Current Affairs August 2019 - Deaths
1 - Former Glamorgan cricketer Malcolm Nash passed away
Former Glamorgan cricketer Malcolm Nash passed away at the age of 74 years. He took 993 first-class wickets in a 17-year career between 1966 and 1983. He was first bowler whose over had six sixes hit for the first time by West Indies batsman Garfield Sobers. He had scored 7,129 runs and held 148 catches in his career.
Malcolm was known for being leading wicket-taker when Glamorgan won the County Championship in 1969. He retired from cricket in 1983 and became cricket coach in California.
2 - Former RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn passed away
Former Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn passed away at the age of 60 years. He served as the Deputy Governor of the RBI between 2009 and 2013, during the tenure of Governor D Subbarao.
In November, 2015, Gokarn was appointed as an executive director on the board of the IMF. He was also associated with Brooking’s India. He had the distinction of being the youngest deputy governor of RBI at that time.
3 - Veteran Gujarati journalist Kanti Bhatt passes away
Veteran Gujarati journalist, author and columnist Kanti Bhatt passed away at the age of 88 years. He was born on 15th July 1931 in Sachra village in erstwhile Bhavnagar state of Gujarat.
Kanti Bhatt joined journalism in 1966 in Mumbai. He also worked as journalist, writer, columnist and editor in various Gujarati publications like Chitralekha, Mumbai Samachar, Janshakti, Sandesh, Yuva Darshan, Jansatta, Vyapar and Abhiyan. He must have written more than 45,000 articles in the course of his journalistic career.
4 - Cricket commentator Anant Setalvad passed away
Famous cricket commentator Anant Setalvad passed away at the age of 84 years. He was appreciated for his pleasant voice and good command of the English language. Setalvad had started his radio commentary stint in the pre-TV days.
Anant was a commentator with AIR for Ranji Trophy and other BCCI tournaments and also for Test matches. He was on the AIR panel for the 1969 India-Australia Test match in Mumbai and also in the panel for the 1973 Test against the Tony Lewis-led England at the CCI.
5 - Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away
Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away at the age of 67 years. She was the second woman to hold the office as foreign minister, after Indira Gandhi. She became first female Chief Minister of Delhi in 1998.
Sushma Swaraj was known to be first female Spokesperson of a national political party and first female Union Cabinet Minister of BJP party. She was the Indian Parliament's first and the only female MP honoured with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
6 - WWE’s ‘King of the Ring’ Harley Race passed away
WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race passed away at the age of 76 years. Harley Race captured the NWA World Heavyweight Championship eight times. Harley Leland Race was born on April 11, 1943, in Maryville, Missouri.
Race joined the WWE in 1986. His last serious matches were in the early 1990s. After winning the King of the Ring tournament, Race was the first to don regal robes and a crown.
7 - Renowned Bangladeshi novelist Rizia Rahman passed away
Renowned Bangladeshi novelist Rizia Rahman passed away at the age of 79 years. She was known for her creative work in short stories, poems, essays as well as children's fiction and novels. Bong Theke Bangla, Rokter Okshor 'Uttar Purush (1977)', 'Surja Sabuj Rakta (1980)', 'Ekal Cirokal (1984)'and Ghar-Bhanga-Ghar are among some of her more well-known novels. Her autobiography, 'Nodi Nirobodhi’, was released in 2011.
Rizia received the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1978, Ekushey Padak in 2019, Bangladesh Lekhika Sangha Shwarna Padak and Ananya Sahitya Puraskar.
8 - Former Argentina footballer Jose Luis Brown passed away
Former Argentina defender and FIFA World Cup winner Jose Luis Brown passed away at the age of 62 years. He played club football in Argentina, Colombia, France and Spain. He was known for his ultimate opening goal scored in the Mexico 1986 Final helping Argentina to 3-2 win over Germany in 1986.
Jose played 36 times for Argentina's football team and 300 league appearances for the club such as Boca Juniors, Deportivo Español y Racing Club, Atlético Nacional, Real Murcia and Brest club in France.
9 - Music star DJ Arafat passed away
Ivory Coast's musician DJ Arafat passed away due to road accident. He recently received the award for best artist of the year during the Coupé-Decalé Awards in Abidjan in 2016 and 2017. He was termed as "king" of coupé-décalé dance music.
Arafat released 11 albums and some of his big hits were "Dosabado", "Kpangor", "Zoropoto", "Enfant Beni" and "Moto, Moto". He was honored with two WatsUp TV Africa Music Video Awards in 2016.
