APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc.Radha Vinod Raju: He has been

appointed as the first of the newly formedNational Investigative Agency (NIA).

K.C. Verma: He has been appointed asthe Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) Chief.

A.S. Gill: He has been appointed asthe Chief of CRPF.

S.S. Khurana: He has taken over asthe Chairman of Railway Board.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORSNursultan Nazarbayev: President of

Kazakhstan. He was the Guest of Honour atthe Republic Day parade 2009.

Hamid Karzai: President ofAfghanistan.

Rear Admiral Ahmed Mohammedal-Sabah al-Tenaji: Commander of theUnited Arab Emirates Navy.

Gerry Ritz: Agriculture Minister ofCanada.

David Miliband: Foreign Secretary ofUK.

Moctar Ouane: Foreign Minister ofMali.

Ameen Faisal: Defence and NationalSecurity Minister of Maldives.

DIEDR. Venkataraman: Former President

of India. He was 98.Ranbir Singh Hooda: The last surviv-

ing member of the Constituent Assemblyof India.

Tapan Sinha: Noted film maker ofBengal. He was 84. A Dadasaheb Phalkeaward recipient, he was best known forfilms like Kabuliwallah, Ek Doctor Ki Maut,Atanka and, more recently, Wheelchair.

John Updike: A giant of the writtenword, best known as a prolific chronicler ofAmerican suburban mores, manners andmisbehaviour in best-selling novels. He was76. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize forliterature twice.

Appointments Etc.

Events

CURRENT AFFAIRS

JANUARY17—A suicide car bomb kills a US service

member and four Afghan civilians inan attack outside a US military baseand the German Embassy in theAfghan capital Kabul.

19—Jharkhand is placed under President’srule following resignation of Chief Minister Shibhu Soren after losing aby-poll. The Assembly is put undersuspended animation to allow forma-tion of a new government.

20—Barack Hussein Obama takes oath asthe 44th President of USA, shatteringAmerican racial barriers as the firstblack leader of the nation.

23—India slaps a ban on import of toysfrom China for a period of six monthsover fears of safety of children, follow-ing bans being imposed by many coun-tries after some Chinese toys werefound to be toxic.

FEBRUARY1—At least 15 poicemen are killed as a

group of 40 Maoists ambushes a squadin the jungles of Dhanora tehsil inMaharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.

2—India signs a safeguards agreementwith the International Atomic EnergyAgency (IAEA) in Vienna on as part ofIndia’s obligations to enable full civilnuclear cooperation with rest of theworld. Out of its 22 civilian reactors,India has agreed to open up 14 to regular IAEA inspections by 2014.

8—More than 200 people and entire townsrazed in the worst wildfire disasterin Australian history. Australian government blames arsonists for thefires.

9—A suicide bomber kills 28 people inMullaitivu, Sri Lanka.

11—Three near-simultaneous attacks on government offices, carried out by the Taliban, claimed 26 lives andinjure over 55 people in Kabul,Afghanistan.

MilestonesJeev Milkha Singh:

He is the first Indiangolfer ever to endorse acourse, at the KensvilleGolf and country club inAhmedabad. Golfing leg-ends like Arnold Palmer,Greg Norman and TigerWoods have all lent theirnames to golf courses.

Anand Mahindra:Managing Director ofMahindra Group, he co-chaired the World Eco-nomic Forum’s annualmeeting in Davos, Switzer-land, joining global lead-ers like Kofi Annan, theformer UN Secretary-Gen-eral and media moghulRupert Murdoch as a co-chair.

Kavita Barala: Seventy-five years after itsformation, the Indian AirForce (IAF) has finally broken the gender barrierwith this young womanreaching out to the skiesas its first woman flyingofficer.

Marais Erasmus:When he walked out withBangalore’s Shahvir Tara-pore in West Zone’s 100thDuleep Trophy fixtureagainst East Zone, hebecame the first overseasumpire to officiate in adomestic match in inde-pendent India. He belongsto South Africa.

Sankha Samanta:Since 1947, the postaldepartment has issued 33commemorative stampson Gandhi, in addition to ahandful of more standarddefinitives. Of those 33,Samanta has designed 14,making him the most pro-lific Gandhi stamp artist.

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