THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

Message from the Principal

Mrs. Suman Kumar

The 21st century presents us with some amazing challenges. The

dialectical contradiction of retaining our identities and to be an integral
part of global world without being overwhelmed by the other is
perhaps one of the most interesting realities of today, evoking endless
debate and discussions.
With all its technological innovations this century also continues to remain one of conflict, increased
terrorism, sophisticated weaponry and global tensions presenting a picture of impending wars and new
fears.
Institutions as United nations have had their share of controversies bringing in cynicism among the people,
especially the youth who feel aggression and violence remain viable alternatives of resolving issues and
conflicts.
It is against this backdrop that organizing the MUNS in schools and colleges provide new opportunities for
looking at fresh perspectives without the adult lens. As global citizens it is imperative to train these young
minds to be free of prejudices and stereotypes, respect and celebrate diversity and look afresh at Gandhian
models of nonviolence and peaceful understanding of resolution of conflicts.
These MUNS then provide fresh platforms of collaborative peer learning at its best, develop their critical
thinking and analytical skills to become independent and confident decision makers ---- future leaders with
a difference. The debates and discussions stimulate their consciousness, broaden their worldview to think
beyond their nations and themselves . Above all they are steered away from prosaic bookish learning.
We are confident that this youth through these sessions will usher in new thinking, internalize these values
to challenge the status quo and become catalysts of change. We also hope these young ambassadors
of peace as global citizens become worthy of the 21st century and build a new world order built on
the edifice of the eternal humane values of universal love and harmony.

Inside this Issue

Words from the Head of IP

Words from the Sec Gen

Taufique Shoogufan tells us about Quest
Page 3

Purvasha Mansharamani shares her thoughts

Page 3

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

Taufique
Shoogufan

Message from the

Secretary General
Planning, preparing and executing our very own MUN conference
has been our dream and QUESTMUN 2013 has been successful in
making our long lived dream come true. Being the Secretary General
of Bluebells School International's inaugural MUN session has been
an honour and working towards the success of this conference with
my USG's and the organizing committee has been a fruitful & a
learning experience for all our future endeavours.
Over the next 3 days, I expect heated debates, impeccable
diplomacy and a comprehensive solution to the agendas presented
to us. Gear up for the coming 3 days delegates!
Delegates, your participation, enthusiasm and spirit will be the
driving force to achieve the success that we dream of. So give in
your best and enjoy!

Message from the

Head of IP
by

Purvasha Mansharamani

Life's a voyage that's homeward bound, is the motto, which

drives my life.
Being the Head of International Press is one hell of a job, you
have to be sure about whatever reports you receive are well to
the point & state the correct facts. You have to be sure about
that, the newsletter is not full of completely boring news or for
that matter completely informal gossip.
Leaving aside everything your motive to be here is what matters.
You are the ones taking the initiative to make a change in the
world scenario, however fictitious it might be. You are the ones
who are different, who care, who know about the world and all of
its affairs. You are the ones, people years later will look up to.
So delegates, pull up those socks for an amazing experience,
which you will cherish all throughout your life.
Regards,
Purvasha Mansharamani

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

Thirty Hands to the Globe

As crisis befalls on one of the most principal organs of the United Nations, the
Security Council, a question mark cataracts on the maintenance of international
peace and security. Journalist Nikita Biswal explores the ruses and pretexts this
offers.

Power falls weak when crises wield. As a crisis of such significance brews in the United Nations Security Council
at Quest MUN 2013, we are left to a spectrum of powerful model nations exploring five sphered prospects,
managing to crevice their faults deep, throwing light upon their assets and all together, creating feasible
solutions to rescue the international community. Crises incubate a substantive threat to peace and topple
conventional methodologies completely, in such a scenario when the globe is left to the diplomacy and
bureaucracy of 15 powerful nations, it is important to understand the severity of the case and the coercions it
offers. The delegation of the International Press Corps waits with anticipated breath, to observe how the council
manifests its powers, as outlined in the United Nations Charter, to come up with practicable and reason
solutions to the crisis. Updates and timely evidences shall prove to be currants on the complex cake that is
being concocted, turning and influencing the flow of debate crucially under the guidance of the honorable
Executive Board. It is time that we harmonize with the angry screech of chairs, accord with the placard rallies
and pipeline with enthusiastic and diplomatic speeches, as the members of the Security Council argument on
the crisis that befalls onto them. Sweat drops shall droop on the delegates cheeks, as it rains crisis everywhere
in the council. Meanwhile, the International Press Corps chatters its teeth, in anticipation of how power shall fall
weak when this crisis wields, and how uprightly it shall stand again.

