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.
Telugu poet and writer Cingireddi Narayana Reddy passed away.
He is Jnanpith awardee and also the country’s third-highest civilian honor, Padma Vibhushan.
He also served as Vice-Chancellor of Telugu University and held important academic and administrative positions in the state.
Constantine Mitsotakis, a former Prime Minister of Greece died.
In liberal Governments, He served in several Cabinet posts, including finance minister of Greece.
The Present Prime Minister of Greece is Alexis Tsipras.
Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave has passed away.
He was 60. He was born in Barnagar in Madhya Pradesh.
Last year, he was sworn in as a minister with independent charge of environment, forest and climate change.
Veteran actor and politician Vinod Khanna has expired at the age of 70.
His famous films are Mere Apne, Insaaf and Amar, Akbar, Anthony. He was last seen in 2015 in Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale.
In 1999, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
He served as the Union minister for culture and tourism in 2002 . Later, he also became a minister of state in the Ministry of External Affair.
Senior National Conference (NC) leader and former speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Ali Mohammad Naik, passed away.
He was 87. Naik, a resident of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was suffering from chest disease .
He had served as general secretary of Plebiscite Front under NC founder and former chief minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The Plebiscite Front advocated holding of a referendum in the state for deciding its future.
Britain's Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason died after a motorcyle crash in Jamaica
Mason was born in Jamaica but represented Britain in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing.
He won a silver medal in the high jump, with a personal best of 2.34 meters.
Padma Vibhushan recipient classical singer Kishori Amonkar passed away at the age of 84 at her house in Mumbai.
In her career spanning seven decades, she was revered as ‘Gaan-Saraswati’.
The singer has been awarded the Padma Bhushan (1987) and the Padma Vibhushan (2002) for an exemplary career. She was also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1985 and the SNA Fellowship for 2009. In 1991, she was awarded the prestigious Dr TMA Pai Outstanding Konkani Award.
Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco-based activist and artist best known for creating the rainbow flag representing gay rights, has died at the age of 65.
Gilbert Baker came up with the eight-coloured banner for San Francisco’s 1978 gay freedom day, which later became the Pride festival.
Mr Baker's original flag had eight colours, each representing a different aspect of humanity:
1) Pink - sexuality
2) Red - life
3) Orange - healing
4) Yellow- sunlight
5) Green - nature
6) Turquoise - art
7) Indigo - harmony
8) Violet - human spirit
It would later be reduced to six stripes, removing pink and indigo, and swapping blue for turquoise.
In 2015, New York's Museum of Modern Art acquired the flag for its design collection, calling it a "powerful design milestone".
Veteran Indian-origin South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada, who was one of Nelson Mandela's closest aides, died at a hospital in Johannesburg, at the age of 87.
Kathrada was among those tried and jailed alongside Mandela in the Rivonia trial in 1964, which drew worldwide attention and highlighted the brutal legal system under the apartheid regime.
Kathrada spent 26 years and three months in prison, 18 of which were on Robben Island.
After the end of apartheid, he served from 1994 to 1999 as parliamentary counsellor to President Mandela in the first African National Congress (ANC) government.
Apartheid:- Apartheid was a legalised system of discrimination against non-white people introduced in South Africa in 1948.
Eminent jurist and senior advocate T. R. Andhyarujina passed away in Mumbai.
Andhyarujina, 84, also served as Solicitor General during 1996-98. Prior to that he was the Advocate General of Maharashtra from 1993 to 1995. He specialized in the field of constitutional law, human rights, public law and commercial law. He was the chairman of the committee on Banking Laws appointed by Govt of India in 1998.
He was part of the team of constitutional law expert H M Seervai in his initial days as a lawyer and witnessed from close-quarters the history-defining hearings in the The Kesavananda Bharati Case.
Former Punjab minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Gurdev Singh Badal passed away after prolonged illness.
He breathed his last at the DMC Hero Heart Institute at Ludhiana.
Gurdev had represented Panjgrain and Jaito assembly seats in the past.
Noted Tamil litterateur Thiagarajan, popularly known as Ashokamitran, passed away on 23 March 2017 following a brief illness in Chennai. He was 85.
A well known novelist and essayist, Ashokamitran was noted for his subtlety and refreshing creativity in expression.
Ashokamitran : Born in Secunderabad in 1931, Ashokamitran moved to Chennai in 1952.
He worked in the Tamil film production house Gemini Studios for close to a decade before taking up full time writing in 1966.Ashokamitran began his career with the award-winning play Anbin Parisu.
He quickly became one of the most influential figures in Tamil literature and published over 200 short stories and around two dozen novels. Manasarovar, Thanneer and 18-vadhu Atcha Kodu are some of his famed works.
