Geographically and culturally, the region now called north-east India is between the two traditions of Indic Asia and Mongoloid Asia and is regarded as part of Southeast Asia. This geographical-cultural condition of "in-betweenness" is an important factor in the area’s crisis of identity. The leaders of the present-day "underground outfits" continue to struggle for independence, as the political integration of the northeast to India was brought about without the approval of its people. The people of northeast India, who are culturally Mongoloid, refuse to accept the caste-ridden social system advocated by ‘Indian’ culture. Similar struggles for independence are also going on in other northeastern subdivisions or sister regions, such as Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Assam has been the hotbed of militancy for a number of years due to its porous borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan. The main causes of the friction include the anti-foreigner agitation in the 1980s and the simmering Assam-Bodo tensions. The insurgency status in Assam is classified as very active. The government of Bangladesh has arrested and extradited senior leaders of ULFA or the United Liberation Front of Asom was formed in April 1979 to establish a sovereign state of Assam through an armed struggle. In recent times the organisation has lost out its middle rung leaders after most of them were arrested. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland was formed in 1989 as the Bodo Security Force, aims to set up an autonomous region Bodoland. Problems in Meghalaya arise from the divide between tribals and non tribal settlers, identity issues and growing corruption besides the fear of being reduced to minority by native tribals. The activity status is classified as active.
Nagaland was created in 1963 as the 16th State of Indian Union, before which it was a district of Assam. Insurgent groups classified as active, mainly demand full independence. The Naga National Council led by Phizo was the first group to dissent in 1947 and in 1956 they went underground.
Both India and Pakistan say that Kashmir is a part of their nation. At one time, they were both a single country. India was divided based on which Party(Congress or Muslim league was more popular in each state. They fought wars over which country should get Kashmir. Separatists say that Kashmir should be a country that is separate from both India and Pakistan.
Manfred Gerlach
Manfred Gerlach (8 May 1928 — 17 October 2011) was the last President of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and the only non-communist to be President.
Born in Leipzig in 1928, Gerlach was arrested at school in 1944 for starting an anti-fascist youth group. After World War Two he joined the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). This was one of the small political parties that the communist government allowed to exist. He studied law at the Walter Ulbricht German Academy of State Sciences and Law. During the 1950's he became General Secretary of the LDP and the mayor of Leipzig. From 1967 to 1990 he was on the Council of State, and its vice-chairman. He became chairman of the LDP in 1967 until it merged with two other parties in 1990, to take part in the first free elections in East Germany.
When Egon Krenz resigned as chaiman of the Council of State on 6 December, 1989, Gerlach became acting chairman ( as head of state he was effectively the President. After the 1990 elections, the new government reorganized, and removed the Council of State, and Gerlach resigned on 5 April 1990. He died in Berlin in 2011 after a long illness.
Jeff Conaway
Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway (October 5, 1950 – May 27, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in the movie "Grease" and the television series "Taxi" and "Babylon 5". He was born in Manhattan and grew up in Queens. He worked as a model, child actor, and musician. Conaway had problems with drug addiction and died of problems from taking too many pain medications.
Don Kirshner
Don Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American song publisher and rock producer. He managed successful pop groups such as The Monkees, Kansas, and The Archies. Kirshner was born and raised in the Bronx. He studied at the Bronx High School of Science. One of his classmates there was Bobby Darin.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Kirshner and his partner Al Nevins had a successful music publishing company called Aldon Music. They managed songwriters from the "Brill Building", including Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Jack Keller. He also had three record labels: Chairman, Calendar, and Kirshner Records.
ABC Television asked Kirshner to produce a new music TV program call "In Concert". He left after one year to produce his own show called "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert". This show featured live rock music performances and was very successful.
He died of heart failure in Boca Raton, Florida on January 17, 2011. He was 76 years old.
Dan Peek
Daniel Milton "Dan" Peek (November 1, 1950 July 24, 2011) was an American musician. Born in Panama City, Florida, Peek moved to England in 1963. While attending London Central High School, Peek met Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley. They formed the band America, who had eight songs reach the Mainstream Top 40 between 1971 and 1975. Peek left the band in 1977 to work in Contemporary Christian music. He died on July 24, 2011 in Farmington, Missouri.
John Dye
John Carroll Dye (January 31, 1963 – January 10, 2011) was an American actor. He was born in Amory, Mississippi. He attended Mississippi State University and the University of Memphis. In 1994, Dye played the part of Andrew, the angel of death, in the television series "Touched by an Angel". The show ran for nine seasons before ending in April 2003. In 2000, he starred in the television movie "Once Upon a Christmas". In 2001, he appeared in the sequel "Twice Upon a Christmas".
Dye died on January 10, 2011, in San Francisco, California, from heart failure.
Park Gyu-ri
Park Gyu-ri (born on May 21, 1988 in Seoul) is a South Korean singer. She is often known by the mononym Gyuri. She was a member of the girl group Kara, which was formed by DSP Entertainment in 2007. As the leader of the group, she is reported to have come up with its name.
Kang Jiyoung
Kang Jiyoung (born January 18, 1994) is a South Korean idol singer, former member of the Korean girl group Kara.
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson, III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor with a long movie and television career. Robertson played the role of John F. Kennedy in the 1963 movie "PT 109". He won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie "Charly". On television, he acted as retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the 1976 movie "Return to Earth". He played a role based on Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms in the 1977 movie based on John Ehrlichman's Watergate novel "The Company". He played Henry Ford in the 1987 "Ford: The Man and the Machine". His last well-known role was Uncle Ben in the three Spider-Man movies made between 2002 and 2007.
Jagjit Singh
Jagjit Singh (8 February 1941 — 10 October 2011) was an Indian singer. He was known as the "Ghazal King". Ghazal is a classical type of song, dating back to ancient Persia. It uses a special rhyming pattern and the words are written using a special pattern of stanzas. The songs are always about love. Singh, and his wife Chitra Singh who is also a ghazal singer, achieved a lot of commercial success in the 1970's and 1980s. He recorded more than 50 albums.