Question: Consider the following statements regarding the recently awarded Dag Hammarskjold Medal to 129 military, police and civilian personnel including five Indians posthumously for their courage and sacrifice.
(1) The medal is awarded by the United Nations.
(2) The medal is named after the second U.N. Secretary-General.
(3) The medal is awarded every year on the International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers.
(4) This year the medal was awarded on May 19.
Codes:
(a) 1 and 2 are true
(b) 1,3 and 4 are true
(c) 1 and 3 are true
(d) 1,2,3 and 4 are true
Ans:(d)
Related facts:
- On 19 May 2016 United Nations announced to award Dag Hammarskjold Medal to 129 military, police and civilian personnel including five Indians posthumously on the International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers.
- The International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers, observed annually on May 29, was commemorated this year on May 19.
- The four Indian peacekeepers and a civilian among the five Indian are Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav, Rifleman Manish Malik, Havildar Amal Deka, Naik Rakesh Kumar and Gagan Punjabi.
- Shubhkaran Yadav serving in the U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) died in April 2015.
- Manish Malik also serving in the same mission (MONUSCO), died in August 2015.
- Amal Deka, serving in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) died in June 2015.
- Rakesh Kumar, serving in the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) died in January 2015.
- Gagan Punjabi was serving in MONUSCO in a civilian capacity under the U.N. Volunteers programme and died in an incident in January 2015.
- India is among the largest contributors to U.N. peacekeeping operations, with its military and police personnel having been deployed in U.N. missions including in Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Lebanon and South Sudan.
- So far, India has contributed nearly 1, 80,000 troops who have served in over 44 of the 69 peacekeeping operations, including the 103-strong Indian female police unit in the U.N. mission in Liberia.
- The first deployment of the Indian armed forces was during the Korean War in the early half of the 1950s.
- The Dag Hammarskjold Medal was established in December 2000.
- The medal is named after the second U.N. Secretary-General, who had died in a mysterious 1961 plane crash.
- It is awarded posthumously to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the U.N.
Reference:
http://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sgsm17768.doc.htm
http://www.un.org/en/events/peacekeepersday/2005/DHmedal_SGbulettin_ENG.pdf
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/posthumous-un-honour-for-four-indian-peacekeepers-civilian/article8603640.ece