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Year in review - Part 3
By the end of 2009, Hindustan Times gets you the news that mattered the most.
66% Mukesh’s pay cut
It now sounds so 2008. With the merchants of gloom dictating news in the first half of 2009, ‘austerity’ gained currency. The big pay packs of Big Business became targets for politicians around the world trying to calm their despondent electorates. At such a time, Mukesh Ambani ‘voluntarily’ announced a two-thirds cut in his annual pay, bringing it down to a mere Rs 15 crore.
But another number refuses leave his side — at a personal worth of Rs 147,200 crore, Mukesh remains India’s richest man. Brother Anil, with Rs 82,250 crore, is the third richest Indian, says Forbes.
50.8 kg: Michael Jackson’s heft
When he went to take the Great Moonwalk in the Sky on June 25, that’s what 50-year-old Michael Jackson weighed.
The incredible lightness of being of the 5-foot-11 star caused worry among friends, fans and family. Citing family members, celebrity website TMZ.com said after the death that MJ received a daily injection of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller and that some of his family members believed his death was caused by an overdose of the drug. Reports leaked out that the ‘king of pop’ was popped with Demerol just half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest.
It was, however, not the slimmest Jackson had been. In his 2004 book, The Magic and the Madness, Randy Taraborrelli noted that the slimmest MJ had been as an adult was in 1984, when his weight had plunged to 105 pounds, or 48 kg.
2,474 Tharoor tweets
“Thanks to all who wrote to congratulate me on crossing 500,000 followers. Still remember when the press breathlessly reported my 10,000,” tweeted junior external affairs minister Shashi Tharoor on December 16. At the time of going to press, Tharoor had a total of 523,170 followers and 2,474 tweets.
The year began with the minister tweeting:
“I have won with a majority greater than any Congress candidate in Tvm in 30 years... Truly humbling. Now the real work begins.” The real humbling came after he wrote, “Absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!” — in the middle of a Congress austerity drive. He was forced to apologise.
This was the year social media made its presence felt in the cramped news space. Several netizens claimed to have known breaking news such as Michael Jackson’s death first on a networking site.
700 killed in Pakistan
This was the year terrorists laid bare the vulnerability of Pakistan’s cities. As the state went after the terrorists — especially the Pakistani Taliban — in their hideouts among the rough terrains of Swat and Waziristan, the terrorists targeted the state’s institutions and cities. The audacity of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (literally, the Student Movement of Pakistan) knew no bound. Even the all-powerful army and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency were not spared. Bombs ripped through Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The toll from such acts of wanton violence reached an unprecedented 700 lives.
110 challans
The Delhi government banned the use of plastic bags in January. The maximum penalty for a violation was Rs 1 lakh. Traders and retailers protested and met the chief minister, demanding a roll-back. After briefly disappearing from the markets, plastic bags made a comeback, thanks to inaction. However, 110 challans were issued for the
violators in a city of over 14 million.
439 runs
In times of T20 cricket, spending 10 hours at the crease may sound more weird than commendable. But armed with great temperament, Sarfaraz Khan, a 12-year-old student of Springfield Rizvi School in Mumbai, scored 439 to break the record set by R. Nagdev (427 not out, 1963-64). Khan hit 56 boundaries and 12 sixes. His 400-plus score was only the fourth in the Harris Shield school tournament. Sachin Tendulkar had scored 346 in the same tournament 21 years ago.
17 years for Liberhan
The Justice M.S. Liberhan Commission, set up 10 days after the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992, took 17 years to submit its report. The single-member probe panel cost the country Rs 9 crore, and was granted 48 extensions. The report was submitted on June 30 to the PM. It has held 68 people culpable, including former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other senior BJP leaders.
6 for 26/11
India has submitted six dossiers to Pakistan on the Mumbai terror attacks, with evidence and leads that can unravel the conspiracy behind the attack, but to no avail. And this was before David Headley and Tawahhur Rana thickened the plot.
Pakistan says the evidence is not enough to charge Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed with the Mumbai attack. India says the conspiracy was hatched and launched from Pakistan. So its neighbour has to follow the leads to take the case to its conclusion. The evidence India gave included the material obtained following the interrogation of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani national in Indian police custody.
23 km metro line
23 kilometres were added to Delhi Metro this year. The network was expanded to North and East Delhi. In February, the underground lane from Central Secretariat was extended up to Jehangirpuri, adding five more sections to its network. By November, it moved further east and entered the NCR with the opening of the Yamuna Bank - Noida section.
12.64 lakh applications
A total of 12.64 lakh applications were sold for 5, 238 Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flats priced between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 77 lakh. Only 5.64 lakh people qualified for the lottery. For each flat there were 90 contenders. The DDA had launched the scheme in August 2008. Allegations of corruption were made against DDA but all charges were cleared and allotment started in November.
War ship Rs 9,100 cr
The Comptroller and Auditor General slammed the government for buying Admiral Gorshkov, a second-hand Russian aircraft carrier, for Rs 9,100 crore, when a brand-new warship would have cost 60 per cent less and lasted 20 years more. The CAG found that the cost of sea trials for the Gorshkov has risen manifold, from Rs 135 crore to Rs 2,750 crore.
India had contracted the 45,000-tonne Gorshkov for Rs 4,375 crore in January 2004 as its sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat was due to retire in 2007.
