History books will remember the year 2024 for bidding farewell to many eminent personalities, including Zakir Hussain, Manmohan Singh, Ameen Sayani, Shyam Benegal, Fali S Nariman, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and A Ramachandran, all luminaries in their respective fields. The fields of politics, business, law, and economics lost stalwarts such as Communist leaders Sitaram Yechury and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, businessman-philanthropist Ratan Tata, legal barons Fali S Nariman and AG Noorani, and economist Bibek Debroy. The year ended on a sour note as one of India’s tallest leaders and architect of economic reforms, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, breathed his last on December 26.
The Congress leader changed the shape of the nation by ushering in policies that marked the end of an economic crisis in the 1990s. Earlier, Ratan Tata's death left an irreplaceable void in India Inc. The former chairman of Tata Group led the salt-to-software conglomerate to new heights by expanding its global footprint.
Prominent political leaders such as Sushil Kumar Modi, Natwar Singh, Om Prakash Chautala and SM Krishna were also among those who breathed their last in 2024. The year also registered a great loss in the field of performing arts, as singers Pankaj Udhas, Prabha Atre and Ustad Rashid Khan, Bharatanatyam dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy, and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain bid adieu to the world. The year began with the passing of classical vocalist Rashid Khan in January.
Khan, who gained cri.
