Year Ender 2022: Major incidents in Odisha, nation and world that hit headlines

The year 2022 has witnessed many major events in Odisha, the country and world as well. Be it Russia’s Ukraine invasion or Indian politics or developmental programmes in the state, it kept readers engaged throughout the year. Before bidding this year goodbye, we can recall those incidents and move forward with positive hope to make the upcoming year more vibrant.

Odisha

Naveen meets Pope

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik embarked on two-nation tour, covering Italy and the UAE, in June, which was his first foreign trip after 11 years. Accompanied by Odisha 5T Secretary VK Pandian, Patnaik met Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church in Vatican City, on June 22 during his visit to Rome. He presented a Pattachitra painting, which depicts the Tree of Life, to head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Investors’ Meets

Investors’ Meet in Dubai: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met investors from the Middle East and adjoining regions in Dubai on his way back during his foreign trip. He extended invitation to potential investors to invest in Odisha assuring them of all support and facilitation by the state government. A high-level industrial delegation from Odisha was also present during investor’s meet at one-on-one meetings with some big investors from the UAE for partnership with foreign investors.

Investors’ Meet in Mumbai: Odisha Government in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) hosted the Odisha Investors’ Meet on September 14 in Mumbai. A delegation from Odisha led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik invited investors for Make in Odisha Conclave 2022.

Investors’ Meet in Bengaluru: The third Odisha Investors’ Meet was held on September 28 in Bengaluru. The Government of Odisha, in collaboration with FICCI organised the event inviting the investors to participate in Make in Odisha Conclave and become a partner in Odisha’s transformational journey.

Investors’ Meet in Hyderabad: Odisha Government organised the next Investors’ Meet on October 18 in Hyderabad seeking investments in various sectors in the state to ensure consistent growth. CM Naveen Patnaik urged all dignitaries and industry leaders to participate in Make in Odisha Conclave ’22 held from November 30 to December 4.

Make in Odisha Conclave 2022

The Make in Odisha Conclave ’22 was the flagship investor summit of the Government of Odisha. After huge success of the event in 2016 and 2018, the state hosted the 3rd edition of Make in Odisha at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar from November 30 to December 4.

The state received an overall investment proposal worth Rs. 10.5 lakh crore in a span of 3 days generating 10,37,701 employment potential across sectors from 741 companies. The government received 145 proposals from metals, ancillary & downstream sector, 102 from agriculture & food processing, 87 from logistics & infrastructure, 41 from tourism, 37 from Information Technology, 32 from power, renewable & green energy, 28 from paper, wood and forest based industries, 22 from healthcare & pharmaceuticals, 26 from textile, apparels & technical textiles, 14 from agri-business, 10 from aerospace & defence, 10 from waste management, 7 from cement, 5 from start-ups, 2 each from education & glass, 6 from agri marketing, 1 from film & entertainment, 1 from electric vehicle and 12 from multiple other sectors along with 64 proposals from general manufacturing sector.

The marquee event witnessed registration from 18,785 delegates, including global leaders, industry captains, exhibitors, and participants from 11 countries such as — Japan, Germany, Norway, Nepal, Bangladesh, Australia, Indonesia, Israel, China, Singapore and Thailand. Three-day conclave conducted 38 business sessions with more than 250 speakers with the involvement of 20 departments which came together. Around 65 MoUs were signed at the end of Day 3 of the Make in Odisha 2022.

Bypolls

Total three bypolls were held in Odisha this year. While bye-election to Brajarajnagar Assembly Constituency in Jharsuguda district was conducted on May 31, Dhamnagar bypoll in Bhadrak district was held on November 3. Padampur Assembly seat in Bargarh district went to bypoll on December 5.

Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) retained two seats in the bypolls and one seat was won by opposition BJP.

BJD candidate and wife of former MLA Kishore Mohanty, Alaka Mohanty, won the by-election to the Brajarajnagar assembly constituency with a margin of 66,122 votes. She garnered 93,953 votes in total defeating Congress candidate Kishore Chandra Patel. BJP’s Radharani Panda slipped to third position with only 22,630 votes in the bypoll.

In Dhamnagar bypoll, BJP nominee Suryabanshi Suraj was the winner, defeating BJD candidate Abanti Das by 9,881 votes to retain the seat. While Surag received 80,351 votes, Abanti secured 70,470 votes. Congress nominee Baba Harekrushna Sethi got only 3,561 votes.

