India's - High Commission of India, London

LR;eso t;rs
Digest
A PUBLICATION OF THE HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA, LONDON
INDIA
A Fortnightly publicAtion oF the high commission oF indiA, london
1st issue of April 2013
Vol. 11 Issue: 7
Agni-II missile
test fired P3
New treats for
Ray-Ravi fans P5
When nature is
all you need P8
‘MSMEs vital for growth’
‘Small industries are perhaps the most crucial link between India’s economic
growth and socio-economic transformation,’ says President Pranab Mukherjee
M
icro, small and medium
enterprises are vital for
India’s economic growth
and they need to get
more institutional credit, President
Pranab Mukherjee said on April 3.
These enterprises are “perhaps the
most crucial link between India’s economic
growth and socio-economic
transformation”, the President said after
presenting National Awards to Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSME) and banks.
He said the micro, small and medium
sector contributed about 8 percent of the
country’s GDP, 45 percent of the manufactured
output and 40 percent of the
total exports.
If the sector had to be a true agent of
socio-economic change, “we must direct
our efforts at increasing the competitiveness
of this sector by enhancing the availability
of institutional credit,” he said.
They should also go for innovation and
technology, provided adequate industrial
infrastructure, skill development and
market support, the President added.
He said that the growth potential of
the MSME units should not be impeded
by lack of access to financial resources.
Mukherjee stated that there was a need
President Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises National Awards
in New Delhi.
‘The micro, small and medium
sector contributes about 8 percent
of the country’s GDP, 45 percent
of the manufactured output and
40 percent of the total exports’
to increase the reach and coverage of
financial institutions by expanding
branch network to locations near industrial
clusters.
The President said India’s future
progress would be determined largely by
the level of technology that would drive
the economy.
Innovation and technology provided
the competitive edge that the industrial
sector at large and the MSME sector
in particular should not be deprived of,
he said.
The MSME units could prosper only
if there was a concerted effort at widening
the market for their products,
Mukherjee added.
‘Govt, industry
partners in progress’
PRIME MINISTER Manmohan
Singh has said that the government
is willing to do everything to bring
the economy back on the path of
high growth.
Addressing the annual meeting of
the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) in New Delhi on April 3, the
Prime Minister said the government
and business have to be partners in
writing the story of development.
“We must take corrective action.
We grew at an average of about eight
percent in the last 10 years and we
can get there again,” he said.
“I am encouraged by the progress
that we have made in the last three
months by the work of Cabinet
Committee on Investments. The
committee has made a difference in
speeding up clearances (for projects),”
he said.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
addressing the CII National Conference
and Annual General Meeting in New Delhi.
‘India has made
healthcare accessible’
INDIA HAS made healthcare services
more accessible, affordable and
equitable, especially for those living
in the remotest parts of the country,
according to Union Health Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad.
“The government has stepped in to
make health-care services accessible,
affordable and equitable, especially for
the marginalised sections of the population,”
Minister Azad said at the
North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional
Institute of Health and Medical
Sciences in Shillong on April 2.
The Health Ministry has launched
a series of reforms, including investing
on medical education sector so
that the country could produce more
medical personnel to meet the growing
demand, Minister Azad added.
Tagore Centre opens in London
Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore changed the mindset of
India and encouraged Indians
to educate their children, Culture
Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch said
at the opening ceremony of the Tagore
Centre for Global Thought at King’s
College, London, on April 2.
Minister Katoch described Tagore as
an icon, a great thinker, and visionary
“who changed the mindset of India”.
Set up as part of the Tagore
Commemoration celebrating 150th
Birth Anniversary of Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore, the Tagore
Centre will enhance Tagore-related
academic intellectual and philosophic
work globally.
The underlying concept is to promote
the study of liberal arts and support programmes
connected with all aspects of
Tagore’s works and showcase how
Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch
speaking at the inauguration of Tagore Centre for
Global Thought at King’s College, London.
Indian thought and intellectual capability
was influenced by Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore.
The Tagore Centre has been established
in partnership with the India
Institute of King’s College, London by
signing an agreement. The Centre will
take up five core activities promoting
global implications and connections of
Indian thought besides promoting
Tagore’s literary and cultural legacy.
The Centre is also expected to promote
research in Tagore’s literature and
artistic works in all the areas of music,
art and films, besides promoting and
supporting research students working
on the Global Intellectual history of
Indian Thought. The activities will
include Tagore distinguished lectures in
Global Thought, Lecture series on
Tagore, Doctoral Scholarships and film
series based on Tagore’s writings. The
Tagore Centre at King’s will provide two
Ph.D. scholarships for students from
India over the next three years.
Sunil Khilnani, Director of King’s
College India Institute; Kamalesh
Sharma, Secretary General of
Commonwealth; Dr. Virander Paul,
Deputy High Commissioner of India to
the UK; and eminent editor N. Ravi were
among those present on the occasion.

[ ] 1st issue of April 2013 2
‘Focus on excellence in education’
‘Central and state governments, academic and autonomous institutes should join hands for the greater
cause of education in the country’, says Union HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju
Union HRD minister M.M.
