8—Jharkhand’s ruling coalition partner JMM withdraws support to the Arjun Munda-led BJP government. Chief Minister Munda recommends dissolution of the Legislative Assembly.
10—At least 101 people are killed in bombings in two cities in Pakistan, with most casualties caused by sectarian attacks in the city of Quetta.
11—The Election Commission announces Assembly elections to three north-eastern States. Polls in Tripura will be held on February 14 while Meghalaya and Nagaland will go to polls on February 23.
12—French aircraft pound Islamist rebels in Mali for a second day and neighbouring West African States speed up their plans to deploy troops in an international campaign to prevent groups linked to al Qaeda expanding their power base. France warns that the control of northern Mali by the militants posed a security threat to Europe, as heavily armed Islamist fighters swept southwards towards Mali’s capital Bamako.
12—US President Barack Obama and Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai agree to end “most” combat operations of US troops in Afghanistan by April 2013. The two leaders also back the holding of talks between the Afghan government and Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar. The transition of US troops to a support role by would be several months earlier than the mid-2013 deadline agreed at a NATO summit in Chicago in 2012.
14—The world’s largest gathering of people, the 55-day Kumbh congregation, begins in Allahabad, with tens of thousands of devotees, led by ash-smeared Naga ascetics, taking a dip at the Sangam—the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers.
15—Pakistan plunges into a fresh political crisis with the Supreme Court ordering the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for allegedly receiving bribes in power projects. 62-year-old Ashraf, who became Prime Minister after the exit of Yousuf Raza Gilani in June 2012, has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in the rental power projects (RPPs) case, as federal minister for water and power.
22—In a major blow to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a CBI court sentences its chief Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala to 10-year imprisonment for corruption, cheating and forgery in the recruitment of 3,032 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in Haryana in 1999-2000 when Chautala was the Chief Minister.
24—David Coleman Headley is sentenced by a US court to 35 years in jail for plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
27—India successfully test-fires the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking an end to a series of developmental trials. India is only the fifth country to have such a missile—the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China.
30—South Korea succeeds in its third attempt to put a satellite into orbit in a high-stakes test of national pride after arch-rival North Korea got there first with a rocket launch in December 2012. The 140-tonne Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-I) blasted off from the Naro Space Centre on the south coast, reaching its target altitude nine minutes later and deploying its payload satellite. A positive outcome after successive failures in 2009 and 2010 was critical to ensuring the future of South Korea’s launch programme and realising its ambition of joining an elite global space club.
10—At least 101 people are killed in bombings in two cities in Pakistan, with most casualties caused by sectarian attacks in the city of Quetta.
11—The Election Commission announces Assembly elections to three north-eastern States. Polls in Tripura will be held on February 14 while Meghalaya and Nagaland will go to polls on February 23.
12—French aircraft pound Islamist rebels in Mali for a second day and neighbouring West African States speed up their plans to deploy troops in an international campaign to prevent groups linked to al Qaeda expanding their power base. France warns that the control of northern Mali by the militants posed a security threat to Europe, as heavily armed Islamist fighters swept southwards towards Mali’s capital Bamako.
12—US President Barack Obama and Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai agree to end “most” combat operations of US troops in Afghanistan by April 2013. The two leaders also back the holding of talks between the Afghan government and Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar. The transition of US troops to a support role by would be several months earlier than the mid-2013 deadline agreed at a NATO summit in Chicago in 2012.
14—The world’s largest gathering of people, the 55-day Kumbh congregation, begins in Allahabad, with tens of thousands of devotees, led by ash-smeared Naga ascetics, taking a dip at the Sangam—the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers.
15—Pakistan plunges into a fresh political crisis with the Supreme Court ordering the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for allegedly receiving bribes in power projects. 62-year-old Ashraf, who became Prime Minister after the exit of Yousuf Raza Gilani in June 2012, has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in the rental power projects (RPPs) case, as federal minister for water and power.
22—In a major blow to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a CBI court sentences its chief Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala to 10-year imprisonment for corruption, cheating and forgery in the recruitment of 3,032 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in Haryana in 1999-2000 when Chautala was the Chief Minister.
24—David Coleman Headley is sentenced by a US court to 35 years in jail for plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
27—India successfully test-fires the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking an end to a series of developmental trials. India is only the fifth country to have such a missile—the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China.
30—South Korea succeeds in its third attempt to put a satellite into orbit in a high-stakes test of national pride after arch-rival North Korea got there first with a rocket launch in December 2012. The 140-tonne Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV-I) blasted off from the Naro Space Centre on the south coast, reaching its target altitude nine minutes later and deploying its payload satellite. A positive outcome after successive failures in 2009 and 2010 was critical to ensuring the future of South Korea’s launch programme and realising its ambition of joining an elite global space club.
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