PERSONS IN NEWS
A). APPOINTMENTS
Michelle Yeoh Appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador
American actress Ashley Judd has been appointed as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill ambassador on 17 March. The New ambassador will focus on raising awareness and mobilising support for the recently propelled Sustainable Development Goals. Yeoh will pursue her long standing passion for global development issues,including gender equality and the eradication of poverty.
Fazle Kabir Appointed Governor of Bangladesh Bank
Fazle Kabir on 15 March was appointed the 11th Governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh. Kabir replaced Atiur Rahman, who had resigned after taking moral responsibility over electronic theft of 101 million US dollars from the central bank’s account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
AirAsia India Appoints Amar Abrol as new CEO
AirAsia India on 17 March announced the appointment of Amar Abrol as its chief executive officer with effect from 1 April 2016. Abrol will succeed Mittu Chandilya, who led AirAsia India from 1 June 2013 and ends his contract on 31 March 2016.
BS Chauhan named Law Commission Chairman
Union Government on 10 March appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan as the chairperson of the 21st Law Commission. The post was vacant since September 2015 when the commission was constituted. At present, Justice Chauhan is heading the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal. He was a judge of the Supreme Court from May 2009 to July 2014. Earlier from July 2008 to May 2009, he served as the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.
Gianni Infantino Elected as President of FIFA
A global governing body of football elected Switzerland Gianni Infantino as new President of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). He won 115 of the 207 eligible votes in the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress held in Zurich, Switzerland. Infantino has became the third President of FIFA after Sepp Blatter who headed for 40 years from. he is also working as General Secretary of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) since 2009. FIFA in English International Federation of Association Football governing football, futsal and beach football.
B). RESIGNS
Vijay Mallya Resigned as Director of RCSPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 17 March intimated Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that Vijay Mallya had resigned from his post as the Director of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL).
Bangladesh Central Bank Governor Resigned
Bangladesh’s central bank Governor Atiur Rahman resigned on 15 March after hackers stole over USD 100 million from the nation’s foreign reserves in what is believed to be the world’s biggest ever bank theft that embarrassed the government. Atiur Rahman resigned over after a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
C). DEATHS
Nobel Prize Winner Economist Stowell Died
Lloyd Stowell Shapley, an American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning economist, died on 12 March 2016. He was 92. He was awarded 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Alvin E. Roth for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design.
E-mail Inventor Ray Tomlinson Died
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, the inventor of E-mail and the man who picked @symbol for addresses, passed away in Washington on 6 March. He was 74. He was an American computer scientist who became a cult figure for his invention in 1971 of a program for APRANET, the internet predecessor that allowed people to send person to person messages to other computer users on other servers. He was working at Bolt Beranek and Newman – now Raytheon BBN Technologies – when he made his email breakthrough. In 2000, he received the George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award from the American Computer Museum. In 2012, Tomlinson was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society. He was born on 23 April 1941 in Amsterdam in New York, Unites States (US).
Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma Died
Purno Agitok(PA)Sangma, who was Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998, passed away in Delhi on 4 March.He was 68 years old. He was the sitting Lok Sabha member for Meghalaya’s Tura constituency. Sangma Born as Purno Agitok Sangma on September 1, 1947 in Chapahati village in the West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya. For first time he was elected to Lok Sabha in 1977 from Tura (Lok Sabha constituency) and remained a member of the Lok Sabha until 14th Lok Sabha except for the 9th Lok Sabha. Sangma was a 9 time member of Lok Sabha and the Speaker in the 11th Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. He had served in the Union government as Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting. He also served as Minister of State of Home Affairs, Labour, Commerce and Coal. He served as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990. He was one of the founding members of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).In January 2013, he had formed the National People’s Party. He had unsuccessfully had contested 13th Presidential election in 2012 against incumbent President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
Former NZ cricket Captain Martin Crowe Died
Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe passed away on 3 March in Auckland, New Zealand. He was 53. Crowe was widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s best ever batsman and had represented the country from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996. In his cricket career, he had played 77 Test matches, 143 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 247 First-class matches. He was right-handed batsman. He had played 77 test matches and had scored 5444 runs at an average of 5.36. It comprised of 17 centuries and 18 fifties and his highest score was of 299 runs. He had played 143 ODI matches and scored 4704 runs at an average of 38.55. It comprised of 4 centuries & 34 fifties and highest score was 107 runs. He was captain of New Zealand team from 1990 to 1994 including 16 Test matches. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Famein March, 2015.
D). VISITORS
Nepal PM Sharma Oli Visited India
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli visited India. During the visit, India and Nepal signed nine agreements following dele-gation level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. These include agreements on utilisation of Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving of road infrastructure in Nepal’s Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bangladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, operationalisation of Vishakapatnam port& rail transport to and from Vishakapatnam.
E). MISCELLANEOUS
Narendra Modi To Join World Leaders In Wax At Madame Tussauds
The Indian Prime Minister Naren dra Modi is set to join the league of the most prominent world leaders at the World famous Wax Museum Madame Tussauds in London. Recently, Modi figured in the Time Magazine’s Person of the Year’s list which gives him enough support to figure in the museum. He is currently the second most followed politician on twitter after President Obama also confirms the intense interest the public have in him.
Narendra Modi on TIME’s ’Most Influential People On Internet’
TIME magazine on 16 March unveiled its second annual 30 Most Influential People on the Internet list. The list has been topped by the artist and entrepreneur Kanye West. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi boasting more than 18 million Twitter followers and over 32 million Facebook likes stood at 15th in the list.
UN suspends Maria Sharapova as Goodwill Ambassador
The United Nations (UN) has suspended Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova as Goodwill Ambassador of the organisation after she was tested positive on doping allegations. She was suspended by New York based UN Development Programme (UNDP) until the outcome of the investigation into her case is known. However, UNDP has mentioned that they are grateful to Maria Sharapova for her support to their work, especially around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster recovery.
Pope Announced Mother Teresa To Be Granted Sainthood
Pope Francis on 15 March announced that Mother Teresa will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony on 4 September 2016. The pope cleared the way for sainthood to Mother Teresa, who was famed for her lifetime of service to the poor, establishing shelters for homeless, orphanages, soup kitchens and clinics around the world.