Pallam Raju stressed on the
need for focusing on expansion,
equity and excellence
in education at the meeting of the
Central Advisory Board of Education
(CABE) in New Delhi on April 2.
Minister Raju emphasised on a participatory
approach in which the central
and state governments, academics
and autonomous institutes should join
hands for a greater cause of education
in India.
“Focus should be laid on the need for
focusing on expansion, equity and
excellence in all levels of education,”
he said at the meeting attended by state
education ministers, university vicechancellors,
heads of different education
boards and academicians.
Education Emphasis: HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju at the 61st Meeting of Central Advisory
Board for Education in New Delhi.
CABE is expected to deliberate on
the need for a national testing agency,
which will conduct a host of national
level examination such as UGC NET,
GATE, AIEEE and IIT Main.
According to officials, the centralised
body could be created through a special
purpose vehicle and it would not
be binding for the different examination
bodies to join in it. The agency
could be “on a voluntary basis”, officials
said.
Apart from reviewing the implementation
of the Right to Education and ICT
in higher education, the meeting also
discussed the proposed education
commission, the setting up of which
was announced by Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh during his speech
on Independence Day in 2011.
A silver trumpet for ‘India’s growth to pick up in 2013-14’
the President’s men
‘The current fiscal year will witness a growth in the pace of India's economy, which
is capable of absorbing $50 billion in FDI per year,’ says the Finance Minister
President Pranab Mukherjee presenting the
Silver Trumpet and Banner to the President’s
Bodyguard at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
PRESIDENT PRANAB
Mukherjee presented a silver trumpet
and banner to the President’s
Bodyguard, the oldest regiment of
the Indian Army, on March 30.
The ceremony, in the forecourt of
the Rashtrapati Bhavan, has been in
existence since 1923, when the then
viceroy, Lord Reading awarded two
trumpets to the elite force on completing
of 150 years.
The ceremony began with the
national salute, after which the
President reviewed the parade.
Astride their caparisoned steeds,
the PBG, commanded by Colonel
T.S. Mundi, formed a hollow square
from which a non-commissioned
officer, Satnam Singh, headed
towards Mukherjee to receive the
trumpet and banner.
This was followed by the horses
and their mounts walking, trotting
and finally cantering past the
President. The silver trumpet, with
a mounted banner with the Ashoka
Lions symbols and the initials of the
President in the centre, was blown.
Speaking on the occasion, the
President said, “I am confident that
the President's Bodyguard would
continue to uphold the lofty values
of professionalism, dedication and
commitment.”
India’s economy is capable of
absorbing $50 billion in foreign
direct investment (FDI) per year,
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said
on April 1, adding that the government
is committed to reforms.
Addressing a news conference during
a visit to Tokyo promoting India as
investment destination, Minister
Chidambaram also reiterated that
growth in India’s economy was expected
to accelerate in the current fiscal
year to March 2014.
“FDI flows into India are quite positive...
think we can absorb, easily absorb
$50 billion of FDI every year into
India,” Minister Chidambaram said.
“A new trade policy will be
announced and that will show that we
are committed to reform,” he added.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.
India’s financial account, which
includes FDI, portfolio investment and
overseas borrowing by Indian companies,
showed a surplus of $31.1 billion
in the December quarter for the fiscal
year ended March 31.
Minister Chidambaram repeated his
recent pledge that the government
would simplify foreign investment caps
in a bid to attract more investors.
The government has previously said
it plans to open up the pensions sector
to foreign investors, and raise the
investment limit in the insurance sector
to 49 percent from 26 percent.
He added that the Indian economy
was expected to grow 6.1-6.7 percent
in the current fiscal year, an improvement
on the estimated 5.0-5.5 percent
growth recorded last fiscal year.
Chidambaram, who returned as the
Finance Minister in July last year, has
taken several steps to boost investor
confidence, from opening up sectors
to foreign investment, to cutting
subsidies.
From grandmoms to solar engineers
Barefoot college has trained nearly 300
grandmothers in the whole of Africa.
The India has grown to be an
inspiring example of developing
personal empowerment along
with environmental sustainability, courtesy
the unique partnership between the
Indian Technical and Economic
Cooperation Programme (ITEC),
Ministry of External Affairs and the
Barefoot college in Tilonia, Rajasthan.
At the centre of this partnership are
rural women from Least Developed
Countries, who are trained to become
solar engineers at the Barefoot college.
The college has been pioneering solar
electrification of rural villages and has
found the best candidates to be middleaged
women, who learn to install and
maintain solar powered home lighting
systems in their villages and teach others
to do the same.
It’s all about demystifying and decentralising
the process, so that a non-literate
grandmother in a small village can
provide her family with power.
The purpose of the ITEC solar training
programme is to empower women,
many of whom have laboured in agricultural
work for most of their lives, to
gain a skill more age appropriate, while
affording them a new position of respect
in their communities. The latest batch of
skilled “solar engineers” can be seen in
the picture.
