Showing posts with label United States. Show all posts
Feb 17, 2016
58th Grammy awards 2016
The 58th Annual Grammy Awards were announced by the Recording Academy announced at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The ceremony has recognized the best recordings, compositions and artists in the eligibility year, which was from October 2014, to September 2015.
Winners are
| Category | Album | Artist |
| Best album of the year | 1989 | Taylor Swift |
| Best record of the year | Uptown Funk | Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars |
| Best song of the year | Thinking Out Loud | Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge |
| Best new artist | – | Meghan Trainor |
| Children’s Album | Home | Tim Kubart |
| Best Pop solo performance | Thinking Out Loud | Ed Sheeran |
| Best Pop Duo/Group Performance | Uptown Funk | Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars |
Grammy Awards are the recording industry’s most prestigious award presented annually by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States.
The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on 4 May 1959 and originally were called Gramophone Awards.
Dec 29, 2015
Legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler passes away
Legendary American cinematographer Haskell Wexler passed away on 27th December 2015 in California, US. He was 93.Haskell Wexler was one of the most creative and significant cinematographers in movie history.
He was best known for his work in films like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “American Graffiti”.
About Haskell Wexler
- Haskell Wexler was born on February 6, 1922 in Chicago, US. He was known for his work on films like Coming Home and In the Heat of the Night.
- He was also recognized for his documentary work on the Emmy-winning Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang and Interviews with My Lai Veterans for which he won Academy Award.
- He had worked as director of photography on films including The Best Man and Mulholland Falls. He also produced and directed 1969’s Medium Cool.
Awards and Honours: He has won Oscar awards for films won Oscars for his work on 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and 1976’s “Bound for Glory,”. In addition was nominated for Oscars for his contributions to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Matewan and Blaze. He was first cinematographer to receive star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.
Dec 24, 2015
Dr. Rakesh K. Jain selected for 2015 National Medal of Science
Indian American professor Dr. Rakesh K. Jain has been selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of the United States. He will be presented this top award along with 16 other winners by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony in January 2016. All of them were chosen for this award for their individual achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology.
About Jain
- Rakesh K. Jain is currently working as professor at Harvard Medical School and also is the director of tumour biology laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital.
- Jain has received numerous awards for his work on tumor biology, particularly research on the link between tumor blood vessels and improving the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
- He received his B.Tech degree from the IIT-Kanpur in Chemical Engineering in 1972.
- The National Medal of Science was created by statute in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation.
- Awarded annually, the Medal recognises individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering.
Nov 24, 2015
Pfizer to take over Allergan in blockbuster merger deal of $160 billion
US drugs giant Pfizer Inc. has struck upon a deal to buy Ireland based Allergan for $160 billion making it the biggest pharmaceuticals merger deal in history of healthcare sector.
The blockbuster merger would create the world’s biggest drug maker to be called Pfizer Plc. with its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.
Under this deal, Allergan shareholders will receive 11.3 shares in the merged company for each of their Allergan shares.
Currently Pfizer Inc. is selling flagship pharmaceutical products like Viagra and cholesterol drug Lipitor, while Allergan is best known for selling anti-wrinkle treatment drug Botox, Alzheimer’s drug Namenda and dry-eye medication Restasis.
Comment
- Analysts have suggested that this deal will allow Pfizer. Inc to escape relatively high US corporate tax rates (around 35%) by moving its headquarters to Dublin where corporate tax is as low as 12.5 % (Lowest among major countries).
- It should be noted that such kind of merger deals to evade the high corporate tax is termed as corporate inversion deals.
- US Treasury is concerned about losing tax revenue because of this deal and is taking steps to clamp down on tax inversion deals.
Corporate Inversion Deals
These merger deals are undertaken by a company by re-incorporating itself overseas in order to reduce the tax burden on income earned abroad compared to home country. For this, company shifts its base to a country that has lower tax rates and less stringent corporate governance requirements.
