INDIA NEWSLETTER
October 2014
Embassy of India
Djordja Radojlovica 7a
Belgrade, 11040 (Serbia)
Tel: 011/2666-520
Fax:011/3674-209
E-mail: consbg@eunet.rs
comsecc_bg@eunet.rs
www.eoibelgrade.gov.in
INDEX:
India Economic News
Government of India Tenders
Bilateral Relations
Trade Fairs in India
Useful Links
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pg 1
pg 5
pg 6
pg 14
pg 15
India Economic News:
India to be Partner Country in
Hannover Messe Fair During April
2015
India has conveyed its consent to be the
'Partner Country' at the prestigious
Hannover Fair in Germany to be held from
April 12 - 17, 2015. By accepting the
invitation of German Chancellor Ms. Angela
Merkel for India to be the Partner Country
at Hannover Messe 2015, the Government
has sent strong signals to the industry about
strengthening global trade and inviting
investment into India. Prime Minister Mr
Narendra Modi is expected to be present at
the world renowned engineering and
technology fair beginning April 12.
The Department of Commerce has
mandated Engineering Export Promotion
Council India as the lead agency supported
by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)
along with Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) as the other agencies for Indian
participation in the fair.
The Hannover Fair attracts nearly 200.000
global leaders in business, technology,
industrial scientists and policy makers.
About 300 Indian companies including
public sector giants would be participating in
the five day fair, seeking technology
collaborations, business tie-ups and
showcasing India's capabilities in global
trade. India had been the Partner Country at
the Hannover Messe in 2006. With USD 21
billion bilateral trade, Germany is India's
sixth largest trading partner with
engagement in the areas of mechanical
engineering,
automobiles,
chemicals,
services, nuclear reactors, construction etc.
1
Garments and textile products, chemical
products, leather & leather goods, iron, steel
and metal goods, electronic components,
electrical
components,
pharmaceutical
products, and auto components are major
items of exports from India to Germany.
The key German exports to India include
electrical generation equipment, auto
equipment, complete fabrication plants,
bearings, gear equipment, measurement and
control equipment, primary chemical
products, synthetic material, machine tools,
aircrafts and iron and steel sheets, etc.
The Government is seeing the participation
in the fair as an opportunity to increase its
global presence in commodities & services,
apart from utilizing the event for attracting
investments into India as part of the ‘Make
in India' campaign of the Prime Minister.
The Department of Commerce is in the
process of getting in touch with all key
Departments in the Central Government as
also
leaders
of
Indian
business
establishments, seeking their participation
and co-operation in making the event a
grand success.
India remains top offshoring
destination for IT firms
India remains the top offshoring destination
for information technology (IT) companies,
followed by China and Malaysia, said a study
by A.T. Kearney. The study, Global Services
Location Index, assessed 51 countries based
on metrics under three categories including
financial attractiveness, people skills and
availability, and business environment.
"Despite expectations regarding #2 ranked
China, India maintains and even increases its
lead over China," the study said. "The
country (India) is unrivaled in both scale and
people skills."
"Leading IT services firms are expanding
their traditional offerings (in India) to
include R&D (research and development),
product development, and other niche
services," it said. "The line between IT and
BPO (business process outsourcing) is
blurring as players offer bundles and
specialized services to their clients and
develop skills in niche domains."
Although China offers an alternative to
Eastern Europe for high-end IT and
analytics, rising wages are limiting its cost
competitiveness in lower-end functions
compared with India and other Asian
destinations.
Asia continued to dominate the global
market, with six of its countries among the
index's top 10 offshore destinations.
However, there are some challenges for the
region.
Global IT firms aggressively started
outsourced back office operations in the
mid-2000s, but today multinationals are
reassessing their outsourcing strategies.
There is a course correction where some
functions are being repatriated from vendors
back to the companies' own service centers
and employees, the study found.
"What was once a decision based primarily
on cost-effectiveness, has now started to
incorporate other considerations, for
example, whether the function is core to the
business, and therefore needs to be brought
back in-house, as well as external regulatory
factors impacting business relationships,
accountability and the ability to protect
intellectual property and customer privacy,"
said Erik Peterson, study co-author and
partner, and managing director of A.T.
Kearney's Global Business Policy Council
think-tank.
These regions also face challenges from
increasing digitization and automation,
2
which could negate cost competitiveness.
Greater automation and freelance-based
outsourcers are eventually making physical
location less relevant."Automation, wherein
robots are programmed to perform for even
less than low-cost labour, is becoming
increasingly accessible and could dent the
region's low-cost advantage," the study said.
Microsoft to set up 3 data centers
in India by 2015
Microsoft plans to offer its commercial and
cloud services - Azure and Office 365 - from
three local data centers by the end of 2015,
making it the first technology company to
set up cloud data centers in India, a move
