Former TERI chief RK Pachauri dies at 79

NEW DELHI, Feb 13: R K Pachauri, a former chief of The Energy and Resources Institute, passed away on Thursday after a prolonged cardiac ailment, TERI Director General Ajay Mathur said. Pachauri was 79.

“It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing away of R K Pachauri, the founder Director of TERI. The entire TERI family stands with the family of Dr Pachauri in this hour of grief,” Mathur said in a statement issued by the TERI.

Pachauri was the chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) between 2002 and 2015. The panel was awarded with the Nobel Peace prize during Pachauri’s tenure in 2007.

“TERI is what it is because of Dr Pachauri’s untiring perseverance. He played a pivotal role in growing this institution, and making it a premier global organisation in the sustainability space,” said Mathur, who succeeded Pachauri at TERI in 2015.

In the statement issued by TERI, its Chairman Nitin Desai hailed Pachauri’s contribution to global sustainable development as “unparalleled”.

Pachauri was admitted to Escorts Heart Institute in the national capital where he underwent open heart surgery and was put on life support on Tuesday, sources said.

In 2015, Pachauri was accused of allegedly sexually harassing a woman colleague after which he quit the post.

Born on August 20, 1940 in Nainital, Pachauri studied at Lucknow’s La Martiniere College and at the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Jamalpur, Bihar. He later went to the United States and studied Industrial Engineering and also obtained a PhD degree with co-majors in Industrial Engineering and Economics.

He started his career with the Indian Railways Varanasi.

Pachauri was a strict vegetarian.

Pachauri was one of the most respected voices on climate change and had been at the forefront of the drive to convince global economies to pledge to ambitious targets to limit carbon emissions in time to avoid a climate tipping point. It was during his leadership that IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore for their efforts to “build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

Chinese Ambassador assures Vijay Jolly safety, security of Indian citizens

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Feb 1: A nine member Indian delegation led by Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader & President Delhi Study Group Vijay Jolly met Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong on coronavirus epidemic here today.

Vijay Jolly expressed concerned on this disease spreading in Hubei and Wuhan provinces in China. He expressed mourning over the death of Chinese civilians who died due to this epidemic. Jolly expressed Indian support and solidarity with China and its citizens in its hour of crisis. He also raised the security issue of more than 50,000 strong Indian diaspora living in China with the Ambassador.

China Ambassador Sun Weidong responded by stating that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, his government had taken swift and effective steps to deal with this epidemic. China shall build two 1300 bed hospitals within the next 10 days to provide medical care to all. It has deployed 6,000 doctors in the affected areas stated Chinese envoy to the BJP leader.

Adequate food and drinking water is regularly supplied. There no shortages. Safety masks have been provided to all. Citizens have been instructed to remain indoors to stop the spread of this epidemic. Now situation is coming under control.

The China Ambassador told BJP leader Jolly that his Government is determined to tackle this issue with patience and persistence. Sun Weidong also expressed Chinese Government's gratitude for India's support. He also reiterated the commitment of China to provide safety and security to life of Indian citizens in China.

The Indian delegation included Yogesh Tandon, Satindra Kumari, Shubham Gupta, Vijendar Yadav, Anjali Rana, Himshu Nagarwal, Nitin Ahuja, Ruchi Ahuja and Himanshu Rana.