Bye Bye Year 2004

Www.mediabharti.com has tried to aggregate all the incidents and events of last year here. So Enjoy it!

Top Stories Of The Year

Tsunami Attack on South-East Asia-
More than 1,00,000 people across south and south-east Asia were killed on black Sunday of final week of year 2004 after one of the most powerful earthquakes in history triggered massive tidal waves that slammed into coastlines in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Maldives. Everything were swept away by about 30 feet high walls of water unleashed by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

Elections-
As many as 75 nations went to polls this year. But, the two Maha-Yudhs were of course in the two largest democracies in the world- India and America.

India - February 6, 2004-

In a hurry to take electoral advantage of the perceived ‘feel good’ factor, the BJP gets the Lok Sabha dissolved prematurely. The ‘India Shining’ campaign ends in an early sunset with the BJP paying a heavy price for its haste, arrogance and some strategic blunders. Sonia shines as India’s Grand Old Party performs an electoral miracle to boost its tally from 114 seats in the Lok Sabha to 145 even as the BJP slides from its best ever total of 182 to 138. And finally, United Progressive Alliance takes reign at the Centre.

US - November 2, 2004-

Americans voted for President in one of the most suspenseful races in American History and elected George W. Bush to a second term. President Bush’s stunning triumph is being attributed to the 3G issues of God, Gays & Guns!! The Republican Party found traction with moral issues in the vast American heartland than John Kerry could with Iraq, healthcare and the economy.

India Wins Historic Cricket Series Of Pakistan-
War minus the shooting. Diplomacy minus its staged rituals. Eleven boys minus a single loser’s bone in them. Arguably, the best series win ever by the Indian team, winning the test series and the ODI’s against Pakistan in Pakistan. It was a historic triumph, when everyone was a winner. It was clear that cricket was indeed bringing the people of both the countries closer…fans holding banners with both the Indian and the Pakistani flags inscribed on them.

Athens Olympics-
Greece was the birthplace of the ancient Olympics games over 2000 years ago and Athens was the host of the first modern day Olympics in 1896. The Olympics returned to their origin when Athens hosted the 28th Olympiad this year. These Games broke many records. Athens hosted 11,099 athletes, the largest number ever and also the most women athletes ever. Representatives of 202 countries took part, more than any other sport event. The Olympic flame travelled for the first time to all continents.Four billion viewers all over the world watched these Games – the most spectacular Olympics ever.

Ambani Vs Ambani-
The board meeting of July 27-which Anil claims gave Mukesh sweeping powers while diminishing his-was the trigger. The subsequent barrage of communications from Anil to Mukesh & Co., leading up to the board meeting of October 28 and beyond, led to the rapid deterioration of relations between the brothers. This feud between Mukesh and Anil could get messier as the battle for control of India’s biggest …house [estimated at 90,000 crores+] that Dhirubhai Ambani built. This battle threatens to escalate into a full blown war.

Sheer Arrest-
On November 11, Deepawali day, Shri Jayendra Saraswati, the most high profile of all contemporary Hindu religious leaders was arrested by TN Police in Andhra Pradesh in the murder case of temple manager A. Sankaraman. Kanchi Shankaracharya, who has considerable influence with political leaders cutting across party lines, was in the limelight in the last two years of the NDA rule, acting as a go-between with Muslim leaders and Hindu organisations in the Ayodhya issue. RSS, VHP, BJP and the Shiv Sena along with other religious and spiritual leaders expressed outrage at the arrest. The shock & debate continues.

Sensex Bust, Boom & Vroom...-
The Sensex was in the news throughout the year. The volatility of the stock markets could be judged by the fact that this year saw the very best and worst of the Sensex. Black Monday on May 16th saw Sensex’s biggest fall in 129 years of a massive 564 points. But again on 29th November the Sensex rocketed to a high of 6234 points. With each passing day the Sensex is scaling new heights.

Arafat’s Death-
In his dying as in his life, Yasser Arafat seemed both dogged and indecisive. To the Palestines, the people he led for so long, Arafat’s flaws of character and leadership had been plain for years, yet were irrelevant. What mattered was that he personified their fight for freedom, kept alive their hopes and defied their enemies.

Mission Possible: Mission To Mars-
On Jan 15, 2004 after some seven months of interplanetary travel, NASA’s Mars rover, ‘Spirit’, rolled to a full stop on the surface of the Red Planet. This was a landmark event in the history of NASA. Such missions to Mars failed more often than they succeeded, and the last American landing effort, in 1999, was an embarrassing failure. Only last Christmas Eve, the British-built Beagle 2 tried to land and has not been heard from since, apparently a failure. Nearly 2/3rd of the 30 odd probes have failed this quest for discovery of water on the red planet In Dec ’04 some evidence has been reportedly found.

IIM Controversy-
What started, as a fight over fee cuts in February became a battle for independence of the IIM and the future of management education The issue could have assumed a much bigger proportion had it not been for the ouster of the NDA government and Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi.

Death-Sentence-
Kolkata’s rapist-murderer Dhananjoy Chatterjee’s death penalty case opened up a national debate on Capital Punishment.The first state execution in 11 years after serving a 14 year term evoked much criticism projecting Dhananjoy as a victim on par with Hetal Parekh. The highly tele-publicised execution led to the ‘Dhananjoy Syndrome’, which claimed lives as children re-enacted the execution.

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