Persons 2012

Omita Paul appointed as the Secretary of the President: Appointment Committee of the Cabinet(ACC) appointed Omita Paul as the Secretary of the President on 24 July 2012. Her tenure as Secretary to the President is for contract basis. Omita is 63 years old. She replaced Christy L Fernandez. Omita Paul was appointed as the information commissioner in the central Information Commission in the year 2009 for the short duration of time at the end of the UPA-I governments tenure. In addition, she had resigned to join as the Advisor in Finance Ministry from 2004 to 2009. Omita is a retired officer from Indian Information Service (IIS) from 1973 batch. Omita Paul is the wife of KK Paul. KK Paul was the former Delhi Police Commissioner. He is working as the member of the Union Public Service Commission. Hesham Kandil Named Egypt's New Prime Minister: Egypts President Mohamed Morsi elected fifty-yearold Hisham Kandil as the countrys Prime Minister on 26 July. Morsi ordered the countrys former minister of water resources and irrigation, Kandil to form a new government. Kandil, holds an engineering degree from Cairo University in the year 1984 and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in the year 1993. Kandil will be the first Egyptian prime minister to wear a beard, which is a sure sign of change in the country. A number of more experienced names were suggested for the prestigious role, but Morsi chose Kandil, a relatively lesser-known face as the Prime Minister of the country, this could be because he wanted someone unlikely to threaten or overshadow him. Mohamed Morsi who became the fifth President of the Republic of Egypt on 24 June 2012, is the first to have been freely elected in the country. The next government will be technocratic in nature, and the ruling Islamist Freedom and Justice Party is expected to head eight to ten ministries of the new cabinet Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: African Union (AU) on 15 July 2012 elected South Africa's home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its new head, making her the first female head of the union. In a closely fought contest Dlamini-Zuma beat incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon 37-17. Dlamini-Zuma, wife of the former South African President Jacob Zuma, was declared winner following a third round of voting. In election held in January 2012, neither of the two candidates got the two-thirds majority, which was required to be elected as the organization head. Consequently, Ping got an extension of another six months in the office. African Union, the successor to Organisation of African Unity, came into existence in 2002 at Durban summit in South Africa. The Union is headquartered at Addis Ababa Ethiopia. A pan-African organization, AU aims at promoting unity and cooperation among African nations. The association also strives to spread democracy and good governance in the continent. At present the African Union has a total of 54 members. Morocco is the only African country which is not the part of the Union. Stephen Covey, '7 Habits' author, dies at 79: Stephen R Covey,the well-know motivational speaker and author of the best selling ''The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people'', which sold more than 20 million copies in 38 languages, died on 16th July at a hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho, due to complications from a bicycle accident in April, according to his family. Covey also was the author of several other best sellers, including ' First Things First,' ''Principle-Centered Leadership'', ''The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families,'' and ''The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness''. Covey was the co-founder of Utah-based professional services company Franklin Covey. He lived with his wife in Provo, and has nine children and 52 grandchildren. Veteran socialist Mrinal Gore passes away: Veteran socialist leader Mrinal Gore, who earned the sobriquet 'Paniwali Bai' for her efforts in bringing drinking water supply to Goregaon, a Mumbai suburb, passed away on 17 July, after a brief illness. A pioneer and visionary, Gore was one of the last of the Socialist pillars in Maharashtra. Gore was elected to Parliament on a Janata Party ticket in 1977. Gore belonged to that special set of women who took to politics in a period when it was virtually unthinkable for women to be involved in public work. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India exhortation as a youngster, Mrinal chucked a promising career in medicine to devote herself to organizing the poor and the disenfranchised Arun Mishra as Chief of DGCA: GOVT. has decided on 16 July 2012 to appoint Arun Mishra as the Chief of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). He will replace E. K. Bharat Bhusan. Arun Mishra was the former IAS officer at West Bengal cadre. He was the joint Secretary of Civil Aviation in the year 2009.DGCA comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. DGCA is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation that deals with the safety issues.

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Deepak Parekh: Deepak parekh- HDFC chairman, the govt. has appointed him on 16 July as the new chairman of the High Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure. He would function in an honorary capacity with the rank of minister of state. The committee is authorized to re-examine existing policies and advice necessary changes to present in the investment for the infrastructure sector. It will work under 12th FiveYear project investments plan from 2012 to 2017 of 4099240 crore rupees. The committee was first set up by Rakesh Mohan, former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in November 2012. Rajesh Khanna Passes away: RAJESH KHANNA(69)-Yesteryear Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna passed away at his Mumbai residence Ashirwad on 18 July 2012. He was 69. He was severely ill over the past few months. Rajesh Khanna is considered to be the first superstar of Indian cinema. Rajesh Khanna is survived by his wife Dimple Kapadia and two daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinkie Khanna. His elder daughter Twinkle Khanna is married to Hindi film actor Akshay Kumar.Rajesh Khannas real name was Jatin Khanna, was born on 29 December 1942, in Amritsar, Punjab. Aradhna, Anand, Kati Patang, Dushman, Bawarchi, Amar Prem are few of his movies which earned him both the praise of critics and commercial success at the same time. He was conferred the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.Rajesh Khanna was also the member of Lok Sabha from 1992 to 1996. He was elected to the lower house on the Congress Party ticket from the New Delhi constituency. Renowned Economist P.N.Dhar passes away: P.N.DHAR(94) - Professor of Economics and the first principal secretary of Indira Gandhi passed away on 19 July 2012 in New Delhi. He was the professor of Economics in the University of Delhi. He was the first Principal Secretary of Indira Gandhi in 1970. He was the only person who had joined Prime Ministers Office in the year 1970.He was the team member which was accompanied by Indira Gandhi when she had signed Simla Agreement with Pakistan after the War of Bangladesh in the year 1971. Dhar was one of the founders of Delhi School of Economics. He worked as the Assistant Secretary General in United Nations, Research and Policy Analysis in New York in the year 1976-78. Renowned Art Expert Sumahendra passed away: SUMAHENDRA(69) - Renowned Art Expert, passed away on 19 July 2012. He was the director of Visual Art in Jawahar Kala Kendra, Rajasthan. He was also the retired Principal of Rajasthan School of Art. He was known as the expert in Rajasthani miniature paintings and frescos. His work included the World Famous frescos in Bundi fort in the National Museum which is located at Delhi. In addition, He was the author of numerous books which are based on painting. Varnamala is one of his famous book. . RSS Ideologue Bal Apte passes away: BAL APTE(73)- Top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Ideologue and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bal Apte died in Mumbai on 17 July 2012. He was 73. Bal Apte was twice elected to the Rajya Sabha (in 2000 and 2006), where he represented the state of Maharashtra. He was the vice president of BJP during 2002-2010 . Rajkeshwur Purryag is Mauritius fifth President: Rajkeshwur Purryag became the fifth president of Mauritius on 21st July. His predecessor Anerood Jugnauth resigned in March following open conflict with Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ramgoolam. The row erupted when the leader of the opposition Paul Berenger announced the creation of an opposition alliance headed by Mr. Jugnauth.Mr. Ramgoolam asked Mr. Jugnauth to either deny the statement by the opposition, or in the case of confirmation to resign, arguing that his new role was incompatible with a position as head of state. Captain Lakshmi Sahgal passes away: Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, who was part of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army, died on 23rd July in Knapur, following a brief illness. Sehgal (97), breathed her last at a private hospital at 11.20am, her daughter and noted CPM leader Subhashini Ali said. Sehgal, who was ill for some time, was admitted to the hospital on July 19 after she suffered a heart attack at her residence in Civil Lines area here. She was kept on life support system. She was very active during the Independence movement and had commanded the 'Rani of Jhansi Regiment' of the INA formed by Bose. A doctor by profession, Sehgal was working as a medical practitioner and a social worker. She was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1998.

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Derek o Brian: Derek o Brian, the Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal became the first Anglo Indian to vote in Presidential Elections in India. Brian, a Trinamool Congress MP, cast his vote in Kolkata on 19 July 2012. O'Brien voted , as he is not a nominated member and has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal . As per the constitution of India an MP who has been nominated by the President to either of the house of the Indian Parliament is not eligible for casting vote in Presidential election. In Rajya Sabha, there are twelve members, who are nominated by the President and can not vote in Presidential election. Dawoud Rajiha Syrian Defence Minister Dawoud Rajiha, was killed in a bomb blast in Damascus, capital of Syria ,on 18 july,2012.The bomb strike was carried out by a suicide bomber, who was apparently a part of the security team that was posted to guard Syrian President Bashar Al Assads inner group. This incident took place after four days of violence in Damascus, which started soon after the opposition launched a new offensive codenamed Operation Damascus Volcano, which focused on high visibility targets. As of now, a Syrian rebel Islamist group is claiming up for the strike. E.K. Bharath Bhushan- In a sudden move, the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) head was on 10 july stripped off from his post by the governmet, with immediate effect.There has been speculation that his recent warnings to Air India and Kingfisher Airlines to pay dues to their employees may have gone against him. Dara Singh(84)- renouned wresler from India, passed away on 12 July 2012 in Mumbai. Born on 19 November 1928 in Dharmoochak village of Amritsar in Punjab, Dara Singh earned fame around the globe as a Professional Wrestler. He announced his retirement from active wrestling in 1983. In 1996 he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.Dara Singh, got the popular recognition as an actor when he portrayed the character of Lord Hanuman in the Ramanand Sagars Ramayan television series. Dara Singh was also the member of Rajya Sabha from August 2003 to August 2009. He was conferred the title Rustam-EPunjab in 1966 and Rustam-E-Hind in 1978. Ernest Borgnine(95)-Oscar award winner,passed away in Los Angels. He was best known for Academy award-winning role of a butcher in the movie 'Marty'(1955). He was presented Lifetime achievement Award at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award 2011. Nasir Ali as the new Joint Managing Director of Air India: Civil aviation Ministry on 11 July, appointed Nasir Ali as the new joint managing director. Prior to his promotion, he was dealing with human resource issue related to the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. He is the second managerial executive posted in airline by civil aviation ministry after Rohit Nandan who was appointed as the chairperson and managing director of the airline in 2011. Previously, Nasir Ali worked as the director with the civil aviation ministry. He was appointed as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the Air India Airline. He was the head of four-member committee to apply Dharmadhikari Committee proposal on amalgamation of Air India and Indian Airlines in the year 2008. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma : African Union (AU) on 15 July 2012 elected South Africa's home affairs minister Nkosazana DlaminiZuma as its new head, making her the first female head of the union. In a closely fought contest DlaminiZuma beat incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon 37-17. Dlamini-Zuma, wife of the former South African President Jacob Zuma, was declared winner following a third round of voting. In election held in January 2012, neither of the two candidates got the two-thirds majority, which was required to be elected as the organization head. Consequently, Ping got an extension of another six months in the office. African Union, the successor to Organisation of African Unity, came into existence in 2002 at Durban summit in South Africa. The Union is headquartered at Addis Ababa Ethiopia. A pan-African organization, AU aims at promoting unity and cooperation among African nations. The association also strives to spread democracy and good governance in the continent. At present the African Union has a total of 54 members. Morocco is the only African country which is not the part of the Union. Mohamed Morsy was sworn in as Egypt's first elected President on 30th June, a day after he announced at Cairo's Tahrir square that he drew his legitimacy not from the country's military junta but from the people who had already demonstrated their power by toppling former strongman Hosni Mubarak. In his first address on

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Saturday after his inauguration at Cairo University, Mr. Morsy said the Egyptian revolution was irreversible. ''Egypt will not go backwards,'' he told an elite audience, which included Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (SCAF), a powerful body made up of Egypt's top generals. Mr. Morsy praised the ''free and fair'' elections to Parliament - remarks that could be interpreted as a veiled criticism of SCAF, which had dissolved the Peopless Assembly following a Supreme Court ruling that elections to one-third of the seats were unconstitutional. Enrique Pena Nieto- The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) leader, was elected as the new President of Mexico on 2 July 2012. The Institutional Revolutionary Party had ruled Mexico for nearly 71 years, before being voted out of power in 2000 presidential elections.Under the Mexican Constitution, the president is the head of both the state and the government. He is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces. Jawahar Thakur, a 1979 batch officer of Indian Civil Accounts Service, takes charge as the ControllerGeneral of Accounts (CGA) in the Union Finance Ministry with effect from July 1.Before taking over as the CGA from C.R. Sundaramurti, Mr. Thakur was the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes under the Department of Revenue in the Finance Ministry. B. Surender Mohan was appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) on 1 July 2012. A R Ansari was the former Managing Director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation. Neyveli Lignite Corporation is the government organization and the leading company in mining, thermal power plants and innovative researches. B. Surender Mohan is 56 years old. He served as the Mines Director in his earlier stage of life. He started his career from Rourkela Steel Plant and he was the Deputy General Manager at Rashtriya Ispat Nigam in the year 1998. Assamese poet Hiren Bhattacharyya is dead: Popular and celebrated Assamese poet and winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award and several honours Hiren Bhattacharyya passed away at a private hospital om Guwahati on 4th July.. He was 80. He leaves behind his wife and a daughter. Popularly known as Hiru-da, Bhattacharyya was widely known for using simple words in his poems, through which he could establish direct communication with his readers. He possessed a large vocabulary of simple Assamese words, which is very rare in contemporary Assamese literature. He had to his name 10 anthologies of poems apart from two collection of rhymes for children. The Union Law Ministry on 5th July, re-appointed six Additional Solicitors General to the Supreme Court for a period of two years with effect from July 5. They are: Mohan Parasaran; P.P. Malhotra, Indira Jaising, Mohan Jain, Gourab Banerjee and Harin P. Raval. The tenure of M. Ravindran, Additional Solicitor General for south, based in Madras High Court has come to an end and few names are considered for appointment. The post of Assistant Solicitor General in the Madras High Court is also vacant for over a year. Anup Sankar Bhattacharya was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) on 2 July 2012. M Balachandran was the former director of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection. After the abolition of Banking Services Recruitment Board, IBPS plays a vital role for candidates who are interested in Bank Jobs. Approximately, 15 million applications applied in the year 2011-12. In 2011, all the nationalized banks authorized Institute of Banking Personnel Selection to conduct a common written test to get admission in the government banks. IBPS conducts separate test for SBI (State Bank of India) and its associate banks. Anup Sankar Bhattacharya was the part of Advisory Board of Central Vigilance Commission for three months. He was responsible for security issues at IBPS. Anup Sankar Bhattacharya spent thirty seven years in United Bank of India, Kolkata. He was the executive director of Indian Bank in the year 2004. In addition, he was the part of Bank of Maharashtra in 2010 for 16 month time.

