Renowned Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi passes away
Mumbai, Oct 13 : Annapurna Devi, doyenne of classical Hindustani music, died at at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai early Saturday. She was 92.
She was suffering from age related issues for the past few years, a spokesperson of Annapurna Devi Foundation, Mumbai said. She was declared dead at 3.51 am, hospital officials said. She was a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award.
'Ma', as she was popularly addressed, was born in Madhya Pradesh's Maihar town to Ustad 'Baba' Allauddin Khan and Madina Begum. She was the youngest of four children, the spokesperson said.
World renowned maestro, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, was her sibling, the spokesperson added.
Annapurna Devi was a disciple of her father whose inestimable contribution to Indian music resulted in the Senia-Maihar gharana. Her training started early when she was around five years old and she graduated from the sitar to her chosen instrument, the surbahar.
She remained a recluse for most of her life. Much of her time was dedicated to teaching a small but select group of students. She was married to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and had a son, Shubhendra 'Shubho' Shankar, who passed away in 1992.
In 1982, she married Rooshikumar Pandya, a management consultant. Pandya passed away in 2013.
Her students include Aashish Khan (sarod), Amit Bhattacharya (sarod), Bahadur Khan (sarod), Basant Kabra (sarod), Hariprasad Chaurasia (bansuri), Jotin Bhattacharya (sarod), Nikhil Banerjee (sitar), Nityanand Haldipur (bansuri), Peter Klatt (sitar), Pradeep Barot (sarod), Sandhya Phadke (sitar), Saswatti Saha (sitar), Sudhir Phadke (sitar), Suresh Vyas (sarod), the spokesperson said.
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Informing Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor was a crime: Rahul Gandhi on Jaishankar's 'admission'
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.
"Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?" said Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also shared an undated video of Jaishankar saying India had informed Pakistan of the action against terror infrastructure on its soil.
Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video, "At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, 'We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.'"
"So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice," the minister can be heard saying in the clip.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has debunked claims that Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor. In a post on X, the PIB's Fact Check Unit said the minister had not made any such statement and that he was being misquoted.
Operation Sindoor was the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025
EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.
1. Who authorised it?
2. How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW
