Offtrack

The World That Was: Flashback 2014

by Trans World Features 26 Dec 2014, 10:29 am

From a deadly disease spreading panic across the globe to a plane disappearing mysteriously and never been found, 2014 witnessed some of the major events. TWF correspondent Supriyo Hazra looks back

Ebola: Disaster strikes Africa

It was only a single case of the deadly Ebola virus which was reported from Guinea in 2013. But in 2014, the disease took the shape of an epidemic as it spread to several other countries in the West African region. Triggering global panic, countries initiated their own measures to stop the disease from entering their nation. At the end of the year, the virus, for which there is no vaccine and no known cure, has taken 7,588 lives so far and has sickened more than 18,000 people.

War-torn Gaza:
 
Israel and Palestine lock horns in another deadly war which continued for nearly 50 days. The abduction ad the killing of three Israeli teens and then the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager had triggered the battle that continued until the end of August. The conflict killed at least 2200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis. The United Nations have been playing a crucial role in bringing peace in the region. The organizations website said: “The UN continues to support a negotiated political settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The quest for a lasting solution was “more uncertain than ever” and the situation on the ground remained “explosive,” UN envoy Robert Serry warned the Security Council in December. 


Ukraine –Russia crisis:

Ukraine witnessed a major crisis in 2014. A conflict blew up in the eastern part of the country which was earlier considered as not more then an internal political crisis of the nation, grabbing global attention towards it. An international crisis evolved  over the control of the Crimean Peninsula between Russia and Ukraine.  Russia annexed Crimea in March this year.  Following the annexation, pro-Russian separatists had taken control of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine in April. Later the region was declared independent. The fighting that followed the annexation in the later months has claimed 4,700 people and millions others have been  displaced in the region. The US did not accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In December, US president Barack Obama ordered a ban on the export of goods, technology and services to Crimea.

Troubled CAR:  

Amid inter-communal fighting, people were seen fleeing their homes as in the Central African Republic. According to the UN, around 440,000 people had been displaced inside the country while 190,000 others had sought asylum across borders by December this year. UN peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous has warned of a potentially explosive situation as clashes continued between the mainly Muslim Séléka alliance and the anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian.

Battlefield Syria:

The war in Syria continued in 2014 as civilians suffered the brunt of violence in the area.
“We have run out of words to fully explain the brutality, violence and callous disregard for human life which is a hallmark of this crisis,” UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told the Security Council in December. The dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, by a joint mission of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, was of little consolation to the millions of people affected by the war, Secretary-General Ban said at his year-end press conference. 


Terrorism: The black spot on humanity:

Terrorism and terrorist activities continued to burn normal lives across the globe with several countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and others being ravaged by militant activities quite regularly. Blasts and suicide attacks are reported frequently from Asian nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two major terrorist attacks of 2014:

1)    Pakistan school violence: Pakistan witnessed one of the bloodiest day in its history on December 16, when Taliban militants attacked an Army school in the country’s Peshawar city and killed 141 people, including 132 school children. The incident shocked global leaders and people across the globe triggering countries like India to issue special warning, fearing similar attacks on its soil. The incident was condemned by global leaders. Following the attack, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Wednesdaysaid his government will combat the terrorists. He also said  there could not be any difference between 'bad and good' Taliban.  Sharif also  approved the removal of moratorium on death penalty. Several militants have been executed in the country since the removal of the moratorium.

2)    200 girls kidnapped in Nigeria: Triggering panic, Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 girls from their boarding school in northeastern Nigeria. In a video released recently, Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau has said that the girls have been converted to Islam and been married off. In a bid to free the girls, celebrities, including US First Lady Michelle Obama, had joined the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign. But no girl has been released so far.

3) Emergence of ISIS: The militant named Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), also known as simply Islamic State,  has emerged as a growing threat to humanity in 2014. The group expanded its activities this year and it  took advantage of the chaos caused by the ongoing civil war in Syria and hence  expanded itself beyond Iraq's borders. The group even recruited several Syrian rebels to expand its strength. It conducted successful missions in March as it took control of the Syrian city of Raqqa from Bashar al-Assad's army. The US voiced its deepest concern after the group took over Mosul.  IS also released a video showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley, who had gone missing in Syria. They beheaded more people, including another American aid worker. The US ordered air strikes after the group swiftly advanced across Iraq and Syria. In September this year, the CIA assessment had put the number of the group's fighters at 31,500 across Iraq and Syria. The terror group that calls itself the Islamic State "can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria," a CIA spokesman had told CNN. Analysts and U.S. officials had earlier estimated that there were probably 10,000 fighters. In a strong message to the militant group,  Obama had said: "Our objective is clear:  We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy."

Terror-hit Afghanistan gets a new leader:
 
Moving away from the series of terrorists attack that has continuously battered the Asian  nation, the people of the country voted to elect Ashraf Ghani as their new president.
He replaced Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power since the fall of Taliban due to U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, both claimed to have won the June 14 election, which was considered tainted by fraud. The two men eventually agreed to a national unity government under pressure from the U.S. and the United Nations. Abdullah became the country’s chief executive, a position similar to prime minister.

