Nayantara Sahgal protests Dadri lynching, returns Akademi award

Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in protest against what she called the “vanishing space” for diversity.

The niece of the former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also said people were being “killed for not agreeing with the ruling ideology.”

Referring to the recent killings of rationalists and writers M.M. Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and of Dadri resident Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched on suspicion of consuming beef, Ms. Sahgal, speaking to The Hindu from her home in Dehradun, said: “â�¦in this rising tide of hatred, India is being unmade, being destroyed.”

INS Astradharani commissioned at Vizag

The 50-metre twin-hulled warship is also the first to be built at a private yard with armament fixtures. The unique design of the ship was a collaborative effort of Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, IIT Kharagpur and Shoft Shipyard. The catamaran hull configuration significantly reduces its power requirement.

INS Astradharani will be used to carryout the technical trials of underwater weapons and systems developed by the city-based NSTL. It is an advanced replacement for Astravahini which was decommissioned on July 17 this year.

The ship has a complement of two officers and 27 sailors and can carry 13 scientists.

India tops Asia in sending scientists and engineers to US: report

Among Asian countries, India continues to be the top country of birth for scientists and engineers who have made the US their destination for key research and development, latest data has revealed.

With 9,50,000 out of Asia’s total 2.96 million, India’s 2013 figure represented an 85 per cent increase from 2003, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).

From 2003 to 2013, the number of scientists and engineers residing in the US rose from 21.6 million to 29 million.

Ashok Vemuri quits iGATE

French IT services company Capgemini said Ashok Vemuri, CEO of IGATE, has resigned from the company to pursue other interests outside of the company. The announcement from the IT major comes six months after it acquired U.S.-based IT services company iGATE for $4 billion. “Ashok Vemuri, CEO of IGATE, having successfully contributed to the transition process, leaves in a mutual agreement to pursue other interests outside of Capgemini,” a company statement said. Ashok Vemuri joined U.S.-based IGATE as CEO in September 2013. Earlier, there were speculations that Mr. Vemuri will quit iGATE after the $4 billion deal.

Dena Bank enhances online presence through tie up

Dena Bank has entered into a tie-up with online financial product aggregator bankbazaar.com for capturing retail loan business through the firm’s online platform. “The tie up with bankbazaar.com for retail loans such as housing, car, and used cars, and savings account will further strengthen the banks online presence and significantly support its growing retail portfolio, Dena Bank said in a statement.

Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 announced

The Nobel Prize 2015 in Physics jointly went to Takaaki Kajita from the University of Tokyo and Arthur B. McDonald from Queen\'s University, Canada.

The Nobel was awarded \"for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass”.

Mr. Kajita discovered that neutrinos from the atmosphere switch between two identities when coming to Japan\'s Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector.

On the other hand, the research group Mr. McDonald demonstrated that the neutrinos from the Sun were not disappearing on their way to Earth. Instead they were captured with a different identity when arriving to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.

Russia’s Sergey Karjakin wins World Cup

Russia’s Sergey Karjakin has won the chess World Cup, beating compatriot Peter Svidler 6-4, in the final here on Monday. The title was decided in the tie-breakers after the two won two classical games each.

In the tie-breaker, Karjakin drew first blood, winning the opening rapid game, but Svidler came strongly back by winning the next two. Karjakin, however, won the fourth rapid game to draw level.

Then he became the champion of the 128-player knock-out event by emerging victorious in both the blitz games. Interestingly, all the ten games in the final produced decisive results.

By reaching the final, both Karjakin and Svidler qualified for the Candidates tournament to be held next March, which will identify Norwegian Magnus Carlsen’s challenger for the next World championship.

Viswanathan Anand and the two Americans Fabiana Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura are the others who have qualified. Three more slots remain to be filled for the eight-player tournament.