Newsletter, December 2009 and January - February 2010

		Editorial Dear members and friends, The EuroIndia Centre is in the process of undergoing a reformation in keeping with the needs of changing times. In consonance with the critical importance the world attaches to climate change in the context of global warming, the Centre has decided to add the adjective 'green' to its traditional acronym of 'flying a KITE.' The implications of going green are substantive. The Centre, now, seeks to lay considerable emphasis on promotion of green technologies. Green Technologies have myriad manifestations in relation to observance of international standards related to ambient air quality, use of renewable sources of Energy, improving energy efficiency, Harjit S. Anand Co-President dual piping for bathrooms & toilets, water harvesting, improved sewage treatment plants, dual technology vehicles, 'efficient' industrial plants and 'green buildings' with zero carbon emissions. It is these manifestations which the EuroIndia Centre is in the process of developing into a measurable scale. This is an exciting journey which the Centre is undertaking with experts to bring objectivity in assessment of positive change in the context of reduction of carbon emissions over a given period. As a dynamic manifestation of the EuroIndia Centre's thrust on 'green outcomes' resulting from adoption of frontier 'green technologies,' the Centre has decided to institute the Environmentally Sustainable City Award (ESCA). It is intended that the ESCA will be awarded to one European and one Indian City every year on the basis of City entries adjudged by an International Jury. The technical parameters being currently developed will be submitted for review to the International Jury and consequent to their finalisation, they will be used for adjudication of entries submitted by various cities. Each City entering the competition will also be required to indicate the company, technical institute or NGO which played a significant role in assisting it to reduce carbon emissions within its jurisdiction between two points of time. The main organization assisting an award-winning City will also be given the ESCA as a 'partner in change' for a better future. The EuroIndia Centre has also decided to set up a EuroIndia Urban Sustainability Innovation Fund in this regard. In this manner, the Centre seeks to focus the spotlight at the operational level of Cities in the international drive to reduce carbon emissions on Earth. Thus, the Centre will strive to make this international drive a people's movement in keeping with the goal of 'Vasundhara Kutumbakam' or 'One Earth, One Family!'   Yours sincerely, Harjit S. Anand Co-President June 2010: Mission to Madrid and Paris planned on "Affordable green housing". Interested Indian parties are invited to report their interest to girish. girish.bhagat@the-euroindia-centre.org	Vantage Point     The budget fails to tackle inflation and promote reforms [click here for more]      Politics and Economy     Local bodies such as municipalities and village councils should be given as much as 2.5% of Central tax revenues, the Thirteenth Finance Commission has recommended, thus providing them with stable and increasing income to offer services to citizens. [click here for more]       Policy & Regulations     The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has relaxed the norms under Press Note 1, under which a foreign company needs to seek approval from its domestic partner in a joint venture in the country, before investing in the same sector. [click here for more]      Green Kite Monitor   A quarterly monitor of interesting and informative news items on: Knowledge Industry and business Tourism Urban Excellence [click here for more]      Article Alert   Links to recent articles of interest to our readers Knowledge Industry and business Urban Excellence [click here for more]      Memberspeak   India's Real Estate Boom Is On Shaky Ground by Devita Saraf and Prathima Manohar [click here for more]

The EuroIndia Sphere   Welcome new Members : Institutional members: Welcome PromoMadrid, a regional government-owned company, with the purpose of promoting and developing the Region of Madrid internationally from an economic perspective. For more details   [click here] Welcome to Leuven, a dynamic knowledge and heritage City in Belgian Flanders, after their participation in our last Valladolid EuroIndia City Summit. For more details   [click here] Individual members: Saira Alam, Ph.D. Student in the field of Indo-German research, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany Diana Beaulieu-Milisaljevic, DBM Consulting, Paris, France Chastang Emmanuel, Professor English Language and Editor, Nīmes, France Ajith Kaliath, Urban & Regional Planner, Doctoral Candidate, Queen's University, Belfast, UK Trivan Mathur, Managing Partner of Anchor International Investment, Switzerland Heta Pandit, journalist, write and heritage conservation expert, Mumbai/Goa, India Marc Parent, Head of foreign fiction and non fiction, Editions Buchet Chastel, Paris, France Centre News : Events: January Elaboration of our Green KITE Strategy. For more details   [click here] Co-president Colette Mathur and Philip Petit met with IPCC/GIEC in Geneva to invite them to join our pool of urban environment protection experts February Our Spanish office has opened in Casa de la India with the support of member-city Valladolid. It is headed by Elke Van der Wald. It will endeavour to develop exchanges between India and Spain at the local level and develop our membership network in Spain. For its references,   [click here] Secretary General's mission to Paris, Brussels and Leuven to meet: In Paris: Ambassador of India in France, Ministry of Sustainable Development (MEEDDM), Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris, Paris EuroPlace, HEC Business School Alumni Association, Paritech Association of Alumni of Engineering Schools, Paris Development, Municipality of Paris, Board members, European Urban Security Forum, IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations). In Brussels: European Committee of the Regions, VVSG (Association of the Flemish cities of Belgium) In Leuven: The Municipality Visit of SG and Mady Tissot, Summit coordinator, to Halle in connection with the 4th EuroIndia Summit and participation in the German Indian Round Table on renewable energies. In Berlin, SG met with IPCC/GIEC Group III, dealing with Mitigation Climate Change and the Ambassador of India in Germany. Secretary (India), Girish Bhagat, chaired a session on the Complexities of Urban Development during the World Conference on Tall Buildings Urban Habitat (CTBUH) 2010 on 'Remaking Sustainable Cities in the vertical age'. Earlier, he was inducted in the Management Committee of Remaking of Mumbai Federation (ROMF), co-sponsor of the above event. Co-President Dr. Anand met the Ambassador of Spain to review our Spanish operations. Filing of an application with the European Commission for funding a Cooperation Project: "From pilot to sustainable towns: satellite cities and metropolitan governance", in partnership with ENTP (European New Towns Platform). Our strategic partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry has been extended after the success of our joint 3rd EuroIndia City Summit-cum-mission in Valladolid, Madrid and Paris. Board member Guillermo Rodriguez (Managing Director of Casa de la India) was directly involved in the promotion of the Spanish film festival in India (Delhi-Chennai 16-21 March)   [click here] Casa de la India (G.Rodriguez) cooperated with the Embassy of India in Spain, the University of member city Valladolid and other entities in the organization of the 1st Academic Meeting on Indian Studies which took place in Valladolid at the 12th of February 2010   [click here] Secretary (India) Girish Bhagat was inducted in the Management Committee of Remaking of Mumbai Federation (ROMF). Member Narinder Nayar, Chairman Bombay First, gave the welcome addresss at a lecture programme entitled Housing Supply, Affordability and Land Use Regulation and Planning: Lessons from the UK. The lecture programme, held on February 8th at the University Convocation Hall, was arranged by Bombay First, in collaboration with the Wolfensohn Center for Development and the Rockerfeller Foundation and supported by The Collaborating Chambers and the MMRDA.   [click here] March Founding member Deepak Parekh to head panel on slum redevelopment: HDFC Bank chairman heads an eight-member independent expert panel that has been asked to give its recommendations on the draft guidelines of the ambitious Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a scheme to make India slum-free prepared by the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry.

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