January 2020 - Hindustaan Times

Jennifer Lopez had a great time watching the New York Jets with her parents every Sunday but she said that her parents would rather watch her perform at halftime of the Super Bowl.

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira to perform at Super Bowl LIV

On the coming Sunday, Lopez and fellow international pop superstar Shakira would headline the Super Bowl LIV halftime show. And it is a meaningful opportunity for both the stars. It is so because women had crucial roles in the ownership groups for both the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

But not much details about the show were revealed. The only thing they said is the show would have a message of diversity and universal love. Their performance becomes meaningful in background of the demise of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant. According to Lopez, she learned about his death from her parents.

Lopez said that if her parents were asked about choosing between New York Jets and Lopez performing in at the Super Bowl, they would choose the latter. They would be happy to see their daughter performing instead of the New York Jets. It would be a proud moment for them.

Kobe Bryant remembered

Shakira said that she couldn’t imagine the pain his family was going through that time. She further said that life was so fragile and that everyone should try to live every moment. She said that everyone would remember Kobe Bryant on Sunday. And that they would celebrate life and diversity in that country.

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International

A Fan Uploaded Last Selfie With Kobe Bryant

HT News January 31, 2020

A young fan of Kobe Bryant could have captured the last picture of the basketball legend had Kobe allowed him. But the fan quickly clicked a selfie as Kobe Bryant walked past him. He was thirteen-year-old BradySmigiel.

Selfie with Kobe Bryant

Brady Smigiel was in the Mamba Sports Academy owned by Kobe Bryant for a match. Luckily the basketball star was also at the academy to coach the team of his daughter Gianna (13). Brady was happy to find Bryant in the academy and wanted to click a picture with the star.

Brady approach Kobe Bryant for a picture but the latter promised a better picture next day. According to Brady’s mother, Dionne Smigiel, the NBA star wasn’t in the mood to click picture because his daughter’s team lost their match.

Brady Smigiel waited for selfie

An ardent fan of Kobe Bryant, Brady waited for the NBA star to come out after Gianna’s game. And the star came out but only to decline his request. Kobe Bryant promised Brady a good picture the next day but the destiny has different things for Kobe.

According to Brandy, Kobe Bryant asked whether he was playing the tournament and when Brandy responded in affirmation, Kobe said that they would take a picture the next day. But that day never came.

Brandy Smigiel quickly take out his mobile and took an instant selfie when the NBA star walked past him. The next day, Brandy uploaded the picture on Facebook with caption “we will take a better pic tomorrow”.

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International

With 213 Deaths And 9,692 Infected, Coronavirus Is Declared Global Health By WHO

HT News January 31, 2020

World Health Organization (WHO)has declared coronavirus, a global health emergency after the death toll in China from coronavirus reached 213. According to Chinese health authorities, maximum number of deaths were reported from Hubei and there were close to 10,000 infected cases in the country.

Lockdown in Wuhan, China

With 204 deaths, Hubei has become the centre of epidemic. Also, the Chinese authorities have detected 1,220 new cases in Hubei. The total number of persons infected with coronavirus has reached 6,000 with the new cases. In a hurry, China has placed some 60 million people in Hubei under virtual lockdown stage.

WHO is worried about coronavirus

The world health body said it declared coronavirus a global emergency because the potential of the virus to strike the countries with weaker health system. Coronavirus has already spread to 18 countries with Italy joining the list of coronavirus infected countries.

Italy found virus in to Chinese tourists afterwards the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Contetook a more drastic measure that others. Italy closed all air traffic to and from China. But WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the organization opposes such restrictions.

Other countries are rescuing their citizens from Hubei but Air France, American Airlines and British Airways have stopped flying to mainland China. The airline employees were worried about the exposure to the virus.

Stocks around the world also plunged fearing the economic fallout from Coronavirus in China that is the second-biggest economy of the world. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities are assessing the situation.

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News & Politics

23 Children Rescued After 10 Long Hours And Killing The Hostage Taker In UP

HT News January 31, 2020

UP police rescued 23 children from the captivity of a murder convict who had held the children under gunpoint. It happened in a small village in Farrukhabad district in west Uttar Pradesh.

Children held hostage at gunpoint

Subhash Batham is murder convict but out on bail. He reached home and invited children from his neighborhood to his home on the pretext of celebrating birthday of his daughter. Neighbors allowed their children to go to his home without sensing the danger.

At home, he held the children hostage on strange grounds but parents came to know about the situation late at night when children didn’t return to their homes. Parents reached Batham’s home but he intimidated them with his gun and gunshots. A villager was injured in the firing.

