Ecuador's Espinosa Garces elected UNGA president
United Nations, June 6: Ecuador's Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces has been elected president of the UN General Assembly. She is only the fourth woman to achieve the position in its 73-year history.
With her election on Tuesday, she follows in the pioneering footsteps of India's Vijayalakshmi Pandit, the first woman to hold the position in 1953, in an organisation struggling to achieve gender parity.
In keeping with its symbolism, Espinosa declared that she dedicates her election to all the women in the world.
Espinosa received 128 votes to defeat another woman, Honduras Permanent Representative Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake, who got 62 votes.
The Assembly presidency rotates among various groups at the UN and this year it was the turn of the Latin American and Caribbean bloc.
In a rare departure from tradition of unanimity, two candidates from the region contested the election.
Speaking to reporters after her election, Espinosa said that she will assess the work done for the Security Council reform process and the situation it is in. The reform process has been going for about 25 years and "this is very much a pending issue of the organisation," she said.
"Of course, the depth and the pace of the reform process is going to depend entirely on the political will of the member states," she added.
Speaking at the Assembly after her election, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres drew attention to the poor record of the Assembly in electing women as president with only four in its 73-year history.
After Pandit, it took 16 year before another woman, Angie Brooks of Liberia was elected in 1969 and another 37 years for Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa of Bahrain to be be elected in 2006.
"No woman from my continent, east or west, has ever held the post," Guterres said. All four women presidents are from developing countries.
In 2016, it was widely expected that a woman would be elected secretary-general with several strong women candidates in the field, but it went to a man for the ninth time.
Espinosa said that with her election she hoped the UN will make progress and men and women will have the same opportunities.
Dedicating her election, she said it was for "all the women in the world who participate in politics today and who face media and political attacks marked by machismo and discrimination" and for "women who struggle everyday to access jobs on equal terms."
There was a political undercurrent in the election with Espinosa receiving greater support from developing countries. Left-leaning Ecuador has had a tumultuous relationship with the US, while Honduras is close to Washington.
Honduras was one of only nine countries to vote with it in the Assembly in 2017 against a resolution opposing the US decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and this cost it a lot of the votes of developing countries.
Although its relations with the US have been improving since President Lenin Moreno's election in 2017, Ecuador continues to give refuge in its London embassy to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whom Washington wants extradited.
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Chhattisgarh Vedanta power plant blast: Death toll rises to 20; sixteen workers undergoing treatment
Sakti (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): The death toll in a blast at the Vedanta power plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district has mounted to 20 with seven more workers succumbing to injuries, while 16 others are undergoing treatment at different hospitals, officials said on Wednesday.
The deceased include six labourers from West Bengal, five from Chhattisgarh, three each from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, two from Bihar, and one from Madhya Pradesh.
The opposition Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against the plant management and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
The explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon in a steel tube carrying high-pressure steam from the boiler to the turbine at the Vedanta Ltd power plant located in Singhitarai village, leaving several workers with severe burn injuries.
According to officials, four workers died on the spot, while nine others succumbed to injuries soon after the incident.
Seven more workers have died in hospitals, raising the toll to 20, Sakti Collector Amrit Vikas Topno told PTI on Wednesday.
He said that a total of 36 workers were affected in the blast, and 20 of them died.
"Of the 16 injured workers, five are undergoing treatment in hospitals in Raipur, while 11 others are in hospitals of Raigarh, the neighbouring district of Sakti," he added.
Topno added that every possible effort was being made to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.
The deceased were identified, and their family members are being contacted. Arrangements have been made to transport the mortal remains to their native villages via ambulance following the postmortem examination and to provide immediate financial assistance, he said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of each deceased worker and Rs 50,000 for those injured.
Vedanta Power has also announced a Rs 35 lakh compensation for the family of each deceased worker, along with employment support.
The company will also provide Rs 15 lakh to each injured person, ensure salary continuation until recovery, and offer counselling support, a statement from the plant management said.
The chief minister has ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of the Bilaspur division, assuring strict action against the guilty.
He directed officials to ensure free and proper medical treatment for all injured and emphasised that no negligence in their care would be tolerated.
The district administration has also ordered a separate magisterial probe, while the company has initiated its own internal investigation.
Collector Topno has appointed the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Dabhra to conduct the magisterial inquiry.
The SDM has been asked to submit a report within 30 days covering key aspects, including the cause of the accident, whether it was due to technical or human error, and details of safety inspections carried out at the plant.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress has demanded registration of an FIR against the plant management and a judicial inquiry into the incident.
State Congress communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla on Wednesday alleged negligence on the plant management's part and accused the government of attempting to shield those responsible.
He also demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of the deceased and Rs 50 lakh for the injured.
The construction of a 1,200 MW coal-based thermal power project (two units of 600 MW each) in Singhitarai, originally owned by Athena Chhattisgarh Power Ltd, started in 2009, but remained stalled between 2016 and 2022.
Vedanta acquired the plant in 2022, after which a 600 MW unit was completed and commissioned in August last year, while the second unit is still under construction.
The deceased have been identified as Amrit Lal Patel, Thanda Ram Lahre, Udhab Singh Yadav, Rameshwar Mahilange, and Nadeem Ansari (all from Chhattisgarh); Susanta Jana, Sheikh Saifuddin, Manas Giri, Kailash Mahto, Shibnath Murmu, and Dipankar Singh (West Bengal), Tarun Kumar Ojha, Abdul Karim and Ashok Parhiya (Jharkhand), Raju Ram, Pappu Kumar and Brijesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Aakib Khan and Ritesh Kumar (Bihar), and Chitranjan Dhulai of Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