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August
P.M. NAIR- The Ministry of Home Affairs on 27 August 2012 appointed P M Nair as the Director General, National Disaster Response Force & Civil Defence (NDRF & CD). A 1978-batch Indian Police Service Officer of Bihar cadre, Nair is presently working as Special Director General, Central Reserve Police Force. ADMIRAL DEVENDRA KUMAR JOSHI (DK JOSHI)-D.K.Joshi took over as the new Indian Navy chief on 31 August 2012. He is the 21st Chief of Naval Staff of Independent India and the 19th Indian to command the Indian Navy. He succeeded Admiral Nirmal Verma.DK Joshi has commanded several naval ships which includes aircraft carrier INS Virat. He was also the chief of Eastern Fleet. He specializes in antisubmarine warfare. During his tenure, the Navy will start 13000 crore rupees phase II expansion of Project Seabird, the naval harbour under construction near Goa. RAGHU RAM RAJAN- Former chief economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF) took over as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry on 29 August 2012. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet had cleared the appointment of Rajan as the new CEA on 10 August 2012. The position was lying vacant since Kaushik Basu demitted the office on 31 July 2012.Raghuram Rajan has already been serving as the Honorary Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, the position he was given in November 2008. He also headed High Level Committee on Financial Sector Reforms in 2007. A.K.HANGAL(97)-Veteran actor Avatar Krishan Hangal, popularly called AK Hangal, passed away in Mumbai on 26 August 2012 after prolonged illness. In a career spanning nearly 40 years Hangal worked in around 225 films. A devoted artist, he also worked in numerous theatre plays and TV Series. He was born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan, on 1 February 1917.Some of his memorable works came in the movies like Namak Haraam, Shaukeen , Sholay .Considering his immense contribution to the Indian film industry the government of India awarded him with the Padma Bhushan in 2006. Neil Alden Armstrong(82)- The US Astronaut, who got his name written in the history of mankind after he became the first person on the Earth to walk on the surface of moon, passed away on 25 August 2012. At the age of 38, Armstrong, as the commander of the Apollo 11 mission, became the first human to land on the moon on 20 July 1969. Armstrong was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon along with Collins and Aldrin, the Congressional Space Medal of Honour by President Jimmy Carter in 1978.Apollo 11 was the space flight which landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, two humans for the first time on the surface on moon. Republican Mitt Romney is all set to challenge incumbent Barack Obama after the party nominated the former Massachusetts governor as its candidate for the US presidential elections in November this year. Romney won the nomination as he crossed the support of necessary 1,144 delegates during the ongoing Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. The convention also approved Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. Kapu Rajaiah(87)- Famous folklore artist, passed away on 20 august, at his residence at Siddipet,Medak dt, A.P. Rajaiah rose to fame by focusing his paintings on the idiom of Telangana culture, pastoral life and simple village folks. His works were often compared with those of Jamini Roy.He won several awards and these include Lalit Kala Academys national award, Kala Vibhushana by All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, gold medal at All India Art Exhibition, Patna and Kerala Buddha Jayanthi festival, first prize in Dussehara exhibition, Mysore and awards at All India Exhibitions at Gwalior and Bangalore. The Andhra Pradesh Government felicitated him with Rajata Patra in 1966.He also earned the title of Chitra Kala Prapurna in 1975. He received an honorary doctorate from the JNTU, Hyderabad.Lalita Kala Samithi etablished by him in Siddipet trained several budding artists. Karl Mehta- Indian-American entrepreneur has been selected among the 18 Presidential Innovation Fellows who will work on five high-impact projects in the US capital. Selected from an applicant pool of nearly 700 innovators from across the country, the Fellows would spend six months in Washington DC to

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work on five high-impact projects aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses and the economy, while significantly improving how the Federal Government serves the American people. Mr. Mehta, the only IndianAmerican to be present in this list of 18 fellows, would work on The 20 per cent Initiative programme. The 20 per cent Initiative will work to transition the last mile of international development assistance payments from cash to electronic methods - lowering administrative costs, promoting financial inclusion, and reducing theft, fraud, and violence, the White House said. A member of TiE Silicon Valley, Mr Mehta is founder & CEO of PlaySpan, which was acquired by Visa in March 2011.He won the Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 Award from Ernst & Young for Northern California. The fellows - the first of its kind initiative of the White House - was announced by the US Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park. Poonam Kishore Saxena The Union Finanace Ministry appointed, P.K.Saxena, a 1975 batch IRS officer, as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 21 August 2012. Prior to her appointment as CBDT Chairman, Saxena worked as Director General (Investigation) in Jaipur for three years. CBDT is responsible for administration of direct tax laws through the Income Tax Department and also provides essential inputs for policy and planning of direct taxes. PJ Kurien- Congress leader, was unanimously elected as the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Kurien has been the M.P for the last three decades representing Idukki, and Mavelikkara Lok Sabha constituencies. Since 2005 he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.The Deputy Chairman is elected in the meeting of the Rajya Sabha as decided by Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of the Rajya Sabha. He is supposed to resign from his original party because as a Deputy Speaker, he has to remain impartial.Deputy Chaiman of Rajya Sabha acts as the Presiding Officer in case of leave or absence of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the VicePresident of India. Vayalar Ravi- assumed charge as the Union Minister for Science and Technology on 21 August 2012. He was allocated the charge after Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was holding the portfolio passed away on 14 August 2012.Vayalar Ravi is also holding the portfolio of Union Ministry of Overseas Affairs. Besides he also holds the charge of Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Vilasrao Deshmukh(67)- The Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences died of multiple organ failure at the Global Health City Hospital in Chennai on 14 August 2012. He was born on 26 May 1945 in Babhalgaon, Latur district, in Maharashtra. He first became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra after 1999 state assembly elections. He remained on the position till 2003. Again he became the chief minister in the year 2004 but he resigned from the post following the Mumbai Terror Attack on 26 November 2008.In 2009, Deshmukh was elected to the Rajya Sabha and was made the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. Later he became the Minister for Rural Development replacing Manishankar Aiyyar. Ashok Mehta(65)- One of India's most accomplished cinematographers, who had been critically ill from lung cancer, passed away on 15 August. Mehta was an award-winning lensman and had worked with prominent filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, Rajiv Rai and MF Husain. He was the director of photography in films like 36 Chowringhee Lane, Utsav, Trikal, Khalnayak, Bandit Queen, Chalte Chalte, Gajgamini, Trimurti, Khalnayak, Moksha and Ram Lakhan. He also launched model-turned-actor Arjun Rampal in 'Moksha' opposite Manisha Koirala. A true Renaissance Man, he even wrote and acted in some movies. RAKESH SINGH-The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) has elected on 21 July Mr Rakesh Singh as its new President. He has replaced Mr M. Gopalakrishnan. Earlier, Mr Singh was the Vice- President of the institute. Meanwhile, Mr S.C. Mohanty has been elected as the Vice-President of the institute. Both Mr Singh and Mr Mohanty will hold the post for the year 2012-13. RAGHURAM G RAJAN- Former IMF chief economist, has been appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet cleared the appointment of Mr Rajan as the new CEA on 10 august.Mr Rajan, known for his frank views, was also honorary economic advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. At present, he is a professor in the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business. He is also highly acclaimed for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis.An Alumni of IIMAhmedabad and IIT-Delhi, Mr Rajan did his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.The position

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of the CEA has been lying vacant since Kaushik Basus term ended on July 31. Mr Basu would now return as a professor in Cornell University.Mr Rajan was also involved with the report on Financial Sector Reforms, which was authorised by the Planning Commission. Venu Rajamony-A 1986 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, assumed charge as Press Secretary to the President on 2 August. He took over from Archana Datta, who served as OSD to Pratibha Patil. A career diplomat, Mr. Rajamony has served as Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry. Bimal Gurung- president of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), was elected Chief Executive Officer of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) on 3 august, by the elected and nominated members of the new regional autonomous body.The members of the GTA, that replaces the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), will be sworn in Darjiling on 3 august. Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi(60)- a 1976 batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is all set to become an Election Commissioner. A formal notification is expected from President Pranab Mukherjee. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already approved his appointment. The vacancy in the three-member Election Commission arose after Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi retired on June 10. V.S. Sampath was appointed in his place. H.S. Brahma is the other Commissioner. Sushil Kumar Shinde(71)- the Union Home Minister on 3 august, will be the next Leader of the Lok Sabha, the first Dalit to hold that job. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, informing him of the nomination.Shinde is a seven time MLA and three time MP from Maharashtra. Laisenia Qarase- Former Fiji Prime Minister, the last democratically elected leader in the coup-plagued South Pacific nation, was sentenced to 12 months jail on 3 August after being found guilty of corruption. Mr. Qarase, who became prime minister in 2000 and was ousted in a military coup six years later, was convicted on nine charges of abuse of office and failing to discharge his duty when he was a public servant in the 1990s. The charges related to his time as a director of a government investment company called Fijian Holdings from 1992 to 1995, when prosecutors said he put the interests of his family and home village before the public.

September
Onno Ruhl- World Bank has appointed Onno Ruhl as the Country Director for India on 10 september.He will replace Roberto Zagha who retires in October.Ruhl, a Dutch national, was previously the Director for Operations Services and Quality in the South Asia Region of the World Bank. Rajiv Mehta- Rajiv Mehta, IPS, has been appointed as the Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on 18 september. His appointment will be on deputation basis for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till the date of his superannuation or until further orders, whichever event takes place earlier. RAJIV KUMAR- Noted economist Rajiv Kumar, on 17 september resigned as secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). Rajiv Kumar joined Ficci in October 2010 as director general when Amit Mitra was its secretary general. Later, Kumar replaced Mitra in May 2011 and became the secretary-general, Ficci. Mitra moved on to become the finance minister of West Bengal. In a statement, Ficci said Kumar decided to return to academics and research therefore resigned. G. Kasturi(87)- former Editor of The Hindu and former Managing Director of Kasturi & Sons Limited, proprietors of The Hindu Group publications, died on 21 september. Mr. Kasturi presided over a phase of rapid technological and editorial transformation at The Hindu . He led from the front the newspapers expansion and

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modernisation from the 1960s through to the cusp of the 1990s.His was the longest tenure for an Editor of the newspaper, which turned 134 years on September 20, 2012. He joined The Hindu in 1944. Konda Laxman Bapuji(97) - Noted freedom fighter, former Minister and Telangana protagonist died of cardiac arrest at his residence in Hyderabad on 21 september. Born in Wankhidi village in Adilabad district on September 27, 1915, Bapuji participated in Vandemataram and Quit India movements and fought against the Nizams rule for the liberation of Hyderabad State. Later, he participated in the non-mulki agitation in 1952 and gave up his Ministers post in support of the demand for statehood to Telangana in 1969.He was active in the Telangana agitation till his death and even tried to convince the leaders of Seemandhra on the need for a separate State. Bapuji was elected to the Assembly four times twice each from Adilabad and Nalgonda districts -- with his last term being during 1972-78 from Bhongir. He served as a Minister in the Cabinets of Kasu Brahmananda Reddy and Damodaram Sanjivaiah and as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. The Indian Newspaper Society declared Tilak Kumar as its new President: K.N. Tilak Kumar was appointed as the president of The Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2012-2013 on 13 September 2012 during the 73rd annual meet of the Newspaper Society. Tilak Kumar is the Editor of Deccan Herald and the Joint Managing Director of the Printers (Mysore). He is a successor of Ashish Bagga from India Today. The secretary general of the society released the names of other newly elected office bearers of the society. Some of the prominent names are Ravindra Kumar (The Statesman) is appointed as the Deputy President, Kiran B Vadodaria (Sambhaav Metro) is the new Vice President and Sanjay Gupta (Dainik Jagran, Varanasi) has been appointed as the Honorary Treasurer of the Society. New elected members of the executive committee are V K Chopra (Dainik Asam), P V Chandran (Grihalakshmi), Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), L Adimoolam (Health & The Antiseptic), Jagjit Singh Dardi (Charhdikala Daily), Samahit Bal (Pragativadi),Ravindra Dhariwal (Navbharat Times), K Balaji (The Hindu Weekly), Pradeep Gupta (Dataquest), Dr B S Adityan (Varantari Rani), Pawan Agarwal (Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal), Rishi Darda (Lokmat, Ahmednagar) and Vijay Darda (Lokmat) and others. Indian Newspaper Society has 1000 dailies, weeklies, bi-weeklies, monthlies and fortnightlies on board, which are published in eighteen different languages of India. Thilakan(77)- Malayalam cinemas acting legend, died on 24 September in thiruvananthapuram. Wreaths were placed on behalf of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Defence Minister A.K. Antony. The cremation was held with state honours in the city.Surendranath Thilakan, a man of rough edges on and off screen, acted in nearly 200 films during his four-decade-long film career and won accolades and several awards on the way. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2009. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad -The World Hindi Conference has decided to honour Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad in recognition of his immense contribution to Hindi literature. It comes as a great honour to a Teluguspeaking person for his enormous contribution to Hindi, whichis the National Official Language. He has been invited to take part in the 9th World Hindi Conference being held in Johannesburg in South Africa from September 22-24, where he will be honoured. Lakshmi Prasad will be honoured with citation, shawl and memento .Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, who heads the Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy, is the Hindi Professor in Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. A former member of the Rajya Sabha, Lashmi Prasad has been honoured in the past by Sahitya Academy Award and is a recipient of Padma Shri. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - Hindi actor, was appointed as UN Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS. She says that she does not want to be just a poster girl for the organisation but will help break social barriers and stigmas that are attached with the disease. In her new role, Aishwarya will help raise awareness on issues related to stopping new HIV infections in children and advocate for increased access to anti-retroviral treatment. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe announced Aishwaryas appointment as the Goodwill Ambassador at a press conference in New York on 25 September. Brajesh Mishra(83)- Indias first National Security Adviser and the man who supervised the testing and incorporation of nuclear weapons as an integral part of the countrys security strategy, died in New Delhi on 28 September. From being closely involved in the planning for the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests to pushing for a deeper engagement with the United States and attempting to mend ties with both Pakistan and China, Mishra stepped out of the bureaucratic mould to implement in a finely detailed fashion the broad vision of foreign policy

