The Weekly Focus Edition 83
Sindhutai Sapkal
In a tragic turn of events, Sindhutai Sapkal, mother to over 1000 kids through orphanages died earlier this year. “Do not be afraid of small crises, just keep going and learn to befriend the crisis”, she once said. Hailed as the Mother Teresa of Maharashtra, her story is one for the ages. She started off her life in a small village in Maharashtra, where her mother discouraged her from education and made her stay at home. She was sent to be married at the mere age of 10, to a 30-year-old man and had 3 kids by the time she was just 20. They were always struggling for money, and once she complained to the district office about the head of the village not paying any money to the villagers, and this infuriated her husband. She was kicked out of the house and family, 9 months pregnant. She gave birth in a small stable, and had to beg at the railway station to support herself and her daughter. That was when she realized that so many orphans struggle like this, and she should support all of them. She started adopting more kids and sustained them by doing menial jobs. After working for over 35 years to support these children, she started gaining fame and received many awards for her work. To date, she has had 273 international or national awards given to her, a biopic has been released about her, and she has also adopted over 1050 orphans, with a further 1000+ grandchildren. Her demise will be a tragic one for hundreds of children in Maharashtra, but she has left a huge impact on the people of this world.
Virat Kohli dropped from captaincy
Yesterday evening, Virat Kohli announced on his Social Media accounts that he will not be continuing as India’s Test captain, which concludes a fruitful chapter of Indian cricket wherein he was captain. Having a stellar record in T20 cricket, ODI cricket and of course, test cricket he has propelled India to new heights and has made India the No.1 team in all formats at one point in his career. Not just his captaincy, but he has become probably the best batsman there is in the past 5 years or so. He has amassed over 25 International hundreds, captained India to 2 ICC event finals, and crossed 10,000 runs in ODIs. But what does this mean for the game? Let’s hear from the biggest supporter of Kohli I know, Siddhanth Gubbi.
At this point, the pain as a true Indian cricket fan remains unbearable. Until a few years ago, India winning a Test series away from home was a massive achievement. Fast forward to now and a Test series loss against South Africa away from home was considered an upset. This is the impact of one man who led his team to do unimaginable things. The record speaks for itself; Kohli ended with the fourth-most wins in tests as captain despite having captained considerably fewer tests compared to other captains, he took India from no.7 to no.1 and he’s never lost a Test series in India as captain. Beyond all the statistics and records, his passion to play Test cricket stands out. The longest format is still relevant because of a lot of people, and he is one of them. This concludes Virat's career as a captain, but he will forever remain my captain.
Asteroid 7482
About 66 million years ago, a huge asteroid collided with the Earth with all its might. The impact was so great that the dinosaurs became extinct. Since then, no such event has occurred and it has played an important role in shaping human evolution. However, space experts believe that the Earth is unsafe due to the effects of space, as asteroids are regularly approaching the planet, large and small. NASA has confirmed that a one-kilometer-wide asteroid will approach Earth next week. Asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) will pass Earth and won't come close for decades to come. According to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Objects Research (CNEOS), the asteroid will pass Earth on January 18th. During a close approach, this cosmic rock will be about 1.2 million miles from Earth, so there is no chance of a collision. Asteroids can be detected with a star-directed telescope (HIP 8210) near the location of large cosmic rocks. According to a report published on the Earth Sky website, cosmic rocks will look like slow-moving stars with respect to other stars.
Earth Sky writes, "When the asteroid is passing close to fixed background stars, the movement will be more noticeable."
Other News
North Korea fires a test railway missile, in its third nuclear test this year.
Turkey, Armenia hold bilateral talks for the first time in 10 years to normalize ties between the nations.
Prince Andrew was stripped of all his royal titles over a sexual assault case.
PM Modi declares January 16th as National Startup day in India
Russia launched cyberattacks on Ukrainian government sites, leaders tell the population to expect the worst.
South Africa beat India 2-1 in the test series, denying India their first-ever series win in South Africa
Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen enters India open final
The Indian campaign in the Fencing Cup ended after Bhavani Devi bowed out in the Round of 64
Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun named bowling coach for KKR
In an important Premier League match, Chelsea loses to Manchester City 1-0
Ross Taylor plays his last match for New Zealand, picks up a wicket of his last ball in his career.
The Book of Boba Fett Robert Rodriguez
★★★★
Set in the sands of the planet of Tatooine, the Book of Boba Fett is about the adventure of the bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand who go through the dangerous underworld of the galaxy to take Jabba the Hutt’s old land and territory. Boba Fett is reborn as a member of the Tusken tribe with the help of a lizard. In order to discover his future, Boba has to come to terms with his past. An episode releases every week on Disney+ (Hotstar) and although viewers are complaining about the same scenery and similar characters, it is already successful and has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on IMDB. Like its predecessor, the Mandalorian, it already is on the road to success.
Written by Vivaan Dharamshi
Edited by Nirvaan Zaveri
Article 3 by Krishnav Bubna
Review by Saveer Solanki