CURRENT EVENTS JAN 2012 TO JAN 2013 Former Prime Minister of India and the head of unsteady coalition government in 1990s who died at the age of 92 following brief illness on 30 November 2012 - Inder Kumar Gujral Chairperson of the National League of Democracy of Myanmar who visited India from 13 November 2012 to 18 November 2012 - Aung San Suu Kyi The US special envoy to Af-Pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) who on 27 November 2012 announced his resignation- Marc Grossman The person who was sworn-in as Brazil's Supreme Court's first non-White President on 23 November 2012 - Joaquim Barbosa The former President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, was awarded with Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace on 22 November 2012- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva The Bihar Cadre Senior IPS Officer of 1974 batch was appointed as next director of Central Bureau of Investigation on 22 November 2012 for two years- Ranjit Sinha Royal Opera House chief executive who on 22 November 2012 was appointed as director general of the BBC - Tony Hall The Former Captain and legendary opener of Indian Cricket Team on 21 November 2012 was conferred with BCCI’s prestigious Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award -Sunil Gavaskar The Pakistani National and the lone surviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks who was hanged on 21 November 2012 at Pune’s Yerwada Jail - Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab The person who was appointed as the head coach of the men’s National Basketball Team in the third week of November 2012 by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI)- Scott Flemming The former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court on 19 November 2012 was appointed as the new Chairperson of the Election Commission of The Indian Olympic Association (IOA)- Anil Dev Singh The 23rd official James Bond movie which became the highest-grossing installment in the 50-year-old franchise- Skyfall The Chairman of Assam Tribune Group of Newspapers died on 17 November 2012 at his residence in Rajgarh - Tulsi Govinda Baruah The Shiv Sena Supremo who died on 17 November 2012 at the age of 86 - Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray The California-based, Indian-American who became the only 3rd of the community to win Congressional Election, making it to US House of Representatives - Ami Bera The ex-Defence Minister of India and former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman who died on 15 November 2012- K.C. Pant The Person who was elected new General Secretary of the Party’s seven-member Politburo standing committee by the Communist Party of China (CPC) on 15 November 2012 - Xi Jinping The UK Word of the Year 2012 , chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary - Omnishambles Renowned literary critic and educator who on 10 November 2012 was awarded the prestigious Kyoto Prize in Kyoto- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak The great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi who was elected to a State Assembly in the United States during the general elections held on 6 November 2012- Shanti Gandhi BBC Director General who on 10 November 2012 resigned from the job over covering sexual abuse- George Entwistle The Iron Lady from Manipur who on 5 November 2012 completed 12 years of her fast demanding cancellation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA)- Irom Sharmila Chinese-British writer and physician who was known by her pen name Han Suyin, died at the age of 95 on 2 November 2012- Elizabeth Comber Veteran BJP leader, former governor of Gujarat and Rajasthan and former finance minister of Bihar who passed away in State of Bihar on 3 November 2012- Kailashpati Mishra Indian American astronaut who along with a fellow astronaut moved out of the International Space Station on 1 November 2012- Sunita Williams The Bollywood actress who on 1 November 2012 was conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Ambassador to India François Richier- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan 1 Lyricist and well known poet who on 31 October 2012 awarded with Indira Gandhi National Integration Award by congress President Sonia Gandhi- Gulzar India's leading strategic thinker and analyst, who on 25 October 2012 won the 2012 Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award for his recently published book" Water: Asia's New Battleground"- Brahma Chellaney Veteran Indian actress who on 25 October 2012 was Awarded with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema by the Edinburgh Napier University- Sharmila Tagore Actor and Satirist who died in a road accident on 25 October 2012 near Punjab's Nakodar town 40 km from Jalandhar- Jaspal Bhatti Famous Indian Scientist who was honoured with the Order of Canada Award in December 2012-Venkatesh Mannar Career diplomat who on 30 December 2012 had been appointed as Australia’s next High Commissioner to India- Patrick Suckling The former captain of England cricket team and