He became the governor of Chhattisgarh in July 2014 and has served on various other posts including the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab.
Tandon was one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh which later became the BJP.
In his 65 years of political career, Tandon was six-time MLA and state BJP president of Punjab for two years.
Tandon has served as cabinet minister in 1977-79 and in 1997-2002 in the ministries headed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He was elected from Amritsar five times between 1960 and 1977, and was again elected from Rajpura in 1997.
Former Indian Skipper Ajit Wadekar, 77 years old, passed away on 15th August. Due to his ill health, he was hospitalized since the month of July.
He played for the Indian national team between 1966 and 1974. He was the first Indian captain to achieve overseas wins while touring the West Indies and England in 1971. India won over five matches in the West Indies in the early 1970s and then defeated England over three. He has been awarded the Arjuna Award (1967) and Padmashri (1972).
Industrialist Anant Bajaj, the only son of Bajaj Electricals Chairman Shekhar Bajaj, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Bajaj started his career as a project coordinator in Bajaj Electricals back in 1999.
He was also responsible for setting up the ₹ 45 crore high mast manufacturing and galvanising plant at Ranjangaon, near Pune in Maharashtra.
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, 85 years old, passed away on 11th August. He is a Trinidad-born Indian-origin author. His work reflected his personal journey from Trinidad to London and various stops in developing countries. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001.
He is known for his critical commentary on colonialism, religion and politics. During his career, Naipaul has written more than 30 books of fiction and non-fiction. A Bend in the River and A House for Mr.Biswas are his famous novels.
He was born in Trinidad wrote more than 30 books and won the Nobel Literature Prize in 2001.
He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad and Tobago.
His notable works are
A House for Mr Biswas
In a Free State
A Bend in the River
The Enigma of Arrival
DMK chief, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, passes away at 94. He was made Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time in 1969.
His five reigns as chief minister spanned from 1969-1971, 1971-1976, 1989-1991, 1996-2001 and 2006-2011.
He also became a popular screenwriter for Tamil films.
After independence, Periyar’s movement split into two. Karunanidhi followed Annadurai, establishing the Davidar Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949. He was the party’s first treasurer and was elected to the assembly in 1957.
Senior Congress leader and long-time aide of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajinder Kumar Dhawan passed away at the age of 81 years in Delhi.
Dhawan joined Indira Gandhi as a personal assistant in 1962 and worked with her until she breathed her last.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha twice, from April 1990 to April 1996, and July 2004 to July 2010.
He was appointed Minister of State (independent charge) Housing and Urban Development (1995-1996).
Miyako, born on May 2, 1901, became the world’s oldest person in April after Nabi Tajima, a fellow Japanese national from the southern Kikai island, died at age 117.
Guinness World Records has confirmed that she was the world’s oldest person. Her replacement is yet to be announced by Guinness, but according to media reports, the new oldest person is Kane Tanaka, a 115-year-old woman who lives in a nursing home in Fukuoka, a city in southern Japan.
♦ The world’s oldest man, Masazo Nonaka, 113-year-old lives in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
♦ Jeanne Louise Calment from France holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest person ever. Born in 1875, she was 122 when she died in 1997.
Veteran sports journalist Swapan Sarkar passed away due to diabetic complications.
He was 67 years old.
He worked for a number of dailies and was also the Delhi sports correspondent of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) from mid-1990's.
He was a regular in the Delhi sports circuit having covered events like 1982 Asian Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games along with tournaments like Nehru Cup, Federation Cup, Durand Cup and DCM.
He has covered events like Davis Cup, National Athletics meet.
His last rites were performed at the Nigambodh Ghat.
Ramchandra Singhdeo, former and first Finance Minister of Chhattisgarh, passed away in Raipur.
He was the Finance Minister in the cabinet of the then Chief Minister Ajit Jogi.
About Chhattisgarh
Chief minister: Raman Das,
Governor: Balramji Dass Tandon.
Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj passed away in New Delhi due to a prolonged illness. He was 94.
His poetic works include Asawari, Lahar Pukare and Paran Geet.
