Consulate General of India, Vancouver www.cgivancouver.org
Vol. 02, Issue No. 17 April 27, 2018.
India in Vancouver Weekly Newsletter
Follow us for latest updates
India Perspectives India Perspectives is the flagship publication of the Ministry of External Affairs. Richly illustrated, this magazine provides our readers with an insight into India’s culture and tradition along with elements of contemporary India. Click here to read more‌. Ministry of External Affairs, India
Follow us on:
Vol. 02, Issue. 17, April 27, 2018.
Consulate News
1|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 17, April 27, 2018.
Consul General Mrs. Abhilasha Joshi and Consul CPV Mr. Amar Jit Singh attended the Farewell Reception of Her Honour Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon at Government House Victoria on 23 April 2018.
Consul General Mrs. Abhilasha Joshi attended the Installation Ceremony of new Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Her Honour Janet Austin at the BC Legislature, Victoria on 24 April 2018.
Important Trade Fairs in India – To know more, click on Easter – Vishu Celebrations Organized by Vancouver Malayalee Samajam – April 22, 2018 Vancouver Malayalee Samajam organized Easter – Vishu Celebrations on Sunday April 22, 2018 at Faith Lutheran Church Hall, Surrey. Mr. Jasbir Singh, Consul and Head of Chancery, Consulate General of India, Vancouver attended the ceremony and delivered a felicitation speech. The glimpse of the ceremony can be seen in below photos.
2|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 17, April 27, 2018.
3|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 17, April 27, 2018.
Cultural – Heritage Tourism in India Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra The Elephanta Caves (180 56’ 20” N; 720 55’ 50” E), taluka Uran, district Raigad is located on island hills about 11 km north-east of the Apollo Bandar, Mumbai and 7 km from the shore of the mainland, approximately covering an area of 7 km in circumference. The island is named after a colossal elephant found in the island, which is popularly known as ‘Gharapuri’. At present, the statue of elephant is housed at Jijamata Garden in Mumbai. In ancient period, the place is variously identified as Puri which is mentioned in the Aihole inscription of Pulakesin II. It seems, different dynasties held their sway over this island, namely, the Konkan-Mauryas, Trikutakas, Chalukyas of Badami, Silaharas, Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Yadavas of Deogiri, Muslim rulers of Ahmedabad and then by the Portuguese. The Marathas also had this island under their control and from them it passed into the control of the British. There are seven cave excavations in the Elephanta group and these are datable from circa 6th – 7th centuries A.D. Among the cave excavations, the Cave 1 is the most impressive which represents the evolved Brahmanical rock-cut architecture. The cave is also famous for the exquisite and vibrant sculptures. On plan it almost resembles the Dumar Lena (Cave 29) of Ellora. The cave has a main entrance on the north with two other openings on the east and west respectively and a central hall with six rows of pillared columns, six in each row except on the western corner, where a shrine of lingam is provided. Elephanta Caves (1987), Maharashtra entered the UNESCO world heritage list in 1987.
News from India 1. HRD ministry launches 2nd edition of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan The HRD ministry on Wednesday launched the second edition of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan under which students from 750 higher educational institutions from across the country will adopt villages and visit them to get acquainted with lifestyle of people there and the problems faced by them. The minister advised the students to involve local village people at every stage of problem identification and solving issues relating to health, cleanliness, waste management, plantation, financial inclusion, women and child development. The mission involves students from colleges and universities will go to nearby villages to get acquainted with the life of village people and the problems faced by them in day-to-day life. Students are the real agents of change who can develop, empower and brighten the future of the country, Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said while addressing the launch ceremony. Read more… (DD News, 26-04-2018, 9:17 am)
2. This is what the world is purchasing from India a lot, and it will cheer up engineers Even as India’s exports remained muted despite the global economy performing well, the data show that the world is pretty interested in purchasing India’s engineering goods. India’s exports are dominated by engineering goods and constituted 24% of the total goods exports in the financial year 2016-17, a report by Deloitte said. Read more… (FE Online, April 26, 2018 4:13 PM)
3. Cabinet approves restructured bamboo mission with outlay of Rs 1,290 cr (Approx 193.5M USD) The government today approved a restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) with an outlay of Rs 1,290 crore for two years, a move aimed at benefiting one lakh farmers, said an official release. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Centrally Sponsored Scheme of NBM under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) during remaining period of 14th Finance Commission (2018-19 and 2019-20), it said. “The Mission is expected to establish about 4,000 treatment/product development units and bring more than 1,00,000 ha area under plantation,” the release said. Read more… (PTI, April 25, 2018 2:29 PM)