Nov 23, 2015
Indian-American Swati Dandenkar appointed as US Director of ADB
India-born Swati Dandekar has been appointed as the United States director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
She was nominated to this position by US President Barack Obama and was designated with rank of an ambassador. She would replace Robert M Orr who has held this position since 2010.
About Swati Dandekar
- Swati Dandekar was born on March 6, 1951 in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Along with her husband Arvind, she had migrated to the US in 1973.
- She had received her BS degree in Biology and Chemistry from Nagpur University and a graduate diploma from Mumbai University in dietetics.
- Dandekar was the first Indian-born American citizen to win a state legislature seat in the United States.
- She was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009 and was also member of the Iowa Senate from 2009 to 2011.
- Later, she had served on the Iowa Utilities Board from 2011 to 2013 and member of the Vision Iowa Board of Directors from 2000 to 2003.
Nov 21, 2015
US house passes bill to restrict entry of Syrian, Iraqi refugees
Republican-dominated US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly voted to bar Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entering the United States over the security concerns.
The bill was overwhelmingly voted by 289 in favour to 137 opposed and bill now needs to be passed by the Senate. It seeks to impose more stringent security provisions on already robust screening of Iraqi and Syrian refugees entering US.
The passage of bill is consider as a major setback for the Obama administration as the US President had opposed such a move and also because a large block of Democratic lawmakers voted in favour of the bill. The bill was also passed amid of threat by President Barack Obama to veto it.
Comment
The passage of Bill by US House of Representatives also follows the barbaric terrorist attacks in Paris (France) on 13 November 2015 by seven Islamic State radicals which left 129 people dead. One of these seven perpetuators is thought to have been a Syrian refugee who entered Europe via Greece along the other refugees.
Earlier in September 2015, Obama administration had announced its plan to resettle around 10,000 Syrian refugees in the US till September 2016.
Since Syrian civil war which began in 2011 to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad regime, millions of Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries and to Europe.
Oct 28, 2015
US Senate passes Cyber Security Legislation
US Senate has passed Cyber Security Legislation to facilitating sharing of cyber-attack threats. It was passed by 74 votes in favour of it and 21 votes against it.
The passage of legislation is being considered a critical step to address cyber threats and ensure tools are in place in to deter future cyber-attacks.
Key facts
- The bill reconciles with the earlier-passed House Cyber Security Bill.
- Seeks to help in preventing future cyber-attacks by facilitating a common awareness in the cyber realm.
- Encourages private companies to voluntarily share information related to cyber threat with the government and one another.
- Provides private companies immunity for sharing the information from lawsuits by consumers and shareholders.
Background
- United States Government was under pressure to act in the wake of recent high-profile cyber-attacks against multiples private companies including Sony Pictures and others.
- The passage of legislation comes just after US Congress had voted to rein in the powers of the National Security Agency (NSA) following revelations of vast surveillance programmes in leaked documents by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
Oct 24, 2015
Hurricane Patricia makes landfall near Mexico’s Pacific coast
Hurricane Patricia has struck Mexico’s Pacific coast with destructive winds that forced thousands of people to flee homes and beach front resorts.
The hurricane’s centre (eye) made its landfall in sparsely populated Puerto Vallarta coastline of Mexico’s west Pacific coast bringing lashing rains, surging seas and cyclonic winds along with it.
Key facts
- Patricia has been recorded as the most powerful hurricane in the Western Hemisphere in terms of barometric pressure.
- It was having central pressure of 880 millibars and maximum sustained winds of 325 kph.
- US National Hurricane Center (USNHC) has categorized the hurricane as a Category Five storm which is the highest classification.
- Patricia originated near the Gulf of Tehuantepec as a tropical storm and later strengthened to a hurricane of category 5 storm.
US President appoints Brett McGurk as Special Envoy to US-led coalition for fighting IS
US President Barack Obama has appointed veteran Iraq expert Brett McGurk as Special Envoy to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS).
Brett McGurk is a long-time and most trusted White House adviser on Iraq.
He will succeed the retiring General John Allen who had led the global coalition’s campaign against IS militants in Iraq since its inception in 2014.
Key Fact
US-led coalition’s task of toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad led government has become more complex since intervention of Russia and Iran.
Since then the US policy on Syria as floundered faced several setbacks, policy reversals and increased regional chaos. President Barack Obama also scrapped a 600 million dollar mission to train Syrian opposition fighters to take on IS.
Brett McGurk is a long-time and most trusted White House adviser on Iraq.
He will succeed the retiring General John Allen who had led the global coalition’s campaign against IS militants in Iraq since its inception in 2014.
Key Fact
US-led coalition’s task of toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad led government has become more complex since intervention of Russia and Iran.
Since then the US policy on Syria as floundered faced several setbacks, policy reversals and increased regional chaos. President Barack Obama also scrapped a 600 million dollar mission to train Syrian opposition fighters to take on IS.
Oct 21, 2015
Russia, US ink MoU to avoid deconfliction between their air forces over Syrian skies
Russia and United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to avoid deconfliction and mid-air incidents between their air forces over Syrian skies.
The MoU seeks to avoid direct clashes between both air forces in the skies over Syria. It also includes steps to be taken by pilots to avoid an inadvertent clash over Syria.
Key facts
- The text of the MoU has not been disclosed and remained secret but it has laid out means and protocols for both sides to communicate and establish a hotline on the ground.
Oct 20, 2015
US, Spain ink new accord to cleanup nuclear accident site at Palomares
United States and Spain have reached an in principle agreement to clean up land at Palomares site (in Spain) contaminated by plutonium radiation from undetonated US nuclear bombs.
The binding clean up deal was finalised in Madrid during US Secretary of State John Kerry official visit to Spain. Under the agreement, US will remove the soil contaminated by nuclear radiation at Palomares.
Background
- In January 1966, a US B-52 bomber plane carrying 4 nuclear bombs had
Oct 14, 2015
Kailash Satyarthi selected for 2015 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award
Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been selected for the prestigious 2015 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award.
He has been awarded this award in recognition for championing the cause of child reform and ending all forms of violence against children.
About Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award.
- It is annual award is given by US based Harvard University.
- It recognise the works and deeds individuals who have improved the quality of lives and inspired people to greater heights.
India, US and Japan navies kick off 2015 Malabar Naval Exercise
India, United States and Japan navies have started 2015 Malabar Naval Exercise of the eastern coast in Bay of Bengal and India Ocean.
The high-end war fighting and complex trilateral exercise is part of annual series of exercises conducted to advance multi-national maritime relationships and mutual security issues.
Key facts
- The five-day exercise includes both ashore and at-sea training exercises, that would share knowledge on carrier strike group operations, anti-submarine warfare, maritime patrol etc.
Oct 6, 2015
12 Pacific Rim countries sign Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement
12 other Pacific Rim countries have signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which covers about 40 per cent of the world economy.
These 12 countries are: Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia and New Zealand.
The final agreement was signed after five days of talks in Atlanta, US which was under negotiation for five years and was delayed repeatedly by negotiations over drug patents.
It should be noted that China being world’s second-largest economy has been not part of the agreement.
Oct 1, 2015
Kartik Chandran named as 2015 MacArthur Fellow
Indian-American associate professor Kartik Chandran has been named as a 2015 MacArthur Fellow. The fellowship entitles him with a prestigious genius grant of US $625,000.
He has won this prestigious fellowship for his work in transforming pollutant from wastewater into useful products such as energy sources, commodity chemicals and fertilisers.
With this fellowship he joined distinguished group of 24 talented people who have demonstrated dedication and exceptional originality to their creative pursuits.
About Kartik Chandran
- Chandran is an IIT Roorkee graduate is presently serving as associate professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia Engineering.
- His research on the engineered wastewater treatment and global nitrogen cycle is widely recognized around the world.
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