Indian-American musician Chandrika Tandon wins Grammy
New Delhi (PTI): Indian-American vocalist and entrepreneur Chandrika Tandon has won the Grammy award for the album 'Triveni' in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category.
The 67th edition of the biggest musical awards night, organised by the Recording Academy, was held on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Tandon, also a global business leader and the older sister of former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, won the award along with her collaborators South African flautist Wouter Kellerman and Japanese cellist Eru Matsumoto.
"Music is love, music is light, and music is laughter and let's all be surrounded by love, light, and laughter. Thank you for the music, and thank you to everyone who makes music," she said in the award acceptance speech.
This was Tandon's second Grammy nomination after 2009's "Soul Call" and first win.
"It feels amazing," said the musician, who grew up in Chennai, in a backstage interview with the Recording Academy after winning the Grammy.
Other nominees in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category were: 'Break of Dawn' — Ricky Kej, 'Opus' — Ryuichi Sakamoto, 'Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn' — Anoushka Shankar, and 'Warriors Of Light' — Radhika Vekaria.
"We had such wonderful nominees in the category. The fact that we won this is really an extra special moment for us. There were fabulous musicians who were nominated with us," she added.
Just like its name, which means the confluence of three holy Indian rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, 'Triveni' is a collaboration of three artists Tandon, Kellerman, and Matsumoto who represent diverse cultures.
Released on August 30, 2024, each of the seven tracks on 'Triveni' tells its own story while contributing to its overarching theme of healing resonance. The songs are: "Pathway to Light", "Chant in A", "Journey Within", "Aether's Serenade", "Ancient Moon", "Open Sky", and "Seeking Shakti".
"This harmonious blend of Indian classical music, New Age ambiance, and global traditions appeals to a wide audience while staying deeply rooted in cultural authenticity."
Tandon, who has three more albums to her credit, has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the World Culture Festivals across Europe and India.
The 2025 Grammys are streaming live on Disney+ Hotstar in India.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
