Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of exchange. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. 

Most common cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin — The first ever cryptocurrency that started it all.
• Ethereum — A Turing-complete programmable currency that lets developers build different distributed apps and technologies that wouldn’t work with Bitcoin.
• Ripple — Unlike most cryptocurrencies, it doesn’t use a Blockchain in order to reach a network-wide consensus for transactions. Instead, an iterative consensus process is implemented, which makes it faster than Bitcoin but also makes it vulnerable to hacker attacks.
• Bitcoin Cash — A fork of Bitcoin that is supported by the biggest Bitcoin mining company and a manufacturer of ASICs Bitcoin mining chips. It has only existed for a couple of months but has already soared to the top five cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap.
• NEM — Unlike most other cryptocurrencies that utilize a Proof of Work algorithm, it uses Proof of Importance, which requires users to already possess certain amounts of coins in order to be able to get new ones. It encourages users to spend their funds and tracks the transactions to determine how important a particular user is to the overall NEM network.
• Litecoin — A cryptocurrency that was created with an intention to be the ‘digital silver’ compared to Bitcoin’s ‘digital gold.’ It is also a fork of Bitcoin, but unlike its predecessor, it can generate blocks four times faster and have four times the maximum number of coins at 84 mln.
• IOTA — This cryptocurrency’s breakthrough ledger technology is called ‘Tangle’ and it requires the sender in a transaction to do a Proof of Work that approves two transactions. Thus, IOTA has removed dedicated miners from the process.
• NEO — It’s a smart contract network that allows for all kinds of financial contracts and third-party distributed apps to be developed on top of it. It has many of the same goals as Ethereum, but it’s developed in China, which can potentially give it some advantages due to improved relationship with Chinese regulators and local businesses.
• Dash — It’s a two-tier network. The first tier is miners that secure the network and record transactions, while the second one consists of ‘masternodes’ that relay transactions and enable InstantSend and PrivateSend type of transaction. The former is significantly faster than Bitcoin, whereas the latter is completely anonymous.
• Qtum — It’s a merger of Bitcoin’s and Ethereum’s technologies targeting business applications. The network boasts Bitcoin’s reliability, while allowing for the use of smart contracts and distributed applications, much how it works within the Ethereum network.
• Monero — A cryptocurrency with private transactions capabilities and one of the most active communities, which is due to its open and privacy-focused ideals.
• Ethereum Classic — An original version of Ethereum. The split happened after a decentralized autonomous organization built on top of the original Ethereum was hacked.

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Chuni Goswami

India football captain Chuni Goswami, 82, passed away in Kolkata on 30 April 2020 ,after a prolonged illness.He was the poster boy of Indian football, a cricketer par excellencewho once took Bengal to the Ranji Trophy final in the 1971-72 season and helped India demolish the mighty West Indies in a tour match. In short, he was an 'expert' at everything, be it a tennis racket or a hockey stick

For the last few months, Goswami was suffering from underlying ailments with sugar, prostate and nerve problems. His family confirmed that Goswami was admitted to a city hospital earlier in the day and breathed his last at 5pm after cardiac arrest.

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G20

The Group of 20 is an organization of finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 individual countries and the European Union.

In addition to the United States, those countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. Collectively, its members represent more than 80 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.


Established in 1999 after a series of major international debt crises, the G20 aims to unite world leaders around shared economic, political and health challenges. It is a creation of the more select Group of 7, an informal bloc of industrialized democracies.

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Michael Robinson

Michael John Robinson (12 July 1958 – 27 April 2020) was a professional footballer who played as a striker.

The former Ireland international, who won a league, League Cup and European Cup treble with Liverpool in the 1983-84 season, also played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers before ending his career with Spain's Osasuna.

"Liverpool FC is deeply saddened by the passing of former player Michael Robinson, aged 61," the club said in a statement.

Robinson had said in December 2018 that he had a malignant melanoma for which doctors said there was no cure.

"With tremendous sadness we inform you of Michael's death. It leaves us with a great emptiness but also countless memories full of the same love you have shown him," his family wrote on his Twitter account.

City, Brighton, Osasuna and Barcelona were among other clubs who took to social media to pay tribute to Robinson, while world number two tennis player Rafa Nadal described him as "one who always made us happy about sport" in a message on Twitter.

After spells with Preston North End, City and Brighton, Robinson joined Liverpool - the team he supported as a boy - in August 1983 as a back-up to Ian Rush.

Robinson was capped 24 times by Ireland and scored four goals for them.

His former international teammate Mark Lawrenson, who also played with Robinson at several clubs, said: "Gutted to hear of the passing of Michael Robinson (AKA The Cat). We played cricket together in our teens.

"He followed me to PNE, Brighton, Republic of Ireland and finally Liverpool. He even bought my house off me in Hove. It's a sad day in sad times. RIP MATE."

Former England striker and BBC presenter Gary Lineker wrote of Robinson on Twitter: "Not only a fine footballer, but was also a great success post football in Spain, having his own television show there for many years...and that is quite an achievement. RIP Michael."

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Reorganization of Jammu & Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 divided the state on 31 October into two separate UTs; one is Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with legislative assembly and the other is Union Territory of Ladakh without Legislative Assembly.A bill for the act was introduced by the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2019 and was passed on the same day. It was then passed by the Lok Sabha on 6 August 2019 and it received the President's assent on 9 August 2019.

For more details: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/et-explains/jammu-and-kashmir-reorganisation-bill-what-it-means-for-the-two-new-union-territories/articleshow/70545729.cms

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Rishi Kapoor

Veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor breathed his last today, at the age of 67. The popular actor had been unwell for a while and was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai. Neetu Kapoor and Ranbir had been constantly by his side. Randhir Kapoor had revealed in a report that Rishi was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday morning. Amitabh Bachchan had shared a post on Twitter expressing grief about his co-star.

