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‘Astra’ – New Agent of Valorant, A Cosmic Controller With Some Unique Abilities

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Like every time, the hype has reached its extreme point with the upcoming Valorant agent – Astra. Before revealing the agent, Riot teased the fans with some hints like putting a star in several locations of the existing maps. Few players have seen it and shared it with curiosity. Finally, Riot launched the gameplay trailer of ‘Astra’.

We, now know, that Astra belongs to the Controller agent pool and she is from Ghana. The agent will be available with the upcoming Act. Seeing the leaks and the trailers, this agent has some unique abilities which could give a good competition to Omen, Brimstone, and Viper. Now, let’s see what abilities can Astra brings to her team.

Astral Form:

Before using any ability, you have to go to the Astral Form to place the stars you have. In that form, you can see the whole map in a cosmic view, a bit similar to the Omen’s 3d map view. The advantage is, there is no range to place the stars. You have each and every corner of the map.

Valorant AstraAstralForm 1024x576 1 ‘Astra’ – New Agent of Valorant, A Cosmic Controller With Some Unique Abilities

You can have a maximum of five stars and after each round, you’ll gain one free star. For each star, you need to spend 200 credits. You just have to buy the stars, the abilities are all free to use.

Gravity Well (C):

astra ability gravity well valorant ‘Astra’ – New Agent of Valorant, A Cosmic Controller With Some Unique Abilities

It’s like a trapping ability. After activating it, the star transforms into a mini black hole, which attracts enemies towards its center. After a delay, it explodes but doesn’t deal any damage. Enemies get vulnerable and get double damage. Gravity Well has a cooldown of 12 seconds.

Nova Pulse (Q):

Valorant AstraNovaPulse 1024x576 1 ‘Astra’ – New Agent of Valorant, A Cosmic Controller With Some Unique Abilities

With the Nova Pulse, you can stun your enemies in its area. The area of this ability is not so small, it can easily stun multiple enemies. The cooldown of this ability is also 12 seconds. You can use Nova Pulse with a combo of Gravity Well, players will be easily trapped and stunned.

Nebula (E):

Screenshot4 ‘Astra’ – New Agent of Valorant, A Cosmic Controller With Some Unique Abilities

This ability creates smoke and you have two charges of Nebula, which means you can use two smoke at a time. Each smoke stays for 15 seconds.

If you don’t need one star in a particular position or want to remove your placed star, then you can recall the star with the ‘F’ key. You’ll get the star back in your inventory after a small delay.

Cosmic Divide (X):

To activate the Cosmic Divide, you also have to go in the Astral Form. It’s a very powerful ability that divides the whole map into two parts. You can place the wall anywhere you want. It’s not a normal wall like Viper. This wall can absorb bullets, which means if you rush a site with the help of Cosmic Divide, enemies can not damage with the guns from the other side of the wall. But, yes, abilities can pass through the wall.

astra ultimate cosmic divide valorant ‘Astra’ – New Agent of Valorant, A Cosmic Controller With Some Unique Abilities

New team combinations are coming very soon. I’m also very excited to play this new agent. Let me know in the comment section, in which combination you are going to play this agent.

Elon Musk’s High-Speed Starlink Satellite Internet begins pre-booking in India at $99

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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk-backed satellite-based internet service, Starlink is now available in India for pre-orders for $99 which is above Rs 7000. Indian users can avail of internet connectivity by 2022 through satellites that SpaceX will launch in orbit. Currently, Starlink is in its beta-testing phase. Any user can check the availability of Starlink services in their area through its official website by typing in their city and postal code. “Starlink is available to a limited number of users per coverage area at this time. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis,” reads Starlink’s website.

Interested users in India can pay a deposit of $99, which amounts to approximately Rs 7270, at the time of writing this, to pre-book their Starlink broadband. It is to be noted that this amount is refundable and the orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. As of now, according to India Today, Starlink’s website for Maharashtra notes that it is targeting coverage in 2022 and that its availability is limited. Once users click on the Order Now button, users are redirected to a page where they have to put in details like their name, phone number, card details, etc. The company notes that it takes measures to protect users’ personal information from “loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.”

Starlink has also spelled out that depending on various regulatory approvals, the service will be released and will be available. It has also not given any sort of guarantees stating that the users may not get the broadband connection at all and if they do it may not be on the said date due to such factors.

