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Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
JEE rankers choose MIT over IIT for research, global options
Mumbai: Devesh Bhaiya, All India Rank 8 this year in the fiercely contested JEE Advanced, has decided to turn his back on India's elite engineering institutions and head for MIT instead. He won't be alone. Ved Lahoti, last year's Rank 1 and the candidate who has scored the highest in the entrance exam (352/360) in recent history, is also wrapping up his Powai chapter in exchange for a fully funded scholarship at MIT. There's a murmur of a trend here. In 2020, it was Chirag Falor who chose MIT over IIT. Before that, it was Chitraang Murdia, who spent a year at IIT Bombay before transferring to MIT. He now holds a PhD from Berkeley. "It seems like MIT trusts the rigour of JEE Advanced and the promise of our Olympiad stars," said Prof Vijay Singh, once at IIT Kanpur, who later superannuated from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. Jalgaon's Devesh has a record that goes far beyond the JEE rank: three gold medals, two from International Junior Science Olympiads in 2021 and 2022, and one from the International Chemistry Olympiad in 2024. In 2020, he was awarded the Bal Shakti Puraskar. At 12, when most children were still tracing constellations in the sky, Devesh was mapping their vanishing — authoring a paper on light pollution. He received admission to MIT in March but sat for JEE Advanced anyway — a "back-up," he calls it. Devesh is not alone. But the others chose to stay for a year, to feel the pulse on Indian campuses, before going overseas. They too were accepted by American universities, whose doors — as Professor Vijay Singh notes — open wide for those with Olympiad medals and high JEE scores. The students' reasons for the switch are apparent. "I'm fully satisfied with IIT Bombay. But it lags in research. Globally, it's not even in the top 100. So, I applied to MIT — and when it came through, I took it. A lot of students have taken transfer to MIT and when I asked them, they said the transfer was truly worth it," said Lahoti. Nishank Abhangi, who spent 2019–2020 immersed in IIT Bombay's rigour before packing for MIT, and Mahit Gadhewala, All India Rank 9 in 2022, who also left after a year at IITB, are the other examples. Prof Singh said the first such student to do so was Raghu Mahajan, who spent a year at IIT Delhi, then took off to MIT, completed his PhD at Stanford, and is currently spending a year at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru. "He was very committed to coming back to India," recalled Prof Singh. Lahoti too shares the same feelings. "I have no plans to settle in the USA."
Time of India
30-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Clock Tower stops ticking again; original patron's kin raise concern
Dehradun: The iconic Clock Tower in Dehradun—one of the city's oldest landmarks—has stopped functioning once again amid ongoing beautification work. For the family that originally commissioned the structure in the 1940s, the sight of malfunctioning clocks and repeated alterations is disheartening. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The maintenance work led to the clocks stopping several weeks ago. Spot visits this week revealed inconsistent functioning—while five of the tower's six clocks showed the correct time on Thursday evening, one remained out of sync. "The state to which this iconic landmark has been reduced is disappointing and disheartening," said Vijay Singh, grandson of Lala Balbir Singh, in whose memory the structure was commissioned. Completed in 1953, the tower stands at one of Dehradun's busiest intersections. It was commissioned by Lala Sher Singh, a prominent landlord, in memory of his father, at a cost of nearly ₹1.5 lakh. Originally, six clocks were imported from Switzerland, contributing to its rare hexagonal design. The structure also bears the names of freedom fighters, adding to its historical significance. Over time, however, the original Swiss clocks were replaced—though authorities are unaware of when or how the change occurred. "Sometimes we regret handing the tower over to the city council. This was a historic landmark; it still is. It meant so much to our family and the whole city. Now it has become a prop that undergoes a facelift every few months, it seems. Authorities should be focused on maintaining the existing structure. Instead, they keep revamping the whole thing, adding new embellishments that don't last long," Singh told TOI. The family also said they only learn about changes through news reports. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "We are never informed or involved in this process. Not even historians are. Authorities keep experimenting with this iconic landmark. At the time of its commission, it created history for its hexagonal structure. Now it is being lost," he added. In Sept last year, the tower fell silent for two days after unidentified individuals stole its wiring. In Dec, it suffered further damage when a truck rammed into its boundary wall. Over the years, TOI has reported multiple such incidents that have left the landmark defaced. Authorities have stated that the current restoration will offer long-term protection, with a double boundary to prevent vehicle collisions and a green belt around the main structure. While the Dehradun Municipal Corporation has jurisdiction over the tower, the ongoing beautification is being executed by Dehradun Smart City Limited.
