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Home , Kapil Sibal, Mira Awad, Tehelka

December 2011

Dr. Yuval Steinitz meets his counterpart, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, in New Israeli Finance Minister Visits

srael‟s Finance Minister, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, visited India on 14-17 December, 2011, to attend the Delhi I Economic Conclave organized by the Ministry of Finance and CII. During his visit, Minister Steinitz met with his counterpart, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, and discussed ways to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries. The two ministers reiterated the intention of both Governments to finalize the Free Trade Agreement by 2012.

Minister Steinitz also met with HRD Minister and Communication & IT Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal. In this meeting, Minister Steinitz announced the Government of ‟s decision to grant scholarships to 100 post-doctoral students from India to pursue their studies in Israeli universities.

In addition, The senior Israeli Minister met the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and National Security Advisor, Mr. Shivshankar Menon. He also attended receptions held in his honour by Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr. Ashwani Kumar, and by Mr. Naveen Jindal MP, at which leading figures from across the political spectrum were present.

In an effort to enhance and deepen the collaboration between the two countries, Minister Steinitz and his Indian counterparts discussed platforms for promoting joint R&D and cooperation in academic research, in fields which are critical to both countries, such as water, bio-technology and agro-technology. "Education and R&D are the comparative advantage of both Israel and India. Collaboration in these fields is the key to our shared future and a crucial part of our burgeoning relationship" he said.

Israeli Parliamentarian Dr. Einat Wilf meets

Counterparts in India

ember of Knesset, Dr. Einat Wilf, visited India during October 2011. During her M visit, MK Wilf conducted meetings with Dr. MP, Mr. Arun Jaitely MP, as well as other politicians and public figures. She also

met with Maj (retd.) Ramesh Chopra and with the media.

MK Wilf is a member of the „Independence‟ faction in the Knesset, and serves on the Israeli Parliament‟s Foreign Affairs and Defense, Education, and Finance committees. Before joining the Knesset, she was Foreign Policy

Advisor to then Deputy Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, and a strategic consultant with McKinsey Member of Knesset Dr. Einat Wilf & Company.

During her interactions in India, MK Wilf spoke about the importance of India-Israel relations and elaborated on Israel‟s perspective of recent development in West Asia.

Promoting Innovation

igal Erlich, Chairman of MATIMOP (Israeli Industry Y Center for R&D), the founding father of the Israeli venture capital industry and one of the most prominent figures in Israel‟s world renowned high-tech arena, visited Delhi as a guest of the Global Innovation Roundtable. The event, organized by the National Innovation Council, chaired by Mr. Sam Pitroda, hosted heads of innovation agencies from 15 governments, who came to Delhi to discuss the role of innovation in improving growth and welfare.

Dr. Erlich shared with the Roundtable participants his experiences taking part in creating Israel‟s Government‟s Yigal Erlich: founding father of venture capital industry in Israel policies in the 1980‟s and 1990‟s, that supported and promoted innovation and hi tech in Israel, and brought more Israeli companies to Nasdaq than any other country outside the US. Dr. Erlich also spoke about the high compatibility between the high tech industries in Israel and in India, and of the huge potential for mutually beneficial collaboration.

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ISRAEL in INDIA 3 December 2011 Israeli Parliamentarian Dr. Einat Wilf meets When Israeli Students Counterparts in India Met Indian Hebrew Students ember of Knesset, Dr. Einat Wilf, visited group of Hindi students from M India during October 2011. During her A University, led by their teacher, Dr. visit, MK Wilf conducted meetings with Dr. Genady Shlomper, conducted a four week Shashi Tharoor MP, Mr. Arun Jaitely MP, as well educational tour of India in October, intended as other politicians and public figures. She also to provide them with first-hand exposure to met with Maj General (retd.) Ramesh Chopra Indian languages, cultures, religions and societies. In addition to visiting Delhi, the and with the media. students also toured Varanasi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Mumbai. MK Wilf is a member of the „Independence‟ faction in the Knesset, and serves on the Israeli The Israeli students, all deeply enchanted and captivated by India and its people, visited Parliament‟s Foreign Affairs and Defense, University in Delhi, where Education, and Finance committees. Before they met a class of Indian Hebrew students. joining the Knesset, she was Foreign Policy Not surprisingly, the students found a shared Advisor to then Deputy Prime Minister, Shimon love – . “Amitabh Bahchan is my Peres, and a strategic consultant with McKinsey favorite actor, but I also love Aamir and Dr. Shlomper and his Students traveling in India & Company. Shahrukh Khan” said Merav Levi, a BA student from Tel Aviv in fluent Hindi. “We actually use their movies in class, to learn the language”, she added.

During her interactions in India, MK Wilf spoke about the importance of India-Israel relations and elaborated Dr. Shlomper, an Israeli Hindi Guru and a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, stressed that not only Bollywood on Israel‟s perspective of recent development in West Asia. is on his disciples‟ curriculum. “The students also enjoy the writings of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Premchand”, he said proudly.

Ben Gurion Awards

he Indo-Israel Friendship Association, headed by Dr. S.P. Singh, held T its annual flagship event honouring individuals and organizations who have contributed to the promotion of relations between Israel and India. The Ben Gurion awards, named after Israel‟s first Prime Minister, were given on 24th November at the India International Centre in . The event was presided by Mr. Dipak Sarkar, National President of the Federation of Associations of Small Industries of India (FASII).

This year‟s Ben Gurion Awards were given to four distinguished individuals: Dr. Satyavir Singh, Head of the Horticulture Department in the Government of Haryana, who overlooks two of the most prominent Indo- Israel Centres of Excellence in Agriculture; Mr. Ramesh Chandran, Advisor to FICCI and executive Director of Forums of Parliamentarians, Israel’s first Prime Minister, who has been active in establishing and promoting relations between David Ben Gurion leading Indian Parliamentarians and Israel; Mr. Shishir Gupta, Deputy Executive editor of Times; and Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar Jha, Executive editor of IBN7 News Channel.

Ambassador of Israel, Mr. Alon Ushpiz, was the guest of honour at the event and spoke of the friendship between Israel and India and the impressive development of these relations in the past 20 years.

ISRAEL in INDIA 3 December 2011

Noa (left) and Mira Awad at the Think Festival in Goa Musical Message of Peace

n a spectacular opening to the celebrations marking 20 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and I India, two of Israel‟s most renowned singers, Noa & Mira Awad, toured India and performed 6 concerts in Goa and in Delhi in November.

Noa is Israel's leading international concert and recording artist, who in her 20 year musical career has performed together with superstars such as Sting, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli, Carlos Santana, Sheryl Crow and many others. Mira Awad is an Israeli-Arab singer, songwriter and actress, who has become a star in Israeli theatre, cinema and TV. In 2009, Noa and Mira represented Israel together in the with "There must be another way", a song written in Hebrew, and English with a strong message of hope and understanding between Jews and through common humanity.

The two singers‟ premier on Indian soil was in Goa, as they performed the opening concert of the Tehelka Think Festival. In the capital, they performed 4 crowd-enthralling concerts, taking part in the Delhi International Arts Festival.

Embassy of Israel 3 Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi, 110011 Tel: +91-11-30414500 Fax: +91-11-30414555 Email: [email protected] http://delhi.mfa.gov.il

ISRAEL in INDIA 4 December 2011