Panicked at the situation, the parents reached the nearest police station for help. Police sent a PCR van to assess the situation but Batham fired at the police with his gun. He also hurled a crude bomb on the police van from his terrace.

Subhash Batham was shot dead

Sensing gravity of the situation, the Kanpur Zone Inspector General reached the crime spot with a squad of anti-terrorism commandos. The IG tried to negotiate release of the children with Subhash Batham but to no avail. Finally, the police had to resort to action after 10 hours.

Subhash Batham had held everyone including his wife and daughter hostage at gun point. The commandos entered the home by distracting his attention and opened fired at him. He was shot dead and the children were released.

Source: https://bit.ly/2RIsn7W

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National

All Padma Awards Go To Women Of India

HT News January 30, 2020

The list of Padma Awardees 2020 is dominated by the six-time world boxing champion, Mary Kom. She has already been awarded Padma Shri in 2006 and decorated with the Padma Bhushan in 2013

Others on the Padma Award list are as follows:

PV Sindhu (Padma Bhushan)

The World Badminton Champion is also the first Indian to win the world championship in August last year. She was conferred Padma Shri in 2015 but her name was withdrawn from the Padma Bhushan award in 2017.

VineshPhogat (Padma Shri)

The first Indian woman wrestler to bag Gold in both Commonwealth and Asian Games, she is also the first Indian athlete to get nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards.

Manika Batra (Padma Shri)

The Indian Table tennis star led the Indian women’s team to a gold medal historic win in the final against Singapore at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Arjuna Awardee Harmanpreet Kaur (Padma Shri)

The T20 skipper of Indian team is the first woman score a century in a Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) match in November 2018.

Rani Rampal (Padma Shri)

Women’s Hockey team captain, she was the youngest player in the national team which participated in the 2010 World Cup. She was 15 then and her team bagged a Silver in 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Suma Shirur (Padma Shri)

Former Indian shooter, she won Gold in the Commonwealth Games 2002 in the 10m air rifle event.

Tashi and Nungshi Malik (Padma Shri)

The twin sisters are the first to climb the Seven Summits and reach the North and South Poles and complete the Adventurers Grand Slam and Three Poles Challenge.

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Technology

Mercedes-Benz 2020: The All-New GLE SUV Launched At Rs. 73.70 Lakh

HT News January 30, 2020

Mercedes-Benz launched its all-new GLE SUV starring Rs. 73.70 lakh in India. It comes in two variants – GLE 300d and GLE 400d. While the first one is the base model and the latter is called a Hip-Hop Edition that is a direct import.

New SUV by Mercedes-Benz

The new-gen GLE sports a fresh grille design; has an improved shoulder line and boasts large wheel arches. Also, it has got new headlights with two LED bars and a sporty tail-light design.

GLE 300d

According to the manufacturer, the booking for GLE 300d model has already been closed till March 2020 and the delivery would start from April. It packs a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine that produces 245hp and 500Nm of torque.

GLE 400d

It is a higher variant and a direct import and for this reason it costs up Rs. 1.25 crore. It is powered by a more powerful 3.0-litre, six-cylinder diesel unit that generates 330hp and 700Nm of torque.

GLE 450d

It is the petrol variant of the new-SUV. It packs a 3.0-litre, six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine paired with a mild-hybrid system. The combined system output is 367hp and 500Nm of torque. But it is disappointing to know that the German carmaker isn’t launching this variant in India.

Electric car

Mercedes-Benz has plans to launch its first all-electric car for India. It is EQC and it is expected to be launched in April 2020. Also, the German carmaker has confirmed that it will launch new GLS models later this year.

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News & Politics

Muslim Body Files Affidavit In Response To SC’s Petition On Restrictions On Muslim Women Entering Mosques

HT News January 30, 2020

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board told the Supreme Court that women were not prohibited from entering mosques under Islamic tenets. The AIMPLB was responding to a notice served by the SC on the petition filed by Yasmeen Peerzade and others.

SC petition on entry of Muslim women in mosques

Las October, the Supreme Court allowed a petition related to the restrictions over entering of Muslim women in mosques. The petition read that it was unconstitutional to restrict entry of women in mosques and it constituted a violation of their fundamental right to life, equality and gender justice.The petition asked the court that the Muslim women shouldn’t be treated with separate entries, exits and praying areas.

AIMPLB filed affidavit in response to the petition

It said that Islam permitted entry of women into mosques and that it wasn’t mandatory for them to attend Friday prayers or congregational prayers. It further said that there was no restriction on women and men praying together.

