The Faculty of Occupational Safety in Nis marked its 49^th anniversary.Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Nis City Council Member Branislav Kacar attended the ceremony and congratulated the teachers and students on this significant jubilee. The Faculty of Occupational Safety is one of the 13 faculties of the University of Nis, which has been working successfully for almost half a century and which has so far educated many generations of engineers of health and safety and other related disciplines.

According to the Republic Bureau of Statistics, at the beginning of 2017, the total tourist traffic in Nis increased. In January this year there was an increase in the number of tourists by 32% compared to the same period last year. 21.4 % were domestic tourists while the number of foreign tourists who come to our city is 41 % higher. In January, there were 7% more of overnight stays than in the same period last year, while the number of domestic tourists spending the night in Nis decreased by 15% while the number of foreign tourists spending the night in Nis increased by 30%.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic with his associates visited the works on the reconstruction of the Health Care Center, the roof repairs, repair and replacement of waterproofing, repair of facades, replacement of worn-out carpentry and joinery, aluminum windows, refurbishing toilets, complete replacement of water and sewage installations, repair and servicing of air conditioning and landscaping are planned . “Thanks to the support of the Serbian government 106 million dinars will be invested in the reconstruction of the central building of the Health Care Center. I am convinced that the realization of this project would help achieve better energy efficiency, and therefore significant savings on energy costs and the employees will have better working conditions for providing adequate health services to patients, “as Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said. According to the director of Health Care Center Milorad Jerkan  theworks are proceeding according to plan, and they will be carried out in stages and will last 150 days. During this time the institution is operating at full capacity. The deadline for completion is July 7^th

On the occasion of Rare Disease Day the traditional event of posting messages of support on the improvised tree was organized at Shopping Center Forum with the intention to raise awareness about the challenges, hopes and needs of those living with rare diseases.

Founded in 2010, the National Organisation for Rare Diseases of Serbia is an umbrella organization bringing together different rare disease patient organisations. The main goals and activities are: representing rare disease patients and their problems, communicating with all of the stakeholders – Ministries of Health and Social Welfare, the Serbian NHIF, media, scientists, healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical industry representatives.

The Rare Disease Day 2017 theme was research. The Rare Disease Day slogan was ‘With research, possibilities are limitless’. It was an opportunity to call upon researchers, universities, students, companies, policy makers and clinicians to do more research and to make them aware of the importance of research for the rare disease community.

 Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic supported this event and wrote his message of support. “With this action we show humanity, but also the wish to, by our own example, raise awareness in others of solidarity with people affected by rare diseases. I will have the meeting with the representatives of the National Organisation for Rare Diseases of Serbia to discuss all aspects of institutional assistance that could be available to people suffering from rare diseases and I hope to find modalities to provide primarily psychological support to patients, ” said Mayor Bulatovic.

RS Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, together with the German Ambassador in Serbia Axel Dittmann, Mr. Ralf Maus Leoni Executive Vice-president, Mr. Clemens Sax, Managing Director of Leoni Serbia, Ms. Aleksandra Pesic, Deputy Director of Leoni Serbia and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic laid the corner stone for construction of the third factory of company Leoni in Serbia, an investment worth €22 million, which will employ at least 2,200 people.

The Prime Minister said that the beginning of the work of the factory, which would produce cable systems for BMW, was expected in August. Vucic added that during the talks with the management of Leoni he said that the fourth factory should also be opened in Nisava District, and promised that this company will get better conditions by five per cent than before.
He said that company Leoni with 7,500 employees was becoming the largest employer in the manufacturing sector in Serbia, and underlined that he was very pleased that Nis is part of that and that old promise that the government would take care about Nis and that region was being fulfilled.

The company Leoni has a reliable partner in Serbia, a good cooperation with local and national authorities in the past and the good experience in doing business here for several years, which all led to the decision to build a third facility as Mr. Ralf Maus, Leoni Executive Vice-president, and Mr. Clemens Sax, Managing Director of Leoni Serbia said in their speeches on this occasion.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic said that the beginning of construction of Leoni factory in Nis was the great day for the city in which after a decade of economic stagnation the factories were being built again. He stressed the fact that Leoni received the building permit in less than 48 hours which showed that the local government is serious and supporting the economic policy of the Government of Serbia.

