(Dr Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe )
Dr Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe has been appointed as the President of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind.
Dr Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). Born on 10th November 1957 at Nasik, India Dr Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe is a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Indian state of Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha (Council of States or the upper house of the Indian parliament). He assumed office as Member of Parliament (MP) on 5th July 2016 succeeding Vijay J Darda from the Indian National Congress (INC) party. Apart from serving as the National Vice President of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Dr Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe is also serving as the Vice Chairman of Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (a research and training academy for elected representatives and social activists). He is also the head of the Public Policy Research Centre (BJP’s think tank group).
The Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) founded on 9th April 1950 is an organization of the Government of India. The purpose of the organization is to look after the cultural diplomacy of the country. It looks after India’s external cultural relations with other countries through cultural exchanges. The organization was founded by the first Education Minister of independent India, Mr Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The headquarters of the organization is at Azad Bhawan, IP Estate, New Delhi – 110001. Riva Ganguly Das is the Director General of the organization. Apart from ICCR’s regional offices in different cities of the country, the organization also serves worldwide. ICCR operates its missions with the established international cultural centres at London, Moscow, Berlin, Cairo, Durban, Colombo, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Bangkok, Port of Spain, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Sao Paolo, Thimpu, Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Paramaribo, Port Louis, Tashkent, Almaty, Valladolid and Jakarta.
