Hello and welcome to a special year-ender newsletter. Before we begin, we would like to apologise to fans of Billy Joel, fans of music and rhyming enthusiasts:
(Sing to the tune of We Didn’t Start the Fire)
Harry & Meghan, G20 Presidency, post-red China, Boris at HTLS
Asia-Pacific, Wordle scores, Imran Khan, Pak Army sweats
Nadella, Metaverse, House of the Dragon on television
Zelensky’s on Netflix, Mr. 360, and protests in Iran
Fridge Murder, Fusion Ignition, K-Pop, Squid Games
Tom Cruise, "Avatar 2", and "The Marvel Franchise"
Putin, Vaccine, England's got a new King
Bialiatski, Pele and Spooky Entanglement at a Distance
CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Sharne Warne, AAP in Punjab, Russia wants Ukraine
DMK’s Stalin, Tek Fog, Netanyahu, Deepa mankading
5G, Janhit Abhiyan, Nitish flips again
EWS, Federer retires, and Messi’s got a World Cup
Quite Quitting, Elon Musk, Ashneer Grover, Booster shots
Sputnik, CJI Chandrachud, BJP’s back in Gujarat
Macron, Merkel, England plays Bazball
No money for terror, Bappida says goodbye
CHORUS
Kantara, Brahmastra, The Kashmir Files, ISRO
Gyanvapi, fights on the airline, Crypto is a no-go
GST, Chat GPT, Byju’s and DeSantis
Trump’s back with NFTs and Karnataka Hijab row
CHORUS
Rushdie, Salman Khan, Chetan Bhagat vs Uorfi Javed
Assam floods, stubble burning, cheetahs from Namibia
Reforms in Saudi Arabia and crazy RRR mania
Morbi Bridge, Bharat Jodo, Murmu is the President
Pope Francis, Andrew Tate, Mithali and Jhulan retire
Shinzo Abe – blown away, what else do I have to say?
Praggnanandhaa , Thackerays, Greta Thunberg
Missile shot, farm laws, Slapgate, Kakkar vs Pathak
Climate change, Piers Morgan, fights on the airline
Ayatollah's still in Iran, America’s out of Afghanistan
"Wheel of Time", rising tide, Kota student suicide
Mamata gives diet tips, Camel Flu, JEE, Cyrus Mistry
Cough syrup under the cosh, China's back in lockdown
Omicron, Covid-19 variants, I can't take it anymore...
CHORUS
Now that we’ve subjected you to aforementioned bad rhyming let’s see what 2022 was like month-wise:
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FEBRUARY Putin invades Ukraine February saw Russian Premier Vladimir Putin launch a “special military operation” in Ukraine to allegedly “demilitarise and denazify” the country which saw the West responding with several sanctions. Perhaps the most devastating event of the year has seen the impasse that has lasted for 10 months with Europe struggling to replace Russian gas imports. Popular Stories of the Month |
MARCH Yogi again in UP, AAP conquers Punjab March saw a spate of assembly election results in various states with the highlight being the return of BJP in Uttar Pradesh and AAP winning Punjab. While BJP became the first party to retain the humongous state of Uttar Pradesh in 35 years, AAP became only the fourth party in Indian politics to hold power in two states at the same time after Congress, BJP, and CPI(M). Popular Stories of the Month |
APRIL Imran Khan out April saw Imran Khan continue Pakistan’s grand tradition of never having a Prime Minister serve a full term with Khan earning the added honour of becoming the first one to lose office through a vote of No Confidence. Since then Khan has become one of the most vocal critics of the Pak Army making sure that India’s neighbours continue to live by the old Chinese adage: “May we live in interesting times.” Popular Stories of the Month |
MAY India conquers Thomas Cup May saw India’s badminton team script history by beating Indonesia to win the Thomas Cup. It took 13 attempts and 73 years for India to reach the pinnacle of men’s badminton. Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and doubles players Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, managed to go where no Indian has gone before. Popular Stories of the Month |
JUNE Prophet row June saw the “country on the boil” after controversial comments by two BJP spokespersons about Prophet Muhammad which sparked condemnation from Muslim-majority nations and saw protests, violent clashes and the loss of several lives in India. Popular Stories of the Month |
JULY Abe San shot dead Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in July sending shockwaves across the world. The former Japanese premier was widely respected, a very close friend of India and also the major driving force behind the QUAD. Expressing his condolences, PM Modi had tweeted: “I am shocked and saddened beyond words at the tragic demise of one of my dearest friends, Shinzo Abe. He was a towering global statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator. He dedicated his life to make Japan and the world a better place.” Popular Stories of the Month |
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SEPTEMBER Protests in Iran September saw the beginning of protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested by country's "morality police" for not wearing a hijab. The Gasht-e-Ershad enforce a strict dress code for women in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Popular Stories of the Month |
OCTOBER Morbi bridge collapse On October 30, a suspension bridge in Morbi collapsed in Gujarat claiming the lives of 135 people. The 19th century bridge had opened only five days earlier. Eyewitnesses said there were close to 400 to 450 people on the Morbi bridge when the incident happened. However, the bridge collapse didn't affect BJP's performance in the state and it even managed to comfortably win the Morbi Assembly Constituency. Popular Stories of the Month |
NOVEMBER 8 billion strong The world’s population hit 8 billion in November, which made it three times larger than it was in the mid-20th Century. The world added 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998. It’s believed that the population will reach 9 billion in the next fifteen years. Popular Stories of the Month |
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That's all, for this year folks. Thank you for reading and have a fabulous 2023. | Written by Nirmalya Dutta. Edited by Arghya Prasun Roychowdhury. | | | |
