Bollywood celebrities visit Dharmendra's family to offer condolences
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Mumbai (PTI): A day after veteran star Dharmendra's death, prominent faces from Bollywood including Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn visited the screen icon's house in suburban Juhu to offer condolences to the family.
Dharmendra died on Monday just weeks shy of his 90th birthday after prolonged illness.
The usually vibrant lanes of Juhu, which lead to the actor's residence, wore a sombre look, and not much movement was witnessed after weeks of media presence that led the family to publicly request privacy and respect.
Over half a dozen private security guards were stationed outside the house as celebrities including Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Farah Khan, Ananya Panday, Bhavna Panday, Anu Malik and others were spotted at the Deol family home. Dharmendra's nephew Abhay Deol was seen visiting his cousins.
The family, after being forced to publicly deny the false news of the actor's death reported by several media outlets on November 11, has kept quiet so far.
Dharmendra was not keeping well for a while and was in and out of a Mumbai hospital. The actor was discharged on November 12 with the family deciding to continue his treatment at home.
Media speculation around Dharmendra's health also led the family, including Hema Malini and daughter Esha Deol, to publicly issue statements with a request that their privacy be respected.
In a rare outburst, Sunny Deol scolded paparazzi stationed outside and told them to maintain a dignified distance.
Dharmendra's death at 89 led to an outpouring of grief by personalities from every walk of life with many celebrities sharing anecdotes about the late actor's kind nature and affable personality.
Dharmendra, born Dharam Singh Deol in Punjab in 1935, enjoyed a remarkable six-decade career, featuring in over 300 films and headlining classics such as "Sholay", "Chupke Chupke", "Satyakam, "Anupama", "Seeta Aur Geeta" and many others. He was widely celebrated for his versatility across action, romance and comedy.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