10 - Indian actress Vidya Sinha passed away
Film and television actor Vidya Sinha passed away at the age of 71 years due to bad health. She worked in more than 30 movies. She was known for her role in Basu Chatterjee's film 'Rajnigandha' (1974).
Vidya Sinha worked in movies such as Choti Si Baat, Safed Jhooth, Inkaar, Rajnigandha and Pati Patni Aur Who. She also appeared on television shows like Kkavyanjali, Qubool Hai, Zindagi Wins and Kullfi Kumar Bajewala.
11 - Former India cricketer V.B. Chandrasekhar passed away
Former India and Tamil Nadu opening batsman V.B. Chandrasekhar passed away. He represented India in seven One Day Internationals. He was commentator, national selector and ran a cricket academy in Chennai. He served as the coach of Tamil Nadu in 2012.
V.B. Chandrasekhar owned V. B. Kanchi Veerans team in Tamil Nadu Premier League. He was known for his outstanding performances in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored over 4,999 runs from 81 matches in his career.
12 - Former Madhya Pradesh CM Babulal Gaur passed away
Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Babulal Gaur, passed away at the age of 89 years. He served as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 2004 to 2005 and represented Govindpura Assembly seat for 10 times. He retired from electoral politics in 2018.
Babulal Gaur served as Minister for Commerce, Industries, Commercial Taxes in Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Council of Ministers in 2008. Gaur was conferred title of Varshshri in an opinion poll conducted by Nai Duniya, Bhopal in 1991.
13 - Veteran music director-composer Khayyam passed away
Veteran music director-composer Khayyam passed away at the age of 92 years. He was best known for his music in classic films such as 'Umrao Jaan' and 'Kabhi Kabhi'.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi honoured Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, popularly known as Khayyam, with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Creative Music. Four years later, he was conferred with Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award. He won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music and a lifetime achievement award.
14 - Former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra passed away
Former Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra passed away at the age of 82 years. Dr Mishra became Chief Minister in 1975, 1980 and 1989. He was also Union Agriculture Minister in Prime Minister P.V. Narsimha Rao government at the Center in 1995.
Dr. Mishra, before he joined politics, was an economics professor at Bihar University. He has authored several research papers and books. He was also referred to as ‘Maulana’ Jagannath because of his influence with the Muslim community.
15 - Doordarshan Anchor Neelum Sharma passed away
Doordarshan (DD) News anchor and Nari Shakti awardee Neelum Sharma passed away at the age of 50 years. She had been awarded the Nari Shakti Puruskar by President Ram Nath Kovind in 2018.
Neelum had anchored programmes such as 'Badi Charcha' (Prime discussion) and 'Tejasvini'. As part of her ‘Tejasvini’ programme, Sharma highlighted the achievements of woman achievers from the remotest parts of India who went on to become role models for the society.
16 - Sahitya Akademi Award winner NS Tasneem passed away
Eminent Punjabi writer and Sahitya Akademi winner Professor Niranjan Singh Tasneem passed away at the age of 91 years. Tasneem had served as a professor at SCD Government College, Ludhiana.
Tasneem had been awarded Punjab’s highest literary honor – Punjabi Sahit Rattan – in 2015. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for his novel ‘Gawache Arth’ (The Lost Meaning) which was based on Punjab and lives of Punjabis in 1984. ‘Ik Hor Nawan Saal’, ‘Jadon Saver Hoi’, ‘Ret Chhal’, ‘Talaash Koi Sadeevi’, ‘Hanera Hon Tak’ and ‘Parchhawein’ were some of the Punjabi novels penned by him.
17 - Former finance minister and BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley passed away
Former Union minister Arun Jaitley passed away at the age of 66 years. He was one of the most articulate defenders of the BJP and had set a high benchmark of probity as a Parliamentarian and minister.
Jaitley's most important legacy will be rolling out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, the biggest tax reforms after Independence. He was serving his fourth straight term in Rajya Sabha, where he entered in 2000 and went on to become the Leader of the Opposition and then the Leader of the House as the BJP came to power in 2014.
18 - India’s first woman DGP Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya passed away
India’s first woman Director General of Police Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya passed away at the age of 72 years. 1973 batch Indian Police Service officer Kanchan Chaudhary handled many sensitive cases including the murder of national badminton champion Syed Modi and the Reliance-Bombay Dyeing case in her 33 year long career.
Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya created history in 2004 when she was appointed as the DGP of Uttarakhand by becoming first woman in India to hold such position. She was also known to be second woman IPS officer in the country after Kiran Bedi.
