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Photo of the Week

ROLLING REPAIRS

8th August 2014 There is much focus on the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s R51-billion acquisition of 600 new trains. But the utility is also continuing to refurbish its existing Metrorail fleet and will do so for another 15 years (see story on page 16). Picture above is a coach that has been repaired by... →

ELECTRIC FLYING

1st August 2014 Developed by a consortium of Airbus, Daher Socata and Aero Composites Saintonge, the E-Fan concept aircraft made its first public flight on April 25, 2014, and was demonstrated again at the 2014 Farnborough International Airshow, which took place in the UK last month. The plane comes in two- and... →

ASSEMBLY HUB

25th July 2014 Workers at First Automotive Works’ (FAW’s) R600-million, 28 000 m2 Coega assembly plant, in Nelson Mandela Bay. The Chinese vehicle manufacturer believes the Eastern Cape assembly plant will position it well for growing African truck demand. FAW is now considering a 35 000-car-a-year domestic... →

NO EARNINGS DELIGHT

18th July 2014 Samsung issued unexpectedly weak quarterly earnings guidance last week, which put it on track for its worst results in two years. Pictured above are visitors to the group’s Semiconductor Rider experience at its ‘d'light showroom’ in Seoul, South Korea. →

DEMOCRACY PROTEST

11th July 2014 Last week, protesters marched on the Hong Kong business district as part of a yearly July 1 rally to mark the anniversary of the territory’s return to China in 1997. The protesters demanded full democracy and highlighted their opposition to Chinese control over the election of the city’s top... →

RAMPING UP

4th July 2014 Pulp and paper group Sappi is currently ramping up its modified specialised-cellulose plant at the Ngodwana mill, in Mpumalanga. The R3-billion project, which started in early 2012, has a nameplate capacity of 200 000 t/y. The development forms part of the group’s strategy to expand output of... →

HIGH STAKES

27th June 2014 Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries moved last week to improve on General Electric’s offer for engineering group Alstom. But the French government then raised the stakes by urging the rival suitors to come up with better offers. President Francois Hollande’s government also insists that any... →

GOAL

20th June 2014 A watch displaying the word ‘goal’ as a football rolls fully behind the goal line during a demonstration ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Brazil last week. GoalControl, of Germany, has been appointed as the official provider of goal-line technology for the tournament. The... →

POWER POLITICS

13th June 2014 US President Barack Obama made a proposal last week to slash average power-plant emissions by 30% from 2005 levels, as part of a plan to fight climate change. Pictured above is the US Capitol Building foregrounded by the Capitol Power Plant. The plant, which is fuelled by natural gas and coal,... →

INSPIRED MOVE

6th June 2014 While a number of President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet appointments were underwhelming to say the least, the decision to move the highly respected Pravin Gordhan from the powerful position of Finance Minister to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs could well be an inspired one. Pictured at... →

MODI(FIED)

30th May 2014 A large screen showing television coverage of Narendra Modi, 63, as news of his Bharatiya Janata Party’s overwhelming victory was confirmed. The news sent markets to all-time highs and Modi later broke down in tears in Parliament when accepting to role of Prime Minister of the world’s biggest... →

BEYOND NUCLEAR

23rd May 2014 President Francois Hollande has promised to lower the country’s dependence on nuclear power to 50% by 2025, from 75% currently. Initially the target was expected to require the closure of plants, but it appears that demand growth will be the main cause. Electricite de France (EDF) CEO Henri... →

GOOD INFLUENCE

16th May 2014 Much attention was rightfully given to South Africa’s Public Protector Thuli Madonsela for her inclusion in Time Magazine’s May 5 list of the world’s 100 most influential people. But it is also worth highlighting and celebrating the fact that Nigeria’s Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was... →

STAR QUALITY

9th May 2014 The Honda Motor Company’s Asimo robot runs a gauntlet of photographers after a recent presentation during the 2014 New York International Auto Show, in the US city. Asimo stands for ‘Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility’ and has made remarkable progress since its first public introduction 14... →

MAMMOTH UNDERTAKING

2nd May 2014 As South Africa gears up for its fifth democratic election, spare a thought for the organisers, candidates and voters participating in India’s poll. Around 815-million people have registered to vote in what is world's biggest-ever election, which began on April 7 and will conclude on May 12. The... →

PAST GREATNESS & PRESENT STORMS

25th April 2014 There is a great deal of symbolism contained in this poignant photograph, showing storm clouds gathering above a statue of Nelson Mandela outside the gates of Drakenstein Correctional Centre (formerly Victor Verster), near Paarl in Western Cape. It offers a potent reminder of this country’s quite... →

PUBLIC PURPOSE

18th April 2014 With her credentials and bravery now well established, people listen when Public Protector Thuli Modonsela speaks. Last week South Africa’s engineering community listened when she cautioned that the R847-billion infrastructure programme was associated both opportunity and “great risks”. She... →

EXPLOSIVE TRAINING

11th April 2014 Amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps throw smoke bombs as they move to land on shore during a recent US-South Korea joint landing operation drill in Pohang. The drill is part of the two countries' annual military training called Foal Eagle, which began on February 24 and... →

DIGITAL JEWELLERY

4th April 2014 Logbar CEO Takuro Yoshida holding the company’s ‘Ring’ wearable device, which effectively transforms the wearer’s finger into a digital wand. By tracing a dollar sign in the air, for instance, the Ring can communicate with other devices to pay for items. It enables a wearer to control televisions... →

