Persons in News

CURRENT AFFAIRS July 2020

Liu Xiaobo

Issue
Chinese Nobel laureate and dissident Liu Xiaobo died three years ago on
July 13 at the age of 61 from complications arising out of liver cancer.

Background
He was arrested from his Beijing residence in 2009 for his involvement in
drafting a document called ‘Charter 08’, which called for political reforms in
China. Xiaobo was the first Nobel laureate since German pacifist Carl von
Ossietzky to die in state custody.

Details
 Xiaobo a writer, activist, literary critic and philosopher was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 “for his long and non-violent struggle for
fundamental human rights in China.
 In 1989, Xiaobo left his position as a visiting scholar at Columbia
University in New York City to take part in the pro-democracy protests in
China.
 One of Xiaobo’s central demands from the Chinese authorities was the
compliance of Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution, as per which, citizens
have the right of freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, of
procession and demonstration.
 Xiaobo was arrested several times, the first in 1989 for supporting pro-
democracy students during the Democracy Movement. He was jailed for 21
months.

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Persons in News
CURRENT AFFAIRS July 2020

 Xiaobo was imprisoned again from 1996-99 for criticising China’s

policies towards Taiwan and Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
 His longest sentence of 11 years came in 2009 for his involvement in
drafting Charter 08 that called for Chinese political reforms towards
democracy. The document was fashioned after Charter 77.
 On December 8, 2008, the Beijing police took away Xiaobo from his
residence in Beijing, and was found guilty of “inciting subversion of state
power” on December 25, 2009.

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Persons in News
CURRENT AFFAIRS July 2020

Noor Inayat Khan

Issue
British media reported that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is considering a
proposal to feature historical figures from the Black, Asian and minority
ethnic (BAME) community of the country on a set of coins titled ‘Service to
the Nation’.

Background
If the proposal is passed, it will be the first time that non-white people will
be featured on British coins or notes. The plan has been submitted to the
Royal Mint, which is to come up with proposals and designs.

Details
 Among the people suggested for honour were the Indian-origin British
spy Noor Inayat Khan, as well as Khudadad Khan, the first soldier of the
British Indian Army to receive the Victoria Cross.
 Born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother, her
family moved to London and then to Paris during the First World War.
 Although Noor started working as a children’s writer in Paris, she
escaped to England after the fall of France (when it was invaded by
Germany) during the Second World War.
 In November 1940, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, an
arm of the UK’s Royal Air Force to train as a wireless operator.
 She then did a stint at the secret intelligence organisation set up by
Winston Churchill called Special Operations Executive (SOE).

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Persons in News
CURRENT AFFAIRS july 2020

 Even as many members of the network were being arrested by the Nazi
secret police Gestapo, Noor chose to stay put and spent the summer moving
from one place to another, sending messages back to London, until she was
arrested in 1943.
 She was executed at the Dachau concentration camp in southern
Germany near Munich. Noor was awarded the highest honour in the UK, the
George Cross, in 1949, and the French Croix de Guerre with the silver star
posthumously.

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