News Analysis India

Tag: United Nations

  • Impending shake up in MEA: Extension for Shringla, Tirumurti

    Impending shake up in MEA

    Extension for Shringla, Tirumurti

    Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan is abuzz with the possibility of an extension for foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and permanent representative of India to the United Nations, T S Tirumurti. These two top officers of the Ministry for External Affairs (MEA) are set to retire next month. With international relations entering a sensitive phase, there is a possibility of the government favouring continuity over change. However, names of their possible replacement are also being discussed. There are about half-a-dozen senior officers under consideration to replace Shringla. Among these are the ambassador in US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Sanjay Chandra (ambassador in Japan), Vinay Kwatra (Nepal), Jaidee Sarkar (South Africa) and Ruchira Kamboj (Bhutan). One of them may also be picked up as a replacement for Tirumurti. Meanwhile, the government has decided to elevate ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed to the rank of secretary. He is likely to take charge in the middle of March and will handle the CPV (Consular, Passport, Visa) division. He will also handle the West Asia and North Africa divisions. Sayeed will replace Sanjay Bhattacharyya who has been appointed as ambassador to Switzerland. With the post of ambassador set to fall vacant in Riyadh, intense lobbying has started. Among the frontrunners are India’s ambassador in Lebanon Suhel Ajaz Khan and Principal Secretary in Madhya Pradesh government Faiz Ahmad Kidwai. Both these officers have served in Riyadh as consul general.

    Media matters

    Sibal, Bhushan jump into Pioneer potboiler

    Battle for the control of Pioneer, the 150-year-old newspaper, has reached the penultimate stage with top lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Kapil Sibal now jumping into the fray. Albeit both are on the same side this time, this tug of war seems to have escalated to a new level altogether. The family of Pioneer’s late oner and editor Chandan Mitra, and the present editor, printer and publisher who had lost the case in NCLT and NCLAT, appealed through two separate petitions in the Supreme Court before the bench of Justice Nageswara Rao, which granted them ex-parte stay. The newspaper has been facing acute shortage of funds for the last few years. It has huge accumulated dues. Payments are pending towards employees, suppliers, franchisees, IT department, Noida authority, and many others. The paper was taken to court by its editorial director Amit Goel for non-payment of dues by way of salaries and unsecured loans. NCLT ruled in favour of Goel on January 19, 2021 and appointed a Resolution Professional. The Mitras and their Printer & Publisher Narender Kumar appealed against the NCLT order in NCLAT. NCLAT again ruled in Goel’s favour dismissing the appeal in December 2021. The entry of Sibal for the Mitras is interesting as it shows his interest in media hasn’t died down.

    Back to Booze-ness

    Ponty’s son may enter liquor business

    One of the most abiding rags-to-riches stories in Delhi-NCR is that of Gurdeep Singh Chadha, better known as Ponty Chadha. The Sardar who came out of nowhere dominated the liquor distribution business in north India and built malls and multiplexes and a real estate empire worth thousands of crores of rupees. His untimely death thrust the mantle on his young son Manpreet Chadha (a.k.a Monty Chadha) and brother Rajinder Chadha (a.k.a Raju Chadha). The two soon parted ways and divided the empire between themselves, with Raju getting film and liquor businesses and Monty taking over real estate, malls and multiplexes. But with the real estate business collapsing and Covid destroying malls and multiplexes, Monty is said to be looking at entering the group’s original money spinner – the liquor business. Insiders say Ajay Bijli’s PVR group is all set to buy Monty Chadha’s multiplexes which run over three dozen screens under the Wave brand. The proceeds of the sale would most likely be used to set up a liquor business. The decision would pit him directly against uncle Raju as both share contacts built by late Ponty Chadha.

  • India abstains on UNGA resolution that deplores Russia’s aggression against Ukraine

    By PTI

    UNITED NATIONS: India abstained in the 193-member UN General Assembly on a resolution that strongly deplored Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the third abstention in less than a week by the country in the world body on resolutions on the escalating crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.

