Current Affairs : August 14, 2011

August 14, 2011

Palestine to present its candidature for realization as a state to the UN

Palestine to present its application for international recognition of statehood to the UN next month
It will submit the application at the 66^th General Assembly in New York in September 2011
The Palestinian Authorities feel that they could no longer wait for independence to be reached via the dilly-dally peace talks with Israel
Since Lebanon will take over as president of the General Assembly for coming session, the Palestinians feel that this would boost their chances of success

Shammi Kapoor passes away

Shammi Kapoor (Shamsher Raj Kapoor) was an Indian film actor and director
He was a outstanding and extremely versatile lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s
Debuted in Bollywood in 1953 with the film “Jeevan Jyoti”
Received the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1968 for his performance in Brahmachari and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Vidhaata in 1982

Some of the major awards / recognitions received by Shammi Kapoor :

1968 – Filmfare Best Actor Award, Brahmachari
1982 – Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Vidhata
1995 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
1998 – Kalakar Awards – Special Award for “contribution in Indian Cinema”
2001 – Anandalok Awards Lifetime Achievement Award
2002 – Invaluable Contribution To Indian Cinema at the IIFA.
2005 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bollywood Movie Awards
2008 – Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian cinema at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF)
2009 – Phalke Legend Actor Award by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy

Prime Minister of Nepal resigns

Mr. Jhala Nath Khanal has resigned as Prime Minister of Nepal
Mr. Khanal handed over his resignation to President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav
Mr. Khanal had been recently under pressure from his own party that opposed the reshuffle of his ministry and swearing in of 9 ministers from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
The Opposition Nepali Congress also asked his resignation as per the five point deal that was signed on June 30^th leading to the extension of the Constituent Assembly by 3 months

New CMD Air India: Rohit Nandan

Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry Mr. Rohit Nandan took over as CMD of the skint Air India
Mr Nandan, a 1982 batch IAS officer, has been appointed for a period of 3 years

William Bratton to act as consultant on how to curb street violence

William Bratton: Former New York Police Commissioner
Mr. Bratton has agreed to act as an unpaid consultant to British authorities on how to curb street violence
The announcement comes after several days of riots that erupted in London and other cities across Britain
The violence was in the first place triggered off by the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man in London’s economically dejected Tottenham area
Britain would look to the US for solutions to curb violence and seek advice from U.S. cities that have fought gangs, including Boston, Los Angeles and New York