Obituary - Current Affairs for June, 2016

Naga rebel leader Isak Chishi Swu has passed away on 28th June 2016 following prolonged illness at Fortis hospital in VK, New Delhi

• The 87-year-old political leader was the co founder and chairman of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) or NSCN-IM
• Swu belonged to Sumi tribe and was from Nagaland’s Zunheboto district.
• During the 1950s, Swu joined the Naga National Council -NNC and served in numerous capacities in the organisation
• He ws opposed to the Shillong Accord signed by NNC with the Centre forming the NSCN-IM in 1980
• The focus is back on the pact between GoI and NSCN-IM in August 2015
• Signing of the pact came after 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 16 years with the first breakthrough in 1997

Bud Spencer, a burly comic actor dubbed the “Good Giant” for beating bad guys on the screen in a series of spaghetti westerns has passed away in Italy at age 86

• Bud was born in Naples as Carlos Pedersoli
• He adopted the stage name Bud Spencer- the first inspired by the bear and the last to honour his favourite actor Spenser Tracy
• Bud was also the first Italian to win the 100m freestyle in less than a minute
• He was known for his walk on part as a Praetorian guard in the 1950s film Quo Vadis
• Italian director Mario Monicelli hired him for his first big role in the 1955 film Un eroe dei nostril tempi (A hero of our times).
• Spenser abandoned his swimming career after the 1960 Olympics and worked on “Dio persona, io no” (God Forgives, I don’t) and became known for spaghetti westerns with actor Mario GIrotti called by his stage name Terence Hill

Xerxes Desai, the first MD of India’s largest watch maker Titan passed away on 27th June after suffering from acute gastroentitis

• The 80 year old was the first in the country to introduce a quartz watch three decades ago
• Desai joined TAS in 1961 after graduating from Oxford University and was a veteran with TATA Press, TATA Chemicals and Taj Hotels before setting up Titan in 1986

Kavalam Narayana Panicker, well know Malayalam theatre artist and poet passed away on June 26, 2016 at Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

• Born on April 28, 1928 Panicker attended CMS collage at Kottayam
• He was also the secretary of Jerala Sangeet Nataka Akademi
• He was known for over 26 plays apart from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare

Bill Cunningham, street style photographer whose photo essays for the NYT memorialised trends from fanny packs to Birkin bags passed away on Saturday 25th June at the age of 87 following hospitalisation for a stroke.

• He was known for over 4 decades of interesting and iconic fashion photography

Neil O’Brien pioneer of quizzing in India and leader of the Anglo Indian community passed away at the age of 82 on 24th June 2016 in Kolkata

• A former LS member he was also an educationist and a 3 time nominated Anglo Indian MLA in West Bengal
• His son Derel O’Brien is an Indian television personality and MP for All India Trinamool Congress
• He conducted the first well organised formal quiz in 1967 at Christ the King Church Parish Hall in Kolkata
• He also served as OUP MD and council for the Indian School certificate as chairman from December 1993 to July 2011
• He also headed the Frank Anthony group of schools

Former UNGA President John Ashe of the twin island Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda passed away on 22nd June 2016 in the US after facing criminal charges in a bribery case

• He was a 61-year-old former UN Ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who served the ceremonial post of president from 2013-2014 and accused the previous year by US fed authorities of turning the position into a platform for profit.
• Ashe holds a UPenn bioengineering doctorate and joined the Foreign Service in 1989 and was awarded Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.

Noted Telangana poet and lyricist Guda Anjaiah died on 21st June 2016 at Ragannagudem, Telangana following a brief illness.

• He was 61. He is survived by three daughters.
• His songs both regaled and incensed supporters of statehood movement.

Renowned Qawwal Amjad Sabri was shot dead in Karachi on the afternoon of 22nd June 2016.

• Additional Inspector General Mushtaq Mehar told Dawn that two men riding a motorcycle fired shots at Sabri's car. He termed the incident “targeted killing.”
• Additional police surgeon Dr Rohina Hasan confirmed Sabri's demise. He was shot thrice – twice in the head and once on the ear – police sources said.
• Sabri was one of the country’s finest qawwals, known for his soul-stirring renditions of mystic poetry.