The BJD proved its potential in Padampur bypoll as its party candidate Barsha Singh Bariha registered a thumping win against BJP’s Pradeep Purohit. She won the bypoll with a margin of over 42,000 votes. While she got a total of 1,19,512 votes, Purohit received 77,447 votes. Total 3,548 votes were cast in favour of Congress candidate Satya Bhusan Sahu in the bye-election.

Sarat Pattanayak new chief of Odisha Congress

The All India Congress Committee on May 23 appointed senior Congress leader Sarat Pattanayak as the new president of party’s state unit, replacing Niranjan Patnaik, who was in the post since April 19, 2018. The 66-year-old leader was appointed to the post of president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) for the second time. Earlier, he had held the post from 2001 to 2004. His selection came in the wake of revolt against Niranjan Patnaik’s leadership among partymen, who have been struggling to save sinking fortunes of the party that has been out of power in Odisha since 2000.

Sunil Bansal replaces Odisha BJP Prabhari Daggubati Purandeswari

The Bharatiya Janata Party on August 10 replaced party’s Odisha Prabhari Daggubati Purandeswari with Sunil Bansal ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha election. Bansal, a close associate of Amit Shah, was elevated as the national general secretary of the party and appointed state in-charge of Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana. His appointment as the party’s in-charge of two eastern states and one southern state is seen as the political strategy for 2023 Telangana polls and 2024 Odisha assembly elections.

Initiative to get UNESCO heritage tag for Puri Rath Jatra

Odisha government initiated a process to secure UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage tag for the world-famous Puri Rath Jatra. Odia Language Literature & Culture department recently wrote Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to constitute an advisory committee for the purpose of filing a nomination to inscribe Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath on Representative List of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ under UNESCO. The draft nomination would include video clips on rituals usually performed during the sojourn starting from Akshaya Tritiya, Chandan Jatra, Anabasar, Ratha Jatra and Niladri Bije.

Industrialist Mahima Mishra’s Son Charchit Mishra’s arrest in bribery case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 6 arrested industrialist Mahima Mishra’s son Charchit Mishra, a day after interrogating him in connection with a bribery case registered in Delhi. Charchit along with his brother Chandan were grilled by the investigating agency following raids at different places, including residence and office of industrialist Mahima Mishra. Charchit was questioned at his residence in Cuttack.

Charchit among five others — Saroj Kumar Das, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of Paradip Port; contractor Sumant Rout, KCT Group’s Manager (Port Operations) Sankha Subhra Mitra and Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) DGM (Operations) Surya Narayan Sahoo — arrested in a case related to Rs 25 lakh bribery.

Honeytrap case

Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against sextortion accused Archana Nag, her husband Jagabandhu Chand and their two business associates Khageswar Patra and Shradhanjali Behera.

During course of investigation, the central investigation agency grilled many key figures including Ollywood filmmakers Akshay Parija and Pramod Swain; businessman Amiyakant Das; BJD MLA Sudhir Samal’s brother Gangadhar Samal; property dealer Prabhat Ranjan Pati; hotelier Siba Prasad Das and architect Ranjit Behera.

Archana is accused of extorting money from influential persons by blackmailing them with videos of intimate moments between her and them. Shradhanjali was allegedly involved in the offence. During the probe, the ED arrested the woman blackmailer and her husband under section 19 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Earlier, Archana was arrested by the Commissionerate Police in honeytrap case following allegation by Parija. According to the complaint, Archana had demanded Rs 3 crore from Parija threatening him of making his objectionable videos and photographs with a woman public.

Lawyers’ strike

Lawyers’ agitation stalled court proceedings in the state following which the Supreme Court had to intervene to bring situation under control. The lawyers hit streets in many districts demanding establishment of separate High Court benches in their respective regions, relocation of Orissa High Court from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar and opposing arrest order by the apex court for strike.

The lawyers strike came to a halt after the Supreme Court on December 13 adopted a tough stance and Bar Council of India (BCI) cracked the whip on striking lawyers, the Central Action Committee of All Bar Associations of Western Odisha suspended its agitation demanding establishment of Orissa High Court’s permanent bench in Sambalpur. Based on order by the Supreme Court, police arrested 17 lawyers of Sambalpur district Bar Association for their alleged involvement in the vandalism in district complex.