The board maintained that the court had no jurisdiction to restrain “fatwa”. It said that the sanctity of “fatwa” was based on the opinion based on the religious texts, doctrine and their interpretation. And restricting the “fatwa” would directly the right and freedom of belief.

Bigger bench of SC to hear the petition

The Supreme Court has constituted a 9-judge bench to give a legal opinion on discrimination against women in entering various religious places including in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Source: https://bit.ly/2O99lFO

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Cricket Sports

Asia Cup 2020: India Won’t Play In Pakistan

HT News January 29, 2020

BCCI said that it has little objection in PCB hosting Asia Cup but Indian cricket team won’t go to Pakistan for the tournament. The Asia Cup is scheduled in September this year and it is considered important for World Cup preparation.

India won’t play in Pakistan

BCCI said that the Asia Cup should be neutral because it wasn’t an option to go to Pakistan for playing. A senior BCCI official said that hosting was never an issue with India because the venue should be neutral. And it was important because India won’t play in Pakistan.

The official made it clear that the present conditions didn’t allow India to go to Pakistan for playing. There were little chances of India going to Pakistan to take part in a multi-national tournament. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) wanted to go ahead without India then it could. Bur if ACC wanted India to take part in Asia Cup then it had to be held outside Pakistan.

Asia Cup

In 2018, India was hosting Asia Cup but had to shift to UAE due to visa issues with Pakistani cricketers. BCCI hosted Asia Cup in UAE at that time. The official said that PCB could also host Asia Cup in that manner.

BCCI said that neutral venues were always available as alternative. The official recalled the 2009 incident when Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked in Pakistan. But Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cricket teams had no issue in playing in Pakistan. But India had different issues with Pakistan.

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Cricket Sports

ICC U-19 World Cup: India Beat Australia

HT News January 29, 2020

Australia was defeated by Indian cricket team in the Super League quarter-final 1 of the ICC U-19 World Cup. India batted first and set the target of 233/9 in 50 overs. But Australian team failed to chase the target in record time.

Indian batting

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Atharva Ankolekar helped India set a big score for Australia. Together they accumulated 117 runs. Jaiswal made 62 runs and Ankolekar made 55 runs and remained not out. India lost wickets at regular intervals but the batting side was strong enough to make a challenging score. There was a time when India was reduced to 144/6.

Yashasvi Jaiswal

He put a brave foot before Australian team that bowled well. He looked terrific while smashing Australian bowlers. He delivered six 4s and to 6s in 82 deliveries and made 62 runs. It was his third 50 in the tournament. He made 59, 29, 57 and 62 in the tournament. But his biggest strength was that he remained unmoved by the regular fall of wickets at the other end.

Atharva Ankolekar

After the dismissal of Jaiswao, Atharva took the bold stand of making runs while saving wickets. And his partnership with Ravi Bishnoi took Indian score to above 200 mark. He made 61-runs with Bisnoi. He scored 55* runs with five 4s and one 6.

Australian batting

Soon after the start of their inning, Australian team was reduced to 17/4 in no time. But opening batsman Sam Fanning and W/K batsman Patrick Rowe added 51 runs for fifth-wicket but they failed to chase the target.

Source: https://bit.ly/3aOzsvb

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Top Celebrities

Rajinikanth Got Scratched With Little Thorns While Shooting With Bear Grylls In Mysore

HT News January 29, 2020

Superstar Rajinikanth and Thalaivaa said he was alright as news of his getting injured while shooting for adventurer Bear Grylls’ survival show “Man vs Wild”. He said that there were only some scratches and no major injury.

Bear Grylls shooting with Rajinikanth

The Superstar was shooting for a special episode of “Man vs Wild” when he was scratched after coming into contact with little thorns in Mysore forests around Karnataka. After the shoot, he talked to reporters at the Chennai airport and said that he only received some scratches and no wounds.

Rajinikanth is the second Indian personality after Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be featured on the popular adventure show on Discovery. PM Modi appeared on the show in 2019 August.

PM Modi on Man vs Wild

Bear Grylls walked with Modi (68) in his popular adventure show “Man vs Wild” in a National Park in Uttarakhand in August last year. Narendra Modi even shared a ride on a makeshift boat with Bear Grylls at the park. In the episode, PM Modi shared stories about his humble beginning as a son of a tea-seller. Also, he told about his solo trips of spiritual awakening to Himalayas in his youth.

Modi impact on Discovery Channel

According to Discovery Channel that episode made record impressions reaching up to 6.1 million viewers. Bear Grylls said that it was a huge privilege to host PM Modi on a journey. Bear Grylls also said that he was a huge fan of the wilderness and beauty of India.

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