2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction
Ravi Shankar Prasad said that in 2008, the Congress had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Communist Party of China. “The party has not yet explained what was the compelling need for party-to-party relationship,” said Mr. Prasad.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes
Accusing Rahul Gandhi of trying to "divide the nation" and "demoralise" the armed forces during crucial situations (Galwan Clashes), BJP president J P Nadda asked on Tuesday if it was the "effect" of the MoU the Congress had signed with the Communist Party of China. "First, Congress signs MoU with the Chinese Communist Party. Then, Congress surrenders land to China. During Doklam issue, Rahul Gandhi secretly goes to the Chinese embassy. During crucial situations, Rahul Gandhi tries to divide the nation and demoralise armed forces. Effects of MoU?" Nadda said in a tweet.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes
Citing a Chinese newspaper report, Sambit Patra alleged that the Gandhi family has got "endorsement" from China and its President Xi Jinping. This is a classic definition of "anti-India stand", he said. "Congratulations to Rahul Gandhi. You were earlier a hero of Pakistan. Now, you are a hero of China too. But you are a big zero for India. You are a hero for our enemies. China is in a disadvantageous position and is using the Congress's shoulders to fire at India... This is a classic definition of anti-India stand," Sambit Patra said at a press conference.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
Amit Malviya alleged that donations to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation whose Chairperson is Congress President and Sonia Gandhi, were made in 2005-06 by the Chinese Embassy in India as well as the Government of China when the Congress-led UPA-I was in power. The annual statements of the RGF show that it received donations not once, but thrice between 2005 and 2008.In this time, the RGF launched seminars and projects on India and China relations. The most striking is a study on the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement between India and China by Mohammad Saqib. The reports of the RGF, while acknowledging that the China would be "the greater beneficiary” because of the “efficiency of its economy”, they continuously advocate a comprehensive free trade agreement:


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
"The study concluded that ‘there are always losers and gainers in the regional and free trade agreements. India and China can balance the gains and losses through an FTA. Therefore both governments should decide to enter into FTA negotiations. The proposed FTA between India and China will be feasible, desirable and mutually beneficial. An FTA between India and China should also be comprehensive, with a free flow of goods, services, investment and capital.’


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
..an FTA would help bilateral economic relations and that the free flow of goods, services, investment and capital would, in fact, benefit India’s trade sector more than China’s."


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
India recorded a trade deficit of $48.5 billion with China in FY20. It is more than 60 per cent of the size of India’s total goods trade of $87 billion with China. For February 2020, the trade deficit with China stood at $3.3 billion while India’s trade deficit was $9.8 billion, that is, China accounted for about 34 per cent of the total. Large trade deficit is continuously an issue of contention between the two countries. This has caused many questions to be raised against the RGF’s strong advocacy of the FTA.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Reaction, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
“Questions for the Congress - these donations to RGF, if you can still call them that, have any connection with the MoU signed between the Congress and CPC in 2008? What other things is the Congress party hiding from India on its relations with the CCP? Full disclosure needed,” wrote Malviya.


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Petitions Seeking Investigation
A petition filed in the Supreme Court has sought a probe into the alleged deal signed between the Congress party and China’s ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) during the UPA’s tenure in power at the Centre. The petitioners have urged the court to pass an interim order asking not to disclose any information about the deal in the public domain. Besides, the petition also seeks a high-level probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Petitions Seeking Investigation
Surprising the Supreme Court, the then Chief Justice S A Bobde remarked "We find that there is something which appears to be, what might be called, unheard of and absurd in law. You are saying that China has entered into an agreement with a political party and not the government. How can a political party enter into an agreement with China,"


2008 INC-CCP MoU, Petitions Seeking Investigation
Then Bench headed by then Chief Justice SA Bobde asked senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, representing petitioners Shashank Shekhar Jha and Savio Rodrigues, to withdraw the PIL and approach the high court. “Every relief which you are seeking can be granted by the high court. Secondly, the High Court is the proper court. Thirdly, we will have the advantage of the High Court order also,” the CJI said.


2008 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships
The 4th IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships were held between March 29, 2008 and April 5, 2008 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, United States, at the New England Sports Center. Organized by Massachusetts Hockey in co-operation with US Paralympics, around 200 athletes from ten countries participated in the 10-team round robin tournament which featured two divisions: six teams in group A and four teams in group B.


2008 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, A Tournament
The A Tournament was held between Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway and the United States, all teams which had competed at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games and which were then-ranked as the world's best sledge hockey teams.


2008 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, B Tournament
The B Tournament was held between Czech Republic, Estonia, South Korea and Poland, the second tier elite teams all vying for a position in the 2009 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A Tournament.


2008 IPSC Handgun World Shoot
The 2008 IPSC Handgun World Shoot XV held in Bali, Indonesia, was the 15th IPSC Handgun World Shoot.


2008 IPSC Handgun World Shoot, Champions, Open
The Open division had the largest match participation with 353 competitors (34.3 %).


2008 IPSC Handgun World Shoot, Champions, Standard
The Standard division had the second largest match participation with 309 competitors (30.1 %).


2008 IPSC Handgun World Shoot, Champions, Production
The Production division had the third largest match participation with 282 competitors (27.4 %).


2008 IRB Junior World Championship
The 2008 IRB Junior World Championship was the first annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. All players who were twenty years of age or under on 1 January 2008 were eligible for selection.


2008 IRB Junior World Championship
This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 Rugby World Championship and Under 21 Rugby World Championship. The event, organised by rugby's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), was contested by sixteen men's under-20 national teams.


2008 IRB Junior World Championship
The tournament was held in June and hosted by Wales, at four separate venues, and won by New Zealand.


2008 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy
The inaugural IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy was hosted by Chile in April 2008. The eight team competition for National men U'20 sides is the second tier of the IRB Junior World Championship, which replaced the U'19 & U'21 World Championships.


2008 IRB Nations Cup
The 2008 IRB Nations Cup was the third edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pits the "A" Teams of the stronger (Tier 1) rugby nations (Emerging Springboks and Italy A) against some of the Tier 2 and 3 nations (Romania, Georgia, Russia and Uruguay).


2008 IRB Nations Cup
For the second consecutive year the event was held in Bucharest, Romania. The Emerging Springboks were the overall winners for their second consecutive year.


2008 IRB Nations Cup
The competition format was a modified round-robin whereby each team played 3 of the other 5 teams. The competition was played over three match days, with three matches played consecutively on each day.


2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup
The 2008 Pacific Nations Cup was a rugby union tournament held between six national sides on the Pacific Rim: Australia A, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand Māori (just for this year). The inaugural competition was held in 2006. This year the tournament started on 7 June and ended on 6 July 2008.


2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup
The tournament is a round-robin where each team plays all of the other teams once. There are four points for a win, two for a draw and none for a defeat. There are also bonus points offered with one bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one bonus point for losing by 7 points or less.


2008 ISSF World Cup
The 2008 ISSF World Cup was the twenty-third annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the Olympic shooting events, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. Four qualification competitions were held in each event, spanning from March to June, and the best shooters qualified for the ISSF World Cup Final, which was carried out in September in Minsk for the shotgun events, and in November in Bangkok for the other events. Apart from those who qualified through the 2008 World Cup competitions, the defending champions and all medalists from the 2008 Summer Olympics were also invited to the final. The host countries were also granted special wild cards.


2008 ISSF World Cup
Following the tradition of previous Olympic years, one of the qualification competitions was held as a pre-Olympic test event at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall and the Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field, the upcoming venues for shooting at the 2008 Summer Olympics. As qualification for the Olympics was concluded with the 2007 season, no quota places were at stake during the 2008 World Cup.


2008 ISSF World Cup, Medals by event, Men's rifle events
1 In the elimination round on May 18,  Guy Starik (ISR) equalled the world record with a perfect 600.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol)
The 2008 ISSF World Cup Final in rifle and pistol events was held 3–5 November 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand, as the conclusion of the 2008 World Cup season. The final was held in Bangkok for the second consecutive time, and third overall.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol)
There were twelve spots in each of the ten events. The defending champion from the 2007 World Cup Final and all medalists of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing qualified automatically for Bangkok. The remaining eight qualified through a special point-awarding system based on their best performance during the World Cup season, skipping past automatic qualifiers. Not counting the defending champion and the Olympic medalists, there was a maximum of two shooters per event from the same country.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol)
The qualification system awarded a win with 15 points, a silver medal with 10, a bronze medal with 8, a fourth place with 5, a fifth with 4, a sixth with 3, a seventh with 2 and an eighth place with 1 point. It also gave out points for qualification scores within a certain range from the current world record: from 1 point for fourteen points off the record, to 15 points for equalling or raising it.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol), Men's 50 metre rifle prone, Qualification
Tamas did not participate and was replaced by Valérian Sauveplane.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol), Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol, Qualification
Alifirenko, Pupo and Raicea did not participate and were replaced by Cha Sang-jun, Alexey Klimov and Taras Magmet.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol), Women's 50 metre rifle three positions, Qualification
Emmons did not participate. In addition, Thanyalak Chotphibunsin entered as the host country's wild card.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol), Women's 10 metre air rifle, Qualification
Emmons and Lechner did not participate, and were replaced by Beate Gauss. In addition, Thanyalak Chotphibunsin entered as the host country's wild card.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol), Women's 25 metre pistol, Qualification
Kolly did not participate. In addition, Tanyaporn Prucksakorn entered as the host country's wild card.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (rifle and pistol), Women's 10 metre air pistol, Qualification
Paderina, Kolly and Csonka did not participate and were replaced by Michela Suppo. In addition, Tanyaporn Prucksakorn entered as the host country's wild card.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun)
The 2008 ISSF World Cup Final in shotgun events was held on 27–30 September in Minsk, Belarus. It was the last major worldwide shotgun competition in 2008, and the next-to-last part of the 2008 ISSF World Cup, to be concluded with the rifle and pistol finals in Bangkok a month later.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun)
There were twelve spots in each of the five events. The defending champion from the 2007 World Cup Final and all medalists of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing qualified automatically for Minsk. The remaining eight qualified through a special point-awarding system based on their best performance during the World Cup season, skipping past automatic qualifiers. Not counting the defending champion and the Olympic medalists, there was a maximum of two shooters per event from the same country. Belarus, being the host country, also were allowed to participate with one shooter.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun)
The qualification system awarded a win with 15 points, a silver medal with 10, a bronze medal with 8, a fourth place with 5, a fifth with 4, a sixth with 3, a seventh with 2 and an eighth place with 1 point. It also gave out points for qualification scores within a certain range from the current world record: from 1 point for fourteen hits off the record, to 15 points for equalling or raising it.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun), Men's double trap, Qualification
Faulds and Alshamsy did not participate and were replaced by Daniele Di Spigno and Mikhail Leybo.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun), Men's skeet, Qualification
Flores did not participate and was replaced by Frank Thompson. In addition, Andrei Gerachtchenko entered as the host country's wild card.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun), Women's trap, Qualification
Pak did not participate and was replaced by Joetta Dement.


