21-22 june 2015
22 june
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany won Austrian Grand Prix of Formula One
Mercedes racing driver Nico Rosberg of Germany on 21 June 2015 won the Austrian Grand Prix Formula 1 World Championship title. He won the final race held at the Spielberg circuit in Styria, Monaco.
While his teammate Lewis Hamilton of Britain stood at the second position, Felipe Massa of Brazil representing the Williams team was at the third position.
Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of the Ferrari team stood at the fourth position.
It is the eleventh overall championship title for Rosberg and the second title in Austria having won the 2014 title too.
It is also the third title in the 2015 season. He won the Championships in Monaco and Spanish in early 2015.
Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) and Sergio Perez (Mexico) of Force India stood at the 8th and 9th positions respectively in the final race.
Former Indian women's hockey captain Shashi Bala died
Former Indian women hockey captain Shashi Bala and her son Agrim Thakur died in a road accident at the Ropar-Nawanshahr-Phagwara area of National Highway 344-A in Punjab on 21 June 2015.
45-year-old Bala made her international debut in 1987 and captained national hockey team during the 1997 FIH Women World Cup Qualifier held in Harare, Zimbabwe.
She was a member of the national team in the 1998 FIH World Cup in the Netherlands.
After retirement, she coached Indian Railways hockey team and later became a selector of Hockey Punjab.
Roger Federer won Gerry Weber Open tennis title for eighth time
Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer won the 2015 Gerry Weber Open tennis title on 21 June 2015 at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany.
In the summit clash, he defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (1), 6-4 to claim the title for record eighth time. With this, Seppi became the first Italian to play the final at Halle since the tournament began in 1993.
In the Men’s doubles category, Indo-Romanian pair Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea was the runners up.
For Federer, it is the 10th Halle final and his most victories at a single event in his career. He won the Wimbledon and Dubai Open tennis titles 7 times each.
It's Federer's fourth title of the 2015 season having won the titles at Brisbane, Dubai and Istanbul.
For the 17-time Grand Slam winner, the present win is 15th title from 20 finals on grass and 86th career title from 130 finals overall.
Federer is the third player in the Open era to win at least eight titles at a single tournament. While Rafael Nadal has nine Roland Garros titles (French Open) and eight from Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Guillermo Vilas of Argentina has eight titles from Buenos Aires.
Serbia won 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil 2-1
Serbia won the FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil on 21 June 2015 at the final match held at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Nemanja Maksimovic scored a 118th minute goal to give Serbia a 2-1 victory over Brazil in extra time.
It is Serbia’s first title since it became an independent nation in 2006.
While Pereira scored the goal for Brazil at the 73rd minute, Mandic (70th minute) and Maksimovic scored the goals for Serbia.
France won the 2013 FIFA U-20 World cup held in Turkey.
International Yoga Day celebration at Rajpath sets two world records
India by celebrating the first International Yoga Day in Rajpath, New Delhi created two Guinness World Records (GWRs) on 21 June 2015. The two records include participation of most individuals and individuals from the largest number of nationalities performing asanas at a single venue.
Around 36 thousand participants performed asanas and 84 nationalities joined the official observation of International Yoga Day at Rajpath in New Delhi. The celebration at Rajpath was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who termed the venue as Yogpath.
192 countries celebrated the first International Yoga Day on 21 June 2015.
Serbia won 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil 2-1
Serbia won the FIFA U-20 World Cup by defeating Brazil on 21 June 2015 at the final match held at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Nemanja Maksimovic scored a 118th minute goal to give Serbia a 2-1 victory over Brazil in extra time.
It is Serbia’s first title since it became an independent nation in 2006.
While Pereira scored the goal for Brazil at the 73rd minute, Mandic (70th minute) and Maksimovic scored the goals for Serbia.
France won the 2013 FIFA U-20 World cup held in Turkey.
International Yoga Day celebration at Rajpath sets two world records
India by celebrating the first International Yoga Day in Rajpath, New Delhi created two Guinness World Records (GWRs) on 21 June 2015. The two records include participation of most individuals and individuals from the largest number of nationalities performing asanas at a single venue.
Around 36 thousand participants performed asanas and 84 nationalities joined the official observation of International Yoga Day at Rajpath in New Delhi. The celebration at Rajpath was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who termed the venue as Yogpath.
192 countries celebrated the first International Yoga Day on 21 June 2015.
Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait written by Dr Anna Suvorova
Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait: Dr Anna Suvorova
The book Benazir Bhutto: A Multidimensional Portrait was released on 26 May 2015. It was written by Dr Anna Suvorova of Russia.
