23-24 july 2015

23 july

CCEA extended CCTNS deadline to March 2017

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 July 2015 approved a Home Ministry proposal to extend the deadline for implementation of Crime and Criminals Tracking network and Systems (CCTNS) project till March 2017.

CCEA also approved additional five years phase for operation and maintenance of the CCTNS up to March 2022.

Objectives of the Scheme
• Make the Police functioning citizen friendly and more transparent by automating the functioning of Police Stations.
• Improve delivery of citizen-centric services through effective usage of ICT.
• Provide the Investigating Officers of the Civil Police with tools, technology and information to facilitate investigation of crime and detection of criminals.
• Improve Police functioning in various other areas such as Law and Order, Traffic Management etc.
• Facilitate Interaction and sharing of Information among Police Stations, Districts, State/UT headquarters and other Police Agencies.
• Assist senior Police Officers in better management of Police Force.
• Keep track of the progress of Cases, including in Courts.
• Reduce manual and redundant Records keeping.

CCTNS will integrate all the data and records of crime into a Core Application Software (CAS), which is presently spreading across 29 states and 7 union territories of India. CAS was developed by the Bangalore based IT firm, Wipro.

Crime and Criminals Tracking network and Systems (CCTNS) project
The concept of CCTNS was first conceived in 2008 by the then Home Minister, P Chidambaram in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks. His proposal was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2009 and was allocated a fund of 2000 crore rupees. A pilot phase of the project was launched on 4 January 2013 by the then Home Minister Sushil kumar Shinde.

36th annual American Book Awards announced

The 36th edition of annual American Book Awards was on 20 July 2015 announced by the Before Columbus Foundation. The foundation named the 2015 American Book Award winners, however they will be formally presented with the award on 25 October 2015 at the SF Jazz Centre, San Francisco.

The 2015 American Book Award Winners are:

Winners	Books
Hisham Aidi	Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture (Vintage)
Arlene Biala	Her beckoning hands (Word Poetry)
Arthur Dong	Forbidden City, USA: Chinese American Nightclubs, 1936-1970 (DeepFocus Productions)
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz	An Indigenous People’s History of the United States (Beacon Press)
Peter J. Harris	The Black Man of Happiness (Black Man of Happiness Project)
Marlon James	A Brief History of Seven Killings (Riverhead Books)
Martin Kilson	Transformation of the African American Intelligentsia, 1880–2012 (Harvard University Press)
Naomi Klein	This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate (Simon & Schuster)
Laila Lalami	The Moor’s Account (Pantheon)
Manuel Luis Martinez	Los Duros (Floricanto Press)
Craig Santos Perez	From unincorporated territory [guma’] (Omnidawn)
Carlos Santana, with Ashley Kahn and Hal Miller	The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light (Little, Brown and Company)
Ira Sukrungruang	Southside Buddhist (University of Tampa Press)
Astra Taylor	The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age (Henry Holt)

The Lifetime Achievement award under the American Book Award 2015 went to Anne Waldman.

About American Book Awards
• The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community.  
• The awards are presented by the Before Columbus Foundation, a non-profit educational and service organisation founded in 1976 by author-playwright Ishmael Reed. 
• The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions.  There are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers.

 

Soyuz rocket with 3 astronauts launched towards ISS

Soyuz TMA 17M rocket with three astronauts aboard was successfully launched towards the International Space Station (ISS) on 22 July 2015. The spacecraft blasted off on schedule from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in the barren Kazakh steppe, carrying cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of Japan.

The spacecraft was launched after two-month delay which was caused by failure of a Russian rocket in April 2015. 

The three astronauts were originally scheduled to travel to the orbiting lab in May 2015 but Russia put all space travel on hold after the failure of the unmanned Progress freighter taking cargo to the ISS.

 

China returned passport to dissident artist Ai Weiwei

World-renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was in news in July 2015 after Chinese authorities on 22 July 2015 returned his passport. With this, he is now free to travel overseas.

