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Dear Member, Reader
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2007 was a year of reckoning for the Centre with the passing away of our beloved founder co-president, Mr Raymond Barre, and the success of the first EuroIndia Forum in Goa that he had envisioned, leaving the onus on us to prove in 2008 that the bold choice we made to tread the uncharted path of the city-to-city dialogue between Europe and India gets fully vindicated.
Looking back in history, the Euro-Indian bond was the strongest when cities would freely trade with one another with hardly any political or regulatory interference. In the process, they prospered immensely and had an enduring and positive influence on both sides through the exchange of new ideas, products and technologies.
We believe that we can help bring about this golden age again soon. The advent of economic reforms at the federal level in 1991 opened the Indian economy to the World with tremendous success. Entrepreneurship is now driving India's international engagement. The federal and federate States had no option but to reform. Now is the turn of Indian cities to follow suit.
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Colette Mathur
Executive Co-President
Jamshyd Godrej
Executive Co-President
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In hindsight, 2006 will prove a watershed in this respect as for the first time since 1947, an Indian government has acknowledged that India needs efficient and liveable cities. From a necessary evil to be exploited for the benefit of the rural heartland, cities are now perceived as an essential engine of growth which needs strong support, hence the path-breaking Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
The task ahead for Indian cities is gigantic. Like our founding co-President, Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, we believe that it will be made that much easier if Indian cities can imbibe the wealth of proven expertise that European cities have accumulated under similar trying circumstances after the second world war.
This provides Europe and India with an historical opportunity to ignite a new and potentially huge field for co-operation. European cities would in the process open up new avenues for technical co-operation on urban issues and new market opportunities for their specialised companies and attract Indian investment, tourism and top-end knowledge.
It would a great honour if our Centre could facilitate and accelerate the momentum of this give and take process between cities. One more successful EuroIndia Forum followed by a spate of direct exchanges through field visits or a dedicated website would put the Centre in good stead to play this eminent role on a sustainable basis.
In the process our Centre could become the congenial place of dialogue of our dream for an ever expanding club of like-minded Europeans and Indians who wish to engage in a free, friendly and fruitful dialogue in order to bring about a new Euro-Indian golden age.
Together we can fulfil this ambition. The Forum needs your active participation. Our three months old newsletter is waiting to publish your Euro-Indian views and actions and to register the new subscribers suggested by you. We also expect your co-opting select new members who will strengthen our cause and institution.
I call upon your help to make it happen at the Forum in Goa!
Please accept our best wishes to you and your family to you and your family on our personal behalf and on behalf of the Centre.
Thank you for your renewed support and your faith in our Euro-India destiny,
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Yours sincerely,
Colette Mathur
Executive Co-President
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Jamshyd Godrej
Executive Co-President
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2008 Forum in Goa and Delhi (3-7 April)
To ensure entry, please register without delay through:
http://www.the-euroindia-centre.org
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Vantage Point |
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On January 10, Tata Motors, showed off the world's cheapest car. The car, which has been christened Nano, is a four door, four seater car that has been completely developed.
[click here for more] |
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Policy & Regulations |
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The government is currently formulating a Gas Utilisation Policy. The gas utilization policy is likely to accord priority to the fertilizer , petrochemical , existing power plants and city gas distribution projects.
[click here for more] |
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Markets |
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India's annual beverages consumption at around 145 billion litres constitutes ten percent of the global consumption of beverages.
[click here for more] |
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Foreign Investment |
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The Cavern, an engineering marvel and first of its kind in South and South-East Asia, has been dug in solid hard rock to store LPG at 162 M below mean sea level (MSL).
[click here for more] |
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Trade
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Many prominent Indian companies that have located their operations in the Netherlands. Among them are Indian-owned business houses such as Laxmi Mittal and a host of Indian IT companies, pharma companies and Suzlon Energy, Havell's and Usha Martin.
[click here for more] |
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Infrastructure and Industry Monitor |
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The government is setting up a revolving fund, with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore to assist state governments in developing infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership route.
[click here for more]
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Article Alert |
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Memberspeak |
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What's New |
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The 2008 EuroIndia Forum Status
On creating efficient and sustainable cities and on building Euro-Indian Partnerships.
"How to boost and upgrade the required human capital".
[click here for more] |
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The Euroindia Sphere |
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Member News |
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On January 10, Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group, founding emeritus member of the EuroIndia Centre, unveiled the NANO, its people's car priced at 100000 Rs (about 1700 €).
Click here for his interview in the Times of India.
Also refer to the off-the-cuff comments on this path-breaking event by founding emeritus member, Ashok Kar, in "Member's speak".
[click here for more]
Read the project of bringing together the young generations of India and Europe by Carmen Brandt, student member from Halle, Germany.
[click here for more]
Founding member emeritus, Deepak Parekh, Chairman of H.D.F.C. supports the project of setting up an Habitat and Governance Institute in India of world class that will be
tabled in our Goa Forum session on "How to boost and upgrade the required human capital". We invite contributions from interested parties who may write to:
michel.sabatier@the-euroindia-centre.org
[click here for more]
Co-President Colette Mathur wishes to put for discussion at the Forum the project of creating a EuroIndia vocational school for urban crafts. Any person interested in supporting the project
may contact her on:
colette.mathur@the-euroindia-centre.org
[click here for more]
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