MOMENTOUS OCCASIONS
In retrospect, 2011 was a remarkably newsworthy year all around the world, spurring revolutions and spurning resolutions, dealing severe blows to dictatorship and terrorism, and consequently overturning old regimes and paving the way for a new order. Looking back at the events that transpired, here are the biggest happenings from around the world. — By Sarthak Prakashy

MUBARAK’S RESIGNATION
Earlier in 2011, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned after violent clashes between his supporters and detractors broke out in parts of the country. Mubarak’s dictatorial reign has been deemed a disaster for Egypt, all thanks to state and personal corruption, the declaration of Emergency Law, possible connections with the assassination of his predecessor, and his own brushes with death - he survived six attempted assassinations. Hosni Mubarak served as a decorated pilot officer in the Egyptian Air Force before he moved into politics. His reign as President was under debate for his militaristic style and often questionable motives. He was last seen facing trial for the premeditated murder of peaceful protestors in the people’s revolution demanding his resignation.

LIBYA’S LIBERATION
Escalating tensions in surrounding nations sparked protests against the forty-years-long reign of Muammar Abu Minyar Gaddafi in Libya. The UN Security Council authorised military intervention in response to allegations of government aggression against civilians. In the ensuing civil war, Gaddafi was ambushed and killed at his stronghold by rebels, and the National Transitional Council took control of the state. Muammar Gaddafi had seized power in a bloodless military coup as a self-proclaimed Colonel and served as the country's head of state. He had since then stepped down from his 'official' xecutive role, instead styling himself as the ‘Brother Leader’ and ‘Guide of the Revolution’. He was long described as having been Libya's autocrat, and before his death during the Civil War in Libya, was facing warrants of arrest by Interpol and the International Criminal Court concerning his participation in crimes against humanity.

ISRAEL, PALESTINE SWAP PRISONERS
The decades-old conflict between Israel and Palestine witnessed a much-welcomed downturn of sorts when the Palestinian militant organisation, Hamas, and the Israeli government held a major prisoner swap, in which a captured Israeli Army soldier was released by Hamas in exchange for over a thousand Palestinian and Arab prisoners held in Israel. The Israel-Palestine conflict encompasses many issues, such as mutual recognition of state and borders, control of Jerusalem, and legalities concerning refugees. A hallmark of the conflict has been the violence witnessed during its entirety, resulting in massive fatalities on both sides. There appears to be, despite attempts at negotiations, very limited hope for the conflict in the near future, but for this temporary respite from the exchange of prisoners.

A VERY ROYAL WEDDING
An estimated two billion people, and that’s about thirty percent of the world’s population, witnessed the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cambridge, is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and second in the line of succession, behind his father, to the thrones of sixteen independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms. Will met Kate when both were studying at the University of St Andrews. The build-up to the wedding and the occasion itself attracted much media attention, being compared in many ways with the tragic marriage of William's parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana. The Royal family must be keeping their fingers crossed for the young couple, fated to reign over the Commonwealth someday as King and Queen.

SPRING IN ARABIA
What happens when you put together centuries of dictatorship, human rights violations, government corruption, economic decline, unemployment, and extreme poverty in the same beaker as a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the population? The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of protests occurring in the Arab world that began late last year.

So far, there have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in Libya resulting in the death of a dictator and fall of a government; civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen; protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan; as well as fresh clashes at the borders of Israel and Palestine. These uniquely-timed protests have shared certain techniques of civil resistance in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations and rallies, as well as the use of social media to organise and raise awareness. A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world has been “the people want to bring down the regime”; and this upheaval, bound to forever change the Arab world, has been regarded as a new-age youthquake.

INDIA PUTS BEST FOOT FORWARD
India has had remarkably turbulent relationships with most of its neighbours, and particularly with nations that were once a part of the subcontinent. Last year however, India made progress in the resolution of its conflicts with Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bangladesh and India share a border of almost 4,000 kilometres.
This often serves as a porous valve for smuggling and the movement of illegal immigrants. The border is marked with Indian colonies in Bangladesh and vice versa - 'exclaves' resulting from pre-colonial treaties. Residents of these exclaves live in miserable conditions, isolated from their own nations. Late this year, the two countries agreed on land swaps to resolve the issue. Pakistan and India have rarely, if ever, appeared to be at any sort of congenial terms. In trade, at least, both nations seem to have realised the importance of mutual cooperation. Pakistan's cabinet recently decided to grant India Most Favoured Nation trade status, a major breakthrough that could bolster efforts to improve relations between the nuclear-armed rivals, and ultimately, benefit their long-standing and extremely fragile peace process.

PAKISTAN VS NATO: WHO ATTACKED FIRST?
The Salala incident occurred when US-led NATO forces engaged Pakistani forces at two Pakistani militarycheck-posts along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border late last year. NATO helicopters and jet fighters entered into the Pakistani border area of Salala from across the border in Afghanistan where they opened fire at two border patrol check-posts, killing and wounding Pakistani soldiers. Obviously, both sides reported they were attacked first.

The poorly defined borders, as well as Taliban fighters that move around the Afghan border region, were cited as possible contributing factors to the incident. The already fractured relationship between Pakistan and the United States fell to a new low following the incident, with the Pakistani government and military establishment reassessing diplomatic, political, military, and intelligence ties with the United States, along with ordering closure of NATO supply lines.

THE RISE OF A HERO
Right in the middle of the year, an entirely unknown man from a small village in Maharashtra re-initiated a movement that had started with Mahatma Gandhi - peaceful non-cooperation. Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare, began an indefinite fast to press for the formation of a joint committee of the Government and the civil society to draft a stronger anti-corruption bill, stating "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed". The movement has attracted attention in the media, and helped drum up many thousands of supporters. Anna Hazare had served in the Indian Army for over a decade, and following an accident, dedicated his life to social-reform and activism.

Hazare was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his efforts in establishing a model village. Today, he is the voice of a wide-reaching movement against corruption, and is quite easily one of the most effective political activists to have emerged in recent times. Meanwhile, the 2G Scam trial has started and only time will tell whether this - the biggest-ever corruption scandal to hit India - will be the last such one!

ONE BIG FAMILY
Sometime in the latter part of the year, the UN marked a symbolic date when the global population reached seven billion.

This new milestone in the size of world population was accompanied by a new UN programme named 7 Billion Actions, which will seek to build awareness around the opportunities and challenges associated with a world of seven billion people, and inspire action. We are one huge family, and only growing bigger by the minute, and each of us look forward to yet another remarkable year in 2012.

THE DEATH OF A VILLAIN
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan by a United States special-forces military unit. The operation, code-named Neptune Spear, was ordered by United States President Barack Obama and carried out by the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Osama Awad bin Laden was thefounder of the militant Islamist organisation Al-Qaeda, the jihadist group responsible for the 11 September attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. Al-Qaeda confirmed his death with posts made on militant websites, vowing to avenge the killing. Bin Laden's killing was generally favourably received by public opinion, and marks a significant - even if morbid - victory in the war against terrorism.