April-may 2009

EVENTS; APPOINTMENTS; ETC.: APRIL-MAY 2009 APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. Jacob Zuma: He has been elected as the President of South Africa. Dr Manmohan Singh: He has been elected as the Prime Minister of India. Madhav Kumar Nepal: Veteran Communist leader and former general-secretary of CPN-UML, he has been elected as the Prime Minister of Nepal. Naveen Patnaik: He has been elected as the Chief Minister of Orissa. His Biju Janata Dal has become the first regional party to come to power on its own in Orissa. V.S. Sampath: He has been appointed as the Election Commissioner of India. Pawan K. Chamling: He has been elected as Chief Minister of Sikkim. D.D. Lapang: He has been elected as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. Timothy J. Roemer: He has been appointed as the US Ambassador to India. Madhu Kannan: He has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bombay Stock Exchange. J.S. Sarma: TDSAT member, he has taken-over as Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), succeeding Nripendra Mishra.

RESIGNED Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda:Prime Minister of Nepal. Arun Bhatnagar: Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board.

DIED Raja Chelliah: Noted economist who led the first tax reforms as India was undertaking its economic restructuring in early 90s. He was 86. Vishnu Prabhakar: Renowned Hindi litterateur. He was 97. His famous works include Awara, Masiha, Pankheen, Jane Anjane, Dhalti Raat, Swapnamayi, Nav Prabhat and Doctor, besides Ardhanarishwar for which he was awarded Sahitya Akademi award. J.G. Ballard: Renowned British author. His novel Empire of the Sun vividly portrayed his childhood imprisonment in wartime Shanghai and was adapted into a Hollywood film by Steven Spielberg. Kamala Das: Well-known writer Kamala ‘Suraiya’ Das , who courted controversy with her unorthodox views. She was 75. Feroz Khan: Hindi film actor, who made a place in the hearts of film lovers with his romantic portrayals. He was 69. He had made his debut in 1960 with Didi.

Baba Bhagat Singh Bilga: He was the only surviving legendary revolutionary of the Ghadar party and one of the most respected revolutionaries of pre- and postIndependence era. Prakash Mehra: Legendry Hindi-film producer-director who gave Amitabh Bachchan his first success with “Zanjeer”. He was 69. Robert Furchgott: An American scientist who shared the 1998 Nobel prize for his work that led to the development of the anti-impotency drug Viagra. He was 92.

UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS Dr Manmohan Singh: Prime Minister

Cabinet Ministers: Pranab Mukherjee: Finance P. Chidambaram: Home A.K. Antony: Defence Sharad Pawar: Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies S.M. Krishna: External Affairs Mamata Banerjee: Railways Virbhadra Singh: Steel Vilasrao Deshmukh: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Ghulam Nabi Azad: Health and Family Welfare Sushil Kumar Shinde: Power M. Veerappa Moily: Law and Justice Dr. Farooq Abdullah: New and Renewable Energy S. Jaipal Reddy: Urban Development Kamal Nath: Road Transport and Highways Vayalar Ravi: Overseas Indian Affairs Dayanidhi Maran: Textiles A. Raja: Communications and Information Technology Murli Deora: Petroleum and Natural Gas Ambika Soni: Information and Broadcasting Mallikarjun Kharge: Labour and Employment Kapil Sibal: Human Resource Development B.K. Handique: Mines and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Anand Sharma: Commerce and Industry C.P. Joshi: Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Selja: Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism Subodh Kant Sahay: Food Processing Industries Dr M.S. Gill: Youth Affairs and Sports

G.K. Vasan: Minister of Shipping Pawan Kumar Bansal: Parliamentary Affairs Mukul Wasnik: Social Justice and Empowerment Kantilal Bhuria: Tribal Affairs M.K. Azhagiri: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ministers of State (Independent Charge) Praful Patel: Civil Aviation Prithviraj Chavan: Science and Technology; Earth Sciences; Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; and Parliamentary Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal: Coal; and Statistics and Programme Implementation Salman Khursheed: Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs Dinsha J. Patel: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Krishna Tirath: Women and Child Development Jairam Ramesh: Environment and Forests

Ministers of State Srikant Jena: Chemicals and Fertilisers E. Ahamed: Railways Mullappally Ramachandran: Home Affairs

V. Narayansamy: Planning and Parliamentary Affairs Jyotiraditya Scindia: Commerce and Industry D. Purandeswari: Human Resource Development K.H. Muniyappa: Railways Ajay Maken: Home Affairs Panabaka Lakshmi: Textiles Namo Narain Meena: Finance M.M. Pallam Raju: Defence Saugata Ray: Urban Development S.S. Palanimanickam: Finance Jitin Prasad: Petroleum and Natural Gas A. Sai Prathap: Steel Preneet Kaur: External Affairs Gurdas Kamat: Communications and Information Technology Harish Rawat: Labour and Employment Prof. K.V. Thomas: Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Bharatsinh Solanki: Power Mahadev S. Khandela: Road Transport and Highways Dinesh Trivedi: Health and Family Welfare

