The happenings and problems of the year 2011 persisted alarmingly in the year 2012. As Global economy faces slowdown ,US president Barack Obama is struggling to deal with fiscal cliff and the Eurozone countries are finding it tough to come out of the debt crisis
.While Mid-east and North African countries are still to witness a democratic transition after the spring revolution.
Islamists are dominating the political landscape in Mid east with Muslim Brotherhood running the government in Egypt sidelining the Coptic Christians and liberals of the Hosni Mubarak era.
The
constitution adopted in referendum in December with sharia laws shows
kleaning towards radicalism.21 months old unrest in Syria
deteriorated considerably with foreign terrorist elements as well as
al Qaeda linked groups resulting in killings of over 4000o people.
The
situation remains out of control with no end in sight.Palestine’s
Hamas and Israel exchanged missile strikes at an unprecedented scale
and war was averted at the instance of Egypt and US but the situation
remains fragile. Iranian nuclear stand off still continues despite EU
and US sanctions.
US and West efforts to normalize the situation in Mid East fails to materialize compounded by fears of “Fiscal Cliff”.
This
situation in Mid East hampered the implementation of US pivot to Asia
particularly in the Asia Pacific region where China and other emerging
economies are stealing a march over US failure to revive the economy.
EU
economic and sovereign debit crisis has driven Russia to seek closer
relationship with CIS countries of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
and closer diplomatic relations with the negihbouring China .While
Russia –EU relationship are in doldrums.
The sub-Saharan region of Africa continued to exist as a hot bed of terrorism, piracy and religious violence.
US
and Afghan government reconciliation with Talibans has not so far
materialized and relying on Pakistan in this context when it is itself
in the grip of Taliban menace are likely to present grave problems.
EGYPT
After
witnessing bloody uprising in 2011,Egypt moved few steps forward in
2012 by conducting parliamentary election in January in which Islamist
parties emerged as victorious and by conducting first free
presidential polls inApril.
In June Muslim brotherhood Candidate Mohamed Mursi narrowly won presidential election. 
In
June Court sentenced ex president Hosni Mubarak to life in prison in
connection with the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising.President Mursi ordered Parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it in June.
To
bring together all factions for a stable government in Egypt,new prime
minister Hisham Qandil in August appointed a cabinet comprising
members from the outgoing government, technocracts and Islamists
excluding secular and liberal forces.
President
Mursi even dismissed Defence minister Tantawi and chief of staff
Sami Annan and stripped military say in legislation and drafting the
new constitution. In foreign affairs , a rift emerged in relations with Saudi Arabia over the Saudi detention of an Egyptian lawyer.
In November
Egyptian
President Mohamed Mursi played a key role in negotiating a ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas, the move caught many outside observers by
surprise.Mursi has won praise for his government's effort to bring
about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, a delicate balancing act
for the country's nation's first freely elected leader.Mursi issued a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions.
After
seeing unprecedented protests by united opposition and judiciary,
Mursi annuled decree in December that expanded his powers.On Decmber 25th
Egypt voters approved overwhelmingly a constitution drafted by
President Mohamed Mursi's allies and the government imposed currency
restrictions to cope with an economic crisis worsened by weeks of
unrest.
SYRIA
Despite
the UN efforts , Syria continues to be in the grip of civil war like
situation, further precipitated by foreign militants from neighbouring
countries. Russia, China efforts may have the potential of arresting further deterioration of the Syrian crisis .
FEB—Russia
and China opposed UNSC draft resolution on Syria but in march UNSC
endorsed peace plan drafted by UN envoy Kofi Annan.
May—Mass
massacres came to light in Houla near Homs . In response to that,
france, Uk, germany, italy, Spain, Canada and Australia expelled senior
diplomats . In June Syrian president Bashar Al Assad declares “real war “
Conflict between Syria and Turkey arises as Syria shoots down a Turkish Plane that strayed into its territory.To
this act, Turkey changed rules of engagement with Syria and said if
Syrians army troops approach Turkey’s borders they will be seen as a
military threat.
