As 2009 is drawing to a close, its time to sit back & recollect all the events that occured in this year. There were highs as well as lows, we had some people reach the pinnacle of fame and we also others who brought us shame. The following is a list of people/ events that grabbed the headlines in 2009.
1) Barack Obama – America’s first African-American President:
From being an America’s first African-American president to winning the 2009 Nobel prize for peace, it was certainly a memorable year for Obama.
2) A R Rahman – Jai Ho! :
The Oscar was just another feather-in-the-cap for this musical genius. He made the world sit up and take notice of Indian cinema. Suddenly, “Jai Ho” became the anthem of the nation. And that’s not all! Later this year he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of London’s Trinity College of Music, one of the most prestigious distinctions that any musician can ask for.
3) Manmohan Singh – Singh is King!
Opinion polls & exit polls had unanimously predicted a hung assembly. But Congress took the entire nation by surprise as it won the General Election 2009 by a convincing margin. And Manmohan Singh became the only PM after Jawarharlal Nehru to assume office for a second term.
4) The Satyam Fiasco – All but the truth!
In what can be termed as one of the worst corporate scandals in history, Chairman Ramalinga Raju confessed that the company’s accounts had been falsified. In a letter to the Stock exchnge, Raju admitted that he had overstated the company’s revenues & profits. After this revelation , Satyam’s shares plummeted to an all time low of 11.50 Rupees along with its reputation.
5) The Death of a rising star in Indian Politics
Y S Rajashekahar Reddy or YSR as he was popularly known, lead the Congress to a thumping victory in the AP assembly elections. He was touted as the next big thing in Indian politics but fate had it otherwise. On Sep 2, YSR’s helicopter lost contact with the air traffic controllers and he was found dead the following morning. His death came as a big shocker to the entire nation.
6) Twitter – Communication Redefined
The answer to one simple question in 140 characters introduced the concept of microblogging. So, we had Priyanka Chopra on one hand tweeting about her upcoming film and Shashi Tharoor on another taking a dig at Indian politics. This year truly belonged to Twitter!
7) Chandrayaan – A lunar leap for India
Amisdst reports of Chandrayaan’s failure, the discovery of presence of water came as a shot -in-the-arm for ISRO. India’s maiden moon mission was declared a huge success & was enough proof of ISRO’s capability & efficiency in space projects.
8 ) K R Chandrashekhar Rao – Battle for the states
Mr Rao strategy for gaining attention was simple. What began as a simple fast quickly gained fervour and soon it seemed like the TRS chief was at his death bed with doctors warning of dire consequences if he did not break his fast. Mr Rao’s fast-until-death literally shook the roots of the Indian government. And Chidambaram’s damage control of granting statehood to Telengana temporarily resolved the issue. But this led to a number of outfits demanding statehood for their territories.
9) Indian Cricket Team – At the pinnacle of glory
2009 was undoubtedly the best year for Indian Cricket. MS Dhoni took the Indian team to never – before heights. Having been ranked as the number 1 team in ODI, they further went on to create history as they also claimed the No 1 spot in Test Rankings. Our very own Sachin Tendulkar added yet another feather to his cap by scoring 30,000 in International cricket – the first by any player in the world.
10) The Silent Heroes
No one acknowledges them. No one appreciates them. Yet, they silently do their duty and protect millions of indians everyday. Im talking about the Indian police & military force. Its been a year after the 26/11 blasts. But we have gone through 2009 without a single terror incident. Thanks to them! They are the silent heroes of this year. Kudos to them!!
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