Irish Independent
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Padraig Harrington surges into major contention at Senior PGA Championship
Starting on the back nine, the Dubliner (53) birdied the 14th and 16th to get to three under. But after getting distracted thinking about how he was swinging well and hitting fairways and greens, he bogeyed the 18th and first and immediately switched to scoring mode. Three birdies in his last eight holes helped him card a three-under 69 and leap to tied fourth on four-under, just two shots behind leaders Vijay Singh, Cameron Percy and YE Yang. 'I played quite well for the first 26 holes, then made a couple of bogeys around the turn,' Harrington said after Darren Clarke shot 70 to share 11th on three under. 'After that, I got a lot better into what I was doing and played a lot more getting the job done and not really worrying about swinging the club well or playing well. 'It was nice to come home in three under par from there on in.' He added: 'I was playing well and hit most fairways and greens, and sometimes you get lost in that. 'When I dropped a shot on 18 and on the first, I'm just knuckling down and really not caring too much about how I'm doing, just get it done. It was definitely a better mindset over the last seven or eight holes.' As the three-time major winner and former US Senior Open champion headed to his 11th hole, caddie Ronan Flood reminded him that rather than the usual 54-hole sprint, this was a 72-hole marathon. 'Ronan said it to me when we got through the first hole; he said, look, we've only played 28 holes,' Harrington explained. 'There's still a long way to go in this tournament. 'But the problem with the Champions Tour is that this week we have four rounds, which is a huge relief, but the Champions Tour, you've got to be near the lead nearly. 'It's actually starting to show up on the PGA Tour. You've got to be inside the top 10 if you're going to compete in these tournaments. 'Very rarely do you see people coming nowadays from well back. Years ago, it used to happen, but I think they're pretty much showing you want to be in the top 10 nearly after day one, if not after day two, in order to have a chance of winning a tournament.' That means Seamus Power or Scottie Scheffler will unlikely win the PGA Tour's Charles Schwab Championship in Forth Worth. Scheffler carded a one-over 71 at Colonial in round two and goes into the weekend ten strokes off the lead in a tie for 49th on one-under. Ben Griffin and Germany's Matti Schmid fired a seven-under 63s to lead by two shots on 11-under from first-round pacesetter John Pak. Power shot a bogey-free, three under 67 to get back to level par but only discovered he had made the cut on the mark late in the day. But there will be no weekend action for Leona Maguire in the Mexico River Maya Open at Mayakoba. She bogeyed her last two holes to card a second successive 75 and miss the four-over cut by two shots. The Co Cavan star (29) has fallen from 52nd to 75th in the world this year and now needs to turn things around for next week's US Women's Open at Erin Hills. Jenny Bae shot a second-round 69 in Playa del Carmen and leads by a shot on six-under at halfway from China's Miranda Wang and American Brianna Do.
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Vijay Singh tied for lead in Senior PGA Championship at Congressional
BETHESDA, Md. — Vijay Singh started thinking about what he might do with his weekend after bogeying the first three holes Friday at the Senior PGA Championship . 'Your mind just goes haywire,' he said. 'But I've played long enough to know that there's a lot of golf out there.'
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Vijay Singh tied for lead in Senior PGA Championship at Congressional
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Vijay Singh started thinking about what he might do with his weekend after bogeying the first three holes Friday at the Senior PGA Championship. 'Your mind just goes haywire,' he said. 'But I've played long enough to know that there's a lot of golf out there.' Then, he showed it. After missing the Masters and PGA Championship this spring because of an undisclosed injury, Singh looked perfectly healthy the rest of the second round with seven birdies to surge to the top of the leaderboard at Congressional Country Club. Shooting a 4-under 68, the former top-ranked player was tied for the lead with Y.E. Yang (68) and Cameron Percy (71) at 6 under halfway through the PGA Tour Champions major. 'I've been driving the ball good,' Singh said. 'Just hung in there and started making a couple of birdies here and there, picked up the shots, and the back nine I played solid golf.' The 62-year-old from Fiji is aiming for his first career victory at the course in the Maryland suburbs just outside of Washington, which he has played a handful of times, including the 1997 U.S. Open. He tied for 77th then and missed the cut in his last event at Congressional, Tiger Woods' tournament in 2014. 'I've always loved playing here,' Singh said, noting that much has changed from his previous tries. 'It's totally a different golf course, totally new golf course. The greens are very challenging, to say the least.' Singh, who spent 32 weeks atop the world ranking roughly two decades ago and was known for his rigorous practice habits, has cut that part of his routine in half. 'Once I get on the range and hit, it used to be I'd go out there and hit five, six good shots and I'd say, 'OK, let's see if I can do 20 of these ones,'' Singh said. 'But now if I hit two or three good shots, I say, 'I've had enough, that's it.'' Yang birdied four of his last five holes Friday. With conditions changing throughout his round, Percy kept looking for the big American flag to see how windy it was at any given moment and credited growing up in Melbourne, Australia, for knowing how to handle it. 'I think the wind definitely helps me,' Percy said. 'You get down in the tree lines and you can't feel the wind, and then you walk 200 yards and it's blowing like crazy.' Padraig Harrington headlined a crowded group two strokes back at 4 under. Stuart Cink, Justin Leonard, defending champion Richard Bland and others were 3 under. Ernie Els followed an opening 69 with a 75 to drop to even par. He won the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional. ___ AP golf:
