Current Affairs August 2016 - Deaths

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News 1 - Indian-American Professor Emeritus Braj B Kachru died

Noted Indian American linguist and Jubilee Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois, Braj B. Kachru, passed away in Urbana at the age of 84 years.

In 1987, Kachru was awarded Duke of Edinburgh Award. He was named Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Illinois in 1992. In 1998, he became the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Visiting Professor at Hong Kong University. His notable works include ‘The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions and Models of Non-native Englishes,’ and ‘The Indianization of English: The English Language in India.

News 2 - Veteran Tamil Director ‘Vietnam Veedu' Sundaram passed away

Veteran Tamil Director and script writer Vietnam Veedu Sundaram passed away at the age of 73 years. Vietnam Veedu became part of his name after he wrote the script for the film, starring Sivaji Ganesan.

He was involved in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Sundaram also acted in a few movies, besides directing and acting in a lot of tele-serials. He had been a recipient of different awards.

News 3 - Australia's Bernard “Midget” Farrelly, Surfing’s first world champion, passed away

Australia's Bernard “Midget” Farrelly passed away at the age of 71 years. He won surfing’s first world championship in 1964 at Manly. At just 17, he became the first Australian to win a surfing major at the unofficial world championships in Makaha, Hawaii.

He was inducted into the Australia Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. He appeared in several surfing movies, and produced two books - A Surfing Life and How to Surf.

News 4 - Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian Chemist Ahmed Zewail passed away

The Egyptian-born Nobel-winning scientist Ahmed Zewail passed away in the United States of America at the age of 70 years. Mr Zewail won the Nobel Chemistry Prize in 1999 for his pioneering work in femtochemistry, the study of chemical reactions in ultra-short time scales.

A professor at the California Institute of Technology, he was a Science Advisor to President Obama and the first Arab Scientist to win the Nobel Prize.

News 5 - Yoga guru TKV Desikachar passed away

Yoga guru T.K.V. Desikachar passed away at the age of 78 years. He was one of the world’s renowned yoga gurus and a source of inspiration for all the teachers at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) trust he founded. His father, T. Krishnamacharya, was often referred to as “The Father of Modern Yoga".

T.K.V. Desikachar was known for transforming the way yoga was practiced and turned it into both a wellness concept and a therapy.

News 6 - Kalikho Pul, former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, dies

Former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Kalikho Pul allegedly hanged himself in the official residence on 9^th of August. He was 47 years old.

Mr. Pul held the CM’s post for about five months and left office last month after a Supreme Court ruling ordered removal of his government. He belonged to Kaman Mishmi ethnic group. From 2003 until 2007, he served as the State Finance Minister in the ministry of Chief Minister Gegong Apang.

News 7 - Veteran Assamese Sahitya Akademi winner Mahim Bora passed away

Eminent Assamese short story writer and a poet, Mahim Bora died at age of 92 due to old age related health issues. Bora was honored with Sahitya Akademi award for his most popular work Edhani Mahir Hanhi in 2001 and Padma Shri in 2011. He also received the Assam Valley Literary award in 1998.

Some of his best known works include ‘Kathanibari Ghat’, ‘Bohubhuji Tribhuj’, ’Top’, ‘Tinir Tini Gol’ etc.

News 8 - Tamil actress Jyothilakshmi passed away

Veteran actress Jyothilakshmi, famous for playing the ‘bad girl’ in the ‘70s, passed away at the age of 63 years due to cancer. She earned fame by doing dance numbers and negative roles.

Jyothi starred in over 300 southern films, Telugu and Tamil films such as "Pilla Pidagu", "Bangara Babu" and "Gandharva Kanya". She made her film debut, starring in T.R. Ramanna's Tamil film 'Periya Idathu Penn'. Her last on-screen appearance was in last year's Tamil adult comedy "Trisha Illana Nayanthara".

News 9 - Veteran writer-producer Panchu Arunachalam passed away

Veteran Tamil film producer, script and screenplay writer and lyricist Panchu Arunachalam passed away at the age of 75 years due to age related ailments.

He is popular for writing over 100 Tamil films, including hits like Murattu Kaalai, Sakalakala Vallavan and Apoorva Sagodhargal. He worked together with Rajinikanth in 23 films and that with Kamal Hassan in 13 films. He also introduced music maestro Illayaraja. A critically-acclaimed documentary on Panchu called ‘A Creator with Midas Touch’ was released.

News 10 - Legendary Pakistani batsman Hanif Mohammad passed away

Legendary Pakistani batsman Hanif Mohammad passed away at the Aga Khan Hospital due to kung cancer at the age of 81 years.