The 57-year old critic of China was arrested in 2011 during a government crackdown on political activists and was held over alleged crimes of tax evasion and bigamy. He was released later without any charge.

With the release, Weiwei, an Honorary Royal Academician, will be able to travel to London in September 2015 for a landmark solo exhibition. The show will include significant works from 1993 onwards, when Ai returned to China after a decade in New York.

Weiwei has been most remembered for his famous British installationsSunflower Seedsat Tate Modern in 2010.

The decision to return Weiwei’s passport comes amidst Beijing’s crackdown on human rights lawyers which has led to more than 240 peoples being arrested since 10 July 2015.

 

French film The Big Day to showcase Anand Kumar's Super 30

Super 30 initiative of mathematician Anand Kumar was in news in July 2015 as it will now feature in a 90-minute film The Big Day made by famous French director Pascal Plisson. The initiative helps students of deprived section to crack the prestigious IIT entrance examination. 

The Big Day is ready to hit the screens in August 2015 and its clips are being shown on TV and YouTube.

The film comprises of four special stories from across the globe. One of the four stories is a story of a girl named Nidhi Jha, a student of Super 30, who at present is studying at ISM, Dhanbad. Nidhi cracked JEE (advance) in 2014. 

Earlier also films have been made on the success of Super 30 initiative, first it was Al Jazeera, then Discovery, Japanese TV, and British filmmaker Chritopher Mitchell followed.

Super 30 was started by Kumar along with former Bihar Police director general Abhyanand over a decade ago. It was selected by Time magazine for the list of 'The Best of Asia 2010'.

 

BEE signed agreement with RECPDCL for Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the third week of July 2015 signed an Implementing Agency Agreement with REC Power Distribution Company Ltd. (RECPDCL) for the operationalisation of Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency (PRGFEE).

RECPDCL signed the agreement with BEE on behalf of the consortium between RECPDCL, REC Limited and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

The Agreement was signed by Secretary of BEE Sanjay Seth and Chief Financial Officer of RECPDCL Somya Kant in the presence of Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, BEE.

What is PRGFEE?

PRGFEE is an innovative financing mechanism under Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development (FEEED). It is one of the initiatives under National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency.

The fund has been constituted by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Union Ministry of Power.

Further, it is a risk sharing mechanism to provide financial institutions (Banks/NBFCs) with a partial coverage of risk involved in extending loans for energy efficiency projects.

 

Glenmark launched affordable Type 2 diabetes drug Teneligliptin

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited on 22 July 2015 launched the affordable third-generation oral anti-diabetic drug Teneligliptin for treatment of Type-2 Diabetes mellitus. The company introduced Teneligliptin under the brand names Zitenand Zita Plus.

The drugs have been priced at 19.90 rupees per tablet and will be enough for a day's treatment. It is claimed to be 55 percent cheaper than other drugs in the market. 
The drug is effective in suppressing glucagon release and increasing insulin to subsequently lower blood glucose levels.

Although many other firms such as USV and Sun Pharma sell gliptins but Glenmark is the first Indian company to introduce the molecule after clinical trials and approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for exclusive sale in India.

According to International Diabetes Federation's (IDF) metrics, there were 66.8 million diabetes patients in India in 2014 which will rise to 110 million patients by 2035.

Further, the entire diabetes treatment market of India is valued at 6600 crore rupees.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is an Indian pharmaceutical company based in Mumbai. It was founded in 1977 by Gracias Saldanha.

 

Conakry named as World Book Capital for 2017 by UNESCO

Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, was on 21 July 2015 named as the World Book Capital for 2017 by United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO). The decision was made by an international committee of experts on 30 June 2015 during a meeting.

The selection committee singled out Conakry for the quality and diversity of its programme, in particular for its focus on community involvement as well as for its well-structured budget and clear development goals with a strong emphasis on youth and literacy.