Aided by grants from Government of
India under ITEC programme, Barefoot
college has trained nearly 300 grandmothers
in the whole of Africa, who are
the sole solar engineers in the entire continent.
This way, around 20,000 houses
in 160 villages across the continent have
been equipped with solar lightening by
these newly empowered grandmothers.
A total of 40 “barefoot grandmothers”
were honoured in a symbolic graduation
ceremony on the occasion of the
International Women’s Day on March 8.

India test fires nuclearcapable
Agni-II missile
The missile is part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme
India successfully test-fired its
nuclear-capable Agni-II strategic
ballistic missile from a military
base in Odisha, a defence official
said on April 7.
The test was conducted from
Wheeler’s Island in Bhadrak district at
about 10.20 a.m. by army personnel as
part of routine user-trials, M.V.K.V.
Prasad, director of the Integrated Test
Range, said.
“The missile successfully hit the target.
It was a perfect launch” he said.
The medium-range missile with a
range of over 2,000 km has already been
inducted into the Army, and is part of
the Strategic Forces arsenal for nuclear
deterrence.
The Agni-II is part of India’s
Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme.
The two-stage surface-to-surface
missile, equipped with an advanced
‘Foreign tourist
flow in India rising’
INDIA HAS recorded positive figures
when it comes to the arrival of
foreign tourists in the country, said
Minister of State for Tourism K.
Chiranjeevi on April 3.
“The growth of foreign tourists in
January and February (2013) has been
positive,” Minister Chiranjeevi said
while addressing an audience at a
tourism-related public function in
New Delhi.
“Foreign tourist arrivals grew by 2.3
percent from January to March and the
foreign exchange earnings from
tourism rose by 20.5 percent in rupee
terms and 11.6 percent in dollar terms,”
said Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan.
“The figure for March alone is 2.8
percent,” he added.
Agni-II was successfully test-fired from Wheeler
Island off the Odisha Coast.
high-accuracy navigation system and
guided by a novel state-of-the-art command
and control system, is powered
by a solid rocket propellant system.
The missile weighs 17 tonnes and its
range can be increased to 3,000 km by
reducing the payload.
It can be fired from both rail and
road mobile launchers. It takes only 15
minutes for the missile to be readied
for firing.
The Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO)
first tested Agni-II in 1999.
However, the Indian Army’s
Strategic Forces Command, which
operates the missile, could test it only
May 17, 2010, after two successive failures
in 2009.
Since then, it has been successfully
tested several times. The latest successful
test once again proved the reliability
of the missile, the official said.
Indian Navy’s new anti-sub warship launched
In a major step towards indigenisation
and making the Navy selfreliant,
the third anti-submarine
warfare (ASW) corvette, designed under
the ambitious Project-28 (P-28) by the
Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design,
was launched in Kolkata on March 26.
Aimed at enhancing the Navy’s underwater
warfare capabilities, the warship,
in a first-of-its-kind, will be fitted with
indigenous state-of-the-art weapons and
sensors, including a medium range gun,
torpedo tube launchers, rocket launchers
and close-in weapon system.
Being built by one of India’s leading
shipbuilders, Garden Reach Shipbuilders
& Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), it has been
named after an island — Kiltan — in the
Lakshadweep archipelago of India.
It was launched by Chitra Joshi, wife
of the Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi.
With nearly 90 percent indigenisation
Launch of the Third Anti-Submarine Warfare
Corvette (ASWC) in Kolkata.
content, the building of the corvette was
a major initiative, Navy officials said.
While lauding the efforts of GRSE in
detail designing of the ship, Admiral
Joshi singled out its technological landmark,
as being the first ship in the country
built with a composite superstructure
of carbon fibre composite material,
which will be successfully integrated
with the main hull.
Affirming the Indian Navy’s commitment
to indigenisation, he said the
country needed a “vibrant and capable”
warship construction industry.
“Indigenisation has been the cornerstone
of the navy's warship building and
development programme. The ship that
was launched today with nearly 90 percent
indigenous content is a fine example
of the commitment of the Navy and
industry towards indigenisation,”
Admiral Joshi added.
First Wi-Fi on wheels starts with Rajdhani Express
The Indian Railways has launched
a pilot project to install a free wifi
service in passenger trains in
the country to help travellers use their
travel time more effectively.
“Internet access in moving trains has
been a technological challenge, considering
that the train passes through all types
of terrains,” Railway Minister Pawan
Kumar Bansal said while launching the
Wi-Fi- facility as a pilot project on Howrah
Rajdhani Express, which runs from New
Delhi to West Bengal, on April 2.
“After due deliberations on various
options for providing Internet access,
Indian Railways decided for satellite
communication link to the train and Wi-
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal
launching the Wi-Fi- facility on Howrah
Rajdhani Express in New Delhi.
Fi connectivity to different coaches,”
Minister Bansal said.
The Indian Railways has finally
launched the pilot project on Howrah
Rajdhani express in both the directions
[ ] 1st issue of April 2013 3
The warship has been named
after an island, Kiltan, in the
Lakshadweep archipelago of India
simultaneously at Howrah and New
Delhi respectively. The facility is being
given to the passengers free of cost.