He was Born in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh and he created a name for his lyrics for films like Prem Pujari, Tere Mere Sapne, Chanda Aur Bijli and Sharmili.
He won 3 Filmfare awards and penned some of the all-time hits like Likhe jo khat tujhe.
He was conferred with Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Bhushan in 2007.
Kalpesh Yagnik, the Group Editor of media house Dainik Bhaskar passed away at the age of 55 on 12th July 2018 in Indore. Yagnik suffered a heart attack while he was working in his office. Yagnik had joined the Dainik Bhaskar group in 1998, after working at the Free Press Journal.
Yagnik was born on June 21, 1963. He joined Dainik Bhaskar in 1998 before which he also worked at Free Press Journal. He was a B. Com graduate.
Dada Vaswani who was chief of Sadhu Vaswani Mission, passes away at the age of 99 in Pune. He was also known for promoting vegetarianism and animal rights.
Vaswani was born on August 2, 1918 in Pakistan's Hyderabad city in a Sindhi family.
He studied MSc in Physics and also worked as a teacher at St Mira's College in Pune for some time.
Rajmata of the Marwar principality and former MP, Krishna Kumari passed away aged 92 in Jodhpur.
Born in a royal family in Gujarat, she had married Jodhpur's then-ruler Hanwant Singh in 1943.
About Marwar:
The Jodhpur city was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha, a Rajput chief of the Rathore clan. Jodha succeeded in conquering the surrounding territory and thus founded a state which came to be known as Marwar.
Charles Krauthammer, a longtime Fox News contributor, Pulitzer Prize winner, Harvard-trained psychiatrist and best-selling author who came to be known as the dean of conservative commentators, died at 68.
He is credited with coining the term ‘The Reagan Doctrine’, a reference to former US President Ronald Reagan’s support for those fighting communism.
Peter Thomson won five British Open titles in the 1950s and 1960s and is the only player since the turn of the 20th century to win golf's oldest major championship three times in a row.
He passed away at home in Melbourne surrounded by family on 20 June.
Senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, the editor of "Rising Kashmir" newspaper, was shot dead In Srinagar.
He was instrumental in organising several conferences for peace in the Kashmir valley.
He was also part of the "Track II" or alternate channels dialogue process with Pakistan.
80 year Old Veteran journalist and author Adiraju Venkateswara Rao passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana. His native is Khammam district.
In a career spanning over five-and-a-half decades, he worked for several Telugu and English dailies and news agencies including Andhra Jyothi, Udayam, Deccan Chronicle, Indian Express, Himachal Times and Hindustan Samachar at Hyderabad and Delhi.
Odisha's most popular lyricist, Narayan Prasad Singh was popularly known as 'Rasaraj' passed away at his residence in Bhubaneswar. Singh was 86.
Born on May 28th, 1933 at Koeli village, Singh earned his name in the world of Odia music.
He was the lyricist of several popular melodious songs in Odia cinema.
Former Himachal Pradesh governor and Congress leader Urmila Singh died due to prolonged illness at a private hospital in Indore. She was 71.
Belonging to a family of freedom fighters, Singh was appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh in 2010.
Prior to that, she had served as the chairman of the National Scheduled Tribes Commission (NCTC).
Former US astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon died in Texas, United States.
He was 86. Bean went into space twice, the first time in November 1969 as the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 12 moon-landing mission.
In 1973 he was commander of the second crewed flight to Skylab- America's first space station.
Bean retired from NASA in 1981 and carved a successful career as an artist.
His paintings, inspired by space travel, featured lunar boot prints as well as small pieces of his mission patches which were stained by Moondust.
Noted Hindi film lyricist, Nandram Das Bairagi, popularly known as Balkavi Bairagi, passed away in his sleep.
Bairagi, a Lok Sabha member between 1984 and 1989 and also a former Rajya Sabha MP.
He was 87.
He wrote several Hindi poems, among which, "Jhar gaye paat, bisar gayi tehni" is considered a gem by many Hindi poets.
British film editor Anne V. Coates, who won an Oscar for David Lean’s epic film Lawrence of Arabia passed away.
She was 92. Coates received five Best Film Editing Oscar nominations over the course of her career for Becket (1963), The Elephant Man (1980), In the Line of Fire (1993) and Out of Sight (1998) in addition to her nom and win for Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
She also received an Academy Honorary Award, known as a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, in November 2016 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The first Finance Minister in the Left Front government in West Bengal Ashok Mitra passed away in Kolkata.
He was 90.
Besides serving the State Government, he also worked with the Central Government as the Chief Economic Adviser and was a member of Rajya Sabha.
Indian animation pioneer and multiple National Award winner Bhimsain Khurana had passed away.
He was 82. Khurana was known for films like “Gharaonda” and for iconic animation shorts like “Ek Anek Ekta”.
His unforgettable work includes “Ek chidiya, anek chidiya” song.
In 1970, he made his debut with his first animation short “The Climb”, which earned him the Silver Hugo Award in the Chicago Film Festival.
Veteran journalist and columnist TVR Shenoy passed away at Manipal Hospital in Karnataka.
Shenoy was famous for his deeper analysis and narrative style writing in his illustrious career.
Shenoy was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan award in 2003.
Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar passed away.
He was 94.
Sachar, who was Chief Justice from August 6, 1985, to December 22, 1985, has since his retirement been associated with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a rights group.
He was the chairperson of a committee set up by the previous UPA government to look at the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.
Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh passed at the age of 88 following an illness.
He was suffering from kidney-related ailments.
Nihal Singh had worked with several leading newspapers including The Indian Express, The Statesman and Khaleej Times.
Les Payne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and columnist for Newsday who fiercely championed racial equality passed away.
He was 76.
He won Pulitzer Prize for “Heroin Trail” series in 1974.
Eminent Odia author and poet Chandrasekhar Rath passed away at the age of 89.
He was nominated for a Padma Shri this year for his contribution in Odia literature. His three novels, Yantrarudha (The Instrumented) 1967, Asurya Upanivesh (The Sunless Colony) 1974 and Nav Jatak (Regenesis) 1981, have given him a special place in Odia literature. He has also received literary awards like Sahitya Akademi Award and Sarala Award.
Veteran Bengali film actress and Padmashri awardee, Supriya Devi, passed away in Kolkata, following a severe cardiac arrest. She was 83.
Supriya Devi made her debut in the Uttam Kumar-starrer Basu Parivar in 1952.
She was also awarded the Banga Vibushan - the highest-ever civilian award given by the Bengal Government, and a Life Time Achievement Award by Filmfare during their eastern India version of the award show.
Ursula K. Le Guin, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who explored feminist themes and was best known for her Earthsea books passed away at the age of 88.
Le Guin won an honorary National Book Award in 2014. Le Guin’s first novel was Roncannon’s World in 1966.
Her book, 'The Left Hand of Darkness' won the Hugo and Nebula awards top science fiction prizes.
Famous Cartoonist Chandi Lahiri passed away after a brief period of illness, marking the end of a chapter in Bengal's history of the cartoon.
Lahiri was 86.
Marked by simplicity and ease, Lahiri left generations of Bengalis enthralled with his brand of humor that was non-acerbic for the past five decades.
Lalji Singh, a pioneer of DNA fingerprinting technology in India and former Vice-Chancellor of Benares Hindu University, BHU (2011 to 2014), passed away at the age of 70.
Lalji Singh and his team developed the indigenous probe that was first applied to settle paternity disputes in the late 1980s at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad.
Czech tennis player Jana Novotna, a Wimbledon champion in 1998 and 16-time Grand Slam winner in doubles and mixed doubles died at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer.
Novotna entered the tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
Novotna was a three-time Olympic medalist and a member of Czechoslovakia's 1988 Fed Cup championship team.
Eminent Hindi poet and Jnanpith awardee Kunwar Narayan passed away in New Delhi.
He was 90.
He was Born on 9 September 1927 in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad, Kunwar Narayan was known for his poetry, stories, and critiques.
His first poetry collection was "Chakravyuh".
Veteran director Kundan Shah, best known for the dark comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, passed away at the age of 69.