2008 ISSF World Cup Final (shotgun), Women's skeet, Qualification
Avetisyan, Brinker and Bacosi did not participate and were replaced by Katiuscia Spada.


2008 ITF Kolkata Open
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Himeshlala (talk | contribs) at 09:23, 25 June 2020 (→External links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2008 ITF Kolkata Open
The 2008 ITF Kolkata Open was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the fourth edition of the tournament which is part of the 2008 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Kolkata, India, on 17–23 November 2008.


2008 ITF Kolkata Open – Doubles
Displayed below are the doubles results from the 2008 ITF Kolkata Open Women's Tennis Tournament. Alla Kudryavtseva and Vania King were the defending champions, but they chose not to participate that year. Laura Siegemund and Ágnes Szatmári won the title, defeating Lu Jingjing and Sun Shengnan in the final, 7–5, 6–3.


2008 ITF Kolkata Open – Singles
Maria Kirilenko was the defending champion, but chose not to participate.


2008 ITF Kolkata Open – Singles
Ayumi Morita won the title, defeating Elora Dabija in the final, 6–3, 6–1.


2008 ITF Men's Circuit
The 2008 ITF Men's Circuit was the 2008 edition of the third tier tour for men's professional tennis. It was organised by the International Tennis Federation and is a tier below the ATP Challenger Tour. The ITF Men's Circuit consisted of 534 'Futures' tournaments played year round across six continents, with prize money ranging from $10,000 to $15,000.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's Circuit is the second-tier tour for women's professional tennis organised by the International Tennis Federation, and is a tier below the WTA Tour. The ITF Women's Circuit includes tournaments with prize money ranging from $10,000 up to $100,000.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF world champions in 2008 were Jelena Janković (senior singles), Cara Black / Liezel Huber (senior doubles) and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (combined junior ranking).


2008 ITF Women's Circuit, Singles titles by nation
This list displays only the top 21 nations in terms of singles titles wins.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit (April–June)
The ITF Women's Circuit is the second tier tour for women's professional tennis organised by the International Tennis Federation, and is a tier below the WTA Tour. The ITF Women's Circuit includes tournaments with prize money ranging from $10,000 up to $100,000.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit (April–June)
This article covers the ITF tour from the month of April until June.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit (January–March)
The ITF Women's Circuit is the second tier tour for women's professional tennis organised by the International Tennis Federation, and is a tier below the WTA Tour. The ITF Women's Circuit includes tournaments with prize money ranging from $10,000 up to $100,000.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit (January–March)
This article covers the ITF tour from the months of January until March.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit (July–September)
The ITF Women's Circuit is the second tier tour for women's professional tennis organised by the International Tennis Federation, and is the tier below the WTA Tour. In 2008, the ITF Women's Circuit included tournaments with prize money ranging from $10,000 up to $100,000.


2008 ITF Women's Circuit (July–September)
This article covers the ITF tour from the month of July until September.


2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships
The 2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from June 5 to June 8, 2008.


2008 ITU Triathlon World Cup
The 2008 ITU Triathlon World Cup was a series of triathlon races organised by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) for elite-level triathletes. There were twelve races held in twelve countries, each held over a distance of 1500 m swim, 40 km cycle, 10 km run (an Olympic-distance triathlon). Alongside a prize purse, points were awarded at each race contributing towards the overall World Cup for which an additional prize purse was awarded. The 2008 World Cup was sponsored by BG Group. The 2008 World Cup series marked the final year of this race and championship format as the ITU shifted its focus to developing the World Championship Series.


2008 ITU Triathlon World Cup, Overall rankings
At each race of the series points were awarded to the top 20 finishers per the table below. In addition to the points awarded for the twelve World Cup legs, double points were awarded for results achieved in the ITU Triathlon World Championship race in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 7–8 June 2008.


2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics
The 2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: XIII Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo), was an athletics competition which was held at the Estadio Tierra de Campeones in Iquique, Chile from June 13 to the 15th. A total of forty-four events were contested, of which 22 by male and 22 by female athletes.


2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics
Iquique was selected as the host city for the event, in May 2006, at the Iberoamerican Athletics Confederation Congress (Congreso de la Confederación Iberoamericana de Atletismo). A running track was installed at the stadium specifically for the competition.


2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics
No championship records were set at an edition which has hampered by cold, windy whether in the Chilean city. Six national records were broken at the competition, however, including a Chilean record throw of 18.65 m by shot put winner Natalia Ducó, which was also a South American junior record. Ecuador's Bayron Piedra was another stand-out performer as he set a national record to win the 3000 metres, adding to his silver medal from the 1500 metres.


2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics
The competition was dominated by Brazilian athletes: seventeen gold medals were won by the country's athletes and it topped the medal table with a total of 44 medals – a third of those on offer. Colombia had the next most golds with five and Spain and Argentina took four each. The hosts Chile had two golds in their medal haul of eight altogether.


2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics, Participation
Of the twenty-eight members of the Asociación Iberoamericana de Atletismo, nineteen nations sent delegations to the 2008 championships. This represented all the organisation's members but for Guinea-Bissau. A total of 322 athletes were set to take part in the competition  of which 316 actually participated.


2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics – Results
These are the official results of the 2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics which took place on June 13–15, 2008 in Iquique, Chile.


2008 Iceland earthquake
The 2008 Iceland earthquake was a doublet earthquake that struck on May 29 at 15:46 UTC in southwestern Iceland. The recorded magnitudes of the two main quakes were 5.9 Mw and 5.8 Mw , respectively, giving a composite magnitude of 6.1 Mw . There were no human fatalities, but 30 injuries were reported and a number of sheep were killed. The epicenter of the earthquake was between the towns of Hveragerði and Selfoss, about 45 kilometers (28 mi) east-southeast of the capital, Reykjavík. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Iceland since the summer of 2000.


2008 Iceland earthquake, Characteristics
Iceland straddles the mid-Atlantic ridge where the Eurasian and North-American tectonic plates move away from each other. Volcanic activity is common along such divergent boundaries but strong earthquakes are rare. In Iceland the ridge is somewhat off-set, creating two transform faults where plates move horizontally along each other. One is in the north of the country and one in the south; the strongest Icelandic earthquakes happen along those transform faults. The 29 May quake is classified by geologists as typical Suðurlandsskjálftar (literally: Southern Iceland quakes), which happen on the southern fault.


2008 Iceland earthquake, Damage
Unlike the quakes in the summer of 2000, the 29 May quake happened in the most densely populated part of the South Iceland district. The population of the affected area is about 12,000 and it includes the towns of Selfoss and Hveragerði as well as Eyrarbakki, Stokkseyri and Þorlákshöfn. Many farms were also affected.


2008 Icelandic Cup
The Visa-Bikar 2008 was the forty-ninth season of the Icelandic national football cup. It started on May 24, 2008 and concluded with the Final held on October 4, 2008. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10.


2008 Icelandic Cup, First round
The First Round consisted of 32 teams from lower Icelandic divisions. The matches were played between May 24 and 27, 2008.


2008 Icelandic Cup, Second round
The Second Round included 16 winners from the previous round as well as 24 teams from second and third division. The matches were played between June 1 and 3, 2008.


2008 Icelandic Cup, Round of 32
At this point in the competition entered 12 clubs from Úrvalsdeild (first level). The matches were played on June 18 and 19, 2008.


2008 Icelandic Cup, Round of 16
The matches were played on July 2 and 3, 2008.


2008 Icelandic Men's Football League Cup
The 2008 Icelandic Men's Football League Cup was the 13th season of the Icelandic Men's League Cup, a pre-season professional football competition in Iceland. The competition started on 22 February 2008 and concluded on 1 May 2008. Valur beat Fram 4–1 in the final to win their first League Cup title.


2008 Icelandic Men's Football League Cup
The 24 teams were divided into 4 groups of 6 teams. Every team played every other team of its group once, either home or away. Top 2 teams from each group qualified for the quarter-finals.


2008 Icelandic Men's Football League Cup, Group stage
The games were played from 22 February to 15 April 2008.


2008 Icelandic lorry driver protests
The 2008 Icelandic truck driver protests were protests started by truck drivers in Iceland through March−April 2008. The protest came about due to increasing oil prices and working hours.