    The General Assembly on Wednesday voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders and “deplores in the strongest terms” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

    Nearly 100 UN Member States co-sponsored the resolution titled ‘Aggression Against Ukraine’, including Afghanistan, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

    The resolution required a 2/3 majority of those voting yes and no to be adopted in the General Assembly.

    A total of 141 members voted in the favour of the resolution while 5 opposed it.

    India was among 35 nations who abstained.

    The UNGA resolution was similar to the one circulated in the 15-nation Security Council last Friday, on which also India had abstained.

    The UNSC resolution, which received 11 votes in favour and three abstentions, was blocked after permanent member Russia exercised its veto.

    Following the failure of the Council to adopt the resolution, the Security Council voted on Sunday again to convene a rare “emergency special session” of the 193-member General Assembly on the crisis.

    India again abstained on this resolution, reiterating that “there is no other choice but to return back to the path of diplomacy and dialogue.”

    The procedural resolution Sunday was adopted even though Moscow voted against it and the General Assembly then held a rare emergency special session on the Ukraine crisis Monday.

    President of the 76th session of the General Assembly Abdulla Shahid presided over the unprecedented session, only the 11th such emergency session of the General Assembly since 1950.

    With the adoption of the UNSC resolution Sunday, it was for the first time in 40 years that the Council decided to call for an emergency special session in the General Assembly.

    The resolution demanded that Russia immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine and refrain from any further unlawful threat or use of force against any UN member state.

    The resolution also demanded that Russia “immediately, completely, and unconditionally” withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

    The 193-member UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution that strongly deplored Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, days after a similar resolution was vetoed by Russia in the Security Council on the escalating crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.

    The General Assembly on Wednesday voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders and “deplores in the strongest terms” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

    Nearly 100 UN Member States co-sponsored the resolution titled ‘Aggression Against Ukraine’, including Afghanistan, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Kuwait, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

    The resolution was adopted with 141 votes in favour, five Member States voting against and 35 abstentions.

    The General Assembly broke into an applause as the resolution was adopted.

    The UNGA resolution was similar to the one circulated in the 15-nation Security Council last Friday.

    The UNSC resolution, which received 11 votes in favour and three abstentions, was blocked after permanent member Russia exercised its veto.

    Following the failure of the Council to adopt the resolution, the Security Council voted on Sunday again to convene a rare “emergency special session” of the 193-member General Assembly on the crisis.

    A Ukrainian official says the advance of Russian troops in Kharkiv has been stopped, but that Russians have responded by shelling the city with heavy rocket launchers and air attacks.

    “Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century,” said Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said that over the past 24 hours 21 people were killed and at least 112 were injured by Russians.

    Explosions on Wednesday thundered on Constitution Square, near the buildings of the City Council and the Palace of Labour.

    A missile attack also destroyed the building of the regional police department in Kharkiv and the university building, which is located across the street.

    Arestovich said that several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv.

    The Russians used Iskander missile systems to bombard Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv and Chernihiv.

    Arestovich said Iskander missile systems can deviate from their target, making them “a danger to civilian objects.”

  • ‘Will be based on our interests’: Shringla on India’s position on Ukraine crisis as New Delhi sends first tranche of humanitarian aid

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With a number of resolutions coming up at the United Nations on the crisis in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said India will consider those in their “entirety” and on the basis of national interests.

    While at least two resolutions on the crisis are set to be brought before the UN Security Council, another is coming up at the UN General Assembly.

    “In the UN, we take positions that are based on certain very careful considerations and certainly we do regard the merits of each and every case,” Shringla said at a media briefing.

    “We will consider them in their entirety and take decisions in our best interests,” he said.

    The foreign secretary was replying to a question on whether India’s position on the crisis will see some change following the death of an Indian student due to intense shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday.

    Last week, India abstained from voting on a resolution at the UN Security Council that sought to deplore the Russian military attack on Ukraine.

