Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian politician, retired police officer, social activist and former tennis player, who was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 February 2021. She is the first Indian female to become an officer in the Indian Police Service and started her service in 1972. She remained in service for 35 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2007 as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development.
As a teenager, Bedi was crowned the national junior tennis champion in 1966. Between 1965 and 1978, she won several titles at various national and state-level championships. After joining the IPS, Bedi served in Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh and Mizoram. She started her career as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the Chanakyapuri area of Delhi, and won the President's Police Medal in 1979. Next, she moved to West Delhi, where she brought about a reduction in crimes against women. Subsequently, as a traffic police officer, she oversaw traffic arrangements for the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1983 in Goa. As Deputy Commissioner of Police of North Delhi, she launched a campaign against drug abuse, which evolved into the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation (renamed to Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007).
In May 1993, Bedi was posted to the Delhi Prisons as Inspector General (IG). She introduced several reforms at Tihar Jail, which gained worldwide acclaim and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994. In 2003, Bedi became the first Indian and first woman to be appointed as head of the United Nations Police and Police Advisor in the United Nations Department of Peace Operations. She resigned in 2007, to focus on social activism and writing. She has written several books, and runs the India Vision Foundation. During 2008–11, she hosted a court show Aap Ki Kachehri. She was one of the key leaders of the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2015. She unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Delhi Assembly election as the party's Chief Ministerial candidate.
Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's Labour Party in the 2024 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition, serving in this role from July to November 2024. He previously held two Cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond and Northallerton, previously Richmond (Yorks), since 2015.
Born in Southampton to Punjabi Hindu parents who had emigrated from East Africa, Sunak was educated at Winchester College. He subsequently read philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and later gained an MBA from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. Whilst studying at Stanford, he met his future wife Akshata Murthy, the daughter of the Indian billionaire businessman N. R. Narayana Murthy. After graduating, he worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms The Children's Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners.
He served in Theresa May's second government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government. He voted thrice in favour of May's Brexit withdrawal agreement. After May resigned, Sunak was a supporter of Boris Johnson's campaign to become Conservative leader. After Johnson was elected and appointed prime minister, he appointed Sunak Chief Secretary to the Treasury, deputising for Chancellor Sajid Javid at HM Treasury. He replaced Javid after his resignation in February 2020. His appointment coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, and he has led the Treasury's response to the ongoing crisis. As part of this, he launched a furlough scheme for job retention and the hospitality subsidy scheme Eat Out to Help Out.