2008 Icelandic presidential election
Presidential elections were planned to be held in Iceland on 28 June 2008.


2008 Icelandic presidential election, Uncontested Election
The incumbent Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, first elected in 1996, stated in his New Year's speech that he would contest the election for a fourth term.


2008 Icelandic presidential election, Uncontested Election
Ástþór Magnússon, who ran unsuccessfully in 1996 and 2004, ruled out a candidacy.


2008 Icelandic presidential election, Uncontested Election
No challenger to the incumbent president filed by the deadline to declare a candidacy on 24 May 2008, and so Ólafur Ragnar's fourth term was won uncontested.


2008 Icheon fire
On 7 January 2008, a fire occurred in Icheon, South Korea, killing 40 people. It happened at a cool warehouse that was under construction at a refrigerated goods facility and caused several explosions.


2008 Icheon fire, Context
It was the deadliest fire in South Korea since the Daegu subway fire on 18 February 2003, which killed 192 people. A different fire in Icheon on 29 April 2020 killed 38 people.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses
The 2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses were held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 18 national delegates at stake. For the first time, caucuses were held in all 44 counties, all of them open caucuses organized at the county level rather than the precinct level.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses
The Idaho Democratic Caucus was overwhelmingly won by Barack Obama, who won 15 of Idaho's 18 delegates, 44 of the 45 county-level caucuses, and the support of 79.54 percent of caucus attendees statewide, his largest margin of victory in any state during the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary season. A handful of caucus attendees pledged to support John Edwards on the first ballot even though he had dropped out of the race the previous week; this residual support was sufficient to give him a third-place finish.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses
Each of Idaho's 44 counties held its own caucus except for Ada County, which held two: one for the part of the county in the First Congressional District, and the other for the part of the county in the Second Congressional District.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses
Collectively, both Ada County caucuses (which convened at Qwest Arena in Downtown Boise) were notable for the unprecedented mass public participation which made them the largest caucus gathering of Super Tuesday 2008: 3,075 votes were cast by the constituents of the 1st Congressional District and 5,215 votes were cast by those of the 2nd Congressional District for a grand total of 8,290 votes cast at a single venue. Thousands of freshly printed ballots were rushed to those caucusing outside the arena in frigid weather. Much higher than anticipated attendance was also reported at other caucus locations throughout the state. Statewide some 28,000 people caucused, an order of magnitude increase over the approximately 5,000 who had caucused throughout Idaho in 2004


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Process
Since at the time Idaho residents did not choose a political party preference at voter registration, the 2008 Idaho Democratic Caucus was open to all individuals who were or would have been qualified to vote in the general election in Idaho on November 4, 2008, including those who were not registered or who were not yet legally old enough to vote (but were going to be legally old enough to vote at the national election). Caucus attendees were required to sign a pledge that they planned on voting Democratic in the county in which they were caucusing. After signing in, participants either marked their first presidential preference or declared themselves uncommitted.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Process
As in past years, the caucuses employed a 15-percent support threshold at the county level. If a candidate failed to meet that threshold on the first vote, the candidate was eliminated from consideration at the county level. A second vote was then taken with all participants free to declare or re-declare their support for any remaining candidate or for "Uncommitted." In 2008, Barack Obama was the only candidate to meet the threshold requirement on the first vote in several counties, most notably in Ada County. Clinton won the caucus vote only in one county: Lewis County in the Northern Panhandle of the state.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Process
After the second vote, county caucuses were broken up into groups by candidate support. These groups then selected county delegates and alternates to the Idaho Democratic Party State Convention who were pledged but unbound by the results. The 2008 Idaho Democratic Party State Convention was held June 12–14, 2008, in Garden City.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Campaigning
Senator Barack Obama made a campaign stop at Taco Bell Arena in  Boise State University before Super Tuesday and told voters that he would not take their guns away.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Primary
On May 27, 2008, a non-binding presidential preference primary was held on the Democratic ticket. The primary had no impact on the Democratic Party delegate selection process. Obama won the primary, but by a considerably smaller margin than his caucus win three months earlier.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Primary
The 734 votes assigned to 'others' in the table were awarded to Keith Russell Judd, who ran his 2008 presidential campaign from federal prison in Texas. He would run against Barack Obama again in 2012, still from prison, winning ten counties in West Virginia, and coming in second with 73k votes to Obama's 106k votes in that state's 2012 democratic primary.


2008 Idaho Democratic presidential caucuses, Analysis
Idaho, one of the most staunchly Republican states in the nation, is difficult to analyze for Democrats. The state delivered a massive three-to-one victory for Obama, his largest victory in the course of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.


2008 Idaho Republican presidential primary
The 2008 Idaho Republican presidential primary took place on May 27, 2008. John McCain won the primary, although before the election he had already won enough pledged delegates in earlier primaries to secure his nomination at the 2008 Republican National Convention.


2008 Idaho Republican presidential primary
Texas Congressman Ron Paul finished second with 24 percent of the vote, which was his best showing in a primary state even though McCain had been declared the presumptive Republican nominee several weeks before the Idaho primary.


2008 Idaho Vandals football team
The 2008 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Idaho competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and played their home games in the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals were led by second-year head coach Robb Akey.


2008 Idaho Vandals football team
The Vandals finished the season with a 2–10 overall record and 1–7 in conference play, which was the team's ninth-straight season with a losing record. Idaho's two wins were against in-state rival Idaho State, an FCS program in the Big Sky, and conference foe New Mexico State. The victory over New Mexico State ended a 24-game losing streak against FBS opponents. Eight of the Vandals' ten losses came by 23 points or more, and against Utah State, Idaho surrendered a third-quarter lead by yielding 28 unanswered points in the final period. Idaho was outgained by conference opponents by 151.6 yards per game on average.


2008 Idaho Vandals football team, Schedule
Idaho's reported home attendance in 2008 was 92,041 for six games, an average of 15,340 per game. The maximum was 17,000 for the Boise State game on November 15, and the minimum was 15,002 for the San Jose State game on November 1.


2008 Iditarod
The 2008 Iditarod featured 95 mushers and dog teams. The 36th Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonially began on Saturday March 1, 2008. The competitive start was the next day.


2008 Iditarod
The 1,161 mile (1,868 km) dogsled race ran through the American state of Alaska. The Iditarod course extends from just north of Anchorage to Nome.


2008 Iditarod
The majority of competing teams hailed from the United States, while notable other teams from Norway, Germany, and Canada were in the running.


2008 Iditarod
The competition was one of the closest in recent memory, with defending champion Lance Mackey and four-time winner Jeff King mushing neck-and-neck for much of the race. Ultimately, the race was won by Mackey, who reached the final checkpoint at 2:46 AM on March 12. Notably, this is the second year in a row Mackey has finished first in both the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest, a feat once thought impossible.


2008 Iditarod, Canine fatalities
Three dogs perished in Iditarod 36. The first was a 7-year-old male on the team of John Stetson, from Duluth, Minnesota. This dog died of pneumonia. The second dog, 3-year-old Lorne was a member of Jennifer Freking's team. Lorne was killed when a snowmobiler crashed into Freking's team. The third death was 4-year-old Cargo, a member of Ed Iten's team, in which the cause of death is unknown.


2008 If Stockholm Open
The 2008 If Stockholm Open was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the event known that year as the If Stockholm Open, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Kungliga tennishallen in Stockholm, Sweden, from 6 October through 12 October 2008.


2008 If Stockholm Open
The singles draw featured ATP No. 7, Buenos Aires champion, Acapulco runner-up David Nalbandian, Wimbledon quarterfinalist, Marseille finalist Mario Ančić, and Australian Open quarterfinalist, Adelaide runner-up Jarkko Nieminen. Also lined up were Rotterdam and Memphis finalist Robin Söderling, Wimbledon semifinalist Rainer Schüttler, José Acasuso, Albert Montañés and Marcel Granollers.


2008 If Stockholm Open, Finals, Doubles
Jonas Björkman /  Kevin Ullyett defeated  Johan Brunström /  Michael Ryderstedt, 6–1, 6–3


2008 If Stockholm Open – Doubles
Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi were the defending champions, but Mirnyi chose not to participate, and only Bjorkman competed that year. Bjorkman partnered with Kevin Ullyett, and won in the final 6–1, 6–3, against Johan Brunström and Michael Ryderstedt.


2008 If Stockholm Open – Singles
Ivo Karlović was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 If Stockholm Open – Singles
First-seeded David Nalbandian won in the final 6–2, 5–7, 6–3, against Robin Söderling.


2008 Ijegun pipeline explosion
On 15 May 2008 a pipeline explosion occurred in the community of Ijegun, a suburb north of Lagos, Nigeria. The explosion took place after a bulldozer struck an oil pipeline. The Lagos police have stated that the explosion appears to be an accident, and not the work of thieves, as in past pipeline explosions near Lagos. Construction workers accidentally broke an underground pipeline from which fuel started to spill out; moments later an explosion occurred.


2008 Ijegun pipeline explosion
The fire started from the Isolo end of Ijegun, which spread to surrounding homes and schools. It reportedly spread through buildings with occupants inside. The Ijegun Primary School was also damaged. More than 15 homes and more than 20 vehicles were burned in the fire. Firefighters and volunteers used sand and water in attempts to extinguish the fires. Forty minutes after the fire started, NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) firefighters arrived on the scene. The Lagos State Fire Service later arrived.


