Latest news with #IndianForeignService
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Jayant Khobragade named new Indian envoy to Spain
Jul 01, 2025 08:48 PM IST Jayant Khobragade, currently India's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), was on Tuesday appointed as the next envoy to Spain. Indian Foreign Service officer Jayant Khobragade. (ASEAN) Khobragade, a 1995-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the external affairs ministry said in an announcement. HT had reported on June 19 that Khobragade was set to be named as the ambassador to Spain following a decision to appoint Dinesh K Patnaik, currently the envoy in Madrid, as the new high commissioner to Canada. Though Khobragade was officially named as India's envoy to Poland in January, the posting did not go ahead because of various reasons, people familiar with the matter said. Khobragade has done a stint in the Indian embassy in Spain in the past. He has also served in the Indian missions in Russia, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and as the ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. Within the external affairs ministry, he has served in the disarmament and international security division and West Africa Division. He also served on deputation with the Department of Atomic Energy during 2017-2020. Khobragade was appointed the ambassador to Asean in Jakarta in 2021, months after Pakistan refused his posting as the Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad.
India.com
a day ago
- Health
- India.com
Zee Bharat Successfully Hosts Global Health And Wellness Summit 2025
On the occasion of Doctors' Day, Zee Bharat proudly organized the 'Global Health and Wellness Summit 2025 – Vietnam Edition'. The summit was inaugurated by Santosh Kumar, Editor of Zee Bharat, and aimed at fostering global dialogue on holistic health, lifestyle enhancement, and wellness awareness. The event brought together renowned doctors, wellness experts, and health leaders from India and across the world. The chief guest, Mr. Roshan Lepcha, Representative of the Indian Mission in Hanoi and a senior Indian Foreign Service officer, lauded Zee Bharat's initiative. He emphasized that such collaborations strengthen ties between India and Vietnam in the fields of health and wellness. Prominent participants included: Dr. Geet Bajpai, Principal Consultant & Unit Head-Nephrology, Max Hospital, Dwarka Dr. Laxmi Kant Tripathi, Chief-Nephrology & Transplantation, Artemis Hospital, Gurugram Dr. Anil Prasad Bhatt, Director – Nephrology & Kidney Transplant, Max Superspeciality Hospital, Noida Dr. Jitendra Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Accord Superspeciality Hospital, Faridabad Dr. Alok Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of Nephrology, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dehradun Dr. T.N. Tiwari, Director & CEO, Nutrimed Dairy Mr. Ramesh Arora, Founder, Kwality Pharmaceuticals Limited Dr. Arpit Chopra, Director, Arogya Super Speciality Modern Homeopathy Mr. Pawan Yadav, MD, Devansh Dhara The summit featured insightful discussions on diabetes, kidney health, wellness trends, and holistic living. Experts also shared valuable perspectives on Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and transplantation options. Through this summit, Zee Bharat has launched a new chapter in its 'Health Mega Summit' journey, marking a significant milestone in promoting health and wellness globally.
News18
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Lakshmi Puri's Novel Reimagines India's Freedom Struggle Through Love, Loss, And Grit
Last Updated: Lakshmi Puri's debut novel brings India's independence era alive through two sisters' journeys, echoing the quiet power of everyday lives shaped by extraordinary times. You know how they say everyone carries a novel within them? I wouldn't have guessed that when I met Lakshmi Puri in Budapest, where she was serving as India's ambassador to Hungary. That was nearly 25 years ago. I was there for one of those 'reporter stories", the kind that takes unexpected turns—but that's a tale for another time. Back then, I couldn't have imagined that the story Puri now tells in her debut novel had already begun to stir inside her. At the international launch of Swallowing the Sun at the stately National Liberal Club in London last week, she revealed that she resumed work on the book after a gap of 22 years. That means she may have been writing—or at least playing at writing—even then, all while navigating an extraordinary career that would later include top roles in the Indian Foreign Service, as Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women. Through it all, this novel—set around India's independence—seems to have quietly taken root and refused to let go. Somewhere in the background, it was writing itself long before it got written. The result is a remarkable work of fiction anchored in a period deeply familiar to every Indian. The Indian freedom struggle continues to fascinate us—meeting or even hearing about someone who lived through that time is always compelling. Swallowing the Sun captures the pulse of that era not through sweeping historical dramatics, but through ordinary lives rendered in extraordinary ways. Inspired by the real-life story of her parents—her father, who contributed to drafting the Indian Constitution, and her mother, a rare woman graduate of the time—Puri transforms their lived experiences into characters negotiating the emotional, social, and political upheaval of the era. The novel is not just felt—it is feeling, distilled. At its heart are two sisters, Malati and Kamala, who grow up in a village in Maharashtra and later attend Elphinstone College in Bombay. Malati, spirited and strong-willed, challenges patriarchal, caste, and religious boundaries. She falls in love with Guru, a lawyer she later marries. Their romance is inspired by real letters exchanged by the author's parents, lending the narrative both intimacy and authenticity. These are not stories of simplistic heroism. They are layered with compromise, disillusionment, resilience, and quiet courage—the kind that unfolds in everyday life. Malati's strength is rendered not through grand gestures but in the granular details of experience. This is not the mythologised valour of Jhansi ki Rani, though that too deserves respect. Instead, it is the story of daring to dream, to live, and to persist in the face of contradictions. The novel also includes characters from the British milieu—professors at Elphinstone College, including a fictional younger brother of PG Wodehouse, and a cameo by Annie Besant. These additions expand the texture of the world without turning every encounter into a clash between binaries. Conflicts emerge, but not all are confrontational or ideological. Some are simply, and more compellingly, human. 'I wanted to enrich the global garden of English with exotic plants from India's past and be part of 'the Empire Writes Back' of the Salman Rushdie movement," Puri told me. Indeed, while Midnight's Children is an iconic work, I've never quite warmed to Rushdie's cerebral force or his ornate style. For a felt story, grounded in lived experience, I'd pick Swallowing the Sun any day. First Published: July 01, 2025, 08:49 IST
