PokemonGo to Rio2016: The top five social media trends in 2016

A selection of events that played out big on social media in the year 2016

The year 2016 is nearly over and, like previous years, this one also saw some good, some bad and some strange stuff on social media.

It is not unusual for people to comment on the speed with which an entire year went by, that does not, however, mean that the year was not full of action. Here is a recap of some of the major topics that trended on social media this year to help refresh your memory:

#Demonetisation

If you thought #Brexit was a prank that went too far, wait till you hear about this one! It was November 8, 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on national television that the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would cease to be legal tender from midnight and the people of India would have 50 days in which to exchange or deposit these notes in banks. A stunned India has since been standing in queues at banks and ATMs, as the two demonetised currency denominations accounted for 86 per cent of the total cash in circulation in the county of 1.3 billion people. There is hardly any Indian who has not been affected by this decision and the topic has caught the fancy of social media users in one way or the other. As far as shelf lives of an event goes, #demonetisation or #noteban is right up there with #GeneralElections

Cartoonists also had a great time during these fifty days. Here are two samples 

#Brexit

To stay or leave? In June this year, British citizens voted to answer this question about Britain’s membership of the European Union. In an event that sent shockwaves around the world, 52 per cent of the voters who participated in the referendum, voted to leave the EU. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in favour of a “stay”, resigned after the result was known. He was succeeded by Theresa May at the Prime Minister’s office. The aftershocks of this event are still being felt by the global economy. The entire process, it is believed, will take two years to finish.

While the world was in shock when the result was declared, social media reacted like, well, social media!

#PokemonGo

In July this year, Niantic released an augmented reality game for mobile phones and people all over the world left their homes in search of imaginary creatures called Pokémon. Gamers tried to locate and capture these creatures using their phone’s GPS. The game, a wild success the world over, saw more than 500 million downloads. It now holds five Guinness World Records, including one for grossing the highest revenue ($ 206.5 million) in the first month. 

So, did you catch some Pikachu or not?

#Rio2016

The year 2016 happened to be one of the 31st Olympic games in the city of Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Just like Pokemon Go, #Rio2016 was a global phenomenon that became one of the biggest trends this year. Some 11,000 athletes representing 205 countries participated in the games and for those 17 days in August when the games were on, social media forgot the world’s worries and watched these super athletes compete for glory. USA topped the tables with 46 gold medals. India had to wait for many days before it could win a medal. Sakshi Malik won a bronze in Women’s Freestyle Wrestling and two days later P V Sindhu bagged a silver medal in Women’s singles Badminton.

Breaking News & Latest News :

Cabinet passes ordinance; fine, jail for holding old notes

(Ordinance is to extinguish liability of govt and RBI on the demonetised high-denomination notes)

Soon, dental implants that kill bacteria, anchor to bone

(Mouth infections are currently regarded as the main reason why dental implants fail)

I-T notices to 50 car dealers; seeks details of customers post Nov 8

(Dept wants details of customers along with their addresses, car bought, invoiced cost, booking dates)

Budget: PM Modi calls for innovation; special focus on skills & tourism

(The government has said February 1 will be the date for presentation of future Union Budgets)

P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik received only 1.66% of total amount spent on Rio-bound athletes: Report

P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik received only 1.66% of total amount spent on Rio-bound athletes: Report

Rio Olympics medal winners P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik received only 1.66 per cent, for their preparation for the international sporting event, of the Rs 36.85 crore spent by the government on the 117 Olympians who took part under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) launched last year, reported the Indian Express on Monday.

Under TOPS, the government spent Rs 61.13 lakh on Sindhu and Malik, the report added.

Where did most of the funds go?

Citing data compiled on August 22, the national daily said that in some cases, a significant chunk of the funds was spent on athletes who turned out to be prominent under-performers. The report gave the example of the women’s relay squad, on which Rs 2.94 crore were spent, which finished seventh in their heats and did not qualify for the semi-finals.

Shooting, the country's most successful Olympic discipline in the last three games, received nearly half of the overall amount, the report said, putting the figure at Rs 15.39 crore.

The government spent that amount on the 12 shooters who went to Rio, according to the report, and 10 of them got more than Rs 1 crore each. India's medal-prospect in the discipline, Abhinav Bindra, received the highest amount among individual athletes at Rs 2.37 crore.

The report added that the second highest expenditure, according to the data, was incurred on athletics, with Rs 7.80 crore being spent on 30 out of the 36 athletes who qualified.