2008 Ijegun pipeline explosion, Deaths
Although the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency puts the current death toll at ten, the Nigerian Red Cross claims at least 100 people have died. Other accounts state that the number dead is 39, including school children. AllAfrica.com reports that the death toll is up to 43. The bodies were taken to the Ikeja General Hospital. A pregnant woman and her 4-year-old son were also among the dead. The Nigerian Red Cross compiled names of the deceased and injured. They set up camps near the disaster as well. Local council and government officials claim that the actual death toll is much lower than what the Nigerian Red Cross is claiming. Victims were taken to a hospital and are said to have been suffering from serious burns.


2008 Ijegun pipeline explosion, Deaths
It's believed that when the explosion occurred, gate men at the Ijegun Primary School initially locked the gates apparently to prevent the pupils from running into danger. But when the atmosphere became tense, the gate men and other staff were said to have run for their lives leaving everyone to their fate.


2008 Ijegun pipeline explosion, Deaths
At that point, students from Ijegun Comprehensive School who ran into the primary school premises were said to have jointly brought down the wall of the school to facilitate their escape. Most of them were trampled on. Eight out of sixteen pupils who were rushed to Corner Stone Hospital reportedly died on 15 May and another died a day later. Three residents were killed after being run over by vehicles whose drivers attempted to flee the fire zone.


2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary
The 2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 153 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Illinois's 19 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 100. Another 53 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 153 delegates represented Illinois at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Thirty-two other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.


2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary, Polls
Polls indicated that then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama was leading then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton by double digits in the days before the contest in his home state of Illinois.


2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary, Results
Chicago Public Radio reported on  March 13, 2008, that the delegate counts were recalculated and Obama won 106 delegates to 47 forClinton.


2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
It was no surprise that Barack Obama cruised to a landslide victory in Illinois, the state he had represented in the U.S. Senate since 2005. He enjoyed massive support in his state among all demographics. According to exit polls, 57 percent of voters in the Illinois Democratic Primary were white and they opted for Obama 57–41; 24 percent of voters were African American and they, too, backed Obama 93–5; and 17 percent of voters in the primary were Hispanic/Latino and they narrowly backed Obama 50–49. Obama won all age groups but tied Clinton among senior citizens aged 65 and over.


2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
He won all voters in the state of all educational attainment levels as well as income/socioeconomic classes. He won all ideological groups and voters from both parties as well as self-identified Independents. Regarding religion, Obama won every major denomination except Roman Catholics, who narrowly backed Clinton 50-48 percent. Obama won Protestants by a margin of 58–38, other Christians 79–19, other religions 82–17, and atheists/agnostics 78–21.


2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Obama performed extremely well statewide and racked up massive victories in his home city of Chicago as well as its suburbs and the metropolitan area. He also won Northern Illinois as well as the collar counties by substantial victories. Clinton's best performance was in Southern Illinois among the more rural and conservative counties that are majority white, although Obama still won the region as a whole.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
The 2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Ron Zook. The Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. This was Zook's fourth season as the Illini head coach.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Game summaries, Louisiana-Lafayette
In the first quarter, Matt Eller kicked a 51-yard field goal. Brit Miller recovered Michael Desormeaux's fumble for a 27-yard touchdown. Drew Edmiston kicked a 24-yard field goal for Louisiana-Lafayette. Juice Williams passed to Daniel Dufrene for a 10-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Game summaries, Louisiana-Lafayette
In the second half, Desormeaux rushed for a 34-yard touchdown and passed to Erick Jones for an 11-yard touchdown. Matt Eller kicked a 27-yard field goal for the Fighting Illini.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Game summaries, Penn State
The Illini lost on the road to the Nittany Lions 38–24 in a nationally-televised, prime time, "White Out" game at Beaver Stadium. Illinois jumped out to a 14–7 lead, becoming the first team to take a lead on the Nittany Lions and the first to score points against them in the first quarter this season. However, the Nittany Lions responded with two touchdowns en route to a 21–14 halftime lead. The Illini wouldn't score again until kicking a field goal on the final play of the third quarter after recovering a Stephfon Green fumble, but Derrick Williams returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Game summaries, Penn State
The loss was head coach Ron Zook’s first as a head coach against a ranked opponent. The Illini's 24 points were the most allowed by Penn State this season as were their 189 total rushing yards.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Game summaries, Penn State
Penn State wide receiver Derrick Williams became the first player under PSU head coach Joe Paterno to score a rushing, a receiving, and a kick return touchdown in the same game. Williams was selected the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.


2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, Game summaries, Wisconsin
The Fighting Illini fell to the Badgers 27–17 for Wisconsin's first Big Ten win of the year. The Badgers outscored Illinois 17–7 in the second half.


2008 Illinois House of Representatives election
The Illinois House of Representatives elections of 2008 determined the membership of the lower house of the 96th General Assembly. The Democratic Party increased its Majority.


2008 Illinois Republican presidential primary
The 2008 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on February 5, 2008. Illinois was one of 24 States holding a primary or caucus on Super Tuesday, 2008. Delegates from each of Illinois' 19 congressional districts are selected by direct election. In addition, the primary ballot also contains a preference poll that lists the presidential candidates.


2008 Illinois Senate election
The Illinois State Senate Election of 2008 determined, along with 19 senators not up for re-election, the membership of the 96th Illinois State Senate. The Democratic Party retained its majority.


2008 Illinois State Redbirds football team
The 2008 Illinois State Redbirds football team represented Illinois State University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Denver Johnson and played their home games at Hancock Stadium. Illinois State was a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Redbirds finished the season with a 3–8 record overall and a 2–6 record in conference play. After the team's final game, a loss to Southern Illinois, Johnson resigned from the head coaching position.


2008 Illinois earthquake
The 2008 Illinois earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the Midwest state of Illinois. This moderate strike-slip shock measured 5.2 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (very strong). It occurred at 04:36:59 local time on April 18 near West Salem and Mount Carmel, Illinois, within the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. Earthquakes in this part of the country are often felt at great distances.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Tectonic setting
Situated in a stable continental region of the Midwestern United States, the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone (WVSZ) is an area of dispersed seismic activity that encompasses the border areas of Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. This broad, multistate zone of intraplate seismicity lay just to the north of the New Madrid Seismic Zone and comprises both strike-slip and dip-slip earthquake mechanisms across numerous named faults, grabens, and anticlines.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Earthquake
Rapid development and expansion of services from the United States Geological Survey was taking place in the 2000s in terms of earthquake monitoring and information dissemination services. A number of products from it and its subdivisions that relay information to the public over the Internet were displayed during the event. An automated system from the National Earthquake Information Center, for example, sent an initial notification containing magnitude, depth, and location within two and a half minutes of the mainshock.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Earthquake, Felt area
The shock was felt as far west as Omaha, Nebraska, as far south as Atlanta, Georgia, as far east as Kitchener, Ontario, and West Virginia, and as far north as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The earthquake was felt so far away, compared to earthquakes in other regions, because the old, rigid bedrock beneath much of the Midwest allows the seismic waves to propagate further.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Earthquake, Damage
Close to the epicenter in Mount Carmel, Illinois, a woman was briefly unable to exit her home due to a collapsed porch, and a two-story apartment building was evacuated because of loose and falling bricks. The Edwards County sheriff's department took reports of minor damage in West Salem, Illinois. Just across the Wabash River in Indiana, Unit 4 at the Gibson Generating Station automatically shut down due to its vibration sensors, and in Princeton, a woman was cut when a crystal figurine was knocked from a shelf in her home. A man had an eye injury at an unknown location, but medical attention was not sought.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Earthquake, Damage
In Louisville, Kentucky, some bricks broke off from an older building near downtown. Slightly further away in St. Louis, Missouri, a portion of the South Kingshighway Boulevard viaduct were closed because of loose pieces of concrete, but whether this was debris-related is unknown, and traffic resumed half an hour later. Several chimneys also collapsed in south St. Louis, the St. Francis de Sales Oratory reported damage to its steeple, and the Basilica of St. Louis King of France reported small fragments from the mosaic ceiling. About 35,000 people in St. Louis County were without power because the Labadie Power Station went offline due to excessive vibrations. Power was restored by midmorning.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Earthquake, Damage
Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky state highway crews investigated if any roads or bridges were damaged in the area. Cracks were reported on U.S. Route 51 near Cairo at the state's southern tip. No roads were reported to be damaged in Kentucky, but inspections were being conducted in the Louisville, Paducah, and Henderson districts, according to the Kentucky Department of Transportation.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Earthquake, Aftershocks
More than 250 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 0.7 to 4.6 were documented in the month following the mainshock, including the largest, which occurred later in the morning. The other stand-out shocks in the sequence were the M4 event on April 21, an M4.2 event on April 25, and a M3.4 shock on June 5 CDT.


2008 Illinois earthquake, Response
Many precautionary measures were taken, including several evacuations. All Vincennes University dormitories were evacuated as a precaution, but no damage was discovered and students were allowed to return after about 45 minutes. A coal mine in Gibson County, Indiana, was also evacuated, but miners returned to work shortly afterwards. The Gibson County, Indiana, 9-1-1 system was briefly knocked offline due to a flood of calls, but after about 15 minutes, service was restored.


2008 Illinois elections, Election information, Turnout, Primary election
For the primary election, turnout was 40.89%, with 2,986,982 votes cast.


2008 Illinois elections, Election information, Turnout, General election
For the general election, turnout was 71.60%, with 5,577,509 votes cast.


2008 Illinois elections, Federal elections, United States President
Illinois voted for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.


2008 Illinois elections, Federal elections, United States President
This was the fifth consecutive presidential election in which Illinois had voted for the Democratic ticket.


