Who was the man along with Sasikala performing Jayalalithaa’s last rites?

Jayalalithaa

Who was the man along with Sasikala performing Jayalalithaa’s last rites?

It was earlier speculated that the final rites could be performed by Vivek, the son of Sasikala’s niece Ilavarasi.

Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa was laid to rest next to her mentor MGR at his memorial site at the Marina Beach in Chennai, at 6 20pm on Tuesday.

Before she was buried, the final rites were conducted. A Hindu priest was also present. Although the tradition in Jayalalithaa’s community – Iyengar Brahmins – is to cremate, she was buried.

The last rites were performed by her close aide Sasikala, and another relatively young man. 

So, who was this person?

It was earlier speculated that the final rites could be performed by Vivek, the son of Sasikala’s niece Ilavarasi. 

But the person who performed the last rites along with Sasikala was Deepak Jayakumar, the son of Jayakumar who is Jayalalithaa’s deceased brother.

Not much is known about Deepak, who has lived a life of relative anonymity, away from the media glare. He is reported to be a real estate businessman in Chennai. 

Deepak is Deepa Jayakumar’s brother. Deepa was denied entry to Apollo recently.

TOI reports that Deepak’s “family has been estranged from Jayalalithaa and relations between the two have been rather strained ever since the grand wedding of her foster son VN Sudhakaran in September 1995. Jayalalithaa did come to their T Nagar residence, a month later, when her brother (Deepak and Deepa’s father) died. Last year (2013), Deepa's mother Vijayalakshmi too passed away. The last time Deepa met her aunt was at a film function in 2002. Her several attempts to meet Jayalalithaa in the last decade proved futile.”

Deepa studied in the UK, while her brother Deepak did an MBA in the US, according to TOI.

Those who visited Rajaji Hall to pay homage to Jayalalithaa through the day confirmed that they spotted Deepak with M Natrajan, Sasikala’s husband.

NASA's Saturn probe makes first ring-grazing plunge

The ring-grazing orbits - 20 in all - will continue until April 22 next year, when the last close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan will reshape Cassini's flight path.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has successfully made its first close dive past the outer edges of Saturn's rings since beginning its penultimate mission phase.

Cassini crossed through the plane of Saturn's rings at a distance of about 91,000 kilometres above its cloud tops.

This is the approximate location of a faint, dusty ring produced by the planet's small moons Janus and Epimetheus, and just 11,000 kilometres from the centre of Saturn's F ring.

About an hour prior to the ring-plane crossing, the spacecraft performed a short burn of its main engine that lasted about six seconds.

About 30 minutes later, as it approached the ring plane, Cassini closed its canopy-like engine cover as a protective measure.

"With this small adjustment to the spacecraft's trajectory, we're in excellent shape to make the most of this new phase of the mission," said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.

WHAT NEXT

A few hours after the ring-plane crossing, Cassini began a complete scan across the rings with its radio science experiment to study their structure in great detail.

"It's taken years of planning, but now that we're finally here, the whole Cassini team is excited to begin studying the data that come from these ring-grazing orbits," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at JPL.

"This is a remarkable time in what's already been a thrilling journey," said Spilker.

Cassini's imaging cameras obtained views of Saturn about two days before crossing through the ring plane, but not near the time of closest approach.

The focus of this first close pass was the engine manoeuvre and observations by Cassini's other science instruments.

Future dives past the rings will feature some of the mission's best views of the outer regions of the rings and small, nearby moons, NASA said.

Each of Cassini's orbits for the remainder of the mission will last one week. The next pass by the rings' outer edges is planned for December 11.

The ring-grazing orbits - 20 in all - will continue until April 22 next year, when the last close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan will reshape Cassini's flight path.

THE MISSION

With that encounter, Cassini will leap over the rings, making the first of 22 plunges through the 2,400-kilometre gap between Saturn and its innermost ring on April 26.

On September 15, the mission will conclude with a final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.

During the plunge, Cassini will transmit data on the atmosphere's composition until its signal is lost.

Launched in 1997, Cassini has been touring the Saturn system since arriving there in 2004 for an up-close study of the planet, its rings and moons.

During its journey, Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean with indications of hydrothermal activity within the moon Enceladus, and liquid methane seas on another moon, Titan.

As PM Paid Tribute To Jayalalithaa, He Hugged Chief Minister Panneerselvam To Console Him

CHENNAI: 

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Chief Minister Panneerselvam breaks down at memorial for J Jayalalithaa
2. PM consoles O Panneerselvam and close aide Sasikala Natarajan
3. PM visited Rajaji Hall in Chennai to pay his tributes to J Jayalalithaa

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam as the latter wept inconsolably when the Prime Minister visited Chennai's Rajaji Hall, a large public auditorium where J Jayalalithaa's body was placed for people to pay their respects before she was burried at Chennai's Marina beach near her political mentor MGR.

PM Modi was also seen patting Ms Jayalalithaa's long-time companion Sasikala Natarajan on the head. Ms Natarajan too broke down and PM Modi consoled her, stopping for a few minutes to talk to her.

The Prime Minister landed in Chennai a little after noon and flew to the hall in a chopper. As he paid his respects to Ms Jayalalithaa and laid a wreath, Mr Panneerselvam, who was by the PM's side broke down. PM Modi affectionately patted him and suggested that he be strong.

When PM Modi was walking back to his vehicle, Mr Panneerselvam hugged him with tears in his eyes.

Mr Panneerselvam took oath as Chief Minister deep in the night yesterday, hours after Ms Jayalalithaa died at the Apollo hospital. She had a cardiac arrest on Sunday evening and was on life support for a day before she died.

Security was tight when the Prime Minister visited Rajaji Hall, but there were tense moments when a crowd of people surged forward to get a better glimpse of him. PM Modi greeted them with folded hands and was seen requesting people not to take photographs on their mobile phones.

Lakhs of people visited Ms Jayalalithaa's body, which was in a casket draped in the national flag. The funeral was held this evening near a memorial to her mentor MG Ramachandran.

President Pranab Mukherjee also paid respects to Ms Jayalalithaa in Chennai. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and at least eight Chief Ministers, including Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal, also attended the funeral.