Popularly known as the 'Little Master', he played 55 Test matches for Pakistan and hit twelve hundreds. He was one of Pakistan's early cricketers who played an integral role in the country achieving Test status. Hanif was named as Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968.

News 11 - Eminent Lyricist Na Muthukumar passed away

Eminent Tamil lyricist Na Muthukumar passed away in Chennai due to jaundice at the age of 41 years. He wrote around 1,000 songs and holds a special record for writing 103 songs in 2012.

He had won two national awards for his lyrics "Anandha Yazhai Meetukirazh" in the film "Thanga Meenkazh" and "Azhagae Azhagae" in the film "Saivam". Some of his other popular songs include Suttum Vizhi, Devathaiyai Kandaen, Mun Andhi and Venillave.

News 12 - Former DMK leader S.P. Sarguna Pandian passed away

Former DMK Minister S.P Sarguna Pandian passed away at the age of 75 years. She held the post of deputy general secretary of DMK party for the last ten years. She was elected to the Assembly from the R.K. Nagar constituency in 1989 and again in 1996. She also held the portfolio of Social Welfare Ministry between 1996 and 2001.

She contested against Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency in the recently held Assembly elections but lost it.

News 13 - Akshardham founder Pramukh Swami died

Founder of Akshardham temples and a saint of the Swaminarayan sect, Pramukh Swami, passed away at the age of 95 years. He was President of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, an international Hindu socio-spiritual organization.

He built more than 1,100 Hindu temples, including the Swaminarayan Akshardham temples in New Delhi and Gandhinagar, Gujarat. On 20 July 2012, Pramukh Swami had declared that Mahant Swami Maharaj would succeed him as the sixth guru and spiritual head of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha.

News 14 - Former Chief Secretary Sudhanshu Mishra passed away

Former Chief Secretary of Odisha Sudhanshu Bhusan Mishra passed away due to cancer at the age of 77 years.

The former IAS officer was the Chief Secretary of Odisha from 1995-1999. He was also a member of the Indian Red Cross SocietyOdisha State Branch Working Committee. Mishra retired as Member, Board of Revenue and later served as Chairman of National Council of Teacher Education, Eastern Region.

News 15 - Popular Malayalam script writer TA Rasaq passed away

Noted Malayalam script writer T A Rasaq passed away at the age of 58 years due to liver related ailments. He was born at Kondotty in Malappuram district.

Rasaq who worked for more than thirty Malayalam films. He won the state film award for best screenplay and story in 1996 for the film 'Kanakkinavu'. He also won state film awards for best stories in 2002 and 2004 for the films 'Ayirathil Oruvan' and 'Perumazhakkalam' respectively.

News 16 - Noted Actor and Director Gobind Tej passes away

Noted Odia actor and director Gobind Tej passed away at the age of 88 years.

He received the Odisha State Film Award for Best Director for movies like ‘Kaberi’, ‘School Master’, ‘Tunda Baida’ and ‘Gare Sindura Dhare Luha.’ In 1977, he received the Odisha State Film Award for Best Actor for his remarkable acting in the movie ‘Bandhu Mohanty’. He was also conferred the ‘Jaydev Award’, the highest cine award in the state, in 1986 for his lifelong contribution to the growth and development of Odia cinema.

News 17 - Love Story director Arthur Hiller is dead

Arthur Hiller, the director of popular movies like Love Story, The Out-of-Towners, The In-Laws, The Hospital, passed away at the age of 92 years.

He served as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president between 1993 and 1997. He received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his lifetime of charitable efforts in 2002. He directed more than 30 features in all manner of genres. He was president of the Directors Guild of America from 1989-93 and the recipient of the guild’s prestigious Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 1999.

News 18 - Former international umpire Subrata Banerjee passed away

Former international umpire, Subrata Banerjee, passed away in Kolkata at the age of 71 years. He officiated in men's and women's international matches.

Banerjee enjoyed a 15-year career at the international level, where he officiated in 13 ODIs. Banerjee officiated in 64 first-class matches in an umpiring career spanning 39 years.

He had also served as a television umpire in ODIs and was the reserve umpire in the India-England Test in Mohali in 2001.

News 19 - Delhi Assembly’s First Speaker Charti Lal Goel died

Charti Lal Goel, first Speaker of Delhi Assembly and father of Union Minister Vijay Goel, passed away at the age of 89 due to ill health. He was cremated at Nigambodh Ghat.

