Looking back at 2009

Here’s how the year unravelled:

The year 2009 started with the first black American becoming the President of the US, Barack Obama. In his first year in office, Obama overturned a prohibition on federal funding for stem-cell research, eased some restrictions on dealing with Cuba, pushed Congress to pass the health-care reform, promised to close the detention camp at Guantánamo, and pledged a cut in America’s emissions. He was awarded the Nobel peace prize, though many said this was premature. He defended the use of force in “just wars”.

American troops withdrew from Iraq’s big cities in June. Earlier Obama presented a plan to withdraw most troops from Iraq in 2010. Sporadic bursts of suicide-bombings that killed scores of people continued to plague the country.

Efforts to stabilise Afghanistan were hampered by a disputed presidential election. Amid claims of corruption and poll-rigging, Hamid Karzai was declared the winner, but only after his remaining rival pulled out of a run-off ballot. The war in Afghanistan continued to fight the resurgent Taliban.

The violence also intensified in Pakistan, with the most savage terrorist attacks carried out in Peshawar and Rawalpindi, besides other areas.

In the Lok Sabha elections in India, the UPA Government headed by the Congress won a thumping majority, this time even without the Left’s support.

China’s economy began to roar ahead again. Imports and exports grew following a sharp decline and its returning appetite for raw materials was partly responsible for rise in commodity process.

Governments around the world took measures to tackle the worst economic crisis in decades as unemployment shot up. Stimulus packages were announced by several governments after some leading banks went bankrupt or were taken over by the other banks. As a result of these measures, many economies seemingly emerged from recession. The IMF, and others urged countries to take steps to unwind their stimulus schemes as a result of increasing budget deficits.

An Air France jet en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the mid-Atlantic in June killing 228 people, the worst plane crash in a decade.

After a quarter of a century of conflict, Sri Lanka’s civil war came to an end when the army overwhelmed the last remnants of the rebel Tamil Tigers. Thousands were killed in the final days of fighting and up to 300,000 were displaced.

Australia suffered its worst-ever outbreak of wildfires in February, in which more than 170 people died across Victoria. Australia was also criticised for the racial discrimination and physical assault against Indian students.

The H1N1 influenza virus, or swine flu, spread from Mexico prompting WHO to declare a global pandemic. Countries advised their citizens to restrict travel and avoid public places. At least 9,500 people worldwide are thought to have died from the disease so far.

Hordes of environmental activists mingled with heads of governments at the Copenhagen conference on climate change, at which governments tried to thrash out agreements to reduce emissions.

Its time now to welcome the new year and hope that business in 2010 will be much better.