He was one of the 24 directors who returned their National Awards in 2015 in support of protesting FTII students and against the growing environment of intolerance in the country.
Veteran film, television and theatre actor and Padma Shri Tom Alter died at aged 67.
Alter acted in over 300 movies apart from numerous TV shows, most famously as the gangster Keshav Kalsi in the hit soap opera Junoon which ran for a record five years during the 1990s.
In addition to acting, Alter also ventured into direction and was a sports journalist in the 80s and 90s.
Alter has written three books, one non-fiction, and two fiction, and in 2008 was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the Indian government in recognition for his services to the field of arts and cinema.
French businesswoman and heiress of cosmetics giant L'Oreal Liliane Bettencourt, 94, has died.
In March 2017, Forbes ranked Bettencourt the world's richest woman, putting her net worth at $39.5 billion.
India’s most celebrated soldier, Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Arjan Singh (98 years old) passed away.
During 1965 war with Pakistan, Arjan Singh became the chief of IAF when he was just 44.
During World War II, Singh flew close support missions during the Imphal Campaign and also was part of the team that assisted the advance of allied forces into Rangoon.
The fighter aircraft base at Panagarh in West Bengal was named in his honour on his birthday (April 15) last year.
India's two-time Olympic footballer and East Bengal legend Ahmed Khan passed away at the age of 90.
He played in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, was one of the most famous of the legendary quintet of forwards called the "Five Pandavas" who played for East Bengal in an India that had just become an independent nation.
Former Manipur Chief Minister and a member of the first Lok Sabha Rishang Keishing passed away following a brief illness.
He served as the Chief Minister of Manipur from 1980 to 1988 and from 1994 to 1997.
The veteran Congress leader was 96.
He had also represented Manipur in Rajya Sabha.
Dr. Ruth Pfau (aged 87), a German doctor popularly known as Pakistan’s ‘Mother Teresa’ for dedicating her life to eradicate leprosy in Pakistan, died in Karachi.
She was born in 1929 in Germany.
She was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz - Pakistan’s second highest civilian award in 1979, the Hilal-e-Pakistan in 1989 and the Staufer Medal at the German consulate Karachi in 2015.
World's oldest man, Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal (aged 113) who was recognised by Guinness World Records last year (on March 11, 2016) as the world's oldest living man, died in Israel.
Mr Kristal was born in Poland on September 15, 1903 and later moved to Israel in 1950.
Globally renowned physicist, academic and higher education reformer Professor Yash Pal passed away in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
He was known for his contributions to the study of cosmic rays, as well as for being an institution-builder.
Yash Pal was born in 1926 in Jhang in then British India (now in Pakistan). He had graduated with a master’s degree in physics from Panjab University in 1949 and earned PhD degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958.
He was awarded the Padma Bhusan (1976), Padma Vibhushan (2013). He also has received the Kalinga Prize (2009,), awarded by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the Popularisation of science.
Internationally-renowned space scientist and former chairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), Udupi Ramachandra Rao passed away in Bengaluru.
Prof Rao is credited with having played an instrumental role in building up Indian satellite programmes right from nation’s first satellite Aryabhatta.
He served as Chairman of ISRO from 1984 to 1994.
He has published more than 350 scientific and technical papers in various journals covering topics like cosmic rays, high energy astronomy, interplanetary physics, space applications and satellite and rocket technology and also authored many books.
Nar Bahadur Bhandari, one of the longest-serving chief ministers of Sikkim died recently.
He became the Chief Minister of Sikkim for the first time in 1979 on a Janata Parishad ticket and then again in 1984 and 1989 on a Sikkim Sangram Parishad ticket.
Former Indian Ambassador to the United States of America Naresh Chandra (82) died at Manipal hospital at Dona Paula near Panaji.
He served as the Cabinet Secretary from 1990-92 and was the Indian Ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001.
He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
Former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, died at his house in Ludwigshafen, in the Western State of Germany.
He was centre-right Christian Democrats, was the longest-serving German chancellor of the 20th Century.
Former Chief Justice of India Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati who is considered as a pioneer of Judicial Activism has passed away.
He was a former chief justice of the Gujarat High Court and was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in July 1973.
