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Neeru Chadha becomes 1st Indian woman as member of ITLOS

Agencies
June 15, 2017

United Nations, Jun 15: In a significant victory for India at the UN, international law expert Neeru Chadha has won a crucial election to a top UN judicial body that deals with disputes related to the law of the sea, becoming the first Indian woman to be appointed as a judge at the tribunal.

neeru

Chadha, an eminent lawyer andthe first Indian woman to become the chief legal adviser in the ministry of external affairs, won the election yesterday to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for a nine-year term from 2017 to 2026.

Chadha got 120 votes, the highest in the Asia Pacific group and was elected in the first round of voting itself. The candidate from Indonesia got 58 votes, Lebanon 60 and Thailand 86.

All three candidates went to a second round of voting in which Thailand won the other seat in the Asia Pacific group. Election was held here for a total of seven seats.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin expressed gratitude for the broad support of countries that resulted in Chadha's "emphatic success" at the elections to the ITLOS.

"It reflects both an appreciation of India's global standing in matters of international law and the recognition for Chadha's expertise as alawyer and negotiator on contemporary issues related to the Law of the Seas," Akbaruddin told PTI.

"The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members who are elected from among persons enjoying the highest reputation for fairness and integrity and of recognised competence in the field of the law of the sea," according to the information on the ITLOS website.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson in New Delhi hailed Chadha's elections to the ITLOS saying, "Indian expertise on ITLOS stage! Neeru Chadha elected as 1st woman on Int'l Tribunal 4 Law of Seas w/ most votes in Asia Pacific Group."

The Hamburg-based ITLOS, established in 1996, is one of dispute settlement mechanisms under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that entered into force in 1994.

Chadha has extensive international arbitration and litigation experience, having served as an agent for the Indian government in its maritime delimitation case with Bangladesh.

She was also India'sagent for the case filed by Italy in ITLOS involving two Italian marines accusedof shooting two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.

Currently, eminent jurist from India P Chandrasekhara Rao is a judge at the tribunal. He was elected member of the tribunal in 1996 and his term will expire in September 2017.

Chadha is only the second woman to be judge of ITLOS in its two decades of existence, where there have been a total of 40 judges, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN said in a statement.

Chadha holds law degrees including PhD in law from the University of Delhi and the University of Michigan.

She was also the first woman chief legal adviser to the Indian government and has advised the government on diverse issues relating to the law of the sea involving interpretation of various provisions of the UNCLOS including determining the extent of coastal state's jurisdiction in different maritime zones, maritime delimitation with neighbouring states and legal issues relating to submissions on extended continental shelf.

Chadha has also served as an agent before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case concerning the Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to cessation of nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament with Marshall Islands.

She has represented the Indian government in various other multilateral meetings and conferences in the United Nations, AALCO (Asian African Legal Consultative Organisation), UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law), UNCITRAL (UN Commission on International Trade Law).

Chadha has also represented Indian government at The Hague Conference, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and ay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) on subjects relating to human rights, humanitarian law, international trade, international terrorism and international criminal law.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Kabul, May 11: Four back-to-back roadside bombs exploded in a northern district of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday, wounding four civilians including a child, police said. Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said a clearance team was at the site of the attacks.

Militants have carried out several roadside bombings and rocket attacks in Kabul and other parts of the country in recent weeks, but Monday's four consecutive explosions appeared to be the first coordinated effort for some months.

The Taliban has not carried out any large attacks in the city since they signed a landmark withdrawal deal with the US in February, meant to pave the way for peace in the country. No group has claimed the attacks. The explosions come as authorities are trying to impose a lockdown in the capital to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Beijing, Mar 6: World health officials have warned that countries are not taking the coronavirus crisis seriously enough, as outbreaks surged across Europe and in the United States where medical workers sounded warnings over a "disturbing" lack of hospital preparedness.

The World Health Organization warned Thursday that a "long list" of countries were not showing "the level of political commitment" needed to "match the level of the threat we all face".

"This is not a drill," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

"This epidemic is a threat for every country, rich and poor."

Tedros called on the heads of government in every country to take charge of the response and "coordinate all sectors", rather than leaving it to health ministries.

What is needed, he said, is "aggressive preparedness."

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Agencies
February 11,2020

The head of the World Health Organisation on Tuesday warned the novel coronavirus was a "very grave threat" for the world as he opened a conference to combat the epidemic.

"With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva.

Some 400 scientists will review how the virus is transmitted and possible vaccines at the two-day forum.

"What matters most is stopping the outbreak and saving lives. With your support, that's what we can do together," Tedros said.

The virus, first identified in China on December 31, has killed more than 1,000 people, infected over 42,000 and reached some 25 countries.

Participants will also discuss the source of the virus, which is thought to have originated in bats and reached humans via another animal such as snakes or pangolins.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine against the virus, which can cause respiratory failure.

Tedros, who has repeatedly urged countries affected to share their data, called for global "solidarity".

"That is especially true in relation to the sharing of samples and sequences. To defeat this outbreak, we need open and equitable sharing, according to the principles of fairness and equity," he said.

"We hope that one of the outcomes of this meeting will be an agreed roadmap for research around which researchers and donors will align," Tedros said.

Several companies and institutes in Australia, China, France, Germany and the United States are racing to develop a vaccine -- a process that normally takes years.

Asked whether scientists from Taiwan would be allowed to take part in this week's Geneva conference, WHO officials said that they would do so but only online -- along with colleagues from other parts of China.

While the WHO does not deal with Taiwan directly and only recognises Beijing, Taiwan was often allowed to attend annual assemblies and sideline meetings as an observer.

But in recent years it has been frozen out as Beijing takes an increasingly combative stance towards democratic Taiwan, which it considers its own territory.

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