Foreign news
China Is Ready To Embrace Green, Inclusive, Open, Clean Winter Olympics
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is around the corner, China’s preparation for the Games has entered the final stage.
In his New Year address last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country would spare no effort to present a great Winter Olympics to the world. “The world is turning its eyes to China, and China is ready,” he said.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspected preparations for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games on Tuesday, 30 days ahead of the opening ceremony.
He also extended New Year greetings to athletes, coaches, volunteers and representatives of the operation teams, the media and scientific research staff.
The Chinese president has paid great attention to the preparations for the Olympics. Tuesday’s was his fifth inspection visit to Winter Olympic sites, following tours in January and February 2017, February 2019 and January 2021.
Venue construction
During his inspection in February 2019, Xi stressed that venue construction must meet Olympic standards and highlight the characteristics of technology, wisdom, environment and frugality.
On Tuesday, he visited the National Speed Skating Oval, locally known as the “Ice Ribbon,” which is among 12 competition venues and the only one built exclusively for ice competition. It is also an example of how China is delivering its promise of hosting green games.
The site uses carbon dioxide trans-critical direct ice-making technology, resulting almost zero carbon emissions. The waste heat in refrigeration can be further recycled, raising the energy efficiency by 30 to 40 percent.
During his inspection in February 2017, Xi said construction projects for the Winter Olympics should not be extravagant, with their post-Games usage taken into full consideration.
This instruction had been well-considered for the “Ice Ribbon.” Its 12,000-square-meter ice surface will become a playground for speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and curling enthusiasts after the Games.
Service guarantee
When hosting a symposium on preparation for the Winter Olympics in February 2017, Xi noted operation and service work for the Games should be designed systematically and solidly promoted.
He also encouraged the games organizing committee to actively use modern technology, especially informatization and big data, to improve operation and efficiency.
Xi on Tuesday visited Main Media Center, Athletes’ Village, Games-time Operations Command Center and a winter sports training base, which are sites that are key to service delivery.
The Main Media Center, that covers an area of 211,000 square meters, will be the temporary home and office of some 3,000 journalists from more than 100 countries and regions and 12,000 broadcasters from over 200 networks.
Utilization of intelligent technologies across a wide array of areas makes this media center different from those in the past Olympic Games. Armies of robots will help to provide a wide range of services, working as guides and doing things from those related to COVID-19 prevention and control, to food delivery and food preparation.
The athletes’ village will provide full-time service for athletes, coaches and officials during the Games, 53 days in total, in the three competition zones – Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
Foreign news
NTAC Hails Tinubu; Volunteers Ready to Positively Impact Nigerians
Joel Ajayi
The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) has commended President Bola Tinubu for funding the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) Scheme.
The Director General (DG) of NTAC , Dr Yusuf Yakub, made the commendation during a ceremony to receive five returning TAC volunteers from Zanzibar, Tanzania on Tuesday in Abuja.
The returning volunteers also expressed readiness to impact knowledge gained from participating in the programme on Nigerians.
TAC is a mechanism for Nigeria’s foreign aid and technical assistance to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through the use of Nigeria’s abundant trained manpower.
Yakub lauded Tinubu’s visionary leadership and steadfast support for the TAC Scheme.
Welcoming the volunteers who had discharged themselves as worthy ambassadors in Zanzibar, the D-G thanked them for their patriotism, dedication to service and for making Nigeria proud on the international arena.
The NTAC boss highlighted the importance of knowledge-sharing, while announcing that certificates of completion will be presented to the volunteers in line with the noble objectives of the service.
He also emphasised the volunteers’ crucial role in passing on the skills and experiences gained in Zanzibar.
He expressed optimism that their efforts would positively impact the lives of Nigerians across the country and shape the expectations and service-delivery of future prospective volunteers.
Earlier speaking, Amb. Zakari Usman, the Director of Programmes for NTAC, expressed gratitude to the D-G for his unwavering support and provision for the volunteers throughout their service period.
He said that the volunteers had so delivered on the mandate of the agency that citizens of Zanzibar did not want them to leave their country.
Popoola Adegoke, the Team Lead and a Mathematics Instructor for the batch of returning volunteers, was full of gratitude to the Federal Government for providing them the opportunity to participate in the scheme.
Adegoke said that Nigeria, was well blessed and had the abundance of both human and natural resources to contribute meaningfully to the development of many countries of the world.
He said that the need to continue the TAC Scheme was not negotiable, owing to its high impact and results.
Mohammed Salisu, a Physicist, said that the experience had broadened his horizon as his orientation during the last 24 months in Zanzibar, especially on the cultural exchange.
He lauded the government for the scheme, saying that Nigeria is seen and perceived to be higher in all ranking, especially in the standard of living and educational system.
He also appealed to the government to sustain the scheme to close the gaps both the educational and professional systems in the African, Caribbean and the Pacific Countries.
NAN
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