He also edited the literary magazine Kanaiyazhi for a period of time.
Many of his works have been translated into a number of languages such as English, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and some European languages.Besides many Tamil Nadu state awards, Ashokamitran also won the Sahitya Akademi Prize in 1996 for his collection of short stories Appavin Snegidar.
Renowned Meteorologist and former director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (Pune) Dev Raj Sikka passed away. He was 85. He is famously known as Monsoon Man and the Father of Indian Meteorology. He was first proposed a link between the El Nino phenomenon and the Indian monsoon in 1982, but that time less importance was given to it.
Dev Raj Sikka He was born on March 1, 1932 in Jhang, Maghiana in Pre-partition India (now in Panjab, Pakistan) and later migrated to India after the partition. He had completed his Masters in Science (MSc) in Physical Chemistry from Agra University and joined Indian Meteorological Department (IMP) in 1954.
He joined Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune in 1964 and retired from the same as the director of the institute. He is credited with being among the pioneers of developing weather models and computer-modelling techniques to forecast the monsoon. He had actively participated in research and development of Monsoon Dynamics, , Prediction of Weather and Climatology, Tropical Meteorology, Atmospheric Chemistry and Air-Sea interaction.
He had served as Chairman of the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Monsoon Mission, a programme to improve monsoon-related forecasts. He also had served as chairman of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) committee on Climate Change and also of Research and Advisory Council of National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast. Awards and Honours: IMD’s Lifetime time achievement award and Sir Gilbert Walker Gold Medal (2010).
El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) : It is complex climatic and weather phenomenon observed due see-sawing of temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. It is among the most significant factors that meteorologists scan to forecast the performance of the Indian monsoon. 6 out of 10 El Nino-years have been associated with below-normal rainfall over India.
Malayalam film director Diphan also known as Deepan passed away on 13 March 2017 following liver cirrhosis and kidney failure in a private hospital at Kochi. He was 47. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Diphan is known for his films namely Puthiya Mukham, Hero and SIM.
Diphan : A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Diphan was the son of dubbing artist Anandavally. Diphan worked as an assistant director for several years in the Malayalam film industry before venturing out on his own.
Diphan, in his brief career, directed six films after turning an independent director in 2003 when he directed the political thriller The King Maker: Leader.
After a gap of six years in 2009, he returned with Puthiya Mukham movie starring Prithviraj.
In a career spanning about 14 years as a director, he helmed seven films including Hero, SIM and D Company.
His last directorial venture was Dolphin Bar in 2014 which featured actor and BJP Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi.
His upcoming movie Sathya, which has Jayaram in the lead, was in the post production stage.
Veteran journalist Arvind Padmanabhan passed away on 8 March 2017 of cardiac arrest. He was 49.
Arvind worked as an Executive Editor at IANS.
Arvind Padmanabhan : Arvind Padmanabhan was born in 1967 at Tirunelveli, Tamul Nadu.
His father was G. Padmanabhan, who worked for many years with the Press Institute of India and the Indian & Eastern Newspapers Society (IENS, now INS).
Arvind was widely admired in the journalistic community for the thoroughness he displayed in reporting, writing and editing.
Before joining the IANS, he worked with the PTI, The Times of India and TV18.
He joined the India Abroad Newspaper as in-charge of its Business Section in 1999.
With the news agency, he first assumed charge of the Business Bureau of the wire service and subsequently became the Business Editor of IANS and then the Bureau Chief.
Soon, he was elevated as the Executive Editor. He headed the business and economy team.
IANS : Indo-Asian News Service is a private Indian news agency.
It was founded by Indian-American publisher Gopal Raju as the India Abroad News Service.
Later, the agency was renamed as the Indo-Asian News Service.
Famed Bengali singer Kalika Prasad Bhattacharjee passed away in a car accident on 7 March 2017 in Hooghly district's Gurap town. He was 56. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.He was on his way to a show in Birbhum, when his car was hit by a truck. Following the smash, his car fell into a ditch on Durgapur expressway at Gurap, Hooghly. Four other singers of Kalika Prasad's band Dohar were also in the car. However, driver and other three people were injured.
Kalika Prasad Bhattacharjee : He was best known for popularising folk songs of rural Bengal among the present generation in the albums of his band 'Dohar'.
In 1999, he co-founded the band Dohar and was the lead singer of this Bangla band.• He had also lent his voice in films like Jaatishwar (2014), Moner Manush (2010) and Bhuban Majhi (2017).
He studied Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University.
He was born and raised in Silchar, Assam.
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.
