2008 A Flashback

As the world stands at the threshold of 2009 ready to bid adieu to 2008, one wonders about the prominent moments or developments which made a significant impact on the lives of millions around the world.

So, we at WittySparks came up with a small flashback of developments from India and the World which were significant and pertain to different spheres such as politics, sports, economics, etc.

Hope this flashback refreshes your memory and helps you carry 2008 in the future!

World

• Microsoft made a bid of $44.6 billion to take over Yahoo but it was rejected by the board of Yahoo
• Cuba President Fidel Castro stepped down
  • Cuban President stepped down as the president and handed over the reign to his brother Raúl Castro.
• President Musharraf stepped down as the President of Pakistan
• US Economy headed for a downturn following the subprime crisis which triggered a series of financial turmoil in the country that spread across the world
• Google Launched its web browser Chrome to provide better technology and alternatives to users around the world
• Dmitry Medvedev became the President of Russia and Vladimir Putin its Prime Minister
• Thabo Mbeki stepped down as South Africa’s president, Kgalema Motlanthe was sworn in as his successor
• Barack Obama won the US Presidential election beating Republican candidate John McCain

INDIA moments of pride and sorrow

January

Bird Flu engulfed eastern part of India:
Reports of bird flu were confirmed by the government officials and H5N1 strain was detected. This was followed by the culling of birds in large numbers.

March

TATA motors take over JLR:
Tata Motors bought Jaguar and Land Rover for 2.3 billion $ from Ford Motors in what was seen as a development that would change the landscape of the auto industry.

April

• Indian Premier League, the 20-20 version of the modern cricket game got underway in the month of April. This tournament saw players from different states as well as different countries play for teams that were auctioned before the tournament got underway.
• The event turned out to be a roaring success owing to the presence of cricket superstars such as Virender Sehwag, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sourav Ganguly, and more in the shorter version of the game. The trophy was won by Rajasthan Royals captained by Shane Warne.

June

Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw passed away:
Field Marshal Sam ‘Bahadur’ Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, dies at Wellington at the age of 94. He was the first general of Indian Armed forces and led India to victory against Pakistan in 1971.

Amarnath Shrine Board land row:
Jammu and Kashmir came to a grinding halt as scores of people took to streets in the Amarnath Land transfer row. The State government transferred 100 acres of land on to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board to provide temporary shelter for pilgrims visiting the Amarnath shrine. This was followed by protests from various quarters comprising environmentalists, people, and politicians. The order was revoked by the state government but the imbroglio continued which saw people taking to the streets and expressing their angst in large numbers in Kashmir against the decision. While the people of Kashmir were against the decision, people in Jammu were in favor of the transfer of the land.

July

• Kapil Dev’s 1983 World Cup(cricket) winning team came together to relive and celebrate the historic victory which crowned them World Champions at Lords in 1983
• British author Salman Rushdie won the Best of the Booker Prize
• Series of blasts rocked the city of Bangalore on July 25th injuring as many as seven people and killing one woman
• Congress Government survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament

August

Kosi River Floods

• River Kosi broke a couple of embankments and changed its course from north to south flooding large parts Bihar thereby affecting more than 3 million people
• India won three medals at the Beijing Olympics
  • Abhinav Bindra did India proud by winning the first gold medal in shooting for the country
  • Boxer Vijender Singh and Wrestler Sushil Kumar too won a bronze medal respectively and made the country proud with their achievement

September

Tata Motors shut down Singur plant:
Tata Motors decided to shut its Singur plant amidst protests by the locals, Trinamool Congress workers, and leader Mamta Banerjee.

October

• India signed a historic deal on Nuclear co-operation with the US which would enable civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries
• Vishwanathan Anand was crowned World Champion in Chess after beating Vladimir Kramnik by 6.5-4.5 in Bonn in 12 game series
• Arvind Adiga won The Man Booker Prize 2008 for his book The White Tiger
• India successfully launched Chandrayaan-I, its spacecraft which kick starts ISRO’s unmanned mission to the moon

November

• Anil Kumble retired from test cricket after the third test match against Australia. He had to his name 619 wickets from 132 tests- a feat to cherish for a long time!
• Noted Film Maker B R Chopra passed away. The filmmaker entertained an entire generation of the audience with movies such as Gumrah, Dhund, Humraz, and others. His loss would certainly create a vacuum in the Bollywood film industry
• India beat Australia comprehensively to clinch the test series at home 2-0
• Terror struck Mumbai once again and this time it was Hotel Taj, Trident Hotel, and Nariman House which faced the ire of the terrorists (Mumbai Terror attacks, resilience to what extent?)

December

• Sourav Ganguly announced his retirement from international cricket after the third test against the Australians and retired from first-class cricket in the month of December
• India beat England in the two test match series 2-0 to finish the year on a winning note. The noteworthy aspect of this series victory was that contribute towards this effort came from all quarters. The heartening aspect for Indian cricket was its middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid regaining his form as he struck a century to send a strong message to his critiques.

Some Bollywood movies which made news in 2008

• A Wednesday
• Taare Zameen Par
• Fashion
• Ghajini (Ghajini and Aamir Khan’s determination!)
• Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na
• Rab Ne Banaa Di Jodi
• Singh Is King
• Aamir

Some books which you might like to read

• White Tiger by Arvind Adiga
• Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri