Renowned environmentalist Anupam Mishra passed away on 19 December 2016 in Delhi following a prolonged illness. He was 68.
●    Born in Wardha, Maharashtra, Mishra started his career as a writer-activist with the Gandhi Peace Foundation in 1969.
●    His first assignment was being part of a team negotiating the surrender of the dacoits of Chambal. 
●    He wrote books including Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab (Lakes are still Standing, 1993) and Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein (Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan, 1995).
●    His work 'Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab' was born out of his involvement with the drought in Rajasthan in 1987 and demonstrated how ponds nourished people living in the hinterland.
●    First published in 1993, 'Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talab' has seen 40 editions in about 10 languages till date including a Braille edition. 
●    He was the recipient of various awards including Jamnalal Bajaj Award, Amar Shaheed Chandrashekhar Azad National Award and many others.

Thomas C. Schelling, an economist and Nobel laureate died on 13th December 2016 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 95.
●    It was while working as an economist in the Truman administration that Professor Schelling became intrigued by the stratagems and negotiating ploys that he observed in international bargaining. 
●    Professor Schelling analyzed superpower negotiations in the way that he analyzed the conflicts between, say, a blackmailer and his client, a parent and a child, or management and labor. 
●    In each case, he wrote, “there is a mutual dependence as well as opposition,” with each side seeking out tests of strength at less than crisis levels.
●    Schelling was born on April 14, 1921 in Oakland, California.
●    Schelling graduated from San Diego High. 
●    He received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1944. 
●    He received his PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1951.

Former US astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, died on 8 December 2016. He was 95. 
●    John Glenn was best known for circling the earth in 1962. He circled the planet aboard the Friendship 7 space capsule. 
●    This achievement of Glenn marked the moment the US caught up with the Soviet Union in manned space exploration.
●    After returning to Earth, Glenn was elected in 1974 as a Democrat to the US Senate, where he served for 24 years.
●    He was the last of NASA's original seven astronauts to die.
●    He was the colonel in the US Marine Corps and flew combat flights during the Second World War and Korean War.
●    He was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honours awarded by the United States and Congressional Gold Medal.
●    In 1959, he was named as an astronaut. 
●    He was named as the astronaut after he set a transcontinental speed record flying a jet to New York from California in three hours and 23 minutes.
●    Glenn served as an advisor to NASA until 1964.

Veteran journalist, political analyst and comedian Cho S Ramaswamy passed away on 7 December 2016 following a prolonged illness at Apollo Hospital in Chennai. He was 82. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
●    Ramaswamy was a law graduate, a play writer and a stage actor and also directed several movies and was also a screen play writer.
●    He practised law in the Madras High Court in 1957-63 and served as a legal adviser to TTK & Co, group Companies, till 1978.
●    He was a member of the BRC cricket club which played in the II division of Madras Cricket Association (now Tamil Nadu Cricket Association) in the 1950's.
●    He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha under the previous NDA government in 1999.
●    He had acted in movies along with MG Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Jayalalithaa, Kamal Hassan, Rajinikanth and others.
●    He had written, directed and acted in over 20 Tamil plays which were performed over 5000 times.
●    He also acted in 180 movies, scripted 14 and directed four.
●    He founded and edited the political magazine Thuglak magazine.

J Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and one of India's most powerful and popular politicians, died on Monday in a Chennai hospital, nearly three months after she was admitted there. She was 68.
●    Ms Jayalalithaa had a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening and was rushed back to the Intensive Care Unit or ICU. 
●    Barely two weeks ago, after doctors and her party said she was fully recovered from a respiratory illness, she was moved from the critical care unit to a private room kitted out with emergency equipment.
●    Ms Jayalalithaa, a former movie star, served four times as Chief Minister, alternating in office with her arch-rival, M Karunanidhi, who heads the DMK. 
●    But earlier this year, she broke that pattern with a decisive win - for the first time in over three decades, an incumbent Chief Minister was re-elected, a tribute to her hold over Tamil Nadu.
●    After acting in more than 100 films, Ms Jayalalithaa rose to political leadership with the backing of MG Ramachandran, her co-star who founded the AIADMK. 
●    After his death, she became its chief in 1988.

