Here is our first weekly round up of the year! Things that are happening in the world, things that are making buzz, things that you should know! Read up and get set to talk the talk!

NEWS THAT MADE HEADLINES

2017 is here!

The 17th year of the 21s Century and of the 3rd Millennium.

As per Chinese Zodiac, this is the Year of the Rooster.

2017 has been designated by the United Nations are the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

And best, a look at the public holiday list shows 8 possible long weekends in 2017!

Happy New Year!

The Supreme Court had an active 1st-working-day of the year!

1st, the Court showed that it can punish anyone who doesn’t listen to its orders! As part of the ongoing measures to reform the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Supreme Court ordered removal of the BCCI President Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke. The move was made after they refused to comply with court orders.   Last year, the court had declared most of BCCI office bearer as ineligible to carry on, as per the recommendations of the Lodha panel that had been set up to suggest ways of reforming and de-corrupting cricket’s governing body (after the IPL scandals). When BBCI officials refused to comply with any of the orders, the Court had to take strict measures like freezing BCCI’s funding and now will remove and replace all officials.

In another case, the Supreme Court passed a historic judgement regarding election campaigning – saying that elections will be declared invalid if votes were sought in the name of caste, creed, or religion. “The relationship between man and god is an individual choice. The state is forbidden to have allegiance to such an activity,” the judgment said. This came up after numerous petitions had been filed against a 20-year-old judgment that called Hinduism a “way of life” and had noted that a candidate was not affected prejudicially if votes were sought on this notion.  This verdict will particularly have an impact on upcoming state elections in states like UP, Punjab and Gujarat where religion and caste have traditionally driven voting.

UP’s Yadav family’s soap opera overshadowed the New Year’s weekend coverage on TV

UP’s Samajwadi Party, that for a couple of months has been showing a public display of a power tussle between party founder dad Mulayam Singh and Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav, is now at the centre of melodrama. On the last days of 2016, both father and son published their own separate lists of candidates who will stand for UP state elections in 2017. Following this, dad Mulayam Singh sacked Akhilesh from the party, then brought him back, then Akhilesh retired his dad and became Chief of Party .. and then no one knows what’s going on! In this tug of war to gain control over the party, the two factions have now approached the Election Commission of India to stake claim on the party symbol ’cycle’.

Terror showed its ugly face once more in Turkey.

Terrorists struck yet again in the most horrible way possible. A gunman (later claimed to be from ISIS), opened gunfire at an elite night club in Istanbul where more than 700 people were celebrating New Year’s Eve. 39 people died, including two Indians - a woman from Gujarat and a noted real estate developer turned film producer Abis Rizvi (son of a former Rajya Sabha MP).

Bengaluru let down its women on New Year’s Eve

When thousands of people were celebrating the countdown to 2017 on Bengaluru’s MG road, several women were allegedly molested and sexually harassed by a mob of men. Even when there were 1,500 cops patrolling the city, they could not control the ‘mass molestation’ nor have they made any arrests. Adding injury to insult, Karnataka Home Minister bizarrely blamed the incident on the women, saying such things are part of the “entire culture of celebration of the New Year's thing over the years"

STORIES ON THE INTERNET THAT INSPIRED US

A three-minute-long clip from a published 2015 interview of Alibaba founder Jack Ma that’s once again going viral on social media. Recorded during the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in 2015, the video shows the billionaire businessman talking about the failures that shaped his life, including the time he was rejected by both Harvard and KFC. The clip shows parts of the original video which is about 45-minutes-long.  

Google’s Art & Culture platform, in partnership with feminist publisher Zubaan Books, is publishing “unheard stories” of Indian women via a new series of virtual exhibitions. With over 1,800 works of art, photographs, and videos sourced from 26 cultural institutions across India, the project introduces enterprising royals, grassroots activists, poets, scientists and others who make up the rich history of women in India.

A QUOTE TO QUOTE

"I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra," wrote actress Carrie Fisher in her 2008 memoir, Wishful Drinking. Fisher (who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies) died of a heart attack at the age of 60 on December 27th.  Sadly, her mother, legendary actress Debbie Reynolds, also passed away one day after her daughter at the age of 84.

TALK THE TALK

What to tell someone who wants to know how to stick to New Year’s resolutions

Maybe she could follow PM Modi through the year and observe how he’s keeping up with his resolutions. On New Year’s Eve, PM Modi made a speech to the nation (without addressing people as “Mitron” even once!). He played Santa Claus and promised to roll out financial incentives to farmers, to-be home owners, SMEs and small traders. As parts of efforts to bring down the maternal mortality rate, the PM announced a scheme to provide pregnant women financial aid of Rs. 6,000 for covering hospital admission, vaccination and nutritional food.

What to say to your friend who critically scans the bills at restaurants

Now she can legitimately argue with the Managers about high and unfair charges. The Government has clarified that the service charge on restaurant bills is voluntary -if one is not happy with the service, they have the right to say no to paying the service charge. Remember, service charge was introduced to formalise the earlier practice of leaving a tip and the hotel industry charges anywhere between 5% to 20% on the bill in lieu of tips. So now, service charge is completely discretionary and if a customer is dissatisfied with the dining experience, he/she can have it waived off.

What to suggest to Grandpa struggling to make digital payments because he doesn’t have a smartphone

He could try using the Government’s new BHIM App, launched to facilitate digital payments. It can not only be used on smartphones but also on the older ‘dumb’ or feature phones. Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), launched on December 30th by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a simplified payment platform designed to make Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and SMS-based payments simpler. On Android smart phones, the BHIM App can be downloaded from Google Play Store and has already been downloaded on 3 million phones. A user can register with the mobile number that is linked to her bank account. Using the App, one can make payments, transfer and receive money directly to and from her bank account. Even without a smartphone, one can use BHIM to make payments by. By dialling *99# and choosing options that keep appearing on a menu

What to tell your fashion-conscious friend who always wants to wear the in-thing

Wear anything green and you’ll be in! Green has been chosen as the colour of the year 2017 by Pantone (the colour company that annually chooses the trending colour for a year).  “Rejuvenation, restoration and renewed energy” are the themes behind Pantone’s green Colour of the Year for 2017– specifically the shade Greenery (shade code 15-0343) that’s a “fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring”. Check out - Greenery and how to use it.

What to tell your husband who keeps checking work-emails at home

Let’s just shift to France! In France, a new "right to disconnect" law will now grant employees in the country the legal right to ignore work emails outside of typical working hours! The new employment law requires French companies with more than 50 employees to begin drawing up policies with their workers about limiting work-related technology usage outside the office.

A NEW BOOK TO READ AND DISCUSS

This Wide Night by Sarvat Hasin

This is a Pakistani version of the classic Little Women. It tells the story of an eccentric Pakistani family of four beautiful sisters who live a life of relative freedom in 1970s’ Karachi and the lonely outsider who wants in.   

A BUZZ WORD TO USE

Listicle

Its an article on the Internet presented in the form of a numbered or bullet-pointed list.  In journalism and blogging, a listicle is a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure, but is fleshed out with sufficient copy to be published as an article.

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