PERSONS JULY 2016

PERSONS JULY 2016

•  K P Oli: Nepal's Prime Minister K P Oli resigned on 24th July ahead of a no-confidence vote, plunging the country into a fresh political turmoil.
  
  Oli, who became prime minister in October last year has been facing a no-trust motion after the Maoists withdrew support from the coalition government.
  
  Oli tendered his resignation after two key ruling alliance partners -- Madhesi People's Rights Forum-Democratic and Rastriya Prajatantra Party -- decided to support the no-confidence motion tabled against him by the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-Maoist Centre led by Prachanda.
  
• Irom Sharmila: In Manipur, civil rights activist Irom Sharmila has decided to end her fast on 9th of next month and contest Assembly elections as an Independent candidate. She has been on hunger strike for the last sixteen years demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
  
  Sharmila, who has been forcibly fed through a nasal tube since 2000, said she would join politics as she no longer believes that her fast will lead to the repeal of what she tearmed as "draconian" AFSPA.
  
  Assembly elections in Manipur are scheduled early next year. In the past, many political leaders have met Sharmila and tried to cajole her into joining politics but she has rejected all offers.
  
• Michel Barnier: Former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier has been appointed to lead the European Union's negotiations with Britain over Brexit. Mr Barnier will take up his post on 1st October.
  
• Nanda Kumar: T Nanda Kumar has resigned as chairman of Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from August 1, about 30 months ahead of the end of his tenure. He has been working as the NDDB chief since March 3, 2014, and was the third chairman of the board, after V Kurien (1965-1998) and Amrita Patel (1998- February 2014).
  
  Kumar joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 and was allotted the Bihar cadre. He has also attended various short-term training programmes at the universities of UK, France, and the US, including Harvard.
  
  He served as chairman of the Spices Board in Cochin for a period of five years, during which time the changeover to World Trade Organization regime took place globally. He also did an assignment at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Bangladesh for three years.
  
  Kumar was appointed the food secretary in 2006. He was agriculture secretary in 2008, a position he retired from in 2010.
  
• Anurag Singh Thakur: BCCI President and BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur was on 29th July commissioned into the Territorial Army (TA) in the rank of Lieutenant.
  
  He was conferred the ranks by Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag in a 'Commissioning' ceremony held at Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence at South Block in the presence of military dignitaries and his family members.
  
  Lieutenant Thakur cleared Services Selection Board (SSB) and was found fit for joining the Territorial Army. The officer has been commissioned in 124 Inf Bn (TA) SIKH
  
  Territorial Army is part of Indian Army and is manned by officers and men who are embodied for training for two months in a year. Their actual role is during national emergencies, war and in support of Army when they relieve Regular Army for operations.
  
  The Territorial Army also guards vital installations like Headquarters, Ammunition Dumps, Airports among others as also vital lines of communications.
  
• Mahasweta Devi: Eminent author and social activist Mahasweta Devi passed away on 28th July in a Kolkata after a multi-organ failure. Her writings focused on the marginalised communities in the country and served as the voice of the oppressed.
  
  Going beyond her role as a writer and journalist, Mahasweta Devi also helped tribals and the rural dispossessed to group them to take up development activities in their own areas. A number of her works have been adapted for the silver screen. Govind Nihalani's 1998 Hindi film 'Hazaar Chaurasi ki Ma' (The Mother of 1084 sons) is based on her Bengali novel.
  
  In 1993, Kalpana Lajmi also made the award-winning 'Rudaali' on her novel by the same name. Italian director Italo Spinelli also made the multi-lingual 'Gangor' based on her short story 'Choli Ke Peeche' about the rights of women. She also won a number of awards including the Padma Vibhushan, Magsaysay, Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpeeth.
  
• Lachu mahraj: Noted Tabla maestro Lachu Maharaj passed away in Varanasi. Table maestro Lakshmi Narayan Singh “lachu Maharaj” was renowned internationally and belonged to Banaras gharana.
  
  
• Pema Khandu: In Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu has been sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh today at Raj Bhawan in Itanagar. The Governor Tataghata Roy administered the Oath of Office and Secrecy to him. Chowna Mein was also sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
  
  Earlier on 16th July Nabam Tuki resigned as the Chief Minister paving the way for Mr. Khandu to take over the CM’s post.
  
