CBI prepares to host Interpol general assembly after 25 yrs
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is pulling out all stops to make the biggest international policing event — the Interpol General Assembly, which is taking place in India after 25 years — a grand success.
The 90th Interpol General Assembly (GA), which will take place from October 18 to 21 at Pragati Maidan and Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, will be attended by around 2,000 overseas dignitaries, including ministers, police chiefs, police officers, and support staff from 195 Interpol member countries, apart from Interpol head office representatives, Indian officials and media representatives.
The GA is taking place in India after 25 years – it was last held in 1997 – as part of India’s 75th Independence Day celebrations.
The move was proposed by home minister Amit Shah to the Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock during latter’s official visit to New Delhi in August 2019. It is the apex governing body of Interpol, comprising representatives from all member countries, and meets every year to deliberate upon major crime trends and security threats facing the world. Various resolutions are taken during the four- day event through voting regarding various programmes and activities to be taken up in the coming year. During the last GA at Istanbul in November 2021, CBI special director Praveen Sinha was elected as a delegate for Asia on Interpol’s executive committee.
To ensure that there are no organizational glitches in the largest gathering of law enforcement officers from across the world, the CBI, which is the nodal agency for Interpol in India, is hiring a ministry of external affairs (MEA) empaneled event management company with experience in providing end-to-end services.
The company will handle entire event, conceptualizing, designing, execution of works including exterior and interior decoration, development of site, infrastructure, services, general ambience, catering, logistics, management, transport, cultural program, etc., in close consultation with the CBI, officials said, seeking anonymity.
A large number of CBI officers, in close coordination with the event management company, will ensure that 195 member countries’ officers and ministers are received at airports, hotel and venues.
Sharing the scale of arrangements for the GA, a CBI officer said: “The delegates will be served freshly prepared Indian sweets and chocolates twice a day, for which 500 boxes will be provided every day, serving snacks to 2,000 delegates twice a day, dedicated dining halls for approximately 1,500 persons at a time”.
For the sessions, the event management company has been asked to place interpreter cabins, an information desk at the foyer with English, French, Arabic and Spanish speaking operators, other than providing guided tours for the delegates to Red Fort, National Gallery of Modern Arts, Akshardham temple, Taj Mahal and Raj Ghat.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE FROM OCTOBER 18 TO 21 AT PRAGATI MAIDAN AND JLN STADIUM, WILL BE ATTENDED BY 2,000 OFFICIALS
The first multiplex cinema in Kashmir is all set to open from September, a significant development since theatres in the Valley were shut down in the early 1990s in the face of rising terrorism.
Senior officials associated with the project said the facility is scheduled to open in September. The multiplex, which is being constructed at Shivpora, near Badami Bagh Cantt., has been designed by movie theatre chain INOX and will have three auditoriums.
The project’s manager, Vishaq, was quoted by news agency ANI as saying: “We are starting the first multiplex in Kashmir, designed by