Israel withdraws from Security Council election
United Nations, May 5: Israel has withdrawn from the election for a two-year term on the Security Council that pitted it against Germany and Belgium.
Israel's UN Mission announced the decision shortly before a debate between the three candidates was due to start at the UN on Friday afternoon.
"After consulting with our partners, including our good friends, the State of Israel has decided to postpone its candidacy for a seat on the Security Council," the mission said.
The non-permanent seats in the Council are distributed regionally and Israel, which is in the Western European and Other Group (WEOG), had planned to contest one of the group's two seats for the 2019-2020 term.
The failure to run unopposed for the WEOG seat is a diplomatic setback for Israel, which has never had a seat the Council, and, according to the US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, a broken promise by West European countries.
He asserted in a tweet in March that Washington, which had brokered a deal for Israel to run unopposed for one of the WEOG seats, must ensure that the European nations kept their word.
Grenell said that the late Richard Holbrooke, a former assistant secretary of state, had arranged the deal..
Although Middle Eastern nations are in the Asia-Pacific Group, Israel has faced opposition from some members of the group and was taken in by the WEOG.
Israel has never held a Council seat and would have been difficult for Israel to win against those to European nations, but it would have won by default if it was unopposed in the group.
There is one vacancy for the Asia-Pacific Group for 2019-2020 term and Indonesia and Maldives are contesting it.
They will participate in a candidates' debate for the region organised by the World Federation of United Nations Associations on May 14.
All the 193 members of the UN will, however, vote for the non-permanent members of the Council, even though the seats are distributed by region.
The elections are scheduled for June 8.
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Consumer Affairs Minister slams air purifier firms for false claims ahead of pollution season
New Delhi, Oct 14: Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday criticised air purifier manufacturers for making false claims about their products, and called for increased consumer awareness ahead of winter when air pollution worsens in Delhi due to crop stubble burning in neighbouring states.
Addressing an event commemorating World Standards Day, Joshi expressed concern over misleading marketing tactics adopted by some air purifier companies.
"Discussion on air pollution has begun. Looking at Air Quality Index (AQI) on mobiles, people out of fear, go and buy air purifiers. Air purifiers make such false claims. ...We see air purifiers and so much is written but nothing is there in it. There is just a fan in it, yet claims are still made," the minister stated.
Joshi called for a collaborative approach involving the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the consumer affairs ministry and consumers to address the issue.
While praising the BIS for their "exceptionally wonderful job" in recent years, the minister emphasized that more needs to be done.
"I do not blame BIS for this. BIS in the last few years has done an exceptionally wonderful job. But both BIS and the consumer affairs ministry and consumers together need to create awareness. It is important, and I strongly feel (this way)," the minister said stressing the collective responsibility in combating misleading product claims.
He emphasized the government's commitment to ensuring every Indian has access to safe, reliable, and high-quality products and services.
These comments come as concerns grow about air quality in major Indian cities and expansion of the air purifier market.
Joshi also announced plans to make BIS standards mandatory for public procurement on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal. "BIS standards are partially implemented on GeM. We'll try to make it mandatory."
The minister highlighted the government's focus on quality standards, noting that Cabinet proposals now include global standard notes.
"These days, the tradition has started in the Union Cabinet. Wherever a bill to be introduced in Parliament comes before the Cabinet, the global standard note comes with it. That has been made mandatory for the Cabinet," he said.
This note mentions which countries perform best in the particular field, rules and how India can achieve it. "So, we have to match every Cabinet note with the global standards. This helps our government to make decisions to set high standards whether it is quality infrastructure or urban metro trains."
Implementation of standards at national level has been given a top priority by the government and is actively bringing more products under mandatory quality controls, he said.
He said that over 22,300 standards are currently in force, with 94 per cent harmonized with international standards. The number of Quality Control Orders has risen from 14 (covering 106 products) in 2014 to 174 (covering 732 products) now.
Also, 94 per cent of Indian Standards are harmonised with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Joshi stressed the interdependence of consumers and producers in fostering a quality ecosystem. He urged the BIS to take on more leadership roles in international standardization and fast-track the development of new standards.
World Standards Day, observed annually on October 14, aims to raise awareness about standards and their role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
