April 2012
A Powerful earthquake of 8.7 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Aceh province of Indonesia on 11 April 2012. A tsunami alert also has been given for much of the Indian Ocean. The earthquake`s epicentre was at a depth of 33 km about 485 km from Indonesia`s Banda Aceh, a region regularly hit by earthquakes.
Myanmar`s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 April 2012 won a parliamentary seat in a historic by-election. It set the stage for her to take public office for the first time. Her party National League for Democracy (NLD) won 43 seats. It will be the main opposition force in a national parliament where the political party backed by the military has the majority. She was released in late 2010 after she had been detained under house arrest by the military. She had won the Nobel peace prize in 1991.
The Syrian government announced ceasefire against rebels on 12 April 2012. There would be no military operations against rebels. But the troops will remain on alert to thwart attack by armed groups against civilians and the security forces. The ceasefire will be effective throughout Syria.