4|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 17, April 27, 2018. 4. India highest recipient of remittances at $69 bn India retained the top position as recipient of remittances with its diaspora sending about USD 69 billion back home last year, the World Bank said today.Remittances to India picked up sharply by 9.9 per cent, reversing the previous year’s dip, but were still short of USD 70.4 billion received in 2014.In its latest Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank estimated that officially recorded remittances to low-and middle-income countries reached USD 466 billion in 2017.This was an increase of 8.5 per cent over USD 429 billion in 2016. Read more… (PTI, The Hindu, Tue, 24 Apr, 02:24pm)
5. India Success Story: E-Commerce Booming as India Becomes Frontrunner in Online Shopping Growth India’s place in the global economy seems to be getting stronger by the day. Not only are international companies more and more inclined to tap into India’s vast internal market, as the country’s population surpasses 1.3 billion people, but India also shows great flexibility in integrating market focus shifts as consumers adapt to technological developments. India has really taken its place among e-commerce markets worldwide, as online commerce is the country’s fastest-growing sector, reaching a 51% annual growth rate – the highest across the globe. E-commerce is estimated to catapult from $30 billion in 2016 to four times that size in 2020, reaching $120 billion in value. Read more… (Catch News 21 April 2018)
6. India's growth rate best among Brics India has been recording the highest growth rate among the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) economies, a KPMG report said here on Thursday. According to the report entitled "India Soars Higher", in spite of some reformative steps that slowed the growth momentum in the first quarter of FY18, the economy is likely to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2018, higher than the advanced economies and the world, which are at 2 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively. The report highlighted that India's economic stability is further reinforced with its approximately $420 billion (as on February 9, 2018) foreign exchange reserves, which provides sufficient cover for almost 11 months of imports for India. Read more… (IANS, Khaleej Times, Fri, 20 Apr, 03:41pm)
7. Manika Batra, India's star at 2018 CWG, recommended for Arjuna Award The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) recommended the 2018 Commonwealth Games star Manika Batra for the prestigious Arjuna Award on Friday. Manika became a sensation as she led the Indian women's team to their first-ever Gold medal against four-time defending champion Singapore in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast. On top of that, she won a Gold (another first) in the women's singles, a silver medal in women's doubles and a Bronze in mixed doubles. With four medals, Manika finished as the most successful Indian in Gold Coast. Read more… (IndiaToday.in, New Delhi, April 20, 2018, 19:59 IST)
8. India’s youngest panchayat pradhan among country’s 100 influential women The youngest panchayat pradhan of Himachal Pradesh, Jabna Chauhan, has yet again added another feather to her cap by figuring among the country’s top 100 influential women. She will be honoured in New Delhi on April 30. Pradhan of remote Tharjon panchayat in Seraj assembly constituency that has five villages with a population of3,000, Jabna Chauhan (24), a graduate, has been instrumental in working for the upliftment of her panchayat and empowering women. An elated Jabna Chauhan told The Statesman that she was informed through e-mail that she has been selected among the top 100 influential women in India by an organisation Women Innovators. Read more… (Bhawani Negi, Shimla, April 23, 2018 6:27 pm)
9. Indian scientist finds way to see wormholes in space-time A wormhole is a theoretical passage that cuts through space-time, which could create shortcuts for long journeys across the universe. Indian physicist Rajibul Shaikh from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has determined that a certain class of rotating wormholes, which may be used for space-time travel, cast a specific “shadow.” The shadow is a dark area, which surrounds the wormhole and could be accessible to direct observation, Dr. Shaikh wrote in an article whose pre-print has been published in the arXiv repository. Wormholes distort space-time, creating a tunnel which could allow future starships to zip across the galaxy faster than the speed of light. Read more… (Sputnik News, Fri, 20 Apr, 08:17am)
10. Two women scientists win ICRISAT’s highest scientific award for their research The Doreen Margaret Mashler Award is presented for top research and this year, two women take home the prize for their amazing research, The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) awarded its highest award for research, The Doreen Margaret Mashler Award for 2018, to two Indian scientists—Dr Mamta Sharma and Dr Pooja BhatnagarMathur—for their work in the fields of plant pathology and biotechnology, respectively. Read more… (Ahmed Sherrif, The Better India, Thu, 19 Apr, 03:28pm)
************* 5|P a g e