• Romar: The World Bank is set to appoint Paul Romer, a New York University professor and economist, as the chief economist when Kaushik Basu’s term ends next week
  
  Romer is also a director of the Marron Institute of Urban Management. He is the founding director of a project that conducts applied research on the many ways in which policymakers in the developing world can use the rapid growth of cities to create economic opportunity and undertake systemic social reform, it added.
  
  Romer earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. He takes over the coveted job at a time when the world, including developing economies, is facing slowing growth, rising commodity prices and ballooning debt.
  
  Basu, also the senior vice-president of the World Bank, was earlier India’s chief economic advisor. He is currently on leave from Cornell University where he is professor of economics and the C Marks Professor of International Studies, the World Bank said.
  
  He is currently the president-elect of the International Economic Association and will take over as president from 2017.
  
• Siddhu: BJP leader Navjot Singh Siddhu on 18th July resigned from the Rajya Sabha. He was nominated to the Upper House in April this year. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien announced in the House that his resignation has been accepted.
  
• Ahmad Zahid Hamidi: Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Malaysia Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is visiting India. He met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19th July. Hamidi briefed the Prime Minister on the state of bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of counter-terrorism, cyber security and trans-national crimes.
  
• Rohit Khandelwal: He has become the first Indian to win the coveted title of Mr. World at a grand ceremony on 19th July 2016 at Southport Theatre, Floral Hall, The Promenade, Southport. The competition saw 47 participants from around the world, giving him a stiff competition. Rohit Khandelwal received a whopping cash prize of $50,000/- on winning this celebrated title
  
• Mahammed Shahid: Noted Indian hockey player Mohammed Shahid passed away due to multiple organ failure. Mohammed Shahid was a member of the V Baskaran-led Indian team that won a Gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
  
  He was known for his dribbling skills, and was considered one of India's greatest hockey players.
  
  The Sports Ministry had announced a medical grant of 10 lakh rupees for him and the Railways had announced that his medical expenses would be taken care of by the Ministry. Shahid recieved the Arjuna Award in 1981 and was honoured with Padma Shri in 1986.
  
• Michelle Kakade: Pune's Michelle Kakade has made her way into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to complete the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot. Michelle, a 47-year-old mother of two children, received the acknowledgement and her certificate from Guinness after strict verification of her run. It took her 193 days, one hour and nine minutes to cover 5968.4 kms of the Golden Quadrilateral that connects the four major metros of the country.
  
• Ganesh Singh: BJP Lok Sabha member Ganesh Singh has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Joint Committee of Parliament examining the land acquisition bill. Mr Singh who was already in the the panel, replaces S S Ahluwalia who became Minister of the State for Parliamentary Affairs during reshuffle of the council of ministers on 5th of this month.
  
• S H Raza: Modern Indian artist S H Raza died in New Delhi on 23rd July following a prolonged illness. An internationally acclaimed painter, Raza was honoured with the Padma Shri. He was elected as fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1983.
  
• Tathagata Roy: The Governor of Tripura, Mr Tathagata Roy was sworn-in as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. The oath was administered by the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Ajit Singh.
  
  Mr Roy will discharge the function of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh during the absence on leave of Mr JP Rajkhowa.
  
• Aditya Puri:Aditya Puri, the chief executive and managing director of the second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank, has been ranked the best banking chief executive officer (CEO) in Asia by the investor community.
  
  The bank’s chief financial officer (CFO) Sashi Jagdishan has been ranked the best CFO. HDFC Bank was also ranked the best IR Company, thereby making it the most honoured one in the Institutional Investor magazine.
  
  Called the All-Asia Executive Team Rankings 2016, the survey had 1,394 investment professionals from 582 financial institutions participating in it. The survey encompassed 1,541 companies from 18 sectors across Asia, excluding Japan. The research reflects feedback from both buy and sell-side analysts, with an unparallelled level of detail on the IR efforts of companies across the region.
  
• Five Indians on Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy list
  Five Indians have made it to the Forbes Asia's annual Heroes of Philanthropy list that highlights some of the region's noteworthy givers.
  
