News Today:
Battle for western Uttar Pradesh has begun
As the process of filing nominations for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh election comes to a close, the battle for western Uttar Pradesh has begun. Riding on the perceived Jat-Muslim unity after the farmers’ agitation and the Bahujan Samaj Party’s indifference, the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance is hoping to seize control of the region where the Bharatiya Janata Party won a whopping 53 out of the 58 seats in 2017. HT
4 Indians dead trying to cross to America from Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday vowed action on human trafficking after the “mind-blowing” death of four Indian nationals, who froze to death while allegedly trying to illegally cross the border between Canada and the United States. The four victims – an infant, a teenage boy and two adults – were found in the Canadian province of Manitoba, just about 10km from the American border in Minnesota, where they were said to be walking across snow-covered fields during blizzard-like conditions. HT
Ban on physical rallies and roadshows for Assembly elections in five states next month extended
The Election Commission Saturday consulted health authorities and announced that the ban on physical rallies and roadshows for Assembly elections in five states next month was being extended to January 31, but parties would be allowed to hold physical public meetings of candidates from January 28 for Phase 1 of the elections, and from February 1 for Phase 2. While Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7, polling in Uttarakhand and Goa will be held on February 14. Punjab will vote on February 20 while Manipur will go to polls on February 27 and March 3. Indian Express
Delhi equalled its record for the third-wettest January on record ever
Delhi has so far received 69.8mm of rain this month, the same as it did in all of January 1995, and behind only 1989 (when the city got 79.3mm of rain in the month) and 1953 (73.7mm). Delhi received 5.5mm total rain till 8.30pm on Saturday, IMD said. The city also witnessed a severe cold day on Saturday as the maximum temperature at Safdarjung, Delhi’s base observatory, dropped to 14.7 degrees Celsius — the lowest this season — seven degrees below normal. HT
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she is surprised at Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s low profile
“I am also surprised seeing… six-seven months back we use to think that her party is not active, maybe they will start close to elections. We were also very surprised that the election has started we are in the middle of the election and it has not become active. As you said, (she) is very quiet, I am not able to understand,” Priyanka Gandhi said in an interview with ANI. “It is possible that the BJP government is exerting pressure,” she added. HT
Google Trends Today
Cryptocurrency falls
The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation dropped from $1.88 to $ 1.7 trillion during the last 24 hours while the trading volume surged from $66.35 to $126 billion. A white-hat hacker has returned 322 Ethereum (around $900,000) after an exploit drained Multichain users of more than $3 million worth of crypto this week.
South Korean actors Park Shin-hye and Choi Tae-joon marry
South Korean actors Park Shin-hye and Choi Tae-joon tied the knot on Sunday in a private ceremony in Seoul. SALT Entertainment, the talent agency representing the two, shared dreamy pictures of the couple on their Instagram page.
Compiled from Google Trends
Twitter Trends
- First-ever video of polar bear hunting reindeer shows how climate change is impacting its diet
- Kiribati, a COVID-19 free island, gets 36 positive cases on its first international flight
- #cryptocrash
- #AmarJawanJyoti
Compiled from Twitter