New Delhi: The humble cow was named as “Personality of the Year”, trumping other high-profile contenders in Yahoo’s 2015 India “Year in Review” (YIR) list. “It started with the Maharashtra government announcing a ban on sale of beef — which led to massive debates online and offline, spiralling into the ‘beef controversy’,” Yahoo said.
Fuelled further by the Dadri mob lynching in Uttar Pradesh, the cow was at the centre of discussions.
Kalam features on most searched list
Discussions on “intolerance”, sparking the “award wapsi” campaign began with the Dadri lynching incident, stalling Parliament proceedings at one point. The Yahoo’s 2015 India “Year in Review” list sees the year’s top trends, happenings, events that caught the imagination of Indian net users.
In its eighth year, this review is based on users’ daily search habits and an editorial selection of what they read, shared and recommended most on Yahoo. It factors in absolute volume and growth from previous periods to see which themes and trends bubble to the surface. The rise of ISIS, 2015 World Cup, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s demise, Sheena Bora Murder investigation and Vyapam Scandal featured on the list of most searched news/events in 2015, it added.
Sunny Leone retained the top position as the most searched female celebrity for the fourth year in a row, while Salman Khan claimed the No 1 spot in the most searched male celebrity list. India's most searched sportsperson saw MS Dhoni topping the list, while Apple dominated technology news and searches this year with the iPhone 6 taking the top spot in the list of most searched gadgets.