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that Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister had sketched out for India. He became a diplomatic practioner himself after joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1951.He served in various positions, including as Ambassador to Indonesia and Indias Permanent Representative at the United Nations. K.S. Narayanan(93)- Chairman Emeritus of the Sanmar Group, passed away in Chennai on 28 September. A co-promoter of the India Cements Ltd., he went to Denmark in the late 1940s and returned with a thorough knowledge of cement and PVC. A technology-savvy industrialist, it used to be said that he could run the plant on his own. With a well-diversified knowledge base, he dealt with a range of industries cement, plastics, sugar, drugs and pharmaceuticals, shipping, ceramic insulators, rubber and calcium carbide. He was involved in the promotion of diverse enterprises such as Chemplast Sanmar Limited, Sanmar Shipping Limited, WS Industries Ltd. and Tamil Nadu Dadha Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Narayanan was the founder president of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce-Southern Region and former president of the Hindustan Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the Sheriff of Madras (1974) and as the Honorary Consul of Denmark for South India. Justice Altamas Kabir- Senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, was sworn in as the 39th Chief Justice of India on 29 September. President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office to him at a brief ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.Justice Kabir will have tenure of a little over nine months till July 18, 2013. Justice Kabir (64), who hails from Kolkata, was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court on September 9, 2005. He became a Judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1990. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court on March 1, 2005 and elevated to the Supreme Court in September 2005. During his tenure as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Kabir delivered several landmark judgments, particularly relating to human rights and election laws. R Lakshmipathy, publisher of Tamil daily Dinamalar, was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Press Trust of India (PTI) after the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) here on 24 September. Lakshmipathy, who has served as PTI Chairman twice earlier, succeeds M P Veerendrakumar, Chairman and Managing Director of Mathrubhoomi group of newspapers. K N Shanth Kumar of Deccan Herald was elected Vice Chairman of the Board. Lakshmipathy is an educationist running several educational institutions for the benefit of rural people in and around Madurai for which has been awarded D. Litt. By Alagappa University and Bharathiar University. Shumsher K Sheriff, Secretary to the Vice-President, has been appointed the new Secretary General of Rajya Sabha. Sheriff, an IAS officer of 1977 batch, would take over on October 1 on completion of the term of the incumbent, Dr V K Agnihotri, a Rajya Sabha Secretariat release said on 25 September. He would hold the office of Secretary General in the rank and status of Cabinet Secretary, on deputation, until August 31 next year. Justice Darmar Murugesan, who was a judge of the Madras High Court, was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on 26 September. 62-year-old Justice Murugesan after being elevated was transferred to Delhi in the place of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri, who in turn has taken charge as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court. Jaideep Sarkar on 27 September 2012 was appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to Israel. The IITian and diplomat, is a private secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a joint secretary of external affairs ministry, has replaced Navtej Sarna, the former ministry spokesperson. Nirmal Verma, the former navy chief on 27 September 2012 was appointed as Indias high commissioner to Canada. His appointment to the post happened on the recommendation of the PMO to the president, who cleared his name for the vacancy. Admiral Verma, will soon leave for Ottawa to join the office because Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harpers visit is scheduled to India in the near future. Verghese Kurien the White Revolutionary and the Milkman of India Died: The man responsible for bringing white revolution in India and founder of worlds largest dairy company Amul Verghese Kurien (90) took his last breath in a hospital at Nadiad, on 9 September 2012. The body of Kurien was cremated in the ultramodern crematorium at Kailash Bhumi in the milk capital of India- Anand, Gujarat in presence of his admirers and staff members of milk cooperatives. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) was founded under the chairmanship of the visionary. He was appointed to be the founder Chairman of

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National Dairy Development Board ins the year 1965 by the then Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. He played a major role in different organizations like, he chaired the Vikshit Bharat Foundation and been a Chairman for Board of Governors of Institute of Rural Management, Anand. Kurien, who was born in Kerela on 26 November 1921, in a Syrian Christian family was a mechanical engineer by education with dairy engineering as his minor subject. His vision and leadership together helped the then milk deficit country India to be the largest milk producing country of the world. Indias contribution to the total milk production of the world is about 17%. Because of his contributions to the nation, Verghese Kurien won awards namely Magsaysay Award, the world food prize and Indias second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan. Now, Kurien is survived by his grandson, Siddharth, daughter Nirmala Kurien and his wife. Altamas Kabir appointed next Chief Justice: Seniormost Supreme Court judge Justice Altamas Kabir was on 13 September, appointed the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Kabir, 64, who will succeed Justice S. H. Kapadia, will take over as the countrys 39th Chief Justice on September 29. Justice Kabir was appointed Supreme Court judge on September 9, 2005. He has delivered several landmark judgments, including on human rights and election laws. He will have a tenure of nine months till July 18, 2013. Born on July 19, 1948, in Kolkata, Justice Kabir did his LLB and MA from University of Calcutta and was made a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court on August 6, 1990. He is part of the Bench hearing the case of the two Italian Marines who allegedly shot dead two Kerala fishermen taking them for pirates. Justice Kabir headed a Bench which recently decided the case of disqualification of MLAs by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker. The Bench quashed the Speakers order on disqualification of MLAs who had defected from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Justice Kabir also decided the important issue of whether an MP suspended from a political party can continue as MP. The Bench headed by him held that even after being removed or suspended from a party, the person can continue as MP and participate in its proceedings and shall be entitled to vote. Former CJI Ranganath Mishra dead: Former Chief Justice of India Ranganath Mishra died at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on 13 September following prolonged illness. He was 86 and survived by wife Sumitra Mishra. A legal luminary, Mishra had been admitted to the hospital on May 22 following old-age related ailments and the end came on Thursday night. A multifaceted personality closely associated with writing and cultural activities, Mishra was born on November 25, 1926. He had enrolled as an advocate of Orissa high court in 1950 after a brief stint in teaching and handled all types of cases at Cuttack. He was appointed a permanent judge of the Orissa high court in 1969 and became acting Chief Justice of Orissa high court in 1980 and a permanent Chief Justice from January 1981. Mishra was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court on March 15, 1983 and rose to become the Chief Justice of India in September 25, 1990 and held the post till November 24, 1991. Besides being a Rajya Sabha member from 1998 to 2004, Mishra was also the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Sheryl Kumar was Crowned as Miss India Fiji 2012 : Sheryl Kumar was crowned Miss India Fiji 2012 at a glittering ceremony in Suva on 8 September 2012. Sheryl beat nine other contestants to win the title. She is now preparing for the Miss India Worldwide pageant to be held in Kuala Lumpur in March 2013. Sheryl also won the Pure Fiji Beautiful Skin award at the event. New ABC Chairman: Shailesh Gupta, director (marketing) of Jagran Prakashan, has been elected Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2012-2013. Syed Mahmood Ahmad, executive vice-president (marketing) of ITC, is the Deputy Chairman. Six more members of the Council of Management for the ABC have also been elected. Former RSS chief Sudarshan passes away : Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K S Sudarshan, who was known for his hardline views and believed in the concept of swadeshi, died in Raipur on 14 September after suffering a heart attack. Mr Sudarshan, 81, is survived by a brother and sister. The ex-RSS chief, who had arrived in the city two days back, died at the RSS office here at 6:50 a.m.. He was in the city for a book launch function. Mr Sudarshan had gone for an early morning walk and suffered a heart attack while doing Pranayam in his chamber in the RSS office, doctors said. Born on 18 June, 1931 in Raipur, he did his Bachelor of Engineering in Telecommunications. A known votary of swadeshi, he served as Pracharak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for six decades and became its Sarasanghachalak in

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2000 succeeding Rajju Bhaiya. He stepped down from the post due to poor health. In August, he had briefly gone missing during his morning walk in Mysore. Girl of Indian-Kazakh origin wins Miss Almaty 2012: Farida Malik (18), a student of Kazakhstans Turan University, has won the Miss Almaty 2012 title.Tengrinews.kz quoted Sovet Seitov, executive director of the Miss Kazakhstan beauty pageant, as saying of Ms. Malik: She is an interesting girl with outstanding appearance. Her father is Indian and her mother is Kazakh. She likes dancing and moves very gracefully. A majority of jury liked her. The Indian Newspaper Society declared Tilak Kumar as its new President: K.N. Tilak Kumar was appointed as the president of The Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2012-2013 on 13 September 2012 during the 73rd annual meet of the Newspaper Society. Tilak Kumar is the Editor of Deccan Herald and the Joint Managing Director of the Printers (Mysore). He is a successor of Ashish Bagga from India Today. The secretary general of the society released the names of other newly elected office bearers of the society. Some of the prominent names are Ravindra Kumar (The Statesman) is appointed as the Deputy President, Kiran B Vadodaria (Sambhaav Metro) is the new Vice President and Sanjay Gupta (Dainik Jagran, Varanasi) has been appointed as the Honorary Treasurer of the Society. New elected members of the executive committee are V K Chopra (Dainik Asam), P V Chandran (Grihalakshmi), Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), L Adimoolam (Health & The Antiseptic), Jagjit Singh Dardi (Charhdikala Daily), Samahit Bal (Pragativadi),Ravindra Dhariwal (Navbharat Times), K Balaji (The Hindu Weekly), Pradeep Gupta (Dataquest), Dr B S Adityan (Varantari Rani), Pawan Agarwal (Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal), Rishi Darda (Lokmat, Ahmednagar) and Vijay Darda (Lokmat) and others. Indian Newspaper Society has 1000 dailies, weeklies, bi-weeklies, monthlies and fortnightlies on board, which are published in eighteen different languages of India. Kaushik Basu- The World Bank appointed Kaushik Basu, as its chief economist and senior vice president on 5 September 2012. Basu, an Indian national and a Cornell University professor most recently served as chief economic adviser of the India's Union Ministry of Finance. He has to take over as the chief economist at the World Bank on October 1. Kaushik Basu, 60, holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics and has also founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics in 1992 is also a founding member of the Madras School of Economics. He had his wide contributions in the field span development economics, welfare economics, industrial organisation and public economics. He was awarded with one of the country's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan in May 2008.In his two-and-a-half-year stay in the Union finance ministry; Basu gave some constructive thoughts on food coupons and innovative ways to tackle corruption among other advices. Sachin pilot(35)-Indian Union Minister of state for Telecommunication and Information Technology is commissioned to be a Lieutenant in Territorial Army on 6 September 2012. With this he has turned up to be a part of 124 TA (Sikh) Battalion the one also known by the name of Urban Concept battalion. Along with commissioning, he will have to attend "14 camp and 22 parade days'' in a year.Sachin Pilot has turned up to be the first union minister to be commissioned as an officer on regular basis in Territorial Army. He cleared the exam that was conducted by the Territorial Army and the SSB interview round at Allahabad. He is a MP from Ajmer Lok Sabha Constituency of Rajasthan. Sundaresh Menon-An Indian-origin judge, has been named as the new Chief Justice of Singapore, making him the first from the community to head the courts.Sundaresh Menon, presently Singapore's Judge of Appeal, will assume the office of the Chief Justice from November 6.He would take over from Justice Chan Sek Keong, who retires at the age of 75. Mamatha Benarjee-The Bloomberg Markets magazine has included West Bengal Chief Minister in the list of 50 most influential people in the finance category. Mamta Banerjee is included in the policy-makers section .The selection was decided on the ability of leader to move markets and shape ideas and policies and his or her influence in affecting the price of a security or the structure of a deal. Two other people of Indian origin who were included in the list were Anshu Jain, Co- CEO of Deutsche Bank and Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the southern District of New York. Mamta banerjee was placed in 21st position. Earlier in April, she was also ranked among 100 most influential personalities of the world by the Time magazine.

