Persons – 2012 • Omita Paul appointed as the Secretary of the President: Appointment Committee of the Cabinet(ACC) appointed Omita Paul as the Secretary of the President on 24 July 2012. Her tenure as Secretary to the President is for contract basis. Omita is 63 years old. She replaced Christy L Fernandez. Omita Paul was appointed as the information commissioner in the central Information Commission in the year 2009 for the short duration of time at the end of the UPA-I government’s tenure. In addition, she had resigned to join as the Advisor in Finance Ministry from 2004 to 2009. Omita is a retired officer from Indian Information Service (IIS) from 1973 batch. Omita Paul is the wife of KK Paul. KK Paul was the former Delhi Police Commissioner. He is working as the member of the Union Public Service Commission. • Hesham Kandil Named Egypt's New Prime Minister: Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi elected fifty-year- old Hisham Kandil as the country’s Prime Minister on 26 July. Morsi ordered the country’s former minister of water resources and irrigation, Kandil to form a new government. Kandil, holds an engineering degree from Cairo University in the year 1984 and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in the year 1993. Kandil will be the first Egyptian prime minister to wear a beard, which is a sure sign of change in the country. A number of more experienced names were suggested for the prestigious role, but Morsi chose Kandil, a relatively lesser-known face as the Prime Minister of the country, this could be because he wanted someone unlikely to threaten or overshadow him. Mohamed Morsi who became the fifth President of the Republic of Egypt on 24 June 2012, is the first to have been freely elected in the country. The next government will be technocratic in nature, and the ruling Islamist Freedom and Justice Party is expected to head eight to ten ministries of the new cabinet • Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: African Union (AU) on 15 July 2012 elected South Africa's home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as its new head, making her the first female head of the union. In a closely fought contest Dlamini-Zuma beat incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon 37-17. Dlamini-Zuma, wife of the former South African President Jacob Zuma, was declared winner following a third round of voting. In election held in January 2012, neither of the two candidates got the two-thirds majority, which was required to be elected as the organization head. Consequently, Ping got an extension of another six months in the office. African Union, the successor to Organisation of African Unity, came into existence in 2002 at Durban summit in South Africa. The Union is headquartered at Addis Ababa Ethiopia. A pan-African organization, AU aims at promoting unity and cooperation among African nations. The association also strives to spread democracy and good governance in the continent. At present the African Union has a total of 54 members. Morocco is the only African country which is not the part of the Union. • Stephen Covey, '7 Habits' author, dies at 79: Stephen R Covey ,the well-know motivational speaker and author of the best selling ''The Seven Habits of Highly Effective people'', which sold more than 20 million copies in 38 languages, died on 16th July at a hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho, due to complications from a bicycle accident in April, according to his family. Covey also was the author of several other best sellers, including ' First Things First,' ''Principle-Centered Leadership'', ''The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families,'' and ''The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness''. Covey was the co-founder of Utah-based professional services company Franklin Covey. He lived with his wife in Provo, and has nine children and 52 grandchildren. • Veteran socialist Mrinal Gore passes away: Veteran socialist leader Mrinal Gore, who earned the sobriquet 'Paniwali Bai' for her efforts in bringing drinking water supply to Goregaon, a Mumbai suburb, passed away on 17 July, after a brief illness. A pioneer and visionary, Gore was one of the last of the Socialist pillars in Maharashtra. Gore was elected to Parliament on a Janata Party ticket in 1977. Gore belonged to that special set of women who took to politics in a period when it was virtually unthinkable for women to be involved in public work. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India exhortation as a youngster, Mrinal chucked a promising career in medicine to devote herself to organizing the poor and the disenfranchised • Arun Mishra as Chief of DGCA: GOVT. has decided on 16 July 2012 to appoint Arun Mishra as the Chief of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). He will replace E. K. Bharat Bhusan. Arun Mishra was the former IAS officer at West Bengal cadre. He was the joint Secretary of Civil Aviation in the year 2009.DGCA comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. DGCA is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation that deals with the safety issues. 