NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

VISWANATH, A FILM DIRECTOR FROM THE SOUTH WHO MADE SOME OF THE CLASSICS IN THE INDIAN FILM HISTORY WITH SIMPLE STORIES, WAS CHOOSEN FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD FOR THE YEAR 2016.

VISWANATH

K. Viswanath has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2016. The government announced the award on Monday. This is the highest award in the field of cinema. His film Shankarabharanam changed Telugu cinema. He started his career as a sound recordist with Vahini Pictures. Akkineni Nageswara Rao spotted his talent and asked him to join Annapurna Pictures. He debuted as a director in 1965 and the rest, as it is said, is history.

VIVEK MURTHY

Vivek Murthy, the first Indian-American appointed by the Obama team as the Surgeon General, has been dismissed by the new Donald Trump administration to bring new leadership to the vital public health sector.

Dr Murthy, 39, has been replaced by his deputy, Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, one of the first nurses to serve as surgeon general,” the US Department of Health said.

AMAIYA ZAFAR

A 16-year-old Muslim-American boxer, who wants to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, has won the right to wear a hijab and fully cover her arms and legs while boxing in the US. Amaiya Zafar, from Oakdale, Minnesota, no longer will have to choose between her religion or the boxing ring after she recently won a battle that will allow her to wear a hijab while taking part in bouts in the US.

CHETAN BHAGAT

While author Chetan Bhagat’s one book has made its way in Delhi University curriculum, his another bestseller has run into trouble with a Bengaluru based author accusing him of plagiarism, a charge denied by him.

Anvita Bajpai, an IIT and IIM graduate, said that she has filed a lawsuit in a Bengaluru court which granted temporary injunction restraining sales of the book One Indian Girl.

AL-ZAWAHIRI

Egyptian-born Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, is most likely hiding in Karachi under the protection of Pakistan’s notorious spy agency ISI, a US media report said. “Pakistan’s ISI has been protecting al-Zawahiri, since US forces evicted Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan in late 2001,”

Newsweek said in a major investigative story.