Aviation Tragedies:

The world witnessed few of the worst Aviation tragedies this year with even a  Malaysian airlines flight number MH370 disappearing mysteriously  into thin air on March 8.

Mysterious disappearance of MH370: Several countries joined hands to search for the mysteriously disappeared Malaysian airlines flight number MH370 on March 8.However, the search operations never found out the reason behind the disappearance of the flight.
The plane  was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members. It was flying between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. Nine months have passed since its disappearance, but search over the southern Indian Ocean has not yielded any result.  Experts believe that the plane possibly crashed in the Ocean. The mysterious disappearance prompted several  conspiracy theories ranging from Russian conspiracy to Alien abduction. However, the mystery still remains unsolved.

Downing the MH17: Months after the mysterious disappearance of MH370, another aviation tragedy hit global headlines as Malaysia Airlines Flight 17  exploded midair and came down in flames on July 17. The mishap occurred after the flight, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur , was reportedly hit by a missile belonging to the separatist groups in the eastern Ukraine. All the 298 people, who were flying the flight, were killed in the incident.

Ferry sinks in South Korea:  As many as 304 passengers were killed as the Sewol Ship in South Korea drowned on April 16. The ferry, which was carrying 476 people, was going from Sewol Ship in South Korea when the mishap occurred. A South Korean court on November 11 sentenced the captain of the sunken ferry Sewol to 36 years in prison for abandoning the passengers who were traveling in it at the time of its sinking.  The court acquitted the captain Lee Joon-seok of charges that he murdered 304 passengers during the mishap.

India, Pakistan crusaders share Nobel Peace Prize:

At a year when relationship between warring neighbours India and Pakistan touched new low with over cross border firing along the LoC, two persons- Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai- tried to unite hearts as they jointly received the Nobel Peace prize. Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai is the youngest ever Nobel laureate who had survived a near-fatal attack by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls’ right to education. On the other hand, India’s Satyarthi, 60, and his organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, have worked to eradicate modern slavery in India.  The duo is now considered as the new face of peace for both the nations who have been engaged in conflicts since their inception in 1947.

The Royal Baby:

Prince Williams and the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton are expecting their second child. Their first child  Prince George   was born in 2013. He turned a year-old onJuly 22 this year. Prince William had married Kate Middleton in 2011 after a long courtship.

Robin Williams smiles to death

 Robin Williams, the Oscar-winning actor and comedian who won hearts of young and old with his roles in films like Mrs Doubtfire and Jumanji, is no more. The 63-year-old actor was found dead on August 11 in his home in Northern California and he might have ended his life himself since he was suffering from depression.

Nobel Prize winners 2014:

1)    Nobel Prize in Physics: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 was won jointly by Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura for inventing efficient blue light-emitting diodes that has enabled energy-saving white light sources.

2)    Nobel Prize in Chemistry : For their  development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, the award was given jointly  to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner.

3)    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine:  The award was divided this year with one half being awarded to  John O'Keefe and the other half was  jointly given to May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser. They got the award for discovering  cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.

4)     Nobel Prize in Literature:  Patrick Modiano received the award in 2014.

5) Nobel Peace Prize: India’s Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan jointly received the award  this year.

 From the sporting arena:

1)    Commonwealth Games: England topped the charts with a total of 174 medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year. Australia (137) and Canada (82) hold the second and third positions in medal winner’s list.

2)    Asian Games: China continued its dominance in the Asian Games held at Incheon in South Korea by topping the medal‘s list with 342 medals followed by South Korea (234) and Japan (200) respectively.

3)    Football World Cup: Germany defeated Argentina to win World Cup as the mega football event was held in Brazil this year. Ending Germany’s long wait for the trophy, Mario Goetze scored the significant winning goal in the extra time which helped the European side beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 to cruise to the final.

 4)    World T20: Sri Lanka defeated India in the final of the World T20 to lift the trophy for the first time since its start in 2007.

5) Phil Hughes: The world of cricket was shattered after the sad demise of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes on November 27. He was in coma for two days following a head injury sustained while playing in a Sheffield Shield game in Sydney against New South Wales. He was 25.
Hughes was batting on 63 when he was struck in the head by a bouncer from Sean Abbott.
Hughes tried to regain his composure but fell face first to the ground and was taken to the hospital. Hughes made his Test debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in February-March 2009 at the age of 20. The southpaw played 26 Tests, scoring 1535 runs, studded with three centuries and seven fifties. With a top score of 160 versus South Africa at Durban, Hughes has a modest Test average of 32.65. Hughes made it to history books when became the youngest cricketer ever to score back-to-back centuries in a Test match at Kingsmead against South Africa. He is the only Australian to score a century on ODI debut.