He was one of the founding members of Bharatiya Jan Sangh and became the first Speaker of Delhi Assembly in 1993 and served in the post till 1998. He has also served as the deputy mayor of Delhi.

News 20 - Famous prominent Punjabi writer Gurdial Singh passed away

World famous Punjabi writer, novelist and short story writer and Jnanpith awardee Gurdial Singh passed away at Bathinda at the age of 83 years. The award-winning Punjabi film, ‘Anne Ghore Da Daan’ (Alms of the Blind Horse), was also based on his Punjabi novel with the same title.

Gurdial Singh was the recipient of various prestigious awards and honors such as Padma Shri, Jnanpith Award, Sahitya Akademi Award. Earlier this year, Sahitya Akademi announced fellowship for him which is the highest honor of the Akademi.

News 21 - Former FIFA President Joao Havelange passed away

Joao Havelange, who as president of FIFA for two decades, passed away at the age of 100 years. He helped transform soccer's governing body into a multibillion-dollar business.

Havelange expanded the World Cup from 16 to 32 teams and made it one of sport's most important events. He organized six World Cups as FIFA president from 1974 to 1998. He secured lucrative broadcast deals, brought nations into FIFA and created the women's World Cup. He was re-elected president six times, capitalizing on his contact-building across world football.

News 22 - Legendary journalist George E. Curry passed away

Veteran journalist and former Editor-In-Chief of the NNPA News Wire, George E. Curry, passed away at the age of 69 years. Curry mainly reported on racism, poverty and national politics for newspapers. He most recently wrote a syndicated column that ran in more than 200 black-owned newspapers.

Curry's syndicated column was carried in more than 200 African American-owned newspapers. He became the first African-American to be elected president of the American Society of Magazine Editors.

News 23 - Former Singapore President S.R. Nathan passed away

Indian origin former Singapore President S.R. Nathan passed away at the age of 92 years. The State flag on all Government buildings will be flown at half-mast from Aug 23 to Aug 26 as a mark of respect for the former president.

He was the sixth and longest-serving President of Singapore and served two terms from 1999 to 2011. Nathan was succeeded by President Tony Tan Keng Yam. Prior to becoming President, he held key positions in the Singapore Civil Service and also in security, intelligence and foreign affairs.

News 24 - Former Governor Akhlaq Ur Rahman Kidwai passed away

Former Governor, Akhlaq Ur Rahman Kidwai, passed away at the age of 96 years. He was a Rajya Sabha member from 2000 to 2004.

Dr. Kidwai served as Governor of Bihar (twice from from 1979 to 1985 and 1993 to 1998), West Bengal (1998 to 1999) and Haryana (2004 to 2009). He also served as the Chairman of Union Public Service Commission. He was Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and also been the director of the Jammu & Kashmir Bank. Kidwai was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, for his contribution towards Public Affairs.

News 25 - K K Sreedharan Nair, former editor of Mathrubhumi, passed away

Veteran journalist and former editor of Malayalam daily "Mathrubhumi" K. K. Sreedharan Nair passed away at the age of 86 years following a brief illness. Sreedharan Nair had been part of the Mathrubhumi for over six decades where he worked in in various capacities including Chief Sub-Editor, News Editor and Deputy Editor.

He took over as the editor of Mathrubhumi in 1990 and served for 10 years. Sreedharan Nair was selected for the first Kelappaji memorial award instituted by Kerala Mahatmaji Samskarika Vedi in 2010 for his contribution in the field of journalism.

News 26 - Noted painter, writer, art historian Dinanath Pathy passed away

Noted painter, writer and art historian Dinanath Pathy passed away at the age of 74 years. He was a former secretary of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Bhubaneswar.

He published over 60 boo ks in Odia, English and German languages like Sayonara, Punarnava, Chilika Panire Chhai and Digapandhi Ra Drawing Master. Pathy had received the prestigious international Rietberg Award of Switzerland-based Rietberg Society in 2014 in recognition of his lifetime dedication to the field of art. He was also conferred with the President of India’s Silver Plaque and the Orissa Sahitya Akademi Award.

News 27 - Former MP Governor Mohammad Shafi Qureshi passed away

Veteran Congress leader and former Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mohammad Shafi Qureshi passed away in Delhi at the age of 87 years. He was a prominent Muslim politician from Kashmir and the founder of the Congress party in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

He was the 19^th Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He also served as the Deputy Union Minister of Railways and got elected for Lok Sabha twice from Islamabad Parliamentary Constituency. he was also the governor of Bihar and UP.