Pandit Ravi Shankar, 92, passes away in San Diego

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December 12, 2012

ravishankar

San Diego, December 12: Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar passed in San Diego on Tuesday. He was 92. He was admitted to the Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla last Thursday after he complained of breathing difficulties. He breathed his last at 4.30 p.m. Pacific Time.

 

The legendary musician and composer was India's musical ambassador and a unique phenomenon in the classical music worlds of East and West. He was well known for his pioneering work in bringing Indian music to the West.

 

He was active as a professional musician till the end and was one of the contenders for the next Grammys. Details awaited.

"Music is the soul of India. It has always been my life as well"

 ravi

(This is aprofile of the Sitar Maestro published on the occasion of his 90th birthday in 2010)

 

"Music is the soul of India. It has always been my life as well," said the composer musician in a letter read out at the event "Ravi Shankar, 90 not out" organised by the Indo-American Friendship Association in association with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations here late last evening.

 

"As a young Indian in the 1950s it was a matter of pride to see somebody like Panditji perform on the world stage and reach out across to those like Yehudi Menuhin and the Beatles," said Maharaj Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur.

 

"We owe his contribution to the world of music," said Singh who studied at Oxford. Singh was joined by others like German ambassador Thomas Matussek, French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, dancers Pandit Birju Maharaj and Sonal Mansingh at the event chaired by Abid Hussain, fromer envoy to the US.

 

Born in Varnasi on April 7, 1920, Pandit Ravi Shankar began performing at the age of 11 after being initiated into music and dance a year earlier by his eldest brother, Uday Shankar. As a young boy, Ravi Shankar toured Europe with his brother's dance troupe and at the age of 18 he began to learn how to play the sitar from his guru Baba Allauddin Khan.

 

After almost seven years of rigorous study in the ancient gurukul system, Ravi Shankar started composing film music, founded the Indian National Orchestra and worked as a music director for All India Radio. In the 50s and 60s, he taught and performed sitar concerts in the largest halls all over Europe and the Americas popularising ragas and other elements of Indian classical music.

 

"There was no language barrier as I was very fluent in English and also in French and I could explain our music and the various intricacies of ragas and Talas", said Ravi Shankar in his letter.

 

"Pandit Ravi Shankar was not only a great musician himself but he transcended and took Indian music to the world and became an icon to so many," said ICCR president Karan Singh at the function here last evening.

 

The sitarist and composer had pioneered the tradition of experimenting India's classical music fusion with western culture and performed with western classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Beatles star George Harrison.

 

"George Harrison became my student in the mid sixties, which certainly opened up the biggest door in all the continents for me. George was one whom I loved very much as he was so deeply attracted to our music and the Vedic culture and traditions of India," said Ravi Shankar.

 

"The passion of Panditji was an inspiration for everyone. It has a delight to see how the expression of every note was glimpsed in his eyes," said Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj who came to Delhi in 1953 at the age of 14 years as a teacher at the Sangeet Bharati and was a frequent visitor to Ravi Shankar's house.

 

One of the first musicians to write sitar music in Indian notations for western concertos, Pandit Ravi Shankar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. The musician was conferred the Bharat Ratna, in 1999 and he also won three Grammy awards and was given the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1992.

 

"I have loved many countries like France, England, and Japan of which I have several fond memories, but I deeply fell in love with the US from my first visit there in 1932 with Dada Uday. The variety of people from all over the world, and their love for all types of music, dance, films, innovation, creation, and the spirit of freedom attracted me the most.

 

"Though my first home is New Delhi and I am a citizen of India, my other home is in Encinitas near San Diego, California, which I love," said Ravi Shankar who added that he was "an aspirant to live '101 all out!".

 

The function felicitating the musician culminated with a sitar recital of a composition in Satyajit Ray's film "Panther Panchali" by Ravi Shankar's disciple Shubhendra Rao with tabla accompaniment by Delhi-based Akram Khan. It was folowed by a bharatnatyam performance by Nehha Bhatnagar.

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News Network
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: Petrol price on Friday was hiked by 56 paise per litre and diesel by 63 paise a litre, taking the cumulative increase in rates to Rs 7.11 and Rs 7.67 per litre respectively in less than two weeks.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 78.37 per litre from Rs 77.81, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 77.06 a litre from Rs 76.43, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

This is the 13th daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

In 13 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.11 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.67 a litre.

The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of fall in international oil prices to two decade low.

