Delhi confidential: TV Thatha

Spanish Connection

Sandeep Chakravorty, India’s envoy to Peru, who had recently garnered praise for his Spanish language skills, is all set to move to New York as India’s consul general. Chakravorty had given a TV interview in Peru where he was questioned by two top-notch interviewers. He had spoken in flawless and fluent Spanish for the programme that was broadcast live. Chakravorty, who has earlier served as Deputy Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka and was private secretary to MoS (External Affairs) Shashi Tharoor, will be replacing Riva Ganguly Das —who is headed to Delhi to take up the post of Director General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

No Relief

Three MPs —TMC’s Tapas Paul, PMK’s Ambumani Ramdoss and BJD’s Ramchandra Hansda —could not vote during the Presidential polls despite being eligible members of the electoral college. Two other members —Madhya Pradesh minister and BJP leader Narottam Mishra and BJP MP from Bihar Chhedi Paswan —could not vote as they were disqualified under Section 10 A and Section 8 of RP Act, 1951, respectively. Mishra tried his luck with the courts to get permission but did not get relief.

New Claim

The BJP government often accuses its predecessors of ignoring “Indian thought and ethos”, especially in the curriculum of schools and colleges. The new chief of ICSSR, the top institution for research in social sciences, B B Kumar joined the chorus last week. In the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah during a public event, Kumar claimed that the earlier governments ignored Rabindranath Tagore in the curriculum. Quite surprising, as the bard from Bengal features in syllabi all over. One of his compositions is the country’s national anthem.