▼ Desh Bandhu Gupta, founder of Lupin, passes away [06-29-17]
 Desh Bandhu Gupta, founder and Chairman of Lupin, India’s second-largest pharmaceutical company passed away on 26 June 2017 in Mumbai. He was 79.
Gupta had not been keeping well for some time and was not actively involved in the business for a few years. He is survived by his wife and five children.
Born in Rajgarh, Rajasthan, Gupta earned a master’s degree in chemistry. He started his career as an associate professor at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani in Rajasthan.
He had a vision to fight life-threatening diseases of highest national priority by delivering good quality medicines at an affordable price.
With that objective he founded Lupin in the 1968 with a start-up capital of just INR 5000.
Under his leadership, Lupin grew from being a domestic Indian pharmaceutical company to a global pharmaceutical major worth a US$ 1.83 billion, spanning 100 countries.
Lupin is one of the largest producers of tuberculosis medicines in the world. Gupta set up the Lupin Human Welfare & Research Foundation (LHWRF), one of the largest non-governmental organizations funded by a corporation in Southeast Asia, in October 1988.
The main objective behind setting up of the foundation was to eradicate poverty by encouraging sustainable development at the grass root level in rural India.
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▼ President of Vanuatu Baldwin Lonsdale dies [06-21-17]
 The president of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, has died after a heart attack at the age of 67.
Lonsdale, an Anglican priest, had been leader of the Pacific archipelago since September 2014. He died on 17th June 2017.
While president, Mr Lonsdale oversaw the vast rebuilding of parts of Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam left an estimated 75,000 people homeless in March 2015.
In October the same year, he vowed to clean up corruption in Vanuatu after a scandal involving his deputy.
Speaker Marcellino Pipite was one of 14 MPs - half of the country's parliament - convicted of giving and receiving corrupt payments over a vote of no confidence in a previous government.
He went on to pardon himself and the other 13 MPs while Lonsdale was out of the country, a pardon the president then rescinded on his return.
Vanautu: Know More
- Currency: Vanuatu vatu
- Capital and largest city: Port Vila
- Ethnic groups (1999): 98.5% Ni-Vanuatu; 1.5% others
- Destinations: Port Vila, Tanna, Espiritu Santo, Luganville
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▼ Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl dies [06-19-17]
 Helmut KohlHelmut Kohl, the chancellor who presided over both German reunification and the creation of the eurozone, has died aged 87.
Kohl was a towering figure of European politics in the second half of the 20th century, serving as Germany’s chancellor for a record 16 years from from 1982 to 1998.
A photograph showing Kohl holding hands with French president François Mitterrand at the Douaumont cemetery in Verdun became the defining symbol of Franco-German conciliation after decades of bloody conflict between the two countries.
The gesture was made even more poignant by the fact that Mitterrand himself had been injured at Verdun in the second world war while Kohl had lost a brother in the same conflict.
Helmut Kohl: Know More
- Born: 3 April 1930, Ludwigshafen, Germany
- Died: 16 June 2017, Ludwigshafen, Germany
- Spouse: Maike Richter (m. 2008–2017), Hannelore Kohl (m. 1960–2001)
- Major Books: Der Weg zur Wende
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▼ Head of Ramakrishna Mission dies [06-19-17]
 Swami Atmasthananda Maharaj, president of the Belur-headquartered Ramakrishna Math and Mission, died of age-related ailments in Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan on 18th June 2017. He was 98.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the demise a personal loss.
Swami Atmasthananda had arrived in Rajkot in 1966 to head the RKM Ashram there. It was in Rajkot that a young Modi, inspired by Swami Vivekananda, reached the Ashram to take refuge.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the ailing Maharaj hours before his death, condoled the passing away of the revered monk.
Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi also condoled the death.
Born on the holy Buddha Purnima day in May 1919 at Sabajpur near Dhaka, the Swamiji joined the Ramakrishna Order at Belur Math on January 3, 1941 at the age of 22 years.
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▼ Former CJI Justice PN Bhagwati passes away [06-16-17]
 Justice Bhagwati is survived by his wife Prabhavati Bhagwati and three daughters - Parul Jayakar, Pallavi Shroff and Sonali Bhagwati.
Justice Bhagwati was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in 1973 and became the 17th CJI in 1985.
