Bollywood legend Sridevi passes away due to cardiac arrest in Dubai

Agencies
February 25, 2018

Mumbai, Feb 25: Veteran Bollywood actor and Padma Shri awardee Sridevi, who had an illustrious career spanning over four decades, passed away. She was 54.

The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late in the night reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Dubai, where she had gone along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. Confirming the news, a source close to the family said, "Yes it's true. She was in Dubai while some of the other family members came back to India. We hear it's cardiac arrest."

While some of her family members returned from Dubai after the wedding, Sridevi, Boney and her younger daughter Khushi stayed back. Her elder daughter -- Janhvi -- had not travelled with the family because of the shooting schedule for her upcoming Bollywood film, her first in the industry.

Sridevi, known for her versatility as an actor, made her Bollywood debut in 1978 with "Solva Sawan". But it was only after five years with Jeetendra-starrer "Himmatwala" that she gained commercial success. Before her entry into Bollywood, the actor had been a known face in South Indian films. She made her debut as a child artist in in Tamil film "Thunaivan" in 1969. She also worked in Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. Sridevi's beguiling eyes, scintillating screen presence and acting prowess soon made her one of the most sought-after actors in the Hindi film industry. While films like "Mawaali" (1983), "Tohfa" (1984), "Mr India" (1987) and "Chandni" (1989) kept her at the top in the box-office game, her outings like "Sadma" (1983), "ChaalBaaz" (1989), "Lamhe" (1991), and "Gumrah" (1993) earned her critical acclaim.

She went on a hiatus for 15 years after starring in home production "Judaai", co-starring her brother-in-law Anil Kapoor and Urmila Matondkar. It was director Gauri Shinde's "English Vinglish" in 2012 that marked Sridevi's comeback.

Her nuanced performance as a middle-class woman, learning to speak English to feel accepted by her family, won accolades, and the film was also a commercial success. Last year, she was seen in revenge-drama, "Mom", opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Akshaye Khanna. She also shot for a special appearance in superstar Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film, "Zero", which releases in December. Sridevi was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, in 2013.

Minutes after the news of her death broke, many Bollywood actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Sushmita Sen, Sidharth Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh took to Twitter to pay their condolences.

The first one, however, was megastar Amitabh Bachchan who in a cryptic tweet wrote, "Don't know why, feeling a strange restlessness."

"I have no words. Condolences to everyone who loved #Sridevi . A dark day. RIP," tweeted Priyanka, alongside a still of Sridevi from her superhit film "Mr India". Comedian Johnny Lever, while expressing grief, sent prayers to the late actor's family, which includes husband Boney Kapoor and daughters Khushi and Janhvi. "Deeply saddened and shocked to hear about #Sridevi Ji. My prayers and condolences to the family," he tweeted.

"Really Shocked and disturbed to hear that Sridevi Maam is no more. #RIP #Sridevi," wrote Sidharth. Actor Shilpa Shetty's husband -- Raj Kundra -- posted, "Heartbroken by this news!! She was One of the finest kindest souls I ever knew. Speechless shocked. #RIP#Sridevi this is just not right at all! May god give all the family strength at this darkest hour."

Riteish tweeted, Terrible terrible news. Am shocked beyond words. SRIDEVI ji No More RIP,, while Sushmita wrote that she has been inconsolable since the news broke. I just heard Maam Sridevi passed away due to a massive cardiac arrest. I am in shockcant stop crying"

Actor Nimrat Kaur tweeted, Absolutely devastated to hear about the passing of #Sridevi. What a dark black terrible moment in time. Gutted.

Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival, tweeted, "Shocked to hear of the passing of Indias legendary Sridevi. Honoured to have been in her presence in 2012 when she visited Toronto for English Vinglish. She made countless millions fall in love with her characters."

Comments

Ajith
 - 
Sunday, 25 Feb 2018

RIP Sridevi Mam , Condolonces To Her Family Members :( 

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Washington, Aug 7: US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) signed executive orders halting all transactions with Chinese applications TikTok and WeChat within 45 days, citing national security concerns, further escalating the tensions between Beijing and Washington.

"WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. 

This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to Americans' personal and proprietary information," Trump said in a statement.

Citing reasons for the ban on WeChat, the US President said that the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the US, thereby providing the CCP a mechanism to keep tabs on the Chinese citizens who may be "enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives".

"In March 2019, a researcher reportedly discovered a Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages sent from users in not only China but also the United States, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia. WeChat, like TikTok, also reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP. 

These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. The US must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security," he added.

Earlier, Trump had issued an order banning TikTok as it "reportedly censors content that the CCP deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. 

TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP."
US politicians have repeatedly criticised TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

The development comes as China and the US are at loggerheads on a variety of issues including Hong Kong national security law, the South China Sea, the novel coronavirus and trade.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Karachi, Jun 29: Four heavily-armed militants attacked the busy Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday morning, killing four security guards and a police sub-inspector before being shot dead in an exchange of fire, media reports said.

The unidentified militants opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed hand grenades at the main gate of the building as they tried to storm it, Geo News reported.

Police said that all the terrorists have been killed while five persons injured in the attack.

Four security guards and a police sub-inspector were also killed in the attack.

"An unfortunate incident took place at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. They made their way from our parking area and opened fire on everyone," said Abid Ali Habib, Director of Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The firing by militants caused panic among the people in the building.

Sindh province Governor Imran Ismail condemned the incident.

"Strongly condemn the attack on PSX aimed at tarnishing our relentless war on terror. Have instructed the IG & security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators are caught alive & their handlers are accorded exemplary punishments. We shall protect Sindh at all costs," he said on Twitter.

Police and rangers have arrived on the spot and surrounded the area.

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Agencies
July 15,2020

New Delhi, Jul 15: Air India has started the process of identifying employees, based on various factors like efficiency, health and redundancy, who will be sent on compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for up to five years, according to an official order.

The airline's board of directors have authorised its Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Bansal to send employees on LWP "for six months or for a period of two years extendable upto five years, depending upon the following factors - suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health of the employee, instance of non-availability of the employee for duty in the past as a result of ill health or otherwise and redundancy", the order said on Tuesday.

The departmental heads in the headquarter as well as regional directors are required to assess each employee "on the above mentioned factors and identify the cases where option of compulsory LWP can be exercised", stated the order dated July 14.

"Names of such employees need to be forwarded to the General Manager (Personnel) in headquarter for obtaining necessary approval of CMD," the order added.

In response to queries regarding this matter, Air India spokesperson said,"We would not like to make any comment on the issue."

Aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries due to the coronavirus pandemic. All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, LWP and firings of employees in order to conserve cash flow.

For example, GoAir has put most of its employees on compulsory LWP since April.

India resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the airlines have been allowed to operate only a maximum of 45 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights. Occupancy rate in Indian domestic flights has been around 50-60 per cent since May 25.

Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India since March 23.

The passenger demand for air travel will contract by 49 per cent in 2020 for Indian carriers in comparison to 2019 due to COVID-19 crisis, said global airlines body IATA on Monday.

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