He served as the 17th Chief Justice of India from July 1985 to December 1986.
He became the governor of Chhattisgarh in July 2014 and has served on various other posts including the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab. Tandon was one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh which later became the BJP. In his 65 years of political career, Tandon was six-time MLA and state BJP president of Punjab for two years. Tandon has served as cabinet minister in 1977-79 and in 1997-2002 in the ministries headed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He was elected from Amritsar five times between 1960 and 1977, and was again elected from Rajpura in 1997.
Former Indian Skipper Ajit Wadekar, 77 years old, passed away on 15th August. Due to his ill health, he was hospitalized since the month of July. He played for the Indian national team between 1966 and 1974. He was the first Indian captain to achieve overseas wins while touring the West Indies and England in 1971. India won over five matches in the West Indies in the early 1970s and then defeated England over three. He has been awarded the Arjuna Award (1967) and Padmashri (1972).
Industrialist Anant Bajaj, the only son of Bajaj Electricals Chairman Shekhar Bajaj, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest. Bajaj started his career as a project coordinator in Bajaj Electricals back in 1999. He was also responsible for setting up the ₹ 45 crore high mast manufacturing and galvanising plant at Ranjangaon, near Pune in Maharashtra.
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, 85 years old, passed away on 11th August. He is a Trinidad-born Indian-origin author. His work reflected his personal journey from Trinidad to London and various stops in developing countries. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001. He is known for his critical commentary on colonialism, religion and politics. During his career, Naipaul has written more than 30 books of fiction and non-fiction. A Bend in the River and A House for Mr.Biswas are his famous novels.
He was born in Trinidad wrote more than 30 books and won the Nobel Literature Prize in 2001. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad and Tobago. His notable works are A House for Mr Biswas In a Free State A Bend in the River The Enigma of Arrival
DMK chief, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, passes away at 94. He was made Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time in 1969. His five reigns as chief minister spanned from 1969-1971, 1971-1976, 1989-1991, 1996-2001 and 2006-2011. He also became a popular screenwriter for Tamil films. After independence, Periyar’s movement split into two. Karunanidhi followed Annadurai, establishing the Davidar Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949. He was the party’s first treasurer and was elected to the assembly in 1957.
Senior Congress leader and long-time aide of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajinder Kumar Dhawan passed away at the age of 81 years in Delhi. Dhawan joined Indira Gandhi as a personal assistant in 1962 and worked with her until she breathed her last. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha twice, from April 1990 to April 1996, and July 2004 to July 2010. He was appointed Minister of State (independent charge) Housing and Urban Development (1995-1996).
Miyako, born on May 2, 1901, became the world’s oldest person in April after Nabi Tajima, a fellow Japanese national from the southern Kikai island, died at age 117. Guinness World Records has confirmed that she was the world’s oldest person. Her replacement is yet to be announced by Guinness, but according to media reports, the new oldest person is Kane Tanaka, a 115-year-old woman who lives in a nursing home in Fukuoka, a city in southern Japan. ♦ The world’s oldest man, Masazo Nonaka, 113-year-old lives in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. ♦ Jeanne Louise Calment from France holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest person ever. Born in 1875, she was 122 when she died in 1997.
Veteran sports journalist Swapan Sarkar passed away due to diabetic complications. He was 67 years old. He worked for a number of dailies and was also the Delhi sports correspondent of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) from mid-1990's. He was a regular in the Delhi sports circuit having covered events like 1982 Asian Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games along with tournaments like Nehru Cup, Federation Cup, Durand Cup and DCM. He has covered events like Davis Cup, National Athletics meet. His last rites were performed at the Nigambodh Ghat.
Ramchandra Singhdeo, former and first Finance Minister of Chhattisgarh, passed away in Raipur. He was the Finance Minister in the cabinet of the then Chief Minister Ajit Jogi. About Chhattisgarh Chief minister: Raman Das, Governor: Balramji Dass Tandon.
Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj passed away in New Delhi due to a prolonged illness. He was 94. His poetic works include Asawari, Lahar Pukare and Paran Geet. He was Born in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh and he created a name for his lyrics for films like Prem Pujari, Tere Mere Sapne, Chanda Aur Bijli and Sharmili. He won 3 Filmfare awards and penned some of the all-time hits like Likhe jo khat tujhe. He was conferred with Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Bhushan in 2007.
Kalpesh Yagnik, the Group Editor of media house Dainik Bhaskar passed away at the age of 55 on 12th July 2018 in Indore. Yagnik suffered a heart attack while he was working in his office. Yagnik had joined the Dainik Bhaskar group in 1998, after working at the Free Press Journal. Yagnik was born on June 21, 1963. He joined Dainik Bhaskar in 1998 before which he also worked at Free Press Journal. He was a B. Com graduate.
Dada Vaswani who was chief of Sadhu Vaswani Mission, passes away at the age of 99 in Pune. He was also known for promoting vegetarianism and animal rights. Vaswani was born on August 2, 1918 in Pakistan's Hyderabad city in a Sindhi family. He studied MSc in Physics and also worked as a teacher at St Mira's College in Pune for some time.
Rajmata of the Marwar principality and former MP, Krishna Kumari passed away aged 92 in Jodhpur. Born in a royal family in Gujarat, she had married Jodhpur's then-ruler Hanwant Singh in 1943. About Marwar: The Jodhpur city was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha, a Rajput chief of the Rathore clan. Jodha succeeded in conquering the surrounding territory and thus founded a state which came to be known as Marwar.
Charles Krauthammer, a longtime Fox News contributor, Pulitzer Prize winner, Harvard-trained psychiatrist and best-selling author who came to be known as the dean of conservative commentators, died at 68. He is credited with coining the term ‘The Reagan Doctrine’, a reference to former US President Ronald Reagan’s support for those fighting communism.
Peter Thomson won five British Open titles in the 1950s and 1960s and is the only player since the turn of the 20th century to win golf's oldest major championship three times in a row. He passed away at home in Melbourne surrounded by family on 20 June.
Senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, the editor of "Rising Kashmir" newspaper, was shot dead In Srinagar. He was instrumental in organising several conferences for peace in the Kashmir valley. He was also part of the "Track II" or alternate channels dialogue process with Pakistan.
80 year Old Veteran journalist and author Adiraju Venkateswara Rao passed away in Hyderabad, Telangana. His native is Khammam district. In a career spanning over five-and-a-half decades, he worked for several Telugu and English dailies and news agencies including Andhra Jyothi, Udayam, Deccan Chronicle, Indian Express, Himachal Times and Hindustan Samachar at Hyderabad and Delhi.
Odisha's most popular lyricist, Narayan Prasad Singh was popularly known as 'Rasaraj' passed away at his residence in Bhubaneswar. Singh was 86. Born on May 28th, 1933 at Koeli village, Singh earned his name in the world of Odia music. He was the lyricist of several popular melodious songs in Odia cinema.
Former Himachal Pradesh governor and Congress leader Urmila Singh died due to prolonged illness at a private hospital in Indore. She was 71. Belonging to a family of freedom fighters, Singh was appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh in 2010. Prior to that, she had served as the chairman of the National Scheduled Tribes Commission (NCTC).
Former US astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the Moon died in Texas, United States. He was 86. Bean went into space twice, the first time in November 1969 as the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 12 moon-landing mission. In 1973 he was commander of the second crewed flight to Skylab- America's first space station. Bean retired from NASA in 1981 and carved a successful career as an artist. His paintings, inspired by space travel, featured lunar boot prints as well as small pieces of his mission patches which were stained by Moondust.
Noted Hindi film lyricist, Nandram Das Bairagi, popularly known as Balkavi Bairagi, passed away in his sleep. Bairagi, a Lok Sabha member between 1984 and 1989 and also a former Rajya Sabha MP. He was 87. He wrote several Hindi poems, among which, "Jhar gaye paat, bisar gayi tehni" is considered a gem by many Hindi poets.