According to the report, of the total amount under TOPS, Rs 6.36 crore was spent on disciplines – badminton (Rs 3.84 crore) and wrestling (Rs 2.52 crore) – that did net India medals. The report added that Rs 45.27 lakh went to badminton silver medal-winner Sindhu and Rs 15.86 lakh to wrestling bronze medal-winner Sakshi.

However, in terms of return on investment, TOPS mostly missed out, with Rs 30.49 crore (out of the total of Rs 36.85 crore) being spent on disciplines which did not net India any medals, the report said. The report cited the example of discus thrower Vikas Gowda. Gowda, who the sports ministry saw as a medal-prospect, received Rs 1.02 crore but he finished 28th in his event.

What is TOPS?

Did we spend enough?

PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Pullela Gopichand presented BMW cars

PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Pullela Gopichand presented BMW cars

Rio Olympics silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu and bronze winner grappler Sakshi Malikalong with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and badminton coach Pullela Gopichandwere on Sunday presented BMW cars by cricket legendSachin Tendulkar here.

Hyderabad District Badminton Association president Chamundeshwarnath gifted the luxury cars to the four sportspersons for their outstanding achievement in the recently-concluded Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Tendulkar, who was the goodwill ambassador of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics, handed over the keys at a function at the Gopichand Badminton Academy here.

Under the guidance of chief coach Gopichand, Sindhu clinched the silver medal in women's singles, making her the first Indian woman sportsperson to win a silver in the Olympics. Wrestler Sakshi had bagged a bronze in women's freestyle 58kg class.

Dipa, who missed a medal by a whisker, had finished fourth in the vault event and stunned the world with her risky Produnova vault.

Read more news about Rio Olympics.

Here's how coach Gopichand made India proud

Here's how coach Gopichand made India proud

“It is the coaching which is vital. We must have a better system, somehow. We lack scientific training or proper coaching programmes at all levels, particularly grass root level,” said Pullela Gopichand in an interview with Rediff.com in January 2001. Gopichand won the prestigous All-England Championships in the same year and attained a career-best ranking of five.

What Gopichand really craved for was an Olympic medal but unfortunately couldn’t win in his playing career. As a coach though he has been instrumental in winning two medals for India at the Olympics. In 2012, Gopichand was the national team coach when Saina Nehwalscooped the bronze medal. PV Sindhu’s silver medal in Rio Olympics cements Gopichand’s legacy in the history of Indian sport.

It all started eight years back when his academy started fucntioning in 2008. Gachibowli in Hyderabad is an area where a lot of IT companies have built their offices. The Indian School of Business’ campus is also around. Amidst this corporate high-rises, a nondescript looking building is where Gopichand’s academy is situated. In the last eight years, India has seen the rise of many talented players like Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth, and they all have been coached by Gopichand. Both Srikanth and Kashyap broke into the world top 10 as have Nehwal and Sindhu. (more)

Dipa Karmakar's death-defying vault and why she sticks to it

Dipa Karmakar's death-defying vault and why she sticks to it

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has been scripting history ever since she became the country's first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, but to do so she has had to master perhaps the most perilous vault known to the sport.

Karmakar, who turns 23 on Tuesday, became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games and in the process she managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.

ALSO READ: 2016 Rio Olympics: Who is Dipa Karmakar? All you need to know

However, every time she attempts the Produnova she puts her life and limbs at risk. Described as the "most difficult and dangerous manoeuvre in women’s gymnastics" by The Wall Street Journal, it currently has a 7.0 D-score and thus provides a leg-up for any gymnast able to perform it successfully.

Read our full coverage on the 2016 Rio Olympics

2016 Rio Olympics: Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals

2016 Rio Olympics: Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar scripted history as she became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games after finishing 8th in the qualifying round here.

The Tripura-girl, who is the country's first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.

It was a nervous wait for the Indian after that. She had ended sixth after the third of five sub-divisions.

She dropped to 8th eventually when Canadian Shallon Olsen's terrific effort of 14.950 rejigged the overall standings.

Read our full coverage on the 2016 Rio Olympics

But that was just about enough to secure her a place in the finals scheduled for August 14 as the top-8 made the cut for the medal round.

Dipa secured 7.000 on difficulty and 8.1 on execution in her first attempt. Her score for difficulty was a tad lower at 6.000 in the second attempt.

She landed low on her Produnova vault in the first attempt, while her second vault was a 'Tsuk double full twist' with step to the side.

Three-time world all-round champion Simone Biles topped the charts with a sensational score of 16.050. The American scored a brilliant 9.700 on execution in both her attempts.(more)