THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

2 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

panel headed by former CJI R. M. Feb. 10: The Aam Aadmi Party
NATIONAL Lodha to decide penalty. sweeps to power with 67 seats in the
Indian-American author Jhumpa 70-member Delhi Assembly.
JANUARY Lahiri wins the $ 50,000 DSC prize Facebook launches Internet.org
for Literature for her book, The in India at a function in Mumbai.
Lowland.
Jan. 1: The Modi government sets ICICI Bank launches the first dig-
up NITI Aayog (National InstitutionPrime Minister Narendra Modi ital bank in the country, ‘Pockets’, on
for Transforming India) in place of
launches the Beti Bachao, Beti Pad- a mobile phone in Mumbai.
the Planning Commission. hao (save daughters, educate daugh- Feb. 13: Srirangam witnesses
The Karnataka High Court sets up
ters) scheme in Panipat, Haryana. over 80 per cent turnout in bypolls.
a Special Bench under Justice C.R.
“Sukanya Samrudhi” account Sensex gains 289.83 points to re-
Kumaraswamy to hear appeals filed
scheme unveiled. claim 29000-mark on stellar SBI
by AIADMK general secretary Jaya- Sensex closes at a record high of earnings.
lalithaa in the disproportionate as-
29006.02 Feb. 14: Arvind Kejriwal takes
sets case. Jan. 24: Poet Arundhati Subra- oath as Delhi’s eighth Chief Minis-
manian wins the inaugural Khush-
The Tamil Nadu Governor K. Ro- ter, at the Ramlila Maidan in New
want Singh Memorial Prize for
saiah confers the Sangita Kalanidhi Delhi.
award on musician T.V. Gopalak- Poetry for her work When God is a Feb. 16: The AIADMK candidate
Traveller at the Zee Jaipur Litera-
rishnan at the ‘Sadas’ at The Music S. Valarmathi scores a massive victo-
Academy in Chennai. ture Festival. ry in the Srirangam Assembly by-
Jan. 3: The title Natya Kala Jan. 25: A declaration of friend- polls bagging 1,51,561 votes.
Acharya is conferred on Bharatana-
ship, a renewed 10-year defence The Trinamool Congress wins a
tyam artist Leela Samson at the Mu-
partnership and the nuclear break- thumping victory in the Lok Sabha
sic Academy’s dance festival in through mark the second summit and Assembly byelections in West
Chennai. between Prime Minister Narendra Bengal. Bags Bongaon LS seat by a
Jan. 4: The Indian Science Con-
Modi and the U.S. President Barack Prime Minister Narendra Modi presenting to the U.S. President record margin of 2.11 lakh votes.
gress makes history with a symposi-
Obama in New Delhi. Barack Obama a reproduction of a telegram sent by USA to the India and Sri Lanka sign a Civil
um on “Ancient Sciences through BJP patriarch L. K. Advani, Pun- Indian Constituent Assembly in 1946, in New Delhi. Nuclear Cooperation pact after talks
Sanskrit.” jab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Ba- between Prime Minister Narendra
Jan. 5: Columbia University Pro-
dal, nuclear scientist M. R. gy projects and $1 billion from the date will be held as null and void if he Modi and President Maithripala Sir-
fessor Arvind Panagariya is appoint-
Srinivasan and actors Amitabh Exim Bank of the U.S. at the India- fails to disclose full details of his isena, in New Delhi.
ed NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman. Bachchan and Dilip Kumar promi- US Business Summit in New Delhi. criminal antecedents at the time of Feb. 19: A six-member relay
Jan. 6: Sensex plummets by 855
nent among the nine Padma Vib- Military might showcased in the nomination, rules the Supreme team, including Manav Mehta, a
points in its worst crash in five-and-
hushan awardees. 66th Republic Day parade. In a first, Court. class 9 student, sets a new open-sea
a-half years and closes at 26987.46.
Former CEC N. Gopalaswami, all-woman contingents of the three Feb. 6: The Delhi High Court en- swim world record by swimming
Jan. 8: Tamil writer Perumal Mu-
constitutional expert Subhash C. Services take part. hances to 30 years the life term from Goa to Mumbai in 156 hours.
rugan flees home town following fu-
Kashyap, Carnatic vocalist Sudha Jan. 29: S. Jaishankar takes awarded to Vikas Yadav and his cou- Feb. 20: Veteran CPI leader Go-
rore over his book Mathorubhagan.
Raghunathan, Microsoft founder charge as Foreign Secretary. sin Vishal Yadav for the February vind Pansare dies of gunshot wounds
Jan. 9: Jammu and Kashmir Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates Sensex gains 122.59 points to a 2002 killing of Nitish Katara. sustained in an attack in Kolhapur
comes under Governor’s rule. and Fields Medal winner Manjul new closing peak of 29681.77, after Marathi writer Bhalchandra Ne- on Feb. 16. at the Breach Candy Hos-
Vistara, the new airline of Tata
Bhargava among 20 Padma Bhushan reaching a lifetime high of 29740.63. made known for works like Kosal pital in Mumbai.
SIA Airlines, begins commercial op-
awardees. Jan. 30: Former Union Environ- (Cocoon) and Hindu is selected for Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram
erations in New Delhi. Violinist Kanyakumari Avasarala, ment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan the Jnanpith award for 2014. Manjhi resigns.
Jan. 10: Sindhushree Khullar is
filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, in- quits the Congress. Feb. 7: Delhi registers a record Feb. 22: Senior JD (U) leader Nit-
appointed CEO of NITI Aayog. dustrialist T. V. Mohandas Pai, actor In its largest-ever disinvestment, 67.08 percent turnout in the As- ish Kumar takes oath as Bihar Chief
Jan. 13: Tamil writer PerumalKota Srinivasa Rao, badminton play- the Centre raises Rs. 22,557.63 crore sembly polls. Minister in Patna.
Murugan gives up writing and with-
er P. V. Sindhu, Syedna Mohammad from the sale of its 10 per cent share- Feb. 9: Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Feb. 23: Yaduveer Gopal Urs is
draws all his books. Burhanuddin and Pran Kumar Sinha holding in Coal India Ltd. Ram Manjhi is expelled from the Ja- formally adopted as heir to the Wa-
Jan. 15: Leela Samson quits as
(both posthumous) among 75 Padma Jan. 31: The former Union Minis- nata Dal (United). diyar dynasty at a ceremony in Amba
CBFC chairperson. Shree recipients. ter Matang Singh is arrested in Kol- Vilas Palace, Mysuru and given the
Hari Shankar Brahma takes over Jan. 26: The U.S. President Ba- kata by the CBI in the multi-crore name Yaduveer Krishnadatta Cham-
as the 19th CEC at Nirvachan Sadan,
rack Obama announces $4 billion in rupee Saradha chit fund scam. araja Wadiyar.
New Delhi. bank loans, $ 2 billion for green ener- Feb. 24: R.K. Pachouri, Chairper-
Jan. 17: Ashok Srinivasan is pre- FEBRUARY son of the Intergovernmental Panel
sented The Hindu Prize 2014 at the Feb. 1: Veteran actor Dilip Kumar on Climate Change, resigns.
Lit for Life 2015 for his debut collec- is conferred Lifetime Achievement The Union Cabinet gives nod for
tion of 13 short stories, Book of Com- Award at the Jaipur International setting up the New Development
mon Signs, in Chennai. Film Festival. Bank and the BRICS Contingent Re-
Jan. 19: Filmmaker Pahlaj Niha- Malini Parthasarathy takes charge serve Arrangement.
lani is appointed CBFC chairperson. as the first woman Editor of The Feb. 25: The 2015-16 Railway
Jan. 21: Sensex sets a life-time Hindu. budget (Plan outlay Rs.1,00,000
high of 28958 points and NSE Nifty Feb. 4: Union Home Secretary crore) leaves passenger fares untou-
records a historic 8741 points. Anil Goswami is sacked for allegedly ched. Freight rates hiked.
Jan. 22: The Supreme Court in a trying to stall the arrest of former Feb. 28: Union Finance Minister
benchmark verdict says BCCI offi- Minister Matang Singh. L.C. Goyal Arun Jaitley allocates Rs. 70,000
cials cannot have commercial inter- appointed in his place. crore for public spending on infras-
ests in the IPL. Gurunath Feb. 5: L.C. Goyal takes charge as tructure to spur growth in the econ-
Meiyappan and Raj Kundra found Union Home Secretary. omy, presenting the Union Budget
guilty of betting. Three-member Dr. Arvind Panagariya. The election of a returned candi- CPI leader Govind Pansare. 2015-16. Announces Atal Innovation
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 3
Mission and the Atal Pension Yoja- dawn-to-dusk Kerala-wide hartal in in Nepal trigger house collapses.
na. Nirbhaya Fund gets Rs. 1,000 protest against the alleged assault on Prime Minister Narendra Modi
crore. its MLAs inside the Assembly hits presents the Jnanpith Award for
life. 2014 to Marathi writer Bhalchandra
MARCH March 17: The Supreme Court Nemade, New Delhi.
March 1: Mufti Mohammad Say- sets aside the quota for Jats. April 27: The apex court declares
eed takes oath as the 12th Chief Min- The Union Cabinet gives nod for “bad in law” the appointment of Bha-
ister of Jammu and Kashmir The Undisclosed Income and Assets vani Singh as SPP by the Tamil Nadu
heading a PDP-BJP coalition Minis- (Imposition of Tax) Bill. government in the disproportionate
try. March 20: At least 38 passen- assets case.
March 2: The Nasdaq Composite gers, of the Dehradun-Varanasi Ja- April 28: The Karnataka govern-
Index surges above 5,000 for the first nata Express are killed and nearly ment appoints former AG B.V.
time in 15 years, since the massive 150 injured after four coaches derail Acharya as Special Public Prosecu-
dotcom crash of 2000. near the Bachrawan station in Rae tor in the disproportionate assets
Maharashtra Animal Preservation Bareli district, U.P. Rescue work on at the mishap site at Bachrawan, in UttarPradesh. case.
(Amendment) Bill 1995, banning March 21: A Delhi court acquits April 29: The Union Cabinet
cow slaughter gets Presidential nod. all 16 accused in the May 22, 1987 Vajpayee at the latter’s residence in April 8: Prime Minister Narendra launches the Smart Cities Mission
March 3: Three senior brokerage Hashimpura massacre at Meerut New Delhi. Modi launches the Pradhan Mantri and the Atal Mission for Rejuvena-
officials are arrested by the Mumbai that left 42 dead, for lack of evidence. March 28: The AAP removes Micro Units Development and Refi- tion and Urban Transformation
police in connection with the Rajendra Singh dubbed the “Wa- founder-members Yogendra Yadav nance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Yoja- which replaces the JNNRUM with a
Rs.4,600-crore National Spot Ex- terman of India”, instrumental in re- and Prashant Bhushan from its na- na, in New Delhi. MUDRA Bank total outlay of nearly Rs. 1,00,000
change Scam. viving numerous water bodies in tional executive. launched. crore.
March 4: BSE Sensex crosses his- Rajasthan is chosen for the Stock- ISRO’s PSLV C-27 successfully April 9: A special Court in Hyd-
toric 30000 mark and the NSE Nifty holm Water Prize. launches Indian Regional Naviga- erabad sentences to seven years RI MAY
touches the 9100 milestone in early March 23: Veteran actor-pro- tion Satellite I-System (IRNSS) 1-D the former Chairman of Satyam May 3: President Pranab Muk-
trade. ducer Shashi Kapoor is chosen for into the intended orbit. Computers Services Ltd., B. Ramal- herjee presents to Kangana Ranaut
The Lok Sabha clears the long- the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for The NDA government announces inga Raju and nine others in a the 62nd National Film Award for
pending Insurance Laws (Amend- 2014. the removal of Dr. Aziz Qureshi as Rs.7,000-crore corporate fraud case. Best Actress for her role in Queen
ment) Bill. March 24: The Supreme Court Mizoram Governor. The Union Home Ministry sus- and award for best feature film to
March 5: The Maharashtra gov- strikes down Section 66A of the In- March 30: Freedom fighter and pends the registration of Green- debut director Chaitanya Tamhane.
ernment officially scraps the five per formation Technology Act terming it founder of Banaras Hindu Universi- peace India under the Foreign May 6: A Mumbai sessions court
cent reservation for Muslims in edu- unconstitutional. ty Madan Mohan Malviya is post- Contribution Regulation Act for six holds Bollywood actor Salman Khan
cational institutions, despite a Bom- Director Chaitanya Tamhane’s humously conferred the Bharat months and freezes its seven ac- guilty of homicide in the September
bay High Court ruling in its favour. quadrilingual film Court emerges as Ratna at a function in New Delhi. counts, prohibiting donations from 28, 2002 hit-and-run case and sen-
The Delhi High Court upholds the the best feature film and Kangana March 31: The Gujarat Assembly abroad. tences him to 5-years RI.
January 2013 conviction of the for- Ranaut is adjudged best actress for passes the landmark Gujarat Control April 13: The Union government The Constitution (122nd Amend-
mer Haryana Chief Minister Om her role in Vijay Bahl’s Queen at the of Terrorism and Organised Crime notifies the National Judicial Ap- ment) Bill for introduction of Goods
Prakash Chautala, his son and 53 62nd National Film Awards in New Bill 2015. pointments Commission (NJAC) and Services Tax sails through the
others in the junior teachers recruit- Delhi. Kannada actor Vijay bags the A Division Bench of the Kerala law and brings to an end the dec- Lok Sabha.
ment scam that took place in 2000. best actor award for role in Nanu High Court upholds the UDF gov- ades-old collegium system of ap- The Rajya Sabha unanimously
The Centre bans telecast on In- Avanalla Avalu. ernment’s liquor policy that permit- pointing judges. passes the Constitution (119th)
ternet a documentary India’s March 25: Shailesh Yadav, son of ted bars to function only in hotels of April 17: Hurriyat leader Masarat Amendment Bill to enable the rat-
Daughter by British director Leslee Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Na- five star and above categories. Alam is arrested on charges of orga- ification of the Land Boundary
Udwin on the Dec.16, 2012, Delhi resh Yadav and an accused in the The Karnataka Assembly adopts nising a pro-freedom rally and rais- Agreement with Bangladesh hanging
gangrape that was aired on the BBC’s Vyapam scam is found dead at his the Right of Children to Free and ing a Pakistani flag in Srinagar. fire since 1974.
Channel 4 earlier in the day. father’s residence in Lucknow. Compulsory Education (Karnataka April 19: Rajya Sabha member Sensex tanks 723 points to close at
March 7: Senior separatist leader March 26: The Madras High Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Kan- Sitaram Yechury is elected the fifth 26717.37 on huge selloff by FIIs.
Masarat Alam, one among the main Court Bench in Madurai restrains nada Language Learning Bill 2015. general secretary of the CPI(M) at May 7: The Juvenile Justice
organisers of the pro-Azadi protests the Centre from permitting start of the 21st Party Congress in (Care and Protection of Children)
in the Valley in 2010, is freed from work at the proposed INO project in APRIL Visakhapatnam. Bill that provides for trying juveniles
prison by the J& K police. Pottipuram, Theni district. April 1: The Supreme Court stays Nasim Zaidi takes over as the 20th aged between 16 and 18 years for
March 10: The Land Acquisition March 27: President Pranab summons issued by a Special Court CEC in New Delhi. heinous crimes under laws for adults
(Amendment) Bill is approved in the Mukherjee confers Bharat Ratna on against the former Prime Minister April 20: The AAP expels rebel is passed by the Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha. former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Manmohan Singh and five others in leaders Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Parliament unanimously ap-
March 12: Rajya Sabha passes the the coal scam case. Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha
Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, The Andhra Pradesh government from the party.