“The facility is being introduced for
the first time on Indian Railways
through state-of-the-art Technology at a
total cost of `6.30 crore covering all the
three rakes of Howrah Rajdhani
Express,” according to an official release.
As per the release issued by the
Ministry of Railways, “The satellite communication
link is arranged through
satellite hub facility, set up by Indian
Railways. Initially, 4 Mbps download
bandwidth and 512 Kbps upload bandwidth
is earmarked for Internet facility
in moving train.”
India, Britain
organise workshop
on cyber security
RESEARCH COUNCILS UK
(RCUK) and India’s Department of
Science and Technology brought
together top researchers from India
and the UK for a workshop in New
Delhi to discuss cyber security, a
pressing transnational issue demanding
global cooperation.
The four-day workshop, which
began on March 24, was jointly
organised by RCUK India, the
Indraprastha Institute of Information
Technology-Delhi (IIIT-D), and the
UK’s Science and Innovation
Network (SIN).
The main topics of discussion at the
workshop included: cyber crime; privacy
and security in online social
media; human factors and usable
security; and risk identification and
monitoring systems and networks.
British scholars associated with
IBM, McAfee, BT, City University,
The Royal Society, and Imperial
College were among those participating
in the event.
Passengers can access Indian Railway
Wi-Fi network to avail Internet facility in
moving trains. The passengers will be
able to register by providing the PNR and
other details like mobile number, etc.
On validation of the data entered by the
passengers, as per extant DOT guidelines,
the Login ID and Password will be sent
through SMS to the registered mobile
number. The Login ID and Password will
remain valid for entire journey.
Very soon, the Indian Railways will
extend this service on other
Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto express
trains progressively based on customer
feedback and acceptance, the official
release added.

Public sector essential for
economic growth: Praful Patel
Public Sector Enterprises have played an overarching role in industrial
development, says the Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
The role of public sector is essential
for the growth of Indian
economy and cannot be understated,”
said Minister for Heavy
Industries and Public Enterprises Praful
Patel at the CII Annual General
Meeting and National Conference in
New Delhi on April 4.
Since independence, the public sector
enterprises (PSEs) have taken the
initiative and risks associated with new
ventures and areas of operations.
“PSEs have been growing at over 20
percent in turnover terms and over 14
percent in profit terms over the years,
and have maintained a very high net
asset base,” Minister Patel said.
It must be acknowledged that PSEs
have an overarching role in industrial
development and have cutting edge
technology.
Boost for India-UK
research partnership
THE DEPARTMENT of Science
& Technology, Government of India,
and the Technology Strategy Board
of the United Kingdom, signed a
Programme of Co-operation (POC)
on Industrial Research &
Development on March 11. The
POC was signed by HK Mittal,
Head, National S&T Entrepreneurship
Board, Department of
Science & Technology, on behalf of
India, and Iain Gray, Chief Executive
of the Technology Strategy Board,
on behalf of the UK.
The purpose of the POC is to
promote and fund innovation-driven
research and technology development
as well as to encourage
partnerships and business-led industrial
research & development projects
in any area of mutual interest.
The co-operation under POC
may include joint calls for technology
cooperation projects for industrial
R&D, industrial technology development,
and industrial technology
deployment in mutually agreed
focus areas; organisation of technological
co-operation missions and
technological workshops; assistance
for the identification of opportunities
and search of potential partners
in India and UK; institutional support
in building consortia; and other
forms of collaborative assistance.
Minister for Heavy Industries and Public
Enterprises Praful Patel.
In his address, the minister also called
for partnerships between the public and
the private sector through various
modes including JVs and SPVs. This,
according to him, will be essential to
leverage business synergies and achieve
more meaningful results.
The Indian government on April
4 decided to decontrol the `800
billion (around $15.5 billion)
sugar industry in line with the suggestions
of a panel headed by C. Rangarajan,
the Chairman of the Prime Minister's
Economic Advisory Council.
“There will be no levy on sugar for
two years. There will be no change in
the PDS price of sugar. There will be no
burden on the consumer,” Food and
Consumer Affairs Minister K.V. Thomas
said after the cabinet committee on economic
affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, cleared
the proposal that seeks to balance the
interests of farmers and mills.
Planning Commission Member
Arun Maira said there is no doubt on
the role that PSEs have in the growth
of the Indian economy. Commenting
on the wide range of services and products
historically offered by PSEs, Maira
stressed on the need to define the scope
of the role that PSEs need to play at this
crucial point. This is particularly so
considering the unique ability to deliver
services regardless of the consumer’s
ability to pay.
R.S. Butola, Chairman and
Managing Director, Indian Oil
Corporation Ltd., said that there is
widespread acknowledgement for the
need for a strong public sector. He also
asserted that the role of state governments
and state enterprises is important
in bringing the equilibrium in the
market for growth of PSEs.
India decontrols $15.5 bn
sugar industry
An Indian academic in the UK has
developed humanoid robots
which use artificial intelligence to
take on humans and learn opponents'
strategy as they play and try to win the
traditional ‘rock-scissors-paper’ game.
