Consulate General of India, Vancouver www.cgivancouver.org
Vol. 02, Issue No. 11 March 16, 2018.
India in Vancouver Weekly Newsletter
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. 11, March 16, 2018.
Consulate News Consular Corps of British Columbia Meetup in Victoria – (March 12, 2018) Consul General Mrs. Abhilasha Joshi attended the Consular Corps of British Columbia meetup in Victoria on March 12, 2018. Consul Generals from over 40 countries participated in the event and were welcomed by Hon’ble Bruce Ralston, Minister for Jobs, Trade and Technology, Provincial Government of British Columbia. India and British Columbia share growing trade ties with unique business and cultural opportunities for each other. Honorable Bruce Ralston, Minister for Jobs, Trade and Tech, Honorable Lisa Beare, Minister for Tourism Arts and Culture and Dy Minister Dave Nikolejsin, Energy, Mines and Petro Resources of BC briefed the Consular Corps about BC’s cultural and economic ties to countries around the world.
Important Trade Fairs in India – To know more, click on Admission notice for foreign nationals/OCI/PIO/NRIs (“Post Graduate Diploma in Forestry Management” at Indian Institute of Forestry Management, Bhopal for the academic year 2018-19) M/o Environment, Forest & Climate Change intimated that w.e.f. the academic year 2018-19, Indian Institute of Forestry Management, Bhopal - an autonomous Institution of the M/oEF is offering admission to foreign nationals/OCI/PIO/NRIs to its flagship programme “Post-Graduation Diploma in Forestry Management" which is approved by AICTE and is equivalent to Master Degree on the Self Finance basis. A total number of 24 seats are available for foreign nationals/OCI/PIO/NRIs and for Children of Indian Workers in Gulf countries as per details enclosed. The candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree in any discipline with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA awarded by any recognized University. The last date of receipt of applications at IIFM, Bhopal is 30/5/2018. Please click here for details of admission criteria, fees etc... For more details please visit: www.iifm.ac.in/admission 1|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 11, March 16, 2018.
Human Resource Development for Health Research (HRD Scheme) The Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India is administering a Scheme for ‘Human Resource Development for Health Research’ (HRD Scheme) which is intended to create a pool of talented health research personnel in the country by upgrading skills of faculty of medical colleges by specialized training in priority areas of health research. The scheme also has a separate component specifically for emerging young scientists and Non-resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO), Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) serving abroad in health research activities so that they can come back to India for undertaking research in identified areas. 2. As part of the Scheme, Non-Resident Indians, will be provided Stipend/ Salary and Rs. 1 Crore grant for 5 years. This Scheme provides an opportunity for these persons/ Faculty to return to India and pursue research in any Institute across India. 3. The priority areas of research identified for the Scheme include Toxicology, Genomics, Proteomics, Geriatrics, Stem Cell Research, Clinical Trials, Good Clinical Practices (GCP), Biotechnology, Genetics, Operational Research, Health Informatics, Medical Ethics, Health Economics and any other area that needs support as per National Health Policy. 4. The detailed guidelines regarding eligibility criteria, financial components including the formats of application are available on www.dhr.gov.in. 5. Click here to read short write up of the scheme.
Cultural – Heritage Tourism in India Champaner-Pavagarh Archaeological Park (2004), Gujarat Champaner is located at a distance of 50 km from Baroda and at the foothill of the Pavagadh hill in Gujarat. The Pavagadh hill composed of reddish-yellow colored stone formation is one of the oldest rock formations in India. The hill rises to a height of nearly 800 m from the mean sea level. Pavagadh hill was a famous Hindu fortress under the Solanki kings of Gujarat followed by Khichi Chauhans. In 1484, Sultan Mahmud Begarah took possession of the fort and renamed it Muhammadabad. These monuments are located on the Mauliya plateau, which is situated on the hill. The earliest temple datable to 10th – 11th century is dedicated to Lakulisa of which only gudhamandapa and antarala is extant. Other temples belong to Hindu and Jaina sects and are datable to circa 13th – 15th centuries A.D. All the temples are of the Nagara style having garbhagriha, mandapa and an entrance porch. The historical monuments at Champaner consist of a series of fortifications, some of which originate on the hill top and end on the plains. The fortification is consisted of massive sandstones with intermediate bastions with beautiful balconies. Out of the massive ruins, five mosques are still in good condition. The most important among them is the Jama Masjid which is located 50 east of the royal enclosure. The structures represent a perfect blend of Hindu-Moslem architecture, mainly in the Great Mosque (Jami Masjid), which was a model for later mosque architecture in India. This special style comes from the significant period of regional sultanates. Champaner-Pavagarh Archaeological Park entered the UNESCO world heritage list in 2004.