Sisir Adhikari: Rural Development Sultan Ahmed: Tourism Mukul Roy: Shipping Mohan Jatua: Information and Broadcasting D. Napoleon: Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan: Information and Broadcasting S. Gandhiselvan: Health and Family Welfare Tusharbhai Chaudhary: Tribal Affairs Sachin Pilot: Communications and Information Technology Arun Yadav: Youth Affairs and Sports Pratik Prakashbapu Patil: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises R.P.N. Singh: Road Transport and Highways Shashi Tharoor: External Affairs Vincent Pala: Water Resources Pradeep Jain: Rural Development Agatha Sangma: Rural Development

EVENTS APRIL 13—Eleven CISF jawans and four Maoists are killed in a gunfight in a wellguarded armoury and bauxite mine of Nalco in Orissa. 14—Notwithstanding opposition from various countries, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari ratifies a regulation for enforcing Islamic Shariah laws in the restive Swat Valley as part of a peace deal with the Taliban militants. 15—India successfully test fires a version of nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile with a range of 350 km from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, off the Orissa coast. 16—In the first phase of elections, about 58-62% of the 14.3 crore voters exercise their franchise in 124 constituencies across 17 States, even as Naxalites kill 19 people, including 10 security personnel, across Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. 18—A suicide bomber rams his explosive laden vehicle into a police check post killing 23 people, most of them security personnel, in Pakistan’s troubled NWFP.

20—India successfully launches a surveillance satellite, RISAT-2, built jointly with Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. 22—Over one lakh Tamil civilians have flee the LTTE-held No Fire Zone (NFZ) amid intense fighting between the LTTE cadres and the Sri Lankan Army (SLA). 23—Phase II of general elections in 140 constituencies across 12 States is completed. 26—Governments around the world rush to check the spread of a new type of swine flu that kills more than 100 people in Mexico. 29—The Pakistan government claims successes in its war against militants in Buner after capturing strategic points and villages. However, the army action leads to internal displacement of thousands of people. 30—Nearly 50 per cent of the voters exercise their franchise in the third phase of the general elections in 107 constituencies spread over nine States and two Union Territories. —A wave of ethnic violence sweeps Karachi, Pakistan, killing at least 29 persons, including Pashtuns and Urdu-speaking supporters of the MQM.

MAY 6—More than 100 civilians are killed in Army strikes on militants in Afghanistan. 7—Polling is held for 85 Lok Sabha seats across eight States. 13—Curtain rings down on the massive exercise of voting in the Lok Sabha elections with nearly 62 per cent electorate casting ballots in the fifth and final phase. 16—The first case of swine flu in India is confirmed in Hyderabad by the directorgeneral of health services in New Delhi. A 23-year-old passenger from Dubai was suspected of having contracted the virus and quarantined after his samples tested positive of the H1N1 flu. 18—For the first time in the history of Mumbai Stock Exchange, circuit breaker is applied to stop trading after just 30 seconds to cool down an over-heated market as a buying spree pushes the Sensex up by 2000 points. —President Pratibha Patil dissolves the 14th Lok Sabha, paving way for the constitution of the 15th Lok Sabha. —The chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), V. Prabhakaran is killed by Sri Lanka army. Sri Lanka armed forces free the nation from three decades of LTTE terror.

—In a frenzy unprecedented in the history of Indian stock market, Sensex jumps up by 2,110.79 points, or 17.3 per cent, following Congress win in Lok Sabha elections. 19—India successfully test-fires its nuclear-capable ‘Agni-II’ missile with a strike range of upto 3,000 km from a launch pad of Integrated Test Range at Wheelers Island near Dhamra, off Orissa coast. 22—Dr Manmohan Singh is sworn-in as the Prime Minister of India for a second term. 23—Pakiatani security forces enter Mingora, the main city of Swat valley, killing more than 17 militants and signalling a new phase of their offensive against the Taliban militants. 24—Curfew is clamped in Jalandhar city in Punjab as tension grips the DOaba region within hours of attack in the head of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in a temple shootout in Vienna, Austria. 25—Cyclone “Aila” kills more than 100 people in West Bengal. —North Korea conducts a second nuclear test, far more powerful than its first one. 26—North Korea tests two short-range missiles a day after detonating a nuclear

bomb underground, pushing the regime’s confrontation with world powers further. 27—A massive car bomb rips through headquarters of ISI in Lahore, killing more than 30 people. It is termed as one of the most devastating suicide attacks by Taliban elements in Lahore.

MILESTONES Jose Brasa: of Spain, he has been appointed the chief coach of India’s men’s hockey team.

Milan Vohra: Mills & Boons, the biggest, most breathless romance publisher in the world, has completed its search for fresh literary talent and its first writer from India is Milan Vohra. It was Vohra’s short story, The Love Asana that impressed the judges.

Shubhra Saxena: of Ghaziabad, she has topped the Civil Services Examination, 2008.

Yelena Isinbayeva: Russian pole vaulter and Olympic gold medallist, she has won her second Laureus World Sportswmoan of the Year award.

Kavya Shivashankar: Indian-American teenager who won the televised US National Spelling Bee competition, nailing esoteric words from “hydrargyrum” to “Laodicean.