1-2 APRIL 2016
Oscar winning actress Patty Duke died
01-APR-2016
Duke won a best supporting actress Academy Award and a Golden Globe in 1963 for The Miracle Worker.
Amazon commenced work on its biggest
campus in Hyderabad
The campus spread over 10 acres of land in Gachibowli is part of 2 billion dollar investment announced by the company in India.
British comedian Ronnie Corbett passed away
Corbett achieved prominence in David Frost's 1960s satirical comedy programme The Frost Report and subsequently starred in sitcoms such as No – That's Me Over Here!, Now Look Here and Sorry!
Amazon commenced work on its biggest
campus in Hyderabad
01-APR-2016
Amazon, the global e-commerce and cloud services firm, on 30 March 2019 commenced work on its biggest campus at Hyderabad in India. It is the largest campus outside the United States (US) for Amazon.
The campus spread over 10 acres of land in Gachibowli is part of 2 billion dollar investment announced by the company in India.
Telangana IT and Panchayat Raj Minister KT Rama Rao laid the foundation stone for this India’s biggest Campus.
This is Amazon's second significant investment in Telangana in one year. In June 2015,
It had inaugurated one of its biggest fulfillment
centres in Hyderabad.
About Amazon in Hyderabad
• Amazon was established its backend operations in Hyderabad in 2005-06.
• At present thousands of Amazonians work in Hyderabad lending backend support to Indian business and also across the world.
• The global online retailer began the work on the facility, a day after India opened the sector for 100 percent foreign equity, though with riders.
British comedian Ronnie Corbett passed away
01-APR-2016
British entertainer Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBC comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, died on 31 March 2016. He was 85.
The Frost Reportand subsequently starred in sitcoms such as No – That's Me Over Here!, Now Look Hereand Sorry!.
Corbett's BBC television comedy show with Ronnie Barker, The Two Ronnies, ran from 1971 to 1987. Barker and Corbett performed sketches and musical numbers. Corbett presented a monologue.
Corbett's best-known role away from The Two Ronnies was as the 40-something Timothy Lumsden, dominated by his mother, in the sitcom Sorry!.
inThe entertainer was awarded with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to entertainment and charity.
Jailed Egyptian Novelist Ahmed Naji to receive
PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award
02-APR-2016
PEN America on 31 March 2016 announced that it will confer the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award upon imprisoned Egyptian novelist and journalist Ahmed Naji.
The award will be presented to Naji at Pen America's annual Literary Gala on 16 May 2016 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
PEN America’s 16 May 2016 Literary Gala will also salute Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling with the 2016 PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award for engendering a love of literature among children worldwide.
Who is Ahmed Naji?
• Naji is the author of three books and a journalist at the state-fundedAkhbar al-Adab literary magazine.
• He has been a vocal critic of official corruption under the rule of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
• In 2015, he was charged with violating public modesty after a private citizen complained that an excerpt from Naji’s novel The Use of Lifepublished in the state-run literary journal Akhbar al-Adab had given the reader heart palpitations due to its sexual content.
• State prosecutors then brought a case against Naji despite the Egyptian censorship board’s previous approval of the literary text. When a trial court found him not guilty, prosecutors appealed to a higher court that in February 2016 delivered a guilty verdict and imposed the maximum sentence of two years in prison.
Union Government notified Bio-Medical Waste
Management Rules, 2016
02-APR-2016
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change on 28 March 2016 notified the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
The new set of Rules will replace the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998.
Highlights of Bio-Medical Waste Management
Rules, 2016
• Biomedical waste was defined as human and animal anatomical waste, treatment apparatus like needles, syringes and other materials used in health care facilities in the process of treatment and research.
• This waste is generated during diagnosis, treatment or immunisation in hospitals, nursing homes, pathological laboratories, blood bank, etc.
• The objective of the new set of rules is to properly manage the 484 tons per day bio-medical waste from 168869 healthcare facilities (HCFs) across the country.
• The ambit of the rules has been expanded to include vaccination camps, blood donation camps, surgical camps or any other healthcare activity.
• Use of chlorinated plastic bags, gloves and blood bags will be phased out within two years.
• Pre-treatment of the laboratory waste, microbiological waste, blood samples and blood bags through disinfection or sterilisation on-site in the manner as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO) or The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)
• All health care workers will be provided training and immunization regularly.
• A Bar-Code System for bags or containers containing bio-medical waste for disposal will be established.
• Existing incinerators to achieve the standards for retention time in secondary chamber and Dioxin and Furans within two years
• Bio-medical waste has been classified in to 4 categories instead of the existing 10 categories to improve the segregation of waste at source.
• Procedure to get authorisation simplified. Automatic authorisation for bedded hospitals will be allowed. The validity of authorization synchronised with validity of consent orders for bedded healthcare facilities.
• The new rules prescribe more stringent standards for incinerator to reduce the emission of pollutants in environment.
• Emissions limits for Dioxin and furans were prescribed.
• State Government will provide land for setting up common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility.
• No occupier shall establish on-site treatment and disposal facility, if a service of `common bio-medical waste treatment facility is available at a distance of seventy-five kilometer.
• Operator of a common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility has to ensure the timely collection of bio-medical waste from the HCFs and assist the HCFs in conduct of training.
These rules were in addition to the other waste management rulesthat were notified in March 2016. They are as follows –
•Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016
• E-Waste Management Rules, 2016
•Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016