    But at the same time, India called for respecting the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of countries and sought immediate cessation of “violence and hostilities”.

    While abstaining from voting on the resolution, India issued an “Explanation of Vote” (EoV), in which it called for a “return to the path of diplomacy” and sought immediate cessation of “violence and hostilities”.

    India also told the UN Security Council that it has been in touch with all the parties concerned, urging them to return to the negotiating table.

    “The contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states,” India said in the EoV.

    “All member states need to honour these principles in finding a constructive way forward. Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment,” it said.

    Russia used its veto power to block the US-sponsored resolution deploring in the “strongest terms” the Russian “aggression” against Ukraine.

    Besides India, China and the United Arab Emirates also abstained from voting.

    India on Tuesday sent the first tranche of humanitarian assistance comprising medicines and other relief materials to Ukraine via Poland.

    At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said another flight will carry the second consignment of aid to the east European country on Wednesday.

    “A flight left this morning carrying the first tranche of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through Poland,” he said.

    India on Monday decided to send the relief supplies to Ukraine to help it deal with the humanitarian situation along its border areas that has arisen out of tens of thousands of people attempting to flee the Russian invasion.

    “The prime minister noted that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation on Ukraine’s borders would be despatched tomorrow,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.

    Ukrainian envoy Igor Polikha thanked India for sending humanitarian aid to his country.

  • India accords high priority to combating human trafficking: MoS Ajay Kumar Mishra at United Nations

    By ANI

    NEW YORK: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra on Tuesday (local time) said that India accords high priority to combating human trafficking and that the Indian government is making continuous efforts to prevent and counter-trafficking in persons.

    Delivering India’s statement at a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, MoS Mishra said, “India recognizes that human trafficking is a serious crime and accords high priority to combating trafficking. The Government of India is making continuous and concerted efforts to prevent and counter-trafficking in persons.”

    He said that India’s anti-trafficking legislative framework is based on the bedrock of Article 23 of the Constitution of India. “With the amendment of our Criminal Law in 2013, trafficking has been defined comprehensively and provisions have been made for stringent punishment for traffickers.”

    At the United Nations, Mishra also recalled how in 2019, India’s National Investigation Agency Act of 2008 was amended whereby the NIA has been authorized to investigate cases of human trafficking. “A number of schemes focusing on rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation of victims of trafficking have been instituted by the Government of India which address specific areas which are victim-centric.”

    He said stated that the Government of India in association with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), had initiated a multi-year project training for Law Enforcement Officers on human trafficking.

    Explaining how the central government in India supports State Governments to strengthen the institutional mechanism to combat Human Trafficking, the minister said that a national level communication platform – Crime Multi-Agency Centre (Cri-MAC) has been launched by the Indian government to facilitate the dissemination of information about significant crimes, including human trafficking cases across the country.

    “Apart from having ratified the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime and its protocols, India has signed the SAARC Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution and has also signed bilateral Memoranda of Understanding for Prevention of Human Trafficking with several countries,” MoS Mishra added.

    “India is determined in combating the scourge of human trafficking and remains committed to extending cooperation to all Member States in preventing and countering human trafficking,” the minister concluded.

  • Will continue to take firm, decisive steps against terrorism: India’s swipe at Pakistan during UNSC meet

    By PTI

    UNITED NATIONS: India will continue to take firm and decisive action against cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan, New Delhi’s representation said here on Tuesday, asserting that the onus is on Islamabad to create a conducive atmosphere for any meaningful dialogue which can be held only in an atmosphere free of terror, hostility and violence.

    “India desires normal neighbourly relations with all countries including Pakistan, and is committed to addressing outstanding issues, if any, bilaterally and peacefully in accordance with the Simla Agreement and the Lahore declaration,” Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Kajal Bhat said in the UN Security Council.