The book is devoted to the life and work of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007). She was the first female head of government in a Muslim state.
The book is based on Bhutto's own books, articles and speeches and on the author's interviews with her close friends and colleagues.
It makes a study of emergence of Bhutto as a political leader, her journey and her assassination by terrorists.
It was published by Oxford University Press. It is intended for a wide readership.
Dr Anna Suvorov, Professor of Indo-Islamic Culture, is currently Head of Department of Asian Literatures at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciencesin Moscow, Russia.
For her contribution to the research of Pakistani literature and cultural heritage she was conferred with one of the highest state awards of Pakistan — Sitara-i-Imtiaz.
Debendranath Sarangi elected as President of Squash Rackets Federation of India
Debendranath Sarangi was on 21 June 2015 elected as the President of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).
The election took place at the Federations Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that was called specifically to elect a set of new office bearers for the period 2015 to 2019.
The elections were held in the presence of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) observer J M Fernando and Government Observer Shyam Sundar, Regional Director, Sports Authority of India (SAI) Bangalore.
The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) oversees the promotion and development of squash in India. It has more than 20 State Associations and affiliated units.
It is headquartered in Chennai.
Immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer can stimulate immune system to block HIV/AIDS infection in mice: Study
Scientists have shown that immunogen (virus protein) eOD-GT8 60mer can successfully stimulate immune system to block HIV/AIDSinfection in mice. The new results were published on 18 June 2015 in concurrent studies in Cell and Science.
The research was led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and The Rockefeller University.
The immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer, essentially a protein nanoparticle, has the potential to inform immunization strategies against AIDS for humans.
In their study, scientists tested the immunogen eOD-GT8 60mer, which was developed in the Schief lab and tested in mouse models engineered by the Nemazee lab to produce human-like antibodies. The immunogen was designed to mimic a critical part of the HIV envelope protein and to bind and activate B cells to produce antibodies needed to fight HIV.
The results showed that immunization with eOD-GT8 60mer produced antibody "precursors" with some of the traits necessary to recognize and block HIV infection, suggesting that eOD-GT8 60mer could be a good first step in a series of immunizations against HIV.
The researchers are now investigating other immunogens that could work in conjunction with eOD-GT8 60mer.
Meanwhile in an another study published in journal Science by researchers from Amsterdam University, Weill Cornell Medical College, TSRI and IAVI, showed engineered immunogens also triggered broadly neutralizing antibody immune responses in rabbit and monkey models.
The researchers' long-term goal is to design a vaccine that prompts the body to produce antibodies that bind to HIV and prevent infection by many if not all of the virus' variants.
Why the findings are important?
So far the effort to develop a vaccine against HIV to elicit antibodies that can effectively fight off different strains of the fast and extensively mutating virus has been unsuccessful. The reason is HIV mutates more rapidly into new strains than most other viruses and has an unprecedented ability to evade detection by the immune system.
According to the researchers, a successful AIDS vaccine needs to comprise of a series of related, but slightly different immunogens to train the body to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV. It is different from the traditional HIV vaccination schemes, in which a person was exposed to the same immunogen multiple times.
First International Day of Yoga observed globally
21 June: International Day of Yoga
The first International Day of Yoga was on 21 June 2015 observed globally. The day was celebrated across 192 nations including Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Earlier on 3 June 2015, National Yoga Day was also celebrated in India.
The celebrations of first International Yoga Day at Rajpath in New Delhi saw setting of two Guinness World Records (GWRs). These included participation of most individuals and individuals from the largest number of nationalities performing asanas at a single venue. Around 36 thousand participants performed asanas and 84 nationalities joined the official observation.
The idea to celebrate 21 June, which is the Summer Solstice, as the International Day of Yoga was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 September 2014 during his address to the UN General Assembly.
Following which, the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 2014 adopted the resolution to commemorate 21 June as the International Day of Yoga every year.
This resolution was adopted under the Global Health and Foreign Policy by the General Assembly in order to provide a holistic approach to the people worldwide for their health and well-being. More than 177 countries including USA, Canada, China and Egypt supported this move including 175 nations co-sponsoring the resolution.
International Day of Yoga was adopted to fulfill the following objectives:
• To let people know the amazing and natural benefits of yoga.
• To connect people to the nature by practicing yoga.
• To reduce the rate of health challenging diseases all over the world.
• To enhance growth, development and spread peace all through the world.
• To help people in their bad situations themselves by getting relief from stress through yoga.
• To let people know their rights of good health and healthy life style to completely enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health.