Former India footballer and coach Syed Abdus Salam, who was named the best defender in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, died at his Salarjung Colony residence here on Saturday.
●    The 77-year-old was bed-ridden for more than five years after a hip injury, and died around 11am on Saturday.
●    Salam is survived by two sons and two daughters.
●    Salam represented India under Badru Banerjee at the Melbourne Games, where the team finished fourth.
●    At club level, Salam represented Mohammedan Sporting and led the team to win both the Calcutta Football League and IFA Shield in 1957.
●    Mohammedan Sporting President Sultan Ahmed condoled Salam's death and the club kept the flag at half-mast.
●    Salam had guided India to become joint winners with Iran in the Asian Youth U-19 Cup in Bangkok in 1974.
●    He also coached Andhra Pradesh and was the first coach of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh in 1981 and retired there as a deputy director.

World renowned Urdu poet Mohammad Shafi Khan popularly known as Bekal Utsahi passed away in New Delhi on 3rd December. He was 88.
●    Known for his distinct poetry promoting Hindu-Muslim unity and celebrating composite Indian culture Bekal Utsahi had been a Rajya Sabha MP and a member of National Integration Council.
●    Bekal Utsahi apart from promoting peace building through his poetry wrote extensively against the British rule and served prison sentences several times during India’s freedom struggle.
●    The introduction of Mushaira Tahzeeb is greatly attributed to Bekal Utsahi who was part of the first delegation of Indian Urdu poets who went outside the country for a Mushaira.
●    In 1976 Utsahi received the Padma Shri which is the fourth highest civilian award in India.
●    He had become Bekal Varsi after a visit to Dargah of Hazrat Vaaris Ali Shah Dewa Shareef in 1945. 
●    A few years later in 1952 Jawahar Lal Nehru impressed by his composition ‘Kisan Bharat Ka’ called him an Utsahi Shayar (enthusiastic poet). 

Noted journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Times of India’, Dilip Padgaonkar passed away on 25 November 2016, following a heart attack and multi-organ failure. 
●    He was 72.
●    Padgaonkar along with Information Commissioner Prof. M M Ansari and Prof. Radha Kumar formed a three-member interlocutors team, who were chosen by the Union Government in 2010 to conduct dialogues with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 
●    He was born in Pune in 1944. 
●    His educational background includes schooling from St. Vincent’s High School, graduation from Fergusson College and finally a doctorate in humanities from the Sorbonne in France. 
●    Being fluent in French, he joined the Times of India as a correspondent from Paris and continued thereon to serve the company in different positions until he was appointed as the editor in 1988. 
●    He also worked with UNESCO in Bangkok and Paris from 1978-1986. 

Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader of Cuba, died on 25 November 2016. He was 90. News of his death was announced on national television by President Raul Castro.
●    The former Cuban President and leader of the Communist revolution ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over the powers to his brother Raul in 2008. 
●    Born on 13 August 1926, Fidel Castro governed Cuba as its Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976.
●    Politically Marxist–Leninist, Castro also served the country as its President from 1976 to 2008.
●    He was the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. He held the post from 1961 to 2011.
●    His administration helped Cuba in turning into a one-party socialist state.
●    Under him, state socialist reforms implemented throughout society and the industry and business were nationalized.
●    He, who adopted the Marxist-Leninist model of development, converted Cuba into a one-party socialist state under Communist Party rule, which was first in the Western Hemisphere.

Acclaimed high energy particle physicist and an institution builder of Indian science  Prof. M G K Menon passed away. 
●    He was 88. He was Scientist, Science & Technology policy-maker, scholar, parliamentarian, Cabinet Minister. 
●    He has been described as one of India’s most eminent “statesmen of science” About M.G.K. Menon Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon was born on 28 August 1928 in Mangalore, Karnataka. 
●    He was famously known as MGK or Goku. He was awarded a Ph.D. at a relatively young age of 25 by University of Bristol, UK in 1953. 
●    He had joined TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) in 1955 at invitation of Homi Bhabha. 
●    In 1966, he was appointed Director of TIFR after death of Homi Bhabha. 
●    In 1971, he was appointed Secretary in the Department of Electronics. 
●    In 1978 he was appointed Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Director-General of the CSIR.