2015. decides to name the new capital Am- April 22: Gajendra Singh, a farm-
March 13: The Kerala Assembly aravati. er from Dausa district, Rajasthan
witnesses unprecedented violence April 3: President Pranab Muk- commits suicide at a political rally
as the Opposition LDF tries to pre- herjee signs the new Land Acquisi- organised by the AAP against the
vent the Finance Minister K.M. Ma- tion Ordinance. Centre’s land ordinance at Jantar
ni who faces bribery charges in the April 7: Twenty woodcutters Mantar in New Delhi.
bar licence row from presenting the from Tamil Nadu found felling red April 24: The Rajya Sabha passes,
budget. sanders are killed by police in an for the first time in 45 years, a pri-
Suzette Jordan who was allegedly alleged encounter in the Seshacha- vate member’s bill protecting and
raped in a moving car on Park Street lam forest in Andhra Pradesh. providing rights for transgenders.
in Kolkata in February 2012 dies in The Union Cabinet gives nod for April 25: At least 51 persons are
the city after a brief illness. Jnanpith awardee Bhalchandra the Real Estate (Regulation and De- killed across Bihar, U.P. and West The new CPI(M) general
March 14: The LDF-sponsored Nemade. velopment) Bill. Bengal after tremors from the quake secretary, Sitaram Yechury.
 4 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015
proves The Constitution (119th
Amendment) Bill, operationalising
the Land Boundary Agreement with
Bangladesh.
Achal Kumar Jyoti, a former Chief
Secretary of Gujarat is appointed
Election Commissioner.
The RJD expels five-time MP Ra-
jesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav from
the party for six years.
May 8: The Bombay High Court
suspends the five-year jail term
awarded to actor Salman Khan and
grants him bail.
May 9: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi launches two insurance
schemes, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan
Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri
Suraksha Bima Yojana and the Atal
Bima Yojana, at a function in
Kolkata.
Veteran journalist Vinod Mehta is
posthumously honoured with the
G.K. Reddy Memorial National
Award at a function in New Delhi.
May 10: Bollywood veteran
Shashi Kapoor is presented with the
Dadasaheb Phalke award by the
Union I & B Minister Arun Jaitley in
Mumbai.
May 11: The Karnataka High
Court acquits former Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and
three others in the disproportionate
assets case. Her disqualification un-
der the RPA stands negated.
The Lok Sabha passes the Undis-
closed Foreign Income and Assets
(Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015.
A metropolitan sessions court in
Hyderabad grants bail to former Sa-
tyam Computers Chairman B. Ra-
malinga Raju and nine others.
India names private banker K.V.
Kamath as the first president of the
$100-billion BRICS bank named
New Development Bank.
May 12: Seventeen persons are
killed across east and north India in
tremors triggered by fresh after-
shocks of the quake in Nepal.
Sensex tumbles by 629.82 points
to close at 26877.48.
May 13: In a landmark judgment,
the Supreme Court restrains the
government from publishing the
photographs of political leaders,
ministers or prominent persons in
government advertisements.
The Rajya Sabha approves The
Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign
Income and Assets) and Imposition
of Tax Bill, 2015.
May 14: SBI launches SBIin-
Touch, its contactless debit and
credit card using latest near field
technology.
May 17: Mr. N. Ram, Chairman,
Kasturi and Sons Ltd., presents the
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
first Rangaswami Parthasarathy Me- Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in
morial Award to veteran journalist the disproportionate assets case.
Shekhar Gupta at a function in June 24: The Prime Minister Na-
Chennai. rendra Modi launches Housing for
The Supreme Court upholds the All, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation
constitutional validity of the Nation- and Urban Transformation (AM-
al Company Law Tribunal and its RUT) and Smart Cities schemes, in
appellate forum under the Compa- New Delhi.
nies Act of 2013. Gokulraj, a Dalit youth is found
May 18: Aruna Shanbaug, former murdered with head severed on a
nurse at Mumbai’s King Edward Me- railway track near Pallipalayam, Ti-
morial Hospital dies of pneumonia ruchengode, Tamil Nadu.
after being in a coma since Novem- June 29: Tamil Nadu Chief Min-
ber 27, 1973 following a sexual as- Passengers waiting to board the inaugural run of the Metro train ister Jayalalithaa inaugurates the
sault by a ward boy. in Chennai. Metro Rail network in Chennai, cur-
May 21: The AIADMK Legisla- rently being operated from Koyam-
decides to file an appeal in the Su-
ture Party elects Jayalalithaa leader. ident becomes the first visually chal- bedu to Alandur, through video
preme Court against verdict acquit-
O. Panneerselvam resigns as Chief lenged to be selected for the IFS. conferencing from the Secretariat.
Minister. ting Jayalalithaa and three others in June 13: The Union Government The Hindu art work on special cover.
the disproportionate assets case.
May 23: Jayalalithaa takes oath launches an Insurance pool of Rs. June 30: Tamil Nadu Chief Min-
The trial run of the Kolkata-Dha-
as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for the 1,500 crore mandatory under the ister Jayalalithaa wins the Radhak-
ka-Agartala bus service begins in
fifth time at a function in Chennai. A Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage rishnan Nagar Assembly by-poll
new Cabinet takes office. Kolkata. Act. with a record margin of over 1.50
May 24: The heat wave toll in A.P.
June 2: The Hindu Business Line June 15: The Supreme Court can- lakh votes.
and Telangana touches 470. launches www.bloncampus.com or cels the All India Pre Medical and Telangana TDP MLA A. Revnath
May 25: The Delhi High CourtBLOC, a first of its kind website tai- Pre Dental Entrance Test held on Reddy arrested in a cash-for-vote
rules that the Delhi government’s
lored for B-Schoolers and B-School May 3, 2015 due to exam fraud. case is granted conditional bail by
ACB has jurisdiction to arrest police
aspirants. Ex-servicemen launch an indefi- the Hyderabad High Court.
personnel. Sensex plummets 660.61 points to nite fast across the country seeking
May 27: The Tripura government
close at 27188.38 implementation of the One Rank JULY
revokes the Armed Forces (Special June 3: The Centre lodges a com- One Pension scheme. July 1: “Dignity of a woman is
Powers) Act, in force since February
plaint against Nestle Maggi noodles June 18: At least 102 people are part of her non-perishable and im-
1997. with the National Consumer Dis- killed after consuming illicit liquor mortal self”, holds the Supreme
May 28: Yaduveer Krishnadatta
putes Redressal Commission. at Malvani in Malad, Mumbai. Court ruling out room for compro-
Chamaraja Wadiyar is crowned the June 4: Tamil Nadu bans the June 19: Mumbai comes to a mise in rape cases.
new Maharaja at the Amba Vilas Pal-
manufacture, stocking and sale of standstill following heavy torrential The Black Money (Undisclosed
ace in Mysuru. Maggi and three other noodle brands rain measuring close to 300 mm over Foreign Income and Assets) and Im-
May 29: Pradeep Kumar Sinha is
for three months. 24 hours. position of Tax Act comes into force.
appointed Cabinet Secretary. June 5: Nestle withdraws Maggi June 21: Prime Minister Naren- July 2: Maharashtra decides to
The TDP goes national at the Ma-
and the Food Safety and Standards dra Modi leads 35,985 people in label students of madrasas or vedic
hanadu in Hyderabad. Authority of India orders recall of all breaking the Guinness World Re- schools ‘uneducated’.
May 30: The U.P. government nine varieties of the noodles from cord for the largest number of people The External Affairs Ministry re-
files a case against Nestle India after
the market. doing Yoga at Rajpath, New Delhi on instates IFS officer Devyani Khobra-
excess lead is detected in Maggi June 7: Manabi Bandyopadhyay the occasion of the first Internation- gade and posts her to the newly
noodles. becomes the nation’s first openly al Day of Yoga. created ‘States division’.
transgender college principal as she
Chennai Metro gets the final ap- June 22: Thirtyseven persons July 4: Tamil Nadu Chief Minis-
proval for starting operations.takes charge at Krishnagar Women’s travel by the first commercial bus ter Jayalalithaa takes oath as an
May 31: President Pranab Muk-
College in Kolkata. service (Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala) MLA at the Secretariat.
June 10: The Madras High Court
herjee repromulgates the Land Ordi- which took off from Karunamayee The mystery surrounding the Vya-
nance for the third time. dismisses petitions by Sun TV and Stand in Salt Lake. pam scam in Madhya Pradesh turns
Kal Comm Pvt. Ltd. against attach- June 23: The Karnataka govern- murkier after Akshay Singh, a TV
JUNE ment of assets by the ED in the Air- ment files an SLP in the Supreme journalist dies at Meghnagar area
June 1: The Karnataka Cabinet cel-Maxis case. Court against the acquittal of Tamil near Jhabua town soon after inter-
K.V. Chowdhary takes oath as viewing the parents of an accused
CVC and Vijai Sharma is sworn in as who herself was found dead in 2012.
Chief Information Commissioner, in Ira Singhal from Delhi, becomes
New Delhi. the first physically challenged wom-
Neyveli Santhanagopalan (Car- an to top the Civil Services exam.
natic vocal), Ashwini Bhide Desh- July 5: The Vyapam scamclaims
pande (Hindustani vocal), Ronu another victim, with Arun Sharma,
Majumdar (flute) among 36 artists Dean of the Jabalpur-based Netaji
chosen for the Sangeet Natak Subhas Chandra Bose Medical Col-
Awards for 2014. lege, being found dead in a Delhi
June 12: Telangana announces hotel.
its maiden industrial policy with a July 6: The Chennai Corporation
unique feature to cut delays — Right announces a major decision, permit-
to Clearance, on the lines of RTI, in Relatives mourning a hooch ting residents to build houses on
Hyderabad. victim at a cemetery at Malad, land of any size in the city.
Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor. N.L. Beno Zephine, a Chennai res- Mumbai. The DMK challenges in the Su-
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
preme Court the acquittal of Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in
the disproportionate assets case.
The Supreme Court rules unwed
mother can be the sole guardian of a
minor child.
July 8: Sensex slumps by 483.97
points to close at 27687.72 fuelled by
the Chinese equity turmoil.
July 10: The ISRO’s PSLV C-28
launches five satellites weighing
1,440 kg for a U.K.-based company
from the Satish Dhawan Space Cen-
tre in Sriharikota.
July 11: The Madras High Court
recalls order suggesting mediation
between a rape survivor and the
convict.
July 13: The CBI begins probe
into the Vyapam scam (fraud in the
pre-medical tests held from
2006-2013).
July 14: The R. M. Lodha panel on
the IPL betting scandal suspends
CSK and RR for two years. Gurunath
Meiyappan and Raj Kundra slapped
with life ban.
At least 27 persons are killed and
36 injured in a stampede at the Go-
davari Maha Pushkaram in Rajah-
mundry, Andhra Pradesh.
July 15: The Manipur Regulation
of Visitors, Tenants and Migrant
Workers Bill 2015 passed on March
16 is withdrawn at a special Assemb-
ly session, following protests during
which a student died in police firing
(on July 8).
July 17: The All India Railway
Helpline number 1512, for victims of
crimes on railway property is un-
veiled at a function in New Delhi.
July 21: The Supreme Court lifts
its year-long embargo on State gov-
ernments from freeing life convicts.
Rajiv killers cannot be freed.
July 23: Nobel laureate and cli-
mate scientist R.K. Pachauri is re-
moved as Director General of TERI.
July 25: A sessions court in New
Delhi discharges 36 accused, includ-
ing cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ajit
Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in the
IPL spot fixing case of 2013.
The Prime Minister Narendra
Modi presents The Hindu’s senior
journalist Gargi Parsai with the
ICAR award for Excellence in Jour-
nalism in Agricultural Research and
Development, 2014, at a function in
Patna.
July 27: Seven persons, including
an SP Baljit Singh are killed in an
attack on a police station in Dinana-
gar in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (83), former
President who played a key role in
India’s nuclear tests dies after col-
lapsing on stage during a lecture at
the IIM in Shillong, Meghalaya.
The Supreme Court refuses to stay
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayala-
lithaa’s acquittal in the dispropor-
tionate assets case.
July 28: Mumbai’s iconic dabba-
wallas go online with the launch of
www.dabbewale.com
July 29: The Supreme Court dis-
misses the review petition filed by
the then UPA government challeng-
ing the commutation of death penal-
ty to life term of three convicts in the
Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
July 30: The 1993 Mumbai blasts
convict Yakub Memon is hanged at
the Nagpur central prison hardly
two hours after Supreme Court re-
jects his petition.
The former President A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam is laid to rest with full state
honours in Pei Karumbu village in
Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
July 31: Gandhian and anti-li-
quor crusader Sasi Perumal dies dur-
ing a protest atop a mobile phone
tower near Marthandam in Tamil
Nadu’s Kanyakumari district.
The former President A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam’s birthday, October 15, to be
observed as ‘Youth Awakening Day’
every year in Tamil Nadu.
AUGUST
Aug. 1: At least 14,854 people join
India after shedding a stateless ex-
istence for years in 51 Bangladesh
enclaves.
Aug. 3: The government signs a
peace deal with the NSCN (IM) in
New Delhi.
The flood toll in West Bengal goes
up to 69 and 2.1 lakh people shel-
tered in over 1,500 relief camps.
The Supreme Court dismisses the
appeals of the former Haryana Chief
Minister O.P Chautala, his son Ajay
Chautala and three others against
their conviction on January 16, 2013
Former President, Dr. A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam.
Raju Burman, a resident of Poatarkuti, Bangladesh, celebrating
the newfound citizenship of India.
in the teachers’ recruitment scam
case of 2000.
Amalendu Krishna of the TIFR,
Mumbai, wins the Ramanujan Prize
for 2015.
Aug. 4: At least 25 persons are
killed after several coaches of the
Kamayani Express and the Janata
Express derail and plunge into the
Machak river while crossing flooded
tracks near Harda in Madhya Pra-
desh.
Aug. 5: Two BSF jawans Rocky
and Suvendu Singh are killed and
eight injured in an attack on a con-
voy near Udhampur, J&K. A Pakista-
ni militant is shot dead and another
captured.
A Mumbai special court issues an
NBW against former IPL Commis-
sioner Lalit Modi in London since
2010.
Aug. 7: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi inaugurates the first National
Handloom Day in Chennai and
launches the Indian Handloom
Mark.
The Tripura Assembly passes a
resolution against death penalty.
Aug. 10: Nivin Pauly (Bangalore
Days and 1983) shares the Best Actor
Award with Sudev Nair (My Life
Partner) at the Kerala State Film
awards for 2014. Nazriya Nazim bags
Best Actress Award for Om Shanthi
Oshana and Bangalore Days.
Aug. 11: Aadhaar not mandatory,
says the Supreme Court.
The Prem Bhatia Memorial Award
for 2015 is awarded to Suhasini Hai-
dar, Diplomatic and Strategic Affairs
Editor with The Hindu.
The government sues Nestle,
manufacturer of Magi Noodles for
Rs. 639 crore.
Aug. 12: The Lok Sabha debates
the Lalit Modi saga on the penulti-
mate day of the monsoon session.
The Supreme Court stays the Ma-
dras High Court order cancelling the
anticipatory bail of former Union
Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran
DIARY OF EVENTS 2015
in the illegal phone exchange case.
Aug. 13: The Bombay High Court
revokes the nationwide ban on Mag-
gi Noodles, but orders fresh tests on
all variants of the product.
Aug. 14: Delhi police try to evict
ex-servicemen on a relay hunger
strike for 61 days at Jantar Mantar
seeking implementation of OROP.
Aug. 15: Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi announces the “Start-up
India Stand Up India” scheme , in his
address during the 69th Independ-
ence Day celebration in New Delhi.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jaya-
lalithaa presents the first A.P.J. Ab-
dul Kalam Award to ISRO scientist
N. Valarmathi.
Aug. 17: The Supreme Court up-
holds the conviction of Vikas Yadav,
Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Yadav in
the 2002 murder of Nitish Katara, an
MBA graduate.
Vipul Garg (17) from Haryana’s
Jind district tops the All India Pre-
Medical Test entrance exam 2015.
Aug. 19: India Post, Reliance In-
dustries Ltd. among 11 entities
granted in principle nod by the RBI
for setting up payment banks.
The Supreme Court allows the re-
al estate magnates Gopal and Sushil
Ansal to walk free in the 1997 Uphaar
Cinema fire case.
Aug. 21: The Gujarat High Court
stays the government notification
making voting compulsory in the
civic bodies and panchayat polls.
Aug. 24: Sensex tumbles by
1624.51 points to close at 25741.56.
