I came back early from Brussels yesterday to attend the Annual Erskin Childers Lecture. It is the first time I was attending an event of Uniting for Peace, which is run by Vijay Mehta. The lecture was given by Clare Short, who I have always admired. And a pleasant surprise! who do I find there doing Seva by taking photos of the event? Prabhakar Kaza.

Clare’s Lecture topic was the UN at 70 and she is of the opinion that it has done more good than we give it credit for. She me ntioned a few things that I found very interesting;

1. For every 121 people in the world there is 1 refugee.
2. Violence in the world is declining but we do not realise it because the Media uses the formula ‘If it bleeds it Leads’.
3. The USA has used its veto power at the UN 35 times when all the others put together have only used their vetoing powers just 27 times.

The idea of whether veto powers should be there at all was vigorously discussed during the Q&A. But it seems the world still thinks some of us are more equal than others…

Prabhakar Kazak and I with Prince Mohsin Ali Khan peeking through in the middle.