With silver, Divyansh secures India's fourth Olympic quota in shooting
Beijing: India's 17-year-old teenager Divyansh Singh Panwar Friday secured the country's fourth Olympic quota place in shooting by winning a silver in the ISSF World Cup here.
Competing in only his second senior competition, Divyansh shot a total of 249.0 in the 10m air rifle event to finish a creditable second in the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters.
In fact, he missed out on the gold medal by just 0.4 points, which eventually went to China's Zicheng Hui, who shot 249.4. Grigorii Shamakov of Russia settled for bronze with a score of 227.5.
This is India's fourth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota after Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle women) and Saurabh Choudhary (10m Air Pistol men) had secured berths in the earlier World Cups and last year's World Championship.
Divyansh had qualified in third position for the final with a total score of 629.2. Among the other Indians in the fray, Ravi Kumar finished 44th with a score of 624.1 while Deepak Kumar was placed 57th with 622.6.
"Feeling really proud to have won quota for my country. I have gained in experience from this final. It was very tough with proven shooters, Olympians in fray," Divyansh said after winning the medal and quota.
On Thursday, Divyansh partnered with Anjum Moudgil to beat the formidable Chinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang Haoran 17-15 in 10m air rifle mixed team event and win the gold.
This was India's third medal at the World Cup in China and they sit at the top of the medal tally. The duo of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary had on Thursday won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Prabhakar Raghavan appointed Google’s chief technologist, receives ₹300 crore offer
Silicon Valley: Google has named Prabhakar Raghavan, a distinguished IIT Madras alumnus, as its new Chief Technologist. In a major career leap, Raghavan has accepted an impressive ₹300 crore offer, marking a high point in his career of over two decades.
Raghavan, 64, previously served as Google's Senior Vice President, overseeing key areas including Search, Assistant, Ads, Commerce, and Payments. Known for his pioneering contributions, he played a significant role in launching AI-powered tools such as Smart Reply and Smart Compose.
In a note to employees, Google CEO Sundar Pichai praised Raghavan’s decision to return to his computer science roots, saying, “After 12 years leading multiple teams at Google, Prabhakar is ready for his next chapter as Chief Technologist.”
Raghavan's career began with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT Madras, followed by advanced studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. in computer science from UC Berkeley. His early work at IBM’s Almaden Research Center and as a professor at Stanford University laid the foundation for a distinguished career that included leadership roles at Yahoo and Verity.
His appointment comes amid rising competition in the tech landscape, with Google facing challenges from rivals like Microsoft, OpenAI, and other startups. With a renewed focus on artificial intelligence, Raghavan envisions AI transforming industries and tackling global issues, including urban traffic and disaster management.
