Appointed
K.P.S. Gill, as security advisor to Gujarat. The ‘supercop’,who courted both fame and infamy as Punjab DGP during Khalistan militancy, is known forhis ‘ends-justify-means’ philosophy.
V.K. Nambiar, as India’s permanent representative to the UN onApril 30. The diplomat’s toughest stint was as high commissioner to Pakistan in theheat of the Agra summit. The sensitive Islamabad posting still lies vacant after hisdramatic recall.
Sentenced
Abdul Rauf Daud Merchant, for shooting T-Series magnate Gulshan Kumaroutside a temple in Versova in ’97, by a Mumbai court. The conspiracy isunsolved—17 others, including rival cassette king Ramesh Taurani of Tips, wereacquitted.
Departed
Alexander Lebed, former Russian general and presidential candidate, in anaircrash, at 52. The Pinochet admirer led the Chechen truce.
Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl, 87. He sailed the Pacific on the Kon-Tikibalsa raft to prove that primitive man was a sea-farer.
