(Current Affairs) Person in News | October: 2013

Person in News

APPOINTED:

DEATH:

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY:

BOOKS/AUTHORS:

VARIOUS:

APPOINTED:

Mamnoon Hussain

Mamnoon Hussain was elected as the 12th President of Pakistan on 30 July 2013. 73-year old Mamnoon Hussain belonged to the PML-N Party.

He will be administered the oath on 9 September 2013. Mamnoon Hussain succeeded Asif Ali Zardari. Mamnoon Hussain competed against the ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Raza Rabbani of Pakistan Peoples Party was withdrawn as a competitive candidate.

KK Paul

Former Delhi police Chief, KK Paul on 8 July 2013 took over as the new Governor of Meghalaya, after he was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, T Meena
Kumari at a simple function held at the Durbal Hall of the Raj Bhavan in Shillong.

DEATH:

Pran Kishan Sikand

The winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award and a veteran actor Pran died on 12 July 2013 in a Hospital at Mumbai. He died at the age of 93 due to multi-organ failure after prolonged illness and is now survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. Pran Kishan Sikand was admitted to Lilavati Hospital, Bandra, after being diagnosed with pneumonia. Born in Old Delhi on 12 February 1920, Pran got his first break in a Punjabi Film, Yamla Jat in 1940, in the undivided India. But his debut in Bollywood happened with the film Ziddi, in which he acted along with the evergreen hero of bollywood Dev Anand in 1948.

Pran served the Bollywood for a career span of more than six decades in more than 350 films and is known for his brilliant performances in films like Ram aur Shyam, Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool, Half-Ticket, Madhumati, Purab aur Paschim, Karz, Zanjeer and Amar Akbar Anthony and many more.

Honours received by Pran

  • He was conferred with Dada Saheb Phalke Award on 12 April 2013, which was received by him on 10 May 2013 at his residence
  • In 2001 he was awarded with Indias third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan
  • In his career span, he received four film fare awards
  • He was awarded the title of Villain of the millennium by Stardust in 2000
  • In 2010 he was named among the Top 25 Asian Actors of All times by CNN

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY:

Kumar Mangalam Birla

The Chairman of Aditya Birla Nuvo, Kumar Mangalam Birla resigned from the Reserve Bank of Indias Central Board on 23 July 2013. The resignation is said to avoid the conflicts because Aditya Birla Nuvo applied for the bank license to RBI. Aditya Birla Nuvo is one of the 26 firms which have applied for bank licenses with RBI. Kumar Mangalam Birla has remained on the central board of RBI from past six years. It is important to note that Kumar Mangalam Birla was also nominated as the member of the Directors of the Central Board of the RBI in 2006.The Reserve Bank of India will be granting new bank licenses by March 2014. India, at present has 26 public sector banks, 22 private sector banks and 56 regional rural banks.

BOOKS/AUTHORS:

Rathindranath Tagore: The Unsung Hero

Visva-Bharati University, in the last week of June 2013, published a book as well as dedicated a museum to Rathindranath Tagorethe eldest son of Rabindranath Tagore. The museum is called Guha Ghar, while the book is titled Rathindranath Tagore: The Unsung Hero.

About the book- Rathindranath Tagore: The Unsung Hero

  • The book titled Rathindranath Tagore: The Unsung Hero is edited by Rabindra Bhavana. It is published by Rabindra Bhavana, Visva Bharati.
  • This book consists of critical articles on Rathindranath Tagore as artist, craftsman, litterateur, translator as well as a scientist.
  • The book has selection of English as well as Bengali writings of Rathindranath Tagore.

  • The book is very important because it compiles his speeches as well as articles as the first vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati University for the  very first time. One of the speeches also includes the one which he delivered in 1951 when Visva-Bharati University was transformed into central university. Another speech also includes the one when Rathindranath Tagore welcomed the Chinese premier- Chiang Kai-shek.

  • Apart from the articles and speeches, the book also includes the paintings and manuscripts related to Rathindranath Tagores life.

VARIOUS:

Gansu

A strong earthquake ripped through Chinas northwestern Gansu Province. The quake, measuring 6.6 on Richter scale, shook the area at the junction of the Minxian County and Zhangxian County. The epicenter, with a depth of 20 km, was 170 km away from the provincial capital Lanzhou. A 5.6-magnitude quake jolted the same area later in the morning. Communication was cut off in 13 towns of Zhangxian County. The Minxian County government stated that most of the townships in the county have been affected by the quake. The townships of Meichuan and Puma were seriously hit. Many homes in the quake-hit region collapsed. The earthquake was
also felt in Tianshui city and the provincial capital city of Lanzhou besides in the cities of Xian, Baoji and Xianyang in neighboring Shaanxi Province.

Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed the widest US global surveillance operations, was on 25 July 2013 awarded German Whistleblower Prize 2013 worth 3900 Dollars in absentia. Snowden has exposed the substantial and unsuspecting monitoring and storage of communication data by US and other western intelligence agencies, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies. It was the top secret National Security Agency documents that were leaked by Snowden since the beginning of June 2013 which in turn made it possible and unavoidable intensive investigations to establish whether the operations of domestic and foreign intelligence services have violated the existing rules applicable to them. Snowden has undertaken great personal risks in leaking the documents on the operations of the US and other western intelligence agencies, aware of the current criminal prosecution of whistleblowers in security areas. Even after proving that the espionage operations partly or to a large extent were protected by the law, Snowden has helped in exposing such a
dangerous situation, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies.

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