Aug. 25: Police crackdown after a
mammoth rally of Patels in Ahmeda-
bad, Gujarat seeking quota in jobs
triggers violence. Hardik Patel,
spearhead briefly detained.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jaya-
lalithaa announces a comprehensive
AMMA Master Health-Check-up
plan in the Assembly.
Indrani Mukherjea, former CEO
of INX Media Limited is held by the
Mumbai police for the murder of her
5
daughter Sheena Bora in Raigad dis-
trict on April 24, 2012.
Aug. 26: Six persons are killed as
the Gujarat bandh turns violent. Ar-
my called in.
The Supreme Court suspends all
proceedings against the two Italian
marines accused of killing two Indi-
an fishermen off the Kerala coast in
2012.
The Centre unveils a list of 98
smart cities, with Uttar Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu taking the largest share
of developing 13 cities and 12
respectively.
The ISRO launches communica-
tion satellite GSAT-6, with an indig-
enous cryogenic stage aboard a
GSLV D-6 rocket from Sriharikota,
Andhra Pradesh.
Aug. 28: The NDA government
allows the land acquisition ordi-
nance to lapse.
Aug. 30: Veteran Kannada writer
M.M. Kalburgi (77) known for his
stand against superstition, is shot
dead at his home at Kalyan Nagar in
Dharwad, Karnataka.
Aug. 31: The Supreme Court re-
stores the Jain religious practice of a
ritualistic fast unto death staying the
August 10 order of a Division Bench
of the Rajasthan High Court.
Rajiv Mehrishi replaces L.C. Goyal
as Union Home Secretary.
Five persons are killed during a
general strike in Manipur to protest
the passage of Protection of Manipur
People’s Bill, 2015 and two amend-
ment bills in the Assembly.
SEPTEMBER
Sept.1: Three persons are killed
in police firing on a mob in Mani-
pur’s Churachandpur district as the
protests against the passage of bills
escalate.
Nine persons are sentenced to life
by a Special Court in Thiruvanan-
thapuram for the August 21, 2009
murder of businessman Paul Muth-
oot George near Nedumudy in Ker-
ala’s Alappuzha district.
M. M. Kalburgi.
 6 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015
Sept. 2: The Union Cabinet gives
nod for a new policy for the auction
of 69 small and marginal oil fields to
private and foreign firms.
The nationwide strike by workers
seeking hike in minimum wages, hits
banking and transport services.
The Government cancels the Reg-
istration of Greenpeace India.
Sept. 4: The Delhi High Court
allows women to be granted perma-
nent commission in the Navy.
Sensex plummets by 563 points to
end at 25201.90 following heavy sell-
ing in global stocks.
Sept. 5: Defence Minister Mano-
har Parrikar announces the imple-
mentation of the one rank, one
pension (OROP) scheme for
ex-servicemen.
Sept. 6: Veterans call off stir after
Prime Minister Narendra Modi clar-
ifies that all service personnel who
had taken premature retirement are
also entitled to OROP.
Sept. 7: An Army Court martial
awards lifer to six of its personnel for
the killing of three youth on April 29,
2010 in the Machil Sector of Kup-
wara district in J&K in a fake
encounter.
Sept. 9: Tamil Nadu Chief Minis-
ter Jayalalithaa inaugurates projects
worth Rs.2,568 crore at the opening
of the first Global Investors Meet
2015, in Chennai.
The Gandhi Peace Prize is be-
stowed on the ISRO and accepted by
its Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar from
President Pranab Mukherjee, at the
Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Sept. 12: At least 89 people are
killed and over 100 injured after an
explosion in Petlawad town of Jha-
bua district, Madhya Pradesh.
Sept. 16: Majed Hassan Ashoor,
the Saudi Arabian diplomat accused
of sexual assault on two Nepali
maids leaves India.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu completes the
rivers Godavari-Krishna link as part
of the Pattiseema project in West
Godavari district.
The RBI grants ‘in principle’ ap-
proval for 10 firms to set up small
finance banks.
Sept. 17: The Supreme Court
stays the operation of a new pan-
chayat law in Haryana laying down
minimum educational qualifications
to contest local bodies polls.
Sept. 18: The West Bengal Gov-
ernment declassifies 64 files relating
to Subhas Chandra Bose.
Sept. 19: The detention of Hardik
Patel, leader of the Patidar Andolan
Samithi by the Surat police triggers
violence. Gujarat government sus-
pends Internet services on mobile
across the state.
Sept. 21: The Hindu makes public
online destruction of documents re-
garding a military intelligence unit
set up during Gen. V.K. Singh’s ten-
ure. An army general court martial
had on May 9, 2015 sentenced ha-
vildar Sham Das D. to 10 years RI for
leaking them.
The Rajasthan Assembly decides
to increase quota limit to 68 per cent.
Two bills to ensure 5 per cent reser-
vation for Gujjars and 14 per cent to
Economically Backward Classes
passed.
Sept 24: The Centre clears the
Gujarat Control of Terrorism and
Organised Crime Bill 2015 and sends
it to the President for assent.
Sept. 26: The CBI registers a case
against Himachal Pradesh Chief
Minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife
and associates in a disproportionate
assets case after raids at 13 places.
Sept. 28: The ISRO launches As-
trosat, its first dedicated multi-
wavelength space observatory into
space, besides six satellites for Cana-
da, Indonesia and the U.S.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jaya-
lalithaa launches “Amma mobile
phones’’, a scheme under which
women SHG trainers are to be pro-
vided cellphones.
Sept. 29: The government flags
off its Green Highways (Plantation,
Transplantation and Maintenance)
Policy 2015 at a function in New
Delhi.
Sept. 30: A special court in Mum-
bai awards death sentence to five and
lifer to seven persons for the July 11,
2006 serial train blasts.
For the first time in the history of
Indian judiciary, the Madras High
Court allows live telecast of con-
tempt proceedings against two Mad-
urai advocates for their activities
against the compulsory helmet rule.
Astrosat all set for launch in
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
Fiftythree per cent voting is regis-
tered in the third phase of Bihar As-
sembly polls.
Oct. 29: The Delhi Declaration
2015, unveiled at the conclusion of
the India-Africa Forum Summit
calls for a global plan to combat
cross-border terrorism and faster
reform of the UNSC.
Oct. 30: Chandrabhan Sanap,
convicted of raping and murdering
techie Esther Anuhya is sentenced to
death by a special women’s court in
Mumbai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiling the plaque to lay the Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah
foundation stone of Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. presents The Hindu Saregama M.S.
Subbulakshmi Award 2015 to S.
OCTOBER the 99th Constitutional Amendment. Adithyanarayanan, a mathematics
Collegium system is operative again. student, in Chennai.
Oct. 3: Vishal, the son of a local Over 55 per cent voting recorded Oct. 31: India’s tallest person and
BJP leader accused of inciting a mob in the second phase of Bihar As- Asia’s second tallest, Kolipaka Gat-
to lynch Mohammed Akhlaque over sembly polls. taiah, dies of heart attack while being
rumours of cow slaughter in Bishara Oct. 17: National Blood Policy treated at a hospital in Hyderabad.
village in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh on modified. Blood banks can borrow
September 28 is arrested. from one another in case of shortage. NOVEMBER
Oct. 5: India and Germany agree Oct. 19: The Gujarat police ar- Nov. 1: Bihar registers 57.59 per
to form the Climate and Renewable rests Hardik Patel on sedition charg- cent turnout in phase IV of Assembly
Energy Alliance. es in Rajkot. polls.
Oct. 6: Maharashtra Cabinet de- Oct. 22: The Prime Minister Na- Nov. 3: A Fast Track court in New
cides to revive Ratnagiri Gas and rendra Modi lays the foundation for Delhi sentences to lifer Uber cab
Power Private Limited — the erst- Amaravati, the “People’s Capital” of driver Shiv Kumar Yadav for raping a
while Dabhol Power Project. Andhra Pradesh at Uddandrayuni- woman executive on Dec. 5, 2014.
Eminent litterateur Nayantara palem on the banks of the Krishna Haryana drops chargesheet
Sahgal returns her Sahitya Akademi between Vijayawada and Guntur. against senior IAS officer Ashok
award in protest against the killing Oct. 23: The Sahitya Akademi , Khemka.
of writer M.M. Kalburgi and ratio- passes resolution condemning the Nov. 4: The collegium system is
nalist Govind Pansare. killing of Kannada writer M. M. Kal- back and the CJI H. L. Dattu suggests
Oct. 8: The Bombay High Court burgi, at an emergency meeting in the name of Justice Tirath Singh
sets aside a tax demand of Rs. 3,700 New Delhi. Thakur to be his successor.
crore imposed on Vodafone India by Oct. 25: The Hindu group launch- A special court in Mumbai frames
the IT authorities. es the Sportstar digital edition in charges against Sayed Zabiuddin An-
Oct. 9: Noted writer Shashi Desh- Chennai. sari alias Abu Jundal in the Novem-
pande quits the Sahitya Akademi Oct. 26: Geeta, a differently abled ber 26, 2008 serial terror strikes in
Council. woman who had wandered across Mumbai.
Oct. 10: Poet K. Satchidanandan the India-Pakistan border in 2002 The Registrar of Societies in Tamil
and feminist writer Sara Joseph, and looked after by the Edhi Foun- Nadu cancels the registration of
both from Kerala quit Sahitya Aka- dation in Karachi arrives in New Greenpeace India as a society.
demi and return awards. Delhi. Nov. 5: The Supreme Court
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet de- A massive earthquake rocks north throws open the collegium system to
cides to rename Rajahmundry as India. Jammu and Kashmir badly public scrutiny.
Rajamahendravaram. hit. A 19-year-old is raped in a moving
Oct. 12: Fiftyseven per cent vot- Navy opens its doors to women bus in Bengaluru.
ing is recorded in phase I of Bihar pilots, who for the time being will be
Assembly polls. shore-based.
Oct. 14: The government to begin The Maharashtra Government
declassification of Netaji Subhas withdraws circular on sedition.
Chandra Bose files from January 23, Oct. 27: The Gujarat High Court
2016. upholds sedition charge against Pa-
Kerala plantation labour call off tel agitation leader Hardik Patel.
stir. Oct. 28: Documentary film-mak-
Oct. 15: The Supreme Court stays er Anand Patwardhan returns his
ban on the operation of dance bars in national award along with nine oth-
Mumbai. ers in solidarity with the FTTI stu-
The Government cannot insist on dents who end their 139-day strike.
production of Aadhar card, rules the Facebook’s Free Basics and Zero
Supreme Court. Rating did not violate Net neutrality,
Oct. 16: The Supreme Court re- says CEO Mark Zuckerburg in a
jects the National Judicial Appoint- town hall-style event on the IIT, Del-
ments Commission (NJAC) Act and hi campus. Geeta.
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
unveils the Gold Monetisation
Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond
Scheme and Gold Coin and Bullion
Scheme, at a function in New Delhi.
Nov. 6: Underworld don Chhota
Rajan is arrested after being brought
to New Delhi from Indonesia.
Nov. 7: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi announces an economic pack-
age of Rs. 80,000 crore for J&K at a
function in Srinagar.
The Union Government notifies
the one rank one pension scheme,
but ex-servicemen reject it.
Nov. 8: The Nitish Kumar-Lalu
Prasad duo leads the Grand Alliance
to a historic, two-thirds majority in
the Bihar Assembly polls.
Nov. 9: Heavy rain lashes the
coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, with
Neyveli receiving 45 cm within a few
hours. Parts of Puducherry, Chennai
too hit. Cuddalore gets 266 mm in
two days.
Nestle India resumes sale of Mag-
gi noodles.
Nov. 10: Kerala Finance Minis-
ter, K.M. Mani resigns over the bar
bribery allegations.
The Centre announces ‘Big Bang’
FDI reforms, easing norms across 15
sectors, including defence, banking.
Nov. 16: Tamil Nadu Chief Minis-
ter, Jayalalithaa announces Rs. 500
crore for relief and rehabilitation in
the wake of the rain havoc in the
State. People in many marooned lo-
calities in Chennai are airlifted and
ferried by boats.
The CISF takes over security in
Madras High Court.
Nov. 17: Chittoor Mayor Katari
Anuradha and her husband Katari
Mohan both belonging to the TDP
are killed in an attack at the
chamber.
Nov. 18: President Pranab Muk-
herjee appoints Supreme Court
Judge Justice C.P. Thakur as the
43rd CJI with effect from Dec. 3.
A Mumbai special court allows
plea to make Pakistan-born Amer-
ican terror operative David Coleman
Headley, an accused in the Novem-
ber 26, 2008 attacks.
Nov. 19: The CBI arrests former
TV network owner Peter Mukherjea
in the Sheena Bora murder case.
The first batch of 62 persons resid-
ing in Bangladesh enclaves arrives in
West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.
Nov. 20: Nitish Kumar is sworn
in Bihar Chief Minister for the fifth
time.
The Madras High Court stays for
four weeks the Tamil Nadu Govern-
ment’s order cancelling the registra-
tion of Greenpeace India.
The Supreme Court opens the
door for Navy woman officers re-
leased from service after September
26, 2008 to return to the force.
Music maestro Ilayaraja is confer-
red with the Centenary Award at the
46th IFFI inaugural in Panaji, Goa.
Nov. 21: The Wednesday Child
from Hungary and Ella from Col-
ombia are given the best film and
director awards at the 21st Kolkata
International Film Festival.
Nov. 23: The Centre sanctions
Rs. 939.63 crore as immediate flood
relief to Tamil Nadu.
Nov. 26: Parliament holds a dis-
cussion to commemorate the Con-
stitution and its framer Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar.
Nov. 27: The Hindu launches its
Mumbai Edition.
Nov. 29: Two espionage rackets
with links to Pakistan’s ISI are bust-
ed in Jammu and Kolkata, and five
persons are held.
Nov. 30: Chennai records 1049.3
mm rainfall, missing the 1088.4 mm
registered in November 1918.
Adventure drama Embrace of the
Serpent bags the Golden Peacock for
Best film at the IFFI 2015 in Goa.
DECEMBER
Dec. 1: Chennai registers a record
29.4 cm rain and Tambaram 49 cm.
Dec. 2: The seven life-term con-
victs in the Rajiv Gandhi assassina-
tion case merit no hope of freedom,
holds the Supreme Court.
Dec. 3: Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi undertakes an aerial survey of
the rain-hit areas of Chennai and
announces an additional Rs. 1,000-
crore package.
Dec. 4: Eighteen patients are
killed between Dec. 2 and 3 at the
MIOT International in Manapak-
kam, Chennai following power fail-
ure after the hospital is flooded
owing to the Adyar river breaching
its banks.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar.
Chennai residents carrying children as they wade through
floodwaters.
Dec. 9: The Hindu launches India
for Chennai (# India for Chennai), a
national editorial campaign to col-
lect funds to help the rain-hit.
Dec. 10: The Bombay High Court
acquits actor Salman Khan of all
charges in the September 28, 2002
hit-and-run and drunk-and-drive
case in which one person died out-
side the American Express Bakery in
Bandra.
The Supreme Court upholds the
Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amend-
ment) Act, 2015 which mandated
that only those having “minimum’’
educational qualifications were eli-
gible to contest panchayat polls.
A special court in Mumbai grants
pardon to LeT operative David Cole-
man Headley and accepts his pro-
posal to turn approver in the
November 26, 2008 terror attacks.
The Centre announces the Tamil
Nadu floods to be a ‘Calamity of Se-
vere Nature’. Toll put at 347.
Dec. 11: Malayalam film Ottal
(The Trap) wins four top awards at
the IFFK.
Three persons are sentenced to 10
years RI in the February 5, 2012 Park
Street gangrape case in Kolkata.
Dec. 12: India and Japan an-
nounce a series of military and stra-
tegic agreements.
The bodies of noted artist Hema
Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish
Bhambhani are found in a sewage
drain in Kandivali, Mumbai.
Dec. 13: Actor Dileep Kumar is
presented the Padma Vibhushan
award by Home Minister, Rajnath
Singh at his home in Bandra,
Mumbai.
Dec. 14: Justice L. Narasimha
Reddy is appointed the one-man ju-
dicial commission to look into OROP
implementation.
DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 7
tences to death seven accused in the
gangrape-cum-murder of a Nepali
woman in February 2015.
Dec. 22: The Rajya Sabha clears
the Juvenile Justice (Care and Pro-
tection of Children) Bill.
Artist Chintan Upadyay is arrest-
ed for the murder of his wife Hema
and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani.
Dec. 23: The BJP suspends Darb-
hanga MP Kirti Azad for levelling
corruption charges in DDCA affairs.
The UP police file chargesheet
against 15 in the Dadri lynching case.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay
High Court cancels the bail of DU
professor G.N. Saibaba held in May
for alleged Maoist links.
Dec. 24: The Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal unveils the blue-
print for the odd-even car rollout
from January 1.
Dec. 15: A CBI raid on the secre-The ULFA general secretary Anup
tariat of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Chetia is freed from the Guwahati
Kejriwal triggers a political storm.
Central Jail following grant of bail.
Sangita Kalanidhi M.S. Subbu- Dec. 26: In the first verdict in the
M.P. Vyapam scam cases, two per-
lakshmi Award is conferred on Car-
sons are awarded three years RI by a
natic vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan
at the Music Academy in Chennai. court in Indore.
Dec. 16: Appointment of priests Dec. 28: Meat recovered from
in Tamil Nadu temples as per Aga-Dadri lynching victim Mohammad
mas not a violation of the right to
Akhlaq’s house mutton not beef, says
equality, rules the Supreme Court.
probe report.
The Supreme Court bans registra- Amitabh Kant is NITI Aayog CEO.
tion of luxury diesel vehicles in the
An IAF man is dismissed after be-
National Capital Region of Delhi up
ing held on espionage charge by the
to March 31, 2016. Delhi Crime Branch Police.
The ISRO launches six Singapore Dec. 29: The Supreme Court up-
holds the liquor policy in Kerala.
satellites from Sriharikota in Andhra
Pradesh. Eminent Gujarati writer Raghu-
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet de-veer Chaudhary is chosen for the
Jnanpith Award for 2015.
cides to appoint a judicial commis-
Dec. 30: India successfully test-
sion to probe ‘call money sex racket.’
Dec. 17: Tamil writer A. Madha-
fires Barak NG, a surface-to-air mis-
van is chosen for the 2015 Sahitya
sile system from INS Kolkata on the
Akademi award for his collected western seaboard.
prose writings Ilakkiya Chuvadukal. Dec. 31: Over 200 Delhi officials
BJP and rebel Congress MPs ‘vote
go on leave opposing the suspension
out’ Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minis-
a day earlier of two colleagues held
ter Nabam Tuki and elect Kalikho void by the Centre.
Pul. The Guwahati High Court stays Music maestro Ilayaraja is chosen
all decisions. for Kerala Tourism’s Nishagandhi
The Union Cabinet gives nod for
Puraskaram 2016.
Rs. 40,000-crore defence deal.
Dec. 18: Mumbai’s Marine Drive,
completes 100 years.
Former Defence Secretary R.K.
Mathur is named new Chief Infor-
mation Commissioner.
Dec. 19: A Delhi court grants con-
ditional bail to Congress president
Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Ra-
hul Gandhi in the National Herald
case.
Dec. 20: The youngest convict in
the December 16, 2012 Delhi gan-
grape is released and moved to the
care and protection of an NGO.
Dec. 21: A court in Rohtak sen- Tamil writer A. Madhavan.
 8 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

coffins of slain police personnel Birdman bags Oscars for Best Pic-
INTERNATIONAL Franck Brinsolaro, Ahmed Merabet ture, Best Director, Best Original
and Clarissa Jean-Philippe, at the Screenplay at the 87th Academy
JANUARY Paris police headquarters. Awards in Hollywood, California.
Jan. 14: Charlie Hebdo makes a Eddie Redmayne gets Best Actor
defiant return with the “survivors
Jan. 3: IS militants burn alive award (The Theory of Everything).
Jordanian pilot Maaz-al-Kassasbehissue” with the print order going up Julianne Moore bags Best Actress
to 5 million.
captured on December 24, 2014 after honours for role in Still Alice. Wes
his F-16 set crashed while on a mis-Pope Francis canonises 17th centu- Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Ho-
sion over northern Syria. ry priest Joseph Vaz — Sri Lanka’s tel wins four awards on its nine nom-
Jan. 5: The euro sinks to a nine-
first Saint — at a ceremony near Col- inations.
year low. ombo’s seafront. Former Maldives President Mo-
Jan. 7: Two masked Islamist gun- Jan. 15: Switzerland uncouples hammed Nasheed is arrested in Male
men attack the headquarters of the
the Swiss franc from the euro. under anti-terrorism laws for alleg-
satirical French weekly magazine Jan. 20: Shia militia fighters Firefighters carry an injured person on a stretcher in front of the edly ordering the arrest of a senior
Charlie Hebdo in Paris over its lam-
seize the presidential palace in the offices of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. judge in 2012 that triggered violence.
pooning of Prophet Mohamed leav- Yemeni capital Sana'a. Feb. 23: Eurozone approves
ing 12 persons, including Stephane Jan. 21: Sri Lanka exonerates for- clares the 239 passengers and crew five trophies. Greek reforms plan.
Charbonnier, Editor-in-Chief and mer army Chief Sarath Fonseka of all of missing flight MH370 ‘presumed Musician Ricky Kej and activist
staff cartoonists dead. charges, and restores his rank and dead’. Neela Vaswani win honours for their
Jan. 8: Presidential polls largely
medals. Bangladesh’s Parliament passes a work in album Winds of Samsara and
peaceful in Sri Lanka with an 81.52 Jan. 22: Yemen President Abed historic proposal to recognise rape the documentary on Malala Yousaf-
per cent turnout. Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigns. victims of the 1971 Liberation War as zai at the 57th Annual Grammy
Jan. 9: Elite French police stormJan. 23: Saudi Arabia’s King Ab- freedom fighters. Awards in Los Angeles. The Stay
a printing firm in Paris and kill Che-
dullah (90), dies in Riyadh. His half- Jan. 30: K. Sripavan, a Tamil With Me fame singer Sam Smith
rif and Said Kouachi, the two broth-
brother Salman succeeds to the Judge is appointed Sri Lanka Chief scoops four Grammy Awards.
ers wanted for the Charlie Hebdo throne. Justice. Feb. 9: Nobel Laureate Amartya
attack. An accomplice, Amedy Couli- Thailand’s Parliament votes to Jan. 31: Sergio Mattarella, a Sici- Sen is chosen for the inaugural Char-
baly who had held people hostage at
impeach the former Prime Minister lian Judge is elected Italy’s new leston-EFG John Maynard Keynes
a Jewish grocery shop too killed Yingluck Shinawatra. President. Prize.
along with four civilians. Jan. 24: Haruna Yukawa, one of The IS releases video depicting Feb. 10: Three Muslim students
two Japanese being held hostage by
Maithripala Sirisena is sworn in the beheading of Japanese journalist from one family are shot dead by
the IS is beheaded.
Sri Lanka’s sixth executive President Kenji Goto. Craig Stephen Hicks, a self-de-
at the Independence Square in Col- Jan. 25: Greeks cast ballots in scribed atheist in Chapel Hill, North
ombo. UNP leader Ranil Wickramas-parliamentary polls. FEBRUARY Carolina.
inghe is sworn in as Prime Minister.Colombia’s Paulina Vega is Feb. 1: Egypt deports Al-Jazeera Feb. 11: More than 300 migrants
Charlie Hebdo staff start work on
crowned Miss Universe 2014 in English reporter Peter Greste to are feared drowned in the Mediter-
a new issue in premises loaned byFlorida. Australia after holding him for more ranean after their overcrowded "Birdman" Director Alejandro
the newspaper Liberation. Jan. 26: Greet left-wing leader than 400 days on charges of backing dinghies sink. Inarritu poses with the Oscars
Alexis Tsipras is sworn in Prime
Jan. 10: More than 200,000 peo- the Muslim Brotherhood. Feb. 12: Ukraine and pro-Mos-
ple pour onto the streets across Minister heading a coalition govern- Feb. 2: Moscow, Beijing back In- cow rebels announce ceasefire after for Best Director, Best Original
France in silent marches, paying ment, after anti-austerity Syriza par- dia’s entry into APEC. New Delhi a summit in the Belarussian capital Screenplay and Best Picture at
ty storms to victory in snap polls.
tribute to the 17 victims of the three- endorses the launch of the Free Minsk. the 87th Academy Awards.
day Islamist killing spree. Jan. 27: Greece names radical Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, at the Danish photographer Mads Nis-
The mangled tail of an AirAsialeft-wing economist Yanis Varoufa- RIC trilateral in Beijing. sen’s picture of a gay couple “Jon and Feb. 25: French magazine Char-
kis Finance Minister.
plane that crashed on December 28, Feb. 3: British Parliament votes Alex” wins the World Press Photo lie Hebdo returns to the news stand.
2014 with 162 on board is lifted outJan. 28: Sri Lanka’s former Chief to allow the creation of babies with award. Feb. 26: “Jihadi John”, the
of the Java Sea. Justice Shirani Bandaranayake im- DNA from three people. Two Al-Jazeera journalists, Mo- masked IS militant responsible for
Jan. 11: Hundreds of thousandspeached in 2013 is reinstated. Feb. 4: Jordan executes Sajida al- hamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed the beheading of Western hostages is
of people and over 40 world leaders Jan. 29: Malaysia formally de- Rishawi, a woman would-be suicide are freed from an Egyptian jail after identified as Kuwait-born London
march through Paris in a show of bomber and Al-Qaeda member Ziad more than 400 days. computer programmer Mohammed
solidarity after terrorist attacks. al-Karboli in response to the burn- Feb. 14: A documentary filmmak- Emwazi.
Nearly four million take out a march ing alive of fighter pilot Maaz al-Kas- er Finn Norgaard is killed after a Suspected radical Islamists hack
across the country. sasbeh by IS militants on Jan. 3. gunman fires on a café in the Danish to death popular Bangladesh writer
The editorial office of Hamburger Feb. 6: Houthi rebels take over capital Copenhagen as it hosted a and novelist Avijit Roy and seriously
Morgenpost German tabloid that re- Yemen and dissolve Parliament. free speech event organised by injure his wife Rafida Ahmed Banna
printed cartoons from Charlie Heb- Kayla-Jean Mueller, an American Swedish artist Lars Vilks who drew in Dhaka.
do is firebombed. aid worker held hostage by the IS is cartoons caricaturing Prophet Mo- Feb. 27: Russian opposition lead-
Boyhood filmed over 12 years bags killed in an airstrike in Syria. hamed. er Boris Nemstov is gunned down
top honours at the 72nd Golden Globe An Indian, Sureshbhai Patel, is left Iranian dissident director Jafar near the Kremlin in a drive-by
Awards. Michael Keaton (Birdman) partially paralysed following police Panahi’s Taxi bags the Golden Bear killing.
gets Best Actor award and Amy action in the suburb of Huntsville, in at the 65th Berlinale International
Adams (Big Eyes) Best Actress Madison, Alabama, the U.S. Film Festival. Best acting honours MARCH
award. The Grand Budapest Hotel Feb. 8: Coming-of-age drama goes to Charlotte Rampling and Tom March 4: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
bags Best film (musical or comedy). Boyhood bags the best film, best di- Courtenay for Andrew Haigh’s 45 goes on trial in the April 15, 2013
Jan. 13: “France will never break, rector for Richard Linklater and best Years. The Grand Jury Silver Bear is Boston Marathon bombing case.
will never yield, never bend,” says supporting actress for Patricia Ar- bagged by Pablo Larrain’s The Club. March 5: NASA scientists unveil
President Francois Hollande as he Sri Lanka's newly-elected quette at the BAFTA 2015. The Feb. 22: Mexican director Alejan- evidence of the existence of a mas-
lays the Legion d’honneur on the President Maithripala Sirisena. Grand Budapest Hotel takes home dro Gonzalez Inarritu’s dark comedy sive ancient ocean that covered

THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
nearly half the northern hemisphere
of Mars.
The Islamic State destroys the an
cient Assyrian archaeological site of
Nimrud, Iraq.
March 9: The Islamabad High
Court upholds the death sentence
for Mumtaz Qadri, a former police
bodyguard who shot dead Punjab
Governor Salman Taseer in 2011.
Solar Impulse, world’s first solar
aircraft takes off on its global jour-
ney from Abu Dhabi.
France’s champion sailor Flo-
rence Arthaud, Olympic gold medal-
list swimmer Camille Muffat and
Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine among
10 persons killed when two copters
filming the survival series “Drop-
ped” smash into each other in the
rugged mountains of La Rioja prov-
ince, Argentina.
March 11: India and Mauritius
announce a new security coopera-
tion pact.
March 13: Former Maldives
President Mohamed Nasheed is sen-
tenced to 13 years in jail after being
convicted under the Anti-Terrorism
Act.
March 18: Twentyone persons,
including 17 foreign tourists and a
Tunisian are killed in an attack by
two gunmen on the Bardo National
Museum adjoining Parliament in the
Tunisia capital Tunis.
Benjamin Netanyahu sweeps to
victory in Israeli polls, securing a
third straight term as Prime
Minister.
March 19: Farkhunda, an Afghan
woman is lynched to death and burnt
by a mob in Kabul for allegedly burn-
ing a copy of the Koran.
March 20: At least 142 people are
killed and 351 wounded in suicide
bombings at two mosques in the Ye-
meni capital Sana’a and another
mosque in Saada.
March 22: Former Sri Lankan
military chief Sarath Fonseka is con-
ferred the Field Marshal title by the
President Maithripala Sirisena.
March 23: Lee Kuan Yew (91),
the founding father and first Prime
Minister of Singapore dies at the Sin-
gapore General Hospital.
March 24: All 150 people on
board a Germanwings Airbus A320
of Lufthansa en route to Dusseldorf
from Barcelona are killed after it is
crashed into a remote area of the
French Alps by its co-pilot Andreas
Lubitz.
March 25: The Pentagon charges
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl freed
after being in Taliban captivity for
five years with “desertion” and “mis-
behaviour before the enemy” after
he abandoned his post in Afghan-
istan in June 2009.
March 26: Fourteen civilians are
killed after Saudi war planes bomb
Shia Huthi rebels in Yemen. Presi-
dent Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi-
leaves by boat and reaches Riyadh.
March 27: Anna Cross, a British
reservist who contracted Ebola
while working as a nurse in Sierra
Leone recovers fully after receiving
an experimental new treatment.
A U.S. Federal grand jury indicts
former Alabama police officer Eric
Sloan Parker for using excessive
force against an elderly Indian Sure-
shbhai Patel in a February 6 incident
in Madison.
March 30: Washiqur Rahman
Babu, a young Bangladeshi blogger is
hacked to death in Dhaka’s Tejgaon
industrial area.
March 31: Muhammadu Buhari
wins Nigerian presidential polls.
APRIL
April 1: Palestine formally joins
the International Criminal Court at
a ceremony at the ICC headquarters
in The Hague.
April 2: The U.S., Iran and five
other world powers reach nuclear
accord after more than a decade of
negotiations in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
At least 148 students are killed af-
ter four gunmen of Somalia’s Shebab
Islamic group attack the Garissa
University College in Kenya.
April 3: Malli Mastan Babu, ace
Indian mountaineer is found dead in
the Andes mountain ranges in Chile,
South America.
April 5: CERN scientists restart
the Large Hadron Collider after a
two-year shutdown for a major refit.
April 9: The Lahore High Court
sets free Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi,
A survivor of an attack by
Islamist gunmen on a university
campus in Garissa, northern
Kenya is being comforted by a
colleague.
A scene of devastation in a village after an earthquake in Nepal.
the November 2008 Mumbai attacks
mastermind and LeT operations
commander, suspending the Punjab
government’s detention order.
April 10: India will buy 36 Rafale
fighter jets in flyaway condition, says
Prime Minister Narendra Modi after
talks with French President Fran-
cois Hollande in Paris. Agreement
on proceeding forward on the stalled
nuclear project in Jaitapur in Mah-
arashtra among 17 pacts signed.
