Current Affairs January 2017 - Deaths

News 1 - Nagaland’s former NPCC President & Minister passed away

Nagaland’s former Minister and former President of Pradesh Congress Committee K V Pusa passed away at the age of 63. Pusa served as the Nagaland Minister for Veterinary and Animal Husbandry from 1998-1999 and Minister for Roads and Bridges from 20002003 in S C Jamir led Congress government.

He was also the member of Nagaland Assembly in the opposition bench for two terms from 2003-08 and 2008-2013. Besides being a tall political leader, Pusa had served as leader in student’s organization.

News 2 - Bambi artist Tyrus Wong passed away

Tyrus Wong, whose works inspired the Disney film Bambi, passed away at the age of 106 years. A Chinese immigrant, Mr Wong's vibrant paintings captured Walt Disney's eye and became the basis of the film's distinct style.

Mr Wong emigrated to the United States from China as a child, with his father - leaving behind his mother and a sister he would never see again. After studying as an artist, he began working with Disney in 1938 as an in-betweener, drawing hundreds of pictures between poses to create the illusion of motion.

News 3 - Karnataka Minister H S Mahadeva Prasad passed away

Karnataka Cooperation and Sugar Minister H S Mahadev Prasad passed away at the age of 58 years. He died of a massive heart attack.

Prasad represented Gundlupete constituency in Chamarajanagar district. he was the minister for food and civil supplies in 2004. He also held the post of Minister for Kannada and Culture in 2007. He was appointed the President of the District Congress Committee Chamarajnagar in 2010.

News 4 - Veteran actor Om Puri passed away

Veteran actor Om Puri passed away at the age of 66 years after suffering a heart attack. He has acted in both Hollywood and Bollywood movies. Some of his best movies are Aakrosh, Arohan and Ardh Satya.

Om Puri was the recipient of the Padma Shri award, the fourth highest civilian award of India. He was awarded an Order of the British Empire as well.

He is also the recipient of two National awards and two Filmfare Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award.

News 5 - Noted Sitar Player Abdul Halim Jaffer died

Noted sitar player Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan passed away at the age of 88 years. Khan hailed from the Indore Gharana and is credited for innovating the unique music style of 'Jafferkhani Baaj'.

He was conferred with the Padmashri, Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi awards. He played the sitar for various Bollywood films, including "Mughal-E-Azam", "Kohinoor", "Goonj Uthi Shehnai" and "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje", among many others.

News 6 - Renowned Manipur based historian Gangmumei Kamei passed away

Renowned Manipur-based historian, litterateur and scholar Gangmumei Kamei passed away at the age of 77 years. He had served as a professor of History in Manipur University, and was also elected president of the Northeast India History Association (NEIHA) in its Kohima session of 1986.

Kamei was also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Anthropological Survey of India (1984-87), and a member of the ICSSR panel on Tribal Studies.

News 7 - Former Portugese President Mario Soares passed away

Former Portugese President Mario Soares passed away in Lisbon at the age of 92 years. He is considered as the ‘Father of Democracy’ in Portugal.

The founder of Portugal's Socialist party, Soares spent decades in politics. He served as Portugal’s Prime Minister, twice, and then as President. He served as President from 1986 to 1996 and Prime Minister from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985.

He also served as the foreign minister and an MP of the European Parliament.

News 8 - Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passed away

Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passed away at the age of 82 years. Rafsanjani was a dominant figure in the country's politics since the 1980s.

He served as the President from 1989 to 1997 but lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he contested for President again in 2005. Mr. Rafsanjani was a close aide of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Before his presidency, he was the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament for nine years.

News 9 - Former German President Roman Herzog passed away

Roman Herzog, who as the President forced Germany to embrace economic reforms in the 1990s and emphasized the importance of remembering the Nazi Holocaust passed away at the age of 82.

He was a distinctive personality who advocated readiness for reform and at the same time stood for preserving the tried and tested. Herzog won the presidency in 1994, four years after reunification. He was one of the first leaders to address Germany's resistance to reform.

News 10 - Veteran British war correspondent Clare Hollingworth passed away

Veteran British war correspondent Clare Hollingworth, who broke the news of the Nazi invasion of Poland, passed away in Hong Kong at the age of 105 years.

Hollingworth, who was born in Leicester in 1911, was the first person to report on the invasion that triggered the outbreak of the World War II. She went on to report from Vietnam, Algeria and the Middle East. Hollingworth was a rookie reporter for the Daily Telegraph when she fell upon the scoop of the century.

