Former Director of Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre (ISAC), SK Shivakumar died at the age of 66 in Bengaluru. He hailed from Mysuru, Karnataka. He was part of the team which had developed telemetry system for India's first moon mission Chandrayan - I. He served as the project director for India's first indigenous Deep Space Network Antenna at Byalalu. He also led the team of 2,500 engineers which contributed to ISRO's Mangalyaan Mission. He contributed in several missions like Bhaskara, INSAT, IRS-1B and IRS-1C. He also served as the director of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC). He was Padma shree awardee and also honoured with Karnataka Rajyotsava award (2008).

Darryl D'Monte (7D), the senior journalist and environmental activist, has passed away in Mumbai on March 16, 2019. During his long career, D'Monte worked as the resident editor with leading media organisations such as 'The Times of India' and 'Indian Express' in Mumbai. He also wrote for websites and penned the book 'Ripping the Fabric' on the decline of cotton mills in Mumbai and the resulting challenges.

Charlie Whiting, who was the FIA's director of Formula One died in Melbourne, Australia at the age of 66 owing to a pulmonary embolism. He was responsible for officiating the season-opening 2019 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne but died 3 days prior to it. His started his career with FIA in 1988 as a technical delegate, and went on to become an F1 director in 1997. He was born in Kent, United Kingdom.

Australia's oldest scientist David Goodall ended his own life at a clinic in Switzerland. David Goodall was 104 years old. He was assisted to end his life by Exit International, a right-to-die organization. David Goodall was not terminally ill but his health had deteriorated in the recent past and he chose to end his life because he felt that his quality of life had deteriorated in the past 5 to 10 years. He was a botanist and ecologist. As Euthanasia and assisted dying are banned in Australia, he chose Switzerland to end his life.

Eminent Bengali folk singer Amar Paul passed away following a cardiac arrest. He was 97. Paul lent his voice in a number of films. He has penned several books on folk songs of Bengal and received accolades from various academies around the world.

Noted agriculturalist Nel Jayaraman (54), who pioneered the protection and propagation of indigenous paddy varieties in Tamil Nadu, passed away in Chennai on December 6, 2018. Hailing from Thiruthuraipoondi, in the heart of Tamil Nadu's delta rice bowl, Jayaraman has been credited with documenting and protecting more than 170 paddy varieties.His diligent work in the field of protecting the gene prototypes of indigenous paddy varieties won him the National Award in 2015 and a state award in 2011.

Japanese-born Marine biologist Osamu Shimomura, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died. He was 90. Shimomura and two American scientists shared the 2008 Nobel prize for the discovery and development of a jellyfish protein that contributed to cancer studies. Shimomura was born in Kyoto in 1928 and studied in Nagasaki, where he survived Aug. 9, 1945, U.S. atomic bombing. After earning chemistry degree in 1951, he moved to Princeton University, where he found the protein from 10,000 jellyfish samples on America's West Coast.

Olivier and Tony awards winner for writing 'Children of a Lesser God', Mark Medoff passed away at the age of 79 at Mesilla Valley Hospice in Las Cruces, New Mexico after a prolonged battle with multiple myeloma, cancer, and renal failure. The screen adaptation of "Children of a Lesser God" earned an Oscar nomination. He was born on 18th March 1940 in Mount Carmel, Illinois, United States.'Children of a Lesser God' won the 1980 Tony award for Best Play which was about the tale of a love affair between a speech teacher and a deaf woman who struggle to overcome the communications gap.

Former Indian hockey player Raghbir Singh Bhola, a two-time Olympic medallist, has passed away aged 92. In 2000, he was honored with the Arjuna Award for his achievements in hockey. He served in diverse roles such as the member of the IHF selection committee, FIH international umpire, manager of the Indian hockey team, TV commentator and government observer at the Olympic Games.

Veteran Kannada actor CH Lokanath passed away after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 91. Lokanath was in the Kannada film industry for nearly six decades and was affectionately addressed as 'Uncle Lokanath' by his fans. He had acted in over 600 movies and more than 1,000 plays. His famous movies are Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu, Minchina Ota, Nagarahaavu, Nodi Swami Navidru Heege, Katha Sangama and Kittu Puttu.