Event April 2008

Moist Victory in Nepal
1.Fast Bowler Shoaib Akhtar banned for 5 years by Pakistan Cricket Board for repeated indiscipline.
2.In Zimbabwe elections, Mugabe's party loses control of parliament.
3.ShoaibAkhtar not to be allowed to play in India Pre­mier League until the suspension is lifted *China urges US to support its position on Tibet
*NATO summit being held at Bucharest.
4.UN warns that 82 countries face food 102 EVENTS emergencies as stockpiles of wheat drop to the lowest levels since 1980, sufficient to feed the world for just 12 weeks
*Putin says NATO's induction of Ukraine and Georgia is an immediate threat to Russia.
5. Actor Charlton Heston dies
*Clashes between anti-China protesters and police during Olympic torch march in London
*In Zimbabwe, Mugabe's party demands vote recount.
7. Negligent driving of her chauffeur and the pursuing.paparazzi killed Princess Diana, her inquest concludes.
8. IMF considers selling 403.3 tonnes of gold.
9. IOC to go ahead with Olympic torch relay.
10. Nepal goes to the polls, 60 p.c. voter turnout *Zimbabwe's opposition leader Tsvangirai not to take part in any presidential run-off against Mugabe *Jigni Y. Thinley is Bhutan's first elected Prime Minister.
11. China's new bullet train 'Hexie' that can reach a speed of 350 km an hour is ready.
12 The Newseum opened in Wash­ington.
13. Maoists bag 61 of 1 05 seats in Nepal
*92 killed in Sri Lankan clashes
*Italy goes to the polls
*In Kenya Raila Odinga is named Prime Minister.
14. Dalai Lama rules out any more 'concessions' to China on Tibet
*Kenyan President Kibaki announces national unity cabinet, ending a long deadlock.
15. Blasts in Iraq kill 62
*Plane crash in congo kills 60
*Putin to lead United Russia party
*Volcano empts in Colombia
*18 school girls killed in Uganda fire.
16. The Pope is in US
*NLD says Suu Kyi can vote in May 10 referendum.
17. Suicide bomber kills 45 Iraqi mourners.
18. Beijing main venue of the Olympics 'Bird's Nest' makes debut
*WFP to cut rations in Darfur because of insecurity along the main supply routes
*Dense smoke from grass fires envelopes Buenos Aires.
19. Taliban holds Pak ambassador to Afghanistan.
20. Clash between Ethiopian troops and Islamist fighters kill 81 in Mogadishu
*Israeli raids on Gaza strip.
22.Crude oil rises to $118 a barrel *Paris awards honorary citizenship to Dalai Lama.
23. 90 killed in fighting in Jaffna pen­insula
*Hillary Clinton scores a decisive win in Pennsylvania *Reports say Israel is prepared to return Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for a peace treaty.
24.China's Internet population rises to 221 m.
*143 killed in Sri Lanka fighting
*Pakistan's new government has drafted a peace agreement with Taliban militants
*WFP says half of Pakistan is 'food insecure'
*Pro-Tibet riots continue in Nepal.
25. Communist Party of Nepal (Mao­ists) win 100 seats in Nepal.
26. In Zimbabawe, Mugabe's ZANU-PF fails in recount too.
27.Afghan President Hamid Karzai escapes attempt on his life by Taliban in Kabul *Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicts a 10.7 p.c. growth in GDP in 2008
*Nepali Maoist leader Prachanda stresses cooperation with India.
28.70 die as a passenger train jumps the track in China's Shandong province Iran is ready for talks with the West on nuclear proposals.
29.lraq'sformer Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz on trial in Baghdad.
30. Shoab Akhtar's five year ban upheld by Pak appellate tribunal.

Event March 2008

March 2008Violence in Tibet
1.Nicholas Burns, the American points man forthe nuclear deal, quits

*33 Gazans killed in pitched battles.
2.Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci rules out partition

*Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Iraq.
3.Israel ends Gaza incursion

*Dmitry Medvedev wins a landslide in Russian presidential election

*Iran asks US to leave Iraq

*22 LTTE cadres killed; Rajapakse says Tigers will be wiped out

*Accordinq to a poll 64% of Israelis favour a negotiated truce with Hamas.
6.Waren Buffet ($62 b.) is the world's richest man in Forbes list of billionaires, Carlos Slim ($60 b) is second, Bill Gates ($58 b) third, and lakshmi Mittal ($45 fourth.
7. Gold drifts higher in Europe, $984.70 an ounce

*68 killed in twin blasts in central Baghdad

*Eight students killed by a Palestinian gunman inside a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem

*38 Tigers killed in north Sri Lanka.
*Marian Jones goes to prison
*Cun­man kills 8 teens in Israeli school.
9. PPP-PML (N) to form government in Pakistan.
10. Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero's Socialist Party wins elections but not an outright majority *Malaysian PM Badawi sworn in for another term.
11. 26 killed in Lahore twin blasts.
13. Oil price is $110 a barrel and gold hits $1000 an ounce.
14. Violence in Lhasa

*lranian elections.