2008 Illinois elections, Federal elections, United States Senate
Incumbent Democrat Dick Durbin was reelected to a third term.


2008 Illinois elections, Federal elections, United States House
All 19 of Illinois’ seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2008.


2008 Illinois elections, Federal elections, United States House
The Democratic Party flipped one Republican-held seat, making the composition of Illinois' House delegation 11 Democrats and 8 Republicans.


2008 Illinois elections, State elections, State Senate
One-third of the seats of the Illinois Senate were up for election in 2008.


2008 Illinois elections, State elections, State House of Representatives
All of the seats in the Illinois House of Representatives were up for election in 2008.


2008 Illinois elections, State elections, Ballot measures
Illinois voters voted on a single ballot measure in 1998. In order to be approved, the measure required either 60% support among those specifically voting on the amendment or 50% support among all ballots cast in the elections.


2008 Illinois elections, State elections, Ballot measures
This was the first time since the 1998 Illinois elections that a statewide ballot measure was presented to Illinois voters.


2008 Illinois elections, State elections, Ballot measures, Proposed call for a Constitutional Convention
A measure which would call for a state constitutional convention failed. Article XIV of the Constitution of Illinois requires that Illinois voters be asked at least every 20 years if they desire a constitutional convention, thus this election was constitutionally required to be held.


2008 Illinois elections, Local elections
Local elections were held. These included county elections, such as the Cook County elections.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election
After the resignation of Republican Party United States Congressman Dennis Hastert from his Illinois's 14th congressional district seat in the United States House of Representatives on November 26, 2007, a special election was held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 110th United States Congress.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich set the special election date for March 8, 2008. The Democratic and Republican parties held special primary elections on February 5, 2008. Democrat Bill Foster won the election on March 8, 2008.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, Republican primary, Campaign
Chris Lauzen officially began his campaign on September 19, 2007. Rudy Clai officially entered the race on October 7, but withdrew less than a month later, citing dysfunction within the Illinois Republican Party.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, Republican primary, Campaign
The race was very competitive between Lauzen and Oberweis. On January 15, 2008, they debated at Aurora University. During the debate, Oberweis raised questions regarding International Profit Associates, a company that donated $100,000 to Lauzen's campaign and was being investigated for widespread sexual harassment and fraud.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, Republican primary, Campaign
The Chicago Tribune endorsed Oberweis, stating that had a better command on national issues. Dennis Hastert endorsed Oberweis on December 13, and Kevin Burns subsequently withdrew his candidacy. Lauzen received endorsements from the Aurora Beacon News, the Kane County Chronicle, the DeKalb Daily Chronicle and the Chicago Daily Herald.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Negative advertisement campaign
The race for the 14th district was marked by intense negative campaigning between the regular primary elections of February 5 and the special elections of March 8. Oberweis, with $2.3 million of his own money and an additional $1 million provided by the National Republican Congressional Committee, attacked Foster on his various political stances. Foster, with $1.8 million of his own money and an additional $1 million provided by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, countered that Oberweis had employed illegal immigrants in his retail stores.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Negative advertisement campaign
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama appeared in a television ad for Foster that ran immediately prior to the special election. John McCain endorsed Oberweis.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Endorsements
The Chicago Tribune endorsed Bill Foster for the seat in its March 4, 2008 edition based on Oberweis' history of "nasty, smug, condescending ... and dishonest" campaigning, and Foster's position that he would be a Blue Dog Democrat. The Chicago Sun-Times endorsed Oberweis as "forceful and informed", painting Foster as "poorly informed" and unable to discuss specific issues in depth.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Results
The election of Foster over Oberweis ended a 20 year Republican streak of holding the seat. The election of Foster also brought speculation that Republicans would lose three more seats up for re-election in the November general election, resulting in a 14–5 Democratic advantage in Congress for Illinois.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Results
Observers cited several factors explaining Foster's victory, including rapid suburbanization of Kane and Kendall Counties, Foster's position regarding the expansion of health-care and his support of immigration-reform, including a path to citizenship, and Lauzen's refusal to endorse Oberweis following the Republican primary. In contrast, Oberweis' campaign tactics were criticized, including the overuse of mass mailings and automated phone calls to remind voters of the special election.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Results
Reporter John Fund of The Wall Street Journal pointed to the failure of Lauzen to endorse Oberweis, Hastert's preference for "self-funded" but unskilled candidates, and local reviews that the NRCC ads were "nasty," "stupid," "largely incomprehensible" and "factless" as additional reasons why Foster won the seat. By contrast, Fund noted that the Democratic party spent much of its funding on an ad featuring Obama touting Foster's credentials as a physicist and problem-solver.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Results
Governor Rod Blagojevich had scheduled the special election for Saturday, March 8 in an attempt to increase voter turnout. However, the election drew a low voter turnout, with only 22 percent of registered voters participating.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Results
Although it was initially thought that Foster would not be sworn in until April due to the need to count absentee ballots before the election would be certified, he took the oath of office on March 11. On his first day in office he cast the deciding vote to keep from tabling an ethics bill that would create an independent outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members.


2008 Illinois's 14th congressional district special election, General election, Results
Foster's victory was the first time a House seat flipped parties in a special election since Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin won the open South Dakota at-large seat of Republican Bill Janklow in June 2004.


2008 Imphal bombing
In the 2008 Imphal bombings, at least 17 people were killed and more than 30 were injured on 21 October 2008.


2008 Imphal bombing
This was the second blast of such a magnitude in the Indian Seven Sisters in the month of October 2008. It followed a season of bomb blasts around the country in 2008 that were carried out by various factions, contributing to a precipitous domestic instability.


2008 Imphal bombing, Attack
The attack was a single blast triggered from a bomb rigged on to a Kinetic Luna moped in the provincial capital of Manipur. The attack occurred at the gate of Ragailong in the Imphal West District.


2008 Imphal bombing, Attack
The attack targeted the barracks of security personnel, as well as civilians in the area, who were gambling ahead of the Diwali holiday. Police said they suspected the headquarters of the 20th Battalion, Assam Rifles, and the Manipur police commando complex, where personnel live with their families, were the targets of the attackers.


2008 Imphal bombing, Attack, Follow-up
The blast came just two days after an explosion near the Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh's official residence in the capital.


2008 Imphal bombing, Attack, Follow-up
Two days later security forces shot as many as eight militants who were said to be members of the Kangleipak Communist Party (MC). Imphal East SP, Radheshyam Singh, said: "At least three encounters took place in the two police districts of Imphal East and Imphal West on Thursday evening, during which eight militants have been killed."


2008 Imphal bombing, Attack, Follow-up
The post-blast security sweep resulted in an unidentified militant being killed in an encounter as the 29th Assam Rifles raided Sitakhul area under Tengnoupal police in Manipur's Chandel district bordering with Myanmar following reports of militants roaming the area on 30 October. As some militants opened fire at them, the military personnel were forced into the ensuing encounter. One lethod gun and three bombs were recovered from the spot as others reportedly escaped towards a thick hilly area. In 2008 alone over 310 people have been killed in counter militant activity.


2008 Imphal bombing, Investigation
Police believed the bomb was to avenge the killing of at least eight rebels by security forces last month. They have suspected the separatist People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) to be responsible for the attack.


2008 Imphal bombing, Investigation
The residents of Ragailong and its surrounding areas demanded a judicial inquiry into the attack. There was no word indicating the demands for a probe were heeded.


2008 Imphal bombing, Investigation
After the arrest and interrogation of the prime accused in the case, Sachindra Debbarma, it was revealed that the blast was planned at a hideout of the Assam-based National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in Moulavibazar on 22 July. Police said, besides the cadres of the Pakistan-based ISI and the Bangladesh-based DGFI, seven militant outfits of the Northeastern region attended a meeting at the hideout and chalked out the blueprint for the attack. Debbarma also claimed that militants in the region, backed by some fundamentalist groups, were spreading a fake currency net in the region and planning to destabilise India.


2008 Imphal bombing, Investigation
He also said that Sagam Ali, who had been arrested by BSF early in the year on the Tripura border, was sent for the same mission. Furthermore, four active mobile SIM cards, including one from Bangladesh, an amulet bearing his name, an international passport and address of a Karachi-based suspected ISI agent, were seized from Ali, a resident of Bongaigaon in Assam. This evidence led to the conclusion that he belonged to Hazrat Shah Sultan Gyasuddin Awalia and had travelled extensively to Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2007. He was remanded to judicial custody till 20 November after a court rejected his bail petition, along with that of all the other nine accused in the blasts.


2008 Imphal bombing, Responsibility
The following day the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council) (KCP (MC)) claimed responsibility for the blast saying it was a reaction to the gambling that reaches its peak during the Diwali holidays. The claim, distributed to newspaper offices in Imphal, said the explosion was triggered "in order to put an end to lagao," a form of gambling which it said was an "alien culture" that was adversely affecting Manipur society. A statement said "Lagao is a form of gambling which is alien to Meitei culture and it needs to be stopped."


2008 Imphal bombing, Responsibility
The statement was signed by Lanheiba Meitei, a leader of the KCP (MC) faction formed out of the original KCP that was formed in 1980. Kangleipak is the historical name of Manipur which was adopted by the KCP in its attempt at the preservation of the Meitei culture, while it also demands secession of Manipur from India in order to achieve such goals.


2008 Imphal bombing, Responsibility
On 28 October, contradictory reports from the KCP (MC) clarified that it was not involved in attack. The information and public relation officer of the outfit, Puranthaba, did also allege that three of their members killed at the Heingang area earlier in the month were part of the four apprehended from Dimapur just before the alleged encounter. They also denied the possibility of a relationship with the deceased Paominlan and Haokhoken, whom Imphal east commandos and troops of 39 Assam Rifles had gunned down two days after the blast.