April 11: The US President Ba-
rack Obama and his Cuban counter-
part Raul Castro address a landmark
Summit of Americas ahead of histor-
ic one-to-one talks in Panama City.
Bangladesh war crimes convict
and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mu-
hammad Kamaruzzaman is hanged
at the Dhaka Central Jail on charges
of genocide and rape.
April 14: Sierra Leone’s 1.8 mil-
lion children return to school more
than eight months after classes were
shut to halt the spread of Ebola virus.
The U.S. President Barack Obama
notifies Congress of his “intent to
rescind” Cuba’s inclusion on the
blacklist.
April 15: India signs a $350-mil-
lion nuclear agreement with the Sas-
katoon, Canada-based Cameco
Corporation after talks between
Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and
Stephen Harper in Toronto.
April 18: Bolywood Superstar
Shah Rukh Khan is awarded Out-
standing Contribution to Cinema
award at the fifth annual Asian
Awards in London.
April 19: Up to 800 people are
feared drowned after an overcrowd-
ed boat smuggling them to Europe
capsizes off Libya in the Mediterra-
nean, after colliding with a Portu-
guese container ship answering its
distress call.
A black youth, Freddie Gray, dies
in police custody in Baltimore, the
U.S. after suffering a fatal spine in-
jury while being taken in a police
ND-X
DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 9
MAY
May 3: Jailed Syrian journalist
and rights activist Mazen Darwish is
presented with UNESCO’s Annual
Press Freedom prize in Latvia.
May 5: The French satirical mag-
azine Charlie Hebdo is presented
with the Freedom of Expression
Award from the PEN American Cen-
ter, at the American Museum of Nat-
ural History in New York.
May 6: Four Afghan men are sen-
tenced to death and eight persons to
16 years in prison by the Kabul pri-
mary court for the March 19 killing
of a woman Farkhunda on the banks
vehicle on April 12. of the Kabul river.
April 20: The New York Times Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
wins three Pulitzer prizes, including
Netanyahu forms a government just
one for its coverage of the Ebola out-
an hour before a legal deadline.
break. The Post and Courier in Char- May 7: Britons cast ballots in one
leston, South Carolina wins the of the most closely-contested gener-
award for public service journalism.
al elections in the nation.
April 21: Japan’s state-of-the artMay 8: The Conservative Party
maglev train clocks a new world led by British Prime Minister, David
speed record in a test run near Cameron scores a resounding victo-
Mount Fuji breaking the 600-kmph ry in polls. The Labour Party suffers
mark. a devastating rout.
April 25: At least 10,000 people Scottish National Party wins 56 of
are killed and 17,000 injured as athe 59 Scottish parliamentary seats.
massive earthquake rocks Nepal, May 9: The WHO declares Liber-
with the epicentre being Barpak inia Ebola-free.
Lamjung district. May 11: Sweden’s Supreme Court
rejects an appeal by WikiLeaks foun-
April 26: Sangeeta Bhatia, an In-
der Julian Assange to revoke a de-
dian-origin scientist at the MIT who
has developed artificial human mi-tention order over allegations of
sexual assault.
crolivers for drug testing named the
2015 Heinz Award Winner. May 12: A 7.3 magnitude temblor
An earthquake measuring 6.7 on rocks parts of Nepal leaving 76 dead
the Richter scale rattles Nepal. and nearly 2,400 injured.
April 27: Raja Rajeswari, the first
Bangladesh blogger-activist
Indian-born woman to be appointed Ananta Bijoy Das is murdered in
a judge in New York city is sworn in
Northeastern Sylhet by unknown
by Mayor Bill de Blasio. assailants.
April 28: Sri Lankan Parliament May 13: At least 43 persons are
adopts the 19th Constitutional killed after pistol-wielding gunmen
Amendment which restores the two- storm a bus carrying Shia Ismailis in
term limit for President. Terms ofKarachi’s eastern Malir district.
President and Parliament to be five The Vatican officially recognises
years. the state of Palestine.
April 29: Pune-based ornithol- The U.S. House of Representatives
ogist Pramod Patil is conferred with
passes the USA Freedom Act.
the Whitley Fund for Nature Award, May 15: India and China sign 24
agreements. India-China Forum of
for his work on the conservation of
the Great Indian Bustard, at a cere-
mony in London.
April 30: A court in Pakistan sen-
tences 10 persons to lifer for bid to
kill Malala Yousafzai in October
2012.
NASA’s Messenger spacecraft
crashes into the surface of Mercury
ending its historic 11-year mission.
North Korean Defence Minister
Hyon Yong-Chol is shot dead using
anti-aircraft gun for insubordina-
tion and dozing off during a formal Central Japan Railway's seven-
military rally. car maglev train.
 10 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015
State Provincial Leaders launched.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xa-
vier Bettel marries his gay partner
Gauthier Destenay, a Belgian archi-
tect, becoming the first EU leader to
enter into a same-sex union.
Boston Marathon bomber Dzhok-
har Tsarnaev is sentenced to death
by a U.S. jury for the April 15, 2013
attack.
May 16: India and China sign 21
agreements or MoUs estimated at a
total of $22 billion, in Shanghai.
An Egyptian court sentences de-
posed Islamist President Mohamed
Morsy and 100 others to death for
their role in a mass jailbreak during
the 2011 uprising.
May 18: India and South Korea
sign seven agreements. Agree to up-
grade their bilateral relationship to a
“Special Strategic Partnership”.
May 20: Hungarian writer Laszlo
Krasznahorkai is presented the Man
Booker International Prize for 2015
at a ceremony at the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London.
The Islamic State seizes the an-
cient Syrian city of Palmyra and re-
sorts to massacre of a rebellious
tribe.
Indian-American genius Tanishq
Abraham (11) graduates with three
associate degrees from American
River College in Sacramento,
California.
May 22: A skull and scalp trans-
plant is done on James Boysen, a
software engineer during a 15-hour
surgery at the Houston Methodist
Hospital.
May 23: The Republic of Ireland
becomes the first country to legalise
same-sex marriage through vote.
The U.S. Senate rejects legislation
aimed at reforming NSA intelligence
gathering.
U.S. mathematician John F. Nash
Jr. (86) known for his theory of non-
cooperative games and his wife Al-
icia Nash are killed in a car crash in
New Jersey.
May 24: Iraqi forces recapture
territory near Ramadi. Is fighters
slaughter 400 people since the cap-
ture of the Syrian city of Palmyra
four days earlier.
Jacques Audiard’s immigrant dra-
ma Dheepan wins the Palme d’Or at
the Cannes Film Festival. Son of Saul
a grim Hungarian holocaust drama
by Laszlo Nemes bags the Grand
Prix. French actor Vincent Lindon
bags the best actor award for role in
The Measure of a Man. Best actress
award is shared by Rooney Mara
(Carol) and Emmanuelle Bercot
(Mon Roi).
Andrzej Duda wins Polish presi-
ND-X
dential run-off.
May 25: Bangladesh Cabinet rat-
ifies the protocol on the Land
Boundary Agreement with India.
May 27: At least 80 people are
killed in Saudi-led air strikes near
Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia
and in the capital Sana’a.
May 28: Indian-Americans Va-
nya Shivashankar and Gokul Venka-
tachalam are declared co-champions
of the 2015 Scripps National Spelling
Bee in National Harbor, Maryland.
May 29: The U.S. removes Cuba
from its blacklist as a state sponsor
of terrorism.
May 31: Solar Impulse 2 aircraft
piloted by Andre Borschberg leaves
Nanjing in China heading for Hawaii
on its 8,500 km flight.
Key provisions of the U.S.A. Patri-
ot Act lapses without renewal by
Congress. NSA loses authority to
conduct bulk telephone data collec-
tion.
JUNE
June 1: Over 442 people are killed
after Eastern Star, a Chinese cruise
ship sinks in the Yangtze river in
Hubei province’s Jianli county, after
being caught in a storm.
Mauritius designates Ameenah
Gurib-Fakim as President, making
her the first woman to hold the
position.
Solar Impulse 2 is forced to land in
Nagoya, Japan.
June 2: Omar Hassan al-Bashir
begins new term as Sudan President.
The U.S. Senate passes and Presi-
dent Barack Obama signs into law
the NSA surveillance reform.
June 3: The Large Hadron Collid-
er at the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research, Geneva restarts
with nearly doubled energy levels in
a key breakthrough.
June 5: Eight of the 10 men re-
portedly convicted and jailed for at-
Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul
Venkatachalam, hold aloft the
trophy after winning the 2015
Scripps National Spelling Bee in
National Harbor, Maryland.
Rescuers paying a silent tribute to victims of the Chinese cruise
ship mishap in Jianli, Hubei province.
tempting to murder Pakistani
schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai
are acquitted by court. Two get lifer.
June 6: India and Bangladesh ex-
change the instruments of ratifica-
tion of the Land Boundary
Agreement in Dhaka.
Prime Ministers Narenda Modi,
Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
flag off the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala
and the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati
bus services.
Richard Matt and David Sweat,
both convicted killers escape from
the maximum security Clinton Cor-
rectional facility in Dannemora
town in New York near the Canadian
border.
June 7: Saudi Arabia’s Supreme
Court upholds a sentence of 10 years
in jail and 1,000 lashes against blog-
ger Raif Badawi on charges of in-
sulting Islam.
American rower Sonya Baumstein
from Orlando, Florida sets out on a
6,000-mile journey from Choshi,
Tokyo to sail solo across the Pacific
to reach San Francisco.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
receives the Bangaladesh Liberation
War Award on behalf of former
Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in
Dhaka.
June 8: Vikas Bahl’s drama
Queen and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider
bag major trophies at the 16th IIFA
awards in Kuala Lumpur. Rajkumar
Hirani gets the best director award
for PK. Deepika Padukone honoured
with the woman of the year award.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s Justice and Development
Party loses absolute majority in Par-
liament for the first time in 13 years.
Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic
Party in Parliament for first time.
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
Barbara, California.
June 25: The U.S. Supreme Court
upholds the Affordable Care Act
(Obamacare law) passed in 2010 pre-
serving health insurance for millions
of Americans.
At least 206 civilians are killed as
the IS rampages through the Kur-
dish town of Kobane, Syria.
June 26: At least 38 persons,
most of them British, are killed and
36 others wounded after a gunman
launches an assault on a hotel in the
Tunisian resort town of Sousse.
The seventh Parliament of Sri
Lanka is dissolved.
The Vatican signs a treaty with
Palestine granting it recognition.
June 27: The Greek Prime Minis-
ter Alexis Tsipras calls a referendum
on austerity demands from foreign
creditors.
June 10: African leaders sign the New York Police kill Richard
Tripartite Free Trade Area, a 26-na-Matt, one of the two convicts on the
tion free trade pact at a summit at run since June 6.
the Red Sea resort town of Sharm The IS Jihadists destroy the fa-
el-Sheikh, Egypt. mous limestone statue of the Lion of
June 13: China launches a freightal-Lat kept outside the museum in
train service between its northeast-Palmyra, Syria.
ern city of Harbin and Europe. June 28: Second New York pris-
on escapee David Sweat is shot at
Europe’s tiny robot lab Philae hur-
tling through space on the back of aand captured in the town of Con-
comet wakes up after nearly seven stable near the Canadian border.
months and sends home first June 29: India and 49 other
message. founding members of the Asian In-
June 14: Talks between Greece frastructure Investment Bank sign
and EU-IMF creditors collapse after articles that determine each coun-
try’s share and lender’s initial capital
both sides fail to agree on reforms .
June 16: An Egyptian court up- at a ceremony at the Great Hall of the
holds death sentence against ousted People, Beijing.
Islamist President Mohamed Morsy Greece shuts down banks plung-
for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on
ing the country into a deep crisis.
police during the 2011 uprising. June 30: Greece defaults on a 1.5
June 17: The Palestinian Unity billion euro ($1.7 billion) IMF loan,
government resigns. the first by an advanced economy,
Nine African-Americans, includ- even as the current European bai-
ing pastor and State Senator Clem- lout expires.
enta Pinckney and six women are At least 142 people are feared
killed by a gunman Dylann Roof at killed as an Indonesian air force
the Emanuel African Methodist transport plane crashes in a residen-
Episcopal Church in Charleston, tial area of Medan on the island of
South Carolina. Sumatra shortly after takeoff and
Scientists announce the discoveryexplodes.
of COSMOS Redshift 7, the brightest
galaxy in the early universe and nick-
name it CR7 after Portuguese foot-
baller Cristiano Ronaldo.
June 20: Jihadists blow up mau-
soleums of two revered Islamic fig-
ures in Palmyra.
June 22: Nine persons, including
a suicide bomber and five gunmen
are killed and 31 injured after securi-
ty forces foil an attempt by Taliban
Militants to storm the Afghan
Parliament.
James Horner (61), music com- A prayer service, in memory of
poser for hit movies like Titanic and the church shooting victims, in
Avatar dies in a plane crash in Santa Charleston, South Carolina.
 ND-X
THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 11
JULY that will enable troops fighting Zaina Erhaim, a Syria-based jour-
abroad for the first time since WW nalist is named the recipient of the
July 1: At least 70 persons are II. 2015 Peter Mackler Award for Cou-
killed in a wave of attacks by the IS July 17: At least 115 people are rageous and Ethical Journalism.
jihadists in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.
killed and 170 injured in an attack by Aug. 23: Britain reopens Embas-
Police kill senior Muslim Brother- the Islamic State on a crowded mar- sy in Iran capital Tehran four years
hood leader Nasser al-Houfi and ket in Khan Beni Saad town in Iraq’s after it was closed following an at-
eight others during a raid on an Diyala Province. tack by hardliners.
apartment in Cairo. July 18: The world celebrates The IS militants blow up the 17 AD
Nelson Mandela International Day,
The U.S. and Cuba agree on a his- Baal Shamin temple in Palmyra,
the former South African President’s
toric deal to re-establish full diplo- Syria.
matic ties. birth anniversary. The former Maldivian President,
Bangladesh’s Sir Fazle Hasan Abid July 20: The U.S. and Cuba re- Mohammed Nasheed who has been
is named winner of the World Food sume diplomatic ties after 54 years, handed down a 13-year prison term
Prize at a ceremony in Washington. at a historic ceremony in Rubble at the location of the Baal Shamin temple in Palymra, for alleged terror links is re-arrested.
July 2: British Petroleum reaches
Washington. Syria. Aug. 24: ITLOS, the 21-member
a $18.7 billion settlement with the The U.N. Security Council endors- U.N.-mandated court located in
U.S. for the damage due to the April
es the historic Iran nuclear deal. BNP leader Salauddin Quader capital Baghdad’s Sadr City. Hamburg, Germany orders India
10, 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil spill fol-Greece begins payment to ECB Chowdhary for crimes during the Up to 150 people drown in a river and Italy to maintain status quo in
lowing the explosion of the rig Deep-
and banks reopen after a three-week 1971 liberation war. or are shot dead fleeing Boko Haram the marines case.
water Horizon. shutdown. July 30: Afghan Taliban pulls off gunmen who raided a remote village An 8.5 per cent slump in China’s
July 3: India abstains from a vote British cosmologist Stephen peace talks with the Government. in Nigeria’s North Eastern Yobe Shanghai Composite triggers crash-
against Israel at the UN Human Hawking launches the 10-year $ 100- Mullah Akhtar Mansoor chosen new state. es in equity and commodity markets
Rights Council in Geneva. million Breakthrough Listen pro- leader to succeed Mullah Omar. Aug. 14: The U.S. Marines raise across Asia, Europe and the U.S.
