Freedom fighter Sunil Kumar Ray passed away

Freedom fighter Sunil Kumar Ray passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on 21-Aug-2013.. Born in February 1928 in Cuttack, Ray was inspired by Netaji and joined the Indian National Army (INA). Ray was instrumental in converting Netajis ancestral home in Cuttack into a national museum and till he was indisposed a few days ago, Ray was active in spreading the ideals of Netaji. Ray wrote several books on Netaji and distributed them free of cost to school and college students.

Bradley Manning gets 35-year prison term for revealing data

Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier convicted of the biggest breach of classified data in the nation’s history by providing files to WikiLeaks, was sentenced to 35 years in prison on 21-Aug-2013

British Activist Ms. Jodie Underhill Awarded for her Service towards Uttarakhand Flood Tragedy Relief

Union Minister of State for Tourism (I/C) Dr.K.Chiranjeevi, today announced Rs. 5 lakh in his personal capacity to the British activist Ms.Jodie Underhill in recognition of her yeomen service to the cause of Uttarakhand flood tragedy relief.

Anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar shot dead

Narendra  Dhabholkar, founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead  while he was on his daily morning walk near Omkareshwar temple in Pune. 

Supreme Court collegiums recommended Justice Agrawal, Justice Ramana to be Chief Justices of Madras, Delhi HCs.

The Supreme Court collegium has recommended that the acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Rajesh Kumar Agrawal be made its Chief Justice.
 
The acting chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court Justice N.V. Ramana  will be Justice of the Delhi High Court.

The seniormost judge of the High Court, Justice R. Banumathi, has been recommended to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.

Justice N.V. Ramana, acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, will be the new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. At present, there is no judge from the Andhra Pradesh High Court holding the post of Chief Justice in any High Court.

Michel Djotodia sworn in President of Central African Republic

Michel Djotodia, the re rebel leader whose fighters toppled the government, officially sworn in President of Central African Republic. 

Basavaraj Rajguru award for Rajiv Taranath

Eminent Sarod player Rajiv Taranath of Mysore has been selected for this year’s Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru National Award, instituted by the Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru National Memorial Trust. 

Dilip Trivedi is new CRPF Director-General

Dilip Trivedi, a 1978 batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre 16-Aug-2013 named the CRPF chief.

Rear Admiral P. Ajit Kumar is the new chief of Southern Naval Command

Rear Admiral P. Ajit Kumar is appointed as the  Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command on 17-Aug-2013. 

Senior IAS officer, Mr. Giridhar Aramane,who acted against RIL relieved of powers

Mr. Giridhar Aramane, , Joint Secretary (Exploration) in the Ministry of  Petroleum and Natural Gas, has been relieved of charge of gas pricing, acquisition of E&P assets abroad, all establishment and administrative matters related to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited and unconventional hydrocarbon.

Vinay Mittal is appointed as the member of UPSC

Former Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal has been appointed as member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He was appointed on August 8 for a period of six years or until he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier  He is a former Indian Railway Traffic Service officer.

Renowned Naturalist and Ornithologist Zafar Futehally passed away

Zafar Rashid Futehally an Indian naturalist, ornithologist and conservationist passed away on 11 August 2013 at Kihim in Maharashtra. 

Noted Kamaicha player Sakar Khan passed away

Renowned Rajasthani folk musician and Padma Shri awardee Sakar Khan, an exponent of the melodious bow and string instrument Kamaicha, passed away in Jaisalmer on 10-Aug-2013. 

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali Presidential Elections

Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali’s presidency after his opponent conceded defeat in an election aimed at restoring stability to a country wracked by a rebellion, a coup and an Islamic insurgency.

 

Delhi state government conferred Lifetime Achievement Award-2013 to Abdul Rashid Khan and Anjolie Ela Menon.

Delhi state government conferred Lifetime Achievement Award-2013 to Abdul Rashid Khan and Anjolie Ela Menon. 

Raghuram Govind Rajan Appointed as the 23rd Governor of RBI

 Raghuram Govind Rajan, chief economic adviser in the finance ministry on 6 August 2013 named the next governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will take over from D. Subbarao who demits office on September 4. Rajan will also be among the youngest to occupy the high office at Mint Street in Mumbai and has a tenure of three years.

Rajan is also a visiting professor for the World Bank, Federal Reserve Board, and Swedish Parliamentary Commission. He formerly served as the president of the American Finance Association and was the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rajan's previous work with the Indian government includes his helmsmanship of a Planning Commission-appointed committee on financial reforms, and as honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Hassan Rouhani sworn in as president of Iran

Hassan Rouhani, Iran's seventh president since the 1979 Islamic revolution, formally began his four-year presidential term on 3 August 2013.

In a seperate ceremony Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, endorsed his sensational victory in June's presidential election.

Samantha Power sworn in as new US ambassador to UN

Samantha Power on 2 August 2013 took oath to the office of US ambassador to United Nations. Vice-President, Joe Biden administered her, the oath to the office in a ceremony at the White House. Samantha Power succeeded Susan Rice, now the President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser.

Robert Mugabe declared Winner in Zimbabwe Parliamentary Election 2013.

The incumbent President, Robert Mugabe, was re-elected, whilst his Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front party won a two-thirds majority in the House of Assembly.Robert Mugabe won 61 percent of the vote to claim a seventh term as president. Morgan Tsvangirai finished second with 34 percent of the vote. Mugabe's Zanu-PF party also dominated the parliamentary election winning 160 seats. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party won 49 seats

Music director V Dakshinamurthy passes away at 94

Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy, the veteran  veteran carnatic musician and music director died on 2 August 2013 at his residence in Mylapore, Chennai. He was 94. He has set scores for the songs in over 125 films. He has to his credit as many as 859 songs composed over a period of 50 years. He dominated Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films, predominantly in Malayalam films.