With this, Conakry becomes the 17th city to be designated as World Book Capital, after Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014) Incheon (2015) and Wroclaw (2016).

About World Book Capital

• The World Book Capital is selected every year by the international organizations that represent the three major sectors of the book industry:
  • The International Publishers Association (IPA)
  • The International Booksellers Federation (IBF)
  • The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
• The year for awarding World Book Capital starts on 23 April, which is celebrated as World Book and Copyright Day.

 

Book titled Ghosts of Calcutta authored by Sebastian Ortiz released

Ghosts of Calcutta: Sebastian Ortiz

Book titled Ghosts of Calcutta authored by Sebastian Ortiz was released on 23 July 2015. Sebastian Ortiz is the pen name of French Consul-General of India Fabrice Etienne. 

The book translated from French and published by the Kolkata-based Sampark was launched by French Ambassador in Delhi François Richier.

The book is the result of Fabrice search for the ghosts of British Raj-era in Kolkata. However, the book not only tells about the ghosts only but also about other characters like friends, associates, passer-bys, who were around him. 

To write the book, the author has been visiting Kolkata since 1995, during which he has visited worn-out cemeteries and dilapidated government buildings of the city belonging to British era.

 

R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music written by Khagesh Dev Burman

R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music: Khagesh Dev Burman
Book titled R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music authored by Khagesh Dev Burman was released on 27 June 2015, the day when the music world celebrated the 76th birth anniversary of Rahul Dev Burman.

The author through the book has tried to look into almost every aspect of R.D Burman like his childhood in Kolkata, his failure in studies, his beginning as an assistant to his father SD Burman as well as his rise as a musician. It also looks into his downfall due to ill-health and some bad decisions.

The book also reveals the fact about number of songs and tunes of Burman, which remained unused. It says that there are songs which remained unreleased or shelved films, like two songs in unreleased film Raj and two songs of the unreleased Abhi Abhi remained shelved

 

National Broadcasting Day observed across the country

23 July: National Broadcasting Day

National Broadcasting Day was observed on 23 July 2015 across the country. It is on this day in 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company started radio broadcasting from Bombay station.

To mark the day, All India Radio (AIR) organized a symposium on the subject Creation of New India and Broadcasting Medium in New Delhi.

Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, speaking at the symposium, highlighted the role of Prasar Bharati in taking news of public interest to the length and breadth of the country and said that government is committed to the autonomy of Prasar Bharati.

Background

Broadcasting in India began in July 1923 with programmes by the Radio Club of Mumbai. According to an agreement of 23 July 1927, the private Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio stations; the Mumbai station began on 23 July 1927, and the Calcutta station followed on 26 August 1927.

The government took over the broadcasting facilities, beginning the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and permanently in May 1932. On 8 June 1936; the ISBS was renamed All India Radio.

At present, AIR is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages of broadcast, the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves.

AIR’s home service comprises 414 stations today located across the country, reaching nearly 92 per cent of the country’s area and 99.19 per cent of the total population. AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 146 dialects.

 

61st edition of Fortune 500 list released; 7 Indian companies in the list

61st edition of the Fortune 500 list for the year 2015 was released on 22 July 2015. In 2015, Fortune 500 companies account for 12.5 trillion US dollars in revenue, 945 billion US dollars in profit and 17 trillion US dollars in market value and employ around 26.8 million people worldwide.

The list has been topped by retail giant Walmart and is followed by petroleum refining giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron at 2nd and 3rd place. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway comes at 4th place followed by Apple Inc at 5th place.

Companies have been ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years ended on or before 31 March 2015. Revenue figures include consolidated subsidiaries and reported revenues from discontinued operations, but exclude excise taxes.

Indian companies in the Fortune 500 list

In 2015 Fortune 500 companies list, 7 Indian companies finds the mention. The list is topped by Indian Oil at 119th rank with revenues of 74 billion US dollars and is followed by Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

 

India ranked 12th in terms of power generation from nuclear source

With the total power generation from nuclear reactors at 5308 MWe, India is ranked 12th in the world in terms of power generation from nuclear sources.

