China calls it the Year of the Sheep. The United Nations named it the International Year of Soils, International Year of Light and International Year of Light-based Technologies. Death and disaster, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes scourged 2015. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waged a relentless war. Besieged humanity on the move gives an unwelcome human dimension to globalisation. India's Year of the Monogrammed Galabandh highlighted Narendra Modi's respect for one Nehruvian tradition.
International football chief Sepp Blatter resigned amidst allegations of corruption. Arun Jaitley didn't resign when Arvind Kejriwal and Kirti Azad accused him of gross financial irregularities in Delhi's cricket administration and K P S Gill charged him with nepotism. Neither did he retort that if he didn't help his daughter, who would. Azad was suspended as fault lines surfaced in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Jaitley sued Kejriwal. Kejriwal complained of machinations to topple him. There was no sign that any of the estimated 11 million vehicles whose diesel emission tests Volkswagen is said to have rigged were in Delhi. It hasn't been a good year for Opposition politicians. Singapore didn't declare anyone bankrupt. But Sheikh Hasina hanged two more opponents. Jeremy Corbyn is marking time in Britain. So, probably, is Nabam Tuki in Arunachal Pradesh.
The achievements were in space where they did no harm even if they did no good. SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 rocket, which became the first reusable rocket to return after successfully entering orbital space. Nasa's Dawn probe entered orbit around Ceres, the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet. Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft performed a close flyby of Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world. Liquid water was found on Mars. Mother Teresa soared to sainthood.
Less ambitious flights were less lucky. A Germanwings Airbus A320-211 crashed in the Alps, killing everyone on board. An Indonesian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules crashed into a crowded neighbourhood in Medan, killing 143 people. Debris on Reunion Island was identified as belonging to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370. A Russian Airbus bound for St Petersburg from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort crashed in Sinai, killing all 224 passengers and crew. The ISIL boasted this was its handiwork. It didn't claim responsibility for the Russian fighter jet Turkey shot down in the first case since the 1950s of a Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member destroying a Russian aircraft.
Boko Haram killed more than 2,000 people in Nigeria in January. The UN Security Council resolved to combat terrorism. In March the ISIL annexed Boko Haram. The ISIL didn't annex the terrorist outfit Al-Shabaab that killed 148 people, mainly students, in a Kenya college. It demolished three ancient sites in Iraq -Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin. The ISIL also claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Beirut and the November 13 attacks in Paris. Egypt began air strikes against an ISIL affiliate in Libya that beheaded Egyptian Christians. Russia began air strikes against the ISIL. The West suspected Vladimir Putin of shoring up Bashar al-Assad. Modi made common cause with Putin.
The European Union threatened to collapse. The Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was proclaimed. Debt-ridden Greece considered abandoning the euro. Lithuania abandoned the litas and adopted the euro. International financial markets were in turmoil when Switzerland abandoned the cap on the franc's value against the euro. Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine announced a ceasefire in secessionist eastern Ukraine. Ukraine and the secessionists complained of 139 violations on the first day. Fighting continued.
The globally defining picture of the year is of a dead Syrian child lapped by waves on a Turkish beach. There are some flashes of cheer as 2015 winds to an end. Rubella has been eradicated from the Americas. Infected Cuban mothers will no longer transmit HIV or syphilis to their children. Cuba and the US cosied up to each other after 54 years. Ireland legalised same-sex marriage by popular vote. Mankind acquired a new South African ancestor in Homo naledi. Modi did not go to Milan's Expo 2015. He attended the UN climate change conference in Paris and agreed to reduce carbon emissions. Queen Elizabeth II asked him to lunch. She invited Xi Jinping to stay in Buckingham Palace.
Modi didn't wear the coat to lunch. If it's been auctioned, Holland & Sherry can provide the fabric for another even if the loom was dismantled. The "Narendra Damodardas Modi" logo matches Jawaharlal Nehru's rose in distinctiveness. Holland & Sherry are in Savile Row. So is Henry Poole, who supplied Nehru's suits. In fashion, Modi knows Congress tradition is the classiest.
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
