2006: Year of manmade destructions, calamities

New Delhi, Dec 30: Natural calamities and manmade destructions resulted in the death of thousands of people in various parts of the world in 2006 with hotspots like Iraq continuing to bleed.

Earthquakes in Indonesia took a toll of more than 4000 people while torrential rains eliminated more than 400 people in Philippines.About 400 people perished in stampedes at Mina in Saudi Arabia.An Egyptian ship with 1400 people on board sank in Red Sea.With new problems, Somalia continued to remain prominent on the death chart.

The death toll in Iraq is not accurately accounted, though the number goes into thousands. A U N report estimated that October had the highest monthly toll of civilians with more than 3700.Former Iraq President Saddam Hussein was executed.

Kuwait Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, former South African dictator Peiter Willem Botha, former US ambassador to India John Kenneth Galbraith and Wali Khan were among those who passed away during the year.

Following is a diary of important international events in 2006: January 1:India and Pakistan exchange lists of their nuclear facilities; 3: Iran announces that it will resume nuclear fuel research; 5: Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Oolmert becomes acting Prime Minister; 12: Over 345 pilgrims die in a stampede at Mina in Saudi Arabioa; 15: Kuwait Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah is dead; Prince Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah appointed new Emir;16: Chile elects Michelle Bachelet as its first woman Prime Minister; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf sworn in as Liberian President; 21: Nepali police arrest more than 300 supporters of seven political arties; 24: Stephen Harper's Conservative Party defeats Liberal Party in Canadian elections; 25: Palestinians vote for a new Parliament; 26: Hamas wins Palestinian elections; Wali Khan, son of Frontier Gandhi, dies.

February 3: An Egyptian ship with 1400 people on board sinks in Red Sea; 6: Stephen Harper sworn in as Canadian Prime Minister; 14: Sri Lanka extends state of emergency; 16: Rene Preval declared winner of Presidential election in Haiti; 23: More than 130 protesters killed in sectarian violence in Iraq; 25: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni wins multi-Party polls.

March 4: Veteran diplomat Vijay Nambiar is appointed Special Advisor to UN Secretary General;7: An Indian merchant ship hijacked off Somalian coast;11: Slobodan Milosevic, former Serbian leader, found dead;15: U N General Assembly decides to set up Human Rights Commission;20: Alexander Lukashenko wins Belarus' Presidential election; 29: Kadima Party established by Ariel Sharon wins Israeli polls.

April 3: Retired judge Anand Satyanand named New Zealand's next Governor General; Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra claims victory in Thailand's snap poll;11:Romano Prodi's Left alliance wins Italian elections; Iran successfully enriches uranium;25:Seven Party alliance in Nepal chooses Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala to head an all-Party Government;30:Former U S Ambassador to India John Kenneth Galbraith dies.

May 2: Nepali Prime Minister G P Koirala forms a seven-member Cabinet;5:CIA director Porter Goss resigns;6: Lee Hsein Loong's People's Action Party wins Singapore elections;10: Giorgio Napolitano to be President of Italy;18:Laisenia Qaease sworn in as Fiji Prime Minister;22:Pakistan, Iran nd India vow to go ahead with Pipeline project;WHO chief Lee Jong-wook is dead;25: Malaysia decides to issue multiple entry visas to Indian and Chinese tourists;27: A powerful erathquake in Indonesia kills more than 4000 people.

June30: Pakistan decides not to give Most Favoured Nation status to India due under SAFTA.

July 14 : M S Swaminathan conferred French Commander of Agriculture Merit Award;16: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in St Petersburg to attend the G-8 Summit; 25: India's permamnent representative to UN Nirupam Sen signs International Convention for suppression of Acts on Nuclear Terrorism in New York.

August 28:India decides against sending additional troops to join UN Interim Force in Lebanon;31: Social activist Arvind Kejriwal receives Ramon Magsaysay Award in Manila. September 27:In his address at U N General Assembly Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee appeals to international community not to tolerate sponsors of terrorism; Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Nirupama Rao is appointed envoy to China.

October 3: Indra Nooyi, Chennai-born CEO of PepsiCo is named world's most powerful woman in business this year by Fortune magazine; 5:NATO assumes control of international forces across Afghanistan;9: Satyabrata Pal is appointed Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan;North Korea conducts underground nuclear weapon test;13: Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh alongwith his Bank wins Nobel Peace prize; 14: South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon unanimously elected U N Secretary General.

November 1: Former South African President Pieter Willem Botha is dead;5:An Iraqi special tribunal convicts Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity and sentences him to death;8: Democrats have upper hand in U S Senate elections; Donald H Rumsfeld resigns as U S Defence Secretary; 10: Margaret Chan is elected to head HO;16:Pakistan test fires medium range Ghauri V missile; 21: Maoists in Nepal enter into a historic peace pact with Government; 22: More than 3700 Iraqi civilians killed in October, according to a U N report;23: British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett announces that British troops could start pulling out from Southern Iraq by next spring; 27: Rafael Correa wins Presidential elections in Ecuador;28: Pope Benedict XVI begins his historic visit to Turkey;29:Pakistan test fires medium range ballistic missile called Shaheen-I.

December 1: About 400 people killed in torrential rains in Philippines;4: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wins re-election;5. Military coup in Fiji, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in house arrest; 9: Pakistan test fires short range ballistic missile Ghaznavi;10: Sunita Williams becomes second person of Indian origin to go into space;12: Elizabeth Bolden, a 116 year old American recognised by Guinness Book of World Records as oldest person, dies;14: LTTE political advisor and ideologue Anton Balasingham dies; 16: Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuk abdicates throne in favour of his son;17: U S and China sign massive nuclear deal;18: George W Bush signs Indo-U S nuclear cooperation legislation; Joe Barbera, creator of Tom and Jerry, dies;Japan launches a very large geostationary satellite;20: U S suspends financial aid and weapon sales to Fiji;23: U N Security Council imposes sanctions on Iran; Space Shuttle Discovery safely returns to Earth;25:Ethiopian jets strike airports in Somalia; 26:Iraqi appeals court confirms death sentence to Saddam Hussein; a petroleum pipeline explodes in Lagos in Nigeria killing more than 500 people;28: Somali Government troops and their Ethiopian allies take over former U S embassy in Mogadishu.

UNI