 

This was revealed by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space in a reply to an unstarred question in Lok Sabha on 22 July 2015 though the data with respect to this was published by Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in May 2015.

 

Further, in terms of number of nuclear reactors in operation, India was ranked at 7th position with 21 reactors.

The released data further said that there are 31 countries including India in the world that generate electricity from nuclear source.

Moreover, with 437 nuclear reactors in operation in world, the total power generation from nuclear stood at 377986 MWe.

Top five countries in terms of nuclear reactors and their capacity of production are

Countries	Number of Reactors	Total Generation
United States of America	99	98639 MWe
France	58	63130 MWe
Japan	43	40290 MWe
Russia	34	24654 MWe
China	21	23025 MWe

On the other hand, Pakistan has 3 nuclear reactors with total production of 690 MWe. 

Current status of Indian nuclear energy programme
The installed nuclear power capacity of India is expected to increase from 5780 MWe to 10080 MWe on progressive completion of projects under commissioning or construction by 2019.

Financial sanction and administrative approval for Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana (GHAVP) Units – 1&2 (2X700 MW) and Kudankulam Units- 3&4 (2X1000 MW) with a total capacity of 3400 MW has been accorded by the Government.

In addition, one Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor of 500 MW capacity at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu is at advanced stage of commissioning. Construction of two more Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR 1&2) of 600 MWe capacity each at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu is also planned.

Besides, India has signed nuclear agreements with USA, France, Russia, Namibia, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Argentine Republic, United Kingdom, Republic of Kazakhstan, Canada, Sri Lanka and Australia.

 

Longtime cartoonist Tom Moore died

Cartoonist Tom Moore, who gave life to the cartoon character Archie, died on 20 July 2015 after battling with lung cancer in El Paso, Texas. He was 86. Moore was famously known for drawing the cartoon character Archie Andrews and his friends on and off from 1953 until he retired in the late 1980s.

Moore began drawing cartoons while serving in the US Navy during the Korean War. After the war, Moore attended a school in New York for cartoonists. He studied under Tarzan comic strip illustrator Burne Hogarth.

Later, Moore signed up with Archie Comics in New York. Originally, the comic was created by Bob Montana in 1941, and Moore took over it in 1953. 

After his retirement, some of his work was displayed at the El Paso Museum of Art in 1996.

 

Indian-American Amitoj Chhabra won Junior Title at US Powerlifting Championships 2015

Indian-American boy Amitoj Chhabra on 11 July 2015 won the Junior Title at the US Powerlifting Association National Championships 2015 that was held at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.

He lifted a total of 1383 pounds in Las Vegas to win the junior title. Chhabra squatted 485 pounds, bench pressed 325 and dead-lifted 573. He has added 100 pounds to his dead-lift in the 2014 championship.

Chhabra began powerlifting in December 2013 and began competing in May 2014. Presently, he is getting training with Adam Lauritzen of Silverback Strength and Conditioning in Reno. 

He holds seven Nevada state powerlifting records with three of them in the 18-19 age division. He now competes in the 20-23 age group, where he still holds those same records.

 

Union I&B Ministry approved ENIL proposal to purchase TV Today Network’s Oye FM

The Entertainment Network (India) Ltd (ENIL) on 22 July 2015 received the approval from the Union Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to purchase 104.8 FM Oye FM radio station of TV Today Network (TVTN) that runs in four cities Amritsar, Jodhpur, Patiala and Shimla.

The purchase will be subjected to the fulfilment of conditions specified by I&B Ministry that is execution of relevant documents with TVTN and completion of all other relevant formalities.

Background
Earlier, ENIL had signed the non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TV Today Network to purchase seven radio stations. 

