Famous Personalities - Current Affairs for August, 2016

PM Narendra Modi on 20th August 2016 paid tribute to former premier Rajiv Gandhi on his 72nd birth anniversary.

• Rajiv Gandhi born on August 20, 1944 served as the sixth PM of India from 1984 to 1989.
• He took office following assassination of his mother, then PM Indira Gandhi in 1984.
• Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also paid tribute to his father and the former PM.
• Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a suicide bombing at TN’s Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.
• Other Indian PMs belonging to the INC include Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.
• The youngest political leader to become PM, Rajiv Gandhi was 40 at the time of taking charge of the PMO.
• Oldest person to be Indian PM at 81 years was Morarji Desai.
• Oldest living PM is AB Vajapayee born Decemer 25, 1924
• Youngest living PM is incumbent Narendra Modi born 17th September 1950.
• Narendra Modi is also the first PM of India to be born after Independence in India.
• All other PMs were born before India gained independence.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, paid homage to the great freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad at his birthplace at Bhabra in Alirajpur District of Madhya Pradesh.

• The Prime Minister garlanded the statue of Shahid Chandrashekhar Azad and visited the memorial at his birthplace.
• He also said Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision of Insaniyat, Jamahooriyat, Kashmiriyat will be taken forward.
• The Prime Minister later flagged off the Tiranga Yatra to mark the launch of the 70th Freedom Year celebrations.

Munshi Premchand inspired countless people with his famous novels like Godaan, Gaban and Vardaan.

• The UP writer was considered one of the greatest literary figures in Hindi writing during the 1920s-1930s.
• He was called Upanyas Samrat or emperor among novelists.
• Born Dhanpat Rai in a small north Indian village, he penned more than 250 short stories and numerous essays.

Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos has removed Warren Buffet as the third richest person globally with estimated annual worth of USD 65.3 billion according to Forbes real time wealth tracker.

• Buffet’s worth was pegged at USD 64.9 billion.
• Bezos has surpassed Buffet as the third richest person on the planet.
• Amazon has reported robust Q2 earnings with the company posting a profit of USD 857 million up from USD 92 million a year back.
• Amazon revenue also jumped up 31 percent to USD 30.4 billion topping analyst estimates of 29.5 billion.
• The stock has climbed, nothing up 11 percent gains this year and 41 percent over the past 12 months.
• Bill Gates is the richest person in the world with net worth of USD 75 billion.
• Zara’s Amancio Ortega is the second richest Indian in the world with net worth of USD 67 billion.