Bi-monthly Newsletter of the High Commission of India, Colombo 2012 UGUST / SEPTEMBER A EXPOSITION OF THE SACRED KAPILAVASTU RELICS IN SRI LANKA C O N T E N T S Shri Pranab Mukherjee sworn in as the Adi Vel procession of Sammangodu 13th President of India 3 Sri Kathirvelayutha Swamy 38 Prime Minister’s visit to Iran to attend Bilateral meetings of the Hon'ble Speaker XVI NAM Summit 5 of Lok Sabha in Colombo September 13, 2012 39 VISITS Inauguration of 58th Commonwealth State Visit of President of Tajikistan to India 7 Parliamentary Conference 39 State Visit of President of Palestine to India 7 Arrival of Indian Delegation for 58th CPC (In Pics) 41 Visit of H. E. President of Sri Lanka to India 8 Reception at India House in honour Visit of Hon'ble Jairam Ramesh, Minister of of Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha (In Pics) 41 Rural Development and Drinking Water & Sanitation, Government of India, to Sri Lanka 9 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Visit of Hon’ble Anand Sharma, Minister of FLIGHT TO GLORY 42 Commerce, Industry & Textiles of India to Sri Lanka from 2-5 August, 2012 11 Women behind the rockets 45 Inauguration of 'The India Show' in Colombo 13 BILATERAL BEAT The India Show In Pics 15 India announces greater market access for Sri Lanka in Garment Sector 45 66th INDEPENDENCE DAY OF INDIA India enhances engagement with 66th Independence Day of India Sri Lanka in Textile Sector 46 Celebrations in Sri Lanka 17 Visit of High Commissioner to Message from High Commmissioner the Northern Province 47 H.E. Ashok K. Kantha, on the occasion EXPOSITION OF THE of India’s 66th Independence Day 9 India to undertake Construction of a SACRED 14-22 200-bed Ward Complex at District Hospital, KAPILAVASTU RELICS Independence Day celebrations at Vavuniya through grant assistance of India House 21 LKR 200 million 48 IN SRI LANKA Independence Day celebrations at Second phase of Indian Housing Consulates General of India 21 Project gets underway 49 Mohiniyattam performance by Dr Kanak Over 30 Indian Pharma Companies Rele accompanied by Nalanda Troupe 22 participate in the "AROGYA 2012 - International Healthcare Exhibition" EXPOSITION OF THE SACRED in Colombo 51 KAPILAVASTU RELICS IN SRI LANKA Students of Army public Schools, Arrival of the Sacred Kapilavastu India Visit Sri Lanka 52 Relics in Sri Lanka 23 India-Sri Lanka Foundation supports High Commission of India Sacred Kapilavastu Relics return to India 31 the visit of students from Richmond College, Galle to India 53 No. 36 -38, Galle Road, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka Inauguration of a Photographic Exhibition Tel: +94-11 2327587, +94-11 2422788-9 titled "India Through Sri Lankan Students to travel India to study Hindi 53 Fax: +94-11-2446403, +94-11 2448166 Eyes - The Buddhist Circuit” 32 E-mail: [email protected] CULTURE & ART Symposium on Relic Workship 33 website: www.hcicolombo.org facebook: www.facebook.com/hcicolombo Soul Cages - Bharathanatyam Dance "Journey of the Holy Tree" - Cultural Theatre by Ms Savitha Sastry 54 Interface Between India and Sri Lanka 34 Assistant High Commission of India No. 31, Rajapihilla Mawatha, PO Box 47, Kandy, Three day Cultural Festival titled Sri Lanka President of sri Lanka’s message for “Divine Ecstasy” in Jaffna from "Journey of the Holy Tree" 35 Tel: +94 81 2222652 16-18 August 2012 55 Fax: +94 81 2232479 E-mail: [email protected] Prime Minister of India’s message for “Divine Ecstasy” (In Pics) 56 "Journey of the Holy Tree" 36 Consulate General of India De Lanerolle brothers with pianist No. 103, New Road, Hambantota, Sri Lanka Visit of Hon’ble Kumari Selja, Minister of Rohan De Silva performance in India 57 Culture, Housing and Urban Poverty Tel: +94-47 2222500, +94-47 2222503 Alleviation to an Indian Pilot Phase Housing Fax: +94-47 2222501 Project site in the Northern Province 37 Visit of Ms Namita Gokhale to Sri Lanka 57 E-mail: [email protected] Launch of the Thiruketheeswaram Temple Film appreciation workshop 58 Consulate General of India Restoration Project 38 No. 280, Palaly Road, Jaffna, Sri Lanka Men in Blue at India House, Colombo 59 Tel: +94-21 2220502, +94-21 2220504, +94-21 2220505 Fax: +94-21 2220503 E-mail: [email protected] President of Sri Lanka H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa receiving the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics at the tarmac in a colourful ceremony at the COVER PAGE : Bandaranaike International Airport on 19 August 2012 - Photograph by Sudath Silva AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2012 Shri Pranab Mukherjee sworn in as the 13th President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee was sworn in as the 13th The principal responsibility