*Shops and vehicles set ablaze in Lhasa.
15. Over 100 Tibetan protesters killed by Chinese police during protests against Chinese rule in Lhasa, Tibetan Government in exile
16. Wen jiabo re-elected China's Prime Minister

*A plan for a 38 member Mediterranean Union agreed upon

*Conservatives win majority in Iran.
17. Pakistan parliament opens without President Musharraf

*Gold is above $1 030 an ounce in New York

*New York gets its first black governor as David Paterson replaces Eliot Spitzer

*China declares 'people's war' as Tibet riots spread.
18. Wen Jiabo says Tibet protests are incited by Dalai Lama; Dalai Lama offers to quit as political head of his movement in exile, if violence continues

*Four ethnic Indians inducted in Malaysian cabinet

*Casualties in Iraq since 2003: US killed 3987; Iraqi civilians - 89,300.
19.Pakistan has a woman Speaker of National Assembly in Fehmida Mirza (PPP)

*Mikhail Gorbachev admits he is a Christian

*Taslima Nasrin leaves India, reported to be in London

*Rabbit fever reported in Thailand.
20.Osama bin Ladan threatens EU with grave punishment for publication of cartoons mocking prophet Mohammed.
21.Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif says he wants ousted CJ Iftihkar Chaudhary reinstated. 22.China sends more troops to restive areas to crush Tibet uprising

*PPP nominates Yousuf Raza Gillani as its candidate for Pakistan's Prime Minister *Russia warns Georgia over NATO

*Opposition KMT wins Taiwan presidential election.
23. Loss of world's biggest bank Citigroup for 2008 put at $43 b.
24.Pakistan's Prime Minister elect Gillani orders release of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary

*ln elections, Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party wins

*US military death toll in Iraq climbs to 4000

*Sri Lanka claims 2500 Tigers killed since Jan. 1.
25. Yousuf Raza Gillani sworn in as Pakistan's 25th Prime Minister

*130 killed in Tibet violence.
26.Fighting in Basra and other towns intensifies.
27. Heathrow airports new Terminal 5 opens.
28.Virender Sehwag becomes the third batsman after Don Bradman and Brian Lara to run up 300 plus scores twice in Tests

*China's economy to grow at 10.7 p.c. in 2008, says a UN agency.
29. Voting in Zimbabwe. 31. Pakistan cabinet sworn in

*Chinese President Hu Jintao launches the Olympic torch relay

*160 nations take part in talks in Bangkok on global warming

*All con­spiracy theories in the death of Princess Diana rejected by coroner.

Event February 2008

Fidel Castro Steps Down

1. 64 persons killed by twin bomb blasts in Baghdad
*Microsoft offers to acquire Yahoo! for $ 44.6 b. oAI Qaeda leader Abu Laith al-Libi killed in Paki­stan.

3.Serbs vote in presidential election that will decide the fate of breakaway Kosovo province
*Earthquake hits Rwan­da and DR Congo, killing 28
*Rebels in Chad surround President Idrissa Defy's palace
*French President Sarkozy marries his girlfriend former model Carla Bruni at Elysee Palace.

4.12 killed in bus explosion in north­central Sri Lanka
*Boris Tadic re-elected Serbian President.

5.Prototype of 'AVG', a successor to France's TGV fast trains, with 360 kmph speed, unveiled in France
*lran regrets India's launch of Israeli spy satellite.

6.In Super Tuesday showdown in USA, John McCain rides closer to the top of Republican ticket
*Maharishi Mahesh Yogi dies in the Netherlands
*Chinese end the Year of the Pig and ring in the Year of the Rat.

7.A billion dollar defence deal signed by US and India for the purchase of 6 Super Hercules military transport planes from Lockheed Martin
*55 killed in tornadoes in southern US states.

8.Scotland Yard thinks that Benazir Bhutto died of an injury she sustained when her head hit the roof-opening of her car as a result of the bomb blast
*Shuttle Atlantis soars into orbit after a 2-month delay.

9.Myanmar authorities announce referendum in May on a new constitution
*Sri Lanka dissident leader Sripathi Sooriayaarachchi dies
*Ban on Islamic headscarves in universities lifted in Turkey.

11. Yahoo rejects Microsoft's buyout offer
*Grammy awards won by Amy Wine house
*Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama wins Grammy for best spoken word album
*Pak Ambassador to Kabul goes missing
*East Timor President Horta shot and wounded by rebel soldiers.
13.Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologises to the country's 4.7 lakh-strong Aborigines for past injustices against them
*Obama gets three more states in US election nominations.

