THE DECADE THAT WAS!!!

January 26: A major Earthquake strikes parts of Gujarat, killing over 19000 people and rendering thousands homeless April 28: Dennis Tito, the worlds first space tourist, lifts off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Russia abroad the spacecraft Soyuz TM-32 September 11: The twin towers of the world Trade Centre in New York City collapse after terrorists deliberately crash two hijacked planes into them February 19: NASAs spacecraft Mars Odyssey begins mapping the surface of Mars May 20: East Timor gains independence from Indonesia to become the first new sovereign State of the 21st century July 25: Eminent Scientist and Engineer Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam is elected Indias 11th President April 9: Coalition troops capture Baghdad, bringing an end to Iraqi President Saddam Husseins regime August 27: Mars make its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years. It is observed 55,758.006km away from Earth

July 1: The Cassini-Huygens robotic spacecraft enters Saturns orbit on a mission to study the planet and its Satellites October 18: Dreaded sandalwood smuggler and elephant poacher Veerappan is gunned down in the forests near Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu December 26: A massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Sumatra kills thousands of people in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia April 2: Pope John Paul II dies after years of illness. Pope Benedict XVI is elected his successor April 27: The worlds largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, makes its maiden flight from Toulouse, France November 25: Vijaypat Singhania becomes the first man in the world to soar 21,290.8m above sea level in a hot air balloon

May 15: New Zealander Mark Inglis becomes the worlds first doubleamputee to climb Mount Everest August 24: Pluto loses its status as a planet and is reclassified as a dwarf planet December 13: The Chinese River Dolphin is declared functionality extinct

April 3: A French TGV train sets the world record for the fastest conventional train, with a speed of 574.8km/hr July 19: Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman President of India July 21: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS becomes the fastest-selling book in history, recording sales of 15 million copies within twentyfour hours of its release September 15: US financial firm Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, triggering a global financial crisis October 22: ISRO launches Chandrayaan-1, Indias first mission to the moon, from Shriharikota

January 20: Barack Obama becomes the first African American President of the USA June 11: WHO declares the influenza H1N1 virus (swine flu) as a global pandemic June 25: Michael Jackson, King of POP, dies due to cardiac arrest January 4: Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world, is inaugrated in Dubai April 14: Volanic ash erupting from Eyjafjallajokull, an ice cap in Iceland, disrupts air traffic in Europe July 8: Solar impulse, the worlds first solar powered aircraft, completes its 24hr-long maiden flight July 15: A new symbol for the Indian rupee, Designed by D. Udaya Kumar, is adopted October 23: The International Space Station sets a new record for the longest uninterrupted human presence in space. The previous record of 3644 days was held by space station Mir November 13: Aung San Suu Kyi, the prodemocracy activist of Myanmar is freed from house arrest. Suu Kyi led a determined and peaceful struggle against Myanmars military junta, spending 15 years under house arrest November 23: The worlds first-ever Tiger Summit held in St.Petersburg, Russia, pledges to double the tiger population in the wild by 2022
APEKSHA.S. KULKARNI. ELEC. & TELE. ET-B