Category: Life & Style

Two Indo-Canadian academics working on research to make progress for humanity have been honored with the Order of Canada, one of the country’s most prestigious awards.

Their names were in the list published by the office of the governor-general of Canada, Mary Simon. The list had the names of professors Ajay Agrawal and Parminder Raina. Both have been invested into the Order as a Member. In an official release, Simon stated that those being appointed “come from a variety of sectors, have achieved national and international success, and have shown ingenuity, innovation, and generosity”.

 In 1967, Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s Head of State, created the Order of Canada to appreciate and cherish people whose service has helped society, whose innovations aroused the imaginations, and whose love and care united the people.

 Agrawal was honored for “his visionary leadership as an educator and entrepreneur, and his mentorship of students and aspiring business owners”.

The citation for Raina reads- it was for “his leading research in aging and population health in Canada and for his impact on national policymaking in geriatric care services”.

The list included 85 new appointments to the Order of Canada. Some other notable names were Donovan Bailey, winner of the 100 meters gold at the 1996 Olympic Games, and actor Sandra Oh.

On Thursday, Ketanji Brown Jackson created history by becoming the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. 51-year-old Jackson is a former public defender who rose to become a judge on a powerful federal appeal.

The seat held by Associate Justice Stephen Breyer for 28 years announced his retirement post which seat will be filled by this Miami native and Harvard-educated attorney Jackson who was just confirmed by the Senate. In January, Breyer’s retirement allowed Jackson to be Joe Biden’s top choice for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Jackson took the oath of office at a challenging time for the high court as its actions to overturn Roe v. Wade and increase accessibility to handguns have aggravated tensions among the justices and highlighted divisions among Americans over culture war issues. Jackson previously served as a judge on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

But none of it was on show as Jackson received one oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts and another from Breyer, a man Jackson had previously worked as a clerk for more than 20 years. For the first time, white males are outnumbered by women and people of color on the court, since Jackson became the 104th associate judge.

The United Arab Emirates is embarking on a collaboration with startup Deel to expedite the visa process for foreign workers, offering a new incentive in the country’s mission to attract talent from around the world and become a regional technology hub.

Payroll and onboarding company Deel will be able to give its customers, including Coinbase Global Inc. and Shopify Inc., rapid access to visas through a strategic partnership with the UAE’s Office for AI, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, according to a statement released by Bloomberg.

“I expect this to be a big growth generator for Deel and hopefully a big magnet for talent to the UAE,” Chief Executive Officer Alex Bouaziz stated. Customers will be able to obtain two kinds of visas — ten years of self-sponsored residence visa or a more adaptable one for a shorter period of stay.

The UAE government has been trying to make the kingdom a more appealing destination for global technology companies in order to spread its wings away from oil. Bouaziz said that Deel has already begun integrating new workers in recent weeks under the agreement and has the potential to give employment to tens of thousands of people.

This is the first time Deel has partnered with a government, but the agreement could serve as an example of future partnerships.

On Wednesday, an additional weapon in the arsenal against a protracted pandemic was licensed for use by adults 18 years of age and older by a South Korean health authority.

The commonly used AstraZeneca injections were found to be less efficient than SK Bioscience’s two-dose SKYCovione vaccination in boosting immunity against illnesses, according to South Korea’s Food and Drug Safety Ministry.

As of now, it is unclear how the newly developed vaccine will be administered or how much of a role the shots will play in the coming phase of the pandemic. The shots were designed to combat the original Coronavirus, not the more transmissible Omicron variant that ravaged the country earlier this year. In recent months, Pfizer and Moderna have been working on booster shots targeting omicron, but experts warn the virus could mutate again soon.

Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA shots have been a significant component of South Korea’s mass immunization campaign. However, officials say protein vaccines, such as SKYCovione, similar to shots widely used for years against the common flu and hepatitis B, may appeal to people who are hesitant to use newer vaccines.

According to Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yu-kyoung, the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine by SKYCovione confirms the capability of our companies to develop such vaccines. As part of its efforts to export its shots, SK Bioscience is seeking approval from the World Health Organization.

Singapore and the United States launched a program on Monday to assist women employed in the tech industries of both countries by helping them expand their knowledge, learn from each other, grow international contacts and augment their businesses overseas.

The program will include interactive and training sessions, as well as workshops, the US Commerce Department and Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information, said in a statement.

The program was launched by Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo, who is on a working visit to the US this week, and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, at the time of an investment conference near Washington.

Sharing her experience of working in the tech industry, Ms. Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, stated, “Sometimes you just need to know what questions to ask. You need to know who to call. You need to know the right way to pitch your company.”Often, women are left out of those informal discussions on networks. So that is exactly why we started this mentorship network”.

Ms. Raimondo added US mentors can help Singaporean women entrepreneurs who want to succeed in the US and similarly Singaporean mentors can support US entrepreneurs wanting to get experience in the Singapore tech ecosystem.

According to research, women make up 41 percent of the tech workforce in Singapore, while In the US, women made up nearly 26 percent of its computing workforce in 2021.

