Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, MPs greet Shringla, Jain on nomination to RS
Sachdeva, along with a party delegation, met Shringla and greeted him for his upcoming innings in the Upper House.
Shringla brings with him a rich experience in diplomacy and international affairs. He played a crucial role in shaping India's foreign policy and had a key part in India's successful G20 presidency.
The delegation that felicitated Shringla included MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat and MLAs Kailash Gahlot and Anil Sharma.
The group that congratulated historian Dr Meenakshi Jain included former Delhi BJP President and MLA Satish Upadhyay, MP Sehrawat and MP Bansuri Swaraj.
Jain, a noted historian, researcher and academic, is known for her work in history, political science and literature. Her scholarly contributions have significantly influenced academic discourse in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended his congratulations to the newly nominated members through posts on social media.
On Shringla's induction into Parliament, the Prime Minister said, "He has excelled as a diplomat, intellectual and strategic thinker. Over the years, he's made key contributions to India's foreign policy and also contributed to our G20 Presidency. Glad that he's been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India. His unique perspectives will greatly enrich Parliamentary proceedings."
Expressing happiness over Meenakshi Jain's nomination, PM Modi stated, "She has distinguished herself as a scholar, researcher and historian. Her work in the fields of education, literature, history, and political science has enriched academic discourse significantly. Best wishes for her Parliamentary tenure."
The two Rajya Sabha MPs were nominated by President Droupadi Murmu, along with two other eminent personalities, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
‘Padapooja' in schools: Practice is part of our culture, says Governor Rajendra Arlekar
However, Sivankutty refuted the governor's claims. 'Kerala doesn't have such a culture, and such practices will not go well here either,' he said, terming the practice cruel. 'It is saddening to see people in key positions like the governor making such remarks,' he said. 'I am not aware of any scripture in Indian culture which asks school students to wash the feet of BJP leaders,' the minister said, adding that such activity can be viewed as 'mental harassment' under Section 17(1) of the Right to Education Act. Condemning the practice, Govindan said that the RSS is trying to implement activities that were part of the old chaturvarnya system. The controversy was kicked off when photos and videos of children washing the feet of senior teachers as part of Guru Purnima celebrations surfaced from schools across the state. Sivankutty has asked the general education director to seek an explanation from the schools. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also taken a suo motu case on the issue, stating that all incidents in this category will fall under the same case.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Centre to focus on cyber preparedness of cities
The cyber attacks during 'Operation Sindoor' have brought the government's focus on cyber preparedness of Indian cities. The ministry of housing and urban affairs will hold a two-day brainstorming session with states next week in this regard, people aware of the matter told ET. The aim of the meeting will be to gauge whether cities are equipped to handle cyber attacks, how technological interventions and projects planned in 100 smart cities can help states in handling cyber terrorism, and whether the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in cities could be repurposed to handle current urban governance and challenges, the people cited earlier said. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Building Automation Systems Software Cost Might Surprise you Automation Systems | Search Ads Undo Three key brainstorming sessions have been planned by the government on July 17 and 18. For the first time since the beginning of the third term of the BJP-led NDA government, a meeting of urban development ministers will be held by Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar on July 17 to gauge the progress of flagship missions, including Swachh Bharat Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and AMRUT. The conference will focus on financing of urban governance projects, challenges facing the state governments in urban development, making cities garbage-free, transport services and water security for cities. According to the sources, the main focus will be 'Making Cities Cyber Secure' on the second day of the programme. Live Events 'This is an emergency of sorts facing our cities. We need to equip them to ward off cyber attacks. This part will be anchored by ministry of electronics and information and technology and the home ministry,' a senior official, who did not wish to be named, told ET. The Smart Cities Mission , which has been wrapped up formally by the government, had seen technological interventions in 100 cities. All smart cities had established hi-tech command and control centres and several urban governance functions are being coordinated through these centres. 'These are nerve centres of a city. They are susceptible to cyber attacks but can also be used as centres to handle cyber terrorism. This is what the Centre's focus is – to equip them to handle such attacks,' the official said. The Intelligence Bureau will be conducting a training programme on 'Threat Landscape for cities' to brief the smart cities on what threats they could face. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) will help cities understand what cyber measures they could take to protect their installations. The Indian Crime Coordination Centre will brief the cities on measures to undertake to arrest cyber attacks. Similarly, the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre will be involved in the training programme of smart cities, the official cited earlier said. The government will also help smart cities in repurposing special purpose vehicles (SPVs) established in all cities to spearhead the Smart Cities Mission. 'The mission period may have ended but the SPVs have gathered expertise in handling big infrastructure projects. This can be channelised into handling projects even now. SPVs need to be repurposed and this is what the cities will do,' said the official.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Harsh Vardhan Shringla: A man for all theatres
Harsh Vardhan Shringla who was nominated by President Droupadi Murmu to the Rajya Sabha with a long and illustrious career in diplomacy is as comfortable in boardroom as he is on the ground handling peoples' challenges. Having reached the peak of Indian Foreign Service – Foreign Secretary (January 2020 and April 2022), he was also the Chief Coordinator of the G20 Summit that India hosted in 2023. Recently he was part of the MPs delegation that visited key countries in the Islamic World. His stints as India's envoy in the US as well as Bangladesh were exemplary. While in the USA he handled the Trump 1.0 with ease including organizing Howdy Modi and Howdy Trump and sowed the seeds for the BTA that is being currently negotiated, ties with Dhaka expanded across sectors when Shringla was the High Commissioner. But that was the not first time that Shringla handled Bangladesh. He was the Joint Secretary in charge of Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-Myanmar-Maldives at the Headquarters handling critical elections of 2014 in Dhaka. The neighbourhood was his focus yet again when he was the Foreign Secretary. He handled big power ties with equal ease as the Foreign Secretary. Shringla has been of the opinion that a big credit for India's deepening diplomatic engagements globally must go to PM Narendra Modi's personality that helps build chemistry with global leaders. On Sunday the senior diplomat thanked the President and PM for the trust entrusted in him. A book on Shringla titled 'Not an accidental Rise' by Dipmala Roka of the Sikkim University recounted Shringla's handling of ties with China after the Galwan conflict, besides the Covid-19 pandemic. Credit is also due in the way he handled students repatriation under challenging circumstances from Ukraine after the conflict broke in February 2022 'Not an Accidental Rise' also goes into Shringla's work as co-chair of the India-Bangladesh Joint Boundary Working Group that finally led to the signing of the landmark agreement that boosted bilateral relations. 'The best diplomacy is preventive diplomacy ,' said Shringla, according to the book. 'If an issue arises then it should be worked behind the scenes, without fanfare and public attention.' In his four-decade-long career as IFS, Shringla was also posted in Vietnam, deployed in the Europe West Division that oversaw India's relations with major European countries, handled India's relations with Nepal and Bhutan, and during his tenure in Tel Aviv and South Africa worked on India's relations with Israel and Pretoria.