July 5: Greeks vote overwhelm- ject, the biggest-ever search for in- the American Flag at the embassy in Aug. 25: A Russian military court
ingly ‘No’ in a historic bailout telligent life in the universe. AUGUST Cuba for the first time in 54 years sentences Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian
referendum. Nigel Richards, a New Zealander Aug. 1: Over 37,000 people of 111 Greek Parliament approves a new filmmaker to 20 years in a strict-
July 6: Greece’s outspoken Fi- wins the Francophone Scrabble former Indian enclaves measuring bailout programme. regime prison colony on terror
nance Minister Yanis Varoufakis World Championships in Belgium, 7,110 acres become Bangladeshi citi- Aug. 15: .Japanese Emperor Aki- charges.
resigns. though he cannot speak any French. zens after 68 years of statelessness. hito expresses rare “deep remorse” Aug. 26: Alison Parker, a TV re-
China nominates former Finance July 21: The BRICS grouping for- Aug. 5: Over 200 people are over his country’s wartime actions inporter and cameraman Adam Ward
mally opens the New Development
Minister Jin Liqun to head the $100- feared drowned after an overcrowd- an address in Tokyo marking 70th are shot dead in Virginia during a live
Bank in Shanghai, China.
billion Beijing-backed Asian Infras- ed fishing boat carrying 600 mi- anniversary of World War II surren- interview by a gunman who posts the
tructure Investment Bank. July 22: Dylan Roof, lone suspect grants capsizes off Libya. der on Aug. 15, 1945. video on social media.
July 8: An Iraqi court sentencesin the church shootings in Charles- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Aug. 16: Over 100 people are Aug. 27: Up to 71 migrants are
ton, South Carolina is indicted by a
to death 24 persons over the killing Razak confirms that plane debris killed and at least 200 injured in a found dead in a truck found aban-
grand jury on hate crime charges.
of over 1,700 soldiers captured by IS found in Reunion Island is from string of 10 strikes by the Syrian re-
doned on a motorway near the Aus-
militants in 2014. July 27: Talks between Greece MH370 that crashed 17 months ago. gime on the rebel-held town of tria-Hungary border.
Russia vetoes a draft UN resolu-and creditors on a third bailout begin Aug. 7: Bangladeshi secular blog- Douma. At least 105 people are killed after
in Athens.
tion recognising the Srebrenica mas- ger Niloy Chatterjee Neel is hacked Aug. 17: India and the UAE ele- a ship carrying migrants and refu-
sacre as genocide. July 29: India’s Sanjeev Chatur- to death at his home in Dhaka. vate their ties to a comprehensive gees sinks off the coast of Libya. Over
July 9: The BRICS Summit in vedi and Anshu Gupta among five At least 27 recruits are killed after strategic partnership. 200 people in two boats are feared
Ufa, Russia disapproves of a selective
chosen for Ramon Magsaysay award a suicide bomber strikes outside the Seventy per cent votes polled in dead.
approach to terrorism. for 2015. gates of a police academy in Kabul. Sri Lanka’s eighth parliamentary Aug. 29: An Egyptian court sen-
July 10: India and Pakistan are Afghan intelligence claims that Fifteen others die and 240 wounded elections. tences three Al Jazeera TV journal-
included in the Shanghai Coopera- Taliban chief Mullah Amar died in in a massive truck bomb attack near Aug. 18: The United National ists to three years in prison for
tion Organisation during the group-2013 in a Karachi hospital under a government complex. Party emerges as the single largest operating without a press license, in
ing’s summit in Ufa, Russia. “mysterious circumstances”. Colorado theatre shooter James party in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary a retrial.
July 13: Greece reaches a three- The Bangladesh Supreme Court Holmes is sentenced to lifer for the polls. Aug. 30: At least 11 persons are
year bailout deal with the Eurozoneupholds death penalty for senior 2012 assault that left 12 dead and 70 Khaled al-Asaad (82), a retired killed and 219 injured in Saudi Ara-
after 17 hours of overnight talks in injured. chief archaeologist of Palmyra is be-bia after a fire breaks out at a resi-
Brussels. Aug. 10: Chennai-born Sundar headed by the IS militants in the dential complex housing employees
July 14: Six major global powers Pichai is named chief executive offi- central Homs province. of oil giant Aramco.
reach a historic nuclear deal with cer of Google. Aug. 19: Germany’s Parliament
Iran on day 18 of marathon talks in Aug. 11: Greece and its interna- approves a third bailout for Greece.
Vienna. Sanctions to be lifted. U.N. tional lenders reach a multi-billion Aug. 20: Greek Prime Minister,
arms embargo to stay for five years. euro bailout agreement in Athens. Alexis Tsipras resigns and calls for
The New Horizons spacecraft China devalues the yuan, also snap polls, after his leftist Syriza par-
whizzes past Pluto in the climax of a known as renminbi, by 1.9 per cent, ty members break ranks over the
decade-long journey to explore it. the largest such move in two bailout. Huge debt paid to the ECB.
U.S. author Harper Lee’s second decades. Aug. 21: United National Party
novel Go Set A Watchman, an in- Aug. 12: At least 121 persons are leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is
stant hit among readers. killed and 720 injured in massive sworn in Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
July 16: The Greek Parliament explosions at a warehouse in Binhai for the fourth time, in Colombo.
gives nod for a tough bailout pro- New Area in the Chinese Port city of Aug. 22: Italy’s coast guard res-
gramme. Eurozone okays € 7 billion Tianjin. cue a record 4,400 migrants off Li-
bridge loan. Francophone Scrabble World Aug. 13: At least 76 people are bya coast. Over 2,000 migrants brave
Japan’s lower house of Parliament Championships winner Nigel killed and 212 wounded in a truck baton-wielding officers to reach
passes controversial security bills Richards. bombing at a market in the Iraqi Macedonia. Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
 12 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015
The IS partially destroys the tem-
ple of Bel, a UNESCO World Heri-
tage site in Palmyra.
For the first time, Saudi Arabia
allows women to register to stand in
local elections.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 2: The EU refugee crisis
deepens. Three members of a Syrian
family, including Alan Kurdi, his
brother Galib and mother Rehana
drown after their boat sinks near Bo-
drum, Turkey.
Sept. 3: Tamil National Alliance
leader R. Sampanthan becomes the
first Tamil lawmaker to become the
Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lan-
ka in 32 years.
Sept. 5: Austria and Germany
throw open their borders to Syrian
refugees.
Sept. 6: Austria plans to reimpose
border controls.
The IMF MD Christine Lagarde
launches Women’s 20 (W-20), the
grouping of women leaders from the
world’s 20 largest economies in An-
kara, Turkey.
Sept. 7: Germany pledges € 6 bil-
lion towards providing housing to
asylum seekers. Receives 20,000 ref-
ugees over the weekend. A record
number of 7,000 Syrians reach
Macedonia.
Sept. 8: Pope Francis makes it
easier for Roman Catholics to secure
divorce.
Sept. 9: Russia begins taking part
in operations in support of Syria.
Sept. 10: The U.S. Senate votes to
uphold the nuclear accord with Iran.
Venezuelan opposition leader Le-
opoldo Lopez is jailed for 14 years for
inciting violence during protests in
February 2014.
Sept. 11: At least 115 people, in-
cluding 11 Indians are killed and 184
injured after a construction crane
crashes into the Grand Mosque in
Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Singapore’s ruling People’s Action
Party wins a sweeping victory in
snap parliamentary polls.
Sept. 12: Veteran socialist and
eight-time MP Jeremy Corbyn is
elected leader of Britain’s Labour
Party.
Desde Alla (From Afar), a debut
feature by Venezuelan director Lo-
renzo Vigas bags the Golden Lion for
best film at the Venice Film Festival.
The Silver Lion for best director goes
to Argentina’s Pablo Trapero for The
Clan.
Sept. 13: Germany reinstates bor-
der controls to stem the current in-
flux of refugees.
Thirtyfour persons, among them
ND-X
14 babies and children drown after
an overcrowded boat capsizes off a
Greek island.
Sept. 14: Australian Prime Minis-
ter Tony Abbott is ousted in a snap
party vote by challenger Malcolm
Turnbull.
Sri Lanka announces proposals
for a new Constitution and setting
up a truth commission at the U.N.
Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Nepal’s Constituent Assembly re-
jects calls to revert the Himalayan
nation to a Hindu state during voting
on the new statute.
Sept. 15: Hungary shuts down the
main land route for asylum-seekers
into the EU.
Malcolm Turnbull is sworn in as
Australia’s 29th Prime Minister.
Sept. 16: Nepal’s Parliament pas-
ses a new national Constitution in a
marathon vote after discussions for
four days to create a federal state
after violent protests that claimed
40 lives.
Coup in Burkina Faso, military
dissolves government.
Sept. 17: Refugees flood Croatia, a
day after clashes with Hungarian
riot police.
Sept. 19: Japan’s Parliament pas-
ses security bills allowing troops to
fight abroad for the first time since
WW II.
Sept. 20: Nepal adopts its first
democratic Constitution. It creates
seven states in a secular, federal
system.
Former Greek Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras wins parliamentary
polls.
Pope Francis, Latin America’s
first Pope meets Cuban revolution-
ary leader Fidel Castro at his home.
Viola Davis breaks the colour ‘bar-
rier’ to bag an Emmy (How to Get
away with Murder) and Jon Hamm
registers a win after eight years (Mad
Security forces cordon off the
site where pilgrims were
trampled to death during the
Haj in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
A migrant woman cries as she is embraced by a relative upon
arrival on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos.
Men) at the 67th Primetime Emmy
Awards ceremony at the Microsoft
Theater in Los Angeles. Fantasy dra-
ma Game of Thrones makes history
taking home 12 awards.
Sept. 21: Alexis Tsipras is sworn
in Greek Prime Minister for a second
time.
Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson
and editorial director of HT Media
and Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO
of PepsiCo are presented the U.S.-
India Business Council Global Lead-
ership Awards at a function in Wash-
ington which also witnesses the
launch of the first Indo-U.S. Strate-
gic and Commercial Dialogue.
Sept. 23: Egypt pardons two Al-
Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fah-
my and Baber Mohamed sentenced
to three years in jail.
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winter-
korn resigns taking responsibility
for the rigging of U.S. emission tests
in the biggest scandal in the German
Carmakers’ 78-year history.
Sept. 24: At least 769 people, in-
cluding 35 Indians are killed and 934
injured in a stampede during Haj at
Mina, near the holy city of Mecca in
Saudi Arabia.
Treat immigrants humanely, Pope
Francis tells U.S. in an address to the
U.S. Congress, the first by a Pope.
Sept. 25: The very goal of a sus-
tainable future cannot be met with-
out addressing the problem of
poverty, says Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi at a special summit of the
U.N. in New York.
Sept. 27: Technology giants an-
nounce strategic investments after
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
speech at the ‘’Digital India’’ road
show in San Jose, California.
Sept. 28: The Taliban seizes Kun-
duz city in Afghanistan and frees
THE HINDU
hundreds of prisoners.
Scientists find evidence of salt wa-
ter in liquid form on Mars.
India and the U.S. ink a $ 3 billion
defence deal.
Cesare Tavella, an Italian aid
worker is shot dead in Bangladesh
capital Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter.
Sept. 30: Russia launches air
strikes in Syria after the Duma gives
nod for use of force abroad.
OCTOBER
Oct. 1: At least nine persons are
killed and 10 injured after a shooter
Chris Harper Mercer shot dead later,
after a gun battle with police, goes on
the rampage at the Umpqua Com-
munity College in Roseburg, Oregon,
the U.S.
Inuit and Arctic activist Sheila
Watt-Cloutier of Canada wins the
2015 Right Livelihood Award. She
shares the prize with Ugandan activ-
ist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera
and Italian doctor Gino Strada.
Oct. 3: At least 22 persons are
killed and 37 injured after an air
strike by the U.S. hits a hospital run
by Doctors Without Borders in the
Afghan city of Kunduz.
A Japanese citizen Hoshi Kunio is
shot dead in Kaunia town in Bangla-
desh’s Rangpur district.
Oct. 4: The IS blows up the iconic
Arch of Triumph situated at the en-
trance to Palmyra’s historic colon-
naded street.
Oct. 5: Tu Youyou of China, Ja-
pan’s Satoshi Omura and Irish-born
William Campbell are jointly award-
ed the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Oct. 6: Takaaki Kajita of the Uni-
versity of Tokyo and Arthur B.
McDonald of Queen's University,
Canada are awarded the 2015 Nobel Nepalese people celebrating the
Prize for Physics.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
Hoesung Lee of South Korea is
elected as head of the Inter-govern-
mental Panel on Climate Change at
its 42nd Session in Dubrovnik,
Croatia.
Oct. 7: Sweden’s Tomas Lindahl,
American Paul Modrich and Turk-
ish-born Aziz Sancar are awarded
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Oct. 8: Svetlana Alexivich, a Bela-
rusian journalist and prose writer
wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Oct. 9: Tunisian coalition Nation-
al Dialogue Quartet wins the 2015
Nobel Peace Prize .
Oct. 10: At least 128 people killed
and 186 wounded after two suicide
bombers strike at a rally of pro-Kur-
dish and labour activists outside the
railway station in Ankara, Turkey.
Oct. 12: K.P. Sharma Oli is sworn
in as Nepal’s 38th Prime Minister, in
Kathmandu.
Professor Angus Deaton, a British
economist is awarded the Nobel
Prize in Economic Science.
Oct. 13: Iranian Parliament pas-
ses a bill supporting the nuclear deal
with world powers.
Jamaican writer Marlon James is
named winner of the Man Booker
Prize for 2015 for his novel A Brief
History of Seven Killings.
Oct. 19: Liberal Party leader Jus-
tin Trudeau wins the Canadian par-
liamentary polls.
Oct. 24: The Maldives Vice-Pres-
ident Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor
is arrested on charge of “high
treason”.
Oct. 25: Argentina, Poland, Tan-
zania, Guatemala, Haiti and Ivory
Coast hold polls.
Fugitive don Rajendra Sadashiv
Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan, is arrest-
ed soon after his arrival at the Den-
pasar airport at Bali in Indonesia.
Oct. 26: A 7.5 magnitude quake
jolts Pakistan and Afghanistan leav-
ing 390 people dead.
Comedian and political neophyte
Jimmy Morales is elected Guatema-
la President.
adoption of the Constitution.

THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016
Poland’s eurosceptic Law and Jus-
tice Party crushes the pro-EU ruling
party.
Oct. 28: Nepal’s Parliament
elects communist lawmaker Bidhya
Bhandari as the country’s first wom-
an President.
Oct. 29: China ends its one-child
policy.
Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, sen-
tenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in
jail for ‘insulting’ Islam, is awarded
the European Parliament’s Sakharov
human rights prize.
Oct. 30: President Barack Obama
decides to send limited number of
troops to Syria.
Shaker Aamer, a high-profile de-
tainee is freed from the Guantanamo
Bay after nearly 14 years.
Oct. 31: All 224 on board a Rus-
sian plane are killed after it breaks
up mid-air and crashes into a moun-
tainous area of Egypt’s Sinai Penin-
sula, shortly after takeoff.
Faisal Arefin Dipan, a Bangladeshi
publisher is hacked to death in Dha-
ka.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 1: Turkey’s Justice and De-
velopment Party scores a stunning
electoral comeback regaining its
parliamentary majority.
Guenter Schabowski (86), the East
German who inadvertently an-
nounced the fall of the Berlin Wall
on November 9, 1989, dies in Berlin.
Nov. 4: Justin Trudeau takes oath
as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister at a
grand public ceremony in Ottawa. .
Nov. 5: The Maldives Parliament
impeaches Vice-President Ahmed
Adeeb arrested in connection with a
blast aboard the presidential speed-
boat on Sept. 28.
Nov. 7: The Chinese and Taiwa-
nese Presidents Xi Jingping and Ma
Ying-jeou hold historic talks after 66
years, in Singapore.
The WHO declares Sierra Leone
Ebola-free.
Nov. 8: Eighty per cent turnout as
millions cast ballots in Myanmar’s
historic general election.
Angad Paul, son of NRI industri-
alist Lord Swraj Paul and CEO of
Caparo group dies after falling from
his penthouse flat in central London.
Nov. 9: Myanmar’s ruling Union
Solidarity and Development Party
concedes defeat as Aung San Suu Ky-
i’s National League for Democracy is
on course for a landslide.
Nov.11: Bangladesh hands over
top ULFA leader Anup Chetia to In-
dia 18 years after his arrest in Dhaka.
The ISRO’s Communication
spacecraft GSAT-15 is put in space Aung San Suu Kyi.
from the French Guiana spaceport
in South America.
Nov.12: India and the U.K. an-
nounce an enhanced defence and
strategic partnership as well as a civ-
il nuclear pact after Narendra Modi-
David Cameron meeting in London.
