Nobel Prize-winning author V.S. Naipaul dies
London, Aug 12 : Nobel Prize-winning novelist V.S. Naipaul, who explored questions of place and identity for more than half a century, has died aged 85, his family announced on Sunday.
Lady Naipaul confirmed that her husband had died peacefully in London on Saturday, reports the Guardian.
"He was a giant in all that he achieved and he died surrounded by those he loved having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour," she said in a statement.
Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in 1932 in Chaguanas on the island of Trinidad and Tobago, to a family that had arrived from India in the 1880s, part of what he once called "an immigrant Asian community in a small plantation island in the New World".
Naipaul once said that he never felt at home in the community. In 2008, he recalled his childhood as "pretty awful" and his family as "terrible... very large, with too many people. There was no beauty. It was full of malice".
A government scholarship offered him a chance to escape, an immigrant once more as he travelled to Oxford in 1950 to study English. Turning from the comedy that began his career, Naipaul cast a steely eye on the shards of empire in a series of novels and travelogues.
Unflattering portraits of the West Indies, India, Africa and the Islamic faith brought both hostility and acclaim.
Critics accused him of holding people of the developing world in contempt even as his diamantine prose won him a series of awards including the Booker prize in 1971, a knighthood in 1989 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001.
His first book, "The Mystic Masseur", was published in 1951 and a decade later he published his most celebrated novel, "A House for Mr Biswas", with a protagonist based on Naipaul's father took him over three years to write, reports the BBC.
His other noted works include "The Enigma of Arrival", "Miguel Street", "The Loss of El Dorado" and "Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples".
Naipaul's death was mourned by many including Geordie Greig, editor of the Mail on Sunday and a close friend, said his loss leaves a "gaping hole in Britain's literary heritage" but there is "no doubt" that his "books live on".
English novelist and journalist Hari Kunzru recalled interviewing him and said: "When we sat down, the first thing he said was 'tell me what you've read and don't lie'. Only then would he consent to be questioned."
Writer Jeet Heer called him a "powerful novelist" who "at his best approached Conrad and even the shadow of Dickens".
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345 Indian fishermen stranded in Iran return home via Armenia
New Delhi (PTI): A group of 345 Indian fishermen, who were stranded in Iran amid escalating regional tensions, returned to India via Armenia on Saturday, officials said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar thanked his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan for assistance in return of the Indian nationals.
The Indian nationals arrived in Chennai this evening, the officials cited above said.
The circumstances that led to them being stranded in Iran were not immediately known.
"Thank FM @AraratMirzoyan and the Government of Armenia for facilitating the evacuation of Indian fishermen today from Iran, through Armenia to India," Jaishankar said on social media.
Over 1,500 Indian nationals have left Iran through land border crossings in Armenia and Azerbaijan since the start of the West Asia conflict over a month ago.
"A group of Indian fishermen, stranded in Iran, are returning home via Armenia today; their flight is expected to reach India this evening," a government statement said.
It said the Ministry of External Affairs continues to closely monitor the evolving situation in the West Asian region, with the safety, security and welfare of the Indian community being accorded the highest priority.
It also made a mention of five Indians being injured in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
According to Abu Dhabi authorities, the Indian nationals were among the 12 people injured by debris from an intercepted missile.
"In an attack in Abu Dhabi, five Indian nationals were injured; four have been discharged, one remains under treatment," the Indian government's statement said.
It said the Indian mission in Abu Dhabi is extending "full" assistance and coordinating with local authorities, adding that their flight is expected to reach India this evening.
