India in Toronto 2020 Newsletter brought out by Cons Gen of India, Toronto office
#Toronto; #ConsGenOfIndiaToronto; #October2020Newsletter; #IndiaInToronto
The 151st Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was celebrated with enthusiasm throughout Canada. With multiples statues and busts throughout the country, celebrations were organized by local communities in different provinces. 1 Winnepeg Quebec Toronto Hamilton Painting on Mahatma Gandhi Virtual Ethics Panel The India Centre and the Consulate hosted a virtual panel on Mahatma Gandhi and Ethics: Human Rights and Corporate Dimensions. The India Association of Manitoba and the Manitoba Historical Society also partnered on the event. Panelists included Professor Jaydeep Balkrishan and Mr. David Matas. 2 CURRENT NEWS Consulate General of India, Toronto in association with Panorama India and Samskrita Bharati Canada presented virtual tributes by 45+ children in 20 Indian Languages on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 151st birth anniversary. Two videos were streamed, one on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and the second video included a presentation with teachings of Gandhiji and his favorite bhajans. Multi-Lingual Tribute to Gandhiji by Children Artist Vishal Mishra presented the Consulate with a beautiful painting of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of the 151st Birth Anniversary of the Mahatma. Click To Play Virtual Essay Click To Play Tribute NYCO (Nataraj Youth and Cultural Organization with the Consulate celebrated the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the Vishnu Mandir which hosts a 9-foot bronze statue of Gandhiji as well as a bust of the Mahatma as part of the wall of peace. The event was streamed for public participation. The celebrations also included an art competition, essay writing, and distribution of books on the life and work of the father of the nation. Virtual Day of Non-Violence Webinar — Gandhi Peace Festival Gandhi peace festival, Hamilton conducted a webinar by Historian Adrienne Shad which was hosted in collaboration with the Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University. Gujarat Public Affairs Council of Canada conducted a virtual event on Gandhi Jayanti and also organized a screening of a short film on Life and Teachings of Gandhiji at Garden Square in Brampton. Gandhi Jayanti VANDE BHARAT MISSION CURRENT NEWS 3 Webinar — Indo Canadain Psychiatric Association Consul General Apoorva Srivastava delivered the inaugural address in the virtual webinar organized by Indo-Canadian Psychiatric Association. The webinar focused on mental health during the pandemic and covered a range of topics with eminent scholars throughout the globe. Ayurveda Speaker Series The inaugural session of the Ayurveda Speaker Series jointly organized by Canada India Foundation, Canadian Ayurvedic Practitioners Association & Vedic Spiritual Heritage Foundation supported by the Consulate, was held on October 4th. The speakers included Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi, Prof. MS Baghel, Dr Manoj Nesari, and Honb’le Michael Tibollo. The session 2 of the series is scheduled to be held on Sunday, 18 October 2020 Announcement — Life Certificates Consulate General of India, Toronto will be issuing the Life Certificates to the pensioners from BLS Brampton office ( 20 Gillingham Drive, Unit 701, Brampton, ON L6X 5A5 ) and its own premises in Toronto (365 Bloor St E #700, Toronto, ON M4W 3L4 ) with effect from 19th October 2020 with prior appointments. Applicants are required to register on the link (click here) for this purpose, which is also available on Consulate’s website. Applicants will be informed by email of a particular time to visit the BLS office or the Consulate to get the Life Certificate issued. Tamil मातृbhasha competitions (Art, Essay, Speech & Quiz) is being organized in association with NativeLingo IntelliLab in celebration of the 151st Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. More details here. Tamil मातृbhasha Competitions 83 special flights as of 16 October 2020 under Vande Bharat Mission from Toronto to different destinations in India have facilitated the return of more than 14,500 stranded Indians and Indian origin foreigners. Click here for the Flight Schedule for November. 83 flights of Vande Bharat Mission The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)’s world-renowned collection of Indian chintz is being presented to the public. The Cloth that Changed the World considers India’s textile innovations and their influences on fashion, trade, and industry around the world in places as far as Cairo, Japan, Sumatra, London, and Ottawa. They were the luxury fabric of their day, coveted by all, and one of the great inventions that drew foreigners to India’s shores. The exhibition celebrates the technical mastery, creativity, and far-reaching influence of India’s vividly painted and printed textiles, from the early origins of dyeing and weaving to the artisans working today. This extraordinary exhibition presents 20 recognized masterworks alongside 10 new acquisitions and rare loans from prestigious international collections. More details here. CURRENT NEWS 4 Indian Chintz — The Cloth that changed the World Bharat Ko Janiye” online quiz 2020–21, is being organized by the Government of India for PIOs, NRIs & foreign nationals in the age group of 18–35 years. Registration can be done on www.bharatkojaniye.in. The portal has (a) guidelines for participation; (b) Study material; © Mock Quiz; and, (d) Timeline of the Quiz Bharat ko Janiye Quiz — Participate and win a trip to India High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria and Consul General Apoorva Srivastava over a virtual meeting with Premier of Nova Scotia Honb’le Stephen McNeil discussed opportunities for collaboration between India and Nova Scotia in the fields on Nursing, LNG, Ocean development, Clean Tech, etc. Virtual meeting with Premier of Nova Scotia High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria and Consul General Apoorva Srivastava spoke with Premier of Ontario, Honb’le Doug Ford and discussed pandemic the stellar role of Indo-Canadian community in Ontario and potential of collaborations in the fields of IT, pharma, vaccines, critical minerals, AI, startups, etc. Interaction