Naresh Chandra: Former defence, home and cabinet secretary, and ex-ambassador to US died in Goa, aged 82

THIS former Rajasthan cadre IAS officer is often addressed as ambassador thanks to his five years long eventful innings as India’s ambassador to US. Ambassador Naresh Chandra is no more. He died at a hospital in Goa late Sunday, aged 82, due to multiple organ failure. BoI presents here 10 facts that summarize life and career of one of the most influential and impactful civil servants of post-independence India:

Romance in Courtship to Partnership: Ambassador Jaishankar’s take on Indo-US ties

INDIA’s new ambassador to US and 1977 batch IFS officer S Jaishankar said on Wednesday that there is a need for greater sensitivity, hinting at the horrible treatment meted out to diplomat Devyani Khobragade who was strip-searched and humiliated in New York in a case of alleged visa fraud and underpaying of a domestic help. Without naming Khobragade, Ambassador Jaishankar acknowledged publicly in a talk at the Carnegie Endowment that it was a “truly distressing” time, and what Indo-US ties need are...

Nirupama Rao's thoughts on women, gender blindness and her mathematician mother

Woman On Top: Rao with US secretary of state Clinton

INDIAN ambassador to US and 1973 batch retired IFS officer Nirupama Rao has called for more efforts to make science inclusive. Rao on Friday inaugurated the first Women Science Congress on the sidelines of the 99th Indian Science Congress (ISC) at Bhubaneshwar. Here are the excerpts of her speech on women in general, gender blindness in Indian science and her mother who solved difficult maths in her life.

Women In General

Women, as the popular saying goes, “hold up half the sky”. The Indian sky still needs many more skilled and qualified women to sustain it, and to disseminate the fruits of progress throughout the country…The image of the wise woman, the healer and nurturer who has access to the ocean of knowledge is common to many cultures.

Science Is Gender Neutral

Historical evidence and scientific research show that the pursuit of science is gender neutral. Yet, the contribution of women to technology is hidden from history. The moot point is why scientific streams remained largely male-dominated or why there are very few women members in various national science academies or in decision-making positions in scientific establishments. …We cannot afford to be charged with gender blindness in this crucial field that is so vital for India’s development.

Her Mathematician Mother

I was inspired to be an independent, professional woman by my mother who, in the year India won its independence, graduated from a college for girls in Mangalore with a first class degree in mathematics. I know 2012 is the Year of Mathematics. For me, as a little girl growing up in the fifties and sixties, mother was a fountain of knowledge and a go to person for all our math questions. And because math experts are also good at so much more, she was an expert on almost everything else. …She was the one who contextualized the story of Madame Curie for me when as a young nine year old, I read the Curie biography for the first time. Mother empowered us as a result of her own scientific temper and intellectual dimension. You educate a woman and she educates a family.

Is new Pakistan envoy to US Sherry Rehman a competition to India's Nirupama Rao?

Sherry Rehman: A competition to Nirupama Rao?

THEN Indian foreign secretary and 1973 batch IFS Nirupama Rao’s appointment as India’s ambassador to America a few months ago was a calibrated move, and not a routine post-retirement placement of an efficient and loyal officer as some sidetracked IFS babus would like to believe. The South Block wanted someone highly articulate, and the one who is close to Prime Minister and also in sync with New Delhi’s US agenda.

Pakistani top establishment may or may not have similar reasons while appointing Sherry Rehman as its new envoy to Washington after Husain Haqqani’s resignation over the ‘Memogate’ controversy, but on several counts, Rehman is likely to be a tough competitor to Nirupama Rao in high-voltage diplomatic networking in US. Both are well educated women executives, and more significantly both are outstanding while articulating their views. Rao, a career diplomat, first came into prominence when she was the spokeswoman of India’s foreign office. She knows what to say, and also what not to say. Rehman, a close aide of slain ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, is a prominent media personality and former editor of a reputed magazine. Rehman resigned as Pakistan’s information minister in March 2009, reportedly because of her differences with President Asif Ali Zardari on imposing restrictions on the media.

Many hardliners in Pakistan are however obsessed with Rehman’s personal life and controversies, and some even dismiss her brightness as she is a woman.

India sponsored 1846 officers to study abroad in 10 years

As many as1846 Indian officers were sent for higher education abroad under the Domestic Funding of Foreign Training (DFFT) Scheme beginning 2000. Out of this selected lot, 938 belong to All India Services like IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service, and 359 are from other Group ‘A’ Services, according to minister of state in Primn Minister’s Office V Narayanasamy who gave a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. There were 215 Central Secretariat Service officers among the selected lot.

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Meera Shankar ends her US innings with a few parties and power moments

Power Moment: Shankar (R) with Clinton

A FEW years ago, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy told a leading financial daily that he won’t mind taking up the job of Indian ambassador to US. It’s another matter that Dr Manmohan Singh regime did not offer him the job. But what has remained undisputed is the massive power that India’s ambassador to US wields.

The week before Ambassador Meera Shankar completed her assignment saw a series of memorable farewell parties and emotional exchange of notes on Indo-US relations. The US Department of State hosted a reception to bid her farewell on July 26, 2011, which was attended by senior members of the US administration and other key Ambassadors. Meera Shankar, a 1973 batch IFS officer, called on the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her office.

Also, the Indian community of the Greater Washington Area hosted a reception for the Ambassador on July 24, at which Ambassador Robert Blake, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Bureau was the keynote speaker.

Ambassador Shankar too hosted two receptions on July 25, 2011 and on July 28, 2011 for the Indian American community and her American interlocutors respectively. The Indian American community was represented by all the leading associations in the Greater Washington Area and from across the country. The Governors of Maryland and Alabama also sent special citations to Ambassador Shankar for promoting ties between India and their states.

The reception on July 28, 2011 was attended by over 200 guests including Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats, Congressman John Larson, Administrator of USAID Rajiv Shah, and other senior representatives from the US government, US Congress, business organizations, universities and think-tanks.

Under Secretary Hormats said that representing India in the United States is a challenging task, but Ambassador Shankar travelled extensively across the United States and projected India even to those who had very little knowledge of the country and its achievements, in a very clear, positive and convincing manner. Ambassador Shankar was also presented with a flag of the United States of America, which was flown over the Capitol building specially for her in recognition of her achievements as Ambassador of India to the United States, along with a certificate confirming this by the Congress, sent by Congressman Ed Royce, the co-chair of the India Caucus in the House of Representatives.

Meera Shankar and her IAS husband Ajay Shankar are likely to live in New Delhi where they have bought a flat in newly constructed Commonwealth Games village. Her batch-mate and former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao is taking over as India's new ambassador to US.