2008 Imphal bombing, Responsibility
The KCP in general has seen an increased level of activity this month as the police reported the execution of two former members. They said the KCP's Thoubal district commander, identified as 2nd lieutenant Udoi alias Nongyai or Angousana, and his female companion, Leisa of Khangabok, were executed by the outfit for their anti-party and anti-revolutionary activities.


2008 Imphal bombing, Response
The initial response to the attack in a highly fortified area like Ragailong, meant the CM instructed the top brass of the security services to "take up all necessary measures so that such attacks do not recur." This especially rang true with the upcoming festivals of Diwali and Ningol Chakkouba, so as to ensure both pass off peacefully. The SSP of Imphal West, L Kailun, said "apart from intensifying security vigil at all strategic locations in Imphal, the police has also started conducting a massive drive to check any abandoned vehicles." An appeal was also made to citizens to be on high alert and to notify the police if they come across any suspicious objects in market places or crowded areas.


2008 Imphal bombing, Response
The bigger response to the attack saw the CM calling for the sealing of the border with Myanmar, he said: "We want the centre (federal government) to fence the border, we cannot let them (PREPAK) escape after the incident." An unnamed military commander also added that "We know where [the] militants have their camps across the border, but we can't go inside Myanmar chasing them." In addition a senior intelligence officer in the region added that "Our plan is to fence the border and step up foot patrolling along the border, otherwise it will be difficult to control the situation."


2008 Imphal bombing, Response
India claims that as many as 3,000 rebels, use the jungles of the Kabaw Valley in Sagaing Division, for training camps and staging areas for incursions into India. Although India has signed a pact with Myanmar to share intelligence, it has proven insufficient to tackle the insurgency that is said to be caused by New Delhi's plundering of the region's mineral and forest resources with little investment returning. In retaliation the rebels want to throw non-Meiteis out of the province, while seeking statehood, a demand India does not acquiesce to.


2008 Imphal bombing, Response
About 700 armed PREPAK rebels have carried out regular attacks in the area. According to police, the rebels were believed to have escaped across a large porous border to their camps in neighbouring Myanmar. The border with Myanmar stretches about 370 km (230 mi), and security officials want the entire stretch to be barbed-wired to stop the smuggling of weapons and explosives. The entire area, home to more than 200 tribes, has been racked insurgencies virtually since India's independence.


2008 Imphal bombing, Reactions
Manipur Governor Gurbachand Jagat condemned the bomb blast as an act of terrorism and mindless violence. He stated that the act was targeted against the people of Manipur as a whole, and called upon all peace-loving citizens to condemn such violence as an act against the people and culture of Manipur. He also condemned the perpetrators of the attack for causing injury and distress to the many innocent victims, while he also conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families who faced loss through this barbaric act.


2008 Imphal bombing, Reactions
CM Singh, along with giving the assurance of paying an ex-gratia amount to the next of kin of the deceased, gave Rs 5,000 each as an immediate relief for the injured persons who were undergoing medical treatment.


2008 Imphal bombing, Reactions
Many social and political organization were also quick to come out in condemnation of either the attack or at least the government:


2008 Imphal bombing, Reactions
On 28 October, public ire was shown against both separatists and the police. Protesters wielded placards reading "Killing innocents is not an act of revolution" and "Don’t kill innocents to show your power," amongst others. While the slogans were clearly directed at the militants, protesters also blamed the police for not paying heed to their call to crack down on gambling in the area, which was the raison d'être for the attack.


2008 Imphal bombing, Reactions
Once activist said, "We have been calling upon the police for quite some time to take steps to check gambling in the area, but no one bothered to take action." Later, upon meeting the CM to submit a memorandum a member of the delegation said: "We have demanded a judicial enquiry into the incident and have sought relief for the families of those killed and injured."


2008 Independence Bowl
The 2008 Independence Bowl marked the thirty-third edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.


2008 Independence Bowl, Game summary
The game was contested starting on Sunday, December 28, 2008, with a 7:15 PM CST kickoff, telecast on ESPN. the contest pitted the 2008 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team against the 2008 Northern Illinois Huskies football team. Both Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois were chosen because both of the contracted conferences - the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference - failed to produce enough bowl eligible teams as both had a pair of schools in the 2009 Bowl Championship Series. Prior to the game, citing financial difficulties stemming from the financial crisis of 2007–2008, PetroSun pulled out as title sponsor.


2008 Independence Bowl, Game summary
Both participants were football-only members of the Big West Conference in the mid-1990s. This was the 7th football game between Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois and the first since 1996. Tech now holds a 6-1 edge over Northern Illinois.


2008 Independence Bowl, Game summary
The game was Louisiana Tech's 4th appearance in the Independence Bowl and the first appearance since 1990 when Tech tied Maryland 34-34. The Bulldogs now hold an overall record of 2-1-1 in the Independence Bowl. The victory over Northern Illinois marked the first bowl game victory by the Bulldogs since their 1977 Independence Bowl victory over Louisville.


2008 Independence Bowl, Game summary
This was Northern Illinois' 1st appearance in the Independence Bowl and the 4th overall appearance in Division I FBS Bowl Games. Their previous appearances in bowl games include the 1983 California Bowl (20-13 victory over Cal State-Fullerton), 2004 Silicon Valley Classic (34-21 victory over Troy), and 2006 Poinsettia Bowl (37-7 loss to TCU).


2008 India Open Grand Prix Gold
The 2008 India Open Grand Prix Gold was a badminton tournament which took place at Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, India from 1 to 6 April 2008, and had a total purse of $120,000.


2008 Indian Federation Cup
The 2008 Indian Federation Cup was the 30th season of the Indian Federation Cup. It was held between 4 and 21 December 2008. The cup winner were guaranteed a place in the 2009 AFC Cup.


2008 Indian Federation Cup, Results, Semi-finals
Play was halted for eight minutes during the first semi-final after Dempo's Ranti Martins collided head-on with Churchill Brothers' Ogba Kalu Nnanna in the 73rd minute, after the two rose for a corner kick from the former's teammate Robert Lalthlamuana.


2008 Indian Premier League
The 2008 Indian Premier League season was the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, established by the BCCI in 2007. The season commenced on 18 April 2008 with the final match held on 1 June 2008 and The competition started with a double round robin group stage, in which each of the 8 teams played a home match and an away match against every other team. These matches were followed by two semi-finals and a final.


2008 Indian Premier League
In a match which went down to the last ball, Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings in the final to win the title, with Yusuf Pathan named the player of the match and Shane Watson adjudged the player of the tournament. Sohail Tanvir won the purple cap for being the top wicket-taking bowler while Shaun Marsh won the orange cap for leading run-scorer in the tournament. Shreevats Goswami was awarded the best under-19 player award and the special award for Fair Play was won by the Chennai Super Kings.


2008 Indian Premier League, Auctions and Personnel signings
The auctions for team ownership was held on January 24, 2008. Mumbai was the most expensive team, costing over US$111.9 million. For the inaugural IPL season, each team had a salary cap of US$5 million (Rs. 20 crore approx.). Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag were classified as icon players. They played for the franchises representing their home towns and hence did not enter the auction. Few players were classified as marquee players and the teams which lost out on icon players were allowed one extra marquee player to be selected in the auction. The first auction was conducted on 20 February 2008 with Mahendra Singh Dhoni winning the highest bid of US$1.5 million. Andrew Symonds was the most costly foreign player. A further second auction was held for few foreign players signed. Teams also signed players on individual basis.


2008 Indian Premier League, Rules and regulations
In the event of tied scores after both teams have faced their quota of overs, a bowl-out will determine the winner, even in the group stage.


2008 Indian Premier League, Rules and regulations
In the group stage, teams will be ranked on the following criteria:


2008 Indian Premier League, Statistics, Bowling, Most wickets
Tournament's leading wicket taker wore a purple cap when fielding.


2008 Indian Premier League, Controversies, Cheerleaders
The IPL has been criticised by a few politicians and feminists for bringing in foreign cheerleaders, which is seen by many to not be in the traditional spirit of the game, as well as being against some Indian sensibilities. Two cheerleaders from London were asked to leave the ground at Mohali "because of the colour of their skin" by Wizcraft International Entertainment, which handles the team Kings XI Punjab.


2008 Indian Premier League, Controversies, Cheerleaders
Ellesha Newton and Sherinne Anderson, both from London and of African ancestry were allegedly barred from entering the stadium by employees of Wizcraft International Entertainment on the pretext that "people don’t like dark girls here". Both the girls also allege that an employee referred to them with the racial slur ″nigger″.


2008 Indian Premier League, Controversies, Cheerleaders
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said a probe would be initiated by the IPL only if the two women officially complain to IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.


2008 Indian Premier League, Controversies, Cheerleaders
BCCI and IPL officials are surprised that the two cheerleaders did not complain about the alleged racist behaviour while they were in India and spoke about it only after they returned to London.


2008 Indian Premier League, Controversies, Cheerleaders
"We have not received any complaint from any cheerleaders that they were asked to leave by the Mohali-based Kings XI Punjab franchise recently because of the colour of their skin," BCCI joint secretary M.P. Pandove said in Mohali.