Users in the USA, Australia, and Mexico get a Starlink kit for $499, according to online reports, this kit includes everything users will need to connect to the internet such as a wifi router, power supply, cables, and mounting tripod. A target of 1 Gbps downloading or uploading speed for its users has been reportedly set by Starlink. As of now, in its beta-testing phase, it gives up to 150 Mbps speeds which are reported to double up to 300 Mbps through testing.

For relatively better internet connectivity, Starlink broadband has put up some caveats like a clear field of view. “In early service, the required clear field of view is a 100-degree cone around the center of the dish (after tilting) with a 25-degree elevation minimum. Some obstructions are worse than others. Obstructions low in the sky will cause more outages because satellites are in this area of the sky more frequently,” Starlink in one of its FAQ notes.

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Reliance to bid for Digital Payment network in partnership with Google and Facebook

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Reliance Industries Ltd., led by Mukesh Ambani, plans to seek a license to enter India’s burgeoning digital payments business partnering with Google and Facebook, people with knowledge of the matter said, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Reliance Industries, India’s largest company by market value is teaming up with its investors, American tech giants, Facebook and Google, as well as Indian multinational financial technology company, Infibeam Avenues Ltd., to apply for a license from the Reserve Bank of India. The consortium is developing a detailed plan currently, according to the people who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private.

A Reliance spokesman declined to comment on the matter at hand, while a representative for Infibeam also declined to comment “citing confidentiality agreements.” Emails to representatives at Google and Facebook were also not answered immediately. The development, first reported by the Economic Times, said that a consortium led by the Tata Group and another by Amazon were among other applicants.

Reliance’s interest in setting up an electronic payment platform underscores Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani’s vision of pivoting the conglomerate toward consumer businesses of telecom, retail, and e-commerce — a plan which received $27 billion in support from global investors last year. 

According to a report by Yahoo Finance, “Last year, India’s central bank invited companies to forge new umbrella entities (NUEs) to create a payments network that would rival the system operated by the National Payments Council of India (NPCI), as it seeks to reduce concentration risks in the space.”

A not-for-profit company set up in 2008, NPCI, counted dozens of banks as its shareholders as of March 2019, including the State Bank of India, Citibank, and HSBC. Billions of dollars in payments are processed daily by the NPCI via services that include inter-bank fund transfers, ATM transactions, and digital payments.

The Indian digital payments market is estimated to touch $1 trillion by 2023, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. Ambani’s venture, if granted a license, will compete against the NPCI for a slice of the market, which was boosted amid the pandemic and lockdowns last year that forced people to stay at home.

NorthEast United are clear underdogs in the ISL play-offs

For many, NorthEast United are the underdogs heading into the knockout stages of the ISL. And the main reason behind it is that United function best as a team, and do not rely as heavily on individual brilliance as the other teams do. 

But that’s not to say that relying on individual brilliance is a bad thing, but it goes to show that NorthEast play the sport as a well functioning unit, making the best of each aspect of the individual players on the pitch to finish third in the league, ahead of fellow knockout stage participants Goa. 

NorthEast go up against ATK Mohun Bagan in the semi-finals and aren’t being fancied to make it to the finals ahead of the newly rebranded Kolkata team. The season has been a rewarding one, but this just seems to be the end of the road for them. However, nothing is predictable in football, as history has shown time and time again. 

But the task at hand for them is one that can only be overcome with sheer perseverance, and luck, of course. While NorthEast lost the first time they faced ATK Mohun Bagan this season, right after the turn of the year, they did manage to come out on top the second time around, winning the return leg 2-1. 

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That will give them some confidence to put on a great show against ATK and fight until the end of the campaign. However, the chances of them winning the title are very low indeed. 

Virat Kohli becomes the 6th player with 100M followers on Instagram

Virat Kohli scores another century yesterday. But this time not in the field. It is in social media.

The Indian Skipper becomes the 6th sportsperson to have 100M followers on Instagram. Kohli joined the Elite Club yesterday. Before him, only Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Argentine forward Lionel Messi, Hollywood actor and former pro-wrestler Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, American singer-songwriter Beyonce, and Ariana Grande are in the 100 million club.

Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the chart with 266 million followers. Lionel Messi is in the second position with 187 million followers, and the Brazilian winger Neymar takes the 3rd spot with 147 million followers.

