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1947-2008-India-Roundup

the historically frosty relations between India and the US thawed when Bill Clinton visited India on March 19, the first presidential visit in 22 years. The diplomatic call improved relations that were strained since the Cold War. Clinton, who got a rock star welcome wherever he went, pressed India to scale down its nuclear programme, sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue with Pakistan. “We want India to be strong; to be secure; to be united; to be a force for a safer, more prosperous, more democratic world,” said Clinton while addressing a joint session of the Parliament.

STATE AFFAIRS

Parliament passed the Bihar Reorganization Bill to carve 18 districts out of Bihar’s eastern part to form Jharkhand, the 28^th state of India. It had 14 Lok Sabha and 81 assembly seats.

FIRST CUT

• Mohammed Azharuddin, former captain of the Indian cricket team, became the first Indian cricketer to receive a life ban from the game for his alleged involvement in a match-fixing deal.


• Chess grand master Viswanathan Anand beat Lithuanian Alexei Shirov to become the world champion at the fide World Chess Championships in Tehran.

The population of India officially passed the 1 billion mark on May 11, when Baby Astha was born in Delhi. The UN, however, believed that India had already crossed the mark on August 15, 1999.

Azim Premji Chairman, Wipro, on becoming the richest man in India.

“I feel like a zoo animal these days. My privacy has been invaded.”

WINNING MEDALS IS NOT EASY.”

Andhra Pradesh’s Karnam Malleswari won a bronze at the Sydney Olympics for weight lifting in the women’s 69 kg category. The 25-year-old became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. Criticized for being overweight and shadowed by charges of doping. Malleswari went on to win the coveted Padma Sri and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

LOCK KIYA JAYE?

India found its new favourite tagline when Kaun Banega Crorepati debuted with Amitabh Bachchan as the host. The show that saw contenders trying for the Rs 1-crore jackpot entered three crore tv homes in 18 months and made Rs 135 crore from ad sales.

And The Three Ruled the Galaxy

Beauty is subjective, they say. But for one golden year, India set the standard for the world, as Lara Dutta became Miss Universe, Priyanka Chopra Miss World and Diya Mirza Miss Asia-pacific. Aditi Govitrikar got the Mrs. World title. Dutta and Chopra subsequently starred in a movie together, Andaz, solidifying Bollywood as a destination for beauty queens.

ELSEWHERE…

• Pope John Paul II began the first official visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.


• Hugo Chavez was re-elected as Venezuela’s president with a 59 per cent vote.


• An Air France Flight 4590 crashed into a hotel in Genesse just after taking off from Paris, killing 113.


• Presidential elections were held in Russia and Vladimir Putin (below) became President

5,740 was the mark the Sensex touched in February, the highest for that year, before crashing to 3,711 in October. It ended the year with a loss of 26 per cent, caused by the technology, media and telecom sectors.

Courtesy By India Today