International oil prices have since rebounded and oil firms are now adjusting retail rates in line with them.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Over 1 lakh scanned copies of Indians' national IDs, including Aadhaar, PAN card and passport, have been put on dark web for sale, cyber intelligence firm Cyble said on Wednesday.

The leaked data seems to have originated from a third party and not from the government system, according to a report by Cyble.

"We came across a non-reputed actor who is currently selling over 1 lakh Indian National IDs on the dark net. With such a low reputation, ideally, we would have skipped this; however, the samples shared by the actor intrigued our interest -- and also the volume. The actor is alleged to have access to over 1 lakh IDs from different places in India," Cyble said.

The personal data leaked by cyber criminals leads to various nefarious activities such as identity thefts, scams, and corporate espionage. Many criminals use the personal details in the IDs to win trust of the people over a phone call for fraudulent activities.

Cyber criminals leak personal data of 2.9 cr job-seeking Indians on dark web for free

The Cyble researchers acquired around 1,000 IDs from the seller and confirmed that the scanned IDs belong to Indians.

"Preliminary analysis suggests that the data originated from a third party, and no indication or artefact is indicating that it came from a government system. At this point, Cyble researchers are still investigating this further -- we are hoping to share an update soon," Cyble said.

The scanned ID documents indicate that the data may have been leaked from a company's data base in the segment where they have to comply with 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) norms.

"Cyble researchers have also learned about a surge in KYC and banking scams -- leaks such as this are often used by scammers to target individuals, especially elderlies," Cyble said.

The cyber intelligence firm has recommended people to refrain from sharing personal information especially financial information over phone, e-mail or SMS.

"Regularly monitor your financial transaction, if you notice any suspicious transaction, contact your bank immediately," the company said.

In May, Cyble showed two instances where personal data of 7.65 crore Indians have been put on sale in the dark web. In one instance, the seller claimed to have sourced data of 4.75 crore Indians from online directory Truecaller and in other, the seller claimed to have sourced from job websites.

Truecaller, however, had denied the claim of breach in its database.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Bhopal, Jun 20: A senior BJP MLA in Madhya Pradesh tested COVID-19 positive hours after he cast his vote for the Rajya Sabha polls in the state and attended party meetings, an official said on Saturday. The legislator's wife has also tested positive for the infection, he said.

Voting for three Rajya Sabha seats in the state took place on Friday.

The couple's test reports came on Friday night and the news of the MLA's infection triggered panic among other MLAs with some of them reaching hospitals to get themselves tested.

"The MLA and his wife were found infected with COVID- 19 in the tests conducted by a private laboratory. We are examining their condition and making a decision whether they need to be hospitalised or home quarantined," a health department official told.

He said that the MLA's contact tracing has been initiated.

"Further tests are also being conducted," he said.

He is the second legislator in Madhya Pradesh, who was tested coronavirus positive.

Earlier, a Congress MLA was found infected. He had voted for the Rajya Sabha polls on Friday after reaching the state assembly complex wearing a PPE suit.

Talking to , a member of the BJP MLA's family said that the medical team was called on Friday afternoon for the COVID-19 test after the legislator's wife complained of uneasiness.

"The MLA and his wife gave the samples to the medical team for the COVID-19 tests on Friday afternoon and they were told at night that both of them have tested positive for the infection," he said.

After the news of BJP MLA testing positive spread, a senior BJP MLA from Mandsaur, Yashpal Singh Sisodiya, reached government-run J P Hospital here along with two other party MLAs.

Talking to reporters, Sisodiya said, "I came here along with two other MLAs from our division- Dilip Makwana (Ratlam Rural) and Devilal Dhakad (Garoth)- after we came to know through media and social media that one of the MLAs from our division has tested positive for COVID-19."

"We don't have any symptoms, but came to test for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure," he said.

Dhakad said that he came for testing as he had dined with the MLA two days back.

Talking to , Madhya Pradesh State Assembly's Principal Secretary A P Singh said that all the precautionary measures were taken during the Rajya Sabha polling.

"All employees were in safety gears during the Rajya Sabha election process. The assembly campus was being sanitised every 15-20 minutes during the polling process...We are now going through the CCTV footage to trace those who had come in his contact," he said.

Congress MLA and former minister P C Sharma said that those who came in contact with the BJP legislator should be traced and quarantined.

"The employees and MLAs who came in contact with him during the voting process should be tested," Sharma said.

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