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It was also a bad year for Manchester after the IRA exploded two bombs in centre of the city; injuring 64 people and causing millions of pounds of damage.

Politically, the government, led by John Major, made themselves unpopular on two fronts, by firstly signing Britain up to the 'Treaty on European Union' (many saw this as a loss of Britain's identity); then secondly announcing it's plans to close a third of Britain's deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs.

In terms of sport, 1992 saw Barcelona hosting the Olympic Games; it being the first time in 20 years that every country had been present (with no boycotts or bans in places). Linford Christie was the star of the event by becoming the oldest ever Olympic 100m champion (at 32 years old!). The year also saw 'The Football Association' launch the new 'Premier League', no-one at the time quite realising the revolutionary effect that it would have on the game.

Entertainment wise, the quirky, fast paced breakfast TV programme 'The Big Breakfast' made its debut. There was plenty of chaos and disorder on the show; Chris Evans being the one to lead the fun, games and competitions. The BBC were far, far less successful with their attempt at entertaining the public with 'Eldorado'. Focusing on a community of ex-pats living in a Spanish fishing village, it was slated for its wooden actors and uninspiring storylines (later to be axed after just one year).

The big movies of the year were 'Wayne's World' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. The first being about Wayne and Garth's battling it out with a hot-shot TV producer to save their own low-budget TV show (and also win the heart of the lovely Cassandra!). The second being Quentin Tarantino's story of a botched robbery and the hunting out of the 'rat' (was it Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown or Mr. Blue?). According to estimates by experts world population would reach a staggering 9 billion in the next 40 years and food demand would increase by 50% much before that by year 2030. The strain on land as a resource on account of good portions of cultivable land being taken up to provide living space and shelter to the swelling population would only compound the problem. Given the bleak scenario the formation of the EU joint Programming Initiative (JPI) on agriculture could not have come a day later.

The JPI constitutes 20 European countries which work together and synergise their efforts and knowledge in defining, developing and implementing a common strategy to address all issues that concern the well being of its citizens. It would help in strengthening research collaboration and coordinate effort to avoid duplication and make the best use of the national funding of EUR 1 billion Marks made available per year for the initiative. The JPI will eliminate fragmented research efforts that could pull in opposite directions and bring about a coherent and coordinated research initiative which would play a crucial role in the European 2020 strategy.

The fact that less than 15% of civil research is currently coordinated at the European level and the EU budget covers only 5% of public research funding is not something to be happy about and it is this anomaly that the EU Commission plans to correct. latest news in uk