I’ve compiled the List of persons in news 2012 year. This type of current affairs / GK questions are asked in SSC, CDS, CAPF, IBPS & other competitive exam of India. But this list is definitely not exhaustive, so If you’ve any important updates, Please share them in comments below!

  1. Indian: Diaspora Abroad
  2. Indian Men
  3. Indian Women
  4. International: Head of State/Institutes etc
  5. International : Other
  6. Sportsmen

Indian: Diaspora Abroad

Kamla Prasad Bissessar Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.
Hargobind Khorana Indian-American biochemist who won the 1968 Nobel Prize for medicine, dead
Ravinder Singh first Sikh in more than 30 years to be appointed as the army chief of Singapore
Prof.Sachchidanand Sahai Noted writer from Combodia, won Pravasi Bhartiya Samman 2012
Dr. Victor Shahed Smetacek German scientist. Won same prize as above.
Sunita Williams second space journey to the International Space Station (ISS). She will stay at the ISS for four months.
Preet Bharara Indian American origin Attorny.  made it to the cover page of Time magazine for his anti-corruption crusade against financial frauds in Wallstreet.
Bobby Jindal Governor of Louisiana State, US
Nikki Haley Governor of South Carolina State, US
Kal Penn Kalpen Modi, Hollywood actor.  Served in White House Office of Public Engagement.He campaigns for Obama in Presidential elections 2012, among the Indian American voters.

Indian Men

Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh Chief of Indian Army.
Norman Anil Kumar Browne Chief of Airforce.
D.K. Joshi Chief of the Indian Navy.
V.S. Sampath Chief Election Commissioner of India.
Altamas Kabir CJI India, before him was Sarosh Homi Kapadia
Satyanandan Mishra CIC
MArkendeya Katju Chairman of Press Council of India
U.K. Sinha SEBI
Ashok Chawla Competition Commission of India (CCI).
D. Subbarao RBI Governor
Prakash Baksh NABARD
Pradeep Kumar Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) of India.
Jehangir Sabavala Painter, dead.
Mario Miranda cartoonist from Goa, dead
Justice Dalveer Bhandari elected as a judge of the International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, Netherlands.
Ajit Pal Singh He had led India to their only Hockey world cup triumph in 1975. has been selected as the chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent at the London Olympics.
Ashoka sen (string theory, fundamental physics prize, yuri milner)
Bhupen Hazarika Singer from Assam, Dada Saheb Phalke award winner, dead
Sultan Khan sarangi maestro, dead
Vempati Chinna Satyam died in 2012 was an Indian dancer and a guru of the Kuchipudi dance form.

Indian Women

Major Mitali Madhumita First woman officer of Indian army to get decorated with a gallantry medal for her bravery during the attack on guest house of Indian officials in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Dr Uma Raju second woman in the history of Indian Air Force to be promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal.
Jyoti Amge world’s shortest living woman by the Guinness World Records. Nagpur
Homai Vyarawala India’s first woman photo-journalist.
Sneha Shekhawat first woman pilot to lead the Indian Air Force contingent at the Republic Day parade.
Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal commanded the ‘Rani Jhansi Regiment’ of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army
Soumitra chatterji (septuagenarian Bengali Actor; Dada sahab falke 2011)
Indira goswami (aka mamoni raisom goswami; assamese poet, writer; shahitya akadmi 1983; Jnanipith 2001; died 2011)
Bina Das (1932, attempted to assassinate the Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson)
Ila mitra aka Rani Ma ; Tebhaga movement; died 2002
Raj Kumari Gupta crucial contribution to the Kakori dacoity. She supplied revolvers to those involved in the Kakori operation, apparently hid the firearms in her undergarment and set out in khadi clothes to deliver them.
Tara Rani Srivastava participated actively with her husband Phulendu Babu in the Quit India movement. She marched with the national flag straight towards the police station in Siwan, Bihar.
Abadi Bano Begam freedom fighter from Lucknow, known by her honorific ‘Bi Amman’. She spoke in a public gathering, on behalf of her jailed son, she did so from behind her burqa in 1917. This was, perhaps, the first time a Muslim woman in purdah had addressed a political gathering.