In
July A suicide bomber detonated him self in the heart of the Syrian
security services, resulting in the death of the country's defense
minister and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law. The Free
Syrian Army (FSA) claimed responsibility for the bombing of the
national security headquarters in Damascus that killed at least three
top regime officials.
August—UN
General Assembly resolution demands that president Assad to
resign..Bashar regime got another blow as prime minister Riad Hijab
defects
Veteran
Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi appointed as the new UN-Arab League
envoy for Syria after the resignation of Kofi AnnanOctober---Ties
between Turkey and Syria took a sharp turn for the worse when they
engaged in sporadic cross-border shelling in which five civilians were
killed in Turkey
Turkey intercepted a Syrian passenger jet carrying what it said were Russian-made munitions for the Syrian army.
Syria
banned Turkish civilian flights from flying over its territory after
a similar move by Turkey on Syrian flights, as relations between the
former allies continue to plunge to new depths.November :UN brobered ceasefire during the Islamic holiday of Eid –al-Adha breaks down as government continues attack.
Several
major opposition forces unite as national coalition for Syrian
revolutionary and opposition Forces at meeting in Qatar including the
Syrian national council.
The
Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates that 2.5 million people are
internally displaced within Syria by civil war, doubling the previous
figure of 1.2 million used by aid agencies.
Israeli tanks hit Syrian units' in Golan Israel's military tanks scored direct hits on Syrian artillery units in Golan Heights.It
comes a day after Israel fired warning shots after it said a Syrian
shell hit another of its army posts on the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights.The episode is the most serious between the two countries since the Arab-Israeli war of 1973.
December 29, 2012
US
joins Britain, France, Turkey and Gulf states in formally
recognizing Syria’s opposition national coalition as “ the legislative
representative of the Syrian people”.
RUSSIA
In
March 2012,Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wins Russia's presidential
election.Opposition staged massive protests in several major cities
on the conduct of the election ,also independent observers say the
election has been marred by widespread fraud.
2012 May - Vladimir Putin is sworn in as president for the third time , appoints Dmitry Medvedev as his prime minister.
Human rights concerns
2012 August
– Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot were jailed for two
years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow
cathedral.
Judge
Marina Syrova convicted the women of hooliganism motivated by
religious hatred, saying they had "crudely undermined social order".
US, UK and EU all criticised the sentences as "disproportionate".
Russia became the 156th member of the World Trade Organization following nearly two decades of negotiations.2012 November - Russia redefines treason.Russia
enacted a new treason law that will put at risk almost anyone who
associates with foreigners.The law broadens the definition of treason to
allow Russians representing international organisations to face the
charge, as well as citizens working for foreign states and bodies.
Rights campaigners say the law aims to stop Russians working with Western non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
2012
December - Russia -US relations deteriorated in December 2012
Washington blacklisted Russian alleged human rights violators as per
US Magnitsky ActIn
response to that, Russia's upper house of parliament has unanimously
backed a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian children and and
to stop US-funded NGOs from doing political work in Russia.The bill has
been signed by President Vladimir Putin
US
In 2012 America suffered two mass shootings, a devastating hurricane
2012 January
- President Obama unveils a new defence strategy involving budget cuts
with greater emphasis on Asia, but insists US will maintain its
military superiority.
July Mass Shooting at Colorado Screening of 'Dark Knight Rises'
A
gunman opened fire in a theater packed for a midnight showing of a
just-released Batman movie, killing at least 12 people and wounding 58
others.
2012 September
The US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff killed by an
armed Islamist mob that stormed and set fire to the United States
consulate in Benghazi.
2012 October
- Hurricane Sandy hits East Coast, which deluged New York and New
Jersey and left more than 100 dead and more than $60 billion worth of
damage and losses and caused prolonged power outages.Throughout the
year Americans were also hit by record gas prices.
2012 November
- U.S. presidential contest has been abundantly entertaining.
President Obama wins re-election by a narrow margin over Republican
contender Mitt Romney.
In November CIA Director David Petraeus resigns, cites extramarital affair -
Admitting
to the extramarital affair, David Petraeus stepped down as director of
the CIA on Friday in a surprise move that shocked the intelligence
community just days after President Barack Obama was re-elected.
