Notable personalities who died in 2024.
Credit: PTI
February 16: Alexei Navalny (47)
Russian opposition leader
Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, passed away in an Arctic Circle jail while serving a 19-year sentence at the IK-3 Arctic prison colony.
Credit: Reuters
February 26: Pankaj Udhas (72)
Ghazal and playback singer
Renowned singer Pankaj Udhas, cherished for his soulful melodies, passed away at 72 after battling a prolonged illness.
Credit: PTI
April 8: Peter Higgs (95)
Nobel prize winning physicist, inventor of God particle
Renowned physicist and Nobel laureate Peter Higgs, known for his groundbreaking work on the Higgs boson, passed away at his home in Edinburgh. He was 95 and suffered from a blood disorder.
Credit: X/@PhysInHistory
April 16: Dwarakish (81)
Kannada actor, director, producer
Dwarakish, a celebrated name in Kannada cinema as an actor, producer, and director, died at his Electronics City residence in Bengaluru. The 81-year-old succumbed to a heart attack while asleep, his family revealed.
Credit: DH Photo
June 8: Ramoji Rao (87)
Media proprietor and film producer
Ramoji Rao, the legendary media baron, died in a Hyderabad hospital. He was 87 and had been hospitalized with health issues linked to age.
Credit: DH Photo
July 11: Aparna Vastarey (57)
Actress, television presenter and radio jockey
Renowned Kannada actress Aparna, known for her iconic voice in Namma Metro announcements, has died at the age of 57 following a two-year battle with advanced lung cancer.
Credit: DH Photo
July 31: Anshuman Gaekwad (71)
Indian cricketer, coach
Aunshuman Gaekwad, who represented India as a player and later coached the team in the late 1990s, passed away on July 31 due to prolonged illness. He succumbed to blood cancer at Vadodara's Bhailal Amin General Hospital.
Credit: PTI File Photo
September 12: Sitaram Yechury (72)
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader
CPI(M) general secretary and former Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury passed away after battling a respiratory infection. He was undergoing treatment for pneumonia at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Credit: PTI File Photo
October 9: Ratan Tata (86)
Former chairman of the Tata Group
Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata group, passed away due to age-related illnesses.
Credit: PTI File Photo
November 3: Guruprasad (52)
Indian film director and actor
Kannada film director and actor Guruprasad was found dead in a suspected suicide in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH Photo
December 10: SM Krishna (92)
Former chief minister of Karnataka
SM Krishna, the former chief minister of Karnataka and Union minister, passed away at his residence in Bengaluru due to age-related issues.
Credit: DH Photo
December 15: Ustad Zakir Hussain (73)
Tabla maestro, composer, music producer
World-renowned tabla maestro Zakir Hussain passed away in the US due to complications from an idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Credit: PTI File Photo
December 24: Shyam Benegal (90)
Legendary filmmaker, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee
Shyam Benegal, a renowned Indian filmmaker known for pioneering a cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s, died after suffering from a chronic kidney disease.
Credit: PTI File Photo
December 25: M T Vasudevan Nair (91)
Malayalam writer, film director
One of the most respected figures in Malayalam literature and cinema, Madath Thekkepat Vasudevan Nair, or M T Vasudevan Nair, passed away at a hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala. He was admitted to the hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for heart failure.
Credit: PTI File Photo
December 26: Manmohan Singh (92)
Former Prime Minister
Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh breathed his last at 92 on December 26. He was admitted to the emergency department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and was being treated for age-related medical conditions.
Credit: PTI File Photo