The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is a diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vikram Misri is the 35th and the current Foreign Secretary.
The Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ),formerly spelled Oriya,are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Indian state of Odisha who speak the Odia language. They constitute a majority in the eastern coastal state,with significant minority populations existing in the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh,Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and West Bengal.
Abid Hussain was an Indian economist,civil servant and diplomat. He was India's ambassador to the United States of America from 1990 to 1992 and a member of the Planning Commission from 1985 to 1990.
Fakir Mohan Senapati,often referred to as Utkala Byasa Kabi,was an Indian writer,poet,philosopher and social reformer. He played a leading role in establishing the distinct identity of Odia,a language mainly spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. Senapati is regarded as the father of Odia nationalism and modern Odia literature.
Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College,is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack,Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868,the institution became a university in 2006. The university has nine schools,thirty three academic departments and a student enrolment of nearly 8,000. It is one of the oldest educational institutes in the country and its history is synonymous with the history of modern Odisha.
Georgia and India maintain diplomatic relations. The Embassy of India in Yerevan,Armenia is concurrently accredited to Georgia. Georgia maintains an embassy in New Delhi.
Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra was an Indian archaeologist and scholar on Odia Studies. He served as curator for archaeology at the Odisha State Museum from 1963 to 1989 and made significant contributions to historical research,especially in the fields of archaeology,art history,religion,and other aspects of Odia cultural history.
Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar is the founder and president of the Symbiosis Society,a multinational educational and cultural center,and chancellor of Symbiosis International University. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2005 and the Padma Bhushan in 2012.
Hardeep Singh Puri is an Indian politician and former Indian diplomat who is serving as 33rd Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas since 2021.
Ashok Vajpeyi is an Indian Hindi-language poet,essayist,literary-cultural critic,apart from being a noted cultural and arts administrator,and a former civil servant. He was chairman,Lalit Kala Akademi India's National Academy of Arts,Ministry of Culture,Govt of India,2008–2011. He has published over 23 books of poetry,criticism and art,and was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award given by Sahitya Akademi,India's National Academy of Letters,in 1994 for his poetry collection,Kahin Nahin Wahin. His notable poetry collections include,Shaher Ab Bhi Sambhavana Hai (1966),Tatpurush (1986),Bahuri Akela (1992),Ibarat Se Giri Matrayen,Ummeed ka Doosra Naam (2004) and Vivaksha (2006),besides this he has also published works on literary and art criticism:Filhal,Kuchh Poorvagrah,Samay se Bahar,Kavita ka Galp and Sidhiyan Shuru ho Gayi Hain. He is generally seen as part of the old Delhi-centric literary-cultural establishment consisting of bureaucrat-poets and academicians like Sitakanta Mahapatra,Keki Daruwalla,J.P.Das,Gopi Chand Narang,Indra Nath Choudhari and K.Satchidanandan.
Mayadhar Mansingh was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Odia. He received the Padma Shri,the fourth-highest civilian award in India,in 1967.
Bhupen Mahapatra is an Odia novelist,columnist,and short story writer.
Monika Kapil Mohta is a diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service,who served as the Ambassador of India to Switzerland since August 2020. She holds the rank of Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and was previously the Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia and the Ambassador of India to Poland and Lithuania.
Parikud is an island in Chilika Lake,Odisha,India. The land mass is spread over 97 mouzas of Krushnaprasad panchayat samiti. It is surrounded by Chilika Lake and the Bay of Bengal on two sides. The settlement Jahnikuda is located at the easternmost end of the island and acts as an access point to Puri. The residents of this area primarily work in agriculture and fishing. The current head of the island is Raja Santosh Chandra Deo.
Dinanath Pathy was an Indian painter,author and art historian from the state of Odisha. Pathy was the former secretary of Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi and Bhubaneswar. He was the founding principal of the B.K. College of Art and Crafts. Pathy was awarded the President of India Silver Plaque for painting,Odisha Sahitya Academy Award for autobiography "Digapahandira Drawing Master",and Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship for his research in art. He was nominated for the International Rietberg Award from Rietberg Society in 2014 for his contributions to research on Indian art history. Pathy authored over 50 books in English,Odia and German on classical,traditional,tribal,folk,rural and contemporary art of Odisha.
Riva Ganguly Das is a retired Indian civil servant who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service cadre. She is the former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh and former Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations,an autonomous organisation of the Government of India.
Venu Rajamony is an Indian diplomat and professor affiliated with the Indian Foreign Service. He teaches Diplomatic Practice at the Jindal Global Law School of the O.P. Jindal Global University,Sonipat,Haryana. On September 17,2021,he assumed the role of Officer on Special Duty for External Cooperation in the Government of Kerala,holding the rank of Chief Secretary with an office at Kerala House,New Delhi. He resigned from this position on September 16,2023,citing disagreements with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He held the position of Ambassador of India to the Netherlands from 2017 to 2020. He also served as the Permanent Representative of India to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague,overseeing India’s relations with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
Amarendra Khatua is an Indian civil servant who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service cadre. He is the former High Commissioner of India to Argentina,Ivory Coast,Former Secretary at Ministry of External Affairs (India) and former Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations,an autonomous organisation of the Government of India.
Dinesh K. Patnaik is an Indian Foreign Service officer from the 1990 cadre currently serving as Ambassador of India to Spain.
