May 2009
New Ambassador of India to the Netherlands
H.E. Mr Manbir Singh, presented his credentials as the Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands on the 6th May, 2009. He is also concurrently accredited as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of India to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
A senior career diplomat, Mr. Singh has served in various Indian Missions abroad which include Toronto, Moscow, Geneva and Abu Dhabi. He has also held different senior positions at the Ministry of External Affairs in India including that of Chief of Protocol. Prior to his present appointment as Ambassador of India to the Netherlands he was the Ambassador of India to the Islamic Republic of Iran (2005-2009) and Ambassador of India to Hungary (2002-2005) with concurrent accreditation to Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovenia.
During his diplomatic career of over 33 years, he has handled a wide range of bilateral and multilateral assignments covering political, economic and cultural fields.
INDIA NOW A MEMBER OF TWO KEY BODIES: PM
India is happy with the outcome of the G20 meet, Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said while briefing the media at the conclusion of the summit.
In particular, the Prime Minister said, he was pleased about the fact that India will now be a member of the Financial Stability Forum as well as the Basle Committee on banking supervision, two key standard setting bodies.
The Prime Minister said his bilateral meetings with US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as well as interactions with leaders like Chinese President Mr. Hu Jintao, Russian President Mr. Medvedev and the Japanese Premier had been very useful. During talks, President Obama reportedly hailed India’s “high stature” because it had “unleashed economic forces” and said a lot of it had to do with “the wisdom of Dr Singh”.
Asked at his press conference whether G20 was likely to replace G8 as the foremost group, Dr. Singh said if G20 could come up with credible answers to the world’s problems, it could certainly emerge as a group that would count. (The Times of India: April 3, 2009)
INS BEAS Visited Rotterdam
The Indian Naval Ship BEAS, visits the Port of Rotterdam from May 26 to May 29, 2009 en route to St. Petersburg.
INS BEAS is an indigenously designed and built guided missile frigate.
Embassy of India, The Hague have made arrangements for visits by members of the public to this sophisticated and state-of-the art frigate on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 from 1300 hours to 1700 hours. The INS BEAS berthed at Holland Amerikakade, Rotterdam Port at Haven no. 1245.
About INS Beas
INS Beas is the third ship of the indigenously designed and built Brahmaputra Class guided missile frigate, 125 meters in length and with a maximum breadth of 14.5 meters, Beas displaces 3600 tonnes. The ship is propelled by two steam turbines and can sustain speeds in excess of 30 knots. INS Beas has long legs and is capable of covering over 4,500 nautical miles without replenishment.
What makes Beas unique is that, she is, in every respect a modern and extremely capable frontline warship, almost entirely Indian… in design…in her propulsion package…and in her state-of-art sensor suite. Her extensive suite of long-range sensors (incorporating radars, sonar’s and electronic warfare equipment) enables her to simultaneously address targets operating in all the three mediums, namely the surface, underwater and air.
Her combat capacity is greatly augmented by its capability to embark two multi-mission-capable 10-tonne Seaking helicopters. For long-range engagements of surface targets, INS Beas has sixteen ‘URAN’ tactical surface-to-surface with a range in excess of 130 km. Threats from the air, be they in the form of enemy aircraft or missiles, are dealt with through the ship’s multi-layered anti-aircraft systems. These range from ‘soft-kill measures’ such as electronic jamming of the incoming missile through the latest EW system Ellora, to ‘hard kill’ measures involving physical destruction of the missile using the Barak AMD system and missiles, 76mm Super-Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) and the four multi-barreled 30mm gun mounts that constitute the ship’s Close In-weapon System.
The ship is an epitome of self reliance and indigenization, as far as the design, metallurgy and propulsion systems are concerned. This aptly reflects the vast potential of the military-industrial complex with significant contribution from Indian industrial majors. In other areas, the ship is an amalgamation of the technical know-how of the industrial and military majors of both Indian and foreign origins.
