Latest news with #B Saroja Devi
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Meta apologises for wrong translation that declared Indian chief minister dead
Meta has apologised after a translation error on Facebook incorrectly suggested that Siddaramaiah, chief minister of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, had died. The error took place on Tuesday, when the chief minister's Facebook account published a tribute to veteran Kannada actress B Saroja Devi. Meta's automatic Kannada-to-English translation system rendered the post as saying: 'Chief Minister Siddaramaiah passed away yesterday multilingual star, senior actress B Took darshan of Sarojadevi's earthly body and paid his last respects,' according to a Times of India report. Kannada is Karnataka state's official language and one of India's 22 constitutionally recognised languages. The mistake was flagged on Wednesday by Siddaramaiah's team, noting the 'frequently inaccurate' and 'grossly misleading' translations. Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on @Meta platforms is distorting facts & misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official Media Advisor Shri K V Prabhakar has formally written to Meta urging immediate — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 17, 2025 In a formal letter sent to Meta by KV Prabhakar, media advisor to the chief minister, he called for a temporary suspension of automatic Kannada translations until the accuracy is improved and for the technology giant to work with 'qualified Kannada language experts and linguistic professionals' to do so. 'Given the sensitivity of public communication, especially from a constitutional functionary like the Chief Minister, such misrepresentations due to flawed translation mechanisms are unacceptable,' the letter added. Siddaramaiah posted the letter on his X account, writing: 'Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on Meta platforms is distorting facts & misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communications. 'Social media platforms must act responsibly. I caution citizens to be aware that translations shown are often inaccurate. Such negligence by tech giants can harm public understanding & trust.' Meta responded by apologising and attributing the issue to a technical fault in its machine translation system. 'We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologise that this happened,' a company spokesperson told the Press Trust of India. The translation appears to have been fixed and now reads: 'Multilingual star, senior actress B Sarojadevi passed away yesterday in Bangalore. I took the darshan of Saroja Devi's earthly body and paid his last respects. 'B Sarojadevi is a great actress. A wonderful actress who played roles in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi languages as a five language star.' On Instagram however, also owned by Meta, the translation still appears flawed. At the time of writing, it read: 'The multilingual star, senior actress B Sarojadevi who passed away yesterday, paid his last respects.'
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Meta apologises for wrong translation that declared Indian chief minister dead
Meta has apologised after a translation error on Facebook incorrectly suggested that Siddaramaiah, chief minister of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, had died. The error took place on Tuesday, when the chief minister's Facebook account published a tribute to veteran Kannada actress B Saroja Devi. Meta's automatic Kannada-to-English translation system rendered the post as saying: 'Chief Minister Siddaramaiah passed away yesterday multilingual star, senior actress B Took darshan of Sarojadevi's earthly body and paid his last respects,' according to a Times of India report. Kannada is Karnataka state's official language and one of India's 22 constitutionally recognised languages. The mistake was flagged on Wednesday by Siddaramaiah's team, noting the 'frequently inaccurate' and 'grossly misleading' translations. In a formal letter sent to Meta by KV Prabhakar, media advisor to the chief minister, he called for a temporary suspension of automatic Kannada translations until the accuracy is improved and for the technology giant to work with 'qualified Kannada language experts and linguistic professionals' to do so. 'Given the sensitivity of public communication, especially from a constitutional functionary like the Chief Minister, such misrepresentations due to flawed translation mechanisms are unacceptable,' the letter added. Siddaramaiah posted the letter on his X account, writing: 'Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on Meta platforms is distorting facts & misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communications. 'Social media platforms must act responsibly. I caution citizens to be aware that translations shown are often inaccurate. Such negligence by tech giants can harm public understanding & trust.' Meta responded by apologising and attributing the issue to a technical fault in its machine translation system. 'We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologise that this happened,' a company spokesperson told the Press Trust of India. The translation appears to have been fixed and now reads: 'Multilingual star, senior actress B Sarojadevi passed away yesterday in Bangalore. I took the darshan of Saroja Devi's earthly body and paid his last respects. 'B Sarojadevi is a great actress. A wonderful actress who played roles in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi languages as a five language star.' On Instagram however, also owned by Meta, the translation still appears flawed. At the time of writing, it read: 'The multilingual star, senior actress B Sarojadevi who passed away yesterday, paid his last respects.'