However, on 13 February 2015 and on 8 May 2015, I&B Ministry declined its approval on the grounds that the proposed sale by TVTN and proposed purchase by ENIL is not in conformity with the FM Radio Guidelines.

 

24 july

First All Women Trans Continental road expedition from Delhi to London flagged off

First All Women Trans Continental Road Expedition from Delhi to London was flagged off on 23 July 2015. The expedition, which started from Major Dhyanchand Stadium of New Delhi, was flagged off by Union Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers, Ananth Kumar and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports Sarbananda Sonowal.

The three woman participants, namely Nidhi Tiwari, Rashmi Kopparand Soumaya Goel, will reach United Kingdom in 55 days. During the journey they will cover a distance of 15000 kms via Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and France.

This all women team will be travelling in one vehicle without any backup vehicle and the journey will be sponsored by Mahindra First Choice Wheels Limited.

 

Maharashtra cabinet approved scheme for development of villages around Tiger reserves

Maharashtra Cabinet on 23 July 2015 approved Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van Vikas Scheme. The scheme proposed by Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in the state’s annual budget 2015-16 aims at creation of comprehensive development of villages in the buffer zones of tiger reserves and around them.

Its objectives are to reduce the man-animal conflict and achieve sustainable development of these villages. The scheme also aims at reducing the dependence of villagers on the forest. 

The scheme will seek to boost the supplementary businesses to farming activities and create alternative employment possibilities in these areas. The scheme will be launched on project basis from 2015-16 to 2019-2020.

Lupin acquired US generics company GAVIS Pharmaceuticals LLC

Indian drug company Lupin on 23 July 2015 acquired US generics company GAVIS Pharmaceuticals and Novel Laboratories (GAVIS) for 880 million US dollars to strengthen its presence in the United States.

The deal is cash-free and debt-free and it will be funded by a bridge loan, with 10 crore rupees from existing cash reserves deployed for it.

With this acquisition, Lupin will get access to a host of specialty generic drugs and niche products, mainly in dermatology, gastro-intestinal and injectables. GAVIS’s New-Jersey based manufacturing facility will become Lupin’s first manufacturing site in the US.

Both the companies will now have a portfolio of 101 in-market products, 164 cumulative filings pending approval and a deep pipeline of products under development for the US. The acquisition creates the fifth largest portfolio of ANDA filings with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

About GAVIS Pharmaceuticals LLC
GAVIS is a privately held company specializing in formulation development, manufacturing, packaging, sales, marketing, and distribution of pharmaceuticals products. 

GAVIS currently has 66 ANDA filings pending approval with the US FDA and a pipeline of over 65+ products under development. 72 percent of these filings pending approvals represent niche dosage forms.

Peter Higgs received Royal Society’s Copley Medal, the world's oldest scientific prize

Nobel Prize winner Professor Peter Higgs on 20 July 2015 won the world’s oldest scientific prize, the Royal Society’s Copley Medal. With this, 86-year old Higgs joined the ranks of Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking

He was awarded the medal for his fundamental contribution to particle physics and his pioneering work on the theory of the Higgs boson that explains the origin of mass in elementary particles. The presence of Higgs boson was confirmed by the experiments at Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012.

Modern physics suggests that matter consists of a set of particles that act as building blocks and that between these particles lie forces that are controlled by another set of particles. A fundamental property of the majority of particles is that they have a mass.

In 1964, Peter Higgs proposed a theory about the existence of a particle that explains why these other particles have a mass. At the same time, yet separately, François Englert and Robert Brout proposed the same theory.

The existence of the Higgs boson was confirmed by two experiments carried out at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 with the resultant effect that the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 was awarded jointly to Peter Higgs and François Englert.

The Copley medal was first awarded by the Royal Society in 1731, 170 years before the first Nobel Prize. It is awarded for outstanding achievements in scientific research.

In 2014 it was awarded to DNA fingerprinting pioneer Alec Jeffreys and Andre Geim was given the award in 2013 for his discovery of graphene.