NFIA beckons Indian companies to open sales offices in NL
Eyeing heavy investments in automobile, information technology and pharma sectors, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) is targetting industrial biggies from western India to open sales offices, research centres and manufacturing units in Netherlands. The NFIA has so far helped 11 Indian corporates set up offices and units in Netherlands at an approximate cost of Rs 22 crore providing direct employment to 195 Indian executives over last two years.
The NFIA-India unit is working with companies from Gujarat and Maharashtra, the most industrialised states in the country, to have presence in Netherlands, which is considered as the gate-way to Europe. Speaking to Business Standard, NFIA executive director Robert Schipper said, “Indian companies are slowly and steadily entering Netherlands. A company like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has its European head quarter in Netherlands. We are targetting companies from western India since these companies have excellent growth potential.” Schipper added, “Pune is emerging fast as a hub of information technology and bio-technology. All well-known Indian companies have presence in Pune. Netherlands can provide a strategic location for all these companies when they try to enter European market.”
Even, internationally, various corporates are looking at Netherlands to have business operations. During year 2008, 182 foreign investment projects were supported by NFIA of which, 101 were new establishments. Apart from TCS, Indian companies namely Wipro, Genpact, Interglobe Technologies, Dishman Pharmaceuticals and others have operations in Netherlands. The NFIA plans to hold industrial events in cities like Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh to attract manufacturing companies to enter Netherlands, he added.
Netherlands Joins Biomedical Asia 2009
Singapore March 17-19, 2009 -BioMedical Asia 2009 will convene pharmaceutical and biotech senior executives, regulators, investors and other industry stakeholders to explore partnership and investment opportunities and discuss best operational strategies and successful business models.
The NFIA took part with a 9sqm booth participation at the exhibition floor and had very interesting conversations and leads with and from companies.
The Netherlands is among Europe’s largest life sciences markets offering a tight knit network of regional clusters with impressive portfolios of biotechnology activities: the Hollandbiodelta. With a highly connected science & industry sector where there is excellent public private partnership, a very high level of e-clinical readiness, one of the most efficient infrastructures for securing ethics approval (good regulatory environment & clinical research), high per-capita R&D output and rates of patents, the Netherlands is the most logical choice for a company’s operations in Europe
Radio Netherlands Worldwide expands in India
Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has taken on a new partnership with one of the largest cable networks in India, Incablenet (IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. of Hinduja Group.
This allows around 2 million listeners of Indian households to listen to the English programmes of RNW. The international broadcaster is already collaborating with various FM radio stations, and Incablenet allows the Indian public to access RNW programmes via cable for the first time.
Last year RNW began establishing partnerships with local FM stations and broadcasting organisations such as Radio Misty to provide the Indian population with information about the Netherlands and Europe. And during the India festival in the Netherlands last year RNW covered the event together with All India Radio.
The partnership with Incablenet enables RNW to air its English programmes not only on FM, but for the first time via digital cable. Incablenet, headquartered in Mumbai, is one of the largest and pioneering cable MSO ( Multi System Operator) companies in India. The company currently serves over 6.5 million households in analogue cable and its coverage is expected to grow to over 9 million households in the next two years. The digital cable networks of “Incablenet” also continue to grow rapidly.
RNW’s Director General, Jan Hoek says: “India is one of the fastest emerging superpowers in the world. Growing trade, historical and new cultural relations with the Netherlands mean that the need for information about Western countries is growing. Via Incablenet we aim to contribute to fulfilling this need.”
Managing Director of Incablenet Ravi Mansukhani: “We are pleased to distribute RNW in our digital distribution networks in India. The radio industry is estimated to have grown at an impressive CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 19.7% over the year 2006-08 in India. Emergence of radio stations like RNW could also help the industry in attracting new listeners and driving up overall radio listener ship. We wish RNW all the success and a long innings in India after this launch.”
