D Gukesh crowned world champion

 

Chess greats, including Viswanathan Anand, Garry Kasparov and the Polgar sisters, were amongst the many who congratulated D Gukesh for his World Championship triumph. Gukesh defeated China's Ding Liren in the title match in Singapore.

In Short

D Gukesh defeated Ding Liren to become the 18th world chess champion

Viswanathan Anand led the tribute to the youngest-ever world champion

Garry Kasparov urged India to build on its recent success in chess

India’s D Gukesh became the toast of the chess world after his monumental achievement on Thursday, December 12. The 18-year-old became the first teenager to win the World Chess Championship after beating China’s Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in a closely fought title clash. Gukesh also became only the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to win the prestigious title.

After the victory, Gukesh was overwhelmed as he cried tears of joy. His composure and humility shone through when he sat back to arrange the pieces on the board and applauded his opponent later in the day.

PSLV XL Proba-3 Launch

 PSLV XL Proba-3 Launch: ISRO successfully launches ESA’s mission to study sun’s corona

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-3 mission aboard its trusted PSLV-C59 rocket on Thursday, a major milestone in international space collaboration.

The Proba-3 mission consists of two satellites, Coronagraph (310 kg) and Occulter (240 kg), designed to study the Sun’s corona, the outermost layer of its atmosphere.

S. Somanath, the chairman of ISRO, acknowledged that the mission has been accomplished successfully.

The satellites will operate as one system, flying in precise formation 150 meters apart to enable advanced solar observation.

PSLV-C59, undertaking its 61st flight, will place the satellites into a highly elliptical orbit 18 minutes after lift-off.

Once operational, the Occulter satellite will block the Sun’s disk, allowing the Coronagraph to study the surrounding atmosphere, where space weather originates.


The mission aims to explore the corona, which is significantly hotter than the Sun’s surface and a critical area for understanding solar activity.

India win 5th junior Asia Cup title

 

Muscat, Dec 4: Araijeet Singh Hundal slammed four goals as defending champions India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 5-3 in the summit clash to win a hat-trick of titles in the men’s junior Asia Cup here on Wednesday.

This was India’s fifth title in the continental tournament, having previously won the crown in 2004, 2008, 2015 and 2023.
The tournament was not held in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Araijeet converted three penalty corners in the fourth, 18th and 54th minutes besides finding the net from a field effort in the 47th minute. Dilraj Singh (19th) was the other goal getter for India.
For Pakistan, Sufyan Khan (30th, 39th) converted two penalty corners, while Hannan Shahid scored from field play in the third minute.
Japan defeated Malaysia 2-1 to claim the third spot earlier in the day.
There was hardly anything to differentiate between the two sides as both India and Pakistan fought hard for ball possession in the first quarter.
The highlight of the first quarter was ariel passes employed by both the teams.
But Pakistan had the first laugh, striking as early as the third minute through a field goal from Shahid.
India didn’t sit back and secured their first penalty corner seconds later, and Araijeet stepped up to draw level with a powerful drag-flick to the right of Pakistan goalkeeper.
India upped their game in the second quarter and secured their second penalty corner in the 18th minute and Araijeet struck again with another powerful flick.
A minute later, a fine field goal by Dilraj extended India’s lead to 3-1.
Pakistan, however, reduced the margin in the 30th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Sufyan.
Pakistan were the better side on display after the change of ends and they drew level in the 39th minute through another penalty corner conversion by Sufyan.
India secured their third penalty corner in the 47th minute, but Araijeet’s effort was saved by Pakistan goalkeeper Muhammad Janjua.
Araijeet, however, was not to be denied his hat-trick as he found the net from a field effort seconds later to hand India the lead again.
India pressed hard on the Pakistan citadel in the final 10 minutes and secured a few more penalty corners and Araijeet found the net again from a fine variation to make the scoreline 5-3