ONE WORLD, DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVESExplore diversity in vision and figure out how the same topic may beviewed differently by different folks. This is a mirror to society and life

“Do not believe what your teacher tells youmerely out of respect for the teacher.”

Gautama Buddha02 i-OPENER

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WHAT IS SECURITYCOUNCIL?

The United NationsCharter established sixmain organs of theUnited Nations, in-cluding the Security

Council. It gives primary respon-sibility for maintaining interna-tional peace and security to the Se-curity Council, which may meetwhenever peace is threatened. Ac-cording to the Charter, the UnitedNations has four purposes:

➤ to maintain international peaceand security;➤ to develop friendly relationsamong nations;➤ to cooperate in solving interna-tional problems and in promotingrespect for human rights;➤ and to be a centre for harmonis-ing the actions of nations.

While other organs of the UnitedNations make recommendations to

member states, only the SecurityCouncil has the power to make de-cisions that member states are thenobligated to implement under theCharter.

TThhee SSeeccuurriittyy CCoouunncciillhhaass 1155 mmeemmbbeerrss➤There are five permanent mem-bers: the United States, RussianFederation, France, China and theUnited Kingdom.➤ Ten temporary members areelected by the General Assemblyfor two-year terms.

HHiissttoorryy The Security Council held its firstsession on January 17, 1946 atChurch House, Westminster, Lon-don. Since its first meeting, theSecurity Council has taken per-manent residence at the UnitedNations Headquarters in NewYork City.

FFuunnccttiioonnss ➤The Security Council has uniqueresponsibility and decision mak-ing powers.➤When faced with a potential con-flict, the first response of the Coun-

cil is to recommend to the partiesthat they reach an agreementthrough peaceful means. The Coun-cil may appoint, or ask the UN Sec-retary General to appoint specialrepresentatives to assist and guideefforts towards conflict resolution.➤In cases where conflict is occur-ring, the Council may issue cease-fire directives, send in UN peace-keeping forces or use enforcementactions, such as sanctions.➤With or without agreement of na-tional governments, the Councilcan take steps to protect civilianscaught in the conflict – for exam-ple by allowing access across na-tional borders for humanitarianorganisations. The Council can di-rect Governments to limit stock-piling of certain weapons or dis-arm, for example, by nuclear non-proliferation and destruction ofchemical weapons.➤The Council’s day-to-day func-tions include the review of UNpeacekeeping operations, consul-tations on specific country situa-tions and monitoring the imple-mentation of UN sanctionsthrough the work of its sanctionscommittees.

UUNNSSCC rreeffoorrmm UN membership has expanded dra-matically since 1945, from 51 to 193nations, and the global economy hasexperienced tectonic shifts, espe-cially in the past 30 years. In 1989,the seven largest Westerneconomies — three of which havepermanent seats on the council —accounted for 51 per cent of globaleconomic output. Today they ac-count for only 30 per cent. Manyvoices insist that the council mustexpand to retain its legitimacy andeffectiveness.

WHAT IS SECURITYCOUNCIL?

To be approved, a Council res-olution must have nine “YES”votes out of 15 and no “NO”votes from any of the five permanent members.

Each Council member has onevote.

A “NO” vote from one of thefive permanent members killsthe resolution.

There is no such thing as a“VETO” vote in formal UNrules, though a “NO” votefrom a permanent member hasthe effect of vetoing a resolu-tion.

If a member “ABSTAINS” fromvoting, it does not count aseither a “YES” or “NO” vote.

Members raise their hands tovote, and sit at a horseshoe-shaped table.

Each of the five PermanentMembers has gone to war orinvaded a country withoutSecurity Council approval.

UN SECURITYCOUNCIL VOTING

A carbon footprint is a measure ofthe environmental impact of an or-ganisation, event, person or prod-uct. It measures the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a giv-en activity or group of activities toprovide a measure of the extent towhich these activities produceharmful emissions and thereforecontribute to global warming.