Meanwhile, the BCI suspended practice license of 14 more lawyers for a period of 18 months. On December 12, it had suspended all the members of the district bar till further orders while cancelling licenses of 29 advocates for 18 months.

India

India-China soldiers’ clash at Tawang: Border tension between India and China once again escalated after Indian Army successfully drove out Chinese troops along its side of the LAC at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on December 13 told the parliament the Indian Army resisted an infiltration attempt by China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh and pushed back People’s Liberation Army soldiers engaged in the incursion attempt. Both Indian and Chinese soldiers had suffered some injuries in the clash. He informed the parliament that the Chinese troops on December 9 had carried out an incursion across the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh, and attempted to unilaterally change the status quo. Indian troops resisted this attempt “with firmness”, and there was a scuffle between India and Chinese troops on the border. “Our Army with great bravery stopped the PLA incursion and forced them to return to their post,” the Defence Minister said.

Detection of Covid sub-variant BF.7 in India: While almost all Covid restrictions were lifted with decline of daily Covid cases and administration of massive Covid vaccination drive, a new sub-variant that had created havoc in China, Japan, the US, South Korea and Brazil became the reason for worry. After detection of fresh Covid cases caused by new variant of Omicron BF.7 in Gujarat and Odisha, the Centre issued advisory asking people to mandatorily wear masks and observe Covid-appropriate behaviour to keep the infection at bay.

Morbi bridge collapse: At least 135 people were killed after a suspension bridge at Morbi in Gujarat collapsed on October 30. The ‘enormous tragedy’ occurred for lack of maintenance of the 150-year-old bridge by Morbi civic body. Police arrested nine persons in the Morbi bridge collapse incident, of which eight moved the Gujarat High Court seeking bail in December. The court received applications of seven accused and posted it for next hearing on January 2, 2023. The state government set up a five-member inquiry committee to look into lapses. The Gujarat State Human Rights Commission is also verifying if the compensation is being is paid properly to the families.

According to reports, the Morbi municipality had given the 15-year contract to Oreva Group, which is best known for the Ajanta brand of wall clocks. The bridge was being operated by the company after June 2017. A new agreement for maintenance of the bridge was signed for Rs 7 crore this year. It is alleged that the company did not replace the rusted cables but installed a new flooring that proved too heavy, causing the mishap.

Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad set entire nation on fire: Controversial comments by BJP’s former spokesperson Nupur Sharma about Prophet Muhammad in a TV debate in May incensed Muslims in the country and outraged Islamic nations.

Following protests in different Islamic nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran, over her controversial remarks, the BJP suspended Nupur Sharma from the party and expelled head of the party’s Delhi media unit, Naveen Kumar Jindal, who had shared a screenshot of her offensive comment in a tweet.

Her statements triggered violent acts against those who extended support to the politician.

Umesh Kolhe, a pharmacist from Amravati in Maharashtra who had shared social media posts backing BJP leader Nupur Sharma, was murdered by “radicalised Islamists of Tablighi Jamaat” on June 21 for alleged insult to Prophet Muhammad.

Kanhaiya Lal Teli, a tailor in Udaipur, was beheaded by Muslim youth over his Facebook post supporting Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Mohammad. Riyaz Attari and Mohammad Ghous, two Pakistanis, filmed the murder act on their mobile phones and circulated the clip on social media. They threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi while posing with the knife used in the crime. The duo was arrested hours after the murder. The NIA in its chargesheet named 11 accused persons, including two Pakistan nationals in the brutal murder of the tailor.

Gyanvapi mosque row: The controversy was ignited when five Hindu women approached a court in Varanasi in 2021 seeking to worship the Shringar Gouri and other idols placed on premises of the Gyanvapi mosque. In May this year, a local court in Varanasi ordered a video survey of Gyanvapi mosque complex after the petition. The Gyanvapi mosque survey concluded on May 16. While the Hindu side claimed that a Shivling was found inside a well on the mosque premises during the survey, the Muslim side dismissed the claim stating it as a ‘fountain’. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi mosque was raised by the BJP, VHP and RSS during the campaign for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya along with the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura. They claimed that all three mosques were built after demolishing Hindu temples.