He was the architect of a new concept - Public Interest Litigation (PIL) - for dispensing justice to the voiceless poor on whose behalf a third person could approach the Supreme Court or high courts.
For his pioneering work in devising this great concept, akin to class action suit in the US - and many other landmark decisions, the government had conferred Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, on him in 2007.
Early in his career as a judge of the SC, he was part of the five-judge bench which in 1976 delivered the infamous ADM Jabalpur judgement that upheld the government decision to suspend fundamental rights.
This is including the Right to Life, during Emergency, which remained in force in India from 1975 to 1977.
Justice H R Khanna was the only judge among the five who gave the dissenting judgement holding that the Right to Life is a core fundamental right which could never be suspended by any government even during Emergency.
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▼ Batman actor Adam West passes away [06-13-17]
 Adam WestAdam West, the US actor best known as the star of the 1960s hit TV series Batman, has died aged 88.
West died peacefully in Los Angeles after a “short but brave battle” with leukaemia.
His portrayal of Batman and the superhero’s alter ego Bruce Wayne won a cult following.
He later struggled to find big acting roles, but won a new generation of fans in more recent times after joining the cast of Family Guy.
First appearing in season two in 2002, he voiced Quahog’s eccentric Mayor Adam West, described by series creator Seth MacFarlane as an “alternate universe”, satirised version of the actor.
The Batman TV series, with its onscreen fight-scene graphics of Wham! and Pow! became an unexpected hit.
West and his co-star Burt Ward, who played Batman’s sidekick Robin, won widespread acclaim for their kitsch portrayal of the Dynamic Duo.
When the series ended, West struggled to break free from the character, but over a long career appeared in nearly 50 films including Drop Dead Gorgeous, An American Vampire Story and Nevada Smith.
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▼ CN Reddy, renowned Telugu poet, is no more [06-13-17]
 Renowned Telugu poet and writer Cingireddi Narayana Reddy has passed away.
In 1992, Reddy was awarded the country’s third-highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan. In 1977, he was awarded the Padma Shri.
In 1997, he was nominated to the Upper House of Parliament. In 1998, he received the prestigious Jnanpith award for his poetic work Visvambara which got translated into three other languages.
Reddy has also written several songs for Telugu movies.
Narayana Reddy was born in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on July 29, 1931.
He had obtained his MA and PhD in Telugu literature from Osmania University. Previously, he had also worked as a professor of the University.
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▼ Noted Kannada film producer dies [06-2-17]
 Parvathamma Rajkumar, Kannada film producer and wife of the late Kannada superstar Rajkumar, passed away on 31 May 2017 due to prolonged illness. She was 78.
She had been hospitalised since 14 May. After a major drop in blood pressure, the producer suffered a massive cardiac arrest on 31st morning.
She was the only woman producer-distributor-exhibitor of Kannada films. The two companies founded by her, Vajreshwari Combines and Poornima Enteprises, have produced many films starring her husband Rajkumar and sons Shivarajkumar, Raghavendra Rajkmar and Puneet Rajkumar.
She has produced over 80 films.
Her company’s 87th production was ‘Run Antony’ that starred her grandson, Vinay Rajkumar. Parvathamma, who got married at the age of 13, has played a major role in managing the image of her husband, a major icon of Kannada cinema.
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▼ Former Panama dictator dies [06-2-17]
 Former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega passed away on 29 May 2017 following a prolonged illness. He was 83.
Noriega ruled Panama from 1983 to 1989.
He spied for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) until the United States invaded and toppled his corrupt government, putting an end to his criminal career that saw him working with drug traffickers like Pablo Escobar.
He was serving a sentence for murder in Panama at the time of his death. Born in Panama City on 11 February 1934, Noriega studied at a military academy in Peru.
After becoming a de facto ruler of Panama in 1983, he played a key role in mid-1980s Iran-Contra affair, which involved smuggling weapons and drugs to aid US undercover efforts.
Later in 1989, he was ousted as the ruler of Panama after US invasion. In 1990, Noriega surrendered himself to the US to face drug-trafficking, money-laundering and racketeering charges.
He was indicted in a US federal court on drug-trafficking charges in 1988 following which he was sentenced a 17 years jail term.
Panama: Know More
- Capital: Panama City
- Dialing code: +507
- Capital and largest city: Panama City
- Currencies: United States Dollar, Panamanian balboa
- Official language: Spanish
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