M J AKBAR

M. J. Akbar began his journalism career as a trainee at The Times of India, in the year 1971. Later he served as a sub-editor at The Illustrated Weekly of India. By 1976, he had moved to Kolkata to become the editor of Sunday, a political weekly published by the Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group. Transitioning into politics, he became the official spokesperson for the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He  served as Minister of State for External Affairs from July 5, 2016, to October 17, 2018. 

In 2017, the Passport Act celebrated its 50th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, a postage stamp was released on June 23, 2017, with the participation of the then Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Manoj Sinha (MoS Communication), Gen. (Dr) V.K. Singh (Retd.) (MoS External Affairs), and M.J. Akbar (Minister of State for External Affairs), Government of India. The celebrations included the stamp release, a conference of regional passport officers in New Delhi, and an event at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, New Delhi during Passport Seva Divas 2017.