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Irrfan Khan

Actor Irrfan Khan (7 January 1967 – 29 April 2020) was an Indian film actor, majorly known for his work in Hindi cinema (Bollywood). He has also worked in British films and Hollywood. In his career of nearly 30 years, Irrfan received many awards-- National Film Award and Filmfare Awards in four categories. He is referred to as one of the finest actors that Indian cinema has produced.

Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan was born in Rajasthan to a Muslim family. Khan's mother, Saeeda Begum Khan and his father, the late Yaseen Ali Khan.Khan completed his MA in Jaipur before joining National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi in 1984 to study acting.

On 23 February 1995, Khan married writer and fellow NSD graduate Sutapa Sikdar. They had two sons, Babil . Ayan.Sikdar said about him, "He was always focused. I remember when he would come home, he would head straight for the bedroom, sit on the floor, and read books. The rest of us would be hanging around gossiping." 

Irrfan Khan: Filmography

1. Salaam Bombay! as letter writer (1988)
2. Ek Doctor Ki Maut as Amulya (1990)
3. The Cloud Door as Irfan (1994)
4. Vaade Iraade as Naresh Tripathi (1994)
5. Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One as inspector Khan (1997)
6. Bada Din as Police Inspector (1998)
7. Kasoor as prosecutor Mehta (2001)
8. Gunaah as ACP Digvijay (2002)
9. Supari as baba (2003)
10. Dhund as Ajit Khurana (2003)
11. Footpath as Sheikh (2003)
12. Charas as policemen (2004)
13. Aan: Men at Work as Yusuf Pathan (2004)
14. Chocolate as pipi (2005)
15. Rog as inspector Uday Rathore (2005)
16. Chehraa as Chandrakant Diwan (2005)
17. 7½ Phere as Manoj Joshi (2005)
18. Mr.100% (2006)
19. Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota as Salim Rajabali (2006
20. The Killer as Vikram Roopchand (2006)
21. Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante Krish Vaidya (2006)
22. The Namesake as Ashoke (2006)
23. Gumnaam (2006)
24. Sainikudu as Pappu Yadav (2006) Telugu film
25. Life In A... Metro as Monty (2007)
26. Apna Asmaan as Ravi Kumar (2007)
27. Aaja Nachle As Farooque (2007)
28. A Mighty Heart As Zeeshan Kazmi, Karachi Police Chief (2007)
29. Tulsi as Suraj (2008)
30. Sunday as Kumar Mangat (2008)
31. Krazzy 4 as Dr Mukherjee (2008)
32. Chamku as Vijayraj Kapur (2008)
33. Dil Kabaddi as Samit (2008)
34. Slumdog Millionaire as a Police inspector (2008)
35. Billu as Billu Vilas Pardesi (2009)
36. New York as Roshan (2009)
37. Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) as Arun (2011)
38. Life of Pi (2012) as adult Pi
39. Gunday as ACP Satyajeet Sarkar (2014)
40. Piku as Rana Chaudhary (2015)
41. Madaari as Nirmal Kumar (2016)
42. Inferno (2016)
43. Hindi Medium as Raj Batra (2017)
44. Blackmail as Dev Kaushal (2018)
45. Angrezi Medium as Champak Bansal (2020)

Irrfan Khan: List of Awards and Nominations

1- Hasil-- won the Filmfare Awards for the Best Actor in a Negative Role and was nominated for Zee Cine Awards 'Best Performance in a Villainous Role' in 2004. 

2- Maqbool-- won the Screen Awards for Best Performance in a Negative Role and was nominated for Zee Cine Awards 'Best Performance in a Villainous Role' in 2004. 

3- The Namesake-- won the Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Best Seduction and was nominated for Independent Spirit Award 'Best Supporting Male' and Stardust Awards 'Best Supporting Actor' in 2007. 

4- Life in a... Metro-- won the Filmfare Awards, International Indian Film Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor and Screen Awards for Best Comedian. Irrfan was nominated for Producers Guild Film Awards 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role', International Indian Film Academy Awards 'Best Performance in a Comic Role' and Screen Awards 'Best Supporting Actor' in 2007-2008. 

5- Slumdog Millionaire-- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble in 2008-2009. The movie also won 8 Oscars. 

6- Mumbai Meri Jaan-- nominated for International Indian Film Academy Awards 'Best Actor In A Supporting Role' in 2009. 

7- He also won GQ (Indian edition) Man of the year award in 2009. 

8- New York-- nominated for Producers Guild Film Awards and International Indian Film Academy Awards for the Best Actor In A Supporting Role in 2010. 

9- Irrfan Khan won Padma Shri for Arts, International Indian Film Academy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema and CNN-IBN Indian of the Year for Entertainment in 2011-2012. 

10- 7 Khoon Maaf-- nominated for International Indian Film Academy Awards 'Best Performance in a Negative Role' in 2012

In February 2018, Khan was diagnosed with "undisclosed disease" and it was speculated by many media outlets that he has "brain cancer". After much speculation, the actor took to his Twitter account and announced that he would "share his story" in "a week - ten days" and asked the media and fans not to "speculate" anything. On 16 March 2018, Khan announced through a Twitter post that he was suffering from a neuroendocrine tumour - a rare form of cancer that can target various parts of the body. He travelled to London for treatment.

He was admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on 28 April 2020, where he started receiving treatment for a colon infection. He died the following day at age 53, from the infection, four days after his mother's death in Jaipur. Multiple Bollywood personalities, including actors Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan paid tributes online upon the news of his death

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