Former video jockey Sophiya Haque died in a London hospital Jan. 16 after having been diagnosed with cancer two weeks earlier. She was 41. Haque, who shot to fame in the 90s as a VJ on MTV India, moved to Mumbai in 1997, when she began appearing in Bollywood films. Haque acted in films like “The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey,” “Pehli Nazar Ka Pehla Pyaar: Love at First Sight” and “Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors.
Sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar, who helped introduce the sitar to the Western world through his collaborations with The Beatles, died in Southern California on Tuesday, his family said. He was 92. Shankar, a three-time Grammy winner with legendary appearances at the 1967 Monterey Festival and at Woodstock, had been in fragile health for several years and last Thursday underwent surgery, his family said in a statement.
It’s the million-dollar question, and not only here in the U.K. Jacintha Saldanha — one of the nurses taken in by the prank phone call to the hospital where Catherine, duchess of Cambridge, was being treated for acute morning sickness — killed herself early Friday. And we are all left scratching our heads. Why did she do it? Of course, the first thing we all wonder is about her mental stability.
Veteran journalist Chandra Kumar Arora, known to all as "CK," died Nov. 24 at an Arlington, Va., hospital after a prolonged battle with liver cancer. He was 72. He is survived by his wife, Vasantha Arora, also a journalist in Washington, D.C. The funeral took place Nov. 28 at Everly Funeral Home in Fairfax, Va. His remains will be taken to India 10 days after the funeral to perform religious rites, Vasantha Arora told News India Times.
Inder Kumar Gujral, who was India's prime minister for 11 months in 1997-98, died here Friday just four days before his 93rd birthday. Known as a gentleman politician, Gujral died at 3.27 p.m. at a Gurgaon hospital of lung infection. The government has declared seven days of state mourning and Gujral is to be given a state funeral Saturday at 3 p.m. His body is being kept at his residence, 5, Janpath for last tributes.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for "calm and sobriety" following the death of Bal Keshav Thackeray, while praising the Shiv Sena founder for his "strong leadership." "He was a consummate communicator whose stature in the politics of Maharashtra was unique," the PM's official Twitter account said.
Bal Keshav Thackeray, one of India's most polarising politicians and leader of the influential right-wing Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party that has dominated politics in the country's richest city for two decades, has died aged 86. Thackeray died of cardio-respiratory arrest on Saturday at his home, one of his doctors, Jalil Parker, said. He had been ill for some time and was rumoured to have died earlier this week.
