In Conversation

ISRAEL CAN LIBERATE INDIAN AGRICULTURE FROM CLIMATE DEPENDENCY: MASHAV CHIEF

- by India Writes Network

:Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India in January 2018, the first visit by an Israeli PM to New Delhi in over a decade, is expected to galvanise development and agricultural cooperation between the two countries.
In a defining step, India and Israel forged “Strategic Partnership in Water and Agriculture” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit to Israel in July this year. India and Israel also signed two pacts to enhance cooperation on water conservation and state water utility reform in India, and another agreement on agricultural cooperation. MASHAV, the Hebrew acronym for Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, will shepherd this strategic partnership in years to come.
Manish Chand caught up with Ambassador Gil Haskel, the head of MASHAV, in Jerusalem to discuss the way ahead for India-Israel development partnership. In this interview, Amb. Haskel outlines plans for harnessing Israeli technology to make Indian agriculture less dependent on the vagaries of climate, and to stimulate a new green revolution in India.

Read More

Dr Kalam proved President can be agent of change: S.M. Khan

- by India Writes Network

Think of Dr A.P. J. Abdul Kalam, and many laudatory adjectives come readily to mind. Scientist extraordinaire, the father of India’s space and missile programme, nation-builder, dreamer, an inspirational speaker who loved igniting young minds, with his own life serving as a model of self-fashioning and achieving despite formidable odds.
A new book by S.M. Khan, who served as press secretary to President Kalam, makes his portrait more vivid and compelling. nterspersed with anecdotes and personal conversations the author had with the president, “The People’s President” unpacks Dr Kalam’s pioneering role in raising the bar for the presidency under India’s parliament system of government and providing it the much-needed people’s touch.
In this wide-ranging conversation with Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief, India Writes Network, Khan, currently Director-General of the Registrar of Newspapers for India and a former spokesperson for Central Bureau of Investigation, speaks insightfully about the making of the people’s president and how Dr Kalam remapped the contours of the presidency by positioning people at the centre of his outreach and dispensing with most of ceremonial aspects associated with this exalted institution. Most important, as the author says, Dr Kalam tried to prove in those five years that the President, while remaining within the framework of the Constitution of India, can be an agent of change and transformation and contribute to the nation’s development in a tangible way.
Excerpts from the interview….

Read More

Vietnam wants India to play a more active role in Southeast Asia: Envoy

- by India Writes Network

It’s a milestone year in India-Vietnam relations as the two strategic partners celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In this wide-ranging interview with Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief, India Writes Network, Vietnam’s ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh outlines a vibrant picture of the trajectory of this crucial relationship and underlines the need for a more active role by India in Southeast Asia and the extended region. The envoy also underscored that the burgeoning India-Vietnam relations is not targeted at China or any third country and stressed on peaceful resolution of the South China Sea dispute through dialogue.

Read More

Manmohan Singh was accidental finance minister, Narasimha Rao led 1991 reforms and foreign policy reset: Sanjaya Baru

- by India Writes Network

Who was the architect of India’s path-breaking economic reforms of 1991? No prize for guessing it? Think again, it’s time to get it right! In this wide-ranging conversation with Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, Dr Baru, a former media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a veteran journalist, speaks about defining events of 1991, the pivotal year in not just India’s economic journey, but also in the country’s politics and foreign policy, and the crucial role of Narasimha Rao in shaping outcomes conducive to India’s national interests. In the realm of foreign policy, Dr Baru outlines defining steps taken by Narasimha Rao in response to emerging global power shifts, including the launch of Look East policy, resetting relations with the US and China and the outreach to Israel. Commenting on the ongoing political churn in India, the author says that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2004 election victory has brought a quarter century of accidental prime ministers in the country to an end, but he needs a second term to leave a lasting legacy. Excerpts from the interview) – Read more….

Read More

Cultural diplomacy poised for a bigger role, to promote Brand India: ICCR chief Amarendra Khatua

- by Manish Chand

Politics divides, culture connects. In Shanghai, a pact was signed between India and China to recreate Raj Kapoor’s 1951 classic Awaara into a contemporary Chinese opera.
Amarendra Khatua, the new director-general of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), who was in Shanghai to deliver the keynote address at the 18th China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF), struck an upbeat note on long-standing civilisational ties and promoting cultural exchanges in Tier-II and Tier-III cities in India and China. The joint theatrical remake of Awaara, which remains the most popular Indian movie in China, hints at more such collaborative cultural tie-ups India is set to pursue in days to come.
“Cultural diplomacy is poised to play a bigger role in India’s foreign policy calculus in days and months to come and promote Brand India,” said Khatua, a veteran diplomat who is also famous as an accomplished poet who writes and translates in English, Hindi and other Indian languages.

Read More

The world is within you: Jack Makani

- by India Writes Network

At 72, Jack Makani defies his age. He is the epitome of fitness. He stands tall and looks suave, attired in his signature blue shirt tucked into a black trouser. A matching black leather belt and black shoes complete the look. A blue cardigan carelessly slung around his shoulder is quite a style statement at his age. He may be beyond all that, but it’s hard to miss his overall persona that spells enigma and magic, literally. On his fourth visit to India, Makani continues to propagate his philosophy of healing with the same zeal as he did years ago.

He is the founding Chairperson of Makani Academy and International Coach and Trainers Association (ICTA), a non-profit firm in Cyprus. He is an internationally certified NLP Master Trainer who has trained and certified several thousands in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) which is an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy. Makani is also the founder of Akasha Healing, a kind of spiritual and intuitive healing. For over three decades, Makani has been teaching his version of NLP and, Akasha Healing along with personal and spiritual development in many countries. He recently developed Hug and Heal campaign to provide psychological refuge to the earthquake survivors in Nepal and people around the world. His self-coaching books have been well-received by audience across the world. And how it all happened is quite a story.

Read More