For Yoginder, it is a release from pain. But for us, his friends, it is the loss of a warm and generous life companion, says Nitin Desai of his 50-year association with the eminent economist who passed into the ages on December 6, 2022.
The responsibility for peace in Ukraine now rests in the hands of the two principal belligerents, Russia and the US, and the prime victim of this great power rivalry, Ukraine, points out Nitin Desai.
He said the answer to the Congress' current challenges lies in a combination of effective leadership and organisational reforms.
Israel on Thursday launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip even as hectic diplomatic efforts continued to broker a ceasefire to end the 10 days of conflict that has killed 237 Palestinians.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon has criticised Zimbabwe's presidential run off election, in which President Robert Mugabe won another term, saying the outcome does not reflect the true and genuine will of the people nor produce a legitimate result.The observers, Ban said, confirmed that conditions were not in place for a free and fair election and the process was deeply flawed.
Myanmar has agreed to allow all aid workers to participate in relief efforts for cyclone survivors, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said after meeting leader Than Shwe in Naypyidaw on Friday.
Troops from 17 countries, including Pakistan and Russia, formed part of 1000 foreign soldiers who took part in China's first military parade aimed at highlighting the excesses committed by Japanese troops against Chinese in the WW II in which according Chinese historians over 20 million people were killed, eight million forced into labour and thousands of women held as sex slaves.
India also called for crippling the illicit drug trade which provides financial sustenance to these terror outfits.
Specially designated global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, who carries a reward of $10 million US bounty on his head, is the acting interior minister while his uncle -- Khalil Haqqani -- has been named as acting minister for refugees.
Imagine being a part of a country, but being discriminated against by the majority community and atrocities being committed against you by the state. This is the deplorable conditions that the Rohingyas of Myanmar live in where they are cut off from their livelihoods and sources of income, unable to access markets, hospitals and schools, and have little or no access to relief aid. In order to understand the situation and the genesis of the tragedy unfolding, Rediff.com's Archana Masih speaks to Ambassador Vijay Nambiar, the United Nations' Chef de Cabinet (Chief of Staff), who had served a long stint with the UN in New York on the issue.
Acting on his pledge to achieve continuity with change, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named four new senior officials to his Cabinet while retaining a dozen others.
'The most striking thing about the US strike on Syria is its futility of purpose beyond a symbolic value to impress the domestic constituency that Trump is a forceful decision-maker,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Ban has not taken any stand on the fairness or otherwise of the trial, the UN said.
India has voiced its strong opposition to China's Belt and Road Initiative and its flagship project -- the CPEC -- at the just concluded second UN Sustainable Transport Conference where the Indian diplomat's mike curiously went silent while she was highlighting New Delhi's objection to the controversial projects.
Expressing condolences to the families of those killed, he commended Indian government on its rapid "search and rescue" operations and establishment of relief camps.
The death of Libya's former strongman Muammar Gaddafi marks an "historic transition" for the North African country, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday, as he urged Libyans to lay down their arms and unite in this "time of rebuilding."
The powerful United Nations Security Council on riday approved a second five-year term for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, ahead of the voting by the 192-member General Assembly next week.
An uneasy 72-hour ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the Palestinian militant groups began on Tuesday morning after a month of fighting, with Hamas firing a salvo of long-range rockets minutes before the truce, calling them revenge for Israel's "massacres".
India is expected to share details of the Mumbai terror attacks with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday when he meets External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and urge him to press Pakistan to cooperate.
The three-member international commission that the United Nations plans to appoint to probe the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto will be a fact-finding panel and will not carry out any criminal investigation. In a letter to the Security Council released on Thursday, Secretary-General Ban ki Moon said the life of the commission will be of six months. "You will note that the commission's mandate would be of a limited duration (a maximum of six months).
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit India next week to attend a four-day summit on sustainable development, after visiting Pakistan, where he is expected to discuss terrorism among other issues.His programme in New Delhi is not yet known but his visit is mainly to attend the Sustainable Development Summit beginning on February 4.Prior to going to Delhi, he will pay an official visit to Pakistan, where he is expected to discuss the situation in the region.
'Washington is well aware that the Haqqani group was responsible for terrorist attacks on the Indian diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan.' 'But today US self-interest dictates that Sirajuddin Haqqani's mainstreaming in Afghan political life and a potential elevation eventually to a leadership role at the national level is useful and necessary, since he can deliver peace,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India on Thursday urged United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to ask member nations not to cut down financial and technical aid for public health initiatives across the globe.
India will convey its views on major regional and global issues apart from strongly pitching for an expansion of the Security Council with its inclusion as a permanent member during the four-day visit of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who arrived in New Delhi on Thursday.
South and South-West Asia could witness an economic growth of 5.3 per cent in 2015, which will be a four-year high.
Notwithstanding how the current impasse is solved, at some point in the future, Russia will realise that just as centuries ago it developed the paradigm of securing its heartland's safety through annexing vast buffer zones between itself and the enemy, a more modern security is possible only through friendly relations and sustainable peace, observes Shyam G Menon.
United States President Barack Obama has hailed the "historic understanding" reached between world powers and Iran over the framework of a deal on its contentious nuclear programme, even as Israel warned that it would threaten the Jewish state's survival.
The 20-page report on the island nation covering the period from November 2006 to September 2007, notes that 'both parties have failed to cease the abduction, recruitment and use of children.'
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Myanmar later this week where he will meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Massive Israeli shelling killed at least 50 people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza following the collapse of a 72-hour ceasefire shortly after it began on Friday, while two of its soldiers were killed and another was abducted by Palestinian militant groups.
Russia on Saturday staged a grand military parade in Moscow to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany in the presence of several world leaders, including President Pranab Mukherjee, even as Western powers boycotted the event due to a standoff over Ukraine.
I come before you humbled by the responsibility that the American people have placed upon me, mindful of the enormous challenges of our moment in history, and determined to act boldly and collectively on behalf of justice and prosperity at home and abroad.
The 192-nation United Nations General Assembly has voted unanimously to elect Ban Ki-moon for a second five-year term as the global body's secretary-general.
The two sides agreed on forming a joint working group to oversee the repatriation process but its composition would be decided later by both the countries.
The United States on Friday said that it is not ruling out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the surface-to air missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines plane.
United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared America's support to Ban Ki Moon's bid for a second term as the United Nations general secretary for the critical role the world body played under his leadership in responding to global challenges. The US support comes a day after the South Korean announced his willingness for a second term."President Obama welcomes United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's announcement that he will run for a second term," US said.
