1) PM Narendra Modi virtually address WEF’s Davos Agenda 2022 Summit
•India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Davos Agenda Summit 2022, through video-conferencing. The “Davos Agenda 2022” summit is being held digitally from January 17 to January 21, 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The theme of the event is “The State of the World.”
About the Summits:
•The week-long digital summit will begin with a special address by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
•The ‘Davos Agenda 2022’ will be the first global platform for Heads of state and government as well as CEOs and other leaders to share their visions for 2022 on critical collective challenges and how to address them. This is the second consecutive year that the event is being held virtually.
2) Oxfam India released ‘Inequality Kills’ Report
•According to Oxfam India, “Inequality Kills” report, the wealth of India’s richest families reached to a record high in 2021. In the report, India was described as a ‘very unequal,’ country, as the top 10 people in India holds 57 per cent of the wealth. On the other hand, the share of the bottom half is 13 per cent.
•The report states that 84% of Indian households witnessed an income decline amid the covid-19 pandemic. The richest 98 Indians own the same wealth as the bottom 552 million people. The number of Indian billionaires increased from 102 to 142, during 2021. The wealth of the top 100 families is Rs 57.3 trillion.
3) Former PM of Japan Toshiki Kaifu passes away
•The former Prime Minister of Japan, Toshiki Kaifu has passed away at the age of 91 years in Japan. He served as the PM from 1989 to 1991. He is known for sending the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Persian Gulf in 1991. After the Gulf War, the Japanese Self-Defense Force were deployed to the Gulf region to conduct minesweeping operations during Kaifu’s term of office.
4) Mrs World 2022: Mrs America Shaylyn Ford Takes The Crown
•37 Years old Shaylyn Ford was crowned as the winner of Mrs World 2022. She was crowned by the outgoing queen Kate Schneider from Ireland. Mrs Jordan Jaclyn Stapp & Mrs UAE Debanjali Kamstra were the runner up. Shaylyn Ford represented America in the pageant and battled out 57 other contestants from across the globe to claim the title. This is the 8th time an American representative won the title of Mrs. World.
5) India’s Navdeep Kaur wins Best National Costume award at Mrs World 2022 pageant
•India’s Navdeep Kaur has won the award for the Best National Costume at the prestigious Mrs World 2022 pageant in Nevada, Las Vegas. She is the winner of Mrs India World 2021, was representing the country at Mrs World 2022. Navdeep hails from a small town near Odisha’s Steel City, Rourkela.
•The “avant garde” outfit was inspired by Kundalini Chakra, which “symbolises the movement of energy in chakras of the body from the base to the spine up through the crown”. Cobra embellishments on the shoulder were added to represent the “mystical serpent native to India”, while the golden colour was chosen as it represents novelty, power and glory.
6) GoI launches stamp to mark 1 year of Covid vaccination
•The government of India has released a commemorative postal stamp on the Covid-19 vaccination on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the country’s national immunization programme against the virus. The commemorative stamp design features a healthcare worker inoculating a senior citizen with COVID-19 vaccine, along with an image of ‘COVAXIN’ vial. This stamp signifies the remarkable work done by our frontline healthcare workers and scientific community across the country in protecting the people against the COVID pandemic.
7) Poet Maya Angelou becomes the first black woman to appear on US coin
•The US Treasury has minted coins featuring poet Maya Angelou – the first black woman ever featured on the US 25-cent coin known as a quarter. Angelou, a poet and activist, was the first black woman to write and perform a poem at a presidential inauguration. In 2010, she was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award by President Barack Obama.
•The new coin still features George Washington’s visage on the “heads” side, while the “tails” side honours Angelou by evoking one of her most famous works, the autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
8) 9th women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 begins
•In Himachal Pradesh, the 9th women National Ice Hockey Championship-2022 was inaugurated at Ice Skating Rink, Kaza in Lahaul Spiti district. For the first time in the state, Ice Hockey competition & development camp is being organized at the national level. Teams from Himachal Pradesh, Telengana, Ladakh, ITBP Ladakh, Chandigarh & Delhi are participating in this mega event.
•The state Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated the Championship. This is the first time that National Level Ice Hockey Competition and Development Camp was being held in the State. In 2019, the first Basic Ice Hockey ten days Coaching Camp was organized at Kaza by State Youth Services and Sports Department, in collaboration with the Ladakh Women Ice Hockey Foundation. The State Government has already announced the High-Altitude Sports Center at Kaza with an estimated cost of Rs. 16 crore.