that experts say will help the US-based
software giant compete better in the
domestic market.
"When we think about the cloud
opportunity in India itself, it is going to be a
$2 trillion opportunity," chief executive
Satya Nadella said in Delhi, adding that the
move will help Indian companies,
government and entrepreneurs. Without
disclosing the investment involved in setting
up the data centers, Nadella said they will
have "sizeable" capacity.
The announcement is significant given that
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been
vocal about bringing local data centers to
India to maintain data sovereignty. Besides, a
large number of Indian enterprises have
increasingly voiced concerns about hosting
their data on the public cloud because none
of the major players such as Amazon Web
Services, Microsoft or Google have cloud
data centers in India.
"I think in two or three years, when the
servers come to India, the public cloud
market will become more interesting
because now there are some territorial issues
in holding the data in the country," Jagdish
Belwal, CIO at Tata Motors, which currently
uses Amazon Web Services, told in a recent
interview.
Competition in the cloud market is
increasing, with players such as IBM
spending millions in advertising its Softlayer
cloud and Oracle making a push in the
Indian market with the announcement of
several new cloud offerings for different
industries. Microsoft's move to set up a local
data centre will give the company "more
muscle" to compete in the cloud services
market and Office 365 could see higher
adoption.
Cipla collaborates with Teva
Pharma to sell drugs in South
Africa
Indian generic drug maker Cipla Ltd
announced that it has entered into a
collaboration with the world's largest generic
player, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd,
for the South African market.
"This collaboration is highly complementary
and aligns strongly with our philosophy of
providing South Africans with access to a
broader range of affordable medicines," said
Paul Miller, CEO of Cipla Medpro.
The collaboration is signed between Medpro
Pharmaceutical (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of
Cipla Medpro, the Indian drug makers'
South Africa-based subsidiary, and Teva
Pharmaceuticals Ltd, an affiliate of Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries.
According to an announcement, the
collaboration between the two companies is
a sales and distribution agreement where
Cipla Medpro will exclusively market Teva's
pharmaceutical products portfolio in South
Africa. Cipla Medpro will exclusively market
Teva's broad pharmaceutical product
portfolio in South Africa, with focus on
therapeutic areas, such as oncology, central
nervous
system,
women's
health,
cardiovascular, ophthalmology and other
specialty products. This tie-up will
strengthen the company's position in South
Africa.
The company has been investing to
consolidate its position in foreign markets.
Earlier this month, it inked an agreement
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with its existing Iranian distributor to set up
a manufacturing facility in Iran. For this,
Cipla will invest around USD 40 million for
75% stake in holding of proposed unit. In
2013, Cipla completed acquisition of its
South Africa-based distribution partner
Cipla Medpro for around $512 million.
Kalyan Jewellers raises USD 200
from PE major Warburg Pincus
In one of the largest private equity (PE)
deals in the jewellery manufacturing
segment, the India arm of US PE major
Warburg Pincus has picked up a minority
stake in Kerala-based jewellery maker and
retailer Kalyan Jewellers for USD 200
million. While, Kalyan Jewellers refused to
divulge how much stake it sold but industry
sources pegged it at 10-12%.
The jeweller will use the proceeds from the
deal to fund its retail and manufacturing
expansion plans. T S Kalyanaraman,
chairman and managing director said the
firm would open 28 stores - including 12 in
overseas. Sixteen stores will come up before
December 2014 and the remaining by
another six months, he added.
Kalyan Jewellers plans to scale up its global
presence in West Asia by foraying into
Kuwait and Qatar markets and in south-east
Asia by launching its footprints in Singapore
and Malaysia. Currently, the company has six
exclusive outlets in the United Arab
Emirates.
The retail expansion is expected to cost
USD 200 million. The jeweller is also
planning to invest USD 60 million in
enhancing its manufacturing capacity. The
investment manufacturing will be funded
through internal resources.
'We look forward to working with Warburg
Pincus as we continue to build on our
foundation and move onto our next phase
of growth," he noted.
The company has set a target to close the
current financial year with a turnover of
USD 1.63 billion, up from last year's USD
1.31 billion
He claimed this is the largest PE investment
into Kerala so far. To a question on whether
the company is planning an initial public
offering, he said: "Currently, we have
enough funds; if we feel we need more
money, then we will look into it."
Vishal Mahadevia, managing director and
co-head (India) at Warburg Pincus, said the
PE firm's investment in Kalyan Jewellers is
the largest PE investment into the jewellery
segment in India, and is an acknowledgment
of the company's highly-talented team and
its pioneering role within the sector.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered at
Thrissur in Kerala, Kalyan Jewellers is the
part of 100-year-old Kalyan Group, which
started out with textile manufacturing and
retailing.
Honda to set up world’s largest
scooter plant in Gujarat
Honda Motors, which is swearing by
scooters in India, is setting up the world's
largest scooter plant in Gujarat to roll out
1.2 million units annually and achieve