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Smita Shah- A close supporter of US President Barack Obama became the first person from Indian-American origin to serve as a parliamentarian for Democratic National Convention on 6 September 2012. She is the ViceChair at Chicago Plan Commission. Paul Mc Cartney(70)-Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney received the French Legion of Honour award on 8 september, at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris. President Francois Hollande bestowed the medal on the British musician, adding that the award was granted for his entire body of work. Born in Liverpool, Mr. McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996, earning him the title Sir. N.A.K.Browne-IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, who has become the senior most among the three Service chiefs after Admiral Nirmal Verma retired on 1 september, has taken over as the new chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC).ACM Browne, in his new role as CoSC chairman, will have to strive to achieve the much-needed synergy among Army, Navy and IAF, which often pull in different directions in policy and procurement decisions. Amir Khan-Bollywood star, Aamirs hugely successful TV show Satyamev Jayate, that focusing on burning issues facing India and ways of tackling them, has landed him on the cover of prestigious Time magazine as India's "first superstar-activist. Bimal Gurung sworn in as the Head of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Bimal Gurung, President of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), will head the first elected body of the GTA. The 50-member body will consists of 45 elected candidates and 5 nominated candidates. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) had emerged victorious on all 45 seats in the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) election. The party won 28 seats out of 45 uncontested while, the voting for remaining 17 GTA seats were held on 29 July 2012 and results were declared on 2 August 2012. Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is the successor of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council which came into existence in 1988. Gorkhaland Territorial Administration was the result of three-year long agitation by Bimal Gurung led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for separate Gorkhaland state. The agitation which kicked off in 2007 culminated with the formation of GTA in 2011. In 2011, when Mamta Banrjee led Trinmool Congress stormed to power in West Bengal, three sides viz. Union Government, West Bengal Government and GJM inked a tripartite agreement with respect to the formation of GTA. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly had passed a legislation for the formation of Gorkha Land on 2 September 2011. According to the legislation the GTA will have administrative, executive and financial powers but no legislative powers. Gaurav Shumsher Rana an India-educated lieutenant general took over the position of Nepals Army Chief, on 6 September 2012. He has served Nepals army for 39 years ever since his recruitment in 1970. Ranas appointment is a result of cabinet decision following a proposal made by the ex-army chief Gen Chhatra Man Singh Gurung to the President Ram Baran Yadav, as a successor to him. Rana, who did his graduation in military affairs from a Himachal Pradesh based, The Lawrence School at Sanawar also completed his Officers Cadet Course Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. Rana is a son of a former Major General Aditya Shumsher Rana of Nepal Army and a great-grand son of the Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana, who ruled the nation in between 1901-1930. A.KRISHNA MURTHY-Sahitya Akademi secretary A. Krishna Murthy on 1 sept has been suspended pending an inquiry into his conduct after allegations against him of financial irregularities and administrative lapses. The decision to place him under suspension was taken by a four-member executive board of the Akademi. Eminent writer Sunil Gangopadhyay, who is the chairman of the Akademi, told that the allegations include financial irregularities and administrative lapses on the part of the Secretary.

October
Lt GenNaresh Chandra Marwah- Marwah has taken over as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) from Vice Admiral SPS Cheema. The General Officer in his career spanning over 39 years has held various coveted Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. The General Officer has a vast operational experience, stretching to almost two decades across the entire spectrum of conflict. Dr. Rakesh Mohan - has assumed charge as Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In addition to India, Dr. Mohan will also be representing three other countries in the constituency, viz.

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Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan on the Board of the IMF. Dr. Mohan was earlier Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and also Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India. He has also been the Chairman of National Transport Development Policy Committee and of the High Level Committee on the Financing of Infrastructure. Prior to assuming his duties at the IMF, Dr Mohan was Professor in the Practice of International Economics and Finance at the School of Management and Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University. The term of Dr. Rakesh Mohan at the IMF will be for a period of three years. T. Samuel (86)-Veteran Cartoonist and the pioneer of pocket cartoons in India, T Samuel died on 2 October 2012 . As a staff cartoonist, he served Delhi edition of Times of India, where he became famous as the creator of the pocket cartoon named Babuji. After serving Times of India for a certain period of time, he joined Indian Express as a cartoonist and carried on with his featured cartoon Babuji and Garib, the next strip cartoon series. He was back with Times of India and served it and its Hindi daily Nav Bharat Times till 1985, the year of his retirement. Pavan K. Varma-Indian Diplomat , resigned as Indias ambassador to Bhutan with an idea of entering into politics.Ambassador Pavan Varma is set to join the Janata Dal-United (JDU). He asserted that he wants to contribute to clean politics and good governance in the country.Pawan Varma, is a 1976 batch IFS officer and had taken voluntary retirement but is going to demits office on 31 December 2012. Shirani Bandaranayake -Sri Lankan Chief Justice, identified with the ruling party for long, is now facing its wrath. The papers of an impeachment motion against her have been handed over to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa by four Members of Parliament. Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will have to decide if the charges deserve a probe and then set a date for a debate. The motion has to be passed by a simple majority in the 225-member unicameral Parliament, where the government commands a two-thirds majority. Rear Admiral Bimal Kumar Verma, AVSM, took over as the Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, from Vice Admiral Sunil Lamba, AVSM, on 29 October. In the course of his distinguished career, Rear Admiral BK Verma has held various Command, Staff and Operational appointments. Rear Admiral BK Verma is an alumnus of the 55th course of National Defence Academy and was adjudged the Best Naval Cadet in his sixth term. Rajat Gupta (63), the former Goldman Sachs Director and McKinsey and Company Managing Partner convicted of supplying confidential information to jailed hedge fund boss Raj Rajaratnam, received a two-year jail term from U.S. Judge Jed Rakoff on 25 October, even as one of the most spectacular insider-trading cases on Wall Street since the financial crisis of 2008 drew to a climax. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $5 million. In June 2012 a jury convicted Mr. Gupta on four criminal felony counts of conspiracy and securities fraud related to his passing on material non-public information on Goldman Sachs to Mr. Rajaratnam, who is himself currently serving out an 11year jail term. Jaspal Bhatti(57)- Popular satirist and filmmaker , the man behind hit comedy shows like 'Ulta Pulta' and 'Flop Show', died in a road accident near Punjab's Nakodar town, 40 km from Jalandhar, on early hours of 25 October. The 57-year-old actor-director, who became popular with his satirical shows during the golden days of Doordarshan, was on a tour to promote the film . Palagummi Viswanatham -Renowned Telugu music composer, passed away on 26 october, after a prolonged illness. He was 93 years old.In a career spanning more than half a century, Palagummi (as he was popularly known) composed more than 15,000 songs and wrote the lyrics for a hundred of them. He also worked for several decades with All India Radio, mostly in the pre-television era. At AIR, Palagummi created light music for a variety of shows which included features, plays, rural programmes and programmes for farmers etc. He also composed publicity songs for government programmes and patriotic songs during the Indo-China and Indo-Pak wars.He received several awards in his lifetime, most of which were from the state government and included a Nandi Award for music for a television serial in 1992. He also received a Hamsa Award for composing music for television film Rajasekhara Charitra. Sunil gangopadhyay-Eminent litterateur and Sahitya Akademi president, died at his South Kolkata residence on 23 october, following a massive heart attack. He was 78. A prolific writer and winner of several awards, Gangopadhyay was the founder editor of 'Krittibas', a seminal poetry magazine that became a platform for a

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new generation of poets experimenting with many new forms. Author of over 200 books, Gangopadhyay excelled in different genres but declared poetry to be his "first love". His Neera series of poems are popular. He had won the Sahitya Akademi Award (1985), Ananda Puraskar `(1989) and the Hindu Literary Prize(2011).After serving five years as the vice-president, he was elected the president of the Sahitya Akademi on February 20, 2008.He used the pen-names of Nil Lohit, Sanatan Pathak and Nil Upadhyay. The Indian Filmmaker Yash Chopra died on 21 October 2012, nine days after being diagnosed with Dengue. He passed away at the age of 80 at Lilavati Hospital at Bandra due to dengue and multiple organ failure. Also termed as the King of Romance, Yash Chopra had by his name Six National Film Awards, Eleven Filmfare Awards out of which four was Filmfare Award for Best Director. Yash Chopra, in his last interview with Shah Rukh Khan on television stated about his latest upcoming film named Jab Tak Hai Jaan and his retirement along with the plans of spending his time with family members. Yash Raj Films, yash chopras own production company stated with the launch of DAAG: A poem of love in 1973. Few of his most acclaimed films, were Deewar in 1975 that set the angry young man image of Amitabh Bachchan, Kabhi Kabhi (a romantic drama) in 1976, Trishul, Silsila in 1981, Mashaal in 1984 and Vijay in 1988 and Chandni in 1989. Some more movies of Yash Chopra were Lamhe in 1991, Darr in 1993 the debut movie of Shah Rukh Khan, Dil To Pagal Hai in 1997, Veer-Zaara in 2004. His latest movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan is scheduled to be launched during the week of Diwali in 2012 about a month after his death. London Olympic Shooter and silver medalist Vijay Kumar was honoured with the Services Best Sportsman award for 2012 at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi The award which include trophy and cash award of one lakh rupees is generally given to the best sportsman from the three defence forces of Army, Air Force and Navy. Vijay Kumar is the current world number and had earlier won three gold medals and one silver medal at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. Vijay Kumar won a silver medal at the July-August 2012 London Games in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol. Vijay Kumar is from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is presently a serving Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment (16th Battalion) of the Indian Army. He was also awarded with Arjuna Award in 2007 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2011-12 by the Government of India. The State Government reconstituted the State Official Language Commission and appointed Mandali Budha Prasad, a former minister, as its Chairman for a term of two years. T Gouri Shankar, Ayyala Somyajula Gopala Rao, N R Venkatesam and Vempalli Abdul Khader were appointed as the members. Despite being a politician, Buddha Prasad was associated with the movement for getting Telugu recognition as a classical language. He served as a member of the Task Force Committee appointed by the State government for this purpose. He was one of the people behind the initiative for setting up Telugu Bhashodyama Samakhya. Prasad was a member of the Childrens Committee during the first World Telugu Conference held in 1975. He participated as a delegate in the Third World Telugu Conference held in Mauritius in 1990. He served as the president of the First International Telugu Internet Conference held in Milpitas, USA during September 2011. He was also the president of the First International Kuchipudi Dance Festival held in Cupertino, US, in 2008. He conducted Krishna Mahotsavams and installed a bronze statue of Sri Krishna Devaraya in Srikakulam. Prominent Litterateur, Yagalla Ramakrishna passed away on 24 October of heart attack in Srikakulam. He is 67 and leaves behind wife and a son and daughter. His body was handed over to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) here on Thursday as per his last wish. Ramakrishna, who was suffering from cancer for the last few months, suffered a heart attack on Wednesday morning. He died on the way while being shifted to RIMS. Ramakrishna, who was close to prominent short story writer Kalipatnam Rama Rao, was instrumental in developing the Kadha Nilayam in Srikakulam town along with him. He instituted annual literary awards to under the aegis of Yagalla Foundation twelve years back. The recipients of the prestigious. Mr. Koji Sekimizu - Secretary General, International Maritime Organization (IMO), London called on G.K.Vasan, Minister of Shipping in New Delhi on 16 October. During the meeting, the Minister drew the attention of the Secretary General to the issue of 43 Indian seafarers who are in captivity of Somali pirates. He also stressed the need for Counter Piracy Measures to be taken and requested for the intervention of the IMO for early release of the Indian seafarers.