SC allowed States to release life convicts; Rajiv Gandhi assassination case kept out of purview

The Supreme Court of India on 23 July 2015 allowed state governments to exercise its power of remission to release life convicts with a rider. 

The decision was given by five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu which modified its 9 July 2014 order wherein it had restrained all states from exercising power of remission for releasing life convicts from jail.

However, the apex court rule some exceptions to which this decision will not apply.These are:
• Cases probed by central agencies like CBI and for those incarcerated under central laws such as Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). 
• Cases wherein the convict has been awarded life term in sexual offence cases of rape and murder.
• Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in which the Centre's plea against the Tamil Nadu Government's decision to grant remission for release of the seven life convicts is under consideration.
• Cases wherein prison terms are specified to continue till life or for a specified period like 20 to 25 years.

The restoration of the states' power of remission under Sections 432, 433 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to release life convicts may be used for considering relief for those life convicts who have undergone prison term of 14 or more years. 

The stay as per July 2014 decision was imposed in the wake of the controversy triggered by the Tamil Nadu Government’s decision to grant remission for release of three such convicts, whose death sentence in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case was commuted to life term by it on 18 February 2014.

 

Haryanavi film ‘Pagdi: The Honour’ made tax free in Haryana

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 23 July 2015 announced that Haryanavi film‘Pagdi: The Honour’ will be free from tax. The Chief Minister also announced a discretionary grant of 10 lakh for the film.

Pagdi: The Honour is the first Haryanvi film which has won two national awards. It bagged the title of best Haryanavi film and its actressBaljinder Kaur won best supporting actor (female) award at the62nd National Film Awards.

Besides, the Chief Minister said that State Government would formulate a policy for the promotion of Haryanavi language films.

Directed by Rajiv Bhatia, the film showcases the Haryanvi culture in the best manner.

Shubham Jaglan won IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf event 2015

10-year old Shubham Jaglan on 22 July 2015 won the IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf event in Las Vegas. Jaglan is the son of a milkman from rural Haryana, India.

He shot a three round score of 106 winning by a five-stroke margin, ahead of two Americans Justin Dang and Sihan Sandhu and Thailand's Pongsapak Laopakdee for the Boys 9-10 years category title. 

He also scripted a scintillating one-stroke win at the Junior World Golf Championships that was held at Welk Resort Fountain Course in California. 

Player Detail

Player Name	Shubham Jaglan
Rounds	3
Strokes	106
Score	-2
Gender/Division	Boy 9 - 10 years

No citizen or institution has a fundamental right to affiliation or recognition: SC

The Supreme Court on 23 July 2015 held that fundamental right given under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitutiondoes not give an institution or a person or a citizen the fundamental right to affiliate or recognition of their institutions within the meaning of the Article 19(6).

Article 19(6) providing for reasonable restrictions on fundamental rights reads, “Nothing in the 19(1)(g) shall prevent the State from making a law with respect to providing necessary professional or technical qualification for practising any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business.”

On the other hand, Article 19(1)(g) says that the citizens have been conferred the right to practice any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business.

The decision of the SC bench comprising of Justice MY Eqbal and Justice Arun Mishra relied on 1993 judicial case which said that “education has always been treated in this country as religious and charitable activity and making it commercial is opposed to the ethos, tradition and sensibilities of this nation. A citizen of this country may have a right to establish an educational institution but no citizen, person or institution has a right, much less of fundamental right, to affiliation or recognition.”

The ruling was given by the apex court while dismissing a plea of the Kerala-based DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences and others.

The petitioners had approached the Supreme Court against the decisions of the Medical Council of India and the Central Government to refuse to recommend renewal of permissions for admitting students for MBBS course at their institute for the academic year 2015-16 following adverse inspection reports.

