• 9964432222
  • Mail Us
  • Appointment
  • Locate Us
  • Chat Now
  • Courses
  • Login
  • Register
Manifest IAS
JournalsOfIndia
Manifest Learning Academy
  • Home
  • SNIPPETSfor Prelims
  • ARTICLESfor Mains
  • BROWSEBY SOURCE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • SNIPPETSfor Prelims
  • ARTICLESfor Mains
  • BROWSEBY SOURCE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result
JournalsOfIndia
No Result
View All Result
Home Foreign Affairs

Maldives wins UN General Assembly Elections

June 8, 2021
in Foreign Affairs
Reading Time: 6 mins read
0
Maldives wins UN General Assembly Elections
194
VIEWS
Share on WhatsAppShare on TelegramShare on Facebook
image_pdfMake PDF

In a first for the Maldives, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was elected the President of the United Nations General Assembly for 2021-22, winning 143 votes or nearly three fourths of the 191 countries that voted in the annual election, while his rival, former Afghanistan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul won 48. This is the first time Maldives will be occupying the office.

In news: Maldives FM Abdulla Shahid wins presidency of 76th UN General Assembly
Placing it in syllabus: Foreign Affairs

Dimensions

  • UNGA 
  • Powers and Functions of the General Assembly 
  • President : Elections,  Power and Functions 
  • India’ role in the Elections

Content:

UNGA:

What is it?

  • The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN).
  • It serves as the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN. 
  • Its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter. 

Composition:

  • All 193 members of the United Nations are members of the General Assembly, with the addition of the Holy See and Palestine as observer states. 
  • All members have equal representation in the UN General Assembly.
  • The United Nations General Assembly may grant observer status to an international organization or entity, which entitles the entity to participate in the work of the United Nations General Assembly, though with limitations.
  • Observer status allows them to participate and speak in General Assembly meetings, but not vote. 
  • Observers are generally intergovernmental organizations and international organizations and entities whose statehood or sovereignty is not precisely defined.

The criteria for admission of new members to the UN are set out in Chapter II, Article 4 of the UN Charter:

  • Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgement of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
  • The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. 

A recommendation for admission from the Security Council requires affirmative votes from at least nine of the council’s fifteen members, with none of the five permanent members using their veto power. 

The Security Council’s recommendation must then be approved in the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority vote.

Powers and Functions of the General Assembly: 

  • The Assembly is empowered to make recommendations to States on international issues within its competence. 
  • The UNGA is responsible for the UN budget, appointing the non-permanent members to the Security Council, appointing the Secretary-General of the United Nations, receiving reports from other parts of the UN system, and making recommendations through resolutions.
  • It also establishes numerous subsidiary organs to advance or assist in its broad mandate.
  • The General Assembly is entrusted in the United Nations Charter with electing members to various organs within the United Nations system. The procedure for these elections can be found in Section 15 of the Rules of Procedure for the General Assembly. 
  • The most important elections for the General Assembly include those for the upcoming President of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice. 

According to the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly may:

  • Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the financial assessments of Member States
  • Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members of other United Nations councils and organs and, on the recommendation of the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General
  • Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of cooperation for maintaining international peace and security, including disarmament
  • Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except where a dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the Security Council, make recommendations on it
  • Discuss, with the same exception, and make recommendations on any questions within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations
  • Initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international political cooperation, the development and codification of international law, the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and international collaboration in the economic, social, humanitarian, cultural, educational and health fields
  • Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that might impair friendly relations among countries
  • Consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs

President : Elections,  Power and Functions:

  • The President of the United Nations General Assembly is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.
  • The session of the assembly is scheduled for every year starting in September—any special, or emergency special, assemblies over the next year will be headed by the President of the UNGA.
  • The presidency rotates annually between the five geographic groups: African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States.
  • It is customary that a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council does not ever serve as UNGA president.
  • Because of their powerful stature globally, some of the largest, most powerful countries have never held the presidency, such as the People’s Republic of China, France, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • The General Assembly meets under its president or the UN Secretary-General in annual sessions at UN headquarters in New York City
 India held the presidency of UNGA in 1953. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly. She was also the first woman president of UNGA.