14.Hizbollah declares open war on Israel
*President Musharraf pledges to hold free, fair and timely elections.

15. Ex-student in Northern Illinois University kills 6 in a lecture hall
*A South Korean firm receives an order for cloning a pet dog
*US to shoot down a broken spy satellite hurtling towards Earth with a large supply of toxic fuel aboard
*Global loss put at $ 8 trillion resulting from US subprime crisis, Bank of America estimates
*Alan Greenspan says US economy is clearly on the edge of a recession.

l6. Millionaire adventurer Steve Fos­sett, declared dead 5 months after he vanished while flying in a small plane
*Hindraf urges ethnic Indians in Malaysia to vote against Badawi's political grouping
*Sharp drop reported in Baghdad deaths from violence.

17.Suicide attacks kill 40 on poll eve in Pakistan
*40 die in Pak bus mishap
*Kosovo declares independence from Serbia
*80 killed in Afghan blast.

18.Pak elections pass off without major untoward incidents
*The Serb-run half of Bosnia seeks independence.

19. In Pakistan, PPP and PML (Nawaz) sweep polls, with big set­back for Mush­arraf's PML(Q)
*Cuba's Fidel Castro steps down.

20. Oil touches $100 a barrel again
*Earthquake (7.3) strikes Indonesia's Aceh province
*Barack Obama bags 10th consecutive victory against Hillary Clinton *Britain makes it mandatory for immigrants to pass more tests to 'prove their worth'
*Serbia withdraws ambas­sador from Washington; UK, Germany, France and Italy recognise Kosovo.

21.UK to introduce 'migrant tax'
*Thousands of Serbs held a rally to protest Kosovo's declaration of independence, while the number of nations recognising Kosovo rises to a dozen
*Riots target Western embassies in Belgrade, over Kosovo issue.

22.Venezuelan plane crashes in Andesregion killing 46.

24.VirginAtlan­tic operates its first flight using bio­fuel
*Three bankers jailed in' USA for Enron-linked fraud
*Presidential elections in Cuba; National Assembly elects Raul Castro as Fidel Castro's successor.

25.'No Country for Old Men' wins best picture at Oscars
*Raul Castro is the newly elected President of Cuba,

26. Cyprus has a communist head of state, Demetris Christifias.

27. Mathew Hayden of Australia let off with reprimand for calling India's Harbhajan Singh an 'obnoxious little weed' in a radio interview
*UN projections say half the world's people will live in urban areas by the end of 2008
*Earthquake (5.2 Richter) jolts Britain.

28. Nepal Government and United Democratic Madhesi Frontsign an 8-point agreement
*Thailand's deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is back.

29. Chemical Ali's execution approved by Iraq's presidency council
*Israel warns of 'holocaust' in Gaza after attacks
*British Army to recall Prince Harry from Afghanistan.

'Civilians die' in Sri Lanka zone

BBC News, Colombo :At least 60 civilians have been killed by shells fired in a no-fire zone in Sri Lanka in the past 24 hours, a senior health official there says.

Two health facility compounds in the north-east region were also hit, Dr T Varatharaja told the BBC.

Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped by the fighting between the Sri Lanka military and Tamil Tigers rebels.

The military has denied responsibility for the casualties, and the rebels have not responded.


More than 300 people were injured in the shelling in a small stretch of coastal area in Mullaitivu district.

The military says it has captured all rebel-held territory in the north-east after days of intense fighting, and has now pushed the rebels into a government-designated "safe zone" set up to protect civilians.

Health facility hit

The zone is estimated to be about 20 sq km (8 sq miles) of the coastal area.

"Some shells landed inside a smaller health facility in the Ambalavanpokkanai area when people were waiting to collect milk powder for children.


Ten people were killed in the incident," Dr Varatharaja told the BBC by phone from a make-shift health facility inside the "safe zone".

He said the intensity of shell fire had increased in the last 24 hours and another health facility had also come under attack in the same area in which one health worker was killed.

The official said the shells came from an area dominated by the security forces.

There is no confirmation of the official's version of events, because independent journalists are banned by the government from travelling to the war-affected area.

However, the military has denied responsibility for civilian deaths.

"We have not fired any shells towards the safe zone," Sri Lankan military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

"The doctor may be under pressure from the rebels to talk about civilian casualties."

There has been no reaction from Tamil Tiger rebels.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said one of its aid workers was killed in shelling in the region on Wednesday.

It also evacuated more than 500 sick and war-injured people from the war zone the same day.

The United Nations says that more than 2,800 civilians may have been killed and 7,000 injured in fighting in the last two months.

The government disputes these figures.

The UN has also accused the rebels of preventing the civilians from leaving the war zone, saying there were credible reports that Tamil Tigers were shooting at those attempting to flee.

The rebels deny the accusations.


Source BBC NEWS