India NewsletterEmbassy of India, Tel Aviv No. 52 October-December 2012

Special EventsCommercial EventsCommunity EventsAnnouncements India Tourism

Joint issue of Postal Stamps

Mr. Jaideep Sarkar assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to Israel on December 4, 2012, when he presented his credentials to President of Israel, H.E Shimon Peres. The formal ceremony was followed by a brief meeting with President Peres.

Ambassador Sarkar is a career diplomat, who joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1987 soon after completing a Bachelors in Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and a Masters in Business

Administration from the Indian “Institute of Management (IIM). He served in Indian Missions in Tokyo, Seoul and Bangladesh and worked in the Ministry of Finance from 1992-1996. He also served as a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, before joining the Prime Minister’s Office in 2004. He served as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh since 2006. Mr. Sarkar is married with two children.”

Ambassador presenting his credentials to President Shimon Peres

Ambassador with President Peres

Joint stamps Secretary (Posts) and Ambassador unveilling the Indian stamps

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Israel, a set of two postal stamps were issued by the Departments of Posts of the two countries on November 5, 2012 in Tel Aviv at a ceremony organized by the Embassy of India in Israel. The stamps were unveiled by Ms. Manjula Prasher, Secretary and Director General of India Post, H.E. Jaideep Sarkar, Ambassador of India to Israel, Mr. Sasi Shilo, Chairman, Israel Postal Company and Mr. Haim

Elmoznino, President and CEO, Israel Postal Company and Yaron Razon “Director”, Israel Philatelic Service. The stamps depict festivals of lights, Deepavali in India and Hanukkah in Israel and celebrate common traditions among the people of the two countries. The Indian stamp shows a row of traditional earthen lamps or diyas, r e p r e s e n t i n g Deepavali and the Israeli one features a menorah with the word “Zion” inscribed inside a Magen David star. These limited edit ion stamps, designed by Indian artist Alka Sharma

and Israeli artist Ronen Goldberg are available in Israel and India. The design of menorah featured on the Hanukkah stamp is based on a photograph taken by Aylon Bhinjekar Samson, of Indian-origin.

Mr. Jaideep Sarkar assumes charge as Ambassador of India to Israel

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Special Events

Mr. Gireesh B Pradhan, Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, visited Israel from 14-17 October, 2012 on the invitation of Mr. Shaul Zemach, Director General of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources. Both sides discussed, among other things, possible areas of cooperation in renewable energy between the Solar Energy Centre in India and its Israeli counterpart. Secretary Pradhan participated in a Round Table meeting

H.E. Jaideep Sarkar, Ambassador of India to Israel met a group of CEOs and senior executives from major Israeli companies doing business with India at a cocktail reception on 20th

December, 2012 organized by the Commercial Wing in the Embassy. Ambassador Sarkar spoke about growing India-Israel relations and highlighted the potential for enhancing bilateral economic

and commercial engagement. He briefed the invitees on the status of the Indian Economy and the requirements of investment in various sectors.

organized by the Embassy of India in association with the Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce on 16th October, during which he spoke about India’s requirements in the energy sector and invited the Israeli industry to take advantage of the vast opportunities. More than 50 leading Israeli companies in the renewable energy sector, and senior Israeli government officials participated in the round-table had showed keen interest in collaboration

Visit of Secretary (Renewable Energy) to Israel

Ambassador meets top executives of leading Israeli companies

with India in the area. Presentations made by the delegation from India can be seen in the Embassy website- http://www.indembassy.co.il/Events.htm. In India, 25,000 MW (12% of the energy generated) is from renewable sources including wind, biomass, small hydro projects and solar. The Government of India aims to develop another 30,000 MW from renewable sources by 2017, including 10,000 MW of solar energy.

The Annual event of Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce was held on December 30, 2012 in Tel Aviv in the presence of H.E. Mr. Shalom Simhon, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Ambassadors of Asian countries, senior officials of the Israeli government and Israeli commercial attaches serving in Asian countries among other distinguished guests. The theme of this year annual event was “Israeli Innovation in Asia”. Ambassador of India to Israel, Jaideep Sarker participated in the event.

Visit of CEOs/CTOs delegation

A h i g h l e v e l d e l e g a t i o n consisting of 16 Indian CEOs and CTOs visited Israel during 9-14 December, 2012. The visit was organized by Lahav which is part of the Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University and a leading provider of executive education in Israel. The delegation visited Hi-Tech and Medical companies in Northern Israel, and learned about Israel’s achievements in fields of innovation, Research & Development.

Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce Annual event

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India participates in ISRA FOOD 2012 exhibition

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India participated in the ISRA Food 2012, the 29th International E x h i b i t i o n f o r Fo o d a n d B everage, f rom Novemb er 20 - 22, 2012 at the Tel Aviv exhibition grounds. Officers from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries made a presentation on ‘Investment Opportunities in Food Processing Sector in India” at the business conference or g a n i z e d a l on g s i d e t h e Exhibition. The presentation can be viewed in the Embassy website at: http://www.indembassy.co.il/Events.htm

Commercial Events

Community Events

India Trophy 2012

Players of Ambassador XI intorduced to Ambassador

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The Johny Lever show in Ashdod city The annual festival, “Holidays of Festival” was held at Benistal Hall, Ashdod on 4th October, 2012 under the aegis Dr. Lasri Yehiel, Mayor of Ashdod. Entertainment show performed by Bollywood actor-comedian Johny Lever was enjoyed by hundreds of Indian community members. Mr. Samir Kumar Jha, First Secretary attended as guest of honour on the occasion. Cultural performance of “Namaste Israel-Ashdod” also contributed to the success of the event.

Mr Samir Jha with Johny Lever

India and Israel have several things in common. Cricket is one such interest that is common to both these countries. In order to harness the interest in cricket among the Israelis and Indian Community in Israel, the Embassy, in co-operation with the Israel Cricket Association (ICA) and various other cricket clubs in Israel organised “INDIA TROPHY”, a Twenty-Twenty cricket tournament, for the second consecutive year. The cricket tournament commenced on December 1, 2012, with the dian Ambassador to Israel Mr. Jaideep Sarkar inaugurating the tournament along with Mr. Stanley Perlman, President of the ICA. Speaking at the inaugural event, the Indian Ambassador commented that such sporting events only improved the interaction among the people of the

two countries and would help in better understanding of each other’s culture.Twelve teams, composed mostly of Indians and Indian-origin Israelis, played matches in Ashdod, Dimona, Lod, Tel Aviv. Four teams - Young Ashdod, Lions Beersheva, Qiryat Gat and Super Lions Lod - topped their respective groups in the league phase and played in the semi-finals from which Super Lions Lod and

Young Ashdod qualified for the finals. The finals of the tournament was held on January 26, 2013, in which defending champions Super Lions Lod won a close match against Young Ashdod. Qiryat Gat secured the third place. A presentation ceremony was held after the match, in which Indian Ambassador H.E. Jaideep Sarkar distributed the prizes to the teams and players. Mr. Ronen Wasker (8 wickets) from Lions Beersheva and Mr. Yaniv Rajpurkar (200 runs) from Young Ashdod won the trophies for best bowler and best batsman of the tournament awards respectively. Mr. Noar Gudker, CEO of ICA and Mr. Enoch Joseph, representative from Organisation of Indian Jews in Israel were also present during the ceremony.

Community Events

Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar visited the Indian Hospice in Jerusalem, a unique and historic destination for Indian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Its history dates back to the time of saint Baba Farid, who h a i l e d f r o m Punjab, had visited Jerusalem 700 years ago while on a journey to explore I s lam. The current Director of the hospice is Sheikh

Mohammad Munir Ansari, who is a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

winner, has headed the institution from 1952. His father had come from

Saharanpur in 1924 at the request of the Grand Mufti of Palestine. The Indian Hospice continues to host Indian tourists and p i l g r i m s visiting the city of Jerusalem.

A seminar on Holocaust Awareness was organized at Kibbutz Naan by the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on 23rd of December 2012. It was attended by a group educationists from India and many distinguished personalities from Indian communities and those associated with India. Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar delivered the inaugural address of the seminar. His speech underlined contributions of Jewish communities in shaping contemporary Indian culture and history. The seminar also witnessed presentations by Nissim Moses, Historian & President of Indian Jewish Heritage Centre (IJHC) and Dr. Lael Best, Chief of Thoracic Surgery, Rambam Health Center, Haifa.

Performances by Mr. Solomon Solomon & Ms. Sophia Solomon and Mr. David Nigrekar & his dance troupe “Namaste” and the Choir of

Kibbutz Naan, made the event colourful. The function was jointly organized by the IJHC and Gandhi Foundation.