    “However, any meaningful dialogue can be held only in an atmosphere free of terror, hostility and violence. The onus is on Pakistan to create such a conducive atmosphere. Till then India will continue to take firm and decisive steps to respond to cross-border terrorism.”

    India hit back at Pakistan in the UN Security Council after Islamabad raised the Kashmir issue at the 15-nation Council.

    “I’m constrained to take the floor once again to respond to some frivolous remarks made by the representative of Pakistan earlier today. This is not the first time the representative of Pakistan has misused platforms provided by the UN to propagate false and malicious propaganda against my country and seeking in vain to divert the world’s attention from the sad state of his country where terrorists enjoy a free pass while the lives of ordinary people, especially those belonging to the minority communities are turned upside down,” Bhat said.

    Bhat made the response after Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram raked up the Jammu and Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council during the open debate on ‘Maintenance of International Peace and Security Through Preventive Diplomacy’.

    Bhat, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, said in her remarks that UN member states are aware that Pakistan has an “established history and policy” of harbouring, aiding and actively supporting terrorists.

    “This is a country which has been globally recognised as one openly supporting, training, financing and arming terrorists as a matter of state policy. It holds the ignoble record of hosting the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the UN Security Council.”

    Categorically stating India’s position, she said the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.

    “This includes the areas that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.”

    India called upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation.

  • Desperate need for UN, World Bank, IMF to be more transparent, representative: Nirmala Sitharaman

    By PTI

    BOSTON: Institutions such as United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund need to be urgently reformed as they no longer speak for countries whose issues have remained unattended to for decades, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

    All these organizations will have to look at reforming themselves, she said here at Harvard Kennedy School on Tuesday.

    During the conversation with Professor at Harvard University Lawrence Summers at the talk organized by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Sitharaman said “while reforms in countries are happening in different stages, these global institutions have remained the way they have been for the last several decades”.

    Many of them now no longer speak for countries whose issues have remained unattended to for decades together, whether it is on trade, security, monetary framework and on funding development, she stated.

    ALSO READ | Nirmala Sitharaman discusses investment opportunities, reforms in India with corporate leaders in US

    “There is a desperate need for all these institutions to be more transparent, represent and speak for countries which don’t get adequate representation; and therefore I would think that is something which has to happen immediately.”

    When these institutions become more representative, she said there would be more equitable distribution of resources, more concern for equitable development for growth.

    “This whole dialogue which used to happen – north-south – looked as if it’s moving towards irrelevance.”

    “But the issues of north-south still remain. Development has not reached many parts of Africa, many parts of the small Pacific islands. Many parts of those countries, even within countries, where there is differentiated development. So I think that’s what would have happened if only this reform agenda had been taken up by these institutions,” she said.

    Sitharaman arrived in the US Monday for a week-long trip to attend the annual meet of the World Bank and IMF in Washingon as well as G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting.

    During the official visit to the US, Sitharaman is expected to meet US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

    She said that participating in the G-20 now for India has got its own importance.

    India has joined the trio, which refers to the Chair of the G-20, and the one before and the Chair after the current President.

    India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and Sitharaman said that whole year, “India will work to take the G-20s agenda forward.”

    She said the G20 meeting for her will be also a process of learning how the current presidency is taking the agenda forward.

    “More importantly, the OECD has been working in the much discussed global tax or tax on these huge big multinationals so that this practice which is now prevalent that they end up paying tax nowhere.”

    “They’re neither paying the country where they’re doing business and earning the profit, nor are they paying tax in the country where they are located,” she said, adding that the current “each country for itself’ taxation regime has given them an opportunity to end up paying nowhere, which is good for the company, but absolutely of no use for countries where the business is getting generated.”

    “Today, more than 134 countries have come together to have a global tax on all those companies which are operating across nations, making the profit across nations profits in so many geographical jurisdictions, but end up paying no tax in both jurisdictions.”

  • 736 Afghans recorded for new registration in India from August 1 to September 11: UNHCR

    The UN refugee agency said it is in constant dialogue with the government on matters pertaining to Afghan nationals, including issuance and extensions of visa, assistance, and solutions.