 

Mosquirix, world's first malaria vaccine, approved by European Medicines Agency

The world’s first malaria vaccine called RTS,S or Mosquirixon 24 July 2015 got approval from European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The vaccine was licensed for use on babies aged between 6 weeks and 17 months in Africa, which is at the highest risk of the mosquito-borne disease.

The vaccine developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, would be the first licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease and could help prevent millions of cases of malaria. 

The vaccine is also part-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and it was in development since 1987 under a team of researchers led by Joe Cohen, a GSK scientist.

The vaccine was approved despite the dampened results released in 2011 and 2012. The results showed that it only reduced episodes of malaria in babies aged 6-12 weeks by 27 percent, and by around 46 percent in children aged 5-17 months.

In 2013, Malaria killed an estimated 58400 people, of which majority were from the sub-Saharan Africa. About 80 percent deaths were in children under the age of five.

Forbes Asia's Fabulous 50 List of the year 2015 released

The Forbes Asia's Fabulous 50 list of the year 2015 was released on 22 July 2015. The Fab 50 list is an annual honor roll highlighting some of the brightest stars in the Asia Pacific. The companies from China dominate this year’s list that depicts the region’s best big publicly traded companies.

The list was dominated by 25 Chinese firms, while India claimed the second-highest number of companies in the list with a total of 10 firms. South Korea stood at third place with four companies in the list. 

Four countries Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore each have two companies listed in the list and Taiwan, Japan and Indonesia have one each. 

The most valuable company on the list is Tencent, with worth of 176.5 billion US dollar and the biggest is Lenovo, which generated 46.3 billion US dollar in revenue in 2014.

The new entrants in the list are Hotel Shilla from South Korea, part of the Samsung empire and NetEase from China launched by William Ding in 1997 in Guangzhou.

Indian Companies in the list
The list depicts India’s HDFC Bank as the brightest star. HDFC is the second-largest bank in India’s private sector, after ICICI Bank. The bank now has a market capitalisation of 43 billion US dollar, nearly 32 million customers and a network spanning more than 4000 branches in almost 2500 towns and cities.

The Indian companies on the list are:
• Aurobindo Pharma
• HCL Technologies
• HDFC Bank
• Lupin
• Motherson Sumi Systems
• Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
• Tata Consultancy Services
• Tata Motors
• Tech Mahindra
• Titan

 

Reliance Group, Augur Overseas Operation signed MoU to manufacture Aerostats and Airships

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group through its entity Reliance Unmanned Systems on 23 July 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Augur Overseas Operation of Singapore to manufacture Aerostats and Airships in India.

As per the MoU, both the parties will collaborate on new technologies for the civil and military market as part of the Make in India initiative of Union Government. The two companies have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) firm with Reliance having 51 percent stake as per Government’s policy.

The joint venture will be involved in development, production, sales, modification and life support for different sizes of Aerostats and Airships. This JV will address the requirements of domestic market and also addressable regional/global markets.

The Augur Overseas Operation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Augur Aeronautical Centre.

About Aerostat radars
• The Aerostat radars are deployed extensively in the surveillance, reconnaissance and communication roles by the army. These are also useful in detecting low-flying fighter aircraft.
• During times of natural disasters, Aerostats are used to bring in emergency supplies such as food, water and blankets for the affected people. Aerostats also useful in the tourism industry.
• Aerostats are currently manufactured in the U.S, Germany and France.

 

FSSAI proposed Draft on regulating sale of Health Supplements and Nutraceuticals

Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on 23 July 2015 proposed draft Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2015. The draft in its ambit seeks to regulate Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Foods for Special Dietary Uses, Foods for Special Medical Purpose, Functional Foods, and Novel Food.

FSSAI may ban the trade of these foods if it is found that the food being placed in the market is nor clearly distinguishable from the foods for normal consumption or are not suitable for their claimed nutritional purpose or may endanger the human health.

