The poet, writer, and activist Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to appear on a U.S. quarter.

 

The U.S. Mint released a coin featuring her likeness into circulation earlier this week; the coin was created as part of the American Women Quarters Program, through which a series of special-edition coins honoring American women will be minted over the next four years. (Other women to be honored by the program this year include Chinese American film star Anna May Wong; astronaut Sally Ride; American Cherokee activist Wilma Mankiller; and suffragist Nina Otero-Warren.)

Source : Art Net

The annual Beating the Retreat ceremony, which takes place every year in Delhi on January 29th, 2022, will have a show of nearly 1,000 drones by an IIT-Delhi-based startup to commemorate 75 years of the country's Independence, senior officials of the defence ministry said today(18th Jan 2022).

 

There will be a laser projection mapping show on the parapet of the North Block and the South Block, they added. This is the first time that the Beating the Retreat ceremony will have laser and drone shows, the officials said.

Source : NDTV

Founder and Managing Director of Texport Industries Narendra Kumar Goenka takes charge(17th Jan 2022) of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) as its new Chairman. He has replaced A Sakthivel.

 

Assuming charge of the council at its executive committee meeting held today, Goenka says, ‘We are witnessing robust growth in apparel exports. Going by the export orders in hand, this positive trend will further accelerate in the last quarter’. He further said, ‘Apparel exports were 22% up at $1.46 billion in December 2021 from $1.20 billion in December 2020. The same in the first nine months of this fiscal stood at $11.13 billion, 35% more than $8.22 billion in April-December 2020. The trend is getting stronger.’

 

Goenka said that this major turnaround in apparel exports was possible due to the highly efficient management by the government led by PM Narendra Modi and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indian apparel exporters. Despite several disruptions in the global supply chain and demand, the Indian apparel industry demonstrated its resilience by gradually inching back to the pre-pandemic growth path. By the end of this financial year, we will be looking at new targets, he said.

Source : Times Now News

The India Supplement 2022—Inequality Kills—reveals that when 84 percent of households in the country suffered a decline in their income in a year marked by tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142. 

 

It also states that just a one percent wealth tax on 98 richest billionaire families in India can finance Ayushman Bharat, the national public health insurance fund of the Government of India for more than seven years.The briefing was published today(16th Jan 2022), ahead of the of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda. The briefing indicates that the collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people hit a record high of INR 57.3 lakh crore (USD 775 billion) in 2021.

Source : Oxfam India

Sukuvan-Dhukuvan Dam has been selected as the oldest and best engineering irrigation project in the country. It has been selected in the World Heritage Irrigation category by the world-class organization International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). It had identified those reservoirs last year, which are still functioning after 100 years.

 

Its name was recommended by the Central Water Commission in August last year. On Wednesday(12th Jan 2022), Vinod Kumar Niranjan, Head of Irrigation Department informed about its selection. Joining the ancient irrigation site is also expected to boost tourism in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

Sukuvan-Dhukuvan Dam, about 112 years old, is still one of the selected reservoirs of the country due to its beauty and excellent engineering. Last year, the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) started an exercise to identify the oldest best irrigation projects in the world. The Central Water Commission (CWC) sent the name of Sukuwan Dhukuwan from UP. According to Executive Engineer Umesh Kumar, this dam located on the Betwa river was built in 1909. There has been no change in its structure till date. On this basis it was selected as the best structure.

Source : News247plus

Union Minister for Heavy Industries "Mahendra Nath Pandey" on Saturday(15th Jan 2022) dedicated India's first BHEL-built 'Coal To Methanol' (CTM) pilot plant to the nation here, as part of the ongoing 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations, an official release said.

 

CTM Plant has started functioning with more than 99% of purity opening a new avenue to convert high ash coals to methanol.

 

The 0.25 TPD (Tons per Day) capacity CTM pilot plant was designed, developed, and installed by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and has been producing methanol with 99 % accuracy, said CMD Shinghal Nalin Shinghal.

 

“Significantly, this conversion of high ash Indian coals to methanol through the gasification route is the first of its kind technology demonstration in India,” Shinghal said. After this project, the government is going to set up more such plants to make the best use of high ash coal by converting it into methanol fuel, said a senior officer of the Coal Ministry.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the World Economic Forum's(WEF's) Davos Agenda virtual event on January 17, joining a host of other global leaders.

 

The WEF is set to host the event on its website and social media channels from January 17 to January 21, 2022.

 

This is the second consecutive year that the forum has had to host the summit digitally due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It hopes to convene the 2022 annual meeting later this year.

 

Announcing its schedule, the forum said that "Davos Agenda 2022" will be the first global platform for key world leaders to share their visions for 2022.

 

Theme : The event is being convened on the theme of "The State of the World."

Former President of Mali, "Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta", who was elected during a historic election following a destabilising coup and only to be deposed seven years later by another military coup, passed away at the age of 76 on Sunday(16th Jan 2022).

 

Keïta, commonly known as IBK to Malians by his initials, served as President from the year 2013 until the military pushed him out in 2020. Since his forced resignation in August 2020, his health had deteriorated, and he had received medical care in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Associated Press reported.

 

The transitional administration of Mali said in a statement that the leader has passed away in Bamako after a "long illness". As per the statement, "The government of the Republic of Mali and the Malian people salute the memory of the late great," the Associated Press reported. The statement further added that the details about the funeral arrangements will be announced later. It is worth noting that Keita had a minor stroke two years ago, as per BBC..

Source : Republic World

Dubai is known for its structural marvels and has a long list of some very exquisite buildings and architecture. Adding to that list is the newly constructed "Infinity Bridge" that opened for traffic on January 16th, 2022 . The bridge fosters an arc structure shaped like the symbol of infinity, which represents the unlimited ambitions that Dubai incorporates on its road to development. The Infinity Bridge is part of a roughly $1.44 billion project called the Al Shindagha Corridor Project, which was first announced in 2018. The bridge has six lanes in each direction and is constructed to improve the link between Deira and Bur Dubai, reported Khaleej Times. The bridge is capable of running 24,000 vehicles in both directions every hour.

 

The Roads And Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai, along with opening the Infinity Bride, also announced the temporary closure of two months of one direction of the Al Shindagha going from Deira towards Bur Dubai. The closure is essential for the smooth completion of the link between the Infinity Bridge and the other new bridges made in the route and an uninterrupted flow of traffic.

 

Spanning across a total distance of 13 kilometres, the Infinity Bridge links various important streets of Dubai, including Sheikh Rashid Street and Al Khaleej Street. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates, also announced the opening of the bridge and shared pictures of the bridge on Twitter. In the caption accompanying the pictures, he wrote, “Infinity Bridge. A new global engineering artistic and architectural masterpiece we launched today in Dubai. Our bridges towards the future. Our ambitions are endless.”

Source : News18