world history part 10

 Aguaretiente is a liquor obtained from sugarcane
used in Latin America
 Latin American Tea is known as Mate.
 Most of the Latin American countries follow
Christianity.
 Brazilian dance is known as Samba
Cuba - Conga
Argentina - Tango
Bolivia & Chile - Cueca
Mexico - Jarabe Tapatio
Japan
 Japan is an Island nation of the North Pacific.
 The name Japan was originated from the name
Zipangu used by Marco Polo in Italian language.
 The official name of Japan is Nippon or Nihon,
which means the source of the Sun.
 Japan is known as the ‘Land of Rising Sun’ or
‘Britain of the East’.
 Iasu Tokugama who ruled Japan the 16th Century is known as ‘Napolean of Japan’.
 Tokyo became the capital of Japan during enlightened rule (Meiji Age) which is known as the
Golden Age of Japan.
 First constitution of Japan came to force in 1889
and the Japanese Parliament Diet was formed.
 Geographically Japan is situated in ‘‘the Ring of
fire’’ which is in the coast the Pacific ocean with
lot of volcanoes.
 Mount Fujiyama is the highest mount in Japan.
 In the first World War Japan was in the part of
Allied Powers.
 Japan joined the Second World War in 1940 on
the part of Italy and Germany.
 On 7 December 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbour.
This resulted in the entry of USA into the Second
World War.
 America dropped an Atom Bomb named ‘Little
boy’ in Hiroshima from an aircraft named ‘Inola
Gay’ on 6, August 1945. Later another bomb
‘Fatman’ was dropped in Nagasaki from an aircraft named ‘Box car’ on 9 August 1945. Follwed
by the Japan surrendered before the Axis Powers
on 2 September 1945. The treaty of surrender was
signed in a ship named USS Missourie in the Bay
of Tokyo.
 Kabuki is a form of stage drama in Japan.
 Bunraku - a puppet theatre
 Sumo is a Japanese form of Wrestling.
 Ikebana - Japanese style of flower arranging
 Sake - Rice wine made in Japan
 Cloisonne - A Japanese type of decorative enameling
 Origami - The Japanese art of folding paper into
decorative objects.
 Kawabata Yasunari is the first Japanese to win
the Nobel Prize (1968) for literature. ‘Snow Country’ is the book authored by him.
 Yuichiro Miura : 70 year old man who became
the oldest to conquer Mt Everest in May 22, 2003.
 Junko Tabei First woman to climb mount Everest.
 Manasobu Fukuvoka is the author of the famous
book ‘One Straw Revolution’. He was a famous
agricultural scientist.
 Jimmu Tenno : He was supposedly the first emperor of Japan. In 660 BC he became the Emperor.
 Hirohito became the first Japanese emperor who
travelled outside Japan in 1971.
 World’s longest suspension bridge, the Akasi
Kaikyo Bridge (1990 metres) is in Japan. It connects the Island of Honshee and the Island of
Shikoku.
 Japan’s largest single export is Crude Oil.
 ‘Yomeeyerie shimbon’ a News paper in Japan has
the largest circulation in the world. It is also published in English with the name ‘Daily Yomiyurie’.
 The Japan’s economy ranks second only to USA
in terms of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
 Japan has the largest fishing industry in the world.
 New PM of Japan is Shinzo Abe (Liberal Democratic Party)
INDIA AND PAKISTAN
 Muhammed Ali Jinna was the founder of Pakistan. He was the first Governor General of the
Dominion of Pakistan.
 Jinna house is in Mumbai.
 Pakistan observes its independence day on August 14
 Jinna is called the father of Pakistan.
 Pakistan proclaimed itself an Islamic Republic in
1956.
 Poet - Philosopher Muhammed Iqbal, first articulated the concept of Pakistan in 1931.
 Pakistan’s first free elections were held in December 1970.
 Bangladesh was separated from Pakistan in march
26, 1971.
 On 28 and 30 may 1998 Pakistan carried out five
nuclear tests in the desert of Baluchistan at the
Chagai Hills in response to India’s test.
 On 12 Octber 1999, General Pervez Musharrafin
a military coup deposed the Premier Nawaz
Sherif and suspended the constitution.
 In 2001 he became the President of Pakistan.
Musharraf’s presidency was extended by five
more years till 2007.
 The Tashkent Agreement was signed on January 10, 1966. This Agreement was signed by Lal
Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan just after the
1965 Indo - Pak War. On January 11, Shastri died
at Tashkent.
 Now Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekisthan.
 The Shimla Agreement of 1972 was signed between India and Pakistan after the 1971 battles.
 The Lahore Declaration was signed between India and Pakistan just before the ‘Operation Vijay’
of 1999 in Kargil to expel the ussurpers.
 Th Radcliff line separates India from Pakistan,
the Durand Line is between Pakistan and
Afghanisthan and the McMohan Line is between
India and China.
 Siachin Glacier which lies between India and Pakistan is referred as the highest and the coldest
battle field in the world.
 The Agra Summit (2002) between Musharaff
and AB Vajpayee ended in failure. Aim-solving
bilateral problems.
 Pak conspirations attacked Indian Parliament in
2001 that led to the verge of a war.
 Relation worsened due to the Mumbai blasts in
July 2006
 In the side line NAM summit in Havana (2006
September) both agreed to continue to the peace
process
THE SOUTH AFRICAN STORY
 The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910.
 It became a Republic in 31 May 1961.
 Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990
after 27 years of imprisonment. He was imprisoned at
Robert Islands In 1994 he
sworn in as the first black
President of South Africa.
His term ended in 1999.
 First Democratic President
of South Africa is Nelson
Mandela. Thabo Mbeki, the President of ANC
(Africa National Congress) succeeded Nelson
Mandela as the President of South Africa in 1999.
 Nelson Mandela was the second foreigner to receive the Bharat Ratna.
 The first foregner to receive Bharat Ratna was
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the ‘Frontier Gandhi’
 South Africa is the leading producer of gold in
the World.
 African Development Bank (ADB)was formally established in 1964 and began its operation in 1966.
 Organization of African Unity (OAU/ OUA)was
formed in 1963, with its headquarters at Addis
Ababa (Ethiopia)
Gulf War I and II
 The Gulf War (1991) was fought between the
US led multinational forces and Iraq to expel Iraqi
troops from Kuwait. Its code name was Operation Desert Storm.
 ‘Operation Desert Fox’ was the continuation of
operation Desert storm.
 ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ was launched to 2003
to expel Saddam Hussain from Iraq. USA and
England jointly launched the operation. This war
is known as Gulf War II.
 Their aim was to establish democracy
 But still Civil War goes on there.
Earth Summit I & II
 The first Earth Summit was held at Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil in 1992.
 In 2002 the second Summit was held at
Johannasburg in South Africa.
 April 22 is Earth Day.
 The motto, of the Summit was ‘Substainable Development’.
WORLD AFTER 2000
Asia
 Afghanisthan was under the Taliban forces
headed by Mulla Omar since 1995. The Islamic
government of the Talibans was ousted by the
UN forces in November 2001. In 2002 Hamid
Karzai was elected the President.
 The August 2003 NATO assumed its first ever
operational commitment outside Europe when it
took control of the security of Kabul.
 On 9 October 2004, Hamid Karzai became the first
democratically elected President of Afghanistan.
 The National Assembly of Pakistan was inaugurated on 19 december 2005.
 In December 2005,King Jigme Singye Wangchuk
announced that he would step down as king of
Bhutan in 2008 and would be succeeded by his
son, the crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel
Wangchuck.
 In July 2006 the Cuban President Fidel Castro
underwent a surgery and temporarily handed over
control of the government to his brother Raul.
 In 1999, Indonesia bowed to mounting international pressure and allowed a referundum to ascertain the future of East Timur. The majority vote
in favour of independence led to East Timur finally going independent in 2002.
 In 1999, first ever free Parliamentary elections were
held in Indonesia. In October 2004 Susilo B.
Yudhoyuno became the new President after elections.
 Thousands of people were killed in the 2004 (December 26) Tsunami and Indonesia is the worst
affected Country in the crisis.
 In April 2002, voters overwhelmingly approved a
referundum to extend Pakistan President
Musharaf’s presidency for another five years.
 In November 2003 Pakistan and India declared
the first formal ceasefire in Kashmir in 14 years.
 In the Parliamentary elections held in Palestine in
January 2006, the extremist group HAMAS
emerged victorious.
 For the Parliamentary elections in Israel in 2006
the Party of Ariel Sharon Kadima came out victorious.
 In New Zealand, Indian originAnand Sathyanand
sworn in as the new Governor General in 2006.
 In January 2006 China launches official website
www.gov.cn.at zero hour.
 For the first time Kuwaiti women Cast Votes in
Parliamentary elections in 2006 June.
Europe
 Bulgaria became a member of NATO in 2004.
 In May 2003, David Oddsson of Iceland was reelected making him the longest serving Prime
Minister in Europe (from 1991-2004)
 In 2000, Tarja Halonen became the first woman
president of Finland since 1998. In April 2003,
Finland appointed its first female Prime Minister,
making it the only country in Europe with both a
female President and Prime Minister.
 In 2004, the French government passed a law banning the wearing of Muslim headscarves and
other religious symbols in schools.
 The UN’s Human Development Index has rated
Norway the world’s most livable country.


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