Japanese Ambassador to Serbia, His Excellency Juishi Takahara, visited the Nis. During his first visit to our city, Takahara met with the Mayor of Nis Darko Bulatovic, with whom he talked about intensifying cooperation. The mayor presented the projects with which the city intended to apply for support from the Embassy of Japan in our country. He thanked the Ambassador for the generous assistance that the Japanese people and Government of Japan provided to the citizens of Nis and Nis Health Care institutions, primarily in medical equipment. The Ambassador said that he was glad the citizens of Nis loved the Japanese culture and said that the cooperation would continue in many fields.

After the reception at the City Hall, the Ambassador and the Mayor visited the association Taka, which received a donation of the Government of Japan under the “grants in the field of culture” programme in the amount of 7 900 euros. Those funds were used to purchase 210 square meters of tatami workout mats for Aikido Club Dodjo in Nis.

City of Nis in the coming period will strive to help more City Scout Association which exists for 105 years. Since its establishment a large number of young people were the members of this organization. They taught them to love their country, how to find their way in nature, but primarily to how to be friends. Lately the association is facing problems with premises and funding, and the City will try to help them solve these problems, as it was said after the meeting with the Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Nis City Council Member Milos Milosevic. City of Nis is aware of the importance of this organization, especially for young fellow citizens and is ready to help, said Milos Milosevic.

The mayors, gathered at the fifth session of the Presidency of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, were addressed by the Minister Slavica Djukic Dejanovic and the delegation of the People’s Republic of China. On behalf of the Chinese delegation the members SCTM Presidency were greeted by Xie Yuan, the vice president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, one of the members of Republic of China delegation, which would, within a two-day visit to Serbia, have meetings with representatives of SCTM.

SCTM President and Mayor of Nis Darko Bulatovic stressed the importance of cooperation between Chinese and Serbian local governments and thanked the members of the Chinese delegation for a number of proposals on the modality of cooperation that could be realized in the near future. According to Mr. Bulatovic it is very important that good relations and cooperation between Serbia and China at the national level are duplicated at the local level.

The Minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic in charge of demographics and population policy took part in the work of the SCTM Presidency. She presented the future activities in the field of population policy in relation to the competencies and capabilities of local government, as well as cooperation with the SCTM in the area.

Nis City Deputy Mayor, prof. Dr. Milos Bandjur met today at Nis City Hall with Her Excellency the Ambassador of India to Serbia Narinder Chauhan. They exchanged experiences on previous cooperation between Serbia and India in the field of economy and pointed out that despite the distance, and ethnic differences, the two nations were very similar bound by sincere friendship. They agreed that the visit of Prime Minister of Serbia to India, after 30 years, was historical and that the steps were already made towards further improvement of economic cooperation between the two countries. Also the cooperation of the City of Nis with the Embassy of India in the field of tourism, culture, education and economy was discussed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of India in collaboration with the Ministry of European Integration implements ITEC program in various fields, such as accounting, financial control, banking and finance, environmental protection and renewable energy, IT, telecommunications, English language and others. On the occasion of this visit the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation were presented.

International Childhood Cancer Day is a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer, and to express support for children and adolescents with cancer, the survivors and their families. The day promotes increased appreciation and deeper understanding of issues and challenges relevant to childhood cancer and impacting on children/adolescents with cancer, the survivors, their families and the society as a whole. It also spotlights the need for more equitable and better access to treatment and care for all children with cancer, everywhere.

Nis is one of 40 cities in Serbia which marked International Day of Children with Cancer with more than 1,000 citizens of Nis gathering at one of the city squares. More than 1000 balloons soared into the sky supporting the campaign “I Am Fighting” carried out by the National Association of Parents of Children with Cancer NURDOR.

Anyone who wants to help the second phase of construction of oncology department in Nis, whose completion is expected later this year, can do so by sending an SMS to 1150. The new activity called old stuff for new hope as way of raising funds for oncology ward of Nis was also presented. So far, 25 million dinars were collected for the implementation of the second phase of construction of a new oncology department, but more funds are needed before this ward can become operational. The new clinic will meet all European standards for the treatment of oncology patients, it will have two floors, separated stationary part, separate day hospital, six rooms with bathrooms, beds for parents so that can stay all the time with their children during treatment. In Serbia every day a child is diagnosed with this terrible disease, every week one child loses this battle, and 500 children are treated for cancer annually.