Karnataka Hijab row: Wearing hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka remained in focus in the year 2022. The row raged with protets and counter demonstrations by Muslim and Hindu students in Karnataka and other states. On October 13, the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on a batch of pleas challenging Karnataka High Court judgement refusing to lift ban on hijab in schools and colleges in Karnataka. The two-judge bench directed the appeals be placed before the Chief Justice of India for constituting a larger bench.

 

Where it began?

On January 1 when some Muslim students of a college in Udupi district of Karnataka were not allowed to attend classes wearing hijab against the prescribed norms of the college.

Agnipath Scheme: The Centre introduced a recruitment scheme titled Agnipath for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces. The youth selected under the scheme will be categorised as Agniveers who will serve the nation for a period of 4 years. Following announcement of the sceheme, protests raged against the military recruitment scheme.

India gets Droupadi Murmu as its first tribal woman President

Droupadi Murmu from Odisha was elected as the 15th President of India, becoming first person from a tribal community to hold country’s top constitutional post. She became the second woman President of India after Pratibha Patil to get elected to the highest post. The 64-year-old tribal leader was the nominee of ruling NDA government. She defeated Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, the former finance minister in NDA regime led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the presidential poll held on July 18. She accumulated 53.13 per cent of total vote value after three rounds of counting conducted on July 21. She was sworn-in as the 15th President of India on July 25 in New Delhi.

Jagdeep Dhankhar elected 14th Vice President of India

Former West Bengal Governor and NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected as the 14th Vice President of India on August 6. He defeated joint opposition candidate Margaret Alva to emerge winner. He won with a 74.36% vote share – the highest in the last six Vice Presidential elections. He received 528 votes while Margaret got only 182 votes in the election. He was sworn-in as the 14th Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha. He was administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu at a swearing-in ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 11.

Justice DY Chandrachud becomes 50th Chief Justice of India

Justice DY Chandrachud was appointed as the new Chief Justice of India (CJI). He was administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu as the 50th Chief Justice of India on November 9, succeeding Justice UU Lalit, who was in the post since August 27 this year till November 8. Justice Chandrachud’s tenure as the CJI will end on November 10, 2024. Justice Chandrachud was appointed as the Judge of Supreme Court on May 13, 2016. His father YV Chandrachud was the 16th Chief Justice of India between February 2, 1978 and July 11, 1985.

Hooch tragedies: At least 42 people died and more than 97 were hospitalised due to the consumption of spurious liquor in Botad and Ahmedabad districts of Gujarat in July this year. Police arrested 15 persons including one who acquired chemicals for hooch production and those who sold the liquor. Following much public outcry, Gujarat home department handed over the probe to two superintendents of police (SPs).

The spurious liquor killed at least 38 people in Bihar in last week. Bihar police arrested the mastermind, who was a homeopathy compounder, in Saran hooch tragedy case. A special investigation team constituted by the state police in the incident revealed that mastermind with the help of his associates used to manufacture spurious liquor by mixing homeopathy medicine and sugar. They used to supply illicit liquor in several areas of Saran district through their vendors or associates.

Vaishno Devi Temple stampede: At least 12 people were killed and 15 were injured after a stampede occurred at Mata Vaishno Devi Temple in Katra in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on January 1. As per reports, an argument broke out which resulted in people pushing each other.

PM Modi’s convoy stuck on a flyover in Firozpur: In a major security lapse, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy was stranded for around 20 minutes on a flyover due to a blockade by protesting farmers in Punjab’s Ferozepur on January 5.

Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with National War Memorial flame: Iconic Amar Jawan Jyoti, which was inaugurated after 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh by former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi, was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial on January 21.

India–Pakistan missile incident: An accidental firing of BrahMos missile into Pakistan on March 9 escalated tensions between India and neghbouring nation. Pakistan alleged that the missile travelled around 3 times the speed of sount at an altitude of 40,000 ft and flew 124 km before crashing in Pakistan airspace. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a clarification termed the incident as ‘deeply regrettable’ and stated that shortcomings found in the weapon system would be rectified after an inquiry. The Government sacked three Air Force officers for accidental firing of the missile.

5G telecom services: The much-awaited 5G services were rolled out in the country this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the telecom services on October 1. So far, the services provided by Reliance Jio and Airtel have been rolled out in 50 cities and towns across the country.