How is it calculated?When calculating a carbon foot-print, a lot of factors are takeninto consideration. For example,driving to the grocery store burnsa certain amount of fuel, and fos-sil fuels are the primary sourcesof greenhouses gases. But thatgrocery store is powered by elec-tricity, and its employees proba-bly drove to work, so the store hasits own carbon footprint too. In ad-dition, the products that the storesells were all shipped to its ware-house, so that must be factoredinto the total carbon footprint.Also, the fruits, vegetables, andmeats that the store sells were allgrown or raised on farms, aprocess that produces methane,

which has a greenhouse effect 25times greater than CO2. All thoseelements must be combined to un-derstand the full carbon footprintof a given activity.

What’s carbon neutral? Carbon neutral, also called carbonneutrality, is a term used to de-scribe the action of organisations,businesses and individuals taking

action to remove as much carbondioxide from the atmosphere as hasput in to it. The overall goal of car-bon neutrality is to achieve a zerocarbon footprint. For example, abusiness may plant trees in differ-ent places around the world to off-set the electricity the business uses.This practice is often called carbonoffset or offsetting.

CARBON FOOTPRINT Decoded Terms like greenhouse effect, carbon neutralityand carbon offset are bandied about these days.What bearing do they have on the environment? Some companies have start-

ed including footprints ontheir labelling. Carbon labelsappeal to consumers whounderstand and monitor theirown carbon footprints andwant to support productsthat do the same. The labelsestimate the emissions cre-ated by producing, packag-ing, transporting and dispos-ing of a product.

CARBON FOOTPRINTON PRODUCTS

When Robert Vadra called In-dia a ‘banana republic’ in2012, there was an uproar.

On a lighter note, was he referring tothe fact that it accounts for a third ofthe total production of the fruit?

China is the world’s second-largestproducer of bananas and its official nameclaims it’s a republic. Ecuador growsless but exports the most bananas, andhas been a republic for the last 40 years.But as the world is going bananas aboutthe spread of the fungus named Tropi-cal Race 4 (TR4) particularly in SouthAmerica over the last few years, the po-sitions of all three banana republics areclearly in danger.

If recent reports are to be believed,actor Rahul Bose being charged ̀ 442.50last month for a couple of bananas maybecome the norm if the incurableblight is not contained. The world’s ear-lier top banana Gros Michel was top-pled by Cavendish (both named by anaccident of history) as the largest cul-tivar under production also due to theformer’s susceptibility to TR4. As overhalf of India’s bananas are Cavendishor its local clones, and considering theworld apparently got hooked on to ba-nanas after Alexander the Great fellfor (not on) the fruit in India, this one-banana problem’s solution should alsoemerge from here.

There’s nopoint in goingbananas aboutthe blight (aplant disease);switch to abetter banana

One solution to thisONE-BANANA problem

V irat Kohli shouldhave a say inthe selection

process of the newhead coach. In fact, allthe team membersshould be involved inthe selection processas different views and

opinions go towards the selection of agood coach. Also, understandingother's choices will get Team India abetter head coach.MOKSH ROY, class VI, St Angel’s Sr SecSchool, New Delhi

The captain andthecoach are the two

leaders who are instru-mental in the team’sprogress. They lead theteam together andhence a good bondingand understanding between them isnecessary. Even Sourav Ganguly andKapil Dev have supported Virat andallowed him to express his views. Notjust the captain, but all other experi-enced players should have their say. KRISH KOTECHA, class IX, Delhi PublicSchool, Rajkot

It’s ban BOTH ARE TEAM LEADERS

SHOULD BE TEAM EFFORT

I t would be great ifthe captain had asay in the selec-

tion process as he’sthe person who leadsthe team and knowsabout his team’sweaknesses which canthen be rectified bythe coach. If both the captain and thecoach have a good understanding it willmake the team strong.ABRAHAM CAVIN, class XII, Bethel MatricHigher Secondary School, Chennai

SPEAKOUT

EXPRESS YOURSELFFeel strongly about what youread? Please send us your viewsand opinions along with your picsat ttooiinniiee117755@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm. To postcomments/articles/photos online,register at www.toistudent.comand start a debate.