• To link between protection of health and sustainable health development.
Yoga is an Indian physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline. It finds mention in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the author of the grammatical Mahabhasya.
Andy Murray won the men’s singles of Aegon Tennis Championships at the Queen’s Club
Britain’s Andy Murray on 21 June 2015 won the men’s singles of the Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club in West Kensington, England. In the final clash, Murray defeated South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4.
This was his fourth Queen’s title and the previous were won in alternate years, that is, 2009, 2011 and 2013.
With this win, Murray joined an illustrious list of champions includingJohn McEnroe, Lleyton Hewitt, Boris BeckerandAndy Roddick, the winners of four Queen's Club Championships.
Most Queen's titles
• John McEnroe: 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1984
• Boris Becker: 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1996
• Lleyton Hewitt: 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2006
• Andy Roddick: 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007
• Andy Murray: 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015
Besides, the French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won the Aegon Championships men's doubles title at The Queen's Club. They defeated Marcin Matkowski of Poland & Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 6-2.
Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi's Assassination written by Teesta Setalvad
Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi's Assassination: Teesta Setalvad
The book Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi's Assassination was in news in the third week of June 2015.
It was compiled and introduced by Indian civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and published by Tulika Books.
It is a collection of archival documents of the government and translation of works in Marathi, Guajarati and Hindi related to assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on 30 June 1948.
In the book, the author tried to de-construct the ideology responsible for the killing.
As per the author, the assassination was the first act of terror committed in independent India. Further, it was also a statement of Hindu right wing asserting their ideology against idea of composite culture and inclusive nationhood advocated by the Mahatma.
However, as per Teesta Setalvad, the subsequent events including the adoption of the Indian Constitution on 26 November 1949, in which fundamental rights were given primary importance, defeated the ideology of the assassin-Nathuram Godse.
In the book, the author also covered the controversy that erupted in July 2014 over the destruction of classified files by the Union Government related to Gandhi’s assassination.
China won 2015 Nongfu Spring World Cup of Snooker
China won the 2015 Nongfu Spring Snooker’s World Cup on 21 June 2015 by defeating Scotland 4-1 in the final match held at Wuxi near Shanghai in China.
The winners of the snooker championship collected 120000 pound sterling prize money.
In the final, China’s B team pairing of 17-year-old Zhou Yuelong and 15-year-old Yan Bingtao defeated Scotland’s pairing of John Higgins and Stephen Maguire.
The previous competition that was held in Thailand in 2011 was also won by China by defeating Ireland.
India stood at the third position in the competition, the best finish so far for India. Indian team comprising of Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta was defeated by Scotland 4-3 in the semi final match.
The Snooker World Cup, a non ranking event, is conducted by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).
Overnight Liquid Transaction facility on NSE’s Web-based Mutual Fund platform began functioning
National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 22 June 2015 operationalised the Overnight Liquid Transaction facility on its web-based Mutual Fund Service System (MFSS)platform. The platform was launched on 19 June 2015.
The facility allows the participants to place purchase and redemption orders simultaneously in liquid schemes. This facility will only be available on MFSS Web based platform and in Physical mode only.
Further, all liquid schemes allowed by respective asset management companies will be available for placing orders.
MFSS is an online order collection system provided by the NSE to its eligible members for placing subscription or redemption orders.
Earlier in May 2015, a similar product was introduced by Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) which has so far seen daily transactions of worth 400-500 crore rupees.
Commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo concluded
200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo concluded on 20 June 2015. The anniversary that began on 18 June 2015 concluded with a re-enactment of the moment when the news of the allied victory reached London.
A horse-drawn chaise post retracted the route taken in 1815 from Old Royal Naval College, in Greenwich, to St James's Square, where news from Belgium was delivered to the Prince Regent.
The anniversary was celebrated to remember the June 1815 battle in which Napoleon’s French army was defeated by Duke of Wellington’s allied forces of British, Dutch, Belgian and German soldiers. The news of victory in the battlefield was carried on by Major Harry Percy at Broadstairs in Kent from where it was carried on the Prince Regent in London.
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, the then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The battle was fought between the French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and armies of the Seventh Coalition, comprising an Anglo-allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blucher.
Napoleon’s French army was defeated in the war and this defeat helped in bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history.
After the war, Napoleon was sent into exile to Saint Helena, a remote island in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. He lived quietly in Helena for six years and later died on 5 May 1821, likely due to stomach cancer.
Sanjay Subrahmanyam selected for Sangitha Kalanidhi award for the year 2015
Renowned carnatic vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam was on 21 June 2015 selected for the Sangitha Kalanidhi award of the Madras Music Academy.