2008 Indian Premier League, Controversies, Sreesanth – Harbhajan Singh altercation
On 25 April 2008, following the Kings XI Punjab's victory over the Mumbai Indians at Mohali, Punjab player Sreesanth was slapped under his eye by Harbhajan Singh, the in-stand captain of Mumbai. The incident came to light as Sreesanth was caught by TV cameras sobbing inconsolably on the field before the presentation ceremony. Sreesanth had since downplayed the incident saying he had no complaints against Harbhajan who was "like an elder brother" to him. Harbhajan's team had lost their third consecutive match when he apparently reacted violently to Sreesanth's approaching him and reportedly saying "hard luck". The footage of the slap has not yet been released for public viewing. The BCCI launched an investigation into the incident and decided to ban Harbhajan for the remainder 11 matches of the Twenty20 tournament.


2008 Indian Premier League Final
The 2008 Indian Premier League Final was a day/night Twenty20 cricket match played between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings on 1 June 2008 at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai to determine the winner of the 2008 Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India. It ended as the Royals defeated the Super Kings by three wickets.


2008 Indian Premier League Final
The Royals, captained by Shane Warne, topped the group stage table, whereas the Super Kings, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, stood at the third position. They had defeated the Delhi Daredevils and the Kings XI Punjab respectively in the semi-finals.


2008 Indian Premier League Final
Winning the toss, Royals' captain Shane Warne opted to field first. The Super Kings scored 163 runs in 20 overs with a loss of 5 wickets. Batting at number three, Suresh Raina top scored for the Super Kings with 43 runs. Royals' bowler Yusuf Pathan took three wickets for 22 runs. The Royals failed to build a good opening partnership. However, due to contributions from the middle order, it reached the winning total in the last ball and earned the 2008 Indian Premier League title. Pathan, who was the best performer for the Royals with both bat and ball, was named the man of the match.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Route to the final, Group stage
The Super Kings started its campaign with four consecutive wins, but lost its next three matches to the Daredevils, the Royals and the Deccan Chargers. It qualified for the semifinals after winning four of its last seven league matches. The Royals lost its first match in the group stage to the Daredevils. However, it won all of its next five matches. Then, it suffered a defeat against the Mumbai Indians, but went on to win its next six matches. It lost the last group stage match against the Kings XI.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Route to the final, Group stage
The two teams faced each other in two matches of the group stage, both of which were won by the Royals. The Royals had played a match in the tournament before at the DY Patil Stadium; it lost the match by seven wickets. The Super Kings played at the stadium for the first time in the finals.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
The Royals played the Daredevils in the first semi-final. The Daredevils won the toss and decided to field first. The Royals got an opening partnership of 65 runs. Its middle-order batsmen Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan scored 52 and 45 runs respectively to help it amass 192 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. Batting second, the Daredevils lost its first five batsmen for just 55 runs. Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scored for the Daredevils with 33 runs. The Daredevils was bowled out in the 17th over for just 87 runs, and gave its counterpart a 105-run victory. Watson, who took 3/10, had the best bowling figures for the Royals, and was awarded the man of the match for his all-round performance.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Route to the final, Semi-finals
In the second semi-final, Super Kings played the Kings XI. The Kings XI won the toss and elected to bat first, but its top six batsman failed and only one of them reached double figures. However, due to significant contributions from the lower-order, Punjab managed to reach a total of 112/8. Super Kings fast bowler Manpreet Gony took 3 wickets by conceding just 14 runs. In reply, Super Kings lost its first wicket when Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan were dismissed for 6 runs. However, both Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina scored a half century each and took the Super Kings to the target with 31 balls to spare. The Super Kings won the match by nine wickets, and Yusuf Pathan was given the man of the match award.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Buildup
The match was hosted by Mumbai because the franchise owner of the Mumbai Indians placed the highest bid for acquisition, which was US$111.9 million. Before the match, ESPNCricinfo assistant editor Nagraj Gollapudi identified the Royals as the most likely winner. Despite being seen as the underdogs, the Royals finished at the top of the league table, and won 11 matches out of 14 with 22 points. The Super Kings stood third, behind Kings XI, getting 16 points from eight wins.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Buildup
There were two changes in the Royals' playing eleven for the final; Graeme Smith and Mahesh Rawat were replaced by Kamran Akmal and Niraj Patel. Smith was ruled out of the match as he was suffering from a hamstring injury. The Super Kings fielded the same side as in its semi-final win over the Kings XI.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Despite the fact that the home team Mumbai Indians was not playing, the match attracted a huge number of spectators. They were exposed to performances by Amrita Arora, Shamita Shetty, Dia Mirza, Salman Khan and Cirque du Soleil. Then a laser show was organised. The match was a day/night match, and started at 20:18 Indian Standard Time (IST) (UTC+05:30). The toss took place at 20:00 IST in the presence of Lalit Modi and match referee Javagal Srinath. Modi flipped the coin, and Royals' captain Warne called heads; the coin turned out to be heads, and Warne won the toss.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Sunil Gavaskar had said in his match report that the batsmen will be required to play more on the front foot because of the inconstant bounce. The pitch was patchy, and Warne chose to field first. The Super Kings lost its first batsman as Sivaramakrishnan went out for 16 runs. He was caught by Ravindra Jadeja when Pathan was up. Sivaramakrishnan pulled a fast ball to deep mid-wicket, and Jadeja took a "well-judged catch". Sivaramakrishnan made 16 runs in 14 balls at a strike rate of 114.28, and played an opening partnership of 39 runs with P. Patel.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
After that, Raina joined P. Patel, and both of them made 25 runs for the second wicket partnership with a run rate of 6.81. P. Patel was caught in the last ball of the ninth over. Similar to the previous wicket, Pathan bowled a flat and fast ball, P. Patel tried to play it towards the third man. However, the ball edged towards the wicket-keeper Akmal, who initially dropped the ball, but caught it afterwards. P. Patel made 38 runs in 33 balls and hit five boundaries.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
The next wicket was of Albie Morkel, who made 16 runs out of 13 balls. Pathan again bowled a flat fast ball, which was top edged by Morkel. The ball went into the air, and was eventually caught by Akmal. However this resulted in the collision of Akmal and Mohammad Kaif as both were trying to take the catch, and both of them got injured. Four overs later, Jadeja caught Raina on Watson, breaking a 33 runs fourth wicket partnership between him and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Watson bowled a full-length ball outside off stump.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Raina played it towards long off, but failed to get enough distance and Jadeja caught the ball at the boundary. Chamara Kapugedera joined Dhoni after the dismissal of Raina, a decision which "punctured" the momentum in the slog overs. Kapugedera made eight runs by acing 12 balls, before being caught by Swapnil Asnodkar on Sohail Tanvir. Tanvir bowled an angling slower ball, which was lofted on the front foot by Kapugedera. The ball was caught by long-on fielder Asnodkar.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
With the last five balls remaining in the innings, Dhoni and Subramaniam Badrinath together made 15 runs, and Badrinath made six runs off two balls. Dhoni made 29 runs not out, facing 17 balls, in which he hit two fours and one six. Pathan had the best figures with the ball for the Royals, as he took three wickets for 22 runs in four overs. Tanvir and Watson got one wicket each and gave 40 and 29 runs respectively. Warne gave 34 runs in his four overs, but failed to get any wicket. Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi gave 14 and 21 runs respectively in their two overs each.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
In reply, the Royals lost its first batsman as N. Patel went out after scoring two runs in 11 balls. Manpreet Gony bowled a full-length ball outside the off stump, which hit the leg stump after getting an inside edge as N. Patel opted to pull it. He went out in the first ball of the fourth over, leaving his team at 19 runs with loss of one wicket. The Royals lost its second opener when Raina caught Asnodkar as he hit a full and wide ball by Morkel to point. He made 28 runs facing 20 balls.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
In the same over, Makhaya Ntini ran out Akmal with a direct hit. Akmal played the ball to mid-on, but Ntini glided downwards and threw the ball at the stumps. After the fall of Akmal's wicket, Watson and Pathan started playing more aggressively, and scored 65 runs for a fourth wicket partnership at a run rate of 8.66; this was also the highest partnership of the match. In the eleventh over, Raina dropped Pathan on Murlitharan at deep midwicket. At the end of the thirteenth over, the Royals reached a score of 100 runs.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
In the fifteenth over, Muralitharan broke the partnership as he bowled Watson; the ball hit the leg stump. The next wicket was of Kaif, who was caught by Dhoni on Muralitharan. Kaif pushed a flat doosra, and Dhoni took a simple catch at cover. In the next ball, Jadeja went out for a golden duck. Morkel bowled a short ball, and Jadeja tried to pull it. However the ball went to mid-on, and Kapugedera caught the ball after running towards his left. In the same over, Raina ran out Pathan with a direct hit at the stumps.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Morkel bowled a full ball which was pushed by Warne to point. He ran for a single, but Raina hit the stumps, running out off-striker Pathan. Pathan went out scoring a half-century; he made 56 runs out off 39 balls with a strike rate of 143.58 and hit three fours and four sixes. The Royals needed 18 runs at the end of the eighteenth over. The second last over was bowled by Ntini, in which he gave up ten runs.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
In the last ball of the over, Ntini bowled a good length ball, and Warne hit a four by Warne at cover. In the last over, the Royals required eight runs, and Dhoni gave the ball to Lakshmipathy Balaji. Six runs were required from the last three balls, but Balaji bowled a wide outside off stump, which was missed by the wicket-keeper P. Patel. This resulted in two extra runs. In the next ball, Warne hit a full ball for a run. The Royals needed three runs from the last two balls.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Tanvir played the fifth legal delivery of the over, which was an angling full toss. Tanvir hit the ball at the long leg, and ran two runs. The Royals needed one more run off the last ball, with Tanvir on strike; Balaji bowled him a short ball. Warne had already covered the half distance of the pitch when Tanvir hit the ball. The two batsmen ran for a single and the Royals won the match. Both of them remained not out with nine runs each. Morkel and Muralitharan got two wickets each, giving 25 and 39 runs respectively. Gony got one wicket, whereas Ntini and Balaji had none.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Match, Summary
Pathan received the award for maximum sixes in a match; he hit four sixes in the match. He was also named the man of the Match.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Aftermath
The Royals received ₹48 million (US$670,000) and a trophy for being the champions. Royals' players received their medals from Sharad Pawar in the post-match ceremony. Warne said:


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Aftermath
It's been a fantastic journey. We're gelled together really quickly. It makes me proud to see so many young guys learning and executing their skills in the middle. I think the crowds all over India have made the atmosphere amazing. Congratulations to Chennai. It's been a wonderful ride for us.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Aftermath
Royals' Tanvir was given the purple cap for getting the highest number of wickets in the league. Watson was declared as the man of the series; he scored 474 runs and took 17 wickets in the season. The Super Kings received ₹24 million (US$340,000) for being the runners-up. Dhoni said:


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Aftermath
I think the standard of our cricket was really good. We were up to the mark in the finals. We lost as a team. There were a few errors in batting and bowling. We're not really unhappy or bogged down by it. We'll go back to our hotel and enjoy it. That's what sport is all about. the response from our team was great. even the guys who didn't get a chance were completely behind the team. So the spirit was great."


