Amar Lulla, the former joint managing director of Cipla, passed away after a prolonged battle against cancer. Mr Lulla, who was aged 63, worked in Cipla for thirty five years before exiting the company on December 13, 2010. However, he continued to be the non-executive director of  the firm. Mr Lulla was selected to the board of directors in 1990 and was appointed as the joint managing director in 2000. He helped Cipla develop a strong footing in the international market and was instrumental in setting up state-of-the art facilities at Goa and Indore.

Mr M K Hamied, joint managing director of Cipla, while speaking about the departed soul, said that, “It is a very tragic moment. We were privileged to have him in Cipla working in various capacities for over 35 years. His contribution has been simply pivotal. We all pray that his soul may rest in peace and our hearts go out to all his family members.”

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GEAC's Anand Kumar resigns
One of the prominent members of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), Dr P Anand Kumar, has quit from the panel of experts during the last week of March, 2011. Dr Kumar is currently the director of National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB), New Delhi. GEAC is the apex body constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, under the ‘Rules for Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells 1989'.

Dr Kumar's resignation came after an appeal was made by the co-chair of the panel to members that they should quit if they had a conflict of interest.

The repeated political interference in functioning of the GEAC is among the various reasons behind the move. Dr Kumar, had in the last year, authored a report prepared by six science academies that which had favored the immediate release of Bt brinjal.

The 30 member GEAC is headed by Mr M. F Farooqui, additional secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forestry (MoEF), Government of India. The committee members are mostly  experts who specialize in different verticals of agri-biotechnology.

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Father of Biomedical Engineering
Elmer L Gaden, who did his BS, MS and finally PhD in engineering in the year 1949 at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, is widely known as the “father of biochemical engineering.” Professor Gaden's ground-breaking research formed the basis for the mass production of a wide range of antibiotics, including penicillin. Professor Gaden was named the 2009 winner of the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, which is considered by many as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for engineering. Professor Gaden's interest in using biological processes to generate chemicals, led him to publish a lot of literature.