Obituaries Current Affairs October 2026

Veteran Tamil film music composer and singer Deva, born Devanesan Chokkalingam, died in Chennai on 17 October 2026, aged 75. Popularly titled 'Thenisai Thendral', he scored for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema across roughly three decades, with his peak in the late 1980s and 1990s. He was known for folk-rooted melodies that carried local flavour into mainstream film music, working through the era shaped by Ilaiyaraaja and the rise of A. R. Rahman. Among his best-remembered scores are the Rajinikanth films Annamalai and Baasha, and the Vijay-starrer Kushi. His death drew wide tributes from the Tamil film industry.

Guruvayur Dorai, among Carnatic music's foremost mridangam players, died in Chennai on 10 October 2026, aged 91. Born on 2 July 1935 at Guruvayur and left with polio at five, he gave his *arangetram* at eight accompanying Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, and trained under Palghat Subbaiyar, E.P. Narayana Pisharody and Palani Subramania Pillai. A master of the Pudukottai style admired for his *gumki* bass resonance, he accompanied M.S. Subbulakshmi, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M.D. Ramanathan and M. Balamuralikrishna across eight decades. He held the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalaimamani and the Padma Shri (2025).

Nana Patekar, one of Hindi and Marathi cinema's most forceful actors, died on 8 October 2026 in Goa at the age of 75. Born Vishwanath Patekar on 1 January 1951 at Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, he debuted in 'Gaman' (1978) and won three National Film Awards — Best Supporting Actor for 'Parinda', Best Actor for 'Krantiveer' and Best Supporting Actor for 'Agni Sakshi'. His directorial debut, 'Prahaar: The Final Attack' (1991), drew on training with the Maratha Light Infantry. He received the Padma Shri in 2013 and co-founded the Naam Foundation in 2015 with Makarand Anaspure for drought-hit Maharashtra farmers.

Fisheries scientist B. Madhusoodana Kurup died of cardiac arrest at Kochi on 18 October 2026, aged 71. He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), India's first university dedicated to fisheries and ocean studies, and later the third Vice-Chancellor of Shri Venkateshwara University at Gajraula, Uttar Pradesh. For more than 18 years he was Director and Professor at the School of Industrial Fisheries, CUSAT. He discovered eight freshwater fish species from the Western Ghats, guided 22 doctoral scholars and published over 250 research papers and 11 edited books, and held Nuffic and Marie Curie fellowships.