2008 the year that was

A potpourri of events, 2008 saw the rise and fall of many bars around the world. A historical year for Nepal, the year brought to light everyday heroes and changed the way people perceived each other. We bring to you a quick recap of the significant happe

by WAVE TEAM

FROM ISSUE # 157 (January 2009) | IN THIS ISSUE
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 Headlines this year

A lot happened in the year 2008–the first is the historical life-changing political changes in countries all over the world. The down side of the year was that the world financial crisis reached its peak and millions of people are still losing their jobs and big companies are sinking more and more into debt.

2008 was monumental in the history of Nepal. This was a year of incredible changes. On 28 May, Nepal abolished a 239 year old monarchial system. King Gayendra was asked to step down within 15 days. Nepal, which was the only remaining Hindu kingdom in the world, was declared a federal democratic republic.
 
The Maoists emerged as the largest party in parliament following elections in April. A new Maoist-dominated government finally took office in August. And on 15 August, Nepal's Constituent Assembly elected Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, over Sher Bahadur Deuba, a member of the Nepali Congress Party who served as prime minister three times. On 18 August, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the Maoist Chairman, was declared the first prime minister of the New Nepal. Ram Baran Yadav was sworn in as the first ever president of Nepal. 

In the international community, the first political change occurred with Kosovo declaring independence from Serbia on 17 February. Also, in the same month, Fidel Castro, Cuba's dictator for 49 years stepped down as its president and Raul Castro succeeded his brother.

March 2008 was a tragic month as more than 100 Tibetans died when China cracked down on protests by monks on 10 March. Some 400 Buddhist monks participated in the protest march in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, to commemorate the failed uprising of 1959 that resulted in the Dalai Lama fleeing to India.

In April, in Russia, President Vladimir Putin stepped down as the president but agreed to become the prime minister. Dmitry Medvedev became president.

On 7 August, violence broke out in Georgia after Georgian soldiers attacked South Ossetia, a breakaway enclave in Georgia. Russia entered the region on 8 August and briefly took military control. After a lot of fighting and international criticism on 19 August, Russia began to slowly withdraw its troops. On 29 August, Russia and Georgia severed diplomatic ties between each other. This was the first time Russia cut off formal relations with one of its former republics, which gained independence in 1991.

Tragedy struck again in August as a dam breach in Nepal caused the Kosi River to flood in the state of Bihar. A total of 55 people were killed in Nepal and 60,000 displaced, but the numbers went up to several thousands killed and five million displaced in Bihar, India.

Another catastrophe of the year was the terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26 November. More than 170 people were killed and about 300 wounded in a series of attacks on several of Mumbai's landmarks and commercial hubs, which lasted for 60 horrifying hours. How could a year end without news on George Bush? Muntazer al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist made the news when he made his anger obvious by throwing his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad.
 
The year ended on a sad note in Nepal–as on 21 December Himalmedia was attacked after a controversial article was published in Himal Khabarpatrika, WAVE's sister publication. Fifty Maoist affiliated trade union members entered into the premises, vandalised property, beat up the editor and other staff and issued threats. A nation-wide outrage at the incidents broke through and the fight for press freedom still continues.

Beats that made news

The Nepali music Industry didn't see much change besides artists releasing albums on their own, citing problems with record labels. Rumor had it that record labels pirate artist's music themselves and earn their bucks, but then it might just be a rumor. This year saw the rise of festivals like never before. One after the other, it started with the Himalayan Blues Festival then Jazzmandu, International Folk festival, Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival, Kathmandu International Theatre Festival and so the list just goes on.

Whilst the happenings in Nepal, in February, the Spice Girls performed together while System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian, told MTV.com that the band was never likely to reform any time soon as he would be concentrating on his new band project Scars on Broadway. Two thousand eight seemed to be a fruitful year for Leona Lewis too as she topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in March with her debut single Bleeding Love, the first to do so since Kim Wilde in 1987. Beyonce Knowles and T.I, on the other hand, just wouldn't let go of the top four spots on Billboard charts. All is fair in love and music!

The always young-at-heart boys, New Kids On The Block, were the headliners too as they released their album The Block, their first studio album in 15 years since Face The Music in 1994. Guns N' Roses also released their first single in nine years. The title track from their Chinese Democracy album was released as the first single. And the year just cannot end without news from bad-girl-gone-good Madonna and Wacko Jacko. Madonna, 50, and Guy Ritchie, 40, split last year and is thought to be the biggest divorce payout in history. Though Ritchie waived rights to any part of Madonna's wealth, the settlement grants him £50 to £60 million. Meanwhile, a family dropped a lawsuit on Michael Jackson for moving her to make room for the king of pop during his 2005 child-molestation trial, causing distress to a dying woman.

Gadget talk

In January, Apple released MacBook Air reminding us again how ugly of a laptop we were satisfied with. The astonishingly thin laptop showed Apple's prowess and 'thinnovation', raising the bar one more time for manufacturers in every single way.

The cold war between arch rivals Apple and Microsoft continued this year with Microsoft launching a $300 million ad-campaign in response to Apple's long running 'I'm a Mac' ads. The ads featured Jerry Seinfeld and many other celebrities sparking a considerable amount of response in the blogosphere.

September saw the launch of Google's first phone, the G1 based on the open-source Android platform. Positioned as a direct competitor to the iPhone, the G1 received a mixed response in its initial run.

2008 witnessed the rise of the tiny titans–the netbooks. Their popularity reached an all time high and almost all of the major manufacturers rode the bandwagon, while impending rumors of an Apple-branded netbook were also on the rise.

Nepal Telecom launched ADSL service making internet more affordable than ever. But the state of their mobile service plunged even below than the sub par level.

On an aside, the newly formed government seemed more tech-savvy than ever. Laptops given to ministers made headlines this year but it is yet to see as to what policies they bring to help better the state of science and technology in the country.

On the 60 mm screen

Quest Entertainment became the new power hitters amongst Nepali production companies by delivering two much talked about films in just one year. Kagbeni brought viewers a little taste of our very own heaven with breathtaking shots of the Himalayas. Quest proved to be anything but formulaic by taking its second film, Sano Sansar, away from the hills and straight into the midst of an urbanite's love saga. Both films raised the bar in local cinema and left Nepali viewers hopeful for more noteworthy productions in the future.  

Unfazed by a worldwide recession, true to form, our large neighbor to the south turned out movies by the buckets… but don't expect the same in 2009. A number of films on the slates for production houses have been scrapped due to the economic crisis and others, like Salman Khan's brainchild, Veer, have made drastic budget cuts. 

2008 was the year Farhan Akhtar decided he could do it all–he became director cum actor cum… rockstar? Well, not entirely true, but his movie Rock On caused quite a stir and so did the soundtrack, which Farhan actually sang on! Farhan also helped write some of the lyrics as well. Karan Johar kept life exciting by bringing the issue of homosexuality to the screen with the lighthearted, playful Dostana featuring John Abraham and Abishek Bachchan as two straight men posing as a gay couple. John Abraham's extra time in the gym for his beachside frolic scene paid off, not only with fans, but also with Bipasha who thanked the filmmakers for reminding her 'how hot' of a boyfriend she had. Kismat Konnection brought Bollywood to the world as it opened on 900 screens worldwide. 

No better way to wrap up the year than with super blockbusters by two of the most noted actors in the industry. ShahRukh Khan starred opposite a 19 year old girl in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi proving that even at 40 plus, he's still got it. And the best body of the year… sorry SRK, the award goes to Aamir Khan who worked even harder than John to transform his Rang De Basanti pouch into his rock-hard Ghajini abs. 

And beyond waters… our American friends nominated Cate Blanchett for her first Oscar in 1999 but fast forward nine years to today and it seems Cate's working twice as hard. She was nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, but for very different characters. In Elizabeth: the Golden Age, she played the Queen, whereas in the life story of Bob Dylan, I'm Not There, Blanchett dresses up in a boy's attire. 

Hollywood tackled the issue of teenage pregnancy with the witty screenplay, Juno. Anything but your typical blockbuster, Juno became an instant success both at the box office and various awards ceremonies jumpstarting the 21-year-old Ellen Page career.  
 
The most notable movie event of the year was Heath Ledger's prescription drug overdose just after he finished shooting The Dark Knight. His dark portrayal as The Joker has already stirred talks of a myriad of posthumous acting awards .

On the field

Protestors from Los Angeles to Seoul worked tirelessly to prohibit Beijing from hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics due to the country's numerous human rights violations including the Tibet situation as well as breaking international law by forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees, but the efforts were in vain and the games went on. 

Good thing for the Brits, who bagged 16 gold medals, making it the country's most successful Olympics take-home in an entire century.

Ten minus six and that's the number of gold medals just one talented American athlete has to his name. American swimmer Michael Phelps, broke a record and became the first person to ever win 10 gold medals resulting in comments such as "he was half man and half fish."

In Nepal, Canadian Neel Jones and Briton Holly Budge became the first sky divers to ever jump from 1000 ft above Mount Everest. Imagine…what a view!

Athletes weren't the only ones to break records; apparently in 2008, on the whole, sporting events had the highest viewership in recorded history. With all that fan support, it's no wonder athletes could go farther, harder, faster; nothing like a little morale to help a winner win bigger. 

The official slogan for the Euro 2008 (read: Eurocup) was 'Expect Emotions' and come they did.  Greece, the previous champs, finished almost dead-last while Spain gained its second title ever in the competition.

The 2008 Men's Wimbledon might just go down in history as one of the best ever with Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal in the finals. Both athletes played with their natural skill and grace, but in the end, Nadal dethroned his top competition and became the new king of the court.

Tension flew high on the cricket field after Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh slapped Australian all-rounder, Andrew Symonds with a mouthful of racial slurs. Singh's words cost him a few banknotes along with his reputation, but it added drama to the first ever Indian Premier League where Bollywood joined hands with India's second religion–cricket.

Saving the best thing for last, Nepal's Under-19 women's cricket team won the ACC U19 Championship this December, making this their first ever international win. They had to crush Malaysia's dream to do so but we aren't complaining. 

Change is the only inevitable thing in the world and this year, with the change of the date in our calendars, let's hope we change for the better. Happy 2009!