India’ role in the Elections:

  • The election of the President of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly  took place in the General Assembly Hall on 7 June 2021, in line with Rule 30 of the Rules of Procedure.
  • In accordance with the established regional rotation, the President of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly was elected from the Group of Asia-Pacific States.
  •  Indian diplomats had been active behind the scenes in helping the Maldives canvass for Mr. Shahid, after Maldives announced its candidate for the 76th General Assembly Presidency a year ago.
  • India had made it clear to Afghanistan’s government that it would be unable to support Mr. Rassoul as it had declared its support for Maldives publicly in November, long before Afghanistan announced its candidature in January this year. 
  • The announcement had caused an awkward tussle within the Asia Pacific group, whose turn it is to take the Presidency of the General Assembly, and especially for India, which has close ties with both countries.
  • Mr. Shahid’s win will also come as a relief for New Delhi, given adverse comments against India by the previous PGA from Turkey Volkan Bozkir on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. 
  • In contrast, it is expected that Mr. Shahid’s tenure, which will last until September 2022 while India’s tenure at the UN Security Council will last until December 2022, will see a period of smooth coordination between India and the Maldives at the UN.

Mould your thought: Discuss the composition, powers and functions of the UN General Assembly.

Approach to the answer:

  • Introduction 
  • Discuss the UNGA mandate 
  • Write about the composition – members of the UNGA
  • Discuss the powers and functions of UNGA
  • Conclusion
image_pdfMake PDF
Source: The Hindu
Tags: GS-2MainsNews Paper

Related Posts

iCET dialogue

iCET dialogue

February 3, 2023
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

January 25, 2023
Key takeaways from WEF -2023 annual meeting

Key takeaways from WEF -2023 annual meeting

January 23, 2023
Bhopal Declaration of G20

Bhopal Declaration of G20

January 21, 2023
China’s population drops for first time in 60 years

China’s population drops for first time in 60 years

January 18, 2023
UN blacklists Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman Makki

UN blacklists Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman Makki

January 17, 2023
NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system of US

NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system of US

January 12, 2023
US proposes student loan safety net

US proposes student loan safety net

January 11, 2023
India to preside over Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU)

India to preside over Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU)

January 6, 2023
USA’s new tax credit scheme for electric vehicles

USA’s new tax credit scheme for electric vehicles

December 28, 2022
Please login to join discussion

Our Offline Classroom Student

CONGRATULATIONS TO 2021 TOPPERS !!!

Rank 171 Kumar Shivashish
Rank 250 Sahithya
Rank 263 Sumit Kumar Thakur
Rank 311 Deepak Ramachandra Shet
Rank 455 Ravinandan B M

February 2023
MTWTFSS
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728 
« Jan    

Browse by Category

  • Agriculture
  • Disaster Management
  • Economy
  • Environment
  • Ethics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Geography
  • Governance
  • History
  • Law & Policy
  • Opinion
  • People in News
  • Places in News
  • Science & Tech
  • Security
  • Society
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tags

AIR All India Radio BBC Business Line Business Standard dow Down to Earth DownToEarth DTE Economic Times ET FAO Financial Express GS-1 GS-2 GS-3 GS-4 Hindustan Times IE India & the world Indian express Indiatoday India today Kurukshetra Livelihoods portal LiveMint Mains News News Paper Newspaper PIB Prelims PRS India RSTV Science Reporter Survey The Hindu The India Express The Indian Express The Print the wire Times of India TOI TOPPERS Yojana
JournalsOfIndia

Our vision is to orient the readers to grasp the facts objectively and analyse critically. In the rush of reaching first to the readers, the websites miss the balanced opinion, which is the need of the hour. We aim to reach the readers with more crispness, preciseness and relevance. We bring the articles in UPSC way for the civil services aspirants and the Wisest Way for general readers.

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Disaster Management
  • Economy
  • Environment
  • Ethics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Geography
  • Governance
  • History
  • Law & Policy
  • Opinion
  • People in News
  • Places in News
  • Science & Tech
  • Security
  • Society
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tag

AIR All India Radio BBC Business Line Business Standard dow Down to Earth DownToEarth DTE Economic Times ET FAO Financial Express GS-1 GS-2 GS-3 GS-4 Hindustan Times IE India & the world Indian express Indiatoday India today Kurukshetra Livelihoods portal LiveMint Mains News News Paper Newspaper PIB Prelims PRS India RSTV Science Reporter Survey The Hindu The India Express The Indian Express The Print the wire Times of India TOI TOPPERS Yojana

Newsletter

The most important UPSC news and events of the day.

Get Journals daily newsletter on your inbox.

© 2020 JournalsOfIndia - A free initiative by Manifest Team.

  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • SNIPPETS
  • ARTICLES
  • BROWSE
  • DOWNLOADS
No Result
View All Result

© 2020 JournalsOfIndia - A free initiative by Manifest Team.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In