renowned commentator who died in Sydney on 29 December 2012 following lung cancer- Tony Greig The former member of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) on 27 December 2012 had been appointed secretary of the Institute of Company Secretaries- MS Sahoo Renowned Oriya novelist who on 27 December 2012 selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year 2011 for her contribution to the field of Indian literature- Pratibha Ray The Emirati poet and translator who became the first Emirati and Arab to win the Tagore Peace Prize- Shihab Ghanem The conservative leader of Japan who was elected as the prime minister of the country by lower house of the Parliament on 26 December 2012- Shinzo Abe Former Union Minister of India and Veteran Congress leader who on 25 December 2012 was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Himachal for a record sixth term in Shimla- Virbhadra Singh The Justice who in the fourth week of December 2012 took over as the Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) - the apex body constituted under The National Green Tribunal Act 2010- Justice Swatanter Kumar The most-watched video ever on Youtube which booked a place in popular culture with becoming Collins dictionary’s word for November 2012- Gangnam Style The Italian Prime Minister who on 21 December 2012 resigned after 13 months in office with handing over his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after parliament gave final approval to the 2013 budget law- Mario Mont The air-to-air interceptor missile which on 21 December 2012 was test launched from interim test range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha- Astra The legendary hockey player who is also India’s triple Olympic Gold Medallist died after a prolonged illness on 20 December 2012- Leslie Claudius The person who on 20 December 2012 awarded with the Best Administrator in India Award instituted by K. Karunakaran Foundation- P. Chidambaram The person who on 18 December 2012 appointed as the new chief of Border Security Force (BSF)- Subhash Joshi Bollywood Actor who on 13 December 2012 awarded with the prestigious BrandLaureate Legendary Award in Malaysia- Shah Rukh Khan The Indian banker and business executive who on 15 December 2012 took over as President of FICCI, becoming the first woman to head the leading industry body- Naina Lal Kidwai The Justice who on 14 December 2012-took over as the new Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court - Arun Kumar Mishra The inventor of bar code, which revolutionalised retail in 70s, died at 91 on 8 December 2012 at New Jersey- Norman Woodland Famous Bollywood actress and Bharatanatyam exponent who had been selected for the prestigious Bharat Muni Samman of year 2012 for her outstanding contribution to the field of art and culture- Hema Malini The first chief minister of Uttarakhand, and the BJP Party leader who passed away on 12 December 2012- Nityanand Swami Renowned Indian sitarist who passed away in San Diego city of California on 11 December 2012- Pandit Ravi Shankar The organization to which, the Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded on 10 December 2012 at Oslo, Norway- European Union The city at which the 2nd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was held on 29- 30 November, 2012- New Delhi 2 The film which was given two National Tourism Awards by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India on 8 December 2012 recognizing the impact it has had in promoting India as a tourism destination- Life of Pi The strongest ever tropical cyclone which hit Philippines in the first week of December 2012- Typhoon Bopha The tax expert who was appointed by the Union government of India, as the adviser to finance minister P Chidambaram- Parthasarathi Shome The rank at which India Stands out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released on 5 December 2012- 94th IPS officer of 1974-batch Bihar cadre on 3 December 2012 acquired the office as new CBI director-Ranjit Sinha The former NBC Universal chief who was named president of CNN Worldwide on 29 November 2012- Jeff Zucker The person who on 25 January 2013 became Czech Republic’s first directly elected President as per the Czech Republic Presidential election results-Milos Zeman The Bollywood superstar who topped the inaugural Forbes India Celebrity 100 list-Shahrukh Khan The renowned playback singer, who on 26 January 2013 refused to accept the prestigious Padma Bhushan-Sreeramamurthy Janaki The ballistic missile successfully test fired by India with a strike range of around 700 kilometres, from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal- K15 The Kannada author who was shortlisted among other ten authors for prestigious International Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2013-UR Ananthamurthy The major of Rashtriya Rifles who was selected for Kirti Chakra for his extraordinary bravery efforts in counter- terrorist operations in J&K- Major Abup J Manjali The mastermind of 26/11 terror attack who was sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment by the U.S.