Obituary - Current Affairs for February, 2016

South Indian filmmaker Rajesh Pillai passed away due to a liver problem at the age of 42. His latest film Vettah starred Manju Warrier and Indrajith. He hit headlines with a path breaking movie in Malayalam cinema called Traffic in 2011.

The cleric known for forming the Tablighi Jammat sect in Britain died at the age of 92 and free mourners from UK and other EU nations. Cleric was vital for the creation of the Markazi Mosque in Dewsbury in the late 1970s. The mosque is now the European headquarters for the Tablighi movement.The Tablighi Jamaat organisation was founded in India in 1926 and is closely linked to the conservative Deobandi school in Sunni Islam.

Well known poet and former MLC Akbar Ali passed away at the age of 91 after succumbing to cancer on 21st February 2016. He is survived by 3 sons and 3 daughters. He was known for Kannada Chutuku Sahitya and his works included Visha Sindhu, Anna, Sahitya Vivechane, Kannada Kavyadhyana and Samagra Kavya, among others. He was an MLC in the 1980s beside winning several awards such as State Sahitya Academy Award. Rashtriya Ekta award and many more.

Well known Odia singer Bhubaneswari Mishra has died in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest at 67. She was popular as a classical and playback singer both. She began her career with the song
Tiki Mora Naa Ti’ for the mythological Odia movie Krushna Sudama in the 1970s. Mishra was also conferred with the Odisha State Film Award for best female playback singer for two years in 1979 and 1980.

Italian author Umberto Eco who was known for his famous and best selling historical novel “The Name of the Rose” passed away on 19th February 2016. He had authored a wide range of books and was famous for penning medieval thriller “The Name of the Rose” which was made into a Sean Connery movie. Born in 1932 at a town east of Turin, Alessandria, he received a philosophy degree from the University of Turin in the 1950s. He was the first processor of semiotics at University of Bologna at 1971. He also lectured and studied at top institutions like Oxford and Columbia. 23 institutions have awarded him honorary degrees by the year 2000. Recent works by the late author include “From the Tree to the Labyrinth” and “Turning Back the Clock”.

Former West Indies and Trinidad & Tobago batsman and wicketkeeper Andy Ganteaume has passed away at the age of 95 in the town of Santa Magarita, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He was the oldest living test cricketer in West Indies and the world’s second oldest after S. Africa’s Lindsay Tuckett. In his only test innings, he scored 112 which earned him the highest testing batting average in history.

Polish film director Andrzej Zulawski passed away on 17th February in the Polish city of Warsaw at the age of 75 after succumbing to cancer. He blended storytelling with surrealism to create movies such as “My Nights are More Beautiful Than Your Days”. His movie The Devil was banned in Poland.

Harper Lee who composed American literary classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” has passed away on 19th February 2016 at the age of 89. The book was released during the 1960s when the Civil Rights Movement had gained momentum. She passed away in her sleep. Her most recent book was “Go Set a Watchman.”

Well known southern composer Rajamani has passed away at age 60 on account of a sudden cardiac arrest. He was a famous Carnatic musician who dabbled in Westerm and Hindustani music as well. He has rendered the musical score for over 700 films.

Former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali has passed away at Cairo on 16th February at the age of 93. He was termed a respected statesman by UN Chief Ban Ki-moon. A former foreign minister of Egypt, he was the first Arab to serve as UN Chief. He took charge of office in the 1990s following the decisive role in the Gulf War serving a 5 year term. He was born on November 14, 1922 to a Cairo family and was educated at Cairo University and Paris. After he retired from the UN, he served from 1998 to 2002 as secretary general of La Francophone. a group of French speaking nations.

Soviet football star Anatoly Ilyin died at the age of 84. He was capped 31 times by USSR in the 1950s and scored as many as 16 goals. He also played for the Spartak Moscow club for most of his professional career. Ilyin scored the winning goal for Russia in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and also participated in the World Cup in 1958. He won the Soviet Top League a total of 5 times.

Well known Malayalam poet and lyricist ONV Kurup has passed away at a private hospital at the age of 84 from age related ailments. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son. ONV was conferred with the country’s highest honor, Jnanpith Award in the year 2007. He also won the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan award besides numerous literary awards. He was also a professor of repute.

Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative voice of the US SC has passed away at the age of 79 on 13th February 2016. His death following three decades on the SC bench could cause the balance of power of the SC from its 5-4 conservative majority to a more liberal one. He was the longest serving justice of the US SC.

Well known Urdu and Hindu poet Nida Fazli has passed away in Mumbai at 78 years of age. He was born in Delhi in the 9130s and was raised in Gwalior. His birth name was Mukhtda Hassan Nija Fazli and he succumbed to a heart attack. His famous ghazals include Kiska Chehra and Hosh Walon Ko. He was associated with late ghazal singer Jagjit Singh.

Ex PM of Nepal and Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala assed away on account of pneumonia at the age of 79, on 9th February 2016. He was elected PM of Nepal in February 2014 and passed away at his residence in the outskirts of Kathmandu. He was known for promulgating the new constitution of Nepal in September 2015. Suffering from COPD, he succumbed to the disease. He was born in Banaras India and entered Nepali politics in the 1950s.

Singer cum songwriter Dan Hicks known for his blend of folk, country and jazz music succumbed to cancer at the age of 74. He was best known for the 1960s band Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. Hicks began his career as a drummer for the rock band The Charlatans and joined his famous band during 1967. Hot Licks was disbanded after its 4th album.

Veteran TOI cartoonist Sudhir Tailang who also worked with Hindustan Times and Indian Express, has passed away at the of 55 on account of brain cancer. He was a 2004 Padma Shri awardee and caricatured many famous politicians and leaders through his humorous cartoons.

NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell who was the 6th man to walk on the moon, has passed away in February 2016 at West Palm Beach, Florida. Lunar module pilot on Apollo 14. he died on the eve of the 45th anniversary of his moon landing which occurred on February 5, 1971. Mitchell, Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa were part of the Apollo 14 mission. They set mission records for longest distance traversed to lunar surface, largest payload returned from lunar surface and longest stay in lunar areas.

Ex LS Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away on 3rd February 2016 at the age of 92. He was elected as LS Speaker for two consecutive terms during the 1980s. He was elected to the LS 4 times and also served as the Union Agriculture Minister in the 1991 Naramsimha Rao Ministry. He was also the MP governor from 2004 to 2009. He was also the first Asian to be elected as Chairman of Commonwealth Parliamentarian Executive Forum.

S. S. Tarapore, former RBI deputy governor has passed away on 2nd February 2016 in Mumbai at the age of 80. He joined RBI in 1961 as a Research Officer and retired from RBI in 1996. He chaired two committees on CAC and one on streamlining the RBI.

Well known Urdu fiction writer and poet Intizar Hussain has passed away on 2nd February 2016 in Lahore. Born in December 1923, he migrated to Pakistan in 1947. Among the 10 finalists for the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2013, he was the first national from Pakistan and the first Urdu writer to be nominated for a global award. He was conferred upon the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ambassador to Pakistan Philppe Thiebaud in September 2014.

Veteran cinema television actor G. Krishna Pillai passed away at the age of 82 as a result of age related illnesses. He is a well known theatre turned cinema television actor known for his roles in character and comedy dramas. He was known by the moniker Kollam G. K. Pillai and commenced his acting career through theatre.

Wogan passed away after a brief and brave battle with cancer at the age of 77. Irish born Wogan was one of the most well recognised faces in BBC and he was granted a British knighthood in the year 2005. He began his career with Irish state broadcaster RTE before joining BBC in the 1960s.