The United States National Security Council is

the Principal forum of the President for
discussions pertaining to national security and
by Tanya Dutta
foreign policy matters within the highest
echelons in the Government. The Council also
serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various
government agencies. On 15th October 1962 however, this council was convened to a
meeting of peak importance, which was later known as EXCOMM, or the Executive
Committee of the National Security Council.

A Nuclear Nuisance

It was during the Cold War. The tensions were almost tangible. The Soviet Union, one of the
global superpowers embroiled in the war, had recently gained the support of Cuba, which
was inevitable, after the ouster of Batista, and especially, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. After numerous secret
meetings between Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro, the latter had assented to deployment of Soviet Union's
missiles in Cuba, since the Soviet Union was threatened by US's nuclear arsenal, and deployment of nuclear missiles
in Cuba would make the United States a direct target for the intermediate range missiles.
When the US sent reconnaissance planes over Cuba, they discovered the Soviet missiles under construction. Hence,
began the crisis. When these photographs were processed, President John F Kennedy immediately convened
EXCOMM on 15th October. After seven days of heated debate, Kennedy reached a verdict to make the crisis public
and announced a naval quarantine around Cuba, wishing to prevent arrival of more offensive weapons from the
Soviets. Kennedy then demanded that the Soviets to remove their arsenal from Cuba and announced that launch of
any missiles would be considered an incitement of war on the United States.
There you have it, delegates. A play-by-play of the story up till now. An international crisis, a potential nuclear war,
threatening global peace. Is there a viable solution? That's for you to decide.

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

Narcotics and Crime: A Drug On The Market

by Aarohi Narain
Committed to eliminating drugs, crime and terrorism, the UNODC is a transformative council aimed at increasing the level of safety in our world
today. With its extensive purview and power to significantly impact the global scenario, this committee is given the leeway to discuss a variety
of sub-issues and cohesively form resolutions, which can actively change the map of drugs, crime and terrorism.
As more and more post-conflict states engage in recuperative efforts, the re-instatement of law and justice prevails as a priority for the
international community; a spectrum of associations and individuals ranging from non-governmental organizations to bilateral donors are
involved in the same. The typical post-conflict setting is characterized by a partial to full disintegration of jurisprudential institutions and
infrastructure, as well as violence, discontent and struggle for resources, oftentimes. It is
but essential for the different categories of violence to be identified and duly addressed;
the establishment of mechanisms to ensure smooth inter-organizational functionality, as
well, takes precedence. Therefore, the committee will have to focus not just on the
development of the legal machinery given the distinct conditions of the post-conflict
terrain, but also the application, monitoring and sustainable regulation of it.
With the stated concentration on the specialized domain of extradition within the broader
agenda of criminal justice reform in post-conflict regions, the delegates of the UNODC will
appraise, assess and alter the configuration and consequence of extradition treaties,
coupled with an evaluation of the dual criminality requirement and the allied concern of
incompatible standards of illegality from one nation to another.
Thus, with its ambit and authority, discussion transpiring in the United Nations
Organization on Drugs and Crime at the Quest MUN 13 is pregnant with the promise of
wise thought, and the potential for translation into viable action. The debate and solutions
that the delegates of this committee will bring to fruition are keenly looked forward to.

The Bilderberg Conference

by

Meghna Gulati

The Cold War has ended. Finally! they sigh in relief. However, does the end of the cold war
really bring along with it, global peace? In all practicality, the common problems have faced a
spectacular increase- instead of the decrease that everyone hoped for. Be it trade, or jobs; Be
it investment, or monetary policies; be it international security, or ecological challenges. No
issue in the Northern part of America, or the Western part of Europe, exists in such a manner,
that its solution would be without a consequence on the other region. The problems- along with their unilateral solutions- being faced by North
America and Europe, go hand in hand. This is where the Bilderberg Conference comes into play.
In 1952, a growing distrust of America was making itself manifest in Western Europe. This was paralleled by a similar distrust of Western
Europe in America. Hence, a three-day meeting was held in 1954 to foster dialogue between these two regions and discuss common
problems. These meetings were held every year since 1954 and are referred to, as what we know as the Bilderberg Conference today. The
conference consists of nearly three days of informal and off-the-record discussion about topics of current concern especially in the fields of
foreign affairs and the international economy. At the conference, officials from governments and opposition parties mix, in private, with banks
bosses, heads of state, senior corporate officers, academics, and representatives of all the major international institutions.
The delegates in this conference have been assigned with a risky task at hand, since the dialogue between Western Europe and Northern
America remains increasingly critical- even today. They are to discuss, deliberate, contemplate and arrive at a verdict, regarding the concept of
corporal hegemony in the twenty first century. Bars are high, expectations- higher.