Oscar-winning deaf actor Marlee Matlin, who featured this year in the Best Picture winner CODA, has been appointed to the Academy’s board of governors, the organization said Wednesday.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gives the prestigious Oscar awards held every year. The organization said Matlin was elected into the new slate of governors who will take over the job for the 2022-23 season.

Governors are selected from 17 branches of filmmakers, including actors, directors, producers, editors, and visual effects crew. They look into and supervise the work of the Academy.

Along with Matlin, Steven Spielberg and Selma director Ava Duvernay are the other prominent members of the Academy’s board of governors.

Matlin fills the vacant spot left over by Laura Dern (Marriage Story), joining Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, The Color Purple) and Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle).

Matlin, the first deaf actor to win an Oscar for her role in “Children of a Lesser God,” was praised this year for her outstanding acting in “CODA.”- a movie that narrates the story of Ruby, a high school deaf teenager as she copes with her musical ambitions alongside her family’s dependence on her to communicate with the abled world.

The capital of Austria, Vienna made a comeback as the ‘world’s most liveable city as per the latest annual report from The Economist. The second position was taken over by the Danish capital Copenhagen followed by Switzerland’s Zurich.

According to the report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (WIU), “Stability and good infrastructure are the city’s main charm for its inhabitants, supported by good healthcare and plenty of opportunities for culture and entertainment.”

The city of Vienna took over the top spot from Ackland, which fell to 34th place due to restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Since its museums and restaurants closed, it fell to the 12th position in early 2021 but has since rebounded to first place, the position it held in 2018 and 2019.

Six countries are positioned in the top ten cities where Geneva came sixth, Frankfurt, Germany on seventh, and Netherlands Amsterdam in the ninth position. The cities of Calgary and Vancouver came in joint third place, followed by Toronto in eighth place, Japan’s Osaka and Australia’s Melbourne in tenth, and Paris moved up to 19th from 23rd last year.

London, the capital of the United Kingdom, ranked 33rd on the list, while Barcelona and Madrid ranked 35th and 43rd.

The Prime Minister’s award for outstanding contribution to the promotion of Yoga was announced for the year 2021. The award was announced by Mr. Modi on the occasion of the second International Day of Yoga Celebrations at Chandigarh on 21st June 2016.

A social and spiritual worker Bhikkhu Sanghasena is the founder of the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre in Leh, Ladakh. Marcus Vinicius Rojo Rodrigues from Brazil and the two organizations from Uttarakhand and the United Kingdom: The Divine Life Society and the British Wheel of Yoga respectively are all chosen for the award.

According to the Ayush Ministry, the winners will be facilitated with a cash award of Rs 25 Lakh along with a certificate and a trophy.

These awards were announced on the second International Yoga Day by PM Modi to commemorate individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to society through the promotion and development of yoga for a sustained period of time.

Institutions and individuals shortlisted for the awards were assessed after a two-stage process. Selections were done in four categories – international individuals, international organizations, national individuals, and national organizations.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia lifted COVID-19’s much-awaited COIVD-19 travel restrictions on its citizens traveling to India. According to the report published, there are three other nations on the list including Turkey, Ethiopia, and Vietnam. In addition, Saudi Arabians traveling abroad now have a longer vaccination period and there will be no requirements for PCR tests or masks while traveling to these nations.

Formerly, travelers had to receive their third booster dose of Covid within three months of their second, but that deadline has now been extended to eight months.

The move was announced by the Ministry of Interior regarding the lifting of travel curbs after the nation dropped precautionary pandemic measures of wearing masks indoors and providing proof of vaccination from all public places last week. The Saudi Public Health Authority Weqaya and places and events that impose their own mask mandates will still require people to wear masks.

In March, Coronavirus restrictions in the Kingdom were loosened when outdoor mask mandates, social distancing procedures, and PCR tests for inbound travelers were abandoned.

However, the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) has listed a travel ban for 15 other countries due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The solar Philippines, the largest solar company in Southeast Asia, has announced the submission of offers towards contracting most of its planned 10 gigawatts of projects in the country in what would be the world’s largest solar power facility when finished. The project is expected to hold double the country’s current solar capacity. This comes as the Southeast Asian nation is trying to meet the rising demand for electricity while moving away from coal.

 If the off-takers and regulators approve the offer, the company would possess the capacity to have nine terawatt-hours a year of contracted energy, making it operational in 2025 and 2026, Solar Philippines said in a statement.

The planned facilities would help the country combat power shortage and greatly improve the country’s grid-connected solar capacity of 1,127 megawatts by the end of 2022, Solar Philippines President Leandro Leviste said in the statement. According to data from BloombergNEF and BP Plc, the Philippines gets about 57% of its electricity from coal. In 2021, coal accounted for 47.6 percent of the total electricity generated in the country.

As reported by Forbes Asia, billionaire Enrique Razon is playing a vital role in ensuring the success of the plan, as his company Prime Infrastructure Holdings has collaborated with Solar Philippines.