Release of 6 assassins of Rajiv Gandhi: The Supreme Court on November 11 ordered the release of all the six life-term convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in view of the Tamil Nadu government’s recommendation. The next day, all six convicts walked out of the jail. On May 18, the top court by invoking its extraordinary powers to do complete justice under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution had ordered the release of A.G. Perarivalan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment over the 1991 assassination of the former Prime Minister. Earlier, convicts S. Nalini and R.P. Ravichandran had moved the apex court challenging the Madras High Court order, which refused to entertain their plea seeking release from the prison. In response to the petitions, the Tamil Nadu government said both had served over 30 years in jail and it had approved the remitting sentence of all seven convicts over four years ago.

Birbhum tragedy: The murder of a deputy pradhan of ruling TMC at Bogtui village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on March 21 evening sparked off a chain of events. At least eight persons including two children were charred to death after some 10 houses were set on fire while the families were in deep slumber.

West Bengal SSC Scam: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, former minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged close associate Arpita Mukherjee in alleged illegal appointment of assistant teachers. The ED is tracking the money trail in the scam. The Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to look into the alleged irregularities involved in the recruitment of Group-C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and -aided schools on recommendations of the commission following which the central agency filed chargesheet against total 28 people including former chairman of West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC) Subiresh Bhattachary and former minister Partha Chatterjee in a case related to SSC Recruitment.

Sexual assault allegations against Lingayat seer in Karnataka: Lingayat seer Shivamurthy Sharanaru was arrested in September on charges of raping two minor girls, both students of Murugha Math. He was also charged under Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as one of the victims belongs to the SC community. In October, second case was filed against the Godman under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexually assaulting four minor girls at his mutt’s hostel. The victims alleged that Shivamurthy Sharanaru, who heads the Murugha Math – one of the key Lingayat seminaries in the state, sexually abused them several times between January 2019 and June 2022.

Noida Supertech Twin Towers demolition

The Supertech Twin Towers in Noida, country’s highest structure, was demolished on August 28. The towers with a height of almost 100 metres, taller than the Qutub Minar, were razed to ground after these were found to be in violation of multiple regulations regarding construction.

Around Globe

State of emergency is declared in Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan on January 5 declared a nationwide state of emergency after protests over a fuel price hike erupted into clashes and saw demonstrators storm government buildings. The demonstrations started over the weekend in western Kazakhstan over a jump in fuel prices but quickly spilled into broader discontent drawing thousands to the streets across the country.

First pig-to-human heart transplant: David Bennett, the first person to receive a transplanted heart from a genetically modified pig at Baltimore in Maryland of the United States on January 7. The transplant surgeons hoped the advance will enable them to give more people animal organs. However, the 57-year-old man died two months after the groundbreaking experiment. He lived for only 61 days after heart transplant. The patient breathed his last at the University of Maryland Medical Center on March 8.

Tropical Storm Ana: Tropical Storm Ana formed on January 20 affected the African nations of Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe killing 142 people.

Tropical Cyclone Batsirai: Tropical Cyclone Batsirai heavily impacted Madagascar in February 2022. As many as 123 people died due to the deadly tropical cyclone.

Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic declared Independent from Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic from Ukraine.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched military operation against neighbouring country Ukraine after the latter remained stick to its decision to take initiative to be part of the NATO. Russian President Putin prepared a blueprint for his full scale invasion of Ukraine posing threat to European nations as well as the United States. The war is still underway as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seems to not give up and and continues to attack Russian soldiers with help of high-tech ammunitions reportedly supplied by the US and other NATO countries. So far, upto 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion. The country reported about 3,600 civilian deaths as of mid-Jun.

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crash: China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashed on March 21 during a flight from Kunming to Guangzhou, killing all 132 people on board.

High political drama in Pakistan: Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan replacing Imran Khan from office following a motion of no confidence in April. Imran Khan was ousted as the PM of Pakistan as opposition parties secured 174 votes in the 342-member house in support of the no-confidence motion. The vote took place after the country’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of opposition parties and said that Imran Khan had acted unconstitutionally.