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

Of constructions and destructions.

by Pravisha Mittal.

After the Bay of Pigs Fidel Castro announced he officially joined the Soviet bloc. Cuba, after 1961, became for the
Soviet Union the same as West Berlin to the United Statesa small useless piece of land deep inside hostile territory.
However, if you do not defend it, you will not be treated as a superpower. The United States was ready to use
nuclear weapons to defend Berlin. The Soviet Union sent missiles to Cuba as a powerful signal to the United States:
Do not invade Cuba.
Although the Kennedy administration thought all the Soviet nukes were gone, they werent. President Kennedy,
satisfied with Soviet assurances that all nuclear weapons had been removed, lifted the Cuban blockade on
November 20, 1962. Recently unearthed Soviet documents have revealed, however, that while Khrushchev
dismantled the medium- and intermediate-range missiles known to the Kennedy administration, he left approximately
100 tactical nuclear weaponsof which the Americans were unaware for decadesfor possible use in repelling
invading forces. Khrushchev had intended to train the Cubans and transfer the missiles to them, as long as they kept
their presence a secret. Soviet concerns about whether Castro could be trusted with the weapons mounted,
however, and they finally removed the last of the nuclear warheads from Cuba on December 1, 1962.
The Cuban Missile Crisis, which holds utmost significance in the pages of history, is all ready to be discussed and
debated over, yet again at QUESTMUN 2013. Let us see what it has in store for us.

Private military contractors: deploy or avoid?

The General Assembly I- DISEC, the committee which has the allowance to discuss matters of security, including
disbarment and regulation of armaments, with reference to principles of international peace and security is now
debating upon the agenda- " Private Military Contractors", either to deploy or to avoid their placement. Rhea Guliani
throws light on the agenda by reporting live from GA.

The UN is yet to develop a comprehensive framework on the usage of Private Military and Security
Companies (PMSCs), so it has fallen to other international bodies to develop a regulatory framework. The
Swiss government, in particular, in conjunction with numerous NGOs and interests groups has been
instrumental in establishing the voluntary standards, which are currently in place. The first substantive step
in this process was the Montreux Document, published by the International Committee on the Red Cross
and the Swiss Government in 2008. It was ratified by 17 states including the United Kingdom and the
United States. The Document recognized that the scale and scope of services oered by PMSCs is huge
and that international law left great uncertainties as to the jurisdiction binding conduct in various situations.
Specifically, the document summarized customary and international law and applied it to PMSCs.

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

THE QUEST TIMES

International
Press
Delegation

Head of International Press:

o Purvasha Mansharamani
Editors:
o Rukma Singh
o Rhea Guliani
Reporters:
o Nikita Biswal
o Tanya Dutta
o Pravisha Mittal
o Meghna Gulati
o Aarohi Narain
Special Correspondent:
o Kartik Maini
Photographers:
o Arpan Sagar
o Viraaj Sharma,
o Aviral Babber
o Chaitanya Dadhwal
o Vedant Puri
Cartoonists:
o Sejal Sethi
Layout Designer:
o Aman Srivastava

THE QUEST TIMES | Issue 1

Organising Committee
o
o
o
o
o

Secretary General- Taufique Shoogufan

Deputy Secretary Generals- Zoura Abdullah and Mridul Kataria
Under Secretary General International Press- Joyee Bhattacharya
Under Secretary General Public Realtions- Puja Raghavan
Under Secretary General Information Technology- Shivansh Garg

Managing Committee
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Ayush
Nakul
Aditya
Atijav
Aakriti
Kiki
Sakshi
Ananya
Tavishi
Deepen
Archit
Bhavya
Shreya
Aashir
Aakash