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PERSONS IN NEWS - May 2019

May 2019

Oct 12, 2019

Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, Who Was First To Walk In Space, Dies At 85

Soviet-era cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who in 1965 became the first person to walk in space before co-leading the first joint mission between Russia and the United States, has died at the age of 85.
Alexei Leonov died at the Burdenko military hospital in Moscow after a long illness.
Selected alongside Yuri Gagarin among the first 20 Soviet Air Force pilots to train as cosmonauts in 1960, Leonov flew twice into space, logging a total of 7 days and 32 minutes off the planet.
Launched on Voskhod 2, the world's 17th human spaceflight, on March 18, 1965, Leonov made history as the first person to exit his spacecraft for an extravehicular activity (EVA).

Forbes India Rich List 2019: Mukesh Ambani Retains Top Position For 12th Straight Year

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has once again bagged the number one spot with $51.4 billion net worth on Forbes' list of richest Indians for the year 2019.
Infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani came a close second as he jumped 8 spots on the list with a net worth of $15.7 billion.
This is the 12th consecutive year that Ambani has topped the list despite being a 'challenging year' for the Indian economy, according to the American business magazine. Ambani's wealth swelled to $51.4 billion in 2019.
Meanwhile, Adani who rose 8 spots to bag the second place on the list saw his fortune rise on account of venturing into a "slew of new businesses from airports to data centres".
Ashok Leyland owners Hinduja brothers came third with a net worth of $15.6 billion, Shapoorji Pallonji Group's Pallonji Mistry was on fourth spot with a $15 billion net worth, Kotak Mahindra Bank's Uday Kotak ranked fifth with $14.8 billion net worth followed by HCL Technologies' Shiv Nadar with a net worth of $14.4 billion.
This year also spelled an 8% drop in the total wealth of business tycoons on the Forbes' 2019 list to $452 billion.
It had been a "challenging year for the nation's wealthies" owing to economic slowdown.

Eminent Saxophone Exponent Kadri Gopalnath Dies At 69

Renowned saxophone exponent Kadri Gopalnath died at a private hospital. He was 69 and had been ailing for some time.
Gopalnath is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter.
A Padma Shree awardee and one of the pioneers of music in the saxophone in the country, he had the distinction of being the first Carnatic musician to be invited to the BBC Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall at London in 1994.
Gopalnath's son, Manikanth Kadri, is a noted music director.

Oct 11, 2019

Imran Khan Declared 'Muslim Man of the Year'

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has been declared as Muslim Man of the Year 2020 by Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre.
Imran won the title in the recent list of the most persuasive Muslims in the world issued by the Centre.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran has also become the sixth most popular world leader on Twitter, boasting 10.5 million followers on the social media platform.
The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC) is an autonomous research entity with the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan.
Imran's name has been included in The Muslim 500 – the Most Influential Muslims In the World published by the RISSC.

Yes Bank Appoints Anita Pai as COO, Jasneet Bachal as CMO

Yes Bank Ltd appointed Anita Pai as chief operating officer and Jasneet Bachal as chief marketing officer.
Pai, who was senior general manager and head of ATM business at ICICI Bank Ltd, will lead the bank's operations and service delivery.
She will also look after the information technology functions of the lender. Bachal will head the marketing and communication efforts.
Despite the announcement, shares of the private lender traded lower ending down more than 5%.
Concerns surrounding the bank's exposure to stressed sectors, especially housing finance companies (HFC) and real estate firms, continued to add to the negative sentiment.

Oct 10, 2019

IFS Officer Ramesh Pandey To Be Given Asia Environmental Enforcement Award By UNEP

Senior Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey has been selected for the prestigious Asia Environmental Enforcement Award by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The 1996-batch IFS officer, posted as Chief Conservator Forests in Lucknow and Secretary, UP State Bio-diversity Board, is known for his investigation and intelligence gathering on poachers.
Pandey will receive the award on November 13, 2019 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.

BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi Elected Unopposed To Rajya Sabha In By-Poll From UP

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in by-election from Uttar Pradesh.
The seat had fallen vacant after the demise of former Union Minister Arun Jaitley.
Trivedi had filed his nomination in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and other senior leaders of the party.
The BJP leader, a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, has been working for the party for a long time.
He was a part of the four-member committee which was responsible for the party's campaign during 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Oct 08, 2019

Phoolan Devi's Sister Rukamani Devi Nishad Joins Samajwadi Party

Rukamani Devi Nishad, sister of the late Phoolan Devi joined Samajwadi Party in the presence of the party's national president Akhilesh Yadav.
Once a dacoit, Phoolan Devi was also known as Bandit Queen, had later turned politician and was a Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha member before she was assassinated in Delhi in 2001.
Rukamani Devi Nishad left the Pragatisheel Manav Party, a minor outfit, to join the SP. Along with her, Ramakant Yadav, a compulsive party-hopper also returned to the Samajwadi Party.
Yadav who had been hob nobbing with the SP, had been expelled by the Congress. He had joined the Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

India's Vishnu Nandan among 300 researchers to join largest ever Arctic expedition

A native of Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram, the 32-year-old polar researcher will be the only Indian among 300 scientists from across the world aboard the multidisciplinary drifting observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, which will help the researchers better understand the impact of climate change and aid in improved weather projections.
For four months from November, 2019 Vishnu Nandan will not see sunlight.
He will be aboard the German research vessel Polarstern, anchored on a large sheet of sea ice in the Central Arctic, drifting along with it during the pitch-black Polar winter.
Spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, MOSAiC, the largest ever Arctic expedition in history, will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.

Anumula Gitesh Sarma Appointed India's High Commissioner To Australia

Senior diplomat Anumula Gitesh Sarma has been appointed as India's next High Commissioner to Australia.
Sarma, a 1986 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
He will replace A M Gondane as India's envoy in Australia.
Sarma was serving as Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Ajay Kumar Lallu Replaces Raj Babbar As UP Congress Chief

The Congress appointed Ajay Kumar Lallu as its Uttar Pradesh president, replacing Raj Babbar, and revamped the state unit, bringing in four vice presidents, 12 general secretaries and 24 secretaries.
Ajay was the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in Uttar Pradesh and is a two-time MLA from Tamkuhi Raj constituency.
He is considered close to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who is the party's General Secretary.

Oct 07, 2019

Justice Swamy Takes Oath As Himachal Chief Justice

Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatreya administered the oath of office to Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy as the Chief Justice of High Court.
After the swearing-in ceremony, Justice Swamy was presented a guard of honour in the High Court premises.
Justice Swamy was born on July 1, 1959. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka on July 4, 2007, and subsequently as permanent Judge on April 17, 2009.
He was also the Acting Chief Justice of High Court of Karnataka from January 17 to May 9, 2019.
He had practiced for 19 years before the High Court of Karnataka, Karnataka Administrative Tribunal and Central Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore in civil, criminal, constitutional, service and labour matters.

Delhi Congress veteran Parlad Singh Sawhney joins AAP ahead of Delhi assembly polls

Senior Delhi Congress leader Prahlad Sawhney joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at the party's head office in central Delhi, where the Delhi chief minister welcomed the four-time Chandni Chowk MLA into the party fold.
Sawhney was elected MLA four times from the Chandni Chowk assembly segment between 1998 and 2013. In 2015, he lost the seat to AAP's Alka Lamba, who was disqualified from the Delhi Assembly.

JJP Candidate Gurpal Singh Majra Re-Joins BJP

Jannanayak Janta Party (JJP) candidate from Ambala Cant- Gurpal Singh Majra re-joined BJP in the presence of senior BJP leader Anil Vij.
He has recently left the BJP and joined JJP. Mr Anil Vij is BJP candidate from Ambala Cantt constituency.
Mr Vij welcomed him back in the party.

Justice Ajai Lamba Takes Oath As CJ of Gauhati HC

In Assam, Justice Ajai Lamba has taken oath as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court.
Governor Professor Jagdish Mukhi has administered the oath taking ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in Guwahati.
Several dignitaries including Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal were present in the oath taking ceremony.

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