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The Minister sought assistance of the IMO for promotion of technical co-operation and technology transfer relating to the improvement of the energy efficiency of ships. The Minister also requested the Secretary General, IMO for considering cooperation between Indian Maritime University (IMU) and World Maritime University (WMU) for development of the IMU. Ravi Narain - National Stock Exchanges (NSE) chief and Managing Director, on 17 October 2012 was elected as chairman of the working committee of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).Ravi Narain is also the chairman of the National Securities Clearing Corporation and a board member of the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange. The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) is an international organization for securities and derivative markets such as stock exchanges. It comprises of Group of more than 50 Bourses or Stock Exchanges. Norodom Sihanouk - Former Cambodian king died on 15 October 2012 in Beijing. He was 89 Years old. Norodom Sihanouk was receiving medical treatment for many years in Beijing for cancer and other ailments. Norodom had dominated politics in Cambodia for nearly 60 years. He was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until 2004. Sihanouk held so many positions since 1941 that he was identifies as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices. These included two terms as king, two as sovereign prince, one as president, two as prime minister, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-inexile. He was succeeded in 2004 by his son, King Norodom Sihamon. Yash Chopra(80)- great Indian Filmmaker Yash Chopra on 21 October 2012 passed away at Lilavati Hospital at Bandra due to dengue and multiple organ failure. Also termed as the King of Romance, Yash Chopra had by his name Six National Film Awards, Eleven Filmfare Awards out of which four was Filmfare Award for Best Director.Few of his most acclaimed films were- Deewar ,Kabhi Kabhi , Trishul, Silsila ,Vijay and Chandni .Some more movies of Yash Chopra were- Lamhe , Darr , Dil To Pagal Hai , Veer-Zaara . His latest movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan is scheduled to be launched during the week of Diwali in 2012 about a month after his death. He received Legion of Honour, France's highest civilian honour. On behalf of Swiss Government he received a Special Award by Ursula Andress and was honoured for rediscovering Switzerland. HeReceived Padma Bhushan in 2005.He won Asian Filmmaker of the Year, 2009 at Pusan International Film Festival. He also received the BBC Asia Awards two times in the year 1998 and 2001 for the kind of contribution he made to the films. In the year 2001 he received Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Lifetime Achievement award . For his contribution to Indian Cinema he was conferred with Priyadarshini Award. The Leeds Metropolitan University in Yorkshire awarded him with Honorary Doctorate in Art. In the year 2010 he was honoured with the Honorary Doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies. For his contribution via his films to 'Brand Switzerland' he received Swiss Ambassador's Award 2010. In the year 2001 he was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke the topmost and the highest honour of Indian Film Industry. In the year 2006 he received 4th Pune International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award . BAFTA gave him a lifetime membership for the his contributions to Indian Cinema, in 59 years history of the academy he was the first Indian to be honoured with the membership. Felix Baumgartner(Australia) - He became the first skydiver on 14 October 2012 to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 1,342 kilometers per hour. In jumping out of a balloon 39 kilometers above New Mexico, the 43-year-old also broke the record for the highest ever freefall. It took just under 10 minutes for him to descend. Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute. The previous highest, farthest, and longest freefall was made by Kittinger, who leapt from a helium envelope in 1960. His altitude was 31 kilometers. Osman Ali Khan -The last Nizam of Hyderabadwho ruled between 1886-1967, was named in list of the 25 richest people across the world who ever lived, by US website Celebrity Networth. Osman Ali Khan, was ranked sixth in world and the richest in India with $236 billion. He died in 1967 at age of 80. The list declared by US website Celebrity Networth was compiled after adjusting the fortunes of people across history for inflation. The Government has appointed senior IPS officer Pranay Sahay as the chief of countrys largest paramilitary force CRPF. Mr. Sahay, a 1975-batch IPS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre, was already holding the additional charge of the CRPF Director-General since October 3 after incumbent K. Vijay Kumar retired in September. Official sources said formal orders in this regard will be issued soon as Mr. Sahays appointment has been approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC). He is expected to hold the top CRPF post till his retirement in

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July next year. At present, Mr. Sahay is also the chief of border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), a post which he is expected to relinquish after official orders are issued in the next few days. SSB Pranay Sahay -The Government gave the temporary charge as head of the world's largest paramilitary force CRPF to Director General of border guarding SSB Pranay Sahay. The top post at the about 3-lakh personnel force, the country's mainstay for anti-Naxal operations, fell vacant three days back after K Vijay Kumar retired on September 30. Justice Subhashan Reddy- was sworn-in as the new Lokayukta of Andhra Pradesh by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan in Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on 12 october. Justice Reddy took oath of office in the name of god. He will hold the office of Lokayukta for five years. He succeeds Justice S. Ananda Reddy. Vijay Mallya On 13 Oct a local Hyderabad court has issued non-bailable warrants against Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya and four directors for failing to appear before it in a cheating case filed by airport operator GMR. The metropolitan magistrate court's order was in response to a petition filed by GMR Hyderabad International Airport, which accused Kingfisher Airlines of dishonouring cheques worth Rs 10.5 crore issued towards airport charges. Lance Armstrong - U.S. antidoping authorities issued a blistering report on 11 October, accusing seven-time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong of being at the center of "a massive team doping scheme, more extensive than any previously revealed in professional sports history." The 202-page report, which includes new testimony from 11 former teammates of Mr. Armstrong, is the culmination of a years long and highly contentious investigation into professional cycling and the methods behind the success of one its greatest teams. The report was issued by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in support of its decision in August to ban Mr. Armstrong from competition for life and strip him of his titles. S.Vishwanathan - S. Viswanathan on 8 October 2012 was appointed as a managing director of State Bank of India. His appointed came by the Central Government of India. Viswanathan, was earlier serving as a deputy managing director of State Bank of India. Prior to that, he was heading the state-run banks investment banking arm, SBI Capital Markets Ltd. The appointment of S. Viswanathan takes effect from the date of taking over charge of the post until April 30, 2014, that isthe date of his attaining the age of superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Following the appointment, SBI has now four managing directors, including Diwakar Gupta, who the chief financial officer, Hemant Contractor, who is in charge of international operations and A. Krishna Kumar, who looks after national banking. B. Satyanarayana Reddy (86)- Socialist party leader and former Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Odisha died in hyderabad on 6 october. A bachelor, who dedicated his life for public service and served for long in the Janata Party, he was a staunch follower of Rammanohar Lohiya and Jayaprakash Narayan. He had served as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh between 1990 and 1993 and later as Odisha Governor. A Telangana protagonist, Satyanarayana Reddy served as an inspiration for those in the Telangana movement. Lt. General (Retired) Kuldeep Singh Brar who led the controversial Operation Blue Star to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984, was stabbed near a hotel in Central London on 1 october night by unidentified attackers and he suffered minor injuries. He was taken to hospital and later discharged.Police said they had registered a case of assault. Gen. Brar has been on the hit list of several extremists and militant organisations. He enjoys Z category security, but was thought to have been without any protection at the time of the incident as he was on a private visit and had not informed the Indian mission in London of his movements. Gen. Brar, 78, was decorated for his role in liberating Bangladesh after the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Historian Hobsbawm passes away : Eric Hobsbawm, one of the most eminent British historians who closely followed the fluctuating fortunes of the Left movement in India and influenced many Indian scholars over decades, died on 1 October in London, at the age of 95. Hobsbawm's works included the widely read and referenced books on world history, titled 'The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848', 'The Age of Capital; 1848- 1875', 'The Age of Empire: 1875-1914', and 'The Age of

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Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991'. A lifelong Marxist, Hobsbawm last visited India in 2005, when he met several people, including CPM leaders, at a luncheon hosted by K Natwar Singh, former Minister for External Affairs.

November
Balmiki Prasad Singh - Governor of Sikkim Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh called on the President on November 29, 2012 and presented a copy of the book titled Our India written by him for school children. The book portrays his appreciation of Indias experience as a civilization and as a nation. Lieutenant General AT Parnaik- Mr Patnaik has taken over as the 22nd Director General Border Roads (DGBR) in New Delhi on 30 November. Lt. Gen Parnaik was commissioned into Corps of Engineers on 22 Dec 1974 and has held various staff, instructional and command appointments. He has commanded a Border Road Task Force and served as Senior Military Observer of United Nations Mission in Congo. He has been a Chief Engineer with a Strike Corps and served as Brigadier Administration in the Valley. After serving as the Chief Engineer of a Command, he was posted as General Officer Commanding of an Area in the East. Later he served as Additional Director General Personal Services in the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army). Before taking over as Director General Border Roads, the General Officer was holding the appointment of Director General Planning at the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army), New Delhi. Sif Ibrahim to be the next chief of Intelligence Bureau and Alok Joshi for RAW Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Alok Joshi will be the new chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Syed Asif Ibrahim the next Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Mr Ibrahim will be the first Muslim to head IB with four officers senior to him having been shifted out. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the name of Joshi, a 1976 batch officer from Haryana cadre, to succeed Sajeev Tripathi as chief of RAW, an organisation entrusted with the task of gathering external intelligence. Joshi has served in IB and the Haryana Police with key operations in Nepal and Pakistan to his credit. Another contender for the RAW post was Amitabh Mathur, a 1977 batch IPS officer, who has been moved to Aviation Research Centre (ARC), an organisation which forms part of RAW and is entrusted with gathering of imagery intelligence, Aerial surveillance, monitoring of borders and photo reconnaissance flights. 59-year-old Ibrahim, a 1977 batch IPS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre, will take over as officer on special duty on December one, a procedure for smooth transition of power from the incumbent Director to the new one, official sources said. The name of Ibrahim was cleared by the ACC and a formal order is expected to be out in a day or two, the sources said. He will be taking over from Nehchal Sandhu who retires on December 31. Ibrahim will have a fixed tenure of two years beginning from January one, 2013. The second in command at present in the organisation is R N Gupta, a 1976 batch IPS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been shifted as Officer on Special Duty to the Cabinet Secretariat while V Rajagopal of the same batch from UT cadre, has moved to Joint Intelligence Committee. Ernest Bai Koroma re-elected as the President of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, the incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma, leader of the All People's Congress was re-elected as the President of the nation on 23 November 2012 after the electoral body declared results of the elections that took place in the country in third week of November. He had sworn in as the President of Sierra Leone on the same day, when the results were declared. He won the Presidential elections by securing 58.7 percent votes in his favour. Julius Maada Bio, the top rival of Koroma won 37.4 percent votes. The incumbent President managed to save himself from the second round of voting by securing more than 55 percent votes in his support. To support the growth of the country and make it one of the fastest growing economies of the world, the President of the war-scarred nation asked all the opposition parties that included Sierra Leone Peoples Partys (SLPP) to unite with each other and work for the cause of overall development of the nation. Christiana Thorpe, the Chief of the National Elections Commission on 23 November 2012 declared that any citizen of the nation can challenge the validity of the Presidential Elections by filing a petition in the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone within seven days of result declaration.

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Dr. Joseph Edward Murray, the Man behind First Kidney Transplant Died At 93 Dr. Joseph Edward Murray, the first doctor to perform kidney transplant successfully died on 26 November 2012. The 93 year old doctor had received a Nobel Prize for the work. Murray had stroke at the suburban home in Boston on 22 November 2012 and eventually he died at Brigham and Women's Hospital. After he performed the first kidney transplant on the identical twins, various other transplants on different organs of the body were performed. Murray also shared Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1990 along with Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, who performed various bone marrow transplants. Earlier in 1950s human organ transplants were never successful. But Murray along with the associates in Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital which is now called Brigham and Women's Hospital developed the surgical methods by transplanting the kidneys in dogs. First kidney transplant was performed in December 1954 on 23-year old Richard Herrick as well as his identical twin Ronald Herrick. After operation, Richard got the functioning kidney transplantation from Ronald. Former Prime Minister IK Gujral passes away -Former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral passed away on 29 November after prolonged illness. The 92-yearold Gujral was admitted to the Medicity Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon on November 19 with a lung infection. Gujral was twice foreign minister under Prime Minister VP Singh and Deve Gauda. He became the 12th Prime Minister of India and was in office for almost a year. Lalit Bhanot elected Secretary General of Indian Olympic Association, Abhay Singh Chautala named President -Abhay Singh Chautala has been elected as the President of the Indian Olympic Association while Lalit Bhanot has been elected as the Secretary General on 30 November. Bhanot, who was jailed along with former IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and VK Verma in connection with the Commonwealth Games corruption scam, was elected unopposed despite serious objections from International Olympic Committee. The Indian Olympic Association may have elected its new office bearers, but the threat of them being banned by the International Olympic committee still exists. The IOC Ethics Commission's recommendations state that tainted officials like Kalmadi, Bhanot and Verma, who all were jailed in connection with the Commonwealth Games corruption scam, cannot be part of the Olympic movement. Jeff Zucker named CNN's New Chief Executive . -The former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker has been named president of CNN Worldwide on 29 November 2012. Jeff Zucker is going to lead a large and profitable news organization with 23 separate businesses worldwide that has come to be defined by problems at the flagship U.S. network, particularly in prime time. He will succeed outgoing CNN chief Jim Walton starting in January 2013. Zucker started his 25-year career with NBC as a researcher for NBC Sports coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games and rose to president and chief executive officer of NBC Universal. He was named executive producer of Today in January 1992; under his eight-year leadership, the program was the most-watched morning news show and the most profitable program on television. Ranjit Sinha - The competent authority has appointed Ranjit Sinha, IPS as Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a period of two years with effect from the date of assumption of charge. He will succeed A.P. Singh, IPS (JH-1974) on his retirement on 30th November 2012. Tony Hall - Royal Opera House chief executive Tony Hall on 22 November 2012 was appointed as director general of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Tony Hall is replacing George Entwistle, who resigned on 10 November 2012 over the corporation's reporting of child sex abuse. Tony Hall who is 61 years old, was director of BBC news, and was a candidate for the top job in 1999 when Greg Dyke secured the position. Hall is a former BBC employee, having worked there for 28 years. He was head of BBC News and Current Affairs between 1996 and 2001. Joaquim Barbosa was sworn-in as Brazil's Supreme Court's first non-White President on 23 November 2012 at a ceremony in the capital Brazilia. Barbosa became famous in Brazil after overseeing one of the country's biggest corruption trials involving key members of the former President Lula Da Silva's government.

