NATIONAL NEWS
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to address media at 12 pm today
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to address a press conference at 12 pm today. He is likely to introduce stricter COVID-19 restrictions in the wake of spiking COVID-19 cases in the capital city.
PM Modi to inaugurate 11 new medical colleges in Tamil Nadu on January 12th
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate 11 new government medical colleges across the state of Tamil Nadu on January 12, 2022. He will also inaugurate the new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai through video conferencing. The new medical colleges are being built at a cost of Rs 4000 crore, of which around Rs 2145 crore was provided by the centre and the rest by the state government.
UNESCO’s WHC to publish Hindi descriptions of India’s world heritage sites
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre will publish Hindi descriptions of India’s UNESCO world heritage sites on its website. This was announced by World Heritage Centre’s Director on the occasion of World Hindi Day on January 10.
Contact testing not required unless high-risk people are involved: ICMR
The ICMR said in its latest guidelines issued on January 10, 2022 that those who have come in contact with an infected COVID-19 patient do not need to be tested unless any person is in the high-risk category. The asymptomatic individuals or patients discharged as per home isolation guidelines or those discharged from a covid-19 facility as per revised discharged policy need not be tested as well. However, individuals with symptoms like cough, fever, sore throat, loss of smell and taste or any respiratory symptom or breathlessness should be tested.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
US closely monitoring India-China border dispute
The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki informed on January 10, 2022 that the US is closely monitoring the India-China border dispute and is concerned by China’s attempts to intimidate its neighbours. Psaki said that the US will continue to support dialogue and peaceful resolution of these border disputes.
Russia has no intentions of attacking Ukraine: Russian Deputy FM
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on January 10, 2022 that Russia has no intentions to attack Ukraine. He stressed that there is no need to fear that there would be any kind of escalation of the situation. Russia and the US had security talks on January 20th in Geneva, which went on for almost 7.5 hours.
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas appointed as Chief Economist of IMF
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, a French-born University of California-Berkley Economist, has been appointed as the next Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund. He has replaced the Indian-Origin Gita Gopinath. Gourinchas will succeed Gita Gopinath who has been appointed as the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Gourinchas will begin his work as the new Chief Economist on January 24, 2022, initially on a part-time basis as he will conclude some prior teaching commitments. He will transition to full time on April 1. As per IMF, Pierre-Olivier will bring his expertise in analysing today’s most pressing economic problems. He is known for his agility in spotting emerging trends in the field of economics.
Chris Morris, South African all-rounder, announces retirement from all forms of cricket
Chris Morris, the South African all-rounder, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on January 11, 2022. The cricketer thanked everyone who was part of his journey and also expressed excitement for his new role as a coach. Chris Morris had made his international debut in December 2012 against New Zealand and had played his first One Day Internationals in 2013. The all-rounder featured in four tests, 23 T2Ois and 42 ODIs for South Africa. He last played an international game in 2019.