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Karnataka: Meta apologises after chief minister Siddaramaiah declared 'dead' by auto-translate
Meta has apologised after an Indian chief minister's social media post was mistranslated on some of its platforms, falsely suggesting he had died, according to Press Trust of India (PTI) news Tuesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah posted a condolence message in Kannada language on Facebook and Instagram mourning the death of an when the posts were auto-translated into English, they mistakenly said that Mr Siddaramaiah had "passed away".On Thursday, a Meta spokesperson told PTI that the platform had "fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation". "We apologize that this happened," the spokesperson original post showing him paying tribute to veteran actress B Saroja Devi was wrongly translated to say he had the error, Mr Siddaramaiah criticised Meta's auto-translate feature for Kannada, accusing it of "distorting facts' and 'misleading users". He warned that such mistranslations were especially dangerous in the context of official Thursday, Siddaramaiah's media advisor KV Prabhakar wrote to Meta, asking it to fix the translation and temporarily suspend Kannada auto-translation until its accuracy improves. He also urged the company to work with Kannada language experts to prevent such the BBC checked Mr Siddaramaiah's post on Friday, its English translation read:"The multilingual star, senior actress B Sarojadevi who passed away yesterday, paid his last respects."Meta has not commented on whether it would suspend Kannada translations until its accuracy was improved.
Khaleej Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Veteran actor B Saroja Devi, star of 'Puthiya Paravai', 'Babruvahana' and 'Paigham', dies at 83
Veteran actress B Saroja Devi, who has acted in about 200 films over seven decades, has died at the age of 87. Known for her work in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films, Devi's demise has left the industry in shock. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah paid tribute to the late actress in his post, "The news of the passing of senior Kannada actress B. Saroja Devi has caused deep sorrow. She had acted in approximately 200 films across Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi cinema, earning fame as the goddess of acting. The moment one mentions Saroja Devi, her captivating performances in films like Kittur Chennamma, Babruvahana, and Annathangi come to mind," he wrote on X. à²�ನà³�ನಡದ ಹಿರಿಯ ನà²�ಿ ಬಿ.