Key points in proposed draft

• No person shall manufacture, pack, sell, offer for sale, market or otherwise distribute or import any food products referred to in the draft regulations unless they comply with the requirements laid down under these regulations.
• The formulation of the foods shall be based on sound medical or nutritional principles and supported by validated scientific data, wherever required.
• Every package of food or health supplements shall carry the words FOOD or HEALTH SUPPLEMENT and the term ‘NOT FOR MEDICINAL USE’ shall be prominently written on the label.
• It is proposed to fix the limit on maximum usage levels per day for the milk of cow, buffalo and camel, ghee, curd, butter, honey, gold, gold foil, silver, pearl in ayurveda, siddha and unani ingredients based products.
• Benefits of specialty foods containing ingredients based on ayurveda, unani and siddha and other traditional health systems of India, should be shown by science based evidence.
• No hormones or steroids or psychotropic ingredients shall be added in these foods.
• The labels shall clearly mention the purpose, the target consumer group and the physiological or disease conditions which they address, apart from the specific labelling requirements as mentioned against each type of food.
• A food, which has not been particularly modified in any way but is suitable for use in a particular dietary regimen because of its natural composition, shall not be designated as “Food Supplements” or “Special Dietary” or “Special Dietetic”

The proposals will be finalised by FSSAI after receiving comments from all stakeholders on the draft note.

Earlier in a paper released on 22 July 2015 by industry body Assocham, it was suggested that FSSAI should come up with safety norms for nutraceuticals and dietary supplements.

As the paper noted, there is need for safety norms as about 60-70 per cent supplements in the nutraceuticals market, which has potential to grow to 12.2 billion US dollars in the next five years, are fake and such unregistered and unapproved products should be recalled.

India accounts for 1.5 per cent of the global nutraceuticals market. Heinz, Kellogg's, Nestle, Hormel, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals are key players in this segment.

Earth-like exoplanet Kepler 452b discovered

Earth-like exoplanet Kepler 452b was discovered by Kepler Mission. The discovery of it was made public during the NASA press conference on 23 July 2015. It resides in a year-long orbit in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star in the constellation of Cygnus some 1400 light-years away.

The planet is a near-twin of Earth orbiting Sunlike Star and is estimated to 1.6 times (60 percent) larger than Earth.

It is likely rocky and could have a mass of anywhere between one to five times that of our own planet.

In addition to Kepler 452b, the Kepler Mission also discovered 11 yet-to-be-confirmed candidate planets that appear to be small, rocky and potentially suitable for life.

One of them, presently known only as KOI-7235.01, looks to be only 15 percent larger than Earth, and orbits right in the middle of its star’s habitable zone. If confirmed, it would surpass even Kepler 452 b to become the most Earth-like world astronomers have ever found beyond our solar system.

Since 2009, NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered more than 4500 confirmed and candidate worlds, in the process reshaping our entire view of the prospects for life in the universe.

And yet despite all these revolutionary results, Kepler’s most sought-after quarry—a mirror Earth around another sunlike star—has proved elusive. This discovery seems to mark the end of a long road.

WTO members sealed a deal to cut tariffs on $1 trillion worth IT products

World Trade Organization (WTO) members on 24 July 2015 struck a deal to add more than 200 products to the list of goods covered by zero-tariff and duty-free trade.

In value terms, the deal cuts tariffs on 1 trillion US dollar worth of information technology (IT) products, which is equal to global trade in iron, steel, textiles and clothing combined.

The deal was agreed as part of need to update the 18-year oldInformation Technology Agreement (ITA) as it has become redundant.

Products added range from advanced computer chips to GPS devices, medical equipment, printer cartridges and video-game consoles.

This will give a major boost to producers of goods ranging from video games to medical equipment. Technology manufacturers such as General Electric, Intel, Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Nintendo are among the many companies expected to benefit from the deal.

The Information Technology Agreement was finalized in 1997 and covered 80 WTO members. Efforts to expand the coverage of this agreement were launched in 2012.

The final technical details will be worked out until December 2015.