Chilean poet Gonzalo Rojas, who was forced into exile after the 1973 military coup died on 25 April 2011 at the age of 93. His vast body of work includes his first poetry anthology The Misery of Man published in 1948, Against Death (1964), Dark (1977), Transtierro (1979), On lightning (1981) and From Water (2007).
Nawang Gombu, the first man to scale Mt. Everest twice died in Darjeeling early on 24 April 2011 at the age of 79. Nawang was the first person in the world to summit Mt Everest twice, the first in India to conquer Nanda Devi (24,645ft) and the youngest to climb to a height of 26000 feet. The 1953 expedition made him the youngest climbing Sherpa, at the age of 16.Nawang Gombu was awarded the Padma Bhusan in 1966, the Arjuna Award in 1965 and the Tenzing Norgay Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Nawang Gombu had also received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.
Satya Sai Baba - one of India`s most influential spiritual leaders expired on 24th April 2011 in his home town of Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh at the age of 85. He was on intermittent haemodialysis and on assisted respiration at his organisation funded by Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences at Puttaparthi. The Andhra Pradesh government has declared a three-day mourning and Anantpur will be closed on April 27, 2011.
Former Sony President Norio Ohga, who transformed the music industry with the development of the compact disc format died on 23 April 2011.
Timothy Roemer -United States Ambassador to India resigned on 28 April 2011. His resignation was cited as due to some personal considerations which made him to take the decision to go back to Washington. Roemer was nominated by US President, Barack Obama in May 2009.
K.Balachandar, Film Director, one of the influential filmmakers and trendsetters in Indian cinema, will receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2010, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced on 29th April’11.
Sujatha(58), who made waves in the south Indian film industry in the Seventies and Eighties, passed away in Chennai. The 58-year-old actor, who was undergoing treatment for a heart ailment, died of cardiac arrest. Known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. Sujatha was introduced to the Tamil film industry by Director K. Balachander as the protagonist in “Aval Oru Thodarkathai.” The actor has performed in over 300 films in all four south Indian languages and Hindi.