(IANS)
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India will send a helicopter unit to the UN peacekeeping operations in Mali, which is facing with a crisis as several countries have withdrawn or announced plans to withdraw from it, according to a UN spokesperson.
United Nations, Nov 24: India will send a helicopter unit to the UN peacekeeping operations in Mali, which is facing with a crisis as several countries have withdrawn or announced plans to withdraw from it, according to a UN spokesperson.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday that the utility helicopter unit from India that is to be deployed in March will "provide much-needed support to our forces and are critical for early warning and rapid response to protect civilians".
Bangladesh and Pakistan will each be sending an armed helicopter unit to the operation known as Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
India does not have troops deployed with MINUSMA, but 18 Indians worked with it as of September.
Haq added, "The UN continues to discuss with member states the deployment of new assets and plans to fill longer-standing gaps in addition to those resulting from recent announcements" of withdrawals.
MINUSMA, set up in 2013, has 17,622 personnel.
Several countries have pulled out of or announced plans to withdraw from the operations in Mali, where the government is battling Islamist terrorists.
MINUSMA is one of the deadliest operations having claimed the lives of 292 peacekeepers.
France completed its withdrawal earlier this year and it was followed by Egypt in August.
Germany said that it was withdrawing its personnel, who numbered 595 in the latest UN roster, from MINUSMA by May next year.
Britain is also pulling out its 249 personnel.
Ivory Coast also said that it would discontinue the participation of its personnel, who numbered 898, in MINUSMA when the current deployment ends because of a separate dispute with the Mali government over the arrest of its soldiers who went there on a mission unconnected to the UN.
(IANS)
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Bengaluru, December 2: The Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal hailed the league as the best 'Make in India' brand post-independence.
Arun Dhumal was speaking during the RCB Innovation Lab's Leaders Meet India in Bengaluru held this week.
While talking about the fan insights and engagement of IPL and its franchises, Dhumal said, "We work as a team with all franchises, we are all partners. We have seen at the recently held World Cup games, that they (fans) were there for Team India, but at the same time, they were rooting for RCB also, which is a great thing and we are very proud of that. Personally, I feel IPL is the best Make in India brand we can think of post-independence."
The media rights for the IPL have grown from Rs 6,000 crores to INR 48,000 crores and the league is only second to the National Football League (NFL) across all sporting leagues in the world. Dhumal believes the widespread popularity and success of the league will act as a catalyst in its evolution over the next 10 years, as per a press release from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
"If I have to see how it has gone over the last 15 years and if I have to go by estimates going forward, we are expecting media rights to go somewhere close to USD 50 billion by around 2043. Going forward, we need to keep innovating, keep doing better in terms of fan engagement, and keep making it better in terms of the quality of games. Now that cricket is becoming part of the Olympics and with the Women's Premier League taking it to a different level for women's cricket, I see a lot of hope and light at the end of the tunnel.
Because of the way it has been happening for the last 15 years, it is only going to get better," he said.
RCB Innovation Lab's Leaders Meet India brought together the biggest game changers from across the sporting world, offering a truly global perspective on the present and future of the sports industry and how India can become a powerhouse in the business of sports.
Dissecting the role of IPL in earning India a different reputation from the entire world, Dhumal commented, "IPL is the most-watched cricket league in the world. We have fans across the world and when they come to watch, they get to see the diversity and culture of India.
They will watch a match up North down South, East to West, because teams are spread all across the country. We are a very diverse country in terms of different states, different cultures, and different languages being spoken but this is one platform which is rooted so well that you are able to showcase in India to the globe."
(ANI)