However, the Indian captain is the first cricketer to be on the list. Kohli earns a total of 3,79,294 pounds through his sponsored posts which brings an average of 1,26,431 pounds per post. A few weeks back, the Indian skipper topped the list of the country’s most powerful celebrities based on brand values in a study conducted by a multinational consultancy firm based in New York City, Duff & Phelps.

Kohli’s brand value rose by 39% to USD 237.5 million in 2019. It is the 3rd consecutive time he has topped the list. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is second with a brand value of USD 104.5 million.

It is a proud moment for us as a Indian as well to see our captain is getting the praise from the whole world.

Global Chip Shortage inflicts more stress on smartphones manufacturers like Realme and Xiaomi

We have been discovering for a few weeks now that there is a huge shortage of semiconductors in the market. This chip shortage is affecting both, the smartphone industry and the automobile industry heavily. 

Recently, we have heard from a few automobile companies in India that the lack of semiconductors is increasing their production time. This is delaying their process to pass the cars to the customers. Now, the senior officials of Chinese smartphone manufacturers have come out and expressed their concerns regarding the shortage of chipsets. Both, Realme and Xiaomi have said that this fall in the supply of chips can be a major worry for the industry in the coming months.

Also Read: OnePlus 9 series and OnePlus Watch tipped to launch on March 25

A global shortage in semiconductors will make it tougher for companies to produce new products. If this happens, the prices of the existing products in the market will surely go high due to low supply & high demand. In fact, one of the reports seen in the market shows that mobile chipsets are “completely out of stock.” 

The main reasons behind the global shortage of chips are issues pertaining to materials, power supply, and radiofrequency devices. Lu Weibing, President of Xiaomi, also stated last month that this lack of chipsets is not an ordinary issue and can have huge ramifications for both, sellers and buyers. 

Follow Up: OPPO F19 Pro+ 5G and F19 Pro tipped to launch in India soon

A report also suggests that Qualcomm’s material deliveries have been delayed by more than 30 weeks. The delivery of the CSD Bluetooth audio chips also took around 33 weeks. In total, this shortage is present in mobile phone processors, PMIC power management chips, and MCU microprocessor chips. If this stock out continues, then not only Realme and Xiaomi but other OEMs like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus might also suffer.

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FA decides no disciplinary action needed against Shaw and Solskjaer

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Rather disappointingly, the most to come out of the game between Manchester United and Chelsea was the supposed handling of the ball by Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi, which was not given as a penalty in favour of the visitors. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s post-match comments were rather sharp and were on the verge of being picked up by the FA for disciplinary action. 

“They probably thought his [Hudson-Odoi’s] hand was in a very natural position when he flicked the ball,” Solskjaer said.

“It’s gone now. We should have had a penalty and that’s clear. I’m a bit concerned that we don’t get those penalties after what noises were made a month or two ago about us getting penalties. So clearly there is a point of managers influencing the referees which they shouldn’t do.

“That’s just the nature of us as managers isn’t it, that anything that goes against you, you probably want to highlight. If something goes for other teams, you’d like to try to stop that probably. But I trust the referees not to be influenced by it.

“I was very surprised by the decision today when I looked at the video. Live, I didn’t think it was a penalty so I can understand why he didn’t give it straight away but when you look at the video, it is not a very natural position to have your hand in.”

Luke Shaw later commented that the referee for the game had, in fact been told that it was a penalty, but he didn’t give the decision because of the talk it would create afterwards. 

“I don’t know. At the time I saw a handball. I didn’t know if it was Mason Greenwood or Callum Hudson-Odoi. I just carried on. I didn’t even know there was a VAR check. I don’t know why they stopped it. If it was a penalty… but if they didn’t think it was a penalty I don’t know why they needed to stop,” Shaw told Sky Sports after the game.

“The referee even said to [Harry Maguire], I heard him say: ‘If I say it’s a penalty then it’s going to cause a lot of talk about it afterwards.’ So I don’t know what happened there.

The FA has reviewed the comments made by Shaw and Solskjaer, and have decided that no disciplinary action is needed. 

ATK Mohun Bagan champions-elect this time around?

Having missed out on the ISL Winner’s Shield on goal difference to Mumbai City FC, ATK Mohun Bagan will be even more motivated to get their hands on the title at the end of the knockout stages. The newly rebranded team have been phenomenal throughout the season and were unlucky to miss out on the league title.