Telugu poet and writer Cingireddi Narayana Reddy passed away. He is Jnanpith awardee and also the country’s third-highest civilian honor, Padma Vibhushan. He also served as Vice-Chancellor of Telugu University and held important academic and administrative positions in the state.
Constantine Mitsotakis, a former Prime Minister of Greece died. In liberal Governments, He served in several Cabinet posts, including finance minister of Greece. The Present Prime Minister of Greece is Alexis Tsipras.
Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave has passed away. He was 60. He was born in Barnagar in Madhya Pradesh. Last year, he was sworn in as a minister with independent charge of environment, forest and climate change.
Veteran actor and politician Vinod Khanna has expired at the age of 70. His famous films are Mere Apne, Insaaf and Amar, Akbar, Anthony. He was last seen in 2015 in Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale. In 1999, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. He served as the Union minister for culture and tourism in 2002 . Later, he also became a minister of state in the Ministry of External Affair.
Senior National Conference (NC) leader and former speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Ali Mohammad Naik, passed away. He was 87. Naik, a resident of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, was suffering from chest disease . He had served as general secretary of Plebiscite Front under NC founder and former chief minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The Plebiscite Front advocated holding of a referendum in the state for deciding its future.
Britain's Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason died after a motorcyle crash in Jamaica Mason was born in Jamaica but represented Britain in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. He won a silver medal in the high jump, with a personal best of 2.34 meters.
Padma Vibhushan recipient classical singer Kishori Amonkar passed away at the age of 84 at her house in Mumbai. In her career spanning seven decades, she was revered as ‘Gaan-Saraswati’. The singer has been awarded the Padma Bhushan (1987) and the Padma Vibhushan (2002) for an exemplary career. She was also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1985 and the SNA Fellowship for 2009. In 1991, she was awarded the prestigious Dr TMA Pai Outstanding Konkani Award.
Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco-based activist and artist best known for creating the rainbow flag representing gay rights, has died at the age of 65. Gilbert Baker came up with the eight-coloured banner for San Francisco’s 1978 gay freedom day, which later became the Pride festival. Mr Baker's original flag had eight colours, each representing a different aspect of humanity: 1) Pink - sexuality 2) Red - life 3) Orange - healing 4) Yellow- sunlight 5) Green - nature 6) Turquoise - art 7) Indigo - harmony 8) Violet - human spirit It would later be reduced to six stripes, removing pink and indigo, and swapping blue for turquoise. In 2015, New York's Museum of Modern Art acquired the flag for its design collection, calling it a "powerful design milestone".
Veteran Indian-origin South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada, who was one of Nelson Mandela's closest aides, died at a hospital in Johannesburg, at the age of 87. Kathrada was among those tried and jailed alongside Mandela in the Rivonia trial in 1964, which drew worldwide attention and highlighted the brutal legal system under the apartheid regime. Kathrada spent 26 years and three months in prison, 18 of which were on Robben Island. After the end of apartheid, he served from 1994 to 1999 as parliamentary counsellor to President Mandela in the first African National Congress (ANC) government. Apartheid:- Apartheid was a legalised system of discrimination against non-white people introduced in South Africa in 1948.
Eminent jurist and senior advocate T. R. Andhyarujina passed away in Mumbai. Andhyarujina, 84, also served as Solicitor General during 1996-98. Prior to that he was the Advocate General of Maharashtra from 1993 to 1995. He specialized in the field of constitutional law, human rights, public law and commercial law. He was the chairman of the committee on Banking Laws appointed by Govt of India in 1998. He was part of the team of constitutional law expert H M Seervai in his initial days as a lawyer and witnessed from close-quarters the history-defining hearings in the The Kesavananda Bharati Case.
Former Punjab minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Gurdev Singh Badal passed away after prolonged illness. He breathed his last at the DMC Hero Heart Institute at Ludhiana. Gurdev had represented Panjgrain and Jaito assembly seats in the past.
Famed Bengali singer Kalika Prasad Bhattacharjee passed away in a car accident on 7 March 2017 in Hooghly district's Gurap town. He was 56. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.He was on his way to a show in Birbhum, when his car was hit by a truck. Following the smash, his car fell into a ditch on Durgapur expressway at Gurap, Hooghly. Four other singers of Kalika Prasad's band Dohar were also in the car. However, driver and other three people were injured. Kalika Prasad Bhattacharjee : He was best known for popularising folk songs of rural Bengal among the present generation in the albums of his band 'Dohar'. In 1999, he co-founded the band Dohar and was the lead singer of this Bangla band.• He had also lent his voice in films like Jaatishwar (2014), Moner Manush (2010) and Bhuban Majhi (2017). He studied Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University. He was born and raised in Silchar, Assam.
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