Capital Century

PUbLIcATION OF THE cONSULATE GENErAL OF INdIA IN dUbAI VOL.3 ISSUE 12 | dEcEmbEr 2011 CAPITAL CENTURY In 2011, India’s national capital, New Delhi, turned 100, marked by an extraordinary journey which saw it guiding from the ramparts the destiny of a nation C FROM THE CONSUL GENERAL’S DESK Dear Reader, O A year-end issue invites a rear-view mirror look at the last twelve months. In 2011, India had good rains and the economic growth forecasts have been revised. The ripples of the economic downturn in the European Union and the United States are being felt N everywhere. In a globalised world, economic insulation is not possible. However, Our economic fundamentals are strong. India will weather this phase. 2011 was a special year for Indian Sport. Our Men in Blue satiated the desire of mil - lions by winning the Cricket World Cup. The echo of celebrations in India were also felt T on the streets of Dubai. Another feather in our cap was the flawless first Indian Grandprix in Noida. Indian sportsmen and the sporting infrastructure are achieving global recogni - tion. But, there can’t be a finishing line for excellence… E Bilaterally, it was a year of high-level political engagements. UAE’s Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited New Delhi in June 2011, followed by the UAE Labour Minister Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash in September 2011. We also had N many visits by the Indian political leadership to the UAE. The burgeoning bilateral trade is expected to touch a new high, bettering the record US$67 billion achieved in the finan - cial year 2010-2011. In 2011, apart from the core responsibilities of the Consulate, we continued to reach out T to the Indian community in a variety of ways. This included cinema and talk shows, cultur - al events, celebration of Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary, a tribute to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, blood donation and medical camps among a host of other events. Passport S and Visa services have been streamlined to shorten the delivery time. The Indian Workers 4 Delhi at 100 Resource Centre is becoming an important channel for addressing the needs of the com - munity. This year, in our weekly radio show, ‘India Matters’, we had an impressive list of On December 12, 1911, Delhi embarked on a journey, transforming itself into a modern cosmo - politan city. A hundred years on, we take a look at the events that shaped the character and guests talking on various subjects such as trade, cinema, classical music & dance, manage - personality of the capital city of India, historically one of the world’s most fascinating cities ment and cricket among other themes. The show reflected the valuable contributions made by Indians in different walks of life in the UAE. On behalf of the Consulate General of India in Dubai, I wish all our readers a 2012 full of wellbeing and happiness! SUPERBRANDS 16 IDFC Happy reading! Sanjay Verma BOOKS RADIO MATTERS 20 The Anands’ Navketan The book traces the fascinating story of The Consulate General of India in Dubai brings to you its weekly radio programme ‘India Matters’ on Suno Navketan and how the vision of three 102.4 FM. The purpose of the show is to highlight the brothers — Dev, Chetan and Vijay — services provided by the Consulate and talk about the shaped it into one of India’s most progressive movie production house events and news related to India and the Indian com - 10 QUESTIONS munity in UAE. India Matters is aired every Friday between 5 and 6 14 Dr. B.R. Shetty ECONOMY pm on Suno 102.4 FM and repeated every Saturday India Matters in conversation with between 12 and 1 pm. the CEO and MD of the UAE-based New 12 National Electricity For more details visit www.cgidubai.com and Medical Centre Group, the largest hospital Fund approved www.suno1024.com chain in the country, which treats more The new fund to help improve electricity than one million patients a year through its distribution network in rural areas of the countrywide hospitals and clinics country and bring down AT&C losses Winner of the October 2011 monthly quiz contest is India Matters is a monthly publication of the Consulate General of India (CGI) in Dubai . All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be produced, stored Anish Mehta or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of the CGI Dubai . Editorial correspondence and manuscripts can be addressed to [email protected] ns! The winner gets a gift hamper. gratulatio Content and design by IANS (www.ianspublishing.com) on behalf of Consulate General of India in Dubai. Con Editorial Coordinator: Zarin Amrolia, Dubai 2 