Indian users found new role models to follow and chose hope over despair online in 2020. Yahoo today announced the 2020 Year in Review (YIR) for India, a collection of 2020’s top newsmakers and events, based on users’ anonymized daily search habits and an editorial selection of what was read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo through the year.

YIR 2020 Personality of the Year: COVID Warriors

COVID Warriors, the tribe of brave Indians who stepped up and made their effort count through the pandemic, were named YIR’s Personality of the Year 2020. Netizens were hugely inspired by COVID warriors from across India. From healthcare workers to police personnel, government officials, journalists, delivery boys, garbage collectors and citizen volunteers, this diverse group of unknown Indians gave online India a reason to cheer and hope -- one story at a time, one day at a time -- through the darkest months of 2020.

Yahoo Year In Review Special Mention: 'Hero of the Year' Sonu Sood

Actor Sonu Sood was a real-life hero for thousands of migrant workers left stranded and battered early in the COVID crisis -- from organizing food to mobilizing transport to recently launching the app Pravasi Rojgar to connect impacted workers to new livelihoods -- Sonu went above and beyond to make a difference. Online India was awed, with netizens tracking his initiatives and rooting for this on-screen villain turned real-life hero.

Sushant Singh Rajput is India’s ‘Most Searched Personality’

Grief over a young icon gone too soon, a slew of conspiracy theories and an endless news cycle combined to make late actor Sushant Singh Rajput India’s ‘Most Searched Personality’ of 2020. This is the first year since 2017 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taken the No. 1 spot on the list -- he came in at No. 2. PM Modi was bracketed by actor Rhea Chakraborty at No.3, who grabbed headlines in one of the year’s biggest news stories. Besides perennial political newsmakers Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah and Arvind Kejriwal, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and actor-activist Kangana Ranaut were propelled into the top 10 of this list, with users closely tracking their feud online.

Top Newsmakers of 2020

PM Modi stayed firm at No. 1 on this list, with Sushant Singh Rajput and Rhea Chakraborty at a joint No. 2 and Rahul Gandhi coming in at No.3. Controversial anchor and editor Arnab Goswami, parent-to-be Cricketer Virat Kohli, Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar and actor Sonu Sood made up the rest of the top 10. Narendra Modi Retains India's Top Newsmaker Tag on Yahoo 2018 'Year in Review'. 

Most Searched Male Celebrity: Sushant Singh Rajput

Indians bid goodbye to much-loved celebrities and beloved legends in 2020. Sushant Singh Rajput, Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam were among the top 10 Most Searched Male Celebrities of the year, deeply mourned online. While Sushant Singh Rajput was at No 1 on this list, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan were other online favourites from 2019, who held onto their place on this ranking.

Most Searched Female Celebrity: Rhea Chakraborty

Rhea Chakraborty was a clear No. 1 on this year's list of Most Searched Female Celebrity. A relatively unknown name at the start of 2020, she toppled fan favourites actors Deepika Padukone, Sunny Leone and Priyanka Chopra. While they slipped lower on the list, Kangana Ranaut elbowed her way to No 2, through her fiery presence online.

Most Searched Politicians of 2020

PM Modi once again topped the list of Most Searched Politicians of 2020, with Rahul Gandhi back at No. 2 (edging out Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, who claimed the No. 2 spots last year). Amit Shah, Uddhav Thackeray and Arvind Kejriwal made up the top 5, with Didi slipping lower down on the list. Netizens paid their respects online to Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, former President of India, who passed away in August, with a place on this list.

Most Searched Indian Sports Personalities in 2020: Dhoni takes the top spot

With sports disrupted, sports personalities remained as much in the spotlight for their off-the-field antics and news. M.S. Dhoni, who announced his retirement from international cricket, was the top searched Indian Sports Personality of 2020. Virat Kohli, whose 'baby' news had fans cheering online, and Rohit Sharma, dogged by controversy, made up the top three in the ranking for Most Searched Indian Sports Personalities in 2020. This year's list had an equal number of women in sports, with Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu among those featuring in the top 10.

Glamour and guts icons: Bollywood’s top Fitness and Wellness celebrities of 2020

Move over Bollywood’s Most Stylish! In a year when fashion runways lay unused, online users found new role models with high fitness and wellness quotients. Malaika Arora, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Preity Zinta, Katrina Kaif and Shilpa Shetty were the top 5 Bollywood actor-influencers who inspired users to stay fit amidst lockdown bingeing. Among the cross-generation male role models, Karan Singh Grover, Milind Soman, Vidyut Jammwal, Tiger Shroff and Anil Kapoor showed fans how it could be done!

Business Newsmakers of 2020: Ambani rules

Ambani, Adani and Adar -- three ‘A’s topped the Business Newsmakers list of 2020. Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh Ambani remained unrivalled at No.1, followed by industrialist Gautam Adani who on the back of a successful year, saw his personal wealth growing most on India's rich list in 2020. Adar Poonawalla, the CEO, Serum Institute of India, burst into the list at No. 3, with a lot riding on the manufacture of the COVID-19 vaccine. In a year when traditional classrooms remained closed, Byju founder, Byju Raveendran's influence soared on the back of a rising user base, the surge in funding and valuations -- giving him a place on the list.

Big and bizarre: Top Viral News of 2020

Controversial, political and at times just plain absurd news grabbed the attention of users in 2020. A video of an RJD leader losing his pants (quite literally!) while criticizing PM Modi, was the top viral news in 2020. Besides politically-divisive news that polarized users, clips that riveted netizens included a video of newsman Rajdeep Sardesai dancing to Baadshah after AAP's win in Delhi, and a Madhya Pradesh forest buried under a blanket of locusts!

The baby brigade: Celebrities with babies and pregnancy announcements in 2020

"And then, we were three!" Virat Kohli's tweet captured a popular celebrity-in-lockdown-trend: adding a new member to the family. Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, Hardik Pandya, Kalki Koechlin and Amrita Rao all grabbed users' attention with their pregnancy and baby 'Good Newwz." Users couldn’t get enough of the updates, pictures, and posts in an otherwise sombre year.

For the biggest moments online and other surprises from the year, take a detailed look at Yahoo Year in Review 2020- https://in.yahoo.com/topics/yir-2020-india

About the *Yahoo India 2020 Year in Review Methodology:

To develop the Yahoo Year in Review, our team analyzes users’ anonymized interest patterns based on what was searched for, read, recommended, and shared. It takes into account a number of factors, including absolute volume and growth from previous periods to see which themes and trends bubble to the surface.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 08, 2020 01:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).