5 Indian peacekeepers to be honoured posthumously with UN medal for sacrifice in line of duty
United Nations: Five Indian peacekeepers, who laid down their lives while serving in UN peacekeeping missions last year, are among 83 military, police and civilian personnel to be honoured this week with a prestigious UN medal awarded posthumously for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty.
Major Ravi Inder Singh Sandhu and Sergeant Lal Manotra Tarsem, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan; Sergeant Ramesh Singh with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon; Private Johnsion Beck with the UN Disengagement Observer Force and Edward Agapito Pinto, who served in a civilian capacity with the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in Congo, will posthumously receive the Dag Hammarskjold Medal on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers observed on May 29.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will lay a wreath to honour all the UN peacekeepers who lost their lives since 1948. He will then preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjold Medal will be awarded posthumously to 83 military, police and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2019.
The world organisation said this year, the challenges and threats faced by its peacekeepers are even greater than ever, as they, like people around the world, are not only coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, but are also supporting and protecting the people in the countries they are based in.
They are continuing their operations to the best of their abilities and supporting the governments and the local populations, despite the risk of COVID-19, it said.
The theme for this year's Day is "Women in Peacekeeping: A Key to Peace" to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is commemorated to pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian personnel's invaluable contribution to the work of the world organisation and to honour more than 3,900 peacekeepers who have lost their lives serving under the UN flag since 1948.
India is the 5th largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping. It currently contributes more than 5,400 military and police personnel to the UN peacekeeping operations in Abyei, Cyprus, Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, Sudan, South Sudan, Western Sahara as well as one expert to the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia.
Bringing honour to India with her service, Major Suman Gawani of the Indian Army, a Military Observer, formerly deployed with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) won the prestigious United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award in 2019, the first year the prestigious award has gone to a peacekeeper from India.
Gawani, along with Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer working in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, were named joint winners of the United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year 2019 Award.
The award recognises the dedication and effort of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in a peace operation context, as nominated by Heads and Force Commanders of peace operations.
Gawani and Araujo will receive the award during an online ceremony presided over by Guterres on May 29.
Gawani has expressed her gratitude for recognising her work as UN Military Observer.
"Whatever our function, position or rank, it is our duty as peacekeepers to integrate an all genders perspective into our daily work and own it in our interactions with colleagues as well as with communities," she said in a statement issued here.
Guterres commended Araujo and Gawani, describing them as "powerful role models".
"Through their work, they have brought new perspectives and have helped to build trust and confidence among the communities we serve. Through their commitment and innovative approaches, they embrace a standard of excellence that is an inspiration to all blue helmets everywhere. As we confront today's challenges, their work has never been more important or relevant," he said.
The General Assembly had designated May 29 as the commemoration day because it was the date in 1948 when the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the world body's first peacekeeping mission, began its operations in Palestine.
The Dag Hammarskjold Medal was established in December 2000 and is awarded posthumously to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations.
The medal is named after the second UN Secretary General, who had died in a mysterious 1961 plane crash. He was posthumously awarded a Nobel Peace Prize the year he died.
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.
India never offers any duty concessions in dairy sector under FTAs: Goyal
New Delhi (PTI): India has not offered any duty concessions in the dairy sector under any of its free trade agreements so far, including those with the European Union, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday.
He said India's dairy sector is driven by very small and marginal farmers with limited landholdings who own only a few cattle.
These farmers has a "very" low production and needs to be protected against large farms that Europe, America, Australia, or New Zealand have.
"India has had a very consistent stand in all our FTAs across the world, whether it is European Union, Switzerland... UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand. Never has India opened the dairy sector. Everybody in this room knows it. Everybody in the world knows it," he told reporters here after signing a trade pact with New Zealand.
This is a known position, and there is nothing new in this, he said.
However, he added that as per India's foreign trade policy, the government allows foreign firms to bring raw materials or ingredients into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods.
That product is not allowed to be sold in the country, he said.
"So it doesn't hurt the Indian market, doesn't hurt the Indian farmers, but adds to our foreign exchange income, adds jobs to our youth, provides opportunities for our farmers also to possibly supplement for further re-export. So it's a win-win for both countries," Goyal said.
The India-New Zealand trade pact has an investment arrangement under which firms from the Oceania country can bring raw materials or ingredients from the dairy sector into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods.
These dedicated fast-track arrangements will be used exclusively for the manufacture of products destined solely for export, thereby safeguarding the interests of the domestic industry.
New Zealand is one of the world's largest dairy exporters. Its dairy exports to India in FY25 totalled just USD 1.07 million, consisting of milk and cream (USD 0.40 million), natural honey (USD 0.32 million), mozzarella cheese (USD 0.18 million), butter (USD 0.09 million) and skimmed milk (USD 0.08 million).
Under the FTA, India would grant quota-based duty concessions on Albumins (a milk protein product) and bulk infant formula from New Zealand with Minimum Import Price and other safeguards.
Tariffs on bulk infant formula and other dairy-based preparations, and peptones (a dairy-based product) would be phased out by India in over seven years, according to New Zealand's Foreign Affairs and Trade ministry statement.
