February 2012 Persons

Whitney Houston -Singer and actress died ,on 11 February 2012 in a Beverly Hills hotel room California. She was the winner of six Grammy Awards including record of the year for “ I Will Always Love You “ and album of the year for The Bodyguard. Houston was the only artist to have seven consecutive No. 1 singles on Billboard magazine’s pop chart.

Anthony Shadid -New York Times’ forign correspondent and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, died in eastern Syria on 16 February 2012 after having suffered a severe asthma attack. He has been covered nearly two decades of Middle East conflict and turmoil.At the time of his death, Shadid was on a reporting inside Syria.

Akhlaq Mohammad Khan -Renowned Urdu poet and noted lyricist of Umrao Jaan, passed away in Aligarh on 13 February 2012. Khan who wrote under the pen name Shahryar had received the Jnanpith Award for 2008.

Yingluck Shinawatra- Prime Minister of Thailand, visited India on24-26 January 2012. She was the chief guest for the 63rd Republic Day Ceremony. The visit took place in the backdrop of 65th anniversary of India-Thailand bilateral diplomatic relations.

Taslima Nasrin -After a gap of about 18 years, Taslima Nasrin's book, Nirbasan(seventh volume of her autobiography) was launched on 1 february in Bangladesh.

Preet Bharara- Eminent Indian-American attorney, has made it to the cover of the prestigious Time magazine for his crusade against Wall Street corruption and irregularities including insider trading. "This man is busting Wall Street" Bharar's picture appeared in the 3 rd february edition of Time magazine.