Thakazhi cremated
Alappuzha: The body of Jnanpith awardee Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai was cremated at his Sankaramangalam residence in Thakazhi this afternoon with full state honours. His son Balakrishnan Nair lit the funeral pyre. People from all walks of life, including noted writers M T Vasudevan Nair and Ponkunnam Varkey and poet-lyricist O N V Kurup attended the funeral.

Tribal suicide
Hyderabad: Unable to bear the separation from his 20-month-old daughter, a Lambada tribal committed suicide at Gourikunta Tanda in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, recently. The tribal, Indravat Sevya, on learning that his wife had sold their daughter two weeks ago committed suicide.

Physics award
Mumbai: Chairman of the Indian Space Commission and Secretary, Department of Space Dr K Kasturirangan will be the first recipient of the Murli M Chugani Memorial Award, recently instituted by the Indian Physics Association. ISRO launched the Bhaskara and the IRS series of earth observing, remote sensing satellites under his leadership.

INSAT operations
Bangalore: In a series of critical operations, space scientists today deployed the solar array and two antennae on board INSAT-2E, as the spacecraft continued to move slowly towards its space home.