235 Persons – 2012 • Deepak Parekh: Deepak parekh- HDFC chairman, the govt. has appointed him on 16 July as the new chairman of the High Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure. He would function in an honorary capacity with the rank of minister of state. The committee is authorized to re-examine existing policies and advice necessary changes to present in the investment for the infrastructure sector. It will work under 12th Five- Year project investments plan from 2012 to 2017 of 4099240 crore rupees. The committee was first set up by Rakesh Mohan, former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in November 2012. • Rajesh Khanna Passes away : RAJESH KHANNA (69)-Yesteryear Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna passed away at his Mumbai residence Ashirwad on 18 July 2012. He was 69. He was severely ill over the past few months. Rajesh Khanna is considered to be the first superstar of Indian cinema . Rajesh Khanna is survived by his wife Dimple Kapadia and two daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinkie Khanna. His elder daughter Twinkle Khanna is married to Hindi film actor Akshay Kumar.Rajesh Khanna’s real name was Jatin Khanna, was born on 29 December 1942, in Amritsar, Punjab. Aradhna, Anand, Kati Patang, Dushman, Bawarchi, Amar Prem are few of his movies which earned him both the praise of critics and commercial success at the same time. He was conferred the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.Rajesh Khanna was also the member of Lok Sabha from 1992 to 1996. He was elected to the lower house on the Congress Party ticket from the New Delhi constituency. • Renowned Economist P.N.Dhar passes away: P.N.DHAR(94) - Professor of Economics and the first principal secretary of Indira Gandhi passed away on 19 July 2012 in New Delhi. He was the professor of Economics in the University of Delhi. He was the first Principal Secretary of Indira Gandhi in 1970. He was the only person who had joined Prime Minister’s Office in the year 1970.He was the team member which was accompanied by Indira Gandhi when she had signed Simla Agreement with Pakistan after the War of Bangladesh in the year 1971. Dhar was one of the founders of Delhi School of Economics. He worked as the Assistant Secretary General in United Nations, Research and Policy Analysis in New York in the year 1976-78. • Renowned Art Expert Sumahendra passed away: SUMAHENDRA (69) - Renowned Art Expert, passed away on 19 July 2012. He was the director of Visual Art in Jawahar Kala Kendra, Rajasthan. He was also the retired Principal of Rajasthan School of Art. He was known as the expert in Rajasthani miniature paintings and frescos. His work included the World Famous frescos in Bundi fort in the National Museum which is located at Delhi. In addition, He was the author of numerous books which are based on painting. Varnamala is one of his famous book. • RSS Ideologue Bal Apte passes away : BAL APTE (73)- Top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Ideologue and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bal Apte died in Mumbai on 17 July 2012. He was 73. Bal Apte was twice elected to the Rajya Sabha (in 2000 and 2006), where he represented the state of Maharashtra. He was the vice president of BJP during 2002-2010 . • Rajkeshwur Purryag is Mauritius fifth President: Rajkeshwur Purryag became the fifth president of Mauritius on 21st July. His predecessor Anerood Jugnauth resigned in March following open conflict with Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ramgoolam. The row erupted when the leader of the opposition Paul Berenger announced the creation of an opposition alliance headed by Mr. Jugnauth.Mr. Ramgoolam asked Mr. Jugnauth to either deny the statement by the opposition, or — in the case of confirmation — to resign, arguing that his new role was incompatible with a position as head of state. • Captain Lakshmi Sahgal passes away: Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, who was part of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army, died on 23rd July in Knapur, following a brief illness. Sehgal (97), breathed her last at a private hospital at 11.20am, her daughter and noted CPM leader Subhashini Ali said. Sehgal, who was ill for some time, was admitted to the hospital on July 19 after she suffered a heart attack at her residence in Civil Lines area here. She was kept on life support system. She was very active during the Independence movement and had commanded the 'Rani of Jhansi Regiment' of the INA formed by Bose. A doctor by profession, Sehgal was working as a medical practitioner and a social worker.