2012 December
- The horrors of the Connecticut school shooting set the stage for a
national debate on gun control in the New Year. 20 children and six
adults were killed in a school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.
US government considers reimposing ban on sale of assault weapons .
The Congress led UPA government in India faced political threat over new economic reforms, including plans for allowing Western supermarkets like Walmart and Tesco to revolutionize food
distribution and set up news storess.The Trinamool Congress a key UPA
allay walked out of the coalition reducing the UPA to a minority
government dependent on outside support of Samajwadi party and Bahujan Samaj Party .
It later survived a no –confidence vote over the issue.
INDIA
As the Congress led government at the centre
survives one crisis after another.Narendra Modi from BJP was re-elected
chief minister of Gujarat for the fourth time on the issues of
development.
Besides his image as a pro-growth leader and an efficient administrator,Modi is regarded as a prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections..
In Uttar Pradesh, SP won the elections on thumping majority casting shadows over the prospects of Congress in 2014 elections.
BJP also suffered a major setback in Karnataka as
former Karnataka chief minister B S yeddyurappa , a strong lingayat
leader left BJP and formed his own party Karnataka Janta party.
Apart from political troubles,India faced world’s largest ever power cut due to northern grid failures.
India’s northeast witnessed clashes between Asamese
tribals and Muslim immigrants that led to a mass exodus of Assamese
migrants from major cities fearing communal riots.
The hanging of 26/11 convict Ajmal kasab,
deportation of his handler Abu Jundal from Saudi Arabia explosions in
Pune, arrest of two girls over their Facebook post grabbed the
headlines in 2012.
The
country witnessed numerous cases of crime against women. But the
recent shocking case of gangrape of a 23-year-old severely rocked the
country leading to massive protests by students and activists
demanding death penalty for the rapists.
CHINA
China's
once-in-a-decade leadership transition took place in 2012 and the
ghoulish murder of a British businessman showed the uglier side of
Chinese politics
British businessman Neil Heywood, a 41-year-old Old Harrovian was murdered in the end of 2011.22 Bo Xilai's wife 'admits Neil Heywood murder'
Gu
Kailai, the wife of Chinese politician Bo Xilai, along with Zhang
Xiaojun, her family aide, was charged for the murder of British
businessman Neil Heywood. If convicted for intentional homicide, Kailai
may be imprisoned for 10 years to life or face the death penalty.
In
september The Communist Party of China on Friday sacked tainted
Chongqing boss Bo Xilai; one of its most powerful and influential
leaders. Xilai was in line for a major leadership role, before his
wife’s complicity in the murder of a British businessman was revealed,
one of the most embarrassing scandals in the history of the party.
China’s new
leader, Xi Jinping, and others who took power in November China's new
leader Xi Jinping today held the first meeting of the ruling Communist
Party's Politburo, a day after he was chosen as its General Secretary.
In
one of his first speeches to China’s new leaders Mr Xi vowed to crack
down on corruption with an “iron fist.” “The future and fate of a
party, a regime, is ultimately determined by the support of the masses.
We would be eventually defeated if we are divorced from the masses and
lose the support of the people,” he said.
China's
new leader, Xi Jinping, appeared to signal a commitment to further
liberalizing the economy, and establishing a more accessible public
image, when he made his first official visit as Communist Party chief to
Shenzhen, the southern city that was an incubator for market reforms
over three decades ago.
NORTH KOREA
2012 February
- Kim Jong-il is posthumously awarded the highest military title of
Generalissimo - the same rank held by his father, Kim Il-sung.
Army pledges loyalty to his successor, Kim Jong-un, in a mass parade held to mark the 70th anniversary of Kim Jong-il's birth.
2012 April - Kim Jong-un formally takes over ruling party leadership, becoming First Secretary of the Workers Party.
The launch of a "rocket-mounted satellite" to mark the birthday of Kim Il-Sung fails.
2012
July - Army head Ri Yong-ho is removed from senior posts in the ruling
party, and leader Kim Jong-un appoints himself to the highest rank of
marshal.