  The list, which included 40 philanthropists from 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, includes Vineet and Anupama Nayar, founders of the Sampark Foundation; Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India and Pune-based billionaire Cyrus Poonawallas son; Bain India CEO Amit Chandra and his wife Archana Chandra, CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation
  
  The Sampark Foundation boasts of a USD 100 million outlay funded entirely by the Nayars and represents more than half of their wealth. It is rolling out kits with child-friendly teaching aids to 50,000 government schools and 3 million students across Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.
  
  Another notable philanthropist is Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, who pledged USD 15 million last year to clean up Pune city with a fleet of 50 garbage trucks and a crew of 70 people.
  
  Amit Chandra, CEO of Bain India, and Archana Chandra, CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation, are the other two philanthropists from India.
  
  The husband and wife donate 75 per cent of their earnings each year to causes ranging from education to healthcare. Amit was one of the founding donors to Ashoka University and has funded an upcoming children's hospital in Mumbai that will be the country's largest
  
  The other notable philanthropist is China's Pony Ma, Chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings, who pledged 100 million shares of his Internet service provider - worth USD 2.3 billion - to the Tencent Foundation, which supports healthcare, environment protection and new technology.
  
  Taiwanese mogul Terry Gou, Chairman and CEO of Hon Hai Precision, donated USD 6 million in disaster relief after a devastating earthquake struck southern Taiwan in February and claimed 115 lives. He also pledged in 2013 to give away 90 per cent of his wealth, which now totals USD 6 billion.
  
• Shah Rukh, Akshay in Forbes list
  Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are among the world's highest-paid celebrities of 2016, according to an annual list by Forbes. The list has been topped by American singer Taylor Swift with earnings of $170 million.
  
  English-Irish boy band One Direction has claimed the second spot on the list with earnings of $110 million.
  
• Ashok Patnaik: The union government appointed a serving Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ashok Patnaik as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), one of the most ambitious intelligence projects, which failed to take off during United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule.
  
  The appointment of Mr. Patnaik, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, who also happens to be the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being seen as the government’s effort to revive the project, which was conceived in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
  
  The NATGRID is a centralised agency which stores sensitive personal information on citizens from almost two dozen agencies to be made available for counter-terror investigations. Mr. Patnaik is currently serving as Additional Director in the IB and he will continue to hold this post till his superannuation in 2018.
  
  While the clearance for Rs.3, 400-crore project from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) came in 2011, execution of the project slowed down after the exit of Home Minister P. Chidambaram in July 2012. There are around 70 personnel, drawn from both the government and private sectors, in the NATGRID.
  
• Mandyam Srinivasan: Scientists, led by an Indian-origin researcher Mandyam Srinivasan, are developing biologically-inspired drones that can navigate just like birds and flying insects without needing human input, radar or satellite navigation.
  
  A team at the University of Queensland in Australia is studying flying techniques that budgerigars and bees share, and applying their findings to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) control programmes.
  
  At first glance, insects and birds have very different brains in terms of size and architecture, yet the visual processing in both animals is very effective at guiding their flight. The team compares the flight of bees and budgies in particular because they are easy animals to study.
  
  Comparing the flight behaviours of these animals using high-speed cameras will lead to drastically improved UAV guidance systems.
  
  The biologically-inspired principles we uncover will foster a new generation of fully autonomous UAVs that do not rely on external help such as GPS (Global Positioning System) or radar.
  
• Lionel Messi: Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud. His father, Jorge Messi, was also given a jail term for defrauding Spain between 2007 and 2009.
  
  The footballer and his father also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguay used to conceal earnings from image rights.
  
  They were found guilty of three counts of tax fraud in ruling by the court in Barcelona. During the trial, Lionel Messi claimed he knew nothing about the management of his financial affairs, saying he was playing football.
  
• Oscar Pistorius: South African Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius was sentenced for six years for the murder of his friend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
  
  Pistorius was found guilty of murdering Steen kamp by an appeals court last December. He had initially received a five-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction in 2014, a ruling derided by women's groups as too lenient. Pistorius was freed from prison last October after almost a year behind bars to serve out the remainder of his term under house arrest.