International: Head of State/Institutes etc

Mostly for GK based MCQs.  Some persons may be outdated.

Martin Shultz President of European Union.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed Prime minister of Bangladesh.
Yingluck Shinawatra Prime Minister of Thailand.Chief guest in 26th Jan. parade 2012.
Lee Myung Bak Korean President, chief guest in 26th Jan 2010 parade.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Indonesian President, chief guest in 26th Jan 2011 parade.
Kamla Prasad Bissessar Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago.
Mohamed Nasheed Maldives.
Hu Jintao China President
Wen Jiabao China Premier
U Thein Sain President of Myanmar.
Lobsang Sangay Prime Minister of Tibetan government-in-exile (which operates from Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh).
Jigme Khesar Mangyel Wangchuck King of Bhutan.
Dilma Rouseff Brazil President (first female)
Dmitry Medvedev Russia PM (earlier he was the President)
Vladimir Putin Russia President (earlier he was the PM)
Jacob Zuma South Africa President
Mitt Romney US Presidential candidate of Republican party.
Obama 44th President of US. Belongs to Democractic Party. His VP =Joe Biden.And Hillary Clinton is United States Secretary of State.(Before her Condoleezza Rice)
Nakosazana Dlamini Zuma African Union Commission chairperson 2012; first woman to lead the organisation)
Jim Yong Kong World Bank President
Christine Lagarde IMF President (earlier Dominique Strauss Kahn)
Mohamed Waheed Maldives (after Nasheed)
Bashar al-Assad Syrian President
Lakhdar Brahimi Veteran Algerian diplomat; to replace Kofi Annan as the international mediator on Syria.
Omar Al Bashir North Sudan President, has ICC warrant against him.
Salva Kiir Mayardit South Sudan President.
Mohamed Morsy first freely-elected Egypt. (after Hosni Mubarak was thrown out)
Raja Parvaiz Ashraf Prime minister of Pakistan (after Gilani was thrown out)
Hosni Mubarak Ex-Egypt, sentenced to life in prison.
Pranab 13th President India.
Enrique Pene Nieto President Mexico
Jean marc ayrualt France PM
François Hollande France President (after Nicolas Sarkozy).
Lee Hsein Loong Prime Minister of Singapore.
David Cameroon PM UK (Conservative Party). Before Cameroon>> Gorgon Brown >>Tony Blair. And Margarate Thatcher was the first lady PM of UK.
Nick Clegg Deputy PM Of UK.
Angela Markel Chancellor Germany.

International : Other

Liu Yang China’s first woman astronaut
Gina Rineheart world’s richest woman in world. (ref link)
Marissa Mayer Yahoo CEO, got the job despite being pregnant.  Earlier she was served as the first female engineer in Google company.
Sergei Brin Google Co-founder (other guy is Larry Page).He was in news because of his conference on the Project Glass.
Mark Zuckerberg Facebook. Was in news because of the IPO.
Gore vidal American writer. Dead. Famous for satirical novel myra breckinridge.
Nakosazana Dlamini Zuma African Union Commission chairperson 2012, first woman to lead this organisation.

Sportsmen

Indian Winners in Olympic 2012

Name Event (Olympics 2012) medal
Gagan Narang Shooting (Air rifle)  Bronze
Vijay Kumar Shooting (Pistol)  Silver
Saina Nehwal Badminton  Bronze
Mary Kom Boxing (flyweight)  Bronze
Yogeshwar Dutt Wrestling (60 kg freestyle)  Bronze
Sushil Kumar Wrestling (66 kg freestye)  Silver

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda

Silver in the men’s high jump @ Paralympics 2012 (London). He’s the only Indian physically challenged athlete who won medal in this event.

Oscar Pistorius (Bladerunner)

  • first amputee runner to compete at an Olympic Game 2012
  • he’s from S.Africa.
  • Events: 400m and 400 replay – did not win medals. (Olympic Game 2012)
  • But he won gold medal in Paralympics 2012

Courtesy

competitionmaster.com + inputs from a regular reader “Dark Knight”. +Women Freedom fighter from Thehindu
If you’ve any important personalities in news. Please share them in comments below!