Moreover, it was their loss to Mumbai City FC in their final league contest of the season that ultimately cost them the league title. And the team will no doubt want to turn things around, after the season that they have had this time around. 

Roy Krishna 1 ATK Mohun Bagan champions-elect this time around?

Top scorer and star striker Roy Krishna will no doubt be the one to watch throughout the knockout stages, and the Fiji forward will be hoping to add to his tally of 14 goals scored this season, and build on his lead at the front of the race for the Golden Boot. 

The redemption arc for the Kolkata club becomes even more apparent in a way when you remember that they lost in their last meeting against semi final opponents NorthEast United. 

Kolkata Derby ATK MB 571 855 ATK Mohun Bagan champions-elect this time around?

But despite that, ATKMB can boast of having the best defensive record in the league, conceding the least amount of goals throughout the tournament. And that defensive strength is something they will have to showcase if they are to win all their remaining games because while a good attack can win you matches, titles are won when you have a good defense. 

Barcagate scandal: This is why Bartomeu and co have been arrested

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News broke yesterday that former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu had been arrested alongside Oscar Grau and Roman Gomez Ponti due to charges of corruption being filed against the former Barcelona cabinet. 

The reason behind the arrests has now come out in the open and it is due to the Barcagate campaign that Bartomeu was heavily linked with. The allegations rose around February 17, 2020, when there were reports of Barcelona being in contact with I3 Ventures since 2017. 

bartomeu Barcagate scandal: This is why Bartomeu and co have been arrested

The third-party company were tasked with diminishing the image of former Barcelona presidents along with current and former Barcelona players like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol while simultaneously promoting that of Bartomeu. 

The former president paid I3 ventures a total sum worth €1 million for the job, with payments being restricted to under €200,000 and coming from different departments in the club. Other companies like NSG Social Science Ventures SL, Tantra Soft SA, Digital Side SA, Big Data Solutions SA and Futuric SA, which all have links to I3 Ventures owner Carlos Ibanez. 

Spanish publication Cadena CER have published a 36-page report that shows the complete link between Barcelona and I3 Ventures. The club has officially denied any claims of corruption in the partnership between them and I3, but has confirmed that the company provided them services. They also said that the relation would be terminated if something along those lines came into the open. 

The case being investigated is that of paying over-inflated prices for the services provided by I3 Ventures, and mismanagement of the club that has plunged Barcelona’s financial accounts further than ever into debt. 

[Leak] Realme X9 Pro might come with a 108 MP camera, and 4,500mAh battery

At the start of 2021, we saw some leaks of the Realme X9 series appearing online. Thanks to a few more tipsters, it seems like we have much more information about this upcoming series from the house of Realme. The Realme X9 series of the smartphone is expected to showcase two models: X9 and X9 Pro. Smartphones are expected to hit the market in the second quarter of 2021. 

The Chinese tipster has shared a few details of the X9 Pro model which we are going to share with you here. The Realme X9 Pro will feature a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. It will come with a strong refresh rate of 90 Hz. In terms of optics, the smartphone is expected to flaunt a stunning 108-megapixel primary lens. This lens will be supported with a 13-megapixel (ultrawide) and a 13-megapixel (telephoto) sensor. 

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The smartphone will run on Realme UI 2.0 based Android 11 OS. It may come with a high RAM of 12 GB and internal storage of 128 GB / 256 GB. Realme X9 Pro might be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 mobile chipset. This SoC was launched by MediaTek this January only. Realme was one of the first companies in the world to confirm that it will be launching a smartphone very soon with this mobile processor. 

Also Read: Meizu 18 series to have 6.2” screen, Snapdragon 888 SoC, and a new OneMind scheduled for 3rd March

8f53e49ba97e5c1a19fc1757909afd6eb3ff8ebfeba4b4132b168185bd6262ff [Leak] Realme X9 Pro might come with a 108 MP camera, and 4,500mAh battery

Popular tipster, Steve Hemmerstoffer, also shared a few renders of the device. In the images, we can see a waterdrop notch screen. At the backside, we see a regular fingerprint scanner along with a 3.5mm audio jack at the top. The X9 Pro is expected to house a modest 4,500mAh battery cell and is paired with a 65W fast charging support.

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