The decision to award Subrahmanyam was taken at a meet of the Executive Committee. Vocalist Subrahmanyam, one of the foremost south Indian classical vocalists, will receive the award on 1 January 2016.
Subrahmanyan, 47, will also preside over the 89th Annual Conference of the Academy slated between 15 December 2015 and 1 January 2015.
With this award, Subrahmanyan joined the league of stalwarts like Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, ML Vasanthakumari and M Balamuralikrishna, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and others who received the award before turning 50.
Besides, during the meet the committee also decided to confer other awards like Sangita Kala Acharya and TTK Awards.
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Awards |
Selected personalities |
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Sangita Kala Acharya Award |
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TTK award |
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Pappa Venkataramaiahaward |
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Natya Kala Acharya award |
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Musicologist award |
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India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks
India was placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks. This was revealed by latest data released by Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central bank of Switzerland, in the fourth week of June 2015.
As per the data, India now accounts for a meagre 0.123 per cent of the total global wealth worth 1.6 trillion US dollars in Switzerland's banking system.
Indians' money in Swiss banks declined by over 10 percent to about 1.8 billion Swiss francs (1.98 billion US dollars or 12615 crore rupees) in 2014.
This is the second lowest level of Indian money in Swiss banks, after an increase of over 40 percent in 2013. Further, the decline comes amid an enhanced clampdown against the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland's banking system.
The big banks accounted for 1.48 billion Swiss francs of Indians' money which was up from 1.36 billion Swiss francs in 2013.
Other highlights
- The countries to top the list are the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) who holds the largest shares of the foreign clients' money with Swiss banks.
- The UK and the US are followed by West Indies, Guernsey, Germany, Bahamas, Luxembourg, France, Jersey and Hong Kong
- The UK alone accounts for 22 percent of total global funds in Swiss banks.
- Top four nation together account for over half of all foreigners' wealth in Swiss banks, which rose to 1.47 trillion Swiss francs (about 102 lakh crore rupees or 1.6 trillion US dollars) in 2014.
- Just two big banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, account for nearly two-third of the total money kept by foreigners in Swiss banks while in case of Indians it is even higher at about 82 percent.
- Pakistan in the list is placed at 73rd position with their share almost doubling to 472 million Swiss francs. This accounts for 36 percent of the total amount of 1.3 billion Swiss francs held in all Swiss banks by their clients.
Malvani hooch tragedy: more than 90 people died
More than 90 people died and 120 are critical after consuming spurious liquor at the Laxmi Nagar slum in Malad’s Malwani area of Mumbai in the incident occurred that occurred on 17 June 2015.
The incident has led to suspension of eight police officials and arrest of five persons so far.
This incident was the second biggest hooch tragedy in over a decade in the State. Earlier in 2004, about 87 people were killed after consuming spurious liquor in suburban Vikhroli.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry into the Malwani hooch tragedy.
NHAI invited bids for Bharat Mala Project
Bharat Mala Project: Linking border and coastal areas with road network
Bharat Mala project of India was in news in the fourth week of June 2015 as NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) has started inviting bids for preparing the Detailed Project Reports (DRPs) of over 3500km of roads along the border and coast lines.
Bharat Mala project is an ambitious plan of Union Ministry of Roads Transport & Highways which contemplated building about 5000 km of road networks in the country and link border and coastal areas with road network. The overall investment is estimated around 50000 crore rupees.
The entire network will stretch across 15 states with Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Gujarat and Punjab getting substantial portion of this network.
Further, under the project it has been assumed that in each stretch 80 percent of road shall be two-lane with paved shoulders (two and half lanes) and 20 percent of length may be four-laned.
Bharat Mala probably takes a cue from Sagar Mala, the project to construct a string of ports in the Indian Ocean to protect maritime interests and Golden Quadrilateral, the highway network connecting Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Jordan Spieth of US won US Open of Golf
Jordan Spieth won the US Open at Chambers Bay on 21 June 2015. The win was his second straight major title of 2015 after he won the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, US in April 2015.
He closed with a 69 for a five-under total of 275, one shot ahead of fellow American Dustin Johnson (70) and South African Louis Oosthuizen (67).
With this win, Spieth became the first man since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win the Masters and the US Open in the same year.
He is also the youngest champion of the US Open since the legendary Bobby Jones in 1923 and the youngest player to win two career majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922.
Overall, he is the fourth-youngest player to win two majors and the sixth to win the Masters and US Open in the same year.