Ambassador signs the visitors book in the Indian Hospice

Ambassador's inaugural address at Holocaust seminar

Holocaust Seminar for Indian educationists

Ambassador visits the Indian Hospice

Community Events

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Announcements

Natya Vedika – February 2013

In an effort to promote Indian classical dance in Israel and encourage Israeli artists who have learnt Indian classical dance, the Embassy is organizing interactive lecture - demonstrations in February. Every Thursday evening in February, Israeli artists will present a particular style of Indian classical dance introducing the audience to its tradition, history etc. A few steps or mudras will be taught to participating audience. The Embassy invites everyone to participate (Entry is free) and confirm participation to: interlib@indembassy.co.il. Natya Vedika

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ICCR scholarships announcements

Government of India has announced seven (7) scholarships for Israeli nationals for the year 2013-14. Embassy of India invites applications from Israelis who are interested in learning dance, music, fine arts, engineering, Ph.D in India. Detailed information about the scholarships and procedure for application can be found in the Embassy’s website www.indembassy.co.il. Brief guidelines are given below: 1. Candidates, while applying, should clearly mention the course and University/Institute to which they are

seeking admission. The applicants are advised to go through the “UniversityHandbook” available with our Mission before giving these details. List of UGC-recognised universities and other cultural institutions can be found in Embassy’s website. 2. Students applying for doctoral/ post doctoral courses should include a synopsis of the proposed area of research.3. Students wishing to study performing arts should, if possible, enclose video/ audio cassettes of their recorded performances.

4. No application is accepted for admission to courses in medicine or dentistry.5. Applications should be routed through Embassy of India, Tel Aviv. 6. The scholarships are offered for the duration of the course. 7. The last date of receipt of applications is 15 February 2013.8. For any other inquiry relating to Scholarships, please mail to tspol@indembassy.co.il

More information can be found on the Embassy’s website: www.indembassy.co.il

Kaziranga National Park (Assam)

Logistics: The grass literally grows as high as an elephant’s eye at this 106,000-acre park in Assam-the most easily accessible state in India’s far northeast. A five-hour drive from the state capital of Guwahati in east India (670 miles from Calcutta), the park lies northeast of the narrow neck of land between Nepal and Bangladesh along the shores of the Brahmaputra River. A bird census of nearly 500 species makes Kaziranga a must for ornithologists, while February boasts chances of seeing resident mega-fauna (when the tall grass has died or been selectively burned for winter). A private Jeep tour or elephant ride through various parkland habitats can be booked. Arrival of monsoon season in April determines park closures.

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (Assam)

Logistics: Situated on the border between Bhutan and Assam, India, this refuge is a four-hour drive from the city of Guwahati (and near Kaziranga Park). Divided by the Manas River, this 89,000-acre preserve maintains UNESCO World Heritage Site status and is currently recovering from a decade of tribal and political turmoil. Safari options include Jeep tours and elephant rides, plus outboard raft excursions on the water. The park is open from October to April; January to March is peak period for fine weather and wildlife spotting.

Best for: One-horned rhinoceros, tigers, (wild) elephants, wild buffalo, monitor lizards, and water birds like the bar-headed goose, grey-headed lapwing, and s pot-billed pelican

Corbett Tiger Reserve

Logistics: India’s first official national park is in the state of Uttarakhand, some 200 miles north of New Delhi in the foothills of the Himalayas. Two main entrances (Ramnagar and Bijrani) welcome guests on the west side of the park. The former is the best route to the park’s central reception center, but you’ll find vehicles for hire and guides at all three gates, including Dhangari-the best route to the park’s

central reception center. Most good hotels are located north of Ramnagar, and the majority will work with you to reserve a Jeep or elephant for touring. Drivers and guides stick to a network of roads, while safaris on elephants penetrate the jungle in search of tigers. Mammal sightings are best from March to June, while birds are best seen from mid-December to March; most of the park is closed June 15-mid-November.

Best for: Tigers, wild elephants (as opposed to the ones you can ride), crocodiles, 600 species of birds

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Elephants, periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Best for: Tigers, water buffalo, rhinos, (wild) elephants, golden langur (a rare orange-furred monkey), Bengal florican (an endangered two-foot-tall bird)

India Tourism