With eye on early Lok Sabha elections, BJP shedding saffron image?

New Delhi, Jun 3: Seasoned diplomat and former spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Raveesh Kumar has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Finland, the government announced on Wednesday.

Raveesh Kumar, a 1995-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, served as the spokesperson of the MEA from July 2017 to April 2020 during which he deftly articulated India's position on a number of sensitive issues including last year's Balakot strike, reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and the controversy surrounding the National Register of Citizens.

"He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the MEA said.

Before becoming the MEA spokesperson, Kumar was serving as Consul General of India in Frankfurt.

Kumar started his career at the Indian Mission in Jakarta and it was followed by his postings in Thimpu and London.

In his nearly 25-year career, Kumar also looked after the East Asia desk in the headquarters of the MEA in Delhi and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta followed by his posting as Consul General in Frankfurt from August 2013 to July 2017.

In Finland, he succeeds Vani Rao.

Finland is an important country for India in Europe, and bilateral trade has been on an upswing in the last few years.

Around 35 Indian companies have invested in Finland in IT, healthcare, hospitality and automotive sectors while over 100 Finnish companies have operations in India in energy, textiles, power plants and electronics sectors.

New Delhi, Feb 4: Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Tuesday attacked the BJP over Anantkumar Hegde's controversial remark on Mahatma Gandhi and termed the party as "Ravan ke aulad" (children of Ravana). "Aaj ye Mahatma Gandhi ko gaali dete hain. Ye Ravan ke aulad hain. Ram ke pujari ka ye apmaan kar rahe hain (Today, they abuse Mahatma Gandhi. They are children of Ravan. They are insulting Lord Ram's devotee)," Chowdhury said.

Later, BJP lawmakers object to Chowdhury's statement. Hegde, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada, had on Saturday said that the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi was a "drama".

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," Hegde had said while addressing a public event in Bengaluru. While several Congress leaders, including Karti Chidambaram and BK Hariprasad, have condemned Hegde's remark, BJP leaders too have distanced themselves from it.

Top leadership in BJP is unhappy with Anantkumar Hegde over his controversial remark on Mahatma Gandhi, party sources had said on Monday, adding that he has been asked to issue an unconditional apology.

New Delhi, Jan 18: The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking conferment of 'Bharat Ratna' on Mahatma Gandhi saying that people hold the father of the nation in “high esteem”, beyond any formal recognition.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, however asked petitioner Anil Dutta Sharma to give representation to the central government in this regard.

“Mahatma Gandhi is the father of nation and people hold him in high esteem, beyond any formal recognition,” the bench said.

The issue of directing the government to award Bharat Ratna to the father of the nation was not a “justiciable issue”, it said.

The bench however said that it agreed with the sentiments of the petitioner for granting official decoration to Mahatma Gandhi.

Disposing of the petition, the top court said, “We will allow you to give a representation to the Centre in this regard.”

Sharma, in his PIL, had sought a direction to the government to give “official decoration” to Mahatma Gandhi to honour him for the contribution to the nation.