United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a decorated Indian Army officer as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar, 57, will succeed Lieutenant General Frank Kamanzi of Rwanda who completes his assignment on May 26. The announcement was made by the UN chief on Friday.
The decorated Indian Army officer "has had a long and distinguished career with the Indian Armed Forces spanning over 34 years," a statement by the UN Spokesperson said.
Tinaikar graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1983 and is currently serving as the Commandant of the Infantry School since July 2018.
He previously served as the Additional Director General of Military Operations at the Army Headquarters from 2017 to 2018. From 2012 to 2017, he commanded a division, a recruit training centre and a brigade.
Tinaikar was awarded the Sena Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service.
From 1996 to 1997, he served in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III, and from 2008 to 2009, in the United Nations Mission in Sudan.
He holds a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Defence and Strategic Studies from The University of Madras.
India, the fourth largest contributor of uniformed personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions, currently contributes more than 6,400 military and police personnel to the UN peace operations in Abyei, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, the Middle East, South Sudan and the Western Sahara.
The UN mission in South Sudan, a country born in July 2011, has 19,400 personnel deployed with it as of March 2019.
India is the second highest troop contributing country to UNMISS with 2,337 Indian peacekeepers, second only to Rwanda with 2,750. In addition, India currently contributes 22 police personnel to UNMISS.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bengaluru: Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 20.14 crore and alcohol worth over Rs 26 crore has been seized in Karnataka since the model code of conduct came into effect on March 16, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
Total seizures, which include various freebies, amount to Rs 60.38 crore, they said
The general elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May seven for its 28 constituencies.
According to a statement issued by the office of Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, since the Model Code of Conduct came into force, the flying squads, static surveillance teams and police authorities have seized Rs 20.14 crore cash, Rs 65.43 lakh freebies, 8.44 lakh litres of liquor worth over Rs 26.35 crore, 181.80 kg narcotic substances worth over Rs 1.33 crore, 14 kg gold worth over Rs 9 crore, 55.75 kg silver worth over Rs 26 lakh and 21.17 carat diamonds worth Rs 9 lakh among others.
They have also registered 909 cases with regard to seizure of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metal and freebies while 94,417 arms have been deposited, 882 arms were impounded, 15 arms licences have been cancelled, 7,819 cases were booked under preventive sections of CrPC, out of which 8,406 persons were bounded over.
The Excise Department has booked 922 heinous cases, 797 cases for breach of licence conditions, 49 NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) and 3,342 cases under Section 15 (a) of Karnataka Excise Act 1965 and also 535 different types of vehicles have been seized.