Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Animal rights groups challenge new TN law on Jallikattu in SC

Supreme Court today agreed to hear on Monday the pleas of Animal Welfare Board of India and other animal rights organisations challenging the new law passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly to allow bull taming sport Jallikattu in the state.
The bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Anand Grover to file their applications which will be taken up for hearing on January 30 when the Centre’s plea for withdrawing the January 6, 2016 notification will be taken up.
In their applications the animal rights group has said that the new law passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly to allow Jallikattu has over reached the earlier verdict of apex court. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had yesterday informed the apex court that Centre has decided to withdraw the January 6, 2016 notification allowing Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. The apex court had said that the concerned bench would take a decision on when the application of the Centre would come up for its consideration.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment), Act, 2017 piloted by Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, was unanimously adopted on Monday by a voice vote in the assembly after a brief debate.

US President invited to address joint session of Congress

US President Donald Trump was today invited to address a joint session of the Congress on February 28.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters at a news conference that he is inviting President Trump to address a joint session of the Congress.
He said it will be an opportunity for the people and their representatives to hear directly from Mr Trump about his vision. The White House and both chambers of Congress are now controlled by Republicans.
Ryan’s formal invitation fulfills a tradition that provides an incoming president with the opportunity to address Congress within weeks of taking office.
A joint session of Congress usually occurs in the House of Representatives chamber, and is attended by all 100 US senators and 435 representatives.

Donald Trump invites PM Narendra Modi to visit US

US President Donald Trump has described India as a true friend of the United States and invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the country later this year. The two leaders spoke over phone last night and discussed various issues such as terrorism, defence and trade.
In a readout of the call, the White House said, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi resolved that US and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the global fight against terrorism.
The US President emphasised that Washington considers New Delhi a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world. The two leaders discussed opportunities to strengthen partnership between the two countries in broad areas such as the economy and defence.
They also discussed security in the region of South and Central Asia. After Mr Trump surprised the world with his historic victory in the Presidential election, Mr Modi was among the first five world leaders to congratulate him. During his election campaign, India was among the few countries, in addition to Israel, with whom Mr Trump spoke of strengthening ties if elected to power.

India and UAE sign 14 agreements


Jan 25
India and the UAE today inked 14 agreements in various areas including in defence, maritime transport, comprehensive strategic partnership, shipping, agriculture and allied sector, trade, oil storage and management, energy efficiency, road transport and highways and prevention and combating human trafficking.
The agreements were signed after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
In his press statement, Prime Minister Modi invited UAE to become India’s partner in infrastructure projects. He said India is encouraging and facilitating the trade between the two sides. He said energy partnership between India and UAE is crucial.
He said, India and UAE share similar concerns over terrorism and radicalization. He said the two countries feel that their growing engagement in countering violence and extremism is necessary for securing the societies.
Speaking about India UAE ties in the economy, the Prime Minister said India regards UAE as an important partner in India’s growth story. He said closer ties between India and the UAE are of importance, not just for both countries, but for the entire neighbourhood.
A special tete-a-tete before delegation level talks was held between the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister earlier this morning. The Crown Prince was accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan this morning.
The visiting dignitary, who is the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, arrived in the national capital yesterday on a three-day visit. He will witness Republic Day Parade tomorrow as a chief guest. This is the second visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India since February last year.
The two countries are among each other’s top trading partners with a well-balanced bilateral trade of about 50 billion dollars in 2015-16. UAE is among the top investors in India in terms of foreign direct investments.

HDFC ERGO DISTRIBUTED 10,000 POLLUTION MASKS AMONG SCHOOL STUDENTS IN DELHI


Delhi, 25th January 2017: HDFC ERGO, India’s third largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, distributed 10,000 pollution masks among school students in Delhi ahead of the Republic Day celebrations in the capital. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, the company aims to spread awareness and address the health concerns faced by the people in the city, due to high level of pollution.

Through this initiative, 10000 washable and re-usable pollution masks were distributed among the students of 8 government schools – 4 Girls Schools and 4 Boys Schools – in the New Kondli, Dallupura, Vasundhara Enclave, Mayur Vihar areas of Delhi, covering 5200 girl students and 4800 boy students. These schools included New Kondli-GBSSS (Boys), New Kondli-GBSSS (Girls), Dallupura-SKV, Vasundhra Enclave-GBSSS, Mayur Vihar, Phase III GBSS (Boys), Mayur Vihar, Phase III GGSS (Girls), Mayur Vihar, Phase III, Kondli Gharauli-GGSS (Boys), Mayur Vihar, Phase III and Kondli Gharauli-GGSS (Girls).  HDFC ERGO also took this opportunity to connect with 17280 students and 550 plus teaching & supporting staff of the schools to spread the awareness about the perils of pollution. The company also spoke to them on the safety measures one must take to prevent any health hazards which may be caused due to pollution.

Speaking on the CSR initiative undertaken by the company, Mr. Mukesh Kumar, Executive Director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, said, “Poor quality air causes severe damage to the lungs of the children, who are the worst-affected. We therefore took this step to distribute high quality pollution masks among the students of government schools. As a responsible corporate citizen we try to ensure health and well-being though our CSR activities.”

The permissible level of PM 2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microns) is 60 per cubic metre while for PM10 (particles smaller than 10 microns) it is 100 micrograms per cubic metre. Air quality or ambient (outdoor) air pollution is represented by the annual mean concentration of Particulate Matter PM10 and PM2.5, which are the tiny dust particles that can be absorbed in lungs and blood tissues. The poor quality of air can be a combination of industrial fumes, dust, exhaust fumes, open fires and the burning of burning of crop stubbles, which affects elderly people and children the worst. These are the key reasons to cause severe respiratory and cardiac problems.

HDFC ERGO plans to continue its CSR efforts in 2017 and focus on issues which pose a serious concern to people’s healthcare and the spread awareness about the preventive measures.


About HDFC ERGO:
HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company is a 51:49 joint venture between HDFC Ltd.; India’s premier Housing Finance Institution and ERGO International AG; the primary insurance entity of the Munich Re Group of Germany. The company offers complete range of general insurance products ranging from Motor, Health, Travel, Home and Personal Accident in the retail space and customized products like Property, Marine and Liability Insurance in the corporate space. HDFC ERGO is expanding its network across the country and is today present in 108 branches spread across 91 cities with an employee base of over 2000 professionals. The Company also has a wide distribution network besides its own direct sales force.

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