The IS lead executioner Mo-
hammed Emwazi better known as
Jihadi John is killed in a U.S. air
strike near Raqqa, Syria.
Nov. 13: At least 130 people are
killed and 352 wounded as suspected
IS militants launch a coordinated as-
sault on the French capital Paris.
The Bataclan Theatre bears the
brunt with 89 rock fans shot dead.
Eight attackers are killed, seven in
suicide bombings and one shot dead
by police.
Nov. 14: The IMF endorses the
Chinese Yuan’s inclusion in the Spe-
cial Drawing Rights basket.
Nov. 15: Belgium issues an in-
ternational arrest warrant for one of
three brothers linked to the attacks
in Paris. One dies in the concert hall
attack, while another detained along
with six others.
Nov. 16: The G20 summit in An-
talya, Turkey decides to develop
measures for operational informa-
tion and border management in the
war against terrorism.
Nov. 17: Moscow joins France in
bombing IS targets in Syria.
Nov. 18: Belgian national and Pa-
ris attacks mastermind Abdelamid
Abaaoud and two other terrorists are
killed during a pre-dawn raid by the
French Police in an apartment in the
Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
Nov. 19: India and China decide
to link Home Ministries.
Nov. 21: Two Bangladesh war
criminals, Salahuddin Quader
Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Moham-
mad Mojaheed, are hanged at the
Dhaka Central Jail.
Nov. 22: The ASEAN is pro-
claimed a community through a dec-
laration signed at its 27th Summit in
Kuala Lumpur.
Mauricio Macri wins Argentina’s
presidential runoff narrowly.
Women comforting each other at the Monument a la Republique,
in the Place de la Republique in Paris, two days after attacks.
Nov. 24: India and Singapore sign
a joint declaration envisaging a
“Strategic Partnership.
Turkey shoots down a Russian
fighter plane near the Syrian border
for ‘violating’ its airspace.
Nov. 27: Three persons are killed
and nine injured after a gunman
Robert Lewis Dear opens fire inside
a Planned Parenthood centre in Col-
orado Springs, New York.
Nov. 28: The Commonwealth na-
tions sign a climate change agree-
ment at the summit in Malta.
Nov. 30: India launches an In-
ternational Solar Alliance at the U.N.
CoP21 meet in Paris.
DECEMBER
Dec. 2: Pakistan hangs four men
linked to the Peshawar school mas-
sacre on December 16, 2014.
Britain begins bombing Syria after
getting Parliament nod.
At least 14 people are shot dead
and 22 wounded in an attack on a
holiday party at a social services cen-
tre in San Bernardino, California by
a Muslim couple. After a police man-
hunt, the duo killed in a shootout.
Dec. 3: A South African appeals
court convicts double amputee
Olympian Oscar Pistorius of murder
for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steen-
kamp to death in 2013.
Dec. 6: Venezuela’s ruling Social-
ist Party is crushed in polls.
Dec. 8: Taliban militants storm
the airport in Afghanistan’s Kanda-
har city, triggering pitched gun bat-
tles that leave 50 dead and 35
injured.
Dec. 9: India and Pakistan decide
to resume talks seven years after the
26/11 Mumbai attacks.
U.S. Magazine Time names Ger-
man Chancellor Angela Merkel as its
Person of the Year 2015.
Dec. 10: Mauricio Macri is sworn
in Argentina’s President.
ND-X
DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 13
grand final in Sanya, China.
Dec. 20: Spain’s ruling Popular
Party wins most seats in general
elections, but loses majority.
Dec. 21: Six NATO troops are
killed by a Taliban suicide bomber
outside Bagram air base in
Afghanistan.
Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo
Wurtzbach is crowned Miss Uni-
verse 2015 in Las Vegas, the U.S.
Dec. 24: India and Russia ink 16
pacts, including one on joint manu-
facture of military choppers and an-
other on building atomic plants, in
Moscow.
Syria conveys readiness for peace
talks in Geneva.
Dec. 25: Prime Minister Naren-
Tunisian quartet is presented the
dra Modi makes a surprise stopover
Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. in Lahore and meets with his Pakis-
Dec. 12: The CoP21 agreementtani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
paving the way to a low carbon path-
India’s role in Afghanistan is to
way is adopted unanimously in contribute and not to compete, says
Paris. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ad-
Saudi women cast votes for the
dressing the Parliament built by
first time in the municipal council
New Delhi after inaugurating it in
polls. Also for the first time, women
Kabul.
allowed to contest. The China-backed AIIB is formal-
Dec. 13: The groundbreaking cer-
ly established in Beijing.
emony of the TAPI pipeline projectDec. 27: China officially ends
is held in Mary, Turkmenistan. one-child policy, after the National
Dec. 14: Mumtaz Qadri, a former
People’s Congress Standing Com-
police guard on death row for the
mittee passes law.
Dec. 28: Iraqi forces free Ramadi
2011 killing of the then Punjab Gov-
from the IS.
ernor Salmaan Taseer in Islamabad
loses appeal in the Supreme Court.The evacuation of more than 450
fighters and civilians from three Syr-
Samsung pays Apple more than $
ian towns begins.
548 million for infringing the pat-
ents and designs of the iPhone. Japan and South Korea reach
Dec. 15: The IAEA closes the Iran
agreement on dispute over wartime
nuclear probe. sex slaves.
Dec. 16: The U.S. Federal Reserve
Dec. 29: A Taliban suicide bom-
hikes interest rates for the first time
ber kills 26 persons in an attack on
in a decade. an office in Mardan , Pakistan.
Dec. 17: A collection of photo-Dec. 30: U.S. veteran TV star, Bill
graphs known as the 'Caesar files'
Cosby is charged with sexual assault
documenting custodial deaths in Sy-
in a Pennsylvania court over a 2004
ria is released in Moscow. incident.
Dec. 18: Path cleared for Mother
Dec. 31: A tribunal in Dhaka sen-
Teresa's elevation to sainthood.
tences to death two and one to lifer
Enrique Marquez, a friend of Cali-
for the February 15, 2013 killing of
fornia shooter Syed Farook is arrest-
blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider.
ed for providing arms.
The U.N. Security Council adopts
a resolution setting up a road map
for talks within 18 months in Syria.
The American victims of the Iran
hostage crisis (Feb. 11, 1979 to Jan.
20, 1981) to get compensation of $4.4
million each following the passage of
a budget bill by the U.S. Congress.
Dec. 19: The WTO summit in Nai-
robi skirts Doha Development Agen-
da. Developing nations to be allowed
to use special safeguards to protect
farmers against import surges.
Spain’s Mireia Lalagun Royo is
crowned Miss World 2015 at the A Saudi woman casting ballot.
 14 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

OBITUARY
JANUARY
Jan. 2: Vasant Ranchhod Gowari-
kar (81), who played a key role in
India’s space programme, in Pune .
Jan. 4: Adusumilli Janardhana
Vara Prasad (57), Telugu actor, in Rajni Kothari V.S. Raghavan R. K. Laxman Terry Pratchett Jayakanthan Gunter Grass Gopulu Christopher Lee
Hyderabad.
Jan. 7: B.S. Abdur Rahman (88), noted sociologist in Pune . Chennai after a brief illness. AUGUST (1982 to 2011), in Kolkata.
educationist and founder of B.S. Ab- Govindrao Adik (76), former Mah- Nov. 9: Allen Toussaint (77), R&B
dur Rahman University, at Apollo MARCH arashtra Minister, at a hospital in Aug. 9: Kayyara Kinhanna Rai legend, in Madrid.
Hospitals in Chennai. March 7: G. Karthikeyan (66), Mumbai. (100), Kannada poet and freedom Nov. 14: Kamala Laxman (88), a
Jan. 11: Anita Ekberg (83), best Kerala Assembly Speaker, of multi- June 7: Christopher Lee (93), fighter, at his residence in Badiyadd- noted writer of children’s books and
known for her performance in the organ failure at a Bengaluru hospital. British movie actor famous as ‘Drac- ka in Kerala’s Kasaragod district. wife of R. K. Laxman, in Pune.
iconic 1960 movie La Dolce Vita in March 8: Vinod Mehta (73), ula’ at the Chelsea and Westminster Aug. 22: Ieng Thirith (83), the Saeed Jaffrey (86), actor at a hos-
Italy, in Rome. founding editor of Outlook of mul- Hospital in London. most powerful woman in the Khmer pital in London.
Jan. 19: Rajni Kothari (86), emi- tiple organ failure in New Delhi. June 13: Shiela Kaul (100), for- Rouge, in Pailin, Cambodia. Nov. 17: Ashok Singhal (89), VHP
nent scholar and political scientist, March 9: Deepak Khaitan (59), mer Union Minister in Ghaziabad, Aug. 30: Wes Craven (76), who leader in Gurgaon.
in New Delhi. industrialist in Kolkata, of cancer. U.P. directed the slasher classic A Night- Pithukuli Murugadass (95), devo-
Anne Kirkbride (60), ‘Coronation March 12: Terry Pratchett (66), June 16: Charles Correa (84), mare on Elm Street, of brain cancer tional and bhajan singer, in Chennai.
Street’ star who played Deirdre Bar- British author, in London after a chief architect of Navi Mumbai, in at his home in Los Angeles. Nov. 24: A.S. Ponnammal (88),
low, at a Manchester hospital. long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Mumbai. seven-time MLA from Tamil Nadu,
Jan. 24: V.S. Raghavan (90), vet- March 20: John Malcolm Fraser June 17: Suleyman Demirel (90), SEPTEMBER at Government Rajaji Hospital,
eran Tamil film and theatre actor, in (84), former Australian Prime Min- Turkey’s former President and Sept. 4: Wilfred de Souza (88), Madurai.
Chennai . ister in Melbourne. Prime Minister, at the Guven Hospi- former Goa Chief Minister, at the Nov. 26: Noboru Karashima (82),
Jan. 26: R.K. Laxman (93), leg- March 31: S.R. Patil (94), veteran tal in Ankara. Manipal Goa hospital. Japanese Tamil scholar and histori-
endary cartoonist of a cardiac arrest Congress leader and freedom fighter June 23: Sister Nirmala (81), who Sept. 19: Jackie Collins (77), the an of South Asia, in Tokyo.
at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, in Bengaluru. succeeded Mother Teresa as the su- best selling British-born author, of
in Pune. perior-general of the Missionaries of breast cancer in Los Angeles. DECEMBER
Jan. 27: Charles H. Townes (99), APRIL Charity, in Kolkata. Sept. 20: Jagmohan Dalmiya Dec. 2: M.A.M. Ramaswamy (84),
legendary physicist and Nobel lau- April 8: Jayakanthan (81), fire- (75), BCCI President, in Kolkata. veteran industrialist, at a Chennai
brand Tamil writer, in Chennai .
reate whose brainchild is the laser, at JULY Sept. 27: Syed Ahmed (70), Mani- hospital.
Oakland, California. Nagore E.M. Hanifa (97), noted July 1: Nicholas Winton (106), a pur Governor, at Mumbai’s Lilavati Dec. 12: Sharad Joshi (81), Shet-
Jan. 29: Subhash Ghisingh (80), singer, in Chennai. Briton, who helped organise the Hospital. kari Sanghatana founder at his Pune
Gorkhaland movement leader, at Sir April 13: Gunter Grass (87), Ger- evacuation of 700 children in 1938, residence.
Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi. many’s Nobel winning author, at a in Slough, Berkeley. OCTOBER Dec. 13: Benedict Anderson (79),
hospital in Luebeck. July 3: Y.K. Sabharwal (73), for- Oct. 4: Edida Nageswara Rao (81), a leading voice in South Asian stud-
FEBRUARY April 21: Janaki Ballav Patnaik mer CJI, in New Delhi. producer of landmark movies like ies in Malang, Indonesia.
Feb. 4: Gaur Hari Singhania (80), (83), former Chief Minister of Od- July 9: P.A. Seshan (102), former Sankarabharanam, Sagara Sanga- Dec. 17: Noorul Huda (86), veter-
Chairman, JK Group, in Kanpur fol- isha, in Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh. Finance and Commercial Editor, mam in a hospital in Hyderabad an CPI (M) leader , in Kolkata.
lowing a heart attack. April 29: Gopulu (91), noted car- The Hindu, in Chennai. City. Dec. 22: V.S. Malimath (86), for-
Feb. 7: Atmaram Bhende (91), toonist, in Chennai. July 10: Omar Sharif (83), the Oct. 9: N. Ramani (82), flautist in mer Chief Justice of Kerala and Kar-
veteran Marathi theatre artist and Egyptian-born actor and Holly- Chennai. nataka High Courts, at Manipal
film actor, at the Ratna Memorial MAY wood’s favourite Sheikh, of heart at- Ravindra Jain (71), veteran music Hospital in Bengaluru.
Hospital, in Pune. May 2: Ruth Rendell (85), British tack in Cairo. director-singer-lyricist at Lilavati Dec. 23: Susanne Hoeber Ru-
Feb. 16: R.R. Patil (57), former crime writer, at a London hospital July 14: M.S. Viswanathan (87), Hospital in Mumbai. dolph (85), a pioneering political sci-
Maharashtra Home Minister in Lila- May 14: B.B. King (89), the great music director, in Chennai. Oct. 10: Manorama (78), actor- entist of modern India, at a hospice
vati hospital, Mumbai. U.S. bluesman, in Las Vegas. July 17: C.V. Narasimhan (90), singer, comedienne, in Chennai of in Oakland, California.
Feb. 18: Daggubati Ramanaidu IPS topper in 1948, in Chennai. multiple organ failure. Dec. 25: Sadhana (74), Hindi ac-
(78), veteran film producer, in JUNE July 25: R.S. Gavai (86), senior tor, in Mumbai after a brief illness.
Hyderabad. June 5: Tareq Aziz (79), who RPI leader and former Governor of NOVEMBER Dec. 27: Haskell Wexler (93), Os-
Feb. 22: Bhadrashyam Kothari served as the voice of Saddam Hus- Bihar and Kerala, at a private hospi- Nov. 1: Brijmohan Lall Munjal car-winning U.S. cinematographer,
(53), Chairman and Managing Direc- sein’s regime at a hospital in Nasiri- tal in Nagpur. (92), Hero MotoCorp patriarch in a in Santa Monica, California.
tor of Kothari Sugars and Chemicals yah, Iraq. July 28: Suniti Solomon (75), hospital in South Delhi. Dec. 28: Ian Fraser Kilmister
in Houston, the U.S. . June 6: Sulochana Sampath (86), who detected the first strains of HIV Nov. 2: Hashim Abdul Halim (70), English heavy metal singer , in
Feb. 26: Meera Kosambi (75), senor AIADMK functionary, in in the country, in Chennai . (80), former West Bengal Speaker Los Angeles.

Jagmohan M.A.M.
M.S. Viswanathan Jackie Collins Dalmiya N. Ramani Manorama Ramaswamy Sharad Joshi V.S. Malimath Sadhana Haskell Wexler
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THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 15
championship in Mumbai. air rifle gold in the International during the one-off test against India Pakistan's off-spinning all-round-
SPORT Mar. 15: Xu Xin of China and Feng shooting championship held at at Fatullah. er Mohammad Hafeez undergoes
Tianwei of Singapore win the men’s Hannover. June 14: India draws the one-off tests for his bowling action at the ICC
JANUARY and women’s singles title at Asian West Indies wins the third and fi- test against Bangladesh held at bio-mechanical centre in Chennai.
Cup table tennis tournament at nal test to level the series 1-1 against Fatullah. July 7: South Africa beats Bangla-
Jan. 11: Stan Wawrinka wins Air- Jaipur. England at Bridgetown. June 16: Golden State Warriors desh in the scond T20I at Dhaka to
cel Chennai Open. Mar. 20: Karnataka defeats Rest May 5: Stuart Bingham wins his captures its first NBA title beating clinch the series 2-0.
Railways wins both the men’s and of India to retain the Irani Cup in maiden world title beating Shaun Cleveland Cavaliers at Cleveland. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in the
women’s National volleyball titles in Bengaluru. Murphy in the final of the World June 18: Left-arm seamer Musta- third test at Pallekele to take the se-
Chennai. Mar. 26: India’s World Cup cam- Championship snooker at Sheffield. fizur Rahman takes a five-wicket haul ries 2-1.
