a 2011 election that was seen as a victory for the working poor and a defeat for the traditional Bangkok elite that includes top generals, royal advisers, middle-class bureaucrats, business leaders and old-money families.
Kejriwal sworn in as Delhi chief minister
Wearing his trademark white cap, Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi today, as thousands of people cheered for him at Ram Lila Maidan, a massive public park in the heart of the city.
The bespectacled 45-year-old rode the metro to the ceremony.
His decision to use public transport echoes his pre-poll promise to end the VIP culture of Delhi’s political elite and set a down-to-earth tone for his new administration.
Devyani row: India targets US nationals
India is checking the tax status of Americans working at schools in the country, after the arrest this month of an Indian diplomat in New York.
Devyani Khobragade was handcuffed and strip-searched while in custody. Her detention on charges of visa fraud and underpayment of her housekeeper sparked outrage in India.
Delhi has also withdrawn some privileges enjoyed by American diplomats and their families in the country.
BDST: 2011 HRS, DEC 31, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor
