Delhi Confidential: Busy Schedule

LOK SABHA Speaker Om Birla, who is in Halifax, Canada for the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, has quite an extensive itinerary this time. Being an advocate for making Parliament accessible to the general public, Birla is going to speak on ‘A People’s Parliament, Accessibility Through Innovation’ at the conference. From Canada, the Speaker will be flown to Mexico and then Suriname for bilateral meetings. In Mexico, he will be unveiling statues of Swami Vivekananda and Pandurang Khankhoje, a Maharashtra-born scientist who led a Green Revolution in wheat and maize crops in Mexico. Birla’s visit is part of India’s fresh attempts to honour the not-so-known Indian-origin heroes outside India, sources said. In Suriname, Birla will have discussions with President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, also an Indian-origin leader.

Batch Match

IAS OFFICERS of the same 1987-batch are now secretaries to the President and Vice-President. While Rajesh Verma is Secretary to President Droupadi Murmu, Sunil Gupta is Secretary to Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar. Verma, an Odisha cadre officer, had served as Principal Secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Gupta, a West Bengal cadre officer, had earlier worked with Dhankhar when he was the West Bengal Governor.