Discovery of micronovae: A team of astronomers with the help of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) discovered a new type of stellar explosion – a micronova. Micronovae are extremely powerful events, but are small on astronomical scales; they are much less energetic than the stellar explosions known as novae, which astronomers have known about for centuries. Both types of explosions occur on white dwarfs, dead stars with a mass about that of our Sun, but as small as Earth, explained an astronomer at Durham University in the UK who led the study on these explosions published in Nature.

Monkeypox outbreak: Since early May 2022, cases of mpox (monkeypox) have been reported from countries where the disease is not endemic, and continue to be reported in several endemic countries. Most confirmed cases with travel history reported travel to countries in Europe and North America, rather than West or Central Africa where the mpox virus is endemic. This is the first time that many mpox cases and clusters have been reported concurrently in non-endemic and endemic countries in widely disparate geographical areas. Out of more than 68,000 confirmed monkeypox cases, at least 25 infectees have died so far globally.

Sri Lanka financial crisis

Sri Lanka was hit by its first economic crisis since independence in 1948 as it defaulted on international loans, faced fuel and food shortages. Opposing high price rises, the protestors hit the streets in April against the government forcing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in July. He fled from the country leaving the government in further disarray. In view of violent agitations across the country, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post.

Assassination of Shinzo Abe: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated at a political campaign event on July 8, 2022. He was shot twice while delivering a speech on a street in the city of Nara. A 41-year-old man with a homemade gun was arrested at the scene and police claimed that he confessed to shooting the former PM. According to reports, the assailant named as Tetsuya Yamagami was upset that his mother was bankrupt after donating to a religious group that Abe was connected to.

Heatwave in Europe

At least 15,000 people died in Europe because of hot weather in 2022. Spain and Germany among the worst-affected countries in the heatwave. The three months from June-August were the hottest in Europe and the high temperatures led to the worst drought that entire continent witnessed since the Middle Ages. Nearly 4,000 deaths were reported in Spain, more than 1,000 in Portugal, more than 3,200 in the United Kingdom, and around 4,500 deaths in Germany during the 3 months of summer.

Ayman al-Zawahiri killing: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the key 9/11 attack plotter who had been in hiding for years, was reported to be killed on July 31 morning in a US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was considered to be the biggest raid on the terrorist outfit since the killing of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011.

China’s military exercise on Taiwan: China launched military exercise around Taiwan on August 8 to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Later, it stepped-up efforts to normalize aggressive military operations around the self-ruled island. More than 70 Chinese aircraft were spotted around the island and backed by US, Taiwan’s military responded with firmness.

Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage: Author Salman Rushdie was stabbed several times before his scheduled lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York on August 12. The staff members and guests managed to capture the suspect on the stage. The 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview in New Jersey was arrested over the assault on Indian-born British-American novelist. The 75-year-old author lost his sight in one eye and one of his hands was incapacitated following the attack.

Death of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died on September 8. The 96-year-old Queen breathed her last at her Scottish estate at Balmoral, after reigning for 70 years. Entire world mourned the passing of cherished sovereign and a much-loved Queen. Following her death, her son Charles immediately ascended to the throne as the King and his wife Camilla became Queen Consort. King Charles III’s coronation ceremony is scheduled for May.

Hurricane Ian: Hurricane Ian, a deadly category 4 Atlantic hurricane, struck Florida and South Carolina in late September. It caused the second-largest insured loss after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It made landfall in western Florida with extreme winds and torrential rain. The storm hit a densely populated coastline killing more than 150 people.

Indian-origin Rishi Sunak new PM of United Kingdom

Indian-origin Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on October 25 replacing newly elected Liz Truss after meeting with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. The 42-year-old former treasury chief was appointed as the country’s second PM in two months, becoming the youngest leader since 1812 and first Hindu to serve in the role in Britain.

Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk: World’s richest man, Elon Musk, completed his $44bn takeover of Twitter on October 28. Ahead of the deal, a number of top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal were fired. Soon after aquring the popular microblogging site, Musk modified rules for blue verified badge, for which he was trolled by users.

Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi killing: The Islamic State leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed in a battle, confirmed the group’s spokesman on November 30. He is the second IS leader to be killed this year at a time when the extremist group to trying to rise again in Iraq and Syria. The US military said that al-Qurayshi was killed in mid-October during an operation conducted by Syrian rebels in Syria’s southern province of Daraa.

 

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