leadership position in the Indian twowheeler market, especially with a growing
number of customers shifting to this unisex
multi-utility mode that has caught the fancy
of many and outpaced almost every other
segment.
Scooter sales have jumped by 29% in the
ongoing fiscal, and now form 27% of the
total two-wheeler market from just 8% a
decade back. The ever-rising demand for
scooters that has far outstripped supply has
prompted Honda to set up its first dedicated
scooter plant in Ahmedabad. "Even as we
have more than doubled our scooter
capacity in India, we have not been able to
match up with the demand.
After 13 years of its launch, Activa continues
to be on 'waiting' even as competition has
multiplied ten times," said YS Guleria,
Honda VP for marketing and sales in India.
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Honda had fired the imagination of scooter
lovers with its Activa — launched way back
in 2001.
"Even though we raised our production with
three new scooters, demand still outstrips
our estimates. While scooter production has
trebled in the past decade, we still have a
backlog of 60,000 scooters that should
multiply in the festive months ahead,"
Guleria added. Honda would spend USD
180 million on the new plant in Ahmedabad,
and expand its range with a few more
offerings.
The company, which leads the scooter
market with a 53% share in the domestic
market, would have two assembly lines for
scooters, which would create 3,000 more
jobs. The fourth plant would enhance its
cumulative production capacity in India to
5.8 million units by 2015-16, including 1.6
million from its first plant in Haryana, 12
million from the one in Rajasthan, and 1.8
million from the Karnataka plant.
The sales from its Indian subsidiary have
already climbed to the second spot for
Honda's two-wheeler business worldwide,
and it believes that the fourth plant would
help India become its top global market.
Honda's decision for a dedicated scooter
plant is backed by an overwhelming
response to its five scooter brands which
have been runaway successes in India.
In fact, all big auto companies — Hero
MotoCorp, Suzuki, Yamaha, TVS Motors
and M&M — are planning to expand in an
effort to cash in on the exploding demand.
They have gained from a surge in sales in the
first quarter that has helped the segment
post record high sales of 1.01 million units
in the April-June ended period. Scooters
grew 23% to sell 3.60 million units in the
fiscal ended March.
Analysts said that the new generation
automatic scooters, that are unisex in nature
and are fuel efficient, have helped them
grow manifold over the more traditional
roughand-tough bikes. Going by the shift,
they (scooters) are expected to corner a third
of the market.
Mahindra looking to buy Peugeot
Motocycles
Mahindra Two Wheelers has made a binding
offer to buy 51% stake in Peugeot
Motocycles (PMTC), the world's oldest
maker of motorised two-wheelers from
French auto major PSA Group, for around
Euro 28 million.
Of the total investment, about Euro 15
million will be infused in the company
(PMTC) to support future products, said
Pawan
Goenka,
executive
director,
Mahindra & Mahindra. The company hopes
to close the deal in three months.
Post the deal, M&M will have three
members on board, while Peugeot will have
two. M&M will retain the current
management at PMTC including its CEO
and will not undertake any restructuring for
the next two years. PMTC currently has 500
employees in France and 300 in China
through a joint venture company.
While the current priority is to drive Peugeot
to newer markets such as South East Asia,
Africa and Latin America, Mahindra will also
look at launching Peugeot scooters in India
as a premium offering in the future.
"We will have a two brand strategy. We will
position Peugeot as a premium brand in the
market and Mahindra as a mass-market
brand. There are clear opportunities for
synergies between Mahindra Two Wheelers
and Peugeot Scooters. We want to focus on
building the brand, global expansion and
investing in new products and synergies,"
Goenka said.
PMTC has 13 models of scooters and
mopeds in the 50cc-400cc range including
the three-wheeler scooter Metropolis,
introduced last year. However, it has seen its
sales slip over the last few years, primarily
due to the slowdown in the European
market, which accounts for over 70% of the
company's sales.
In 2013, it volumes stood at 79,000 units,
down from 115,000 units four years ago. It
reported revenue of Euro 99 million last
5
year, compared with Euro 142 million four
years ago. The company has been looking to
offload the scooter business as part of a
restructuring exercise.
"Faced with a European market down
sharply for several years, this partnership
with M&M would allow Peugeot Scooters to
diversify and accelerate its international
development by combining its strengths
with those of M&M," the French firm said
in a statement.
Mahindra entered the two-wheeler market
six years ago with the acquisition of Punebased Kinetic Motor. It has been looking to
scale up with the launch of the Centuro
motorcycle last year and the Gusto scooter
last week. Besides, it also sells the Rodeo
and Duro scooters.
PMTC has a strong technology centre in
France and a family of seven engines ranging
from 50 cc to 400 cc and Mahindra is likely
to gain significantly on the technology front.
It will also be able to ride on Peugeot's
distribution to sell its vehicles
Mahindra Two Wheelers and Peugeot
Motocycles will operate as two separate
entities, but Goenka has said there could be
some platform sharing and research and
development collaborations in the future.
The deal is subject to Works Council
consultation, as part of the employee
dialogue process in France and anti-trust
laws.
Government of India Tenders:

The Government of India Tender
Information System
http://tenders.gov.in/

Ministry of Home Affairs
http://mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?Id_P
k=298
Bilateral Relations :
International Buddhist Conclave:
The prominent Serbian Journalist Ms. Mira
Adanja Polak visited India from 24 Sep - 07
Oct 2014 to participate in the International
Buddhist Conclave in Bodh Gaya and
Varanasi. She also visited Delhi, Jaipur &
Chennai and covered many attractive tourist
sites. Her TV talk shows on Buddhism,
Varanasi (Ganga) and Ayurveda attracted a
lot of audience in Serbia.
Advisor to the Mayor of Belgrade, a number
of prominent personalities including Ms.
Biljana Savovic, MP, Ms. Nadica Nikolic
Tanasijevic, MP, Dr. Gordana Zoric, MP,
Mr. Nemanja Stevanovic, Adviser to the
Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Prosic,
Minister-Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Prof. Predrag Nikic, President, Yoga
Federation of Serbia, Mr. Goran Paskaljevic,
prominent Film Director, Prof. Dusan Pajin,
Mr. V.P. Ahuja, Director, TAFE and
representatives of ROMA community. At
Embassy's initiative, the Radio Television of
Serbia Channel 2 (RTS 2) telecast the film,
'The Making of the Mahatma' with Serbian
sub-titles on 02 Oct. As part of the
commemoration, Prof. Dusan Pajin held a
lecture on the contribution of the Mahatma
at Belgrade City Library.
Indian speaker in Belgrade Design
Week 2014: In coordination with Embassy
Celebration of Gandhi's 145th
Birth Anniversary: To commemorate
Mahatma Gandhi’s 145th Birth Anniversary,
Embassy organized screening of the feature
film 'Gandhi' with Serbian sub-titles at the
National Library of Serbia on 01 Oct. In
collaboration with the Indian Cultural
Centre Belgrade, Embassy organised floral
tributes at the Gandhi Bust located at Sava
River Quay, Gandhi Street, New Belgrade
on 02 Oct.
of India, Belgrade, the organisers of
Belgrade Design Week 2014 invited an
Indian speaker for the event from 06-11
October 2014. Mr. Satya Sheel, a prominent
Indian Designer, participated in the Belgrade
Design Week (BDW) and spoke on “An
Indian
approach
to
Sustainable
Development of Open Spaces: What the
World
can
learn
from
India”.
Meeting of India-Serbia Joint
Economic Committee: India-Serbian
Ambassador was joined by about 100 local
dignitaries including Ms. Lana Drmaniae,
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Joint Economic Committee meeting was
organised on 09 Oct through video
conferencing. Indian delegation was headed
by Mr. Dammu Ravi, Joint Secretary,
Department of Commerce, Ministry of
Commerce and Industry and the Serbian
delegation was headed by Mr. Nemanja
Stevanovic, Special Advisor to the Prime
Minister of Serbia. A number of bilateral
issues were discussed and an action plan to
implement the agreed protocol was
proposed during the meeting.
Inauguration of Indian Restaurant:
On 10 Oct, Ambassador inaugurated Indian
Restaurant 'Swad - Taste of India' at Djusina
street in Belgrade.
plan. The Embassy has been organizing
various cultural manifestations, including
yoga festivals, performances by Indian
cultural troupes, fashion shows, exhibitions,
etc. A number of Indian TV serials are
telecasted through local TV channels with
Serbia sub-titles. The Agreement, is thus,
expected to give further impetus to the
cultural cooperation between the two
friendly countries. After meeting with the
Minister, Ambassador met with Mr. Dejan
Ristic, State Secretary, Ministry of Culture
also and discussed cultural cooperation
between the two countries.
India-Serbia cooperation in Film
Industry: The prominent Serbian film
On 21 Oct, Ambassador inaugurated the
Indian Restaurant Ginger in Belgrade.
director Mr. Goran Paskaljevic was the
honorary guest and President of the Jury at
the 16th Mumbai Film Festival held from
14-21 Oct 2014. Goran is planning to launch
the first ever Indo-Serbian film coproduction 'Dev Bhoomi' (Land of the
God), based on the theme of girl child
education in the backdrop of Uttarakhand.
Mr. Darko Lungulov, Film Director was
invited to participate in the 45th
International Film Festival of India in Goa
in November 2014.
Invitation to the Serbian Minister
of Culture: On 14 Oct, Ambassador
called on H.E. Mr. Ivan Tasovac, Serbian
Minister of Culture and Information to hand
over the invitation from his Indian
counterpart to visit India and also to use this
opportunity to sign the renewed Agreement
between India and Serbia on Cooperation in
the fields of Culture, Arts, Youth, Sports
and Mass Media. H.E. the Minister
graciously accepted the invitation to visit
India in the near future and emphasized the
importance of developing relations at the
institutional levels through a dynamic action
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Visit of EEPC's representative to
Serbia: Mr. C. H. Nadiger, Regional
Director, EEPC India, Chennai visited
Serbia from 21-22 Oct to invite Serbian
businesses to participate in India
Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) being
organised from 16-18 Dec 2014 in Mumbai,
India. Mr. Nadiger met with Serbian
Chambers, Serbia Investment and Export
promotion Agency (SIEPA), Serbian
Ministry of Economy, National Alliance for
Local Economic Development (NALED)
and Serbian businesses to promote the
event. A number of Serbian companies are
expected to participate in the event.
Embassy would like to acknowledge the
contribution of books from the Public
Diplomacy Division of the Government of
India and the National Book Trust (NBT) of
India.
Embassy's
participation
in
Belgrade International Book Fair:
In collaboration with “Incredible India”,
Embassy of India participated for the
second time in the 59th International
Belgrade Book Fair from 26 Oct - 02 Nov
2014 at Belgrade Sajam. Indian Stall in Hall
2A along with the ICCR (Indian Council for
Cultural Relations, New Delhi) sponsored
Exhibition - 'Digital Prints of Selected
Artwork by Tagore' was inaugurated by H.E.
Mrs. Narinder Chauhan, Ambassador of
India, H.E. Mr. Sinisa Mali, Mayor of
Belgrade, Mr. Radoslav Pavlovic, Cultural
Advisor to the President of the Republic of
Serbia and Prof. Dusan Pajin, by lighting of
traditional Indian Lamp on 26 Oct 2014.
The occasion was also used to promote the
book “Tagore’s Selected Works” in Serbian
language. During the occasion, Prof. Dr.
Dusan Pajin gave a lecture on Rabindranath
Tagore. The event was attended by a
number of journalists and prominent
visitors.
The Indian booth was used to promote
Incredible India and to exhibit Digital Prints
of Selected Artwork by Tagore, books
relating to India as well as for audio / visual
presentation on Incredible India. The
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On 27 Oct, Ambassador attended the event
at Indian stall in Book Fair for promotion of
the book 'The Inventor' written by Mr. Rave
Mehta regarding Nikola Tesla and his
meeting with Swami Vivekanand. Mr.
Aleksandar Protic, Tesla Global Forum
Scientific Director, Tesla Memory Project
Director addressed the audience about Tesla,
the book & the writer.
On 28 Oct, Ambassador attended the event
at Indian stall in Belgrade Book Fair for
promotion of the book “Yoga - Spirit and
Body" in Serbian language written by Prof.
Dr. Dusan Pajin. During the Occasion, Prof.
Pajin
gave
a lecture
on Yoga.
On 29 Oct, Indian Cultural Centre invited
children from various Serbian schools to
visit India Stall at Book Fair. Ambassador
presented Indian books to students from
various schools and libraries in Serbia
including
Primary
School
'Bosko
Palkovljevic Pinki' Belgrade, Primary School
'Rade Drainac' Belgrade, Primary School
'Vuk Karadzic' Belgrade, Primary School
'Zivojin Peric' Obrenovac, Preschool
'Ljubica Vrebalov' Pozarevac, Belgrade
Mathematics Grammar High School, Library
'Matica Srpska' Novi Sad, Library of
Student’s Cultural Centre New Belgrade and
Belgrade University Library.
On 29 Oct, Ambassador attended the event
at Indian stall in Belgrade Book Fair for
promotion of the book in Serbian language
“Indian Theatre-Tradition and Activism” by
Dr. Milena Sesic.
Participation of Indian Chess
Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishnan
in Chess Simulation: On 29 Oct,