with Premier of Ontario TRADE NEWS 5 With support from the Consulate General of India, Toronto, APEDA, and Canada Organic Trade Association organized a virtual meeting on 14 October 2020 to explore possibilities for increasing export of organic products from India to Canada. The virtual meet gave an opportunity to Indian exporters to highlight their organic products. The meeting also provided the opportunity to Indian exporters to interact directly with importers of Canada and explore the market for items that are imported by Canada but not sourced from India. An e-catalog was also released during the virtual meeting. Virtual buyer-seller meet for increasing export of organic products from India to Canada With support from Consulate General of India, Toronto, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, and Ph.D. Chamber of Commerce organized a highly productive webinar session on Ontario- Uttar Pradesh Trade and Investment Collaborative initiative on 15th October 2020. The session was attended by Shri Siddharth Nath Singh, Minister of MSME, Export Promotion & Khadi and Village Industries, Government of Uttar Pradesh, and Mr. Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Government of Ontario. During the discussions, the two sides explored avenues for bilateral cooperation between Uttar Pradesh and Ontario province in a wide range of fields including defense, food processing, aerospace, electronics, pharmaceuticals, Information Technology, etc. Talk series on Ontario-Uttar Pradesh Trade and Investment Collaborative initiative Consul General addressed a webinar focused on “cluster-based manufacturing” arranged by the Indian Chamber of International Business (ICIB) held virtually on 15 October 2020. In her address, she highlighted the continuously growing confidence of global investors in India's story given the rise in foreign investments even amidst the pandemic. She also welcomed Canadian entities to establish a manufacturing base in India as part of their diversification and risk mitigation strategies. Click here to view the program. Webinar on “Cluster-based manufacturing “ opportunities in India and Canada Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his keynote address virtually at the Invest India Conference in Canada on 8 October 2020 and presented India as a lucrative option for foreign investments. He said that India has emerged as a land of solutions and welcomed renowned Canadian infrastructure companies, investment funds, and companies to invest and expand their avenues for growth and development in India. The conference was organized by Canada India Business Council in association with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and included series of sessions on emerging trends in the India Canada economic corridor. The conference witnessed active participation of eminent panelists such as CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant, Chairman, Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, Chair (HDFC), Deepak Parekh, Chair Infosys, Nandan Nikelani, President and CEO, CPP Investments, Mark Machin, Executive Vice-President, and Deputy Head, CDPQ Global, Ms. Anita George among others. The text of the Prime Minister's address can be viewed here. TRADE NEWS 6 Invest India Conference — Canada Click To Watch Video On 3 October 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Atal Tunnel in Rohtang, which is the highest altitude tunnel in the world. This engineering marvel is built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas at an altitude of 3000 Mtrs (10,000 Feet) from the Mean Sea Level (MSL)and is the world’s longest 9.02 km highway tunnel of its kind. The tunnel reduces the road distance between Manali and Leh by 46 Kms and the time by about 4 to 5 hours. The decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. Read the full article here. . As part of the Government of India’s continuing support to tech entrepreneurs and startups, PM inaugurated RAISE 2020, a mega virtual summit to exchange ideas and chart a course for using AI for social transformation, inclusion, and empowerment in areas like healthcare, agriculture, education and smart mobility among other sectors. The summit discussed cross-sector subjects like ‘Leveraging AI for Pandemic Preparedness’, ‘The Impetus that Innovation Places on Digitisation’, ‘Inclusive AI’, ‘Partnerships for Successful Innovation’. It also featured some of the most exciting startups working in Artificial Intelligence-related fields. Read the full article here. PM Modi inaugurates Atal Tunnel in Rohtang Prime Minister inaugurated RAISE 2020 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved ‘Natural Gas Marketing Reforms’, taking another significant step to move towards a gas-based economy. The objective of the policy is to prescribe the standard procedure to discover the market price of gas to be sold in the market by gas producers, through a transparent and competitive process, permit Affiliates to participate in the bidding process for the sale of gas, and allow marketing freedom to certain Field Development Plans (FDPs) where Production Sharing Contracts already provide pricing freedom. Read the full article here. Cabinet approves ‘Natural Gas Marketing Reforms’ NEWS FROM INDIA 7 On the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16th October 2020, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination to mark the long-standing relation of India with FAO. Prime Minister also dedicated to the Nation 17, recently developed biofortified varieties of 8 crops. The event was witnessed by Anganwadis, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Organic, and Horticulture Missions across the country. Union Agriculture Minister, Finance Minister, and WCD Minister were also present on the occasion. Read the full article here. PM Modi releases commemorative coin of Rs 75 denomination India becomes the first country to be awarded coveted international #BlueFlag certification for 8 of its beaches in one attempt. The eight Indian beaches which got this tag are Shivrajpur (Dwarka, Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden Beach (Puri, Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands). The Blue Flag beaches are considered the cleanest beaches of the world. . Blue Flag Certification for 8 Indian Beaches