SIEnPdTEiaMMBERat20t0e9 rs| December 2011 December 2011 |India Matters 3 COVER STORY 1 3 5 7 9 2 4 6 8 10 CITIES OF DELHI (1) King George V and Queen Mary hold a special court at Red Fort in On December 12, 1911 as part of the Coronation Durbar ceremony; 2) the North Block that n Lal Kot: The Tomar dynasty found - 1911, the new capital forms one of the two identical flanks (other one is South Block) of the ed Lal Kot in AD 736 near the of the country Rashtrapati Bhavan; ( 3) Designed by Edwin Lutyens, Rashtrapati Qutub Minar, at Mehrauli n Qila Rai Pithora — The Chauhan DELHI AT 100 Bhavan, known as Viceroy’s House until 1950, was constructed atop embarked on a kings of Ajmer conquered Lal Kot in Raisina Hill; ( 4) Artist Tejinder Kanda’s impression of old Delhi ; journey, transforming ne hundred years ago may not be a mega social event — but 1180 and renamed it Qila Rai December 12 marked the the centenary of New Delhi has become (5) North and South blocks during the Beating Retreat ceremony on Pithora. into a modern and beginning of a journey for a private pilgrimage down the lanes of Republic Day; (6) Old Delhi captured by Vikram Kalra in pen and ink on n Mehrauli — Built by Qutubuddin cosmopolitan city, says Othe ancient city of Delhi — the country’s colonial past for many. paper; (7) A view of the Rajpath from Rashtrapati Bhavan; Aibak in twelfth century the mythical Indraprashtha of the epic “The biggest change that the grand (8) Constructed in 1931, India Gate was inspired by the Arc de n Siri — Built by Alauddin Khilji in Madhusree Chatterjee Mahabharata — as a modern, cosmo - Coronation Durbar of December 12, 1303 Triomphe in Paris; ( An old picture of a weekly market near Jama politan capital. 1911 brought in to the city “was the 9) n Tughlaqabad — Built by India, which was a colony of the decline of the old city of Masjid in Old Delhi; (10) The main pavilion at Kingsway Camp erected Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq who ruled British empire, spent nearly one mil - Shahjahanabad, ” said writer, journal - for the British royalty for the 1911 Coronation Durbar from 1321–1325 lion pounds sterling to host King ist and heritage activist Sunil Raman, n Jahanpanah — Built by George V at the Coronation Durbar of the co-author of a new book, Delhi UK to be covered in colour films,” from the media. “The nationalist Muhammad bin Tughlaq who ruled 1911 at Kingsway Camp in the capital Durbar — 1911: The Complete Story. Raman said. press and the American press com - from 1325–1351 on the day. “Delhi had always been a capital — Spread over 72 acres, the corona - mented on the food shortage (and n Ferozabad — Built by Firuz Shah The foundation of the new city was except for a short while (when the East tion camp hosted more than 2,140 the famine-like situation) in India. Tughluq who ruled from 1351–1388 laid on December 15, 1911 — three days India Company was headquartered in people in 2,000 tents, Raman said. But the British-owned Pioneer and n Dinpanah — Built by Humayun after the coronation durbar. The capi - Kolkata). But after the Coronation The King and the Queen had a Times of India dealt with it in great n Shergarh — Built by Sher Shah Suri tal was named New Delhi in 1927 and Durbar, the old city of Shahjahanabad suite of six tents in two rows of detail,” Raman said. n Shahjahanabad — The walled city was formally inaugurated on February was virtually abandoned. The British three. The high point of the camp The requisition and expense list built by Shah Jahan who ruled from 13, 1931. Two British architects Edwin regent wanted a new capital city,” was the great state reception tent, is mindboggling — as is the behind- 1638 to 1649 Lutyens and Herbert Baker laid out Raman said. located below the Flagstaff Tower the-scenes correspondence n New Delhi — The city built by the the architectural map of the city. “The Coronation Durbar hosted in a of the Delhi ridge. The coronation between the political agents in the British, declared Capital on Commemoration of 100 years of the tent city and attended by 100,000 peo - — a show of opulence and ostenta - royal provinces and the British December 12, 1911 coronation durbar of King George V ple — was the first event outside the tion — elicited a mixed reaction viceroy’s office. “Garrard & Co, the 4 India Matters| December 2011 December 2011 |India Matters 5 COVER STORY KOLKATA’S LOSS THE CHRONICLER: RIP (1926-2011) Mario told vivid ike most cartoonists, Mario de hundred years have passed overall freedom movement had its stories of his times Miranda appeared to be a seri - since India’s capital was seeds in Bengal.

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