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Rights of Indian fishermen given away during Emergency, says Jaishankar alluding to 1976 Katchatheevu pact
Effects of the Emergency (June 25, 1975 — March 21, 1977) can still be felt in Tamil Nadu and in India-Sri Lanka relations as the Government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did not protect the interests of Indian fishermen to fish in the Palk Strait while concluding a pact with Sri Lanka during that period, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday (June 27, 2025), apparently alluding to the Katchatheevu pact of 1976. Speaking about the Emergency at an event here, Mr. Jaishankar recollected his personal experience from that era and said the Emergency proved that democracy and freedom were in the 'blood' of the Indian people. 'During the Emergency, big decisions used to be taken without discussion. These days, you know when our fishermen venture near Sri Lanka, there they are arrested. You know the reason? The reason is that during the Emergency, an agreement was signed with Sri Lanka in which the rights of our fishermen that they had earlier to fish in the waters near Sri Lanka, was something that we gave up. If the Emergency was not there and if we had a genuine Parliament at that time, I don't think such an agreement would have been approved by the Parliament,' said the External Affairs Minister, speaking in Hindi. Indian fishermen frequently face arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy for trespassing into Sri Lankan waters — they are often arrested near the northern coast of the island, well past Katchatheevu — and fishing using the bottom trawling method, that is banned in Sri Lanka. 'The consequence of that period can be felt even today in Tamil Nadu,' said Mr. Jaishankar. The issue was earlier raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on March 31 had blamed the Congress for 'callously' giving away the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka. The External Affairs Minister said the Emergency caused setback to India's global image and senior diplomats at that time used to face difficulties in justifying the Emergency rule in India that had done away with democratic governance. 'Several lessons' 'In 1977 I joined Indian Foreign Service after clearing UPSC examination. We used to hear from senior diplomats of that time, how difficult it was to defend the Emergency in the world and how India was criticised because of the Emergency rule,' said Mr. Jaishankar, recollecting that the world perceived India as the largest and oldest democracy and it was difficult for Indian diplomats to defend the authoritarian rule of Emergency era before the world. He said the Emergency had several enduring lessons of that period asserting that: 'Never take freedom for granted. Democracy is in our blood and DNA.' The External Affairs Minister recollected how the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Students Union faced police crackdown for opposing the Emergency. 'The 30th Amendment stated that people cannot approach courts against the declaration of the Emergency. The 39th Amendment stated that people cannot go to court against the election of the Prime Minister and the 42nd Amendment stated that the Fundamental Rights of people would be diluted and the power of judiciary in the country would be reduced,' said Mr. Jaishankar, recollecting that during the Emergency, five Constitutional Amendments and 48 Ordinances were passed.
Hindustan Times
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Dinesh K Patnaik set to be India's new envoy to Canada
Senior diplomat Dinesh K Patnaik, currently India's envoy to Spain, is expected to be the new high commissioner to Canada as the two sides reset their relationship, people familiar with the matter said. Patnaik is expected to be replaced in Spain by Jayant Khobragade, currently India's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the people said on condition of anonymity. The process for securing an agrément, or the formal agreement whereby a state receives a foreign country's envoy, for Patnaik is already underway, the people said. During their first meeting on Tuesday on the margins of the G7 Summit in Canada, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, agreed on several steps to reset bilateral ties, which had plunged to an all-time low because of a diplomatic row over the killing of a Khalistani separatist in 2023. Among these steps was the appointment of new high commissioners in each other's capitals. HT first reported in March that Patnaik, from the 1990 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, was the front-runner for the post of high commissioner in Ottawa. He is one of India's senior-most diplomats and served as deputy high commissioner to the UK during 2016-2018, a position that required handling the Khalistan problem within the Indian diaspora, as is the case with Canada. Patnaik has more than 30 years of experience in assignments within India and abroad. He has served in the missions in Geneva, Dhaka, Beijing, and Vienna, and in the divisions focusing on Africa, Europe (West), the UN, and external publicity in the external affairs ministry. Patnaik was the deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Austria during 2009-2012, the ambassador to Cambodia during 2012-2015, and the envoy to Morocco during 2015-2016. Though Khobragade was officially named as India's envoy to Poland in January, the posting did not go ahead because of various reasons, the people said. Khobragade is from the 1995 batch of the Indian Foreign Service and has done a stint in the Indian embassy in Spain in the past. He has also served in the Indian missions in Russia, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan, and served as the ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. Within the external affairs ministry, he has served in the disarmament and international security division and the West Africa Division. He has also served on deputation with the Department of Atomic Energy from 2017 to 2020. Khobragade was appointed the ambassador to Asean in Jakarta in 2021, months after Pakistan refused to accept his posting as the charge d'affaires in Islamabad.