News 11 - Punjab’s former CM Surjit Singh Barnala passed away

Former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala passed away at the age of 99. He served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 1990-91 and 2004-2011, whereas he has also been the Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2003-2004. He held the post of Union Agriculture Minister in the Janata Party Government of Morarji Desai from 1977-1979. He served as the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1985 to 1987.

Some of his noted decisions were when as Governor of Tamil Nadu, Barnala refused to recommend dismissal of the DMK government in 1991.

News 12 - National award-winning filmmaker Deepak Roy passed away

The National award-winning filmmaker Deepak Roy passed away at the age of 67 years. He is known for his movie "Limit to Freedom" which won him a National award in 1996 under the category of best investigative film.

Deepak Roy started his career as a film critic in 1974 and ventured into direction in 1982. He directed and produced more than 90 documentary films. One of his other creation, feature film "Dhanna", also won National award in the best film on other social issues category.

News 13 - Veteran film actress Geeta Sen passed away

Veteran film and stage actor Gita Sen, wife of filmmaker Mrinal Sen, passed away in Kolkata at the age of 86 years. She was suffering from old age-related ailments.

Many film and theatre personalities including director Goutam Ghosh visited the residence of Sens and consoled Mrinal Sen (93) who is also ailing and their son.

Gita Sen had acted in several films including 'Kolkata 71' and 'Akaler Sandhane'. She had also been part of the theatre movement.

News 14 - Eugene Cernan, last man on the moon, passed away

Eugene A. Cernan, the last astronaut to leave his footprints on the surface of the moon, has passed away at the age of 82 years.

Cernan earned several distinctions in his 13 years with NASA. He was the second American to walk in space and one of three men to have flown twice to the moon. But he's best remembered as commander of Apollo 17, the last mission to the moon in December of 1972.

News 15 - Former Chhatisgarh minister Tarun Prasad Chatterjee passed away

Tarun Prasad Chatterjee, Senior Congress leader and former state minister, passed away at the age of 68 years.

He was a four-time MLA from Raipur rural constituency in 1980, 1990, 1993 and 1998 and three-time Mayor of Raipur Municipal Corporation. He was also the Public Works Department (PWD) minister between 2002 and 2003.

Tarun Prasad Chatterjee was the general secretary of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee from 2003 to 2013.

News 16 - Indian scientist C.V. Vishveshwara passed away

Indian Scientist CV Vishveshwara, first director of the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium passed away at the age of 78. He made a historic discovery in Black Holes research in India. He was famous at communicating science to the public and used Kannada language to make astronomy more interesting for Kannada people.

Prof. Vishveshwara penned several books, including ‘Einstein’s Enigma, or, Black Holes in My Bubble Bath’. He witnessed synchronized announcement of the first discovery of gravitational waves at IUCAA.

News 17 - Veteran poet Naqsh Lyallpuri passed away

Famous Urdu poet and lyricist Jaswant Rai Sharma, known to the world by his penname Naqsh Lyallpuri passed away at the age of 89 years. Some of his famous lyrics were in films like "Chetna", "Aahista Aahista", "Tumhare Liye", ""Gharonda", etc.

Lyallpuri penned two books; "Teri Gali Ki Taref" (collection of non-filmy shayari) and "Angan Angan Barse Geet" (featuring his songs from films, TV serials, and music albums). He was also a founder member of the Indian Performing Rights Society.

News 18 - US Emmy award-winning actress Mary Tyler Moore died

Emmy award-winning US actress Mary Tyler Moore died at the aged of 80. She was best known for her television roles in the 1960 sitcoms – ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ and the eponymous The Mary Tyler Moore Show which went on till the 1970s.

She was also nominated for a best actress Oscar in 1980 for the film – Ordinary People. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Moore moved to Los Angeles when she was eight years old and started her career in the show business as a dancer at the age of just 17.

News 19 - Alexander M. Kadakin, Russian Ambassador to India passed away

Alexander M. Kadakin, Russian Ambassador to India passed away due to heart attack. He was 67 years old. Alexander Kadakin was known for his strong statements in support of India, especially on the issue of terrorism and skills in Hindi language.

He had served as a junior diplomat in the then USSR Embassy in Delhi in 1971, ambassador to India between 1999 to 2004 and then since 2009. Kadakin had immense support for further improvement in Indo-Russian ties.