Dr. Ram Ramamoorthy from
Bangalore led the team in developing the
humanoid devices at the University of
Edinburgh where he held a demonstration
on April 3.
The Robots will play rock-scissorspaper
game against human opponents in
a series of sell-out shows at this year’s
Edinburgh International Science Festival.
Rock-scissors-paper is a hand game
usually played by two people, where
players simultaneously form one of three
shapes with an outstretched hand.
With help from a Microsoft Kinect —
a motion-sensing device originally
[ ] 1st issue of April 2013 4
According to Thomas, the existing
sugar export policy will continue.
The CCEA took the decision in the
light of the Rangarajan panel report submitted
to the government last October.
India is the world's second largest producer
of sugar at nearly 340 million
tonnes and the annual output is worth
around `800.
Indian academic develops intelligent robots in UK
Dr. Ram Ramamoorthy.
designed for the Xbox 360 video game
— the two-foot-high robots will learn
to respond to people’s gestures and, ultimately,
learn to anticipate their actions.
In addition, the robots hope to hone
‘Pragmatic trade policy
to boost exports’
COMMERCE AND Industry
Minister Anand Sharma said the government
will unveil a “pragmatic”
Foreign Trade Policy with a view to
promoting exports.
“We have taken a number of measures
and we are seriously looking at
more measures... And a forward
looking, pragmatic (annual supplement)
Foreign Trade Policy will be
announced,” he said while addressing
the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) Annual General
Meeting at New Delhi on April 3.
According to sources, exporters are
likely to get benefits under focus product
and focus market scheme. Special
Economic Zones, which contribute
about 30 percent of the country’s overall
exports, may also to get incentives.
Stressing on the need to make
India one of the major defence producers
of the world, Sharma said he
would push for higher foreign direct
investment (FDI) cap in the defence
sector beyond the current 26 percent.
Emphasising the importance of
manufacturing, Sharma said
National Investment Manufacturing
Zones are a step in that direction.
This ambitious policy seeks to raise
the share of manufacturing to GDP
from 16-25 percent within a decade
and create 100 million productive jobs.
“A key instrumentality in the policy
is establishment of green-field integrated
industrial townships called
National Investment and
Manufacturing Zones which will have
world class infrastructure,” he said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand
Sharma.
their soccer skills in anticipation of the
2013 RoboCup, a global football contest
for robot teams.
“These popular little robots are very
entertaining to watch and we hope that
the Science Festival crowds will enjoy
seeing them in action. However, our
research has a serious and very useful
purpose — we hope to develop
machines that are smart enough to
work alongside humans, assisting in
tasks where people could use a helping
hand,” said Dr. Ramamoorthy, who
earned his undergraduate degree in
Instrumentation and Electronics
Engineering from the University of
Bangalore.
He arrived at the University of
Edinburgh in 2007 and is now working
in the School of Informatics, the biggest
computer science department in Europe.

[ ] 1st issue of April 2013 5
New treats for Ray-Ravi fans
Flip through the poignant moments of Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and legendary filmmaker Satyajit
Ray’s personal and professional lives, captured brilliantly by eminent photojournalist Aloke Mitra
Acollection of about 250 pictures
of legendary filmmaker
Satyajit Ray and sitar
maestro Pandit Ravi
Shankar, freezing poignant moments
in their professional and personal lives,
compiled into two hardcovers, was
launched in Kolkata recently.
The books, called Ray and Ravi: The
Colours of the Sun contain photographs
by eminent photojournalist Aloke
Mitra and texts explaining the significance
of each photograph by noted
writer Shankarlal Bhattacharya.
Renowned film director Goutam
Ghose said the book on Ray was more
than an album, and could serve as a
“garland of memories”.
“Aloke Mitra followed Ray everywhere,
and because of his efforts we
can see the man shooting classics like
Nayak and Charulata. There are many
stories behind each photograph, that
are told in this book,” Ghose said.
Ray has a foreword by critically
acclaimed filmmaker Mrinal Sen, a
contemporary of Ray.
Ray is best known for his cult films
Pather Panchali, Nayaka, Aranyer Din
Ratri, Seemabaddhaa, Charulata and the
Feluda series.
Ray can be seen in conversation with
eminent doctor and then West Bengal
chief minister Bidhan Chandra Ray
and Ravi Shankar. There are also photographs
showing him directing
Bengali megastars Uttam Kumar,
Suchitra Sen, Utpal Dutt and Soumitra
Chatterjee.
According to Ray’s son, Sandip Ray,
the director of the current edition of
Feluda films, “Mitra has captured the
Garland of memories: The books, called ‘Ray’ and ‘Ravi: The Colours of the Sun’ contain photographs by eminent photojournalist Aloke Mitra.
Satyajit Ray can be seen in conversation with eminent doctor and then
West Bengal chief minister Bidhan Chandra Ray and Ravi Shankar.
