For whom No-bels have tolled

Last Monday, the Swedish Academy, notoriously rule-bound, created a minor kerfuffle by announcing what appeared initially to be the first posthumous award in Nobel history - it nominated Ralph Steinman for the medicine prize, unaware that the physician had passed away three days ago. Two days later, Indian stargazers experienced a unique frisson when the online bookmaker Ladbrokes reported a 25/1 odds on Malayalam poet and critic K Sachidanandan getting the literature Nobel.

Read Full Story>>