  • Mansukh Mandaviya takes charge as Stop TB Partnership Board chairman

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday took charge as the Chairman of Stop TB Partnership Board.

    “India’s leadership in the global fight against TB continues with Minister @mansukhmandviya’s appointment as next Chairperson of @StopTB Board which supports global efforts in achieving UN goal to end TB by 2030. Leading by example remains committed to ending TB domestically by 2025,” tweeted the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations.

    Taking to Twitter, the union minister said, “Honoured to take on as the Chairman of @StopTB Partnership Board and lead global efforts against TB. I look forward to working with partners and volunteers to take sustained steps to end TB worldwide by 2030 and realise PM @NarendraModi ji’s vision of ending TB in India by 2025.”

    He also lauded the initiatives of former Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who was charing the board.

    “I express my gratitude to the outgoing Chair of Stop TB, @DrHarshVardhan, and appreciate the initiatives taken by the partnership under his guidance. I am also looking forward to working with the incoming Vice-Chair, Austin Arinze, when he takes over on January 1, 2022,” added Mandaviya.

    The Stop TB Partnership is a United Nations-hosted partnership program that aims to fight against tuberculosis collectively.  

  • UN official says Afghanistan supplies low, seeks help amid Kabul crisis

    By PTI

    GENEVA: A top World Health Organization official says the agency only has “a few days left of supplies” for Afghanistan and wants help to ferry in 10 or 12 planeloads of equipment and medicine for its beleaguered people.

    Dr. Rick Brennan, who heads WHO’s eastern Mediterranean region that includes Afghanistan, said from Cairo that the U.N. health agency is negotiating with the U.S. and other countries to help efforts to replenish strained stockpiles.

    “We estimate we’ve only got a few days left of supplies,” Brennan said, alluding to a distribution center in Dubai that has what’s needed.

    “We have 500 metric tons ready to go, but we haven’t got any way of getting them into the country right now.”

    Brennan said U. S. and other authorities have encouraged WHO and partners to look to other Afghan airports other than Kabul’s, which is facing a crush of thousands of people who are trying to get out of Afghanistan after a Taliban takeover.

    He said those authorities “have suggested that it’ll be too difficult a logistics exercise and security exercise to bring supplies into Kabul,” where teams would be required to unload planes and allow in trucks to carry out the supplies – which could complicate the evacuations.

    Needed supplies include emergency kits and essential medicines for treatment of chronic diseases, like diabetes, WHO said.

    “We’re cautiously optimistic that we might need to get something done in the coming days,” Brennan said, before adding: “We need a consistent humanitarian airbridge into the country ASAP.”

  • UN’s World Food Programme partners with Rajasthan govt to improve Targeted Public Distribution System

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in India and the Rajasthan government have joined hands to improve the Targeted Public Distribution System (TDPS) in the state.

    An agreement was signed in this regard on Monday.

    The partnership entails, among other things, the use of digitisation, data aggregation, performance dashboards for monitoring of the TDPS, thus providing a real-time and long-term solution to improve the food and nutritional security for millions, the WFP said in a statement.

    “This is a strategic partnership for creating impact at scale by taking advantage of the end-to-end computerisation of the food safety net that works through the Targeted Public Distribution System. Together with the government, we will use the data and insights to facilitate operational and policy decision making,” said Bishow Parajuli, WFP India representative and country director.

    This partnership between the WFP and the Department of Food and Civil Supplies of the Rajasthan government is part of a wider strategic Memorandum of Understanding signed late last year.

    Rajasthan covers nearly 45 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, served through a network of 26,657 fair price shops, the statement said.

    Some of the highlights of this partnership include improved targeting of beneficiaries to ensure that those in need are not excluded and those at risk are included, support in making the supply chain efficient like transport optimisation and introduction of digital applications, and enhancement of capacity to enable data-based decision making to make continuous assessments and improvements.