There are also photographs showing him directing Bengali megastars
Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Utpal Dutt and Soumitra Chatterjee
Film festival on Pandit Ravi Shankar
A FOUR-DAY film festival cum photo
exhibition began in Kolkata on April
7 to pay tribute to sitar maestro Pandit
Ravi Shankar on his 93rd birth
anniversary.
During the festival seven movies —
including Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece
Pather Panchali and Richard
Attenborough’s Gandhi — to which
Ravi Shankar had given music were
screened at the city’s Nandan Theatre.
Inaugurating the fest, percussionist
and tabla player Tanmoy Bose recalled
his association with the music legend.
“Panditji believed that music has its
own language and all his music, be it
in films or otherwise, has stories in
them. His music would tell tales which
the film director could not put into
words,” said Bose.
The festival also showcased an exhibition
displaying the rarest pictures,
record covers, film booklets, posters
and paintings of the virtuoso.
golden era, which no one else has
shot before. The shooting of Charulata
and other masterpieces are precious
to me.”
With a preface by renowned
American violinist and conductor
Yehudi Menuhin, the second hardcover
Ravi: The Colours of the Sun shows
Pandit Ravi Shankar at the sitar, both
as a child and as an adult, his wives and
daughters and his various stage performances.
Percussionist Bickram Ghosh, who
performed with Shankar in numerous
concerts, said, “Pandit Ravi Shankar
was a playful person, and very curious.
He loved to play various roles, almost
like an actor.”
“The book has captured him assuming
those roles — he plays being a
Bengali, a Frenchman, and just having
fun. This is a stellar piece of work,”
Ghosh said.
ISRO to telecast Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra live
Devotees across the country
and abroad can watch the
famous Nanda Devi Raj Jaat
Yatra live on television, as the
Uttarakhand government has given
the direct telecast rights for the pilgrimage
to Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO).
The 19-day long Yatra, scheduled to
be held in August this year for the first
time after the creation of Uttarakhand,
will be telecast live by ISRO, said
state Science and Technology Minister
S.S. Negi.
ISRO has also constituted a team
headed by senior scientist Virendra
Kumar to oversee live coverage of the
event, also known as the Kumbh of the
Himalayas, Negi said.
Satellite terminals will be set up by
ISRO for live coverage along the
Chamoli route of the yatra which is
held every 12 years in Garhwal
Himalayas, he added.
The minister said ISRO will also
The Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra is held every 12 years in Garhwal, Uttarakhand.
The Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra, a 19-day-long trek through
some of the most tough terrains of the region, is being held for the
first time after Uttarakhand became a separate state in
November 2000, after the bifurcation of Uttar Pradesh
provide extended C-Band facility to
the state to ensure high-definition
audio and video quality in its coverage
of the event.
The yatra, a 19-day-long trek
through some of the most tough terrains
of the hill state, is being held for
the first time after Uttarakhand
became a separate state in November
2000 after the bifurcation of Uttar
Pradesh.
Covering a distance of 280 km, the
yatra symbolises the departure of
Nanda Devi, an incarnation of
Goddess Parvati, to the abode of Lord
Shiva who is believed to be residing in
the Himalayas.
The Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra is led
by a four-horned ram (male sheep).
The pilgrimage begins from Nauti village
near Karnaprayag in Chamoli district
at an altitude of 1,500 metres and
concludes on the 19th day at
Hemkund, located at a height of 4,950
metres.

[ ] 1st issue of April 2013 6
A tribute to ‘Jane Austen’ of India
Described by English writer-editor Ian Jack as the Jane Austen of India, award-winning novelist and
screenplay writer Ruth Prawar Jhabvala was known for her evocative novels of 19-20th century India
Award-winning novelist and
screenplay writer Ruth
Prawar Jhabvala’s novels were
full of rich colour and details
of India that she had adopted as her
homeland, and the people inhabiting
her books were like her — global citizens
juxtaposed against Indian society
and drawing on the commonalities and
the clash of cultures.
Jhabvala, 85, died on April 3 in her
Manhattan home of a pulmonary disorder,
long-time friend and associate
James Ivory told the media. She lived
in a modest apartment in Manhattan
decked up with books and the trophies
she brought home for her writing.
Jhabvala moved to India in the early
1950s following her remarriage to Parsi
architect Cyrus Jhabvala. The era with
its vestiges of the British Raj, the decadence
of the native royalty, the economic
gulf between the elite and the
masses, cultures, relationships across
multi-ethnic lines and lifestyles that
allowed the tradition and western modernism
to co-exist captured the literary
imagination of the young English literature
post-graduate from the
University of London.
Two of her iconic classics were The
Householder (1960) and Heat and Dust
(1975) that won the Booker Prize for
1975. Both of them were adapted into
movies by Merchant-Ivory
Productions, with whom she collaborated
for nearly 50 years for nearly twodozen
scripts.
The Householder is built around its
lead character Prem, who graduates
from a student to householder. It
Crossover Literature: Ruth Prewar Jhabvala with husband Cyrus.