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Barbosa is famous for his tough stand against political corruption. Brazil has the second largest non-White population in the world after Nigeria, but few of them achieve high office. Anil Dev Singh, the former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court on 19 November 2012 was appointed as the new Chairperson of the Election Commission of The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after S.Y. Quraishi resigned from his post on 17 November 2012. This appointment was done by Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the Acting President of IOA at present. With this appointment, the former Chief Justice would be heading the Election Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Two other members of the election commission panel would be are Justice V.K. Bali (retd.) and Justice J.D. Kapur (retd.). The Acting President of Indian Olympics Association, Vijay Kumar Malhotra in his communication with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) explained that in selecting the Chairperson for the IOA he followed the Court Directives that was against the Sports Code of the Government of India. Whereas, the IOC in its communication on 18 November 2012 asked the Election Commission members and Vijay Kumar Malhotra to follow the Olympic Charter and the constitution of Indian Olympic Association to conduct the elections. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the Pakistani National and the lone surviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks, was hanged on 21 November 2012 at Punes Yerwada Jail at 7:30 am. The Maharashtra Government confirmed that Kasab was hanged. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy plea of Kasab. He was hanged five days before the fourth anniversary of the brutal terror attack on Mumbai that claimed 166 lives and sieged Mumbai for continuous three days. An Indian American professor of mechanical engineering and IIT alumni has been appointed as the first director of digital learning of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In his new capacity, Sanjay Sarma, the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, will work closely with the Institute's faculty, staff and students to assess how new models of online instruction might become integral parts of MIT students' on-campus education. 1989 IIT alumni, he has long worked to develop new instructional techniques for mechanical engineering students. "As director of digital learning, Professor Sarma will serve as a convener and synthesiser," Reif wrote in his letter to the MIT community. The announcement of his appointment was made by MIT's President L Rafael Reif. Keith Vaz, the Indian-origin Labour MP, has emerged as Britain's most influential Asian in a list of 101 powerful people from the region, which includes the likes of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire Hinduja Brothers and leading NRI industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul. According to the GG2 Power 101, brought out by the Garavi Gujarat Publications here listing the 101 most influential Asians in the UK, has 56-year-old Vaz, Labour MP from Leicester East and chairman of the powerful Home Affairs Select Committee, placed at No 1. Vaz has been a parliamentarian for over 25 years and was among the original modern gang of four ethnic path-breaking politicians, including the late Bernie Grant, Paul Boateng and Dianne Abbott, who made it into the House of Commons in 1987. He has been put in the category of 'Politics'. Indian-origin steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal takes the second position, he is in the category of 'Industry'. The Billionaire Hinduja Brothers, S P Hinduja and Gopi Hinduja, Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group, come third on he list, while leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul is listed at the 22nd position, included in the category of 'Business'. Reputed author Salman Rushdie is 24th (Writing) and Dr Kartar Lalvani, founder of Vitabiotics, the market leader in the UK is 30th (Pharmacy) on the list. K.C. Pant(81)- The ex-Defence Minister of India and former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman died on 15 November 2012.Krishna Chandra Pant was the son of the Bharat Ratna and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Govind Ballabh Pant. Being a Member of Parliament for about 26 years, K.C. Pant held different key positions of Government of India like Finance Ministry, Defence Ministry, Atomic Energy and Science and Technology, Steel Ministry, Home Ministry and many more. Pant served Indian National Congress till 1998 and after that joined Bhartiya Janta Party. Kamala Sadagopan (77)- Tamil writer and novelist, died in Chennai on 14 November. Kamala worked in Jaganmohini, a journal run by novelist Vai Mu Kothainayaki Ammal.She attended the Avadi session of the All India Congress Committee as a delegate in 1955 and shot to fame with her novel Kadhavu , which secured the

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Narayanasamy Iyer Award from Kalaimagal magazine.Another of her novels, Padigal, won the State Governments prize and was honoured by the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran in 1981. She worked as a deputy editor of womens magazine Mangayar Malar and her novels were made into films and TV serials. Savita Halappanavar- A woman of Indian Origin and dentist by profession died on 28 October 2012 in Ireland after doctors refused to perform an abortion. The doctors denied the abortion with a claim that Ireland was a Catholic Country. Savita the Indian dentist was suffering from miscarriage when she was 17 weeks pregnant and the Irish law at the University College Hospital Galway denied abortion to her. This led to septicemia (blood poisoning), multiple organ failure leading to her death.According to the Person Act 1861 of Irish Law on abortion and offences, abortion has is considered illegal in the country. This denial on abortion that took life of Savita created a widespread outrage, to make the Irish Government take a clear stand on Irish Laws on Abortion. Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray -- Shiv Sena supreme leader, died on 17 November 2012 at the age of 86. He died of the cardio-respiratory arrest after suffering a long illness at his residence Matoshree, in Mumbai. Thackeray was an Indian Politician, who founded Shiv Sena a Political Party based in Mumbai, Maharashtra in the year 19 June 1966. Before turning up to politics, he was a cartoonist by profession with an English daily newspaper in Mumbai, named the Free Press Journal. He resigned from the Free Press Journal in 1960 and founded his own political weekly, named Marmik. He also founded Samana, the Marathi language newspaper and the Dophar ka Samna a Hindi newspaper. His house at Bandra, Mumbai is famous with the name Matoshree. Balasaheb was a leading face in the fight named Samyukta Maharashtra movement (United Maharashtra movement); to make Mumbai a place for Maharastrians that was witnessing the influence of South Indians, Gujaratis and Marwaris. Ami Bera(47)- California-based, Indian-American has become the only 3rd of the community to win Congressional election, making it to US House of Representatives on 6 November, 2012 by defeating Republican Dan Lungren. Previously, Dalip Singh Saund created history when he became the 1st IndianAmerican elected to the House in 1950s. The 2nd Indian-American to be elected was Bobby Jindal in 2005 and 2008, the health-policy expert. He is now the Governor of Louisiana. Prominent Gandhian, freedom fighter and educationist par excellence and former Minister Chintalapati Varaprasada Murthy Raju passed away at his residence in Fathepuram in Nidamarru mandal in West Godavari district on 11 November. He was 93. He had been seriously ill for six months till his death. His wife and only son expired long back. His life is a stellar example of how a true Gandhian would lead his life, spurning all worldly pleasures and giving away all that he owned to the society at large. The very name of CHVP Murthy Raju evokes deep respect among his scores of followers across the country. A committed Gandhian, he dedicated his entire life and wealth to the service of society. He served as an MLA for six times during 1953-82 and even served as State Minister of Endowments and Marketing for 15 months during the Chief Ministership of P V Narasimha Rao. In his life, he was elected as Panchayat President six times. Inspired by Gandhiji, Murthy Raju gave away 1,800 acres and huge money for the cause of society and set up as many as 68 educational institutes with emphasis on girl education. He handed over their ownership to the State Government in 1977. His dream was to establish one university in each district of Andhra Pradesh.When he expired; he did not have a single acre of land with him. Kuchipudi exponent Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma, who played a crucial role in taking the art form from a tiny village in Krishna district to the international stage, passed away at a private hospital in Vijayawada on 16 November. He was 77. He was suffering from a lung infection and had been in hospital for the last two weeks. Born into a traditional Kuchipudi family to Vedantam Venkataratnam and Subbamma on Sept. 9, 1935, Satyanarayana Sarma (aka Satyam) was initiated into dance early. He was the lead dancer of the Venkatarama Natya Mandali lead by Chinta Krishnamurthy and won many accolades for his female portrayals over the years. He played Usha in Usha Parinayam, Satyabhama in Bhamakalapam, Mohini in Mohini Rukmangada, Deva Devi in Vipra Narayana, Sasirekha in Sasirekha Parinayam, Gollabhama in Gollakalapam. Satyanarayana Sarma received several honours and titles including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1961 and was chosen a fellow of the academy in 1968. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970. In addition to his performances and

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choreography, much of his time was devoted to training Kuchipudi disciples. His school, Nartanasala, under the aegis of the Central Sangeet Nataka Academy offers a full-fledged course in Kuchipudi dance. In 1973, the government of Andhra Pradesh commissioned and produced a film on Kuchipudi. Arjuna Ranatunga- Former Srilankan cricket captain, has resigned from his post of deputy leader in the Democratic Party led by Sarath Fonseka and also from the party itself.However, he further stated that he will continue to act as a member of the Democratic National Alliance. S.K.Behera- India's consul general in Melbourne, S K Behera, died of a heart attack on 8 November. He was 50. Behera, a 1987 batch IFS officer, was posted in Australia more than a year back. He died after suffering a heart attack. Shanti Gandhi- A great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi was elected to a State Assembly in the United Stated during the general elections held on 6 November 2012.72 Years old Shanti Gandhi contested as a Republican Party candidate and had defeated his Democratic rival Theodore Ted Ensley for the Kansass 52nd Assembly District.Shanti Gandhi is son of late Saraswati Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhis grandson - the late Kanti Lal.Shanti Gandhi, who was a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon retired in 2010 from Stormont-Vail Hospital at Topeka City in the Kansas State. Shanti Gandhi went US in the year 1967 as a medical graduate from University of Bombay. Tulsi Gabbard(31)- Americas first ever Hindu to be elected to the House of Representatives. Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, 31, defeated K. Crowley of the Republican Party by a strong margin in Hawaiis second Congressional district. She is also the first female combat veteran to serve in Congress. Proud of her Hindu religion, she is not Indian or of Indian heritage. Ms Gabbard was born in American Samoa to a Catholic father Hawaii State Senator Mike Gabbard - and a Hindu mother. She moved to Hawaii when she was two and fully embraced her religion as a teenager. D.Sitaram(88)-Veteran journalist, passed away in Hyderabad on 5 november.He was associated with many newspapers including The Statesman, The Economic Times and The Patriot and weeklies like Link and newswires such as United Press of India (UPI) and United News of India (UNI).Even after five decades of service and post-retirement, he continued his association with the print media by contributing to a leading English daily and language newspapers here.He was known for fearless writing and took on the powers that be, which even led to his transfer to Kolkata in 1960s. He also had a stint in Europe and held top posts in New Delhi and Madras (Chennai) in UNI.Sitaram launched his own newspaper The Skyline in 1970s. However, financial problems led to the closure of the newspaper.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and Minister for Information and Public Relations DK Aruna condoled Sitaram's death. Pavan Sukhdev- An Indian banker and long-time environmental economist Pavan Sukhdev is the latest goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).He joins noted celebrities like Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen, French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, American actor Don Cheadle and Chinese actress Li Binging in raising awareness and support for environmental causes.UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner on 17 october, announced the name of Pavan Sukhdev, who is the FounderCEO of GIST Advisory, a specialist consulting firm which helps governments and corporations on environmental issues, at the ongoing global summit on biodiversity here.A visiting fellow at Yale University, Pavan Sukhdev had a stint of 20 years at ANZ Bank and Deutsche Bank. He is the author of Corportion 2020.He is also the head of UNEPs green economy initiative and lead author of their report Towards a Green Economy. Shri Krishna Khaitan- the chairman of Khaitan group of companies died on 4 November 2012. He was a native of Rajasthan. It was S.K. Khaitan who had incorporated the Khaitan group of companies in 1975.Khaitan Group is one of the leading fan manufacturers in the country with interests in home appliances and lightings business.S.K. Khaitan was also a philanthropist and was also involved in several philanthropic activities in the fields of education and healthcare. Kinjarapu Yerrannaidu(55)- Telugu Desam Politburo member and former union minister died on 2 November,in a road accident that took place near Dandanapeta of Ranasthalam mandal, 23 km away from Srikakulam, when his vehicle hit a tanker. The accident occurred at around 2 am on 2 november and

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immediately he was shifted to Srikakulam KIMS hospital where doctors tried in vain to save him. He joined politics in 1982 inspired by N.T. Ramarao. He was elected MLA for four times and entered Parliament by winning continuously from 1996 to 2004. For the first time, he was defeated in 2009 elections losing to the Congress candidate Killi Kruparani. Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam-China on 2 November 2012 invited Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President and Missile Man of India to teach at the Peking University of China. The nation also offered him the lab of his choice to work on with the students. The invitation came up during Dr. Kalams visit to the Beijing Forum by the Chairperson Zhu Shanlu of Peking University. Beijing Forum is the intellectual body backed by the Chinese Government, Chinese Ministry of Eductaion and the Beijing Municipal Government. It is co-sponsored by Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, Peking University, and Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies. Ashishkumar Chauhan was on 2 November appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Asias oldest stock exchange. Mr. Chauhan has been officiating as the interim chief executive since May 2012, after Madhu Kannan quit to join Tata Sons as head of business development. Mr. Chauhan, who holds a mechanical engineering degree from IIT Bombay and has also done a post-graduate diploma at IIM Calcutta, joined BSE in 2009 as deputy chief executive from Reliance Industries, where he served as president and chief information officer, it said. Senior Congress leader and Home Minister Gaikhangam has been designated as Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur, officials said on 2 November. He is a Naga leader elected to the state Assembly for five consecutive terms from Nungba (ST) constituency in Tamenglong district, was sworn in as minister on March 16 this year and given the home portfolio after consultation with party high command so that he would not contest for the post of Chief Minister, party sources said.