2|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 11, March 16, 2018.
News from India 1. India’s rising stature as a solar power India, along with France, hosted the first International Solar summit on March 11 in New Delhi, a major milestone in India’s rise as a leader in the renewable energy sector. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of forming an International Solar Alliance (ISA) was well received during the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris in November 2015, eventually leading to the creation of a Gurugram-based United Nations treaty body, registered under article 102 of the UN charter, on December 6, 2017. With 60 countries signing the ISA agreement and 26 ratifying it so far, the idea has gained currency especially among developing countries in the Global South that are yet to achieve the desired economic development, for which energy security is an inevitable driver. The ambitious plan put forth by ISA for 2030 is to galvanize investments worth $1 trillion for harnessing solar energy. Read more… (Chithra Purushothaman, The Diplomat, Wed, 14 Mar, 05:01pm)
2. Indian solar sector raises whopping USD 10 bn in 2017, says report Indian solar sector attracted over USD 10 billion investment in 2017 as compared to USD 4 billion in the previous year, clean energy research firm Mercom Capital said today. Solar funding grew last year as approximately 9.6 GW of solar installations were added to the grid. The corporate funding (VC/PE, public market, and debt) raised by solar companies in 2017 totalled USD 3.6 billion and accounted for 28 per cent of the global total. Read more… (PTI, New Delhi, Financial Express, March 13, 2018 5:52 PM)
3. India becomes home to world’s largest solar park India is taking strides to switch to renewable energy across varied sectors. Amongst other green initiatives, the recently inaugurated ‘Shakti Sthala’ solar park in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district (south India), made the country home to the world’s largest solar park. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India will be the fastest growing energy consumer and market by 2040, resulting in the need for increased use of renewable energy. The country has positioned itself distinctively with its target of achieving enough renewable energy projects over the next three years to surpass 200 gigawatts of green capacity. One such project to advance towards this goal was recently inaugurated at Pavagada in Tumakuru district, Karnataka (south India) – a solar park worth INR 165 billion. Read more… (Arachika Kapoor, Media India Group, Fri, 09 Mar, 04:20pm)
4. Indian Tech Workers Heading to Canada Canada approved 4,400 applications until Dec. 31, 2017 under the Global Skill Strategy program that was launched on June 12 last year, according to data from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the agency that issues work permits to foreign nationals, the Hindustan Times reported. Over a third of these applications were from Indian nationals, employed mainly in the field of information technology (IT), making India the single largest source country of foreign employees, followed by China, the report added. Read more… (Little India, Thu, 15 Mar, 11:39am)
5. Nari Shakti in new India Women are not just participating in the development story, they are leading it. Since the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) in 2015, loans worth Rs 2.1 lakh crore have been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs. With 76 per cent of the beneficiaries being women, Mudra is an emancipator for women who are breaking shackles, establishing enterprises. Read more… (Meenakshi Lekhi, The Indian Express, March 8, 2018 12:57 am)
6. India's IT sector is recruiting more women and giving them leadership roles: Nasscom Gender gap plagues the world of business all over. In India, too, the sorry representation of women in almost all walks of life has been discussed and debated at length. Not only is there an employment gap, but a wide disparity in pay as well. But, a ray of hope has emerged. India’s IT industry — a traditionally male-dominated sector — seems to be slowly yet surely closing the gender gap, according to Nasscom’s Women and IT Scorecard – India, launched in association with UK’s Open University. The scorecard states that India’s IT sector is recruiting and retaining more women and assigning them more leadership roles. Nasscom estimates that nearly 60 percent of Indian IT firms have 20 percent women at the C-Suite level. Companies reported a 4.5 percent higher proportion of young women aged between 30 and 35 in C-Suite roles than men in the same age group. On an average, women at this level are more qualified than their male counterparts, with a majority of them holding a Master’s or a PhD degree. There are more women than men in CXO and international roles too.... (Sohini Mitter, Your Story, Wed, 14 Mar, 04:44pm)