Ambassador attended the Chess Simulation
organised by the Sport University
Association of Belgrade at the Belgrade
University. Indian Chess Grandmaster
Pentala Harikrishnan participated in the
Chess Week and played simultaneously on
30 boards against celebrities, university
professors, media representatives and
children. The symbolic first move was made
by Ambassador. Audio/visual presentation
on India and promotion of Incredible India
were also arranges during the event.
Visit of the Fusion Band ‘East
India Company’ led by Angaraag
Papon Mahanta (Papon): The Fusion
Band ‘East India Company’ led by Angaraag
Papon Mahanta (Papon) had a successful
visit to Serbia from 2-6 Nov, 2014. The
group gave following performances in
Belgrade:
Public Performance at Dom Omladine,
Belgrade On 03 Nov, Papon Group gave a
public performance to a packed audience of
more than 500 people at Dom Omladine,
Belgrade. The event started with the lighting
of the traditional lamp by Ambassador
alongwith Mr. Dejan Ristic, Culture
Secretary of the Republic of Serbia and Ms.
Mira Adanja Polak, the prominent journalist
in the Balkans. Mr. Slobodan Tirkulja, a
renowned musician in Serbia, graced the
occasion by performing as the Master of
Ceremony. He also played vocal and
instrumental duet with Papon, much to the
delight
of
the
audience.
Papon sang Bollywood, Assamese, Punjabi
as well as Hindustani songs and was greatly
connected with the audience. The event was
highly enjoyed and appreciated by the
audience, and was a great success. The group
received rousing ovation. The performance
may be seen at the following link:
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Live recording at the PINK TV
Studio - On 04 Nov, live telecast of Papon
along with his associates was arranged by
PINK TV on its prime channel as well as on
Pink Music and Pink Plus. Papon sang and
played few instruments at the Studio and
connected well with a large viewership.
Interview with Politika: The leading
Serbian newspaper ‘Politika’ arranged a
special interview of Papon on 05 Nov, 2014.
The visit of the Group was given wide
publicity through print, electronic, social
media and other means.
Donation of Mahindra Tractor and
Pickup Vehicle to Municipality of
Obrenovac: Indian company Mahindra &
Mahindra and its Serbian partner M/s
Agropanonka, donated Mahindra Tractor
with Trolley and Mahindra Pickup Vehicle
to the Mayor of Obrenovac on 12 Nov
2014, in their efforts to support the
Municipality of Obrenovac in recovering
from the disastrous effects of the recent
catastrophic floods in Obrenovac and
surrounding regions. The donation was
organised in the presence of H.E. Mrs.
Narinder Chauhan, Ambassador of India to
Serbia, H.E. Mr. Miroslav Cuckovic, Mayor
of Obrenovac, Mr. Andreja Mladenovic,
Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Mr Dragoljub
Svonja, owner of Agropanonka, Mr. Angelo
A. Molfetta & Mr Jose Ebenezer,
Representatives of Mahindra & Mahindra in
Europe and many other prominent persons.
Workshop at Indian Cultural Centre:
On 06 Nov, the workshop ‘Cycle-India that
connects us’ at Indian Cultural Centre was
attended by members of the Centre and the
famous musicians & artists from Serbia, who
have some connections with India. The
group interacted with the participants and
discussed the differences in traditional and
contemporary trends in music.
They met with Kirtan Group Samadhi from
Belgrade during one hour session, where
they discussed music approaches in different
parts of India. They also sang songs as gifts
to each other. Since both groups share the
same passion for Indian music, they all felt
the vibration of friendship and love through
music.
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In her remarks, Indian Ambassador
conveyed her sympathies and condolences
to the bereaved and displaced families and
added that she had witnessed the floods in
the region during the visit of Heads of
Missions, organised by H.E. the First
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
of the Republic of Serbia. She mentioned
that immediately after the floods, the
Government of India (GOI) had extended
