Veteran Kannada actor Umesh Passes away
Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran Kannada actor 'Mysore' Srikantayya Umesh died on Sunday after prolonged illness, family sources said.
He was 80.
The actor has been suffering from cancer for quite some time and was recently admitted to a hospital where he breathed his last.
His career in the film industry spanned over five decades where he acted in over 350 films.
Born on April 24, 1945 in Mysuru, Umesh started his career at the age of four when he played a role in 'Lanchavatara' fame Master K Hirannaiah's theatre group.
Later, he joined Gubbi Veeranna's theatre troupe.
Umesh got a major break in the film industry in 1960 when he played the lead role in the movie 'Makkala Rajya'.
After the debut, there was a lull in his film career, which was marked with struggle. He was forced to return to theatres.
The actor got the next break in the film industry through 'Katha Sangama' in 1977. Since then, there has been no looking back for Umesh.
He acted in movies like 'Nagara Hole' (1978), 'Guru Shishyaru' (1981), 'Anupama' (1981), 'Kaamana Billu' (1983) and 'Venkata in Sankata' (2007).
The actor worked with all the leading Kannada actors of his time, right from Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh, Srinath, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Arvind Ramesh, B Saroja Devi and Bharathi. He also acted with Tamil actors Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth.
Umesh was a versatile actor. He got Karnataka State Film Award in 1975 for best supporting actor in 'Katha Sangama' and Karnataka Nataka Akademy Award in 2013 for his contribution to theatres.
Condoling his demise, JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy said he was deeply saddened to hear the news.
"Umesh would make audiences float in a sea of laughter through his fresh humour," he said.
"Having delivered captivating performances in numerous films including 'Guru Shishyaru', 'Haalu Jenu', 'Apurva Sangama', his departure is a huge loss to the Kannada art world," Kumaraswamy said in a post on 'X'.
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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.
