Yearender: Newsmakers of 2024
Despite being impeached in his previous term, Trump secured a fresh term as the 47th President of the United States in a poll that saw the Republican party make a comeback.
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The South Africa-born businessman became a US citizen in 2012. With a net worth exceeding $458 billion and ventures in electric vehicles, space exploration, crypto money and social media, he also campaigned for Donald Trump. He is seen as a key player in shaping the incoming second Trump administration.
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The youngster made history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single Olympics. She bagged bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event and 10m air pistol mixed team event alongside Sarabjot Singh.
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Despite struggling with injury, he won a silver medal in the javelin throw at the Paris Olympics to become the first Indian track and field athlete to win medals at two successive Summer Games.
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Having worked with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg in the past, the Chennai-born AI specialist has been chosen by Donald Trump as his Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
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Dismissed as MP in December 2023, she regained her Lok Sabha seat after winning the 2024 general elections in May with a margin of 44,000 votes.
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He became the youngest-ever chess world champion after defeating defending champion Ding Liren in Singapore. He battled with the Chinese grandmaster till the decisive 14th game, and it looked like it was going according to Liren’s plan, who tried his best to force out a tiebreaker. But a blunder in the 55th move saw Liren resign and concede to Gukesh, thereby making history.
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Williams and her fellow astronaut Barry Butch Wilmore got unexpectedly stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) due to technical issues after reaching it on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner for an eight-day mission. In September, Williams assumed command of the ISS for the second time in her career. Concerns arose over her health due to noticeable weight loss, which she attributed to normal fluid shifts in microgravity. NASA has scheduled their return to Earth via a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in February 2025.
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Murthy, who sparked a debate by advocating for a 70-hour workweek for young professionals in 2023, emphasising the need for hard work to drive India’s progress invited collective criticism from technology and human resource professionals even this year. He also hit the headlines when he purchased a second luxury apartment in Bengaluru’s Kingfisher Towers for Rs 50 crore.
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In August 2024, Hindenburg Research, a short-selling activist firm, accused Puri Buch and her husband of having a stake in offshore entities that channelled money to Adani-founded companies. She refuted the allegations.
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After storming into the finals of the women’s freestyle 49-kg event at the Paris Olympics, the veteran was disqualified after being found 100 grams overweight during the weigh-in on the morning of the final. She retired from wrestling, joined the Congress party and won the Julana seat in the Haryana Assembly polls.
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Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case. He came out on bail on September 13.
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PM Modi returned to power in the 2024 general elections, scoring a hattrick—a feat only Jawahar Lal Nehru achieved.
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