Jo Cox Labour MP for Batley and Spen died after an attack in Birstall, West Yorkshire even as eyewitnesses said the attacker showed “put Britain first” before killing her

• She is survived by her husband and children
• She is the first sitting MP to be killed since 1991
• The death of the 41 year old MP was committed by Tommy Mair
• Vote Leave and Remain have suspended campaigning following the attack

Famous TV actress Ann Morgan Guilbert passed away on June 16, 2015 after battling cancer a the age of 87

• She started her TV career with popular sitcoms like “I Dream of Jeannie” and “My Three Sons”.
• She is most well known for her role in 5 season sitcom Dick Van Dyke Show
• She was also part of a James Brolin comedy “Life in Pieces”

Anjan Dutta was a close confidant of former CM Tarun Gogoi

• He was a Cabinet Minister in the state in the past and passed away following cardiac failure
• He was 64 at the time of his death
• He leaves behind wife and three daughters
• Dutta had been appointed APCC President on December 13, 2014 and holding the post ever since

Distinguished Hindi writer, activist, thinker and cultural personality Mudrarakshasa passed away on 13 June 2016 following a prolonged illness in Lucknow. He was 82.

• Born in Behta near Lucknow in 1931, He graduated from Lucknow University and was then employed as Assistant Editor of Gyanodaya that was published from Calcutta from 1955 to 1958. He was the editor of Anuvrata, a Calcutta based magazine.
• He worked as Editor at All India Radio from 1962 to 1976
• His works of theatrical criticism includes Rang Bhumikayen and a book on Nemichandra Jain

Donald Carr, the former captain of England Cricket team, died on 12 June 2016. He was 89. Beside prominent batsman Carr was also one of the most prominent administrators of the post-war era.

• His first-class career spanned from 1945 to 1968 in which he scored nearly 20000 runs and claimed 328 wickets with his left-arm spin for Oxford University, Derbyshire and England.
• He captained England at Madras in 1951-52 in his second and final appearance and retired form cricket in 1986.
• He has also been named Wisden player of the year.

Noted playwright and actor Achyut Lahkar, doyen of Assam’s mobile theatre movement, passed away on 12 June 2016 following a protracted illness. He was 85.

• Lahkar was the pioneering dramatist, veteran actor director and producer who staged numerous memorable plays in mobile theatre.
• Born in 1931, Lahkar, a theatre enthusiast from his childhood days.
• He founded Nataraj Theatre, the first Mobile Theatre Company of Assam in 1963 which performed across Assam and in other states for nearly 40 years.

Distinguished journalist Inder Malhotra, who mapped the ebb and flow of the messy yet mesmerising world of Indian politics under every prime minister of independent India and served as a resident editor of The Times of India and The Statesman, passed away following a long illness on Saturday. He was 86.

The German cycling union says former star rider Rudi Altig has died of cancer. He was 79.

• He won the last road world title in 1966 and a total of 18 stages at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta
• He is survived by second wife Monique and three children

Legendary hockey player Gordie Howe died on 10th June 2016 following a lengthy illness at the age of 88.

• He was nicknamed Mr. Hockey and considered one of the greatest hockey players of the time
• He played with both NHL and World Hockey Association

Ex Kerala Assembly Speaker TS John passed away at a Chertala hospital in Alapuzha on June 9 at the age of 74. He passed away on account of old age related ailments survived by a son.

• John was a leader of the faction of the Kerala Congress (Secular)
• He also served as minister in the AK Antony cabinet

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has condoled the passing away of veteran journalist Shri K.K. Katyal. Shri Katyal was a much loved and admired personality in the world of media. He had a long and distinguished career, especially with “The Hindu”, “The Statesman” and “Hindustan Times”.

Ali, boxer and civil rights champion who famously proclaimed himself “The Greatest” and then spent a lifetime living up to the billing, is dead.

• Ali died at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he had spent the past few days being treated for respiratory complications. Ali’s passed away at the age of 75.
• He had suffered for three decades from Parkinson’s, a progressive neurological condition that slowly robbed him of both his verbal grace and his physical dexterity.
• Born Cassius Marcellus Clay on Jan. 17, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, to middle-class parents, Ali started boxing when he was 12, winning Golden Gloves titles before heading to the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where he won a gold medal as a light heavyweight.

India’s first Mr Universe, Manohar Aich passed away. The passing away of Aich marks the end of an era and the 104 year old famous bodybuilder’s demise ended a historic era.

• Bannerjee recalled that Aich had been honoured with Bangabhibhushan award in 2015 and is a legend in body building

Former Dominican president and general Antonio Imbert Barrera who was the last survivor of a group that toppled a brutal dictator died on 31st May. He was 95.

• Imbert was a top government official during the reign of dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, but he and 10 other men plotted his assassination in 1961 and helped end 31 years of bloody dictatorship.
• Only Imbert and one other person, Luis Amiama Tio, survived the persecution that ensued. Amiama died in 1980.
• Imbert was declared a national hero after Trujillo was killed, and in 1963, he participated in a US-backed coup against president Juan Bosch. He formed part of a military junta established after the coup and helped fight off a 1965 insurrection to re-establish Bosch that sparked a US invasion.