Two of Jhabvala’s iconic classics were The Householder (1960) and
Heat and Dust (1975) that won the Booker Prize for 1975. Both of
them were adapted into movies by Merchant-Ivory Productions, with
whom she collaborated for two-dozen scripts over a period of nearly 50 years
chronicles his experiences — his crisis
of spiritual identity and matured independence
through a cast of characters
like Prem’s mother, wife, his high
school friends, the white folks in
India and their servant, who is Prem’s
landlord.
In Heat and Dust, Jhabvala looks at
two generations of impetuous Indo-
British women in the country who
become pregnant outside wedlock and
move to live in seclusion. The story is
told through a narrator, whose life takes
off on her English step-grandmother
Olivia who is charmed by a nawab and
flees his principality over a pregnancy
scandal.
The fair petite writer, born to a
German Jewish family in Cologne, was
influenced by the cultural milieu of
central Europe before the world wars.
“I am a central European with an
English education and a deplorable tendency
to constant self-analysis. I am
irritable and have weak nerves,” she
wrote in one of her short story anthologies,
How I Became the Holy Mother.
But her passion for central Europe
changed one evening as the family sat
on the terrace of their home. Her chequered
childhood was a source of deep
torment for the sensitive writer.
Says writer Janet Watts in The
Guardian, “Jhabvala never wrote of
her early life. She never spoke of it
in public, until 1979, when she
received the Nell Gunn International
fellowship and gave a public lecture in
Edinburgh. Her chosen subject was
disinheritance.”
“I stand before you as a writer without
any ground of being out of
which to write: really blown about
from country to country, culture to culture
till I feel - till I am - nothing,”
Watts quoted Jhabvala, “who liked it
that way” as saying.
Literature became Jhabvala’s shelter
— her world of creative expression to
pour our her angst and script a new
identity. She wrote eight anthologies of
short stories and more than a dozen
novels which also included Out of India,
Three Continents and My Nine Lives.
Jhabvala was honoured with several
awards including two Academy Awards
for the screenplays of The Room With A
View and Howards’ End, the Bafta award
for Heat and Dust, the O’Henry for
Refuge in London and the Writers’ Guild
of America award.
n News from The Nehru Centre
India’s Culture Minister
at TNC
THE NEHRU CENTRE organised
an interactive session between India’s
Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari
Katoch and a wide spectrum of Indian
cultural personalities from across the
UK on its premises on April 1. The
British Council, in consultation with
TNC, also organised a round-table
interaction for the Minister to which
the heads of various cultural institutions
as well as the British Culture
Minister were invited.
Minister Katoch was on a visit to
London from March 31 to April 3,
along with a three-member delegation
from the Indian Ministry of Culture.
During her stay, she inaugurated the
Tagore Centre established recently at
King’s College, London, and also took
the opportunity to interact with her
British counterpart and the heads of the
British Museum, V&A, British Library
and the British Council.
Exhibition: My Strokes by
Kariyappa Hanchinamani
THE NEHRU CENTRE opened a
fortnight-long exhibition called My
Strokes by Kariyappa Hanchinamani,
who had carried his exquisitely crafted
and visually arresting paintings all
the way from India, on April 2.
Kariappa believes that the possibilities
for innovation and creativity in the
field of art are endless.
Kariyappa’s work reflects the essence
of India’s cultural richness. Through
his artistic vision, he attempts to depict
India’s rural culture with the hope of
preventing it from spiralling into oblivion
and rejuvenating it. Using acrylic
colours on canvas, he attempts to
reflect the day-to-day life, customs and
culture of the rural folk of India with a
special focus on the southern state of
Karnataka where he was born and
brought-up. Over a period of time, he
has cultivated his own unique techniques
of brush stroke and knife stroke
which have paved the way for speed
and rhythm to merge in harmony. His
use of vibrant colours is an attempt to
truly reflect the original nature of the
subject.
The exhibition garnered an excellent
response from the art connoisseurs.
Dance: Rasa Vaibhava by
Deepa Srinath
TNC ORGANISED a dance performance
‘Rasa Vaibhava’ by Deepa
Srinath on April 11. A disciple of
Guru Radha Sridhar of Bangalore,
Deepa began her performance by presenting
traditional Bharatanatyam
dance pieces and ended her performance
with the main piece — a solo
dance feature called Navarasas. Based
on the epic Valmiki Ramayana, the
Navarasas portray the nine basic
human emotions. Using Sanskrit
verses for dialogues, and using props
to aid dancing, this dance feature
blended neo-Bharatnatyam and traditional
mythology into a choreographed
storytelling.
Deepa connecst herself to laymen
and connoisseurs alike while performing.
She is also a trained Carnatic
classical musician.

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[ ] 1st Issue of April 2013 8
While away your time
fishing, go boating on
the traditional vallam,
meditate beside the
backwaters, and when
tired, take a cool siesta
in the lap of nature...
that’s Kumarakom for
you — a serene
backwater destination
in Kerala
When nature
is all you need
Vembanad Lake
A RIDE in a canoe becomes a canoe
ride only if it is accompanied by loud
renditions of a boat song. Mind you,
it cannot be any song. It has to be a
boat song or a fisherman song keeping
pace with the rhythm of the oars.