British film editor Anne V. Coates, who won an Oscar for David Lean’s epic film Lawrence of Arabia passed away. She was 92. Coates received five Best Film Editing Oscar nominations over the course of her career for Becket (1963), The Elephant Man (1980), In the Line of Fire (1993) and Out of Sight (1998) in addition to her nom and win for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). She also received an Academy Honorary Award, known as a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, in November 2016 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The first Finance Minister in the Left Front government in West Bengal Ashok Mitra passed away in Kolkata. He was 90. Besides serving the State Government, he also worked with the Central Government as the Chief Economic Adviser and was a member of Rajya Sabha.
Indian animation pioneer and multiple National Award winner Bhimsain Khurana had passed away. He was 82. Khurana was known for films like “Gharaonda” and for iconic animation shorts like “Ek Anek Ekta”. His unforgettable work includes “Ek chidiya, anek chidiya” song. In 1970, he made his debut with his first animation short “The Climb”, which earned him the Silver Hugo Award in the Chicago Film Festival.
Veteran journalist and columnist TVR Shenoy passed away at Manipal Hospital in Karnataka. Shenoy was famous for his deeper analysis and narrative style writing in his illustrious career. Shenoy was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan award in 2003.
Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar passed away. He was 94. Sachar, who was Chief Justice from August 6, 1985, to December 22, 1985, has since his retirement been associated with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a rights group. He was the chairperson of a committee set up by the previous UPA government to look at the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.
Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh passed at the age of 88 following an illness. He was suffering from kidney-related ailments. Nihal Singh had worked with several leading newspapers including The Indian Express, The Statesman and Khaleej Times.
Les Payne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and columnist for Newsday who fiercely championed racial equality passed away. He was 76. He won Pulitzer Prize for “Heroin Trail” series in 1974.
Eminent Odia author and poet Chandrasekhar Rath passed away at the age of 89. He was nominated for a Padma Shri this year for his contribution in Odia literature. His three novels, Yantrarudha (The Instrumented) 1967, Asurya Upanivesh (The Sunless Colony) 1974 and Nav Jatak (Regenesis) 1981, have given him a special place in Odia literature. He has also received literary awards like Sahitya Akademi Award and Sarala Award.
Veteran Bengali film actress and Padmashri awardee, Supriya Devi, passed away in Kolkata, following a severe cardiac arrest. She was 83. Supriya Devi made her debut in the Uttam Kumar-starrer Basu Parivar in 1952. She was also awarded the Banga Vibushan - the highest-ever civilian award given by the Bengal Government, and a Life Time Achievement Award by Filmfare during their eastern India version of the award show.
Ursula K. Le Guin, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who explored feminist themes and was best known for her Earthsea books passed away at the age of 88. Le Guin won an honorary National Book Award in 2014. Le Guin’s first novel was Roncannon’s World in 1966. Her book, 'The Left Hand of Darkness' won the Hugo and Nebula awards top science fiction prizes.
Famous Cartoonist Chandi Lahiri passed away after a brief period of illness, marking the end of a chapter in Bengal's history of the cartoon. Lahiri was 86. Marked by simplicity and ease, Lahiri left generations of Bengalis enthralled with his brand of humor that was non-acerbic for the past five decades.
Lalji Singh, a pioneer of DNA fingerprinting technology in India and former Vice-Chancellor of Benares Hindu University, BHU (2011 to 2014), passed away at the age of 70. Lalji Singh and his team developed the indigenous probe that was first applied to settle paternity disputes in the late 1980s at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad.
Czech tennis player Jana Novotna, a Wimbledon champion in 1998 and 16-time Grand Slam winner in doubles and mixed doubles died at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer. Novotna entered the tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Novotna was a three-time Olympic medalist and a member of Czechoslovakia's 1988 Fed Cup championship team.
Eminent Hindi poet and Jnanpith awardee Kunwar Narayan passed away in New Delhi. He was 90. He was Born on 9 September 1927 in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad, Kunwar Narayan was known for his poetry, stories, and critiques. His first poetry collection was "Chakravyuh".
Veteran director Kundan Shah, best known for the dark comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, passed away at the age of 69. He was one of the 24 directors who returned their National Awards in 2015 in support of protesting FTII students and against the growing environment of intolerance in the country.
