Events; Appointments; Etc.: January-February 2009

JANUARY
17—A suicide car bomb kills a US service member and four Afghan civilians in an attack outside a US military base and the German Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul.
19—Jharkhand is placed under President's rule following resignation of Chief
Minister Shibhu Soren after losing a by-poll. The Assembly is put under suspended animation to allow formation of a new government.
20—Barack Hussein Obama takes oath as the 44th President of USA, shattering American racial barriers as the first black leader of the nation.
23—India slaps a ban on import of toys from China for a period of six months over fears of safety of children, following bans being imposed by many countries after some Chinese toys were found to be toxic.

FEBRUARY
1—At least 15 poicemen are killed as a group of 40 Maoists ambushes a squad in the jungles of Dhanora tehsil in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.
2—India signs a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on as part of India's obligations to enable full civil nuclear cooperation with rest of the world. Out of its 22 civilian reactors, India has agreed to open up 14 to
regular IAEA inspections by 2014.
8—More than 200 people and entire towns razed in the worst wildfire disaster
in Australian history. Australian
government blames arsonists for the fires.
9—A suicide bomber kills 28 people in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka.
11—Three near-simultaneous attacks
on government offices, carried out
by the Taliban, claimed 26 lives and injure over 55 people in Kabul, Afghanistan.