ಸರà³�à²�ಾದà³�ವಿ à²�ವರ ನಿಧನವಾರà³�ತà³� ನà³�ವà³�à²�à²�à³�ಮಾಡಿದà³�. à²�ನà³�ನಡ à²�ಿತà³�ರರà²�à²�ವà³� ಸà³�ರಿದà²�ತà³� ತಮಿಳà³�, ತà³�ಲà³�à²�à³� ಮತà³�ತà³� ಹಿà²�ದಿಯ ಸà³�ಮಾರà³� 200 à²�ಿತà³�ರà²�ಳಲà³�ಲಿ ನà²�ಿಸಿ, à²�à²à²¿à²¨à²¯ ಸರಸà³�ವತಿ à²�à²�ದà³� à²�à³�ಯಾತರಾà²�ಿದà³�ದರà³�. ಸರà³�à²�ಾದà³�ವಿ à²�à²�ದಾà²�à³�ಷಣ à²�ಿತà³�ತà³�ರà³� à²�à³�ನà³�ನಮà³�ಮ, ಬಬà³�ರà³�ವಾಹನ, à²�ಣà³�ಣತà²�à²�ಿ ಮà³�à²�ತಾದ à²�ಿತà³�ರà²�ಳಲà³�ಲಿನ à²�ವರ ಮನà³�à²�à³�à²� à²�à²à²¿à²¨à²¯â�¦ — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 14, 2025 The Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, too remembered Devi's contribution to Indian cinema. "I'm deeply saddened to hear the news of the passing of Mrs. B. Sarojadevi, a veteran actress of the Kannada film industry, famously known as the 'Goddess of Acting'," he wrote in Kannada on X. "Having acted as the lead actress in over 160 films across Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi cinema, her departure is an irreparable loss not only to Kannada but to the entire Indian film industry. I pray that the Almighty grants eternal peace to her soul and gives strength to her family members and fans to bear the pain of this loss. Om Shanti." à²�ನà³�ನಡ à²�ಿತà³�ರರà²�à²�ದ ಹಿರಿಯ ನà²�ಿ, â��à²�à²à²¿à²¨à²¯ ಸರಸà³�ವತಿâ�� à²�à²�ದà³� ಹà³�ಸರà³�ವಾಸಿಯಾà²�ಿದà³�ದ ಶà³�ರà³�ಮತಿ ಬಿ.ಸರà³�à²�ಾದà³�ವಿ à²�ವರ ನಿಧನದ ಸà³�ದà³�ದಿ ತಿಳಿದà³� ದà³�à²�à²�ವಾಯಿತà³�. à²�ನà³�ನಡ, ತಮಿಳà³�, ತà³�ಲà³�à²�à³� ಮತà³�ತà³� ಹಿà²�ದಿ à²�ಿತà³�ರರà²�à²�à²�ಳಲà³�ಲಿ ಸà³�ಮಾರà³� 160à²�à³�à²�à³� à²�ಿತà³�ರà²�ಳಲà³�ಲಿ ನಾಯà²� ನà²�ಿಯಾà²�ಿ à²�à²à²¿à²¨à²¯à²¿à²¸à²¿à²¦à³�ದ à²�ವರ à²�à²�ಲಿà²�à³�ಯಿà²�ದ, à²�ನà³�ನಡ ಮಾತà³�ರವಲà³�ಲದà³� à²�ಡà³� à²à²¾à²°à²¤à³�ಯ à²�ಿತà³�ರರà²�à²�à²�à³�à²�à³�â�¦ — R. Ashoka (@RAshokaBJP) July 14, 2025 Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar expressed grief over the passing away of the legendary actor. à²�à²à²¿à²¨à²¯ ಸರಸà³�ವತಿà²�à³� ರà³�ರà³�ತಿಯ ವಿದಾಯ.. à²�ನà³�ನಡದ ಹಿರಿಯ ನà²�ಿ, à²�à²à²¿à²¨à²¯ ಸರಸà³�ವತಿ à²�à²�ದà³� à²�à³�ಯಾತರಾà²�ಿದà³�ದ ಬಿ. ಸರà³�à²�ಾ ದà³�ವಿ à²�ವರ ನಿಧನದ ಸà³�ದà³�ದಿ ನà³�ವà³� ತà²�ದಿದà³�â��. à²�ನà³�ನಡ ಸà³�ರಿದà²�ತà³� ರà²�à²� â��à²à²¾à²·à³�à²�ಳಲà³�ಲಿ ನà²�ಿಸಿ, 6 ದಶà²�à²�ಳ à²�ಾಲ à²�ಿತà³�ರರà²�à²�à²�à³�à²�à³� ಸà³�ವà³� ಸಲà³�ಲಿಸಿ, ಸà³� à²�ನಿಸಿà²�à³�à²�ಡಿದà³�ದರà³�â��. à²�à²�ಲಿದ à²�ವರ à²�ತà³�ಮà²�à³�à²�à³� ದà³�ವರà³� à²�ಿರಶಾà²�ತಿಯನà³�ನà³� ನà³�ಡಲಿ. à²�ರಾರâ�¦ — DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) July 14, 2025 Devi got her big break with her Kannada film Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955). She made her Telugu film debut with Pandurang Mahathyam (1957) and acted in several successful films until the late 1970s. The Tamil film Nadodi Mannan (1958) established her as one of the top actresses in Tamil cinema. Blockbusters she starred in during this period include Anbe Vaa, Padagotti, Enga Veetu Pillai and Puthiya Paravai. After her marriage in 1967, she remained the second most sought-after actress in Tamil films until 1974, while she continued to be a top actress in Telugu and Kannada cinema from 1958 to 1980. She also acted in Hindi films, starting with Paigham (1959) until the mid-1960s. She acted in 161 consecutive films as the female lead between 1955 and 1984. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1969 and the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1992. She also received an honorary doctorate from Bangalore University and the Kalaimamani Award of Tamil Nadu. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