In august 2012 North Korea
suffered devastating floods on a biblical scale.With a decrepit
economy, North korea received the heaviest rainfall in 39 years, 169
people had died and more than 200,000 had lost their homes. Some 65,000
hectares of farmland had been inundated, exacerbating the chronic food
shortage the country has endured since famine killed as many as 1m
people in the 1990s.
North Korea already had a chronic food shortage, leaving it especially vulnerable when disasters strike.
DECEMBER
North Korea Launches Rocket in a Defiant Act
North
Korea launched its three-stage Unha-3 rocket into space on December
12, insisting it was a purely scientific mission aimed at putting a
polar-orbiting satellite in space, but critics say it was aimed at
nurturing the kind of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a
long-range missile.
Several
countries and international bodies, including the UN Security Council,
condemned the North's rocket launch as a disguised ballistic missile
test that violates UN resolutions imposed on the country after it
conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
IRAN
2012
January - United States and the EU imposed new sanctions on Iran’s
oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries
from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the
Central Bank of Iran.Iranian threatens to block the transport of oil
through the Strait of Hormuz.
The
United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency confirmed that uranium
enrichment has begun at a nuclear facility in northern Iran.Iran begins
uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility at the height of the threats
by foreign enemies
The European Union imposes an oil embargo on Iran over its nuclear programme.
2012
February - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors leave
Iran after being denied access to the Parchin site, south of Tehran.
US, British and French warships pass unhindered through the Strait of Hormuz.
2012
March-May - Supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei defeated
supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in parliamentary polls
boycotted by pro-reform groups.Ayatollah Khamenei’s allies had won about
75 percent of the 200 seats in those districts,Prominent Khamenei
loyalists who won seats include parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani and
Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, whose daughter is married to the supreme
leader's son.
2012
May - UN nuclear inspectors find traces of uranium enriched at 27% at
Iran's Fordo nuclear site and doubled the number of centrifuges for
enriching uranium, a day after Iran and world powers hold inconclusive
talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Baghdad.
Israel increased pressure on President Obama to attack the site, suggesting that it will if he won't.
2012
June - US exempts seven countries - India, South Korea, Malaysia,
South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Turkey - from economic sanctions in
return for their cutting imports of Iranian oil.
2012 July - European Union boycott of Iranian oil exports comes into effect.
2012
September - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quarterly report
says Iran doubles production capacity at Fordo nuclear site and
"significantly hampered" IAEA ability to inspect Parchin military site.
Canada breaks off diplomatic relations over Iran's nuclear programme and support for the Assad government in Syria.
2012
October - Iranian rial falls to a new record low against the US
dollar, having lost about losing 80% of its value since 2011 because of
international sanctions. Riot police attack about 100 currency traders
outside the Central Bank.
EU
countries announce further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear
programme, focusing on banks, trade and crucial gas imports.
2012
November - Leaked IAEA report says Iran is ready to double output at
the Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility. Iran has 2,784
centrifuges there, and numbers operating could soon be increased from
700 to 1,400, the UN watchdog says.
PAKISTAN
2012
January - Amid growing tension between government and military over
"memogate" scandal, army chief Gen Pervez Kayani warns of "unpredictable
consequences" after PM Yousuf Raza Gilani criticises army leaders and
sacks top defence official.The decision comes during intense friction
between the civilian government and the powerful military over memogate
scandal
Supreme
Court threatens to prosecute Prime Minister Gilani for contempt of
court over government's refusal to reopen corruption cases against
President Asif Ali Zardari and other political figures.
2012
May - US senate committee has voted to cut Pakistan's aid by $1m for
each of the 33 years of a prison sentence given to a doctor Shakil
Afridi who helped CIA find Al qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Dr Afridi
was tried for treason under a tribal justice system for running a fake
vaccination programme to gather information for US intelligence.
The arrest of Rimsha, a Christian girl, prompted protests against blasphemy laws
2012
June - Pakistan was thrown into fresh political turmoil after the
country Supreme Court disqualified prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
from holding office after he declines to appeal against a token sentence
in President Zardari corruption row. Parliament approves Water and
Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf as his successor.