financial assistance of US Dollars One
hundred thousand (US$ 100,000/-) as
immediate relief to the people of Serbia and
GOI representative participated in the
donor conference also. A similar amount
was provided to Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The donation of Mahindra Tractor with
Trolley & Mahindra Pickup Vehicle would
effectively help the local authorities in their
ongoing relief operations and rehabilitation
efforts in the severely affected areas. The
nature of Mahindra products is such that it
can reach most difficult regions in
demanding situations.
On the occasion, the Ambassador of India
also gifted books to the Sports Cultural
Centre of Obrenovac and to the Library
'Vlada Aksentijevic' in Obrenovac. The
Indian Ambassador also invited Serbian
companies to take advantage of sponsorship
package offered by EEPC India for
participating in the 'India Engineering
Sourcing Show being organised in Mumbai
from 16-18 Dec 2014.
Display of Exhibition ‘Digital
Prints
of
Artworks
by
Rabindranath Tagore’: Ambassador
along with Ms. Svetlana Jancic, Acting
Director, National Library of Serbia,
inaugurated the Exhibition ‘Digital Prints of
Artworks by Rabindranath Tagore’ on 13
Nov 2014 at the National Library of Serbia
[Atrium Hall], Skerliceva 1, Belgrade. The
Exhibition contains 45 prints of a selection
of the paintings of Noble Laureate Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore, the most prominent
cultural figure from the un-fragmented
Indian subcontinent. His pictorial language
imparted a new dimension to modern Indian
paintings. The Tagore exhibition has been
provided by the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR), New Delhi.
11
This Exhibition is a tribute to the Gurudev
Rabindranath Tagore, a great artist and a
master of many forms, a multifarious
personality, a true intellectual and one of the
greatest and best-known ambassadors of
Indian culture, whose name is synonymous
with humanity and harmony across cultures
and nations. His concept of creativity,
philosophy, literature, art and society
continue to inspire the world even today!
Gurudev Tagore has a special connection
with Serbia. Gurudev Tagore visited Serbia
(former Yugoslavia) in 1926 and gave two
lectures in the Belgrade University, had
lunch in ”Serbian King”, gave an interview
to Stanislav Vinaver and talked to the
Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic. Further,
Gurudev was moved by a certain gift: an old
Serbian robe hemmed with gold, made in
Kosovo in the 18th century. The Serbia
National Review edition (No. 4 of 2007)
which wrote about his visit to Belgrade,
described Gurudev as "the profound
interpreter of East” and stated that the
Serbian capital was amazed by the Indian
poet and philosopher, as well as he was
amazed by Belgrade.
Celebration of Nehru's Birth
Anniversary: On the occasion of the
Birth Anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, the
Indian Cultural Centre organised a floral
tributes on 14 Nov at the bust of Pandit
Nehru, located at the Nehru Street (in front
of the New Belgrade Municipality
Information Service Building), New
Belgrade. The ceremony was presided over
by Ambassador and attended by members of
both Indian and Serbian Community. On
the occasion, Ambassador and Prof. Dusan
Pajin spoke about the Nehru's contribution
in the India-Serbia relations including the
foundation of Non-Aligned Movement
along with President Tito.
"Sari: The Magic of Indian
Weaves". In collaboration with the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR),
Embassy of India will be organizing a
curated exhibition of "Sari: The Magic of
Indian Weaves", an Exhibition on Indian
Saris by RTA Kapur Chishti, at
Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade from 25
Nov - 07 Dec 2014.
Indian cultural events in Serbia:
Embassy of India, Belgrade, in collaboration
with Indian Council for Cultural Relations
(ICCR) and Incredible India, is planning to
organise the following Cultural events in
Serbia in coming months to further enhance
and deepen the cultural contacts between
India and Serbia:
12





