27-28 june2015

27 june

India, US signed MoUs to enhance cooperation in areas of Health Sector

India and the United States (US) on 25 June 2015 signed a series of agreements on health sector to enhance cooperation in areas such as cancer research, infrastructure development, training, capacity building and better assessment and application of new diagnostic technologies.

List of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) signed by India and US:

MoU on cancer research, control, prevention and management:Both the countries signed a MoU on collaboration in the areas for conducting research and training on development of low-cost technologies, diagnostics of existing medications against common cancers and development of existing therapies related to oncology.

This MoU was signed among the NCRI (AIIMS), ICMR (DHS), the Department of Biotechnology, (MoST), NCI (NIH) and the US' Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

MoU on collaboration in Environmental, occupational Health and Injury Prevention and Control: They also signed an agreement to further the cooperation in education and training, infrastructure development, and capacity-building for their reciprocal and mutual benefit. 

The cooperation under the MoU will cover:
• Prevention of illness related to toxic chemicals and hazardous substances
• Development and use of improved tools, technologies and methods for enhancing environmental and occupational public health, and injury prevention efforts, including surveillance
• Focus on public health effects of indoor air pollution including a focus on exposures associated with burning of solid fuels for cooking, prevention of illness and injury related to hazards at the workplace.

Letter of Intent (LoI) on Anti-microbial Resistance Research:A Letter of Intent (LoI) on anti-microbial resistance research was signed between the ICMR, Department of Biotechnology (MoST) and US's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health and DHHS. 

This includes setting up of mechanism of antimicrobial resistance, application of systems biology, comparative testing and assisting the validation of new diagnostics and explore possible patterns of AMR in neonatal intensive care units as observed in India and the US.

The MoUs and LoI were signed by B P Sharma, Secretary Health; K Vijay Raghavan, Secretary Department of Biotechnology under Union Ministry of Science and Technology and Richard Verma, US Ambassador to India.

 

Ujjwal Batria appointed as CEO of Lafarge India

Ujjwal Batria was on 25 June 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of French cement maker Lafarge's India operations.

Batria succeeded Martin Kriegner, who will now be Area Manager-Central Europe of Lafarge Holcim, an entity to be formed by the proposed merger of the world's top two cement firms.

Prior to his appointment as the CEO of Lafarge India, Batria was the Managing Director of Lafarge India Private Limited and was managing the cement business of the company.

Ujjwal Batria has been working with Lafarge for the past 16 years. He joined Lafarge in 1999 and since then he has held different positions across functions. He brings with him rich and diverse experience in the construction material industry.

About Lafarge India
• As a top-ranking player in its Cement, Aggregates and Concrete businesses, Lafarge contributes to the construction of cities around the world.
• Lafarge started operations in India in 1999. Today, it has an established presence across major cities and towns in India. 
• The company offers comprehensive solutions for housing, road and railroads, infrastructure, and public/private buildings through its Cement, Aggregates and Ready Mix Concrete businesses.

 

Patrick Macnee, star of The Avengers, died

Patrick Macnee, star of the legendary Avengers TV series, died on 25 June 2015 at his home in Rancho Mirage in California. He was 93. Macnee was known for playing the role of secret agent John Steed in the 1960s television series The Avengers.

During his schooling, he acted in a production of Henry V with his classmate Christopher Lee. After completing his education from Eton College, he served in the Royal Navy during World War Two by working on torpedo boats in the English Channel and the North Sea. 

He also appeared in a few London stage productions and films including his role as Marley in the Alastair Sim's A Christmas Carol. 

He was born as Daniel Patrick Macnee on 6 February 1922 in London and grew up in Lambourn.

 

Veselin Topalov won the Norway Chess Tournament 2015

Veselin Topalov on 25 June 2015 won the Norway Chess tournament 2015 by leaving behind Viswanathan Anand into a quick draw. Topalov secured 6½ points while Anand ended the tournament in second place with 6 points.

Results of the Norway Chess tournament 2015
• Hikaru Nakamura showed excellent technique and won by 6 points and stood at third place by leaving behind Levon Aronian with 3 points.
• Magnus Carlsen played very poorly again losing to Jon Ludwig Hammer who got 3 points.
• On the other hand, Grischuk ended on 3½ points (-2) and Vachier-Lagrave got 4 points (-1).
• Caruana got 4 points on -1 and Giri acquired 5½ points and stood at fourth position.

Norway Chess Tournament 2015

Topalov, Veselin	- Anand, Viswanathan	½-½
Caruana, Fabiano	- Giri, Anish	½-½
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Grischuk, Alexander	½-½
Aronian, Levon	- Nakamura, Hikaru	0-1
Hammer, Jon Ludvig	- Carlsen, Magnus	1-0

 

Union Government approved a proposal for setting up second airport at Jewar in NCR

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation on 25 June 2015 approved a proposal for setting up a second international airport at Jewar in the National Capital Region. The proposal would soon be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval

Once the project gets the required approvals, the civil aviation ministry will offer the contract for building and running the proposed Jewar airport in Greater Noida to the GMR Group where the government acquired 2378 acres of land for the project.

Under RoFR norms, GMR Group has the Right of First Refusal (RoFR) for any airport that is built within a 150-km radius of the existing airport in Delhi. According to the rules, GMR’s bid will be accepted only if it is equal to or less than 10 percent of the bid offered by the lowest bidder. It will be asked to match the lowest bid arrived at after the bidding process for the proposed Jewar airport. 

According to norms in the Policy on Airport Infrastructure of India, the Union Government will need to amend certain regulations to enable development of the new project as the establishment of greenfield airports in places where an existing one is unable to meet the projected requirements of traffic or in case a new focal point of traffic emerges with sufficient viability.

The current policy states, No greenfield airport will normally be allowed within an aerial distance of 150 km of an existing airport. Where it is allowed as a second airport in the same city or close vicinity, the parameters for distribution of traffic between the two airports will be clearly spelt out.

The airport in Jewar was proposed by the erstwhile Mayawati-led Government in Uttar Pradesh and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) to decide on the issue.

 

US Supreme Court legalized Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide

The United States (US) Supreme Court on 26 June 2015 legalized same-sex marriage across the nation in a closely divided ruling by a 5 to 4 vote. The 28-page ruling was made by Justice Anthony Kennedy and was agreed by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

With this ruling, now the states cannot deny marriage rights enjoyed for thousands of years by opposite-sex couples to gay men and lesbians. The decision is expected to trigger same-sex marriages in fourteen states that banned the practice.

The court ratified the Bill of Rights and added the Fourteenth Amendment that states no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State.

The decision came exactly two years after Kennedy's majority opinion in United States v. Windsor struck down a federal law denying benefits to married same-sex couples. In this decision, Justice Kennedy embraced a vision of a living Constitution that evolves with societal changes.

According to the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, which tracks the demographics of gay and lesbian Americans, there are an estimated 390000 married same-sex couples in the United States.