December
Rangaswamy Srinivasan-An Indian-American Rangaswamy Srinivasan, a renowned inventor at IBM, has been nominated by the US President Barack Obama for the prestigious National Medal of Technology for Innovation. Along with Srinivasan, Obama named 12 eminent researchers as recipients of the National Medal of Science and 10 extraordinary inventors as recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honors bestowed by the United States Government upon scientists, engineers, and inventors. The recipients will receive their awards at a White House ceremony in early 2013. In 1981, Srinivasan discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser could etch living tissue in a precise manner with no thermal damage to the surrounding area. He named the phenomenon Ablative Photo-decomposition (APD). The award recognises those who have made lasting contributions to America's competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation's technological workforce. Smitha Singh- The Obama administration has appointed Smita Singh as member of the president's Global Development Council. The Council will inform and provide advice to the President and other senior US officials on American global development policies and practices, support new and existing public-private partnerships, and increase awareness and action in support of development by soliciting public input on current and emerging issues in the field of global development.The Global Development Council was established in February through an executive order of the President.Along with Singh, Obama also announced names of eight other members of the Council.Singh was the Special Advisor for Global Affairs and the founding Director of the Global Development Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she worked from 2001 to 2010.From 1998 to 2001, she was a scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Previously, Singh consulted for the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa. Justice Swatanter Kumar- has taken over as chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), to decide on cases relating to environmental protection, and conservation of forests and natural resources.Though Justice Kumars tenure as a Supreme Court judge is due to end next week, December 14 was his last working day and he

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assumed charge of the new office on December 20. He is the first Supreme Court judge to preside over the Tribunal which was, till now, functioning without a full-time chairperson. Park Geun-Hye Elected As the First Woman President of South Korea Park Geun-hye was elected as the president of South Korea on 19 December 2012, the first woman who acquired this post. Park Geun-hye is the daughter of longest ruling dictator of South Korea. After the counting of votes, it was declared by the National Election Commission that Park had enjoyed clear victory with 51.64 percent votes in comparison to 47.93 percent votes for Moon Jae-in, who is the former lawyer of human rights. Moon Jae-in was also imprisoned at some point of time for standing in opposition with the authoritarian rule of her father. Moon Jae-in accepted the defeat because clearly her lead was impossible. Election of Park Geun-hye, 60, is said to be the milestone for South Korean society which has remained mainly male-dominated. Dictator Park Chung-hee, the father of Park Geun-hye ruled the country from 1961 to 1979 and left behind political repression, something that is still dividing the country. While in office, Lee intensified several problems such as dwindling job opportunities, political corruption as well as increasing tensions with North Korea. While campaigning, Park had said that being a female would help her in a lot of ways. She never got married. Reputation of Park in South Korea is that of a steely as well as principled leader. Her role models are Queen Elizabeth and British PM Margaret Thatcher. Virbhadra Singh sworn in for sixth time as CM Veteran Congress politician Virbhadra Singh was sworn in as Himachal Pradeshs Chief Minister for a record sixth term on 24 December along with nine cabinet colleagues. Governor Urmila Singh administered the oath of office to Virbhadra Singh, 78, who has been chief minister of the hill state for more than 16 years, at the historic Ridge. He is 13th Chief Minister of the state. The others who took oath were eight-time legislator Vidya Stokes, seven-time legislator Kaul Singh, G.S. Bali, Sujan Singh Pathania, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Mukesh Aghnihotri, Sudhir Sharma, Parkash Chaudhary and Dhani Ran Shandil. Outgoing BJP chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his erstwhile cabinet colleagues were conspicuously absent from the ceremony. Biswal is new APPSC chief The APPSC, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, gets a new chief who is reputedly honest, hard working and simple. The State Government has appointed Chitta Ranjan Biswal, IAS (retired) as chairperson of Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in place of Rachel Chatterjee, IAS. Orders were issued on 26 December which come into effect from December 29. Chatterjee will retire a day before that. Biswal retired as principal secretary of Panchayatraj on November 30. Belonging to 1981 IAS batch, he would assume charge on December 29, and will be in the officer for the next 23 months. Kamal Nath appointed as the new ex-officio Member of Planning Commission Prime Ministers Office on 26 December 2012 re-constituted the Planning Commission and appointed the Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister - Kamal Nath as its new ex-officio member, replacing Jairam Ramesh. The decision was taken with the view to lay down government emphasis on the Urban Development and schemes like MNREGA, already in existence for rural development. The other ex-officio members of the Commission are Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M K Alagiri, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal, Law Minister. Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) appointed S Raman as Whole Time Member Indian Market Regulator SEBI on 28 December 2012 appointed S. Raman as Whole-time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Prior to this appointment, Raman, had served as Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank from September 2010 to September 2012 and had also served as Executive Director of Union Bank of India from October 2008 to August 2010. As per the Finance ministry Raman is going to hold the post of SEBI whole-time member for a period of five years from the day he assumes charge or up to 65 years of age or until further orders, whichever is earlier. With this appointment, SEBI has three wholetime members, including Prashant Saran and Rajeev Kumar Agarwal. MS Sahoo appointed as Secretary of Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) MS Sahoo, the former member of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) on 27 December 2012 had been appointed secretary of the Institute of Company Secretaries. The appointment of MS Sahoo is going to be effective

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from 1 January2013.

MS Sahoo had over three decades of rich work experience in self-employment, private sector, public sector, regulator and government in varied functional areas such as reforms, policy, regulations, research and analysis. Before joining the ICSI, he was an eminent legal practitioner in the field of securities laws. He was a Whole Time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) during 2008-11. He served as the Joint Secretary (non-functional), Director and Joint Director in the Ministry of Finance, as the Chief General Manager with SEBI, and as Economic Adviser with National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE). As an officer of Indian Economic Service (1985 batch), he served the Government of India for 22 years. He played a key role in designing of major reforms in securities market, including dematerialization of securities, trading of derivatives, corporatisation and demutualization of exchanges, building regulatory and market infrastructural institutions, enforcement process / actions. M S Sahoo was instrumental in development of human resource capacity in securities markets through various interventions such as NSEs Certification in Financial Markets (NCFM), National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) and a number of reputed publications. He has served / serves as a member on several expert committees / boards and professional groups. Subhash Joshi-S.Joshi on 18 December 2012 appointed as the new chief of Border Security Force (BSF). Subhash Joshi is at present is the director general of National Security Guard and he is going to lead the 1.8 lakh strong border force BSF. The post of the chief of Indian Border Force had fallen vacant on 1 December 2012 due to retirement U K Bansals, the director general of the Border Security Force ( BSF).Subhash Joshi is a 1976 batch IPS officer from Uttrakhand cadre and is due to retire in February 2014. Ajay Chandha- The special secretary (Internal Security) was appointed as director general of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Ajay Chadha is a 1977 batch IPS officer of AGMU cadre and is going to have his tenure till August 2013.The post of director general of ITBP had fallen vacant after Ranjit Sinha was appointed as director of CBI. Naina Lal Kidwai became the First Woman President of FICCI Naina Lal Kidwai on 15 December 2012 took over as President of FICCI, becoming the first woman to head the leading industry body. Kidwai, is the first woman and professional manager to be elected as President of the chamber. She is 55 years old. Digjam Ltd,Sidharth Birla was elected as Senior Vice-President of FICCI. Kidwai succeeds R V Kanoria of Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd. Chairman of Xpro India Ltd. Naina Lal Kidwai on 15 December 2012 took over as President of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), becoming the first woman to head the leading industry body. Kidwai, is the first woman and professional manager to be elected as President of the chamber. She is 55 years old. Chairman of Digjam Ltd, Sidharth Birla was elected as Senior Vice-President of FICCI. Kidwai succeeded R V Kanoria of Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd. Chairman of Xpro India Ltd. Naina Lal Kidwai is the Country head of HSBC India and Director of HSBC Asia Pacific. Shinzo Abe-led LDP wins Japan general elections Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party surged back to power in a major election victory on 16 December. Just three years after it was defeated in 2009, former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe-led LDP trounced PM Yoshihiko Noda's ruling Democratic Party of Japan and bagged 294 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament, according to a tally from public broadcaster NHK. The election victory for LDP means that Shinzo Abe will return as Japanese PM and will be the seventh PM in sixand-a-half years. LDP has ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era till 2009, when Nodas Democratic Party of Japan came to power. Abes win also spells a rightward shift in the government that further signifies a possible increase in tensions with China over the disputed islands in South China Sea. Cyrus Pallonji Mistry Appointed as Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was appointed as the chairman of Tata Sons, the firm that holds more than 100 billion dollar

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Tata Group, on 18 December 2012. Cyrus Pallonji Mistry would take on the role of chairman of Tata Sons with effect from 28 December 2012, after Rata Tata retires as the current Chairman of the company. Ratan Tata who will also celebrate his 75th birthday on 28 December 2012 was conferred the honorary title of chairman emeritus. Tata Sons Board gave the title to Ratan Tata. Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, 43, is billionaire Pallonji Shapoorji Mistrys son. Cyrus Mistry has already remained the director of Tata Sons since 2006. He was appointed as the deputy chairman of Tata Sons in November 2011. Pallonji Mistry, along with the sons, Cyrus Mistry and Shapoor Mistry are the owners of 18.5 percent stake in the company. This makes the Mistrys the largest shareholders on individual basis of this company. Earlier in December 2012, Cyrus Mistry was also appointed as chairman of Tata Motors. He would commence playing his role from 28 December 2012. He was also appointed as chairman of two other Tata companies- Tata Chemicals and Tata Steel. In November 2012, Ratan Tata also bowed out from Tata Global Beverages as the chairman, which paved way for Mistry. Pandit Ravi Shankar(92)- Pandit Ravi Shankar had passed away on 11 December 2012 after heart-valve replacement surgery in California. Ravi Shankar is said to be a pioneer for introducing Indian music to Western world. The most well-known Sitar player of not just India, but the world, he is also said to be ambassador of the international music.He received the Padma Bhushan in 1967, Padma Vibhushan in 1981 and Bharat Ratna in 1999. He is also a three-time Grammy award winner. He bagged a nomination again for the 2013 Grammy Awards for his album The Living Room Sessions Part-1?. Interestingly, he is pitted against his daughter Anoushka in the category. He shared an Oscar with George Fenton for the original musical score for the 1982 movie Gandhi. Shankar was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and also a member of the United Nations International Rostrum of composers. He received the Music Council UNESCO award in the year 1975. Shankar won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival for composing the music for the movie Kabuliwala. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1962, and was named a Fellow of the academy for 1975. He received the Kalidas Samman from the government of Madhya Pradesh for 1987-88, the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1992, and the Polar Music Prize from Swedan in 1998.In 2001, Shankar was made Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music.Shankar in 1997 received the Praemium Imperiale for music from the Japan Art Association.In 2010, Shankar received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Norman Woodland(91)-The inventor of bar code, which revolutionalised retail in 70s, died on 8 December 2012 at New Jersey. Woodland was the co-inventor of bar code; the zebra pattern which stores information about the products. He as well as his partner Bernard Silver (who died in 1963) patented this idea of bar code back in 1952 and also sold that to Philco, the electronics company for 15000 US dollar. For his invention, Woodland was also awarded National Medal of Technology in 1992. Naina Lal Kidwai- Country Head-HSBC India and Director-HSBC Asia Pacific has taken over as the first woman president of the countrys leading chamber of commerce, Ficci, on 15 December. Kidwai is known for being the first woman CEO of a private sector bank India besides being the first Indian woman MBA to have passed out of Harvard Business School. At Ficci, she has, in the past, chaired several committees, including the Water Mission, the Finance Council, the Capital Markets Committee and Financial Inclusion Committee and has served on the Chambers national executive committee for several years. She is a member of the Government of Indias Industry Task Force, and the Working Group on Banking, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission; and on the governing boards of the National Council of Applied Economic Research and the National Institute of Bank Management. Bhanu Athaiya(85)- the first Indian to win an Oscar for costume design in the movie Gandhi decided to return her award to the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in December 2012. Bhanu Athaiya fears that she might lose her trophy as the government might not be able to protect it.Bhanu Athaiya blamed that the central government had neglected her work and contributions. She also blamed that there was no one or no museum that could protect these things. Athaiya had won the most prestigious Oscar award for costume design for classic film Gandhi in 1982. Athaiya had dressed Ben Kingsley in the film Gandhi. Justice PN Bhagwati- A copy of memoirs of former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagwati titled My Tryst with Justice was presented to the President, Pranab Mukherjee on 12 december, by Chief Justice of India

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Altamas Kabir at a function held in Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President said Justice P.N. Bhagwati is much more than a great jurist, an extraordinary judge and an ambassador of human rights across the world. He is a humanist whose heart aches for marginalized and forgotten millions. The President said Justice Bhagwati is a pioneer of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in India, promoter of the right to legal aid and emissary of Lok Adalats. He converted the courtroom into a site of peoples struggle in humanizing law. T.Shanmugam(93)-Olympian T Shanmugam, one of India's most illustrious footballers, passed away on 14 December, due to respiratory problem.Shanmugam had represented India in 1952 Olympics at Helsinki and was also a part of the team that won the Asian gold medal at New Delhi 1951.Legendary midfielder represented Maharaja Socials and Bangalore Student Football Club in the Bangalore Senior Division League but his big jump came when he joined the Sullivan Police Sports Club of the Bangalore Police Force in 1941.He was quite an extraordinary coach and was instrumental in Karnataka lifting Santosh trophy in 1983-84 season.He also coached the state team to success when it lifted the Santosh Trophy in 1968-69 along with Basheer as chief coach at Cuttack Nationals.Shanmugam was much in demand as a coach not only in Karnataka, but also in other states. He played for Karnataka in Santosh Trophy between 1944 and 1954. Vinod Rai Re-Elected As Chairman of UN Panel of External Auditors United Nations gave Vinod Rai, the comptroller and auditor general of India a second term as the designation of chairman of UN Panel of External Auditors for 2013. CAG of the UK, Amyas Morse was re-elected as the vicechairman. Panel of the United Nations is the deciding body of the course as well as subject of audit of the different UN organisations which also include International Atomic Energy Agency. The UN Panel of External Auditors for 2013 includes apex auditors of various countries such as Switzerland, Tanzaniam, Canada, China, India, Italy, Philippines, UK, France and Pakistan as the members. Uttarakhands First Chief Minister Nityanand Swami Passed Away The first chief minister of Uttarakhand, Nityanand Swami, passed away on 12 December 2012. He was 85 years old and belonged to the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). Nityanand Swami, served the people throughout his life, focused on developmental issues and built a very good rapport with the people. Uttarakhand Government had declared three days' of state mourning as a mark of respect to the departed leader. Nityanand Swami was born on 27 December 1927 in Haryana. He was the first chief minister of the Uttarakhand and had served serving from 9 November 2000 to 29 October 2001 and then resigned willingly in favor of Bhagat Singh Koshiyari when asked by the BJP leadership. Parthasarathy Shome- Government on 10 December, appointed tax expert Parthasarathy Shome as adviser to Finance Minister P Chidambaram with the rank of Minister of State. Shome was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Chairman of Committee on General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in July.The committee submitted its draft report in September wherein it has suggested deferring implementation of GAAR by three years to April 2016. The committee also submitted its final report to the Finance Minister in October.Between October 2004 - January 2008, Shome acted as adviser to the then Union Finance Minister. He was also a member of the Prime Minister's Trade & Economic Relations Committee. As co-convener, Shome submitted the first report on Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the Empowered Committee of state FMs and Union Finance Minister in December 2007. Shome, who has authored several books on tax policies, was a Professor with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).He has earlier worked with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and also advised the World Bank and the United Nations in various projects. DevendraLal(83)-Noted geophysicist and Visiting Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography [SIO] in California, USA, Devendra Lal, has died on 6 December. He contributed much to the earth and planetary nuclear physics during his 40-years of career at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego .Starting his research career at the age of 20 at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research at Mumbai, the primary thrust of his work was in the field of cosmic ray physics, earth and planetary sciences and astrophysics. He was particularly interested in studying records of climate found in terrestrial minerals, and chemical history of ocean waters based on marine biogenic minerals. His contributions included the setting up a national radiocarbon laboratory at TIFR to facilitate chronological studies of Indian archaeological sites going back to the Harappan era. He had also set up a Tritium Laboratory at TIFR which was later shifted to the National Geophysical Research Institute at Hyderabad. He won the CSIRs prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award in 1967 and was