Promotion of India in Auteur Film
Festival, Belgrade and participation
of the film 'Court' by Indian director
Chaitanya Tamhane in the Festival,
29 Nov 2014;
Participation in the 15th IWC
Annual Diplomatic Charity Bazaar
(Christmas Charity Bazaar) on 07
Dec 2014 at Sajam - Belgrade Fair;
Exhibition 'Temples, Forts &
Palaces: 2000 years of Indian
Architecture' by Dr. Saryu Doshi,
December 2014 - January 2015;
Participation
in
Belgrade
International Tourism Fair, February
2015;
Indian dance group in March / April
2015.
India Serbia Photography Contest
2014: Ambassador announced the opening
of India Serbia Photography Contest 2014 at
the EXIT festival in Novi Sad on 10 July
2014. The contest is open to the citizens of
Serbia and India. The results will be
announced
in
December
2014.
Etihad Airways will sponsor the Grand Prize
Winner from Serbia with two tickets to India
and India Tourism Office, Frankfurt
(Incredible India) will host the two guests
from Serbia in India for 7 days. The Grand
prize Winners from India will be hosted in
Serbia by Brand Serbia for 7 days. The Top
10 entries from Serbia and Top 10 entries
from India will get VIP passes for the next
edition
of
the
EXIT
Festival.
“Incredible India” Bus Branding
Campaign in Belgrade, Serbia.
The Embassy of India in cooperation with
the Government of India Tourism Office,
Frankfurt “Incredible India” initiated a
Brand India marketing campaign by exterior
branding of two Belgrade city transport
busses (line 16 & 83). The campaign was
started in February 2014 allowing citizens of
Belgrade and commuters to enjoy the
beautiful sights of Indian nature, people &
culture and will continue until February
2015.
Trade Fairs in India
o India International Trade Fair
www.iitf.in
14-27th of November 2014
New Delhi, India
o CPhI India
http://www.cphi.com/india/home
02-04th of December 2014
Mumbai, India
o Fine Food India
www.finefoodindiaexpo.com
03-05th December 2014
of New Delhi, India
o Plastivision India
www.plastivision.org
12-16th of December 2014
Mumbai, India
Indian Technical & Economic
Cooperation Programme (ITEC):
ITEC was introduced in Serbia in 2008 and
in this short span, over 100 candidates from
Serbia have availed of the ITEC training in
India. Under the ITEC Programme all
expenditure, including the international air
passages, boarding and lodging, internal
transport, etc in India, of the candidates
selected are borne by the Ministry of
External Affairs, Government of India.
Persons between 25 to 45 years, working in
Government, Public and Private Sectors,
Universities, Chambers of Commerce and
Industry, etc. can apply for various training
courses in India under ITEC Programme
2014-15, which have been circulated through
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Government
of Serbia. More details about ITEC
programme are available on Embassy's
website.
more information on forthcoming events is
available at the Embassy website
http://eoibelgrade.gov.in
o India Engineering Sourcing Show
(IESS) http://www.iesshow.in/
16-18th December 2014
Mumbai , India
o The Economic Times AceTech
www.etacetech.com
18-21th of December 2014
Delhi, India
o Vibrant Gujarat Summit
http://www.vibrantgujarat.com/
11-13th of January 2015
Ahmadabad , India
o CII Partnership Summit
http://partnershipsummit.com/
15-17 January 2015
Jaipur, India
o Indian Ceramics
www.indian-ceramics.com
21-23 of January 2015,
Ahmedabad, India
o New Delhi World Book Fair
www.newdelhiworldbookfair.gov.in
14-22nd of February 2015
New Delhi, India
o India International Jewelry Show
www.iijs-signature.org
13
20-23rd of February 2015,
Mumbai, India
o International Agriculture & Horti
Expo www.hortiexpo.com
20-22,Feb 2015,
Chandigarh India
o Defexpo India
http://defexpoindia.in
February 2015,New Delhi, India
o Kosmetika 2015
The Beauty and Wellness Show
http://kosmeticashow.com
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India
o Panacea Natural Products Expo
www.naturalproductsexpoindia.com
February 2015, Mumbai, India
o India International Handwoven Fair
www.iihfchennai.com
11-13th of March 2015
Chennai, India
o Aahar International Food Fair
www.aaharinternationalfair.com
March 2015
New Delhi, India
o World Tea & Coffee Expo
www.worldteacoffeeexpo.com
September 2015
Mumbai, India
o Annapoorna World of Food
www.worldoffoodindia.com
September 2015,Mumbai India
o Beautika World 2015
http://beautikaworld.com
September 2015,Mumbai India
o World Ayurveda Congress
http://www.ayurworld.org
November 2015,New Delhi, India
o Auto Expo India
www.autoexpo.in
4-9th of February 2016,
New Delhi, India
14
More information available at:
www.indiatradefair.com
www.cii.in/CII_Events.aspx
www.ficci.com/ficci-exhibitions.asp
www.assocham.org/events/index.php
www.fieo.org/view_detail.php?lang=0&i
d=0,22&evetype=0
www.biztradeshows.com/india/
Useful Links

The National Portal of India
http://india.gov.in

The Ministry of External Affairs,
Government of India
http://mea.gov.in/

India Public Diplomacy
www.indiandiplomacy.in

Invest India
www.investindia.gov.in

India In Business
http://indiainbusiness.nic.in

Incredible India
www.incredibleindia.org

India Brand Equity Foundation
www.ibef.org

India Trade Promotion Organisation
www.indiatradefair.com

EXIM Bank
http://eximbankindia.com

The Confederation of Indian
Industry
www.cii.in

Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce & Industry www.ficci.com

Associated Chambers of Commerce
& Industry of India
www.assocham.org

The Federation of Indian Export
Organizations www.fieo.org

PHD Chamber of Commerce and
Industry www.phdcci.in