Q Should the captainof the Indian

cricket team have a say in the selection of thehead coach?

MAKE THE BEST TEAM

I f you give the cap-tain a say in theselection of Team

India’s head coach, hemay be tempted toindulge in malpracticesthat can lead to theselection of an incom-petent head coach. He

may select a coach who is more com-patible with him instead of being goodfor the team. The captain can be con-sulted and kept in the loop during theselection process, instead of lettinghim have a say. KATHIT VASAVADA, class XI, HB KapadiaNew High School, Ahmedabad

KEEP CAPTAIN IN LOOP

I fully agree withSidharth Malhot-ra’s views. As a

person, all our failuresand the criticisms inour life must be takenas a motivation to goahead in life. Weshouldn't feel bad

that we failed or were criticised, ratherwe must learn from them and comeback stronger, tougher and better.ANKITH S, class VIII, Janak Academy,Bengaluru

Icompletely agreewith Sidharth’sviews as I feel that

criticism has the powerto create a sense of adissatisfaction amongthose whose effortsare criticised. This dis-satisfaction propels one to work harderand improve the quality of the taskdone, eventually leading to success.Thus, failure is the catalyst to a will toachieve victory. SUKRITI CHAWLA, class IX, CambridgeSchool, New Delhi

C riticism andfailure are twodifferent things.

What connects withfailure is retrospectionand correction.Criticism can be per-ceived in many ways.The nature and motive

behind criticism is what should be con-sidered. Of course it should be takenas a fuel and motivation for success.GOURI AJAYAKUMAR, class X, SomervilleSchool, Greater Noida

ACRITICISM IS MOTIVATING

Anyone who issuccessful todayhas faced criti-

cism or experiencedfailure in some way orthe other. When takenin the right way, criti-cism and failure canmotivate us to becomesuccessful. They help by making usaware of our strengths and weak points.KYUBA KARKERA, class IX, DAV GirlsSenior Secondary School, Chennai

AMOTIVATING TO SUCCEED

It’s ban CRITICISM BEGETS SUCCESS

S idharth Malhotrais right. Critici-sm can help us

work towards testingour limits and break-ing others’ perspec-tive about our poten-tial. However, it canhave adverse conse-quences, so one should always take itin the best way possible and worktowards bettering one’s own self.AMREEN RASHEED, class IX, Lake MontfortSchool, Bengaluru

QActor Sidharth Malhotrasays criticism and failure

should be taken as a motivationto become successful in life. Do you agree ?

POSITIVE CRITICISM

LEARNING LESSONS

I t is rightly saidthat failure is notthe opposite of

success, it’s a part ofsuccess. It is veryeasy to criticise some-one, but to acceptone’s failure is tough.Only people who have

experienced bitter failure can relishsweet success. Life is not about mak-ing sure one doesn’t fail, but on aimingfor success. And as the word impossi-ble can mean, ‘I’m’ possible, why can’twe do the same and get motivated byboth criticism and failure?CHAITANYA JOSHI, class VIII, CityMontessori School Aliganj 1, Lucknow

FAILURE MOTIVATES

Making LashanaLynch the firstfemale black

Bond 007 on the silverscreen is a great movethat had been creepingits way through Holly-wood. Look at CaptainMarvel and the new

Men in Black. Gone are the days whenwomen were helpless characters whoneeded to be protected. Women arepaving their own path now. Go girls! JIYA JINDAL, class X, GD Salwan PublicSchool, New Delhi

AKUDOS TO WOMAN POWER

UN peacekeeping forces in Mali. Today, India is the largest contributor of troops to UN’s peacekeeping operations

Photo: Getty images

Photo: Getty images

Photo: AFP

Photo: Getty images

India successfullythwarted a moveby Pakistan tocensure ourcountry onKashmir at the UN SecurityCouncil (UNSC).What does theUNSC do?