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conferred Padma Shri in 1971. He was the recipient of NASA Group Achievement Award , and Hans Peterson Medal from Royal Swedish Academy. He was Director of the Physical Research Laboratory from 1972 to 1983. Oldest Person of the World, Besse Cooper Died At 116 Besse Cooper, the woman listed as the oldest person of the world died on 4 December 2012 in Georgia nursing home at 116 years of age. Besse Cooper had died peacefully in Monroe. Besse was recently taken ill with the stomach virus. Besse Cooper was declared as the oldest person of the world in January 2011 by the Guinness World Records. She was also the first Georgian who had world record with her. The birth place of Besse was Tennessee and she had moved during the First World War to Georgia. Guinness World Records declared that as of now, merely 8 people have reached the age of 116. Besse Cooper held this title of oldest person of the world since 2011. She explained her secret of living for such a long time, to Guinness World Records. She explained that she didnt eat junk food. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi on the List of Top 20 Most Powerful People of the World Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been named in the list of top 20 most powerful people in the world by the Forbes Magazine in annual power rankings which were declared on 5 December 2012. Enjoying the first position for the second year consecutively is the US President Barrack Obama. Prime Minister Manmohan Sign was ranked at number 19. Sonia Gandhi dropped from the rankings of 2011 to number 12 in 2012. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, the richest business tycoon of India as well as Arcelor Mittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal also appeared in this list. Ambani is ranked at number 37 and he outranked Mittal by various positions. Forbes Magazine also noted that Rahul Gandhi was next to reign the most popular political dynasty of India. The magazine also described Ambanis Reliance Industries as the most valued company of India and Mukesh Ambanis home called Antilia was described as the most expensive private residence of the world. Antilia is the 27-storeyed 400000 sqft private residence of Ambani in Mumbai. S.A. Ibrahim's Appointment as Director for Intelligence Bureau Approved The Competent Authority on 3 December 2012 approved appointment of S. A. Ibrahim the IPS (MP-77) as officer on Special Duty in the Intelligence Bureau and also as the Director for Intelligence Bureau for a next two years from the date he acquires his charge or till the next order that is is further sent. His tenure to the post of Officer on Special Duty in the Intelligence Bureau started from 1 December 2012. At Present S.A. Ibrahim is serving as Special Director, Intelligence Bureau and will be taking over the charge of Director, Intelligence Bureau after vice Nehchal Sandhu will retire from his office on 31 December 2012. Ranjit Sinha(59)-An IPS officer of 1974-batch Bihar cadre on 3 December 2012 acquired the office as new CBI director. Ranjit Sinha, who was holding the designation of director general Indo-Tibetan Border Police, succeeded A.P. Singh who retired from the CBI office on 30 November 2012. Sinha will have two-year duration as the CBI director. He had served in CBI agency initially as the DIG and joint director as well.

Sports 2012
January
A. Amalraj won the national title by defeating A Sharath Kamal in the final of the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in Lucknow on 29 January 2012. Amalraj also won the doubles title with Sanil Shetty, by defeating Harmit Desai and Devesh Karia. In the womens category Poulami Ghatak won the title by defeating K Shamini. Sixth seed GM Oliver Barbosa of Phillippines won the 10th Parsvnath International Open Grandmasters Chess tournament by defeating Indian IM Shyam Nikil. Indian International Master Lalith Babu won thebronze.

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Senior Australian batsman Ricky Ponting was honoured with Austrlias highest civil honour along with a host of sportspersons of international repute. The former skipper was appointed an officer (AO) in the general division of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the sport of cricket as a leading player, and to the community through the establishment of the Ponting Foundation. Rajasthan won its second consecutive Ranji Trophy title by defeating Tamil Nadu at the Chidambaram stadium, Tamil Nadu on 23 January 2012. V A Saxena of Rajasthan was awarded the Man of the Match in the final. Argentinas Lionel Messi was awarded the 2011 FIFA Best player award on 9 January 2012 in Zurich. He won the award for the third consecutive year. Japanese Homare Sawa was awarded the 2011 FIFA Best player in the womens category. Barcelonas coach Pep Guardiola was named FIFA Coach of the Year. Kerala men won the National title for the fourth time, in the 60th senior National volleyball championship by defeating uttarakhand at the Balbir Juneja Indoor Stadium, Raipur on 11 January 2012. The Railways won the national title in the womens category. The Czech Republic defeated France and lifted its second Hopman Cup held in Perth, Australia. Thomas Berdych and Petra Kvitova represented the Czech. Milos Raonic of Canada won the Chennai open tennis title,2012. Leander peas and Janko Tipsarevic won the mens doubles title. The 19-year-old Rohith Lalith Babu became the 26th Grandmaster of India and fourth GM from Andhra Pradesh. Incidentally, the last Indian to become a GM was D Harika, also from the same state. Babu is also from the same city which World runners-up Humpy hails from. Harikrishna is the other GM from the A.P State.

February
East Zone won the Duleep Trophy for the first time in 51 years by defeating Central Zone by an innings and 20 runs at the Holkar stadium, Indore on 14 feb. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Samantha Stosur to win her third successive title of the year at the WTA Qatar Open 2012 on 20 feb. World no 1 tennis star, Novak Djokovic of Serbia was awarded with the highest Serbian award, the Gold Star of Karadjordje on 15 February 2012.It was conferred upon him by the Serbian President Boris Tadic. Sania mirza of india and Anastasia Rodinova of Australia won the Pattaya open womens tennis title held in Pattaya on 12 February. Zambia WON THE AFRICA NATION S CUP TITLE by dedfeating the Ivorycoast on 13 february. Saketh Mineni of Andhra Pradesh won the Mens National Grass court Tennis championship, while Reshmi chkrobarthy of TamilNadu won the womens title.Tournament was held in kolkatta. Egypt defeated India 2-1 in the final of the Under-21 Squash World Cup held in chennai,on 5 February 2012. Marwan El Shorbagy defeated Ravi Dixit while Karim Abdel Gawad beat Ramit Tandon . However Dipika Pallikal manged to win on her opponent. Aditya Mehata won the National Snooker Championship title held in Pune, by defeating Kamal chawla.

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In the 100th edition of The Australian Open (2012), Serbias Novak Djokovic won the title by defeating Rafel Nadal of Spain in the mens singles while Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the womens singles by defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia. In the mens doubles Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek won the title by defeating Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. In the womens doubles Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva, both from Russia defeated Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, to win the title. The mixed event was won by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau. Pendyala Harikrishna of India won the prestigious TATAsteel international chess title which was held in Netherlands. Pankaj Adwani won the Nationsl Billiards Chess championship by defeating the Balachandra Bhaskar in the finals which was held in Pune. Sourabh Varma defeated B Sai Praneeth in the final to clinch the Senior National Badminton Championship title in Bangalore.. The ninth seeded PV Sindhu defeated second seed Neha Pandit in the women's singles final to lift the title. In the mixed doubles category, top seeds Arun Vishnu and Balan Aparna, In the Mens doubles Kona Tarun and Arun Vishnu in the women's doubles, second seeds Pradnya Gadre and Prajakta Sawant won the titles.

March
Indian women boxers M.C. Mary Kom and Sarita on 25 March 2012, won two gold medals in the Asian women's boxing championship held in Ulaanbator.Mary Kom, the five-time world champion, defeated the twotime world title winner Ren Cancan of China. Sarita, the 2006 world title winner, defeated Chorieva Mavzu of Tajikistan. Indian Kabaddi women team won the first ever Women World Cup Kabaddi championship title defeating Iran on 4 March 2012, held in Patna... Sixteen countries participated in this event. Indian middle order batsman and former captain Rahul Dravid, on 9 March 2012, announced his retirement from international cricket. He has the credit of second highest aggregate of runs in the test history only after Sachin Tendulkar. Dravid scored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests, including 36 hundreds. Dravid made his international debut on 20 June 1996 while playing at the Lords against England. He had announced his retirement from the ODIs in England in 2011. Roger Federer won the Dubai international open singles tennis title by defeating Andy Murray in the finals held in Dubai on 3 March. While Indian duo Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan bopanna won the mens doubles title. West Indian cricket player Runok Mortan on 4 March, killed in a car accident. He played 15 test matches, 56 one day internationals and seven 20-20 matches since 2002. Iconic India batsman Sachin Tendulkar on 25 February became the first overseas player to be presented with the honorary life membership of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

April
India's top-seeded snooker player Aditya Mehta defeated seven-time world champion Pankaj Advani to win 28th Asian snooker title held in Doha, on 29 April 2012. Mehta is only the third Indian to clinch the Asian Snooker Championship.

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Sports 2012
Shon Wan Ho of Korea won the India Open badminton super series title, by defeating the Chinese Lee Chong Wei on 28 April 2012.In the women's singles final at India Open badminton Championship, Li Xuerui of China beaten Juliane Schenk of Germany. Worlds second ranked tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated sixth seeded David Federer to clinch the Barcelona Open Title on 29 April 2012. Red bull driver Sabastian vettel won the Bahrain formula one race on 22 April held in Manama. The Chinas third seeded Chen Jin defeated fellow countryman and fifth seeded Du Pengyu in mens the finals of Asian Badminton Championship in Qingdao, China on 22 April 2012. Croatias Ivan Ljubicic announced retirement from tennis on 15 April 2012 after he suffered a defeat to Ivan Dodig at the Monte Carlo Masters. Ivans career high ATP ranking was number 3. He won his first ATP singles title at Lyon in 2001. He won two ATP titles in his career. Indian squash player Saurav Ghosal won the El Gouna International Open trophy, held in El Gouna, Egypt on 9 April 2012 over Robbie Temple of England. The 18-year-old Shiva Thapa (56kg category) on 11 April 2012 became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics by beating Japan's Satoshi Shimizu 31-17 to enter the final of the Asian qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan. While, India's Vijender Singh qualified for the London Olympics in the 75-kilogram category. He is the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics for the third time in succession. Vijender Singh is also the first Indian to win an Olympic and World Championships medal (bronze in both events). Indo-Czeck pair of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek won the doubles title of Miami Masters on 31 March 2012. Paes by winning the Miami Titles took the total number of his career titles to 50.Paes became the 24th player in ATP Tour history to complete 50 doubles titles. World number one Novak Djokovic won the Miami Masters mens title by defeating Andy Murray. In the womens event Agnieszka Radwanska, won the title by defeating Russian Tennis star Maria Sharapova. Geeta Kumari , the woman wrestler, won a gold in 55kg category at the ongoing Asian qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhastan. With this victory she also made a history, as she became the first Indian woman wrestler to have ever qualified for the Olympics. China won the men's world team table tennis championship title with a 3-0 victory over hosts Germany in the final held in Dormant (Germany).

May
Defending champion Vishwanathan Anand of India won the FIDE ( Federation Internationale des Echec) World Chess Title on 30 may 2012 for the record fifth time. Anand beat Boris Gelfand of Israel in a rapidchess tie-breaker. The world title is Anands fourth in a row as he had also claimed the title in 2007, 2008, and 2010. The 42-year-old had claimed his maiden world title in 2000 after beating Latvian Alexei Shirov in Tehran. He is also the first Asian to win the FIDE world chess championship. England Batsman Kevin Pietersen announced his retirement from limited-overs edition of International cricket. He, however, will continue to play test cricket for the country. Pietersen who had made his international debut in 2004 has played a total of 127 one-day internationals and 36 Twenty20 internationals. South Africaborn Pietersen has scored 4184 one-day international runs at an average of 48.14. He is the sixth highest run getter from England. . The Badminton mens team of China won the Thomas Cup by beating arch-rival South Korea 3-0 at the

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