7. Manufacturing change: Meet some of the hard-hatted women on India Inc's shop-floors More and more women are breaking into the rough and tumble of a factory floor and proving themselves to be equals. For nearly two years since 2013, Pratixa Kher, now 27, marshalled an all-male crew to conduct blasts at Hindustan Zinc’s open-cast mine at Rampura Agucha in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district. Read more… (Kathakali Chanda, Forbes, Sat, 10 Mar, 04:47pm)
3|P a g e
Vol. 02, Issue. 11, March 16, 2018. 8. Avani becomes first-ever Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo, that too a MiG-21 Growing up in a small town named Deolond near Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, Avani Chaturvedi never in her wildest dreams imagined she would one day become the first-ever Indian woman to break the sound barrier with resounding sonic booms in a supersonic fighter all alone. But Avani, who likes to play the violin and paint, has done precisely that to create history. Among the first three women fighter pilots being trained by the IAF, shattering the deep-rooted combat-exclusion policy for their gender in the Indian armed forces, Avani flew a 30-minute solo sortie in a MiG-21 at the Jamnagar airbase on Monday afternoon. Read more… (Rajat Pandit, TNN, The Times of India, Feb 22, 2018, 09:41 IST)
9. ISRO's Mangala Mani and her expedition to Antarctica as the only woman scientist Last December, a small team of exhausted, but elated, ISRO scientists landed at Rajiv Gandhi International airport, sans fanfare and media hype. The team had successfully completed a 403-day expedition at India’s research station, Bharathi in Antarctica and the lone woman in the group Managala Mani had every reason to cheer. The first Polar Woman from ISRO, who’s ‘overwintered’ was selected to be featured by BBC’s ‘100 women Challenge’ for their series on Women in Science. Read more… (S B Vijaya Mary, The Hindu, Wed, 14 Mar, 04:53pm)
10. Vanitha Narayanan: The technology leader Vanitha Narayanan, chairman IBM has been at the helm of affairs for nine years. Under Narayanan, one of the few women to have led a technology company in the country, IBM India managed to flourish and grow. Leading a technology company in India has not been an easy task, especially with competition intensifying in the field. She had little time to spare in the last few years but her hard work paid off and India is considered one of the fastest growing markets for the company. Read more… (Mahua Venkatesh, Business World, Fri, 09 Mar, 12:31pm)
11. Saharanpur girl's paid crypto app is one of Apple's most popular MEERUT: Sixteen-year-old Saharanpur girl Harshita Arora's app that updates users about price fluctuations in more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies in 32 countries has become one of the most sought-after paid apps on Apple’s App Store. What's more, she launched it only on January 28 this year. Read more… (Sandeep Rai, TNN, The Times of India, Feb 23, 2018, 23:26 IST)
0 15th Exhibition and Conference on Smart & Sustainable City Solutions 12. The
The 15th Exhibition and Conference on Smart & Sustainable City Solutions is being organized by Municipalika in Mumbai from 19-21 September 2018. Alongside Municipalika are co-located shows: CAPEx – focused on Innovative Building Materials & Technologies, and IIPM – India’s first B2B show on real estate, together constituting the Future Cities Mega Show. More details of Municipalika + CAPEx + IIPM are available on: http://municipalika.com/
http://www.iipm.asia/
India in Vancouver News or advertisements under this section is/are/may be third party(ies). Consulate General of India does not modify any third party(ies) content. CGI circulates the contents in newsletter based on request of concerned third party(ies).
****************
4|P a g e