United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday expressed concern over the recent developments in Sri Lanka, including the detention of two UN staff members without charges.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed Atul Khare of India as assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said the progress at the climate conference here have been "insufficient", warning that the absence of a "breakthrough" would condemn the lives of billions of people "to smaller futures".
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.
The global community is in a position to eradicate AIDS, but funding will be critical to future progress, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said as the fight against endemic entered into its fourth decade.
Underlining that the UN will lead the climate change negotiations, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rejected the possibility of a "double track" approach being adopted on Climate Change where simultaneous talks between the big economies run in parallel with the United Nations negotiations.
Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, is among 19 members chosen by UN chief Ban Ki-moon for a high-level advisory group on Climate Change Financing tasked with mobilising funds pledged during the Copenhagen meet to tackle global warming.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday called the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a "watershed moment" in the war against terrorism, expressing relief that "justice" had been done.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said the UN would play a role in resolving the situation in Kashmir when India and Pakistan wanted the world body to step in.
A United Nations panel has said killing of tens of thousands of people in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil strife could amount to "war crimes", but Secretary General Ban Ki-moon insisted he would only launch an international investigation if Colombo agrees or member states call for it.
With countries across the world, including India, staking claim to being home to the seven billionth baby, United Nations Chief Ban Ki Moon said his office would not be able to pin-point who the world's seven billionth inhabitant is and where the baby was born.
"The Secretary-General regrets the latest loss of life. He (Ban) calls for an immediate end to violence and urges calm and restraint by all concerned," Martin Nesirky told media persons on Wednesday, adding that Ban was "closely following events".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected the UN deadline of January 31 for submission of emission targets and climate actions under the Copenhagen Accord.
Concerned over the plight of civilians caught up in the ongoing fighting in Sri Lanka, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dispatched his Chef de Cabinet Vijay Nambiar, a former Indian diplomat, to the island nation to underscore his message for protection of civilians and resolution of the humanitarian situation there. Members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the worsening crisis in northern Sri Lanka.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has been made part of high-level UN panel on global sustainability set up by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"Ban's spokesperson issued the e-mail on his own, misquoting the secretary general. And some of the separatist leaders tried to exploit it by claiming that the SG is calling for dialogue between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue," the sources said. "The issue has been settled despite what some news media is claiming."
The role of the Pakistani-origin spokesperson of United Nations secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has come under scanner with the denial of the UN chief's controversial remarks on Kashmir by his office.
A landmark treaty banning cluster munitions will come into force from August 1, the United Nations announced, but all major powers, the US, China, Russia Israel and India are shunning it.
Intense rocket barrage prevented a plane carrying United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt from landing at the Kabul airport on Tuesday and the aircraft was forced to be diverted to Bagram air base.
According to reports, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has talked to Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna as well as his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the telephone to raise the prospect of another "talk about talks".
Rejecting Pakistan's appeal to reopen the probe by United Nations into the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said, "The work of the commission is complete."
The Sri Lankan government has slammed the decision of the United Nations to set up a panel of experts to advice Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on the human rights situation in the country, saying it was 'unwarranted' since Colombo has already formed a mechanism to address accountability issues. "The proposed panel of experts was unwarranted since Lanka has already set in motion its local mechanism to address accountability issues, said Minister of External Affairs G L Peiris.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said on Wednesday he intended to set up an international commission to probe the assassination of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto during a meeting with her widower, President Asif Ali Zardari.
"There is a serious problem of accountability and transparency, efficiency, mobility and professionalism," Ban said on September 11 at the United Nations.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has regretted Colombo's the decision to expel James Elder, a spokesman for United Nation's Children Fund in Sri Lanka for allegedly making adverse remarks against the government over rights violations and war causalities.
The UN AIDS agency (UNAIDS) also commended the decision by the Chinese government.
The United Nations on Tuesday delayed till April 15 the release of its probe panel's report on the assassination of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto following a request from Islamabad.
The United Nations has launched an independent review of the functioning of its top climate change body IPCC, which has come under much criticism in the recent months for some errors in its reports.
At the Human Rights Councils special session on Sri Lanka last week, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that investigating abuses allegedly committed against civilians by both the Government and LTTE will help the country transition into a new future. "There are strong reasons to believe that both sides have grossly disregarded the fundamental principle of the inviolability of civilians," Pillay had stated.
The Indian Consulate celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Republic Day in New York with much fanfare.
UN chief Ban-Ki moon vowed to stand behind the Haitian people as he visited the quake- devastated country and termed the catastrophe a "tsunami-like disaster". Touring the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban assured the disaster-hit people that "help is already arriving".
The United Nations on Thursday recalled its top envoy to Sri Lanka and closed down an office in Colombo following angry protests against a UN panel which was set up to probe allegations of war crime during the country's civil war.
Concerned over the political turmoil in Pakistan, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the country's leaders to engage in "honest dialogue" to resolve their differences.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon on Monday said the presence of one billion hungry people in the world was unacceptable and noted that farmers are the 'heart and soul' of food security and poverty reduction.Speaking at the World Food Summit that kicked off today at Rome, Ban said, "They (farmers) need seeds and extension services. They need secure water supplies, they need better market access and fairer trade. We must resist protectionism."
China has backed Sri Lanka in its opposition to the setting up of a human rights panel by the United Nations to look into alleged rights abuses during the ethnic war, saying the government was capable of handling it.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki Moon on Tuesday said he had impressed upon top Pakistani leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani that they should fully cooperate with India and thoroughly investigate the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Addressing a press conference on returning from his visit to India and Pakistan, he said the Pakistani leaders had 'committed to me that they will fully cooperate' with India in the investigation
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor recently made his first foray to the United Nations -- where he had served for more than two decades as Under Secretary General of Communications -- over two-and-a-half years after his unsuccessful bid for the position of UN Secretary General.
The Mumbai attacks came up for discussion when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, with the Indian side apprising him about Pakistani linkages to the terror strikes and urging him to press Islamabad to cooperate.
Making an aggressive move on its foreign policy front, the new United States administration has reached out to key world leaders, with President Barack Obama himself calling heads of the states of Canada, Saudi Arabia and Britain, besides United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached out to as many as 21 foreign leaders including Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined other senior United Nations officials in urging countries to refocus attention on human rights in the fight against terrorism, as experts began considering innovative ways to combat the global scourge.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances