Events; Appointments; Etc - August 2013
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Events; Appointments; Etc - August 2013 BACK APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. Hassan Rowhani: He has been elected as the President of Iran. Raghuram Rajan: Chief Economic Adviser to UPA government, he has been appointed as the Governor of Reserve Bank Of India (RBI). Dilip Trivedi: Senior IPS officer, he has been appointed as the Chief of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). DISTINGUISHED VISITORS G.L. Peiris: External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka. He came to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet in Colombo in November. Prime Minister Singh, during his talk with Mr Peiris, asked Sri Lanka to stand by its commitment not to dilute the 13th Amendment on devolution of powers to the provinces and sought an early repatriation of Indian fishermen presently in the custody of the Lankan authorities. Mohammad Karim Khalili: Vice President o Afghanistan. During his three-day visit security issues and trade and other bilateral issues were discussed. Nuri al-Maliki: Prime Minister of Iraq. The visit was the first high-level bilateral trip in 38 years. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited Iraq in 1975. Maliki’s trip saw India and Iraq sign an agreement on energy cooperation. Tshering Tobgay: Prime Minister of Bhutan. This was his first overseas visit after assuming office in July 2013. He briefed New Delhi on the talks between his country and China over their boundary dispute, which has strategic implications for India’s security. DIED Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi: Eminent Indian classical singer and music director from Odisha, better known as a noted vocalist of Jayadeva’s ‘Gita Govind’, he died on 25 August 2013. He was 80. EVENTS AUGUST 3—Iran’s new President, Hassan Rowhani, assumes office and pledges to work to lift the international sanctions imposed on Tehran over its controversial nuclear drive. 14—In its worst peace time disaster, Indian Navy loses top submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, with 18 men on board. The submarine sinks in the naval dockyard in Mumbai following an explosion. 14—Egypt declares emergency after more than 500 persons are killed in a bloodbath that ensued when security forces, backed by bulldozers and armoured vehicles, stormed two camps occupied by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi. 20—A court in Pakistan formally indicts former military dictator Pervez Musharraf with the murder of former premier Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in 2007. 22—Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Africa’s oldest leader at 89, is sworn in for a new five- year term in the face of criticism from opponents and the West that his re-election in a July vote was not credible. 30—India’s first exclusive defence satellite, Rukmini (GSAT-7), is successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket, from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. BACK Events; Appointments; Etc - July 2013 BACK APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. King Philippe: He has ascended the throne of Belgium after the emotional abdication of his father Albert II, vowing to strive for unity in a nation divided by language and tradition. The new sovereign has become the seventh "King of The Belgians”. Mamnoon Hussain: He has been elected as the 12th President of Pakistan for a five-year term starting in September 2013. Born in Agra (India) on 23 December 1940, Mamnoon has been associated with PML-N since 1993 and served as Governor of Sindh for a brief period of six months in 1999. He lost the post after the then Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf toppled the PML-N government in a military coup in October 1999. He owns a textile business in Karachi and has contracts with wealthy industrialists and entrepreneurs. Tshering Tobgay: Leader of People’s Democratic Party, he has been elected as the Prime Minister of Bhutan. Virendra Kataria: He has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. K.K. Paul: Former Police Commissioner of Delhi, he has been named the Governor of Meghalaya. Najeeb Jung: He has been appointed as the Lt Governor of Delhi. He was earlier Jamia Milia Vice Chancellor. Lt Gen A.K. Singh (Retd): He has been appointed as the Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island. Hemant Soren: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader, he has been appointed as the ninth Chief Minister of Jharkhand. R. Chandrashekhar: Former telecom secretary, he has been appointed as the President of the IT software services industry body NASSCOM. He will take over after present President Som Mittal’s tenure ends in January 2014. T.C.A. Raghavan: He has been appointed as the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. Abdul Rahim Rather: Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister, he has been elected Chairman of the empowered committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST). DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Pham Binh Minh: Vietnam Foreign Minister. Joe Biden: Vice President of USA. His visit helped to lay ground work for the US visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September-October. Jean-Yves Le Drian: Defence Minister of France. DIED Douglas Engelbart: Tech visionary, he invented the computer mouse. He died on 4 July 2013 at the age of 88. The first computer mouse was a wooden shell with metal wheels. He developed it in the 1960s and patented it in 1970. The idea was way ahead of its time. The mouse didn’t become commercially available until 1984, with the release of Apple’s then-revolutionary Macintosh computer. Engelbart conceived the mouse so early in the evolution of computers that he and his colleagues didn’t profit much from it. The technology passed into the public domain in 1987, preventing him from collecting royalties on the mouse when it was in its widest use. At least 1 billion have been sold since the mid-1980s. Pran: Legendary Hindi film actor, he died on 12 july 2013. He was 93. The actor, who had a six- decade-long career that saw him performing in over 400 films, was conferred the India’s highest cinema honour—Dada Saheb Phalke award—in April 2013. Pran left his imprint as a villain with powerful roles in films like Kashmir ki Kali, Khandaan, Aurat, Bari Behen, Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai’', Half Ticket, Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim, Don, Victoria No. 403, Karz, Amar-Akbar- Anthony and Naseeb. Amar Bose: Acoustics pioneer and founder and chairman of the audio technology company Bose Corp, known for the rich sound of its small tabletop radios and its noise-cancelling headphones popular among frequent fliers, died on 13 July 2013, at age 83. Arun Nehru: Former Union Minister and a powerful figure during the tenure of former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, he died on 26 July 2013 at age 69. Obaid Siddiqi: ne of India’s foremost biologists and former director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, he passed away on 26 July 2013. He was 81. Jagdish Raj: Hindi film actor who holds the record of playing a cop in 144 films passed away on 30 July 2013. He was 85. Some of his popular movies include Deewar, Don, Shakti, Mazdoor, Imaan Dharam, Gopichand Jasoos, Silsila, Aaina and Besharam. EVENTS JULY 1—India’s first dedicated navigational satellite IRNSS-1A is successfully launched by PSLV-C22. 4—Egypt’s first democratically elected President is overthrown by the military after just one year in office. The armed forces also suspend the Islamist-drafted constitution, and call for new elections. Adli Mansour is sworn-in as interim President. 7—Nine serial explosions rock the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodh Gaya, leaving at least five people injured. 6—Solar Impulse, a solar-powered aircraft completes the final leg of a history-making cross-country flight, gliding to a smooth stop at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport. The final leg of the cross-continental journey had started in California in early May. 11—President’s rule in Jharkhand is revoked. JMM leader Hemant Soren is elected as the Chief Minister. President's rule was imposed on18 January 2013, following the fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Arjun Munda government after the JMM withdrew from the ruling coalition. 13—First unit at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) and India’s 21st reactor, begins the nuclear fission process (also called as attaining criticality). 13—Bhutan’s main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) storms to power, getting two-thirds majority in the second parliamentary elections in the country. 26—India’s advanced meteorological satellite INSAT-3D is successfully launched by an European rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. MILESTONES Parveez Rasool: He created history by becoming the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the Indian team. Surjit Hans: 82-year-old Indian professor, who translated all works of William Shakespeare into Punjabi, has been honoured with a bust of the 18th century Bard of Avon at Ealing Mayor’s parlour in London. BACK Events; Appointments; Etc - June 2013 BACK APPOINTED; ELECTED Etc. Hasan Rowhani: Moderate cleric, he has been elected as President of Iran. He won the elections after gaining support among many reform- minded Iranians, looking to claw back a bit of ground after years of crackdowns. The powerful showing by the former nuclear negotiator allowed him to avoid a two-person runoff and demonstrated the strength of opposition sentiment even in a system that is gamed against it. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani: He has taken-over as the new Emir of Qatar. Kevin Rudd: He was sworn in as Australian Prime Minister for the second time on 27 June 2013, a day after toppling Julia Gillard and three months ahead of elections in which opinion polls show the ruling Labour Party faces a devastating defeat.