The Weekly Focus Edition 86
Ukraine-Russia situation update:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Joe Biden were set to meet on 12th February to discuss a major developing and escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Putin initially desired to have a call regarding the issue, but Biden urged that the meeting take place earlier due to the magnitude of the issue. According to Reuters, “Australia and New Zealand on Saturday joined the countries urging their citizens to leave Ukraine after Washington said a Russian invasion, including a possible air assault, could occur anytime.” More than 100,000 Russian troops have been stationed at the border, yet Russia denies claims of planning an invasion into Ukraine. Even though these statements could be true, it is no surprise that many nations are concerned about the situation.
IPL Auction
Yesterday was the first day of an exhilarating 2-day auction, and it was filled with action. It started with an extremely conservative marquee round of spending, which saw notable players such as Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada and Quinton De Kock go for prices below their skill level. But the big surprise was when Warner, who recently got the player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup and has received the Orange Cap the most times in IPL history, went for a mere 6.25 crore to Delhi. After the initial round, teams picked up the spending, but logic still didn’t prevail as important players were left unsold, and some relatively inexperienced players were going for the two bucks.
Ironically, the 2 most successful IPL franchises were the ones with the least productive days, with Chennai replicating their squad using their usual style of picking old, experienced players and Mumbai going all out on Ishan Kishan, and then failing to secure any other notable purchases. Punjab and Delhi enjoyed a wonderful day out, with both teams securing big purchases. Punjab, who bought the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada and Johnny Bairstow among others still have the most money left, showing their incredible success in this auction so far. The new franchises also made some productive
gains, with Gujarat Titans securing Jason Roy, Mohammed Shami and Lockie Furgeson, and Lucknow purchasing Quinton De Kock, Jason Holder, Avesh Khan and a few more notable names. The second day of the auction is yet to commence, with some more big names up for grabs, and it will be exciting to see where these players go next.
A new exoplanet?
What appears to be tiny extra-terrestrials have been discovered orbiting nearby stars in our solar system. Exoplanet candidate Proxima d orbits the star Proxima Centauri. The small, faint red dwarf is only 4.2 light-years from the Sun. Remarkably, exoplanets weigh only a quarter of Earth's mass. It is one of the smallest exoplanets ever discovered and the smallest exoplanet discovered by observing the gravitational force of an exoplanet from this star. This discovery is also the third exoplanet orbiting Proxima Centauri, and the newly discovered planet is uninhabitable, but it has also been found that many exoplanets exceed the current capacity. "The discovery shows that our closest stellar neighbour seems to be packed with interesting new worlds, within reach of further study and future exploration," said João Faria of the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço in Portugal. Till now about 5000 exoplanets have been found in orbit.
Other News
Thousands of Protests erupted across the world over the vaccine mandate and Covid-19 restrictions as a whole.
US sends F-22 fighter jets to UAE after attacks by Houthi rebels
Dozens of countries request their citizens to leave Ukraine owing to the growing threat of a Russian invasion.
Veteran Singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away last Sunday; the state government declared a state-wide holiday to mourn her loss.
WHO chief warns that Omicron is not the last Covid-19 variant, and the pandemic is not yet close to over.
Hugh Edmeades, the man conducting the IPL Auction collapses mid-way after a drop in blood pressure, condition is stable now
Southampton hold Manchester United to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League
India whitewash West Indies 3-0 in the ODI series
Haas, Red Bull, Aston Martin and McLaren reveal their cars for the 2022 F1 season
Germany lead the ranking in the Beijing Winter Olympics, with 8 Gold Medals followed closely by Norway, with 8 gold medals as well.
Fact or Fiction
1. The entire world's population could fit inside Los Angeles.
2. There are more twins now than ever before.
3. The hottest chilli pepper in the world is so hot it could burn you.
4. More people visit France than any other country.
5. The world's most densely populated island is the size of four soccer fields.
6. The Canary Islands are named after dogs, not birds.
7. Bhutan is home to some of the shortest people in the world.
8. The Paris Agreement on climate change was signed by the largest number of countries ever in one day.
9. The world's quietest room is located at Microsoft's headquarters in Washington state.
10. There's only one country in the world that doesn't use the metric system (USA).
83
Kabir Khan
★★★★★
Sports/Drama
A must-watch for all cricket fans and Indians in general, 83 is set in the year 1983, when India won the Cricket World Cup. Led by captain Kapil Dev, the Indian cricket team shocked every single cricket fan in the world after their surprise victories against West Indies, the reigning champions. Although no one believed in them, the team believed in themselves and legendary players right now, like Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny and Kirti Azad. The newly released movie has already been a hit and it dictates the story of how the Indian team rose to the occasion magnificently and defeated all that stood in their path to take home the Cup even when they had only won a single match before the Cup.
Written by Vivaan Dharamshi
Edited by Nirvaan Zaveri
Article 1 by Arhaan Zaveri
Article 3 by Krishnav Bubna
Fact or Fiction by Nikunj Gupta
Review by Saveer Solanki
Answers:
1) Fact
2) Fact
3) Fiction (it’s not just able to burn you, it’s able to KILL you 😲)
4) Fact
5) Fiction (it’s only in TWO soccer fields)
6) Fact
7) Fiction (It’s Indonesia, not Bhutan).
8) Fact
9) Fact
10) Fact