2012
July - Pakistan agrees to reopen Nato supply routes to Afghanistan
after the US apologises for killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
2012
September –Khalid Chishti, Pakistani Muslim Cleric Arrested For
Planting Evidence On Rimsha Masih, Christian Girl Arrested For Blasphemy
Muslim
cleric Khalid Chishti is arrested on suspicion of planting pages of
the Koran among burnt paper in the bag of a Christian girl, who was
briefly detained for blasphemy after an angry mob demanded her
punishment. A court dropped the case against the Christian girl in
November.
2012
October - Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan holds a major rally
against US drone attacks in the town of Tank after security forces stop
his thousands-strong motorcade from entering the Tribal Areas on the
Afghan border.
Taliban
gunmen seriously injure 14-year-old campaigner for girls' rights
Malala Yousafzai.. They said she had been targeted because she
"promoted secularism".
2012
November - Taliban suicide bomber kills at least 23 people at a Shia
Muslim procession in the Rawalpindi. Another 62 people were hurt. Blasts
outside a Shia mosque in Karachi kill at least two people, and a bomb
in Quetta leaves five dead, as Shias mark their holy month of Muharram.
JAPAN
2012
May - Exports rise 10% on the year, the largest increase in 17
months.This eases concerns about the impact of a global slowdown on the
economy.
2012
June - Japan's lower house of parliament approved a bill to double the
sales tax, bringing Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda closer to winning
his flagship policy for fiscal reform, but at the cost of a
ruling-party rebellion .Mr. Noda is Japan's sixth prime minister in six
years, and the first in many years to push such divisive legislation
through parliament.The governing Democratic Party splits, but retains
its lower house majority.
2012
July - Japan restarts the Ohi nuclear reactor, the first since the
meltdown at the Fukushima power plant last year, amid local protests.
2012
August - Japan's economic growth slows to 0.3% from 1% in the second
quarter as eurozone crisis hits exports and domestic consumption.
Japan
recalls its ambassador to Seoul in protest at a visit to the Liancourt
Rocks by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Both countries claim
the islets, which Japan calls Takeshima and South Korea calls Dokdo.
2012
October - A government audit reports that funds intended for
reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami were spent on
unrelated projects, including roads on Okinawa, an advertising campaign
for Japan's tallest building, and support for whaling research.
2012
December - Opposition conservative Liberal Democratic Party wins
landslide in early parliamentary elections. Former prime minister Shinzo
Abe forms government.
Japan's parliament elected Shinzo Abe as the nation's prime minister on
Wednesday, ending three years of rule by liberal administrations and
bringing back to power the conservative, pro-big business party that has
run Japan for most of the post-World War II era.
SOUTH CHINA SEA
Tensions
over the disputed islands intensified in 2012 as the Japanese
government announced it planned to buy three of the islands still owned
by a Japanese citizen. While Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan
said he had made the purchase to prevent the islands from falling into
the hands of Tokyo’s nationalist governor.Beijing sent surveillance
ships to challenge the move, igniting old tensions in a long simmering
dispute.
China
cancels ceremonies to mark the 40th anniversary of restored diplomatic
relations with Japan because of a public flare-up in a dispute over
ownership of a group of islands in the East China Sea administered by
Japan as the Senkaku Islands and claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands.
Taiwan also claims the islands.
They are known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, and both countries claim the islands are theirs.
Street
demonstrations were held in China in which Japanese businesses were
ransacked and burned, and a continuing informal boycott of Japanese
goods has helped depress Japan’s overall trade performance and its gross
domestic product numbers.
Chinese
ships — four belonging to a maritime surveillance agency and two
fisheries patrol ships — had entered waters claimed by Japan near the
islands Japan responded by dispatching dozens of coast guard vessels to
waters near the islands, where they are on the lookout for
paramilitary ships and fishing boats from China as well as from Taiwan,
which also claims the islands.
Both sides argue about fishing rights and about natural gas and oil exploration.
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