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Aftermath
Both teams qualified for the 2008 Champions League Twenty20. However, the tournament was cancelled due to the 2008 Mumbai attacks and both teams were given ₹220 million (US$3.1 million) each as compensation.


2008 Indian Premier League Final, Aftermath
Yusuf Pathan's all-round performance, three wickets for 22 runs off 4 overs and his 56 runs from 39 balls, was later declared by ESPNcricinfo as the "greatest IPL performance of all time".


2008 Indian Rajya Sabha elections
Rajya Sabha elections were held on various dates in 2008, to elect members of the Rajya Sabha, Indian Parliament's upper chamber. The elections were held  to elect respectively 55 members from 15 states, four members from Karnataka and one member from Mizoram and Aruncahl Pradesh, and 11 members from two states for the Council of States, the Rajya Sabha.


2008 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, Elections, Members elected
The following members are elected in the elections held in 2008. The list is incomplete.


2008 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, Bye-elections
The bye-elections were also held for the vacant seats from the State of Bihar, Nagaland, West Bengal and Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.


2008 Indian floods
The 2008 Indian floods were a series of floods in various states of India during the 2008 monsoon season. The floods mostly affected the western regions of Maharashtra state and Andhra Pradesh as well as northern Bihar. In India, the monsoon season generally lasts from June to September.


2008 Indian floods
According to Ministry of Home Affairs (India)'s disaster management unit, the countrywide death toll from floods in various states was 2,404 between June to September.


2008 Indian floods, Early monsoon
Earlier, during the start of the monsoon season, West Bengal and Orissa were hit with heavy rains, creating a flood-like situation in the two states. The monsoon killed 100 people, mostly in the country's east and north-east. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 42 people died in a matter of two days because of sudden, heavy rains.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding
In August, the Konkan region of Maharashtra experienced heavy monsoon rains, placing lives in jeopardy. Many inter-city trains between Mumbai and Pune were cancelled. Heavy waterlogging had been reported from Chiplun, Rajapur, Khed and Mahad in Maharashtra. On 10 August 2008, a major landslide caused extensive damage to a three-story building at the Sinhgad Technical Education Society's (STES) academic campus in Lonavla. A large number of passengers were reportedly stranded at various railway stations across western Maharashtra as Central Railways canceled many trains. Vehicular traffic on the Mumbai-Pune expressway was also affected due to heavy rainfall and was diverted.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding
In Mumbai, heavy rains lashed the city and its suburbs, affecting traffic and disrupting rail services on the days of 10–11 August.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding
In Andhra Pradesh 119 relief camps were set up in the state, most of them in the Guntur and Krishna districts. Hyderabad, Krishna district, and the East and West Godavari districts were the worst affected areas due to floods. The situation in Andhra Pradesh was more deadly as 53 people reportedly died due to floods. In Hyderabad alone 14 people were killed, when they were crushed by the collapsing roofs of their homes.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
The nexus of the Bihar flood is the Kosi River's immense alluvial fan, extending some 185 km from the river's exit from the Himalayas and foothills in Nepal, down to its confluence with the Ganges in Bihar. The laws of geology and physics cause rivers to course back and forth across such fans in ephemeral channels lasting decades at most, but for flood control reasons man-made embankments endeavored to contain the Koshi within a channel along its fan's western edge. On 18 August, heavy monsoon rains caused the river to break out of this channel. It started flowing through an old channel much further east, inundating cropland and towns and villages with 1.2 million inhabitants, mostly in Bihar.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar met India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his help in dealing with the "catastrophe". The worst affected districts included Supaul, Madhepura, north Bhagalpur, Araria, Purnia (all by the Kosi) and West Champaran (by Gandak). Relief work was carried with Indian Air Force helicopters dropping relief materials in the worst hit districts.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
The district magistrate of Madhepura has ordered the inhabitants of the town of Madhepura to evacuate because the water level continued to rise. Relief work was carried with Indian Air Force helicopters dropping relief materials (including 600 food packets per day) from Purnia in the worst hit districts where nearly two million persons were entrapped. It is not possible to assess the magnitude of deaths or destruction, because the affected areas are totally inaccessible. Even mobile phones had stopped working, because entrapped persons cannot get their batteries charged. 150 persons were washed away in a single incident (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition). Another report says 42 people have died in the flood in Bihar.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
The Government of Bihar has constituted a technical committee, headed by retired engineer-in-chief of the water resource department, Nilendu Sanyal, to manage the restoration work and closure of the breach in the East Koshi afflux embankment. Indian authorities were working to prevent further widening of the breach and channels would be dug to direct the water back to the main river bed. However, Dainik Hindustan (Darbhanga edition) reported on Aug 28 that Indian officials were chased away by anti-social elements from the breach site in Nepal. Nepal's Defence Minister has made a statement that Nepal will repair the breach on its own, although it was not made clear when this work will be started.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
Dainik Hindustan (Darbhanga edition) later sent its reporter to the site of the Kushaha breach, who reported with photographs on Sep 5 that all earlier claims by government officials of repairing the breach and of Nepalis chasing away Indian officials were utterly false reports by Indian officials, because there were thick forests on the embankment and it was not possible to reach the site before the end of August. Forest on the embankment proves that these parts of Kosi embankments were not even visited for decades. Its maintenance was the responsibility of Indian, especially Bihar's officials. The life of these embankments elapsed over two decades ago, but no effort was taken to even survey their conditions, although the Bihar government spends huge sums on the maintenance of embankments each year.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
A high-level Government of Nepal team that inspected areas devastated by the flood in the Koshi River has held India responsible for the havoc. Media reports stated The devastation took place as the Indian side did not carry out repair and maintenance work on the Kosi barrage and the embankment along the river, thereby violating the Nepal-India Koshi agreement. As per the bilateral agreement of 1954 India is entirely responsible for repair and maintenance work and operation of the barrage. There was no effort by Indian officials to repair the breach in time, although the Kosi took 15 days to make the breach.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
On the other hand, Indian engineers say that anti-social elements in Nepal did not allow them to repair the embankment (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition, Aug 28). These so-called "anti-social" elements are the victims of the Kosi embankments who have been forced to bear tsunami-like floods every year; they are happy that the river wants to change its course. Kosi embankments are designed to contain the Kosi in the channel of the Tilyuga River, while the old course of the Kosi lies far to the east in Purnia district.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
Later, Dainik Hindustan reported on Sep 5 that Indian officials could not reach the site of breach as there were forests on the embankment which were cleared in early September, hence Indian officials were lying about being prevented to repair the breach: they had not visited the site for decades due to forests in the way.


2008 Indian floods, August flooding, Bihar
The New York Times reported that it is the worst flood in the area in 50 years, prompting Manmohan Singh to declare a “national calamity” on 28 August. The government earmarked US$230 million in aid for the region. The Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and non-governmental organizations operated the biggest flood rescue operation in India in more than 50 years. Death tolls rose from Indian floods as more than 65 people had been killed in monsoon rains. Villagers ate raw rice and flour mixed with polluted water in Bihar, amid hunger and diseases. Supaul district was the worst-hit by floods and surging waters swamped 1,000 square kilometres (250,000 acres) of farmlands, destroying wheat and paddy crops.


2008 Indian floods, September flooding
In September, even as the Bihar floods had not receded completely, the north-eastern state of Assam faced floods with rising waters from the Brahmaputra River. Kaziranga National Park, which has the highest density of rhinos in the world, was 90% submerged in water. Also, Pobitra national park in Assam was flooded. Two rhinos have died in these floods. A tiger has killed one rhino calf. In addition, four deer and one elephant have also failed to survive. The flood situation has affected estimated 2.1 million people and caused 24 deaths so far.


2008 Indian floods, September flooding
Worst affected districts are Dhubri, Jorhat, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Morigaon. Thousands of people are staying in makeshift shelters with the government providing food and other essentials to the displaced people, besides healthcare facilities. Indian officials say that the flooding situation could cause an epidemic, because refugees are consuming unclean water and food in shelters.


2008 Indian floods, September flooding
Breaches in embankments have caused these floods in Assam. Four embankments on the Puthimari River, one constructed just three months ago, were breached causing the calamity. Waters have breached embankments at total 54 vital locations, and water levels are dangerously high in about 10 points.