Here we go:
Thi thi thara
thi thi thaeiy
thi thaeiy
thaga thai thai tho
The Canoe (VaLLam)
Ride
WE (HUBBY, OUR SON AND I)
set off early from Kodianthara Heritage
Home, walking along the canal towards
the wharf in one of the larger waterways
leading into the Vembanad lake. The
canal is, in turn, connected to smaller
waterways. Much like in Venice. Only
we are in Kumarakom in Kerala’s
Kottayam district.
We had asked for an oar-driven, traditional
canoe and had refused all offers
of a speedy motorboat. We want a real
experience, not a touristy one, we had
said. Like ‘A Day in the Life of a
Kumarakomite Fisherman’.
The 15-foot vallam is a quiet example
of elegance mainly because of the
simplicity and economy of its design.
Created to seat six to eight people, its size
allows it to glide even through choppy
waters. Once in, we set sail with loud
battle cries as we charge towards imaginary
battles with BIG GAME. “How big
are sharks,” asks my son, on his first trip
to sea (OK, a lake — but it is a very large
lake: 7 kms long and 5 kms across).
“Very BIG,” I answer, with the conviction
of a seasoned fisherwoman.
As we pick up chunks of flotsam,
households on the river bank are waking
up. A woman is cleaning dishes and occasionally
lifting a fishing rod under her feet
to see if it has managed to trap any fish.
“There’s no harm keeping an eye out for
fish. Who knows you may get a lucky
catch for lunch,” informs one of the pair
of Sinuous Muscles (Let’s call them SM
I and II for convenience’s sake.)
The LobsTeR
WE MOVE into the deeper waters of
the lake and then curve back to land at a
quiet eatery on the banks. We have to
order lunch before we move on, says SM
II, who has become our guide by now.
As we alight, we notice a lobster in the
water along the bank.
The owner of the shop strolls out and
smiles when we enquire about his pet
lobster. The lobster was caught in the
morning and was actually inside a net. It
hasn’t swum away because it couldn’t,
he said, lifting the net holding the lobster.
He offers to fry the lobster for us.
We settle nearby and stuff our hooks
with mashed tapioca. The three of us
drop our lines and wait and wait and
wait. No sign of a tug. Instead, the clever
fish are nudging the tapioca out of the
hook and having a feast.
As I watch my umpteenth bait being
hogged down there with much relish,
the lobster arrives on a plate. My companions
refuse my half-hearted offer to
share it. “How can you eat so soon after
breakfast,” someone remarks. I decide
no time is a bad time for lobsters.
How to Reach:
n Kumarakom is approximately a
two-hour drive from Cochin
International Airport.
n Buses and taxis are easily available
at all times of the day from
Kottayam and Cochin. Kottayam
serves as the closest railway station,
located at a distance of about 16
km from Kumarakom.
n Cochin International Airport at
Nedumbassery is the closest airport
at a distance of 85 km.
Kumarakom is also accessible by
boat from Alaphuzza, which is
another major tourist destination
of Kerala.
What to See:
n Kumarakom is the right mix of
activity and relaxation. Visit the
Vembanad Lake, Water Bird
Sanctuary, Bay Island, Driftwood
Museum and Aruvikkuzhi
Waterfalls
moVing To hookhappy
Fish
SINCE THE fish here are very smart,
we decide to move to Pathira Manal
(Midnight Sands), an island in the
Vembanad, in search of foolish fish. The
new venue is a cool spot under a huge
nutmeg tree. Here, the fish are slightly
bigger. SM II assures us they are dumb
with a conviction that betrays foul play.
So we begin the waiting game again.
These fish are better “nudgers” than the
ones we’ve left behind. As we are leaving,
SMII puts his hand into the water and
comes up with a sardine. It’s that easy!
Weeding ouR Way
baCk home
On our way back, the wind is quite
strong. We notice that we are not going
back the way we had come. Instead we
are hugging the sides and inching
towards one of the many canals pouring
into the lake. The only problem is
that the canal is laden with weeds. One
of the boat boys move the African Payal
weeds from the path while all of us oar
our way out of the muddle. In the middle
of this arduous trek, a half-dead egret
lands on our boat. Its neck is turned
down and it is seeking refuge in a corner
under the bow. When we pluck it out
of there, it doesn’t even try to fly.
Something is definitely wrong. This
bird is not well. It doesn’t want to move.
As I peer at the bird, I realise I had the
answer to one of the unanswerables shot
at me by my four-year-old once: “Mama,
where do birds go to die?” I had the
answer finally: They find stupid boats
stuck in weed jams to die in.
Disclaimer: India Digest gathers its contents from diverse sources and the views expressed in interviews and articles published do not necessarily represent
the views of the High Commission or the Government of India.
Printed and published by the Press & Information Wing, High Commission of India, India House, Aldwych, London WC2B 4NA. Tel: 0207 632 3005 . Fax: 0207 632 3204.
Email: couns.pd@hcilondon.in Website: www.hcilondon.in