Vladimir Putin has triumphed in Russia's presidential elections again. When did Putin first take charge as the President of Russia?

Vladimir Putin, a Russian politician, served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on December 31, 1999, when President Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move. Putin scored a decisive victory in Russia's presidential election on Sunday March 4 to return to the Kremlin and extend his hold on power for six more years.

On February 27, 2012, a fire broke out in the generator room of the cruise ship Costa Allegra . The fire was extinguished and there were no injuries or deaths, but the fire left the ship without power and adrift about 200 miles southwest of the Seychelles. The passengers were left without working toilets, running water or air conditioning in a region of the Indian Ocean where pirates are known to prowl. The liner safely docked in Seychelles on March 1, three days after the fire. This incident comes as a second blow to Costa cruises as another cruise ship owned by them, Costa Concordia, had been holed by rocks and grounded six weeks before causing 32 deaths.

Twelve persons were injured when the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress workers clashed over the forcible closure of a school at Rajarhat on the outskirts of Kolkata during the 24-hour general strike. A group of CPI(M) workers tried to forcibly close down a school to enforce the strike when Trinamool Congress workers arrived on the scene, police sources said.

In a major operation, Delhi police arrested two suspected LeT terrorists who were allegedly planning to carry out terror strikes in the capital targeting vital installations and VVIPs. Delhi police said the operation was launched to nab the two Lashkar-e-Taiba men after receiving inputs from Central intelligence agencies that the duo has entered the capital to carry out strikes.

Pitched battles were fought between lawyers and policemen at the Bangalore civil court complex. At least 30 journalists and policemen were injured, three of them critically, after lawyers threw chairs, stones and floor tiles at them. The motive of the attack was to get even with the media for criticising the legal fraternity over their January 17 snap protest, which had caused a logjam in the city.

It was announced on March 3 that Lt Gen Bikram Singh will be the next Indian army chief. The announcement ended months of bitter succession row originating from the disputed age of incumbent General VK Singh. Bikram Singh 59 will be the first army chief who joined the 1.3-million strong force after the 1971 Bangladesh war with Pakistan. He currently heads the army's eastern command and will take the top post May 31 when Gen VK Singh will be retiring from service.

Powerful tornadoes raked across a wide swath of the US Midwest and South . These storms, predicted by forecasters for days, killed at least 38 people in five states of United States of America, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The twisters splintered homes, damaged a prison and tossed around vehicles across the region. This was Alabama's Madison County’s second hit. Last year it was struck by a tornado during last April's deadly outbreak.

A train packed with hundreds of morning commuters slammed into the end of the line in a busy station in Buenos Aires on Wednesday February 22, killing 49 people and injuring approximately 675 in what is Argentina's worst rail accident in decades. The train was full and the impact was tremendous . The paramedics at the scene appeared overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. Witnesses said the train's brakes failed as it was arriving at the Once station on the western outskirts of Argentina's capital.

Holding prima facie that his comments on imposition of president's rule in Uttar Pradesh a threat to voters and violation of Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission slapped a show-cause notice on Union Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal asking why action should not be initiated against him. Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said that Jaiswal has already explained his position by noting that his remarks were "misinterpreted" and that he would explain the same to the poll body.

President Barack Obama has said he would order the US military to destroy Iran's nuclear programme as a final option, if economic sanctions fail to compel Tehran to shelve its nuclear ambitions. "I don't bluff," Obama said delivering his most explicit threat to Tehran, warning that "all options are on the table" and that the final option is the "military component.