KK, India's top playback singer, dies of heart attack after live show in Kolkata,

HT Daily News Wrap

KK, India's top playback singer, dies of a heart attack after a live show in Kolkata, BJP got the most donations in 2020-21, Congress a distant second, Turkey rejects Indian wheat consignment, and other top news in this bulletin.

Singer KK, who gave Indian music lovers many hits over the last three decades has died at 53. He gave a performance at Nazrul Mancha on Tuesday and later went to his hotel where he fell ill. He was brought to a hospital where he was declared dead. The autopsy will be conducted today to ascertain the exact reason for his death. Doctors have however said they suspected cardiac arrest to be the cause of the death. According to reports, KK felt uneasy during the performance also and apparently complained about the glare of the lights. On his way to the hotel, he said he was feeling cold when the air conditioner was switched on. He took a break during the performance as well. Reports said there was a huge crowd at his event to control which the Police had to spray fire extinguishers. KK’s wife and children will reach Kolkata today morning. KK released his first album, Pal in 1999. The singer-composer, whose real name was Krishnakumar Kunnath then focussed more on Bollywood than on his independent music, giving hits such as Tadap Tadap (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, 1999), Dus Bahane (Dus, 2005), and Tune Maari Entriyaan (Gunday, 2014).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) far outstripped rivals in attracting large donations from business houses and individuals in the 2020-21 financial year, accounting for nearly 75% of all such funding, according to the mandatory annual contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission of India. The party in power at the Centre received over Rs 477 crore in large donations in 2020-21, almost 6.5 times the Rs 74 crore garnered by the opposition Congress party, revealed the reports published on Tuesday on the poll watchdog’s website. Large amounts donated to the BJP, however, declined from the preceding financial year’s Rs 785.77 crore. All political parties have to declare donations in excess of Rs20,000 for every financial year. The BJP received donations from 2,206 contributors, and its closest rival Congress received donations from 1,059 donors, their reports showed. The Trinamool Congress received Rs 42.51 crore from 26 donors, followed by the Nationalist Congress Party at over Rs 26.26 crore from 79 donors. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) received Rs 12.85 crore from 226 donors. This month, Delhi had two halves of contrasting weather — the first one was characterised by intense heatwave which saw parts of Delhi recording a maximum temperature of 49 degrees Celsius and scarce rain of 1.4mm rain, and the second witnessing short but intense spells of rain, adding 46.3mm precipitation, more than double the monthly average of 19.7mm. According to IMD data, the average maximum temperature in May was 40.1 degrees Celsius, 0.6 degrees above normal, and the highest since May 2018, when it was 40.4 degrees. Met officials say had it not been for rain in the second half of the month, the severe heatwave could have continued to burn the city. Delhi is yet to see a heatwave day since May 15, which was also the hottest day of the year so far, when Safdarjung (Delhi’s base weather station) recorded a maximum of 45.6 degrees. It was also the highest maximum temperature for Delhi since May 28, 2020, the day the city logged a temperature of 45.9 degrees. The same day, the mercury also crossed the 49-degrees marks in parts of the city, with northwest Delhi’s Mungeshpur and southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh recording a high of 49.2 and 49.1 degrees respectively. Turkish authorities denied permission to an Indian wheat consignment over phytosanitary concerns, prompting a ship to initiate its return journey on May 29, traders were quoted as saying by S&P Global Commodity Insights on Tuesday. The development has caused concern among Indian traders as at least 1.5 million tonne of wheat are due to be exported. According to an update by S&P Global Commodity Insights, which quoted shipping data from tracker Kpler, the MV Ince Akdeniz loaded with 56,877 tonnes of durum wheat is now headed back to Kandla port from Turkey. “The wheat consignment was detected with Indian Rubella disease and was rejected by the Turkish ministry of agriculture and forestry,” S&P Global Commodity Insights quoted traders based in Istanbul. India’s commerce and agriculture ministries did not respond to queries seeking a comment. These shipments were finalised before India imposed a ban on private wheat exports. In April, consumer-inflation reading in Asia’s third-largest economy rose to their highest levels in eight years, at 7.79%. Worryingly, food prices climbed 8.38%. High inflation played out even in surplus items, such as wheat, whose prices jumped 20% last month, as traders doubled down on exports. Russian troops fought to take complete control of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday as the United States said it will provide Ukraine with advanced rockets to help it force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. US President Joe Biden said Washington would provide Ukraine with more advanced rocket systems and munitions so it can “more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield.” “We have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition so it can fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” Biden wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday. A senior Biden administration official said weaponry provided would include the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which Ukraine’s armed forces chief said a month ago was “crucial” to counter Russian missile attacks. Addressing concerns the provision of such weapons could draw the United States into a direct conflict with Russia, senior administration officials said Kyiv gave “assurances” the missiles would not be used to strike inside Russia. “These systems will be used by the Ukrainians to repel Russian advances on Ukrainian territory, but they will not be used on targets in Russian territory,” the US official told reporters.