Army marks 75th UN Peacekeepers Day

The Army today commemorated the 75th International Day of UN Peacekeepers by paying homage to the fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial.

India is one of the largest contributors of troops. It has sent over 2,75,000 troops to peacekeeping missions

5,900 currently deployed in 12 UN missions. 159 Indian Army soldiers have died on peace missions across the globe

On this day in 1948, the first UN peacekeeping mission, UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), began operations in Palestine.

Tipu Sultan’s sword fetches over Rs 1.7 crore at London auction

Erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan’s ‘Bedchamber Sword’ had sold for more than 14 million pounds ($17 million) at an auction in London.

Described as “one of the world’s rare artefacts”, the sword’s sale was conducted by Bonhams — a privately owned international auction house in London — on Tuesday, achieving 14,080,900 pounds against an estimate of 1.5 million to 2 million pounds.

The auction house said the sword was found in Tipu Sultan’s private quarters of his palace after he was killed by British forces on May 4, 1799.

The auction house said that the sword’s “extremely rare calligraphic hilt is a masterpiece of late-18th century Indian manufacture, intricately inlaid in gold with fine calligraphic invocations to God”.

Quad-led IPEF agrees to build resilient supply chains, cut dependence on China

While differences prevented the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) from issuing a joint statement recently, the latest economic bloc Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) managed to reach an agreement on supply chains, which is one of the four pillars of this grouping.

The proposed IPEF Supply Chain Agreement will have three new IPEF supply chain bodies to facilitate cooperation on supply chain issues. The IPEF Supply Chain Council will establish a mechanism to develop sector-specific action plans for critical sectors and key goods to enhance the resilience of IPEF partners supply chains. The IPEF Supply Chain Crisis Response Network would establish an emergency communications channel to seek support during a supply chain disruption. The IPEF Labour Rights Advisory Board will consist of government, workers and employer representatives on labour rights and sustainable trade and .