POWER TOWER

28th March 2014 One of the towers at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which is located in the Mojave Desert, in the US. The 392 MW solar-thermal plant has been developed by Google, NRG Energy and BrightSource. The facility began operating in February and this photograph was taken in early March. →

THREE YEARS ON

21st March 2014 As Japan considers restarting its 48 nuclear reactors, members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Company employees (wearing protective suits and masks) visited inside the central control room for the No 1 and No 2 reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant on March 10, 2014. Three years... →

PRIVATE DRONES

14th March 2014 A report by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the US, estimates that the number of civilian unmanned aircraft will reach 175 000 by 2035. It expects most of these to be smaller models. Pictured above is SteadiDrone director Duran de Villiers flying... →

EN GARDE

7th March 2014 International Monetary Fund MD Christine Lagarde at the recent Group of 20 (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Sydney, Australia. She said global growth had strengthened in recent months, but cautioned that further action and cooperation were necessary to promote a more... →

MEGA CONCERNS

By: Terence Creamer 28th February 2014 Workers seen on scaffolding in mid-February at the giant Medupi power station project, which is currently rising out of the Lephalale bushveld, in South Africa’s Limpopo province. The project is scheduled to begin delivering power in the second half of this year. But there are concerns that the... →

FLOOD WARNING

21st February 2014 The images of flooding in the UK have brought home just how vulnerable even the most developed countries are to changes in the weather. Pictured above is a resident of Wraysbury, in southern England, wading through water in Wellington boots as the Thames flooded the village. →

TAPERING CHIEF

14th February 2014 On February 3, Janet Yellen became the first woman chairperson of the US Federal Reserve. Seen here signing an affidavit confirming that she took the oath of office, Yellen's term will last until 2018. Without question, all emerging markets will be watching her actions closely, particularly given... →

YEAR OF THE HORSE

7th February 2014 Fire and wood are the two dominant elements associated with the ‘Year of the Horse’, which Reuters reports has some believers in the Chinese form of geomancy expecting conflicts and disasters related to fire, but also possible gains in stocks linked to wood. Pictured above is a giant lantern... →

FOOD FIGHT

31st January 2014 In mid-January, more than 200 groups, including food companies and organic farmers, called on President Barack Obama to require manufacturers to label food products that contain genetically engineered ingredients. Pictured above is a worker throwing a crate off the back of a truck at an organic... →

BACK TO THE FUTURE

24th January 2014 A mining conveyor machine reflects in a safety mirror at an open-pit lignite mine operated by Vattenfall in Welzow-Sued, Germany. Bloomberg News reports that utilities are expanding open-pit mines that produce lignite, considered the dirtiest type of coal, to feed Europe’s appetite for cheaper... →

GENDER MOTORS

17th January 2014 On January 15, Mary Barra (51) became the first woman CEO of General Motors (GM) and also the first female to lead a global automotive company. She took over from Dan Akerson, who held the position since 2010. Barra joined GM more than three decades ago as a college intern and, prior to her... →

DEVELOPMENT ROAD

13th December 2013 A busy road in Accra, the capital of Ghana, in late November 2013. The Ghana economy, which is attracting high levels of foreign direct investment, is expected to expand by more than 7% in 2013. However, the economy's over dependence on gold, cocoa and oil makes it vulnerable to trade shocks. For... →

LOOKING EAST

6th December 2013 Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche addressing members of the media in Seoul, South Korea last week. The German vehicle manufacturer plans to double sales in South Korea by 2020, and build a new research and development centre in the Asian country. Daimler recently moved to acquire a stake in Beijing... →

RAIL BOSSES

29th November 2013 Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) CEO Siyabonga Gama and China South Rail Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive president Zhou Qinghe exit the cab of the new Class 20E locomotive, which was delivered to South Africa ahead of schedule in mid-November. The locomotive was designed and manufactured in only 13 months... →

TERRIFYING TYPHOON

22nd November 2013 Victims of Typhoon Haiyan pictured here waiting for relief supplies near a tattered Philippine flag in Hernani, Samar. The storm swept through the Asian country’s central regions killing thousands and leaving people to scavenge for food, water and medicine. In the wake of the storm, Naderev Sano,... →

RENEWABLES PROGRESS

15th November 2013 Arguably one of the most successful initiatives undertaken by the South African government since the advent of democracy has been the Renewable Energy independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). While some find the process overly bureaucratic, there is little question that the... →

RAIL REVIVAL

8th November 2013 There is a growing sense of optimism that the long-talked-about modal shift from road to rail is genuinely starting to gain traction. Transnet CEO Brian Molefe reported last month that growth of railed containers and automobiles had far exceeded economic growth in the first half of the group’s... →

GOING FISSION

1st November 2013 Electricite de France (EDF) chairperson Henri Proglio (left) and the CEO of group’s UK unit EDF Energy, Vincent de Rivaz, at a news conference called to announce a deal to construct the first new nuclear power station in the UK in a generation. EDF, together with Areva, of France, China General... →

Topsy Turvy

25th October 2013 This photograph showing an upside-down reflection of the US Capitol building was taken at the height of the political hurly-burley geared towards ending a government shutdown and raising a self-imposed debt ceiling. But it perhaps also acts as a fairly accurate allegory for just how the strange... →

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