Jan. 12: Cristiano Ronaldo wins paign ends, following a 95-run defeat May 6: Chris Gayle scores his 14th in his debut ODI as Bangladesh beats July 8: India women's cricket
Ballon d’Or. to Australia in the semifinals in T20 ton, the fastest of IPL 2015, India at Mirpur. team beats New Zealand in the fifth
Jan. 14: PSBB wins both men’s Sydney. against Kings XI Punjab that saw him June 19: England wins the fifth and last ODI at Bengaluru to clinch
and women’s team titles at table ten- Mar. 29: Australia wins its fourth become the first overseas player to and final ODI against New Zealand at the five-match
nis Nationals in Puducherry. World Cup crown after beating New get to 3000 runs in the league. Durham to clinch the five-match se- series 3-2.
Jan. 17: Soumyajit Ghosh and Zealand by seven wickets in the final May 9: Pakistan wins the test se- ries 3-2. July 11: Soph-
Mouma Das win the men’s and wom- at Melbourne. ries against Bangladesh 1-0 at Dhaka. June 21: Leg-spinner Yasir Shah ie Devine of New
en’s National table tennis singles ti- Michael Clarke retires from ODI Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselas- claims a career-best seven for 76 in Zealand strikes
tles respectively in Puducherry. cricket. sie announces his retirement from tests as Pakistan beats Sri Lanka at the fastest fifty in
Pankaj Advani wins the men’s Na- Saina Nehwal wins the women’s competitive running. Galle. a Women's T20I
tional billiards championship in singles title at the Indian Open bad- May 16: India wins the SAARC Mustafizur Rahman becomes the against India
Kolkata. minton tournament in New Delhi Golf Championship. second bowler after Vitori to record held at
Jan. 22: Arantxa Sanchis wins the and climbs to the top of world rank- May 17: China clinches its sixth five-for performances in the first two Bengaluru.
women’s National billiards title in ings. consecutive title in the Sudirman ODIs as Bangladesh beats India at MAGICIAN OF Serena Wil-
Kolkata. K. Srikanth bags the men’s singles Cup badminton defeating Japan in Mirpur. CUE SPORTS: liams beats Gar-
Jan. 24: Pankaj Advani and Amee crown. the final. June 24: Bangladesh clinches the Pankaj Advani, bine Muguruza to
Kanmani win the men’s and women’s May 22: International cricket re- three-match home ODI series who won the win her sixth
National snooker titles respectively APRIL turns to Pakistan after six years with against India 2-1. Wimbledon and
IBSF World
in Kolkata. Apr. 10: Former Australia captain its T20 clash against Zimbabwe at England wins the lone T20I billiards, 21st Grand Slam
Jan. 25: P. Kashyap and Saina Richie Benaud passes away in Sydney Lahore. against New Zealand held at title.
Nehwal win the men’s and women’s aged 84. May 24: Mumbai Indians beats Manchester. snooker and Sania Mirza
singles crowns respectively at the Apr. 13: Sania Mirza climbs to the Chennai Super Kings in the final to June 26: Satnam Singh Bhamara 6-red snooker becomes the first
Syed Modi India Masters badminton top of the tennis doubles rankings. emerge champion of IPL 2015. becomes the first Indian to be drafted titles. Indian woman to
tournament in Lucknow. Jordan Spieth wins Augusta Golf May 29: Sepp Blatter wins a fifth by an NBA team - Dallas Mavericks. win a Women's
Jan. 31: Serena Williams wins the Masters. term as President of FIFA. June 28: Indian shuttlers Jwala doubles Grand Slam title after she
Australian Open women’s singles Apr 18: India beats Philippines May 30: Alastair Cook becomes Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa win the clinches the Wimbledon women's
title. 2-1 in Fed Cup in Hyderabad. England's all-time leading test run- Canada open women's doubles title doubles crown with partner Martina
scorer during the second test against upstaging the Dutch pair of Eefie Hingis.
FEBRUARY MAY New Zealand at Headingley. Muskens and Selena piek at Calgary. July 12: Novak Djokovic beats
Feb. 1: Novak Djokovic bags the Tamim Iqbal scores Bangladesh's June 30: Abhijeet Gupta and Pad- Roger Federer to win his third Wim-
Australian Open men’s singles best individual test score of 206 in JUNE mini Rout win the men's and wom- bledon title.
crown. the second innings of the drawn first June 1: New Zealand cricket team en's titles in the Commonwealth India's Sumit Nagal becomes the
Feb. 5: B. Sai Praneeth and Ruth- test against Pakistan at Khulna. captain Brendon McCullum and chess Championship held at New sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam
vika Shivani emerge the men’s and coach Mike Hesson are appointed Delhi. junior title after he clinches the
women’s singles champions at the Officers of the New Zealand Order of Wimbledon boys' doubles title with
National Badminton Championships Merit (NZOM). JULY partner Nam Hoang Ly.
in Vijaywada. Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman Chile defeats Argentina in the final Leander Paes wins his 16th Grand
Feb. 8: Anirban Lahiri wins Ma- and Sourav Ganguly are drafted into to win Copa America after 99 years. Slam title as he clinches the Wimble-
laysian Open golf tournament. the the BCCI advisory committee. July 6: Carli Lloyd becomes the don mixed doubles crown partnering
Feb. 16: Yuvraj Singh picked up June 2: Sepp Blatter resigns as first woman to score a hat-trick in a Martina Hingis.
by Delhi Daredevils for a record Rs. FIFA President. world cup final inspiring the United July 14: The Supreme Court ap-
16 crore fee at the IPL auction in June 4: Umpire S. Ravi is induct- States to its third football World cup pointed Lodha Committee suspends
Bengaluru. ed into the ICC Elite panel of title. India Cements Limited and Jaipur
Feb. 19: Viswanathan Anand wins umpires. IPL Cricket Pvt Ltd from IPL for two
Zurich Chess Classical title. June 6: Serena Williams wins her years.
Anirban Lahiri wins Indian Open THE AUSSIE SPIRIT: The 20th Grand slam and third French July 15: Bangladesh beats South
golf tournament. Australian cricket team with open title defeating Lucie Safarova in Africa in the third ODI at Chittagong
the World Cup. the final. to take the three-match series 2-1.
MARCH Rahul Dravid is appointed coach of July 17: ICC bans Pakistan all-
Mar. 8: Saina Nehwal loses to May 3: American boxer Floyd the India 'A' and u-19 teams. rounder Mohammad Hafeez from
Carolina Marin in the singles final at Mayweather Jr. wins the richest bout Barcelona wins the UEFA Cham- bowling in International cricket for
the All England badminton Cham- in boxing history defeating Filipino pions League beating Juventus in the 12 months.
pionships in Birmingham. Manny Pacquiao in the welterweight final at Berlin. French Formula One driver Jules
Mar. 12: Karnataka retains Ranji unification championship clash held June 7: Stanisla Wawrinka wins Bianchi passes away after succumb-
Trophy title after defeating Tamil at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. his second Grand slam and first A PODIUM FINISH, FINALLY: The ing to the head injuries he suffered in
Nadu in the final in Mumbai. Chelsea takes the English Premier French open title defeating Novak Indian hockey team which won a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Mar. 14: Welshman Michael League title with 83 points from 35 Djokovic in the final. July 19: India beats New Zealand
White defeats England’s Ricky Wal- games. June 13: Tamim Iqbal becomes a medal (bronze) after a 33-year 3-2 and advances to the world group
den to win the Indian Open snooker May 4: Abhinav Bindra wins the Bangladesh's leading test run-scorer wait in a world-level event. play-offs in the Davis cup.
 16 DIARY OF EVENTS 2015 THE HINDU THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016

July 20: BCCI drops Duleep tro- Tareq creates history by becoming team skipper Kumar Sangakkara re- third grand slam in 2015 beating Rog- The pair of Sania Mirza and Marti-
phy from the domestic calendar for the youngest swimmer ever to com- tires from International cricket. er Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch na Hingis wins the doubles’ titles in
the 2015-16 season. pete at the world championships Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann his second US Open title. Singapore beating Garbine Muguru-
July 25: A session’s court in New when she took part in the 50m but- Fraser-Pryce becomes the first wom- Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis za & Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3.
Delhi discharges 36 accused, includ- terfly heats at the World Aquatics an to win three world 100m titles. wins the US Open women’s doubles Nov. 6: R. Ashwin becomes the
ing cricketers S. Sreesanth, Ajit Championships in Kazan. Aug. 27: Jamaica's Usain Bolt re- title beating Casey Dellacqua & Ya- fastest Indian to take 150 wickets in
Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in the Aug. 8: Australia's Emily See- tains his men's 200m gold at the roslava Shvedova 6-3, 6-3. his 29th Test match on the second day
IPL spot-fixing case of 2013. bohm wins the women's 200m back- World athletics championships in Australia defeats England by eight against South Africa in Mohali.
Hockey India names Roelant Olt- stroke gold to complete a double Beijing. wickets in the fifth ODI match to win Nov. 11: Younis Khan retires from
(100m and 200m) at the World Aq- Aug. 29: Tennis icon Sania Mirza the series 3-2 at Manchester. ODI’s.
uatics Championships in Kazan; Ka- conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Rat- Sept. 20: India loses to Czech Re- Nov. 17: Mitchell Johnson retires
tie Ledecky claims her fifth gold, na award. public in the Davis Cup World Group from international cricket at the end
winning the women's 800m freestyle American Ashton Eaton wins the play off in New Delhi. of the second Test against New Zeal-
to complete a sweep of freestyle men's decathlon gold with a word BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmi- and in Perth.
titles. record at the World athletics cham- ya passes away aged 75 in Kolkata. Nov. 20: England beats Pakistan
New Zealand beats Zimbabwe in pionships in Beijing. Sept. 22: Former Indian football- by 84 runs in the fourth ODI in Dubai
the one-off T20I at Harare; Creates Usain Bolt completes a golden er Prashanta Sinha. member of the to clinch the series 3-1.
record for the highest team total in sweep in men's sprint helping Jamai- 1962 Asian Games gold medal-win- Nov. 21: Pankaj Advani wins the
T20s in Zimbabwe. ca win the men's 400m relay. ning squad passes away aged 77 in IBSF world snooker title in Hurgha-
Aug. 10: Hockey India's disciplin- Aug. 30: Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba Kolkata. da, Egypt.
INDIA’S PRIDE: Saina Nehwal, ary committee hands a nine-month and Almaz Ayana win the women's Sept. 27: Pankaj Advani wins the Nov. 22: Novak Djokovic defeats
who won two international suspension to Indian midfielder Gur- marathon and 5000m gold medals IBSF World Billiards championship Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 to win the
titles, ended the year at No. 2 in baj Singh. while Kathrina Molitor of Germany in Adelaide, Australia. ATP Tour Finals in London.
the World. Aug. 11: Pankaj Advani wins the wins gold in the women's javelin Former England fast bowler Frank Nov. 29: Britain clinches the Da-
IBSF world 6-red snooker title in Ka- throw at the World athletics cham- Tyson passes away aged 85 in vis Cup for the first time in 79 years
mans the new coach of the national rachi. pionships in Beijing. Australia. beating Belgium 3-1 in Ghent.
men's hockey team. Aug. 15: Saina Nehwal becomes Derek Drouin of Canada clinches Australia beats New Zealand by
July 26: Chris Froome wins his the first Indian to reach the final of the men's high jump gold as USA and OCTOBER three wickets to win the first day-
second Tour de France title. Jamaica win gold medals in the Oct. 4: Shashank Manohar takes night Test in Adelaide and win the
July 28: Clive Rice, South Africa's men's and women's 1600m relay. over as the BCCI President for the series 2-0.
first cricket captain of the post-isola- second time following the demise of Britain's Tyson Fury is crowned as
tion era passes away. SEPTEMBER Jagmohan Dalmiya. the new heavyweight champion beat-
Sept. 1: India beats Sri Lanka by Oct. 8: India lose the T20 series to ing Wladimir Klitschko in Berlin.
AUGUST 117 runs in the third Test at Colombo South Africa 2-0 after the third
Aug. 3: Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom and wins the series 2-1; R. Ashwin match is washed out in Kolkata. DECEMBER
wins the women's 100m butterfly named Man of the Series. Oct. 10: Poland defeats Sweden to Dec. 6: India settles for bronze
gold with a new world record timing; Sept. 5: Apurvi Chandela wins sil- lift the Bermuda Bowl title in the after beating Netherlands on penal-
Adam Peaty becomes the first Briton ver in the 10m air rifle at the shooting 42nd World Bridge Championship ties in the World Hockey League
to become world champion in 40 ELOQUENT SOUTHPAW: Kumar World Cup in Munich. held in Chennai. tournament in Raipur.
years in the men's 100m Sangakkara, who retired from Sept. 12: Flavia Pennetta wins the Oct. 18: Jayanta Talukdar and Dec. 7: India defeats South Africa
breaststroke. all forms of cricket. US Open women’s singles beating Deepika Kumari by 337 runs in the fourth Test at
Aug. 4: Katie Ledecky of the USA compatriot Roberta Vinci 7-6 (4), wins the men’s Delhi to clinch the series 3-0.
wins the women's 1500m freestyle the World Badminton 6-2. and women’s re- Dec. 8: Pune and Rajkot are two
gold with a new world record timing. Championships. The pair of Leander Paes & Marti- curve title re- new cities to replace Chennai and
Aug. 6: Ryan Lochte of the USA Aug. 16: Australia's Jason Day na Hingis wins the US Open mixed spectively in the Rajasthan in the IPL following Chen-
wins the U.S. PGA Golf Champion- doubles title beating the pair of Sam national ar- nai Super Kings and Rajasthan Roy-
ship with a record 20-under par total. Querrey & Bethanie Mattek-Sands chery cham- als’ suspension from the league for
Saina Nehwal wins World Badmin- 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. pionships in two years.
ton Championships silver after los- Narsingh Yadav wins the bronze Meerut. Dec. 17: Chelsea sacks manager
ing to Carolina Marina in the final at medal in the World wrestling cham- Oct. 20: Vi- Jose Mourinho.
Jakarta. pionship at Las Vegas and secures his render Sehwag Dec. 20: Chennaiyin FC beats FC
Aug. 19: Britain's Sebastian Coe berth for 2016 Olympics in Rio de ADMINISTRATOR announces his Goa 3-2 to win the second edition of
becomes the new President of the Janeiro. NON-PAREIL: retirement the ISL.
International Association of Athlet- Sept. 13: Novak Djokovic wins his Jagmohan from interna- Dec. 21: FIFA bans Sepp Blatter
ics Federations. Dalmiya, former tional cricket. and Michel Platini for eight years for
Aug. 23: Jamaican sprinter Usain BCCI President Oct. 25: ethics violations.
THE MONARCH OF SPRINT: Usain Bolt wins his third consecutive men's South Africa
Bolt of Jamaica proved he’s the 100m gold at the World Athletics who passed beats India by
best winning the 100 & 200m Championships in Beijing. away in 214 runs in the
World Championship titles. Australia posts a consolatory win Kolkata. fifth and final
against England in the fifth and final ODI in Mumbai
makes history by becoming the first Ashes test at The Oval as Aussie skip- to clinch the bilateral series 3-2.
man to win the 200m individual me- per Michael Clarke retires from In- Lewis Hamilton wins the US GP in
dley for the fourth consecutive time ternational cricket; England takes Texas and clinches his third title.
at the World Aquatics Champion- the series 3-2. AT THE TOP: Sania Mirza and
ships in Kazan; Katie Ledecky wins U Mumba beats Bengaluru Bulls at NOVEMBER ONE FOR THE CITY: Chennaiyin
her fourth gold, winning the wom- Mumbai to claim the ProKabaddi Martina Hingis, who ended the Nov. 1: Agnieszka Radwanska FC, which won the second
en's 4x200m freestyle title. League title. year as No. 1 in women’s beats Petra Kvitova to win the WTA edition of ISL, dedicated the
Aug. 7: Bahrain schoolgirl Alzain Aug. 24: Former Sri Lanka cricket doubles. Finals title in Singapore. Trophy to the people of Chennai.
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