of this office is to function as President of India on July 25, 2012. He was the guardian of our Constitution. I will strive, as I said on administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of oath, to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution India SH Kapadia in the Central Hall of Parliament. not just in word but also in spirit. We are all, across the divide of party and region, partners at the altar of our Text of the speech by Shri Pranab Muerjee after being motherland. Our federal Constitution embodies the sworn in as the President of India: idea of modern India: it defines not only India but also modernity. A modern nation is built on some basic I am deeply moved by the high honour you have fundamentals: democracy, or equal rights for every accorded to me. Such honour exalts the occupant of this citizen; secularism, or equal freedom to every faith; office, even as it demands that he rises above personal equality of every region and language; gender equality or partisan interests in the service of the national good. and, perhaps most important of all, economic equity. For our development to be real the poorest of our land must feel that they are part of the narrative of rising India. I h a v e s e e n v a s t , p e r h a p s unbelievable, changes during the journey that has brought me from the flicker of a lamp in a small Bengal village to the chandeliers of Delhi. I was a boy when Bengal was savaged by a famine that killed millions; the misery and sorrow is still not lost on me. We have achieved much in the field of agriculture, industry and social infrastructure; but that is nothing compared to what India, led by the coming generations, will create in the decades ahead. 3 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2012 frontlines of this war long before many other recognized its vicious depth or poisonous consequences. I am proud of the valour and conviction and steely determination of our Armed Forces as they have fought this menace on our borders; of our brave police forces as they have met the enemy within; and of our people, who have defeated the terrorist trap by remaining calm in the face of extraordinary provocation. The people of India have been a beacon of maturity through the trauma of whiplash wounds. Those who instigate violence and perpetuate hatred need to understand one truth. Few minutes of peace will achieve far more than many years of war. India is Our national mission must continue to be what it was content with itself, and driven by the will to sit on the high when the generation of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal table of prosperity. It will not be deflected in its mission Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Ambedkar and by noxious practitioners of terror. Maulana Azad offered us a tryst with destiny: to eliminate the curse of poverty, and create such As Indians, we must of course learn from the past; but opportunities for the young that they can take our India we must remain focused on the future. In my view, forward by quantum leaps. There is no humiliation more education is the alchemy that can bring India its next abusive than hunger. Trickle-down theories do not golden age. Our oldest scriptures laid the framework of address the legitimate aspirations of the poor. We must society around the pillars of knowledge; our challenge is lift those at the bottom so that poverty is erased from the to convert knowledge into a democratic force by taking it dictionary of modern India. into every corner of our country. Our motto is unambiguous: All for knowledge, and knowledge for all. What has brought us thus far, will take us further ahead. India's true story is the partnership of the people. Our The weight of office sometimes becomes a burden on wealth has been created by farmers and workers, dreams. The news is not always cheerful. Corruption is industrialists and service-providers, soldiers and an evil that can depress the nation's mood and sap its civilians. Our social harmony is the sublime co- progress. We cannot allow our progress to be hijacked existence of temple, mosque, church, gurudwara and by the greed of a few. synagogue; they are symbols of our unity in diversity. I envisage an India where unity of purpose propels the Peace is the first ingredient of prosperity. History has common good; where Centre and State are driven by often been written in the red of blood; but development the single vision of good governance; where every and progress are the luminous rewards of a peace revolution is green; where democracy is not merely the dividend, not a war trophy. The two halves of the 20th right to vote once in five years but to speak always in the Century tell their own story.