Google announces the arrival of New Year with doodle

NEW DELHI: Google on Friday marked the arrival of 2021 with a doodle.


The doodle showed a cuckoo bird announcing the arrival of 2021 — a year marked with uncertainties amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Yesterday, Google had unveiled a similar doodle on New Year's eve. "It’s been a cuckoo year, but 2020’s clock is ticking," Google wrote.

The New Year's Eve was celebrated across the globe in a sombre manner as the world continued to reel from a pandemic that has taken lives of over 1.8 million people in less than a year.

Restrictions were imposed on celebrations across the world. In India, night curfew was imposed in several cities and gatherings banned were banned.

The eagerly awaited first seconds of 2021 fell on the Pacific nations of Kiribati and Samoa from 1000 GMT. The uninhabited Howland and Baker Islands will be the last to tip over into the New Year.

New Zealand, which has won plaudits for its handling of the coronavirus, followed Kiribati and Samoa, with large crowds gathered in Auckland to watch a fireworks display.

In Australia's largest city, Sydney, fireworks lit up the glittering harbour with a dazzling display, but few spectators watched in person.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in a New Year's address that a second wave of Covid-19 was battering the nation.

In hard-hit London, 74-year-old American singer-songwriter Patti Smith had been due to ring in the New Year with a tribute to National Health Service workers who have died from Covid-19, projected on the screen at Piccadilly Circus and streamed on YouTube.

But due to alarm at rising infections rates, the big screen projection was cancelled with the tribute viewable instead solely online.

Elsewhere, the mood was far more downbeat.

(With inputs from agencies)

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.