Veteran film, television and theatre actor and Padma Shri Tom Alter died at aged 67. Alter acted in over 300 movies apart from numerous TV shows, most famously as the gangster Keshav Kalsi in the hit soap opera Junoon which ran for a record five years during the 1990s. In addition to acting, Alter also ventured into direction and was a sports journalist in the 80s and 90s. Alter has written three books, one non-fiction, and two fiction, and in 2008 was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the Indian government in recognition for his services to the field of arts and cinema.
French businesswoman and heiress of cosmetics giant L'Oreal Liliane Bettencourt, 94, has died. In March 2017, Forbes ranked Bettencourt the world's richest woman, putting her net worth at $39.5 billion.
India’s most celebrated soldier, Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Arjan Singh (98 years old) passed away. During 1965 war with Pakistan, Arjan Singh became the chief of IAF when he was just 44. During World War II, Singh flew close support missions during the Imphal Campaign and also was part of the team that assisted the advance of allied forces into Rangoon. The fighter aircraft base at Panagarh in West Bengal was named in his honour on his birthday (April 15) last year.
India's two-time Olympic footballer and East Bengal legend Ahmed Khan passed away at the age of 90. He played in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, was one of the most famous of the legendary quintet of forwards called the "Five Pandavas" who played for East Bengal in an India that had just become an independent nation.
Former Manipur Chief Minister and a member of the first Lok Sabha Rishang Keishing passed away following a brief illness. He served as the Chief Minister of Manipur from 1980 to 1988 and from 1994 to 1997. The veteran Congress leader was 96. He had also represented Manipur in Rajya Sabha.
Dr. Ruth Pfau (aged 87), a German doctor popularly known as Pakistan’s ‘Mother Teresa’ for dedicating her life to eradicate leprosy in Pakistan, died in Karachi. She was born in 1929 in Germany. She was awarded the Hilal-e-Imtiaz - Pakistan’s second highest civilian award in 1979, the Hilal-e-Pakistan in 1989 and the Staufer Medal at the German consulate Karachi in 2015.
World's oldest man, Holocaust survivor Yisrael Kristal (aged 113) who was recognised by Guinness World Records last year (on March 11, 2016) as the world's oldest living man, died in Israel. Mr Kristal was born in Poland on September 15, 1903 and later moved to Israel in 1950.
Globally renowned physicist, academic and higher education reformer Professor Yash Pal passed away in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. He was known for his contributions to the study of cosmic rays, as well as for being an institution-builder. Yash Pal was born in 1926 in Jhang in then British India (now in Pakistan). He had graduated with a master’s degree in physics from Panjab University in 1949 and earned PhD degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958. He was awarded the Padma Bhusan (1976), Padma Vibhushan (2013). He also has received the Kalinga Prize (2009,), awarded by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the Popularisation of science.
Internationally-renowned space scientist and former chairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), Udupi Ramachandra Rao passed away in Bengaluru. Prof Rao is credited with having played an instrumental role in building up Indian satellite programmes right from nation’s first satellite Aryabhatta. He served as Chairman of ISRO from 1984 to 1994. He has published more than 350 scientific and technical papers in various journals covering topics like cosmic rays, high energy astronomy, interplanetary physics, space applications and satellite and rocket technology and also authored many books.
Nar Bahadur Bhandari, one of the longest-serving chief ministers of Sikkim died recently. He became the Chief Minister of Sikkim for the first time in 1979 on a Janata Parishad ticket and then again in 1984 and 1989 on a Sikkim Sangram Parishad ticket.
Former Indian Ambassador to the United States of America Naresh Chandra (82) died at Manipal hospital at Dona Paula near Panaji. He served as the Cabinet Secretary from 1990-92 and was the Indian Ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001. He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in 2007.
Former German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, died at his house in Ludwigshafen, in the Western State of Germany. He was centre-right Christian Democrats, was the longest-serving German chancellor of the 20th Century.
Former Chief Justice of India Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati who is considered as a pioneer of Judicial Activism has passed away. He was a former chief justice of the Gujarat High Court and was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in July 1973. He served as the 17th Chief Justice of India from July 1985 to December 1986.
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