National:
India, Australia seal N-deal procedures
• India announced on Sunday that the procedures for a civil nuclear agreement with Australia for supply of uranium from it had been completed following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull, on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit here.
• Last month, speaking to presspersons in Delhi, Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb said the Australian Parliament was expected to ratify the nuclear cooperation agreement that the two countries had signed in September 2014.
• Australia has about a third of world’s recoverable uranium resources and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of it a year.
• Following the conclusion of the agreement, India will be the first country to buy Australian uranium without being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
PM holds bilateral talks with Turkey, Spain
On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Antalya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilaterals with Australia, Spain and Turkey and met with the King of Saudi Arabia Salman Al Saud but could not hold any structured meeting with US President Barack Obama.
In the meeting with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan on Monday, on the margins of the Summit, Mr. Modi sought the support of the country for India’s membership of the four export control regimes. UN Reform, civil nuclear cooperation, and cooperation in space and agricultural research also came up for discussion.
He discussed cooperation in counter-terrorism, in the areas of Railways modernisation, defence manufacturing, renewable energy and marine security with the Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy.
Besides, completion of the procedures for the civil nuclear agreement with Australia for supply of uranium from, in the bilateral meeting with his counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, Mr. Modi also discussed the possibility Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries.
Appointment:
Syed Akbaruddin is India’s next Permanent Representative to UN
• Senior diplomat and former high-profile spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin has been appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, succeeding Asoke Mukerji.
• Mr. Akbaruddin was Chief Coordinator of the recently-held Indo-Africa Summit here which was participated by heads of state and government of 41 countries from African continent.
• He had served at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Geneva and is considered an “expert” on the West Asia where he had served in various capacities.
• Vikas Swarup, author of best-selling novel Q&A which formed the basis for Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, had replaced Mr. Akbaruddin as MEA spokesperson in April.
About Syed Akbaruddin
• A 1985 batch IFS officer, Mr. Akbaruddin, currently serving as an Additional Secretary in MEA, is credited with bringing a whiff of fresh air into the Ministry’s External Publicity division during his three-and-half year tenure as the spokesperson.
• He had also brought an effective mix of social and digital media into the External Publicity division.
• As India’s Permanent Representative to the global body in New York, Mr. Akbaruddin’s main task would be to push for India’s bid to gain permanent membership of the UN Security Council as well as to strongly advocate its position on key issues.
Death:
Actor Saeed Jaffrey dies at 86
• Jaffrey’s death was announced by his niece Shaheen Agarwal on Facebook on Sunday. He passed away in a hospital in London early on Saturday. A statement from Jaffrey Associates said the actor had collapsed at his London residence from a brain haemorrhage and never regained consciousness.
• For those growing up on Hindi films of the eighties, perhaps the most endearing of Saeed Jaffrey’s many on-screen avatars was that of Lallan Miyan in Sai Paranjape’s 1981 Delhi comedy Chashme Buddoor. He played the Jor Bagh paanwala, to whom the film’s three protagonists were perennially in debt, and who was constantly chasing them for his dues even as he filled in as a confidant for them. It was a small role but continued to be remembered decades later.
• What stood out about Jaffrey’s performance in the film pretty much defined him as an actor: an effortless approach to acting than indulging in heavy duty, laboured theatrics; he even brought an easy-going feel to his interactions with the co-actors. It was a geniality and affection that reached out to them.
• The other hallmarks of Jaffrey, the actor, were language and diction. The usage, pronunciation and enunciation of Hindustani were always impeccable, rooted and lucid. His English was just as clipped and pitch perfect. His Aligarh and Allahabad education and the grounding in theatre (in Shakespeare, Tennesse Williams and Oscar Wilde) and in British television had much to contribute to that.
• Born in 1929 in Malerkotla, Punjab, Jaffrey studied at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and The Catholic University of America and won the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to theatre.
• There was an eclectic mix in his work: classics like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982) where he played Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and before that Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977) where he played the chess-obsessed nobleman Mir Roshan Ali, who cared neither for his family nor the kingdom in the face of a good game with his friend Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar). Sandip recollects that Jaffrey was the first actor to be cast in the film, even before Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan.
• Then there was Stephen Frears’ definitive portrayal of race relations in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) set in the Thatcher-era. There were many a “Raj” film and TV series: John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King (1975), David Lean’s adaptation of E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1984), HBO mini series Far Pavilions (1984) and the British TV show Jewel In The Crown (1984) based on Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet novels.
• Jaffrey’s was a persona viewers could warm up to and get utterly charmed by. Shekhar Kapoor’s Masoom (1983) was one such memorable outing. He was delightful as Suri, the friend and extended family of DK (Naseeruddin Shah) and the two brought the house down in the song ‘Huzoor is kadar bhi na itra ke chaliye’.
• Jaffrey was just as loveable as the father figure ‘Lalaji’ in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Kisi Se Na Kehna (1983): the entire film was spun on the one trick he coaxes the hero to play. Jaffrey worked in Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) and then in Randhir Kapoor’s Henna (1991). Ramesh Sippy’s Saagar (1985) was a unique film that had him sharing a few scenes with his former wife, Madhur Jaffrey.
Singer Pithukuli Murugadas passes away
• Pithukuli Murugadas, the devotional singer aged 95, died here on Tuesday.
• The singer travelled extensively in the country and abroad and his songs on Krishna, particularly the compositions of Oothukadu Venkata Subbaiyer raised the bar for all other singers.
• Born at Coimbatore on January 25, 1920, in a Brahmin family, Murugadas (Balasubramanian) learnt bhajans from his grandfather Gopalakrishna Bagavathar.
• While participating in a freedom struggle in 1936, he was severely beaten up by police and lost vision in his left eye completely.
• Murugadas, who started his musical career in 1947, has written and composed thousands of devotional songs and performed in Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the USA.
• Brahmananda Paradesiyar, a saint, named him “Pithukuli” (a spiritual person) and Swami Ramadas, head of Aanandashram in Kanjangad in Kerala, added the title Murugadas meaning ‘the servant of Lord Muruga’
• Whether it was Alaipayudhe Kanna or Aadadhu Asangadhu, they continue to find resonance with the public to this day. Murugadas was an expert in Tiruppugazh singing and cut a lot of records. He was known for his perfect pronunciation and diction.
Murugadas has many awards to his credit including the Kalaimamani from the Tamil Nadu government and the Sangeet Natak Akademi award.
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