23rd January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The State of Gujarat, an hour’s flight north of Mumbai, can claim many important contributions to India. It was the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, another key leader of the independence movement and India’s first Home Minister, and Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the massive eponymous conglomerate, hails from Navsari in Gujarat. Gujarat […]
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7th December 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Many people in London, and other parts of the UK, think they know a good deal about the Mayor of the capital, Boris Johnson: judging from the number of British tourists who greeted him in hotels or on the streets of Mumbai he must also be one of our most widely recognised politicians. Less well […]
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15th October 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
No-one in India exemplifies ‘The Power of We’ more than Mahatma Gandhi, even over 60 years after his death. He sought to improve the conditions of the poorest and to lead one of the world’s first non-violent mass movements, first in South Africa and then in India. Hundreds of books have been written about his influence on […]
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10th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Most Indians know that 2 October marks the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. That fact is less well known among UK staff in the Deputy High Commission, but they were aware enough when they joined about 700 others in a 10K walk or run at 7am to mark the date, and raise money […]
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8th July 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A small group from the Deputy High Commission went after work one evening to a part of Mumbai we wouldn’t normally visit. Kamathipura has numerous small businesses, and like every part of the city is a great example of entrepreneurism. That evening we saw the dark side of business, calling on the founder of an […]
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3rd May 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The importance the British Government attaches to enhancing relations with India was underlined in March when Lord Green visited the country, including Mumbai. Lord Green has just weeks ago taken on the position of Minister of Trade and Investment, and his first official overseas visit was to India. Lord Green is well known to many […]
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20th April 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I made two visits recently to the State of Gujarat in Western India, both of which underline the enormous potential for UK companies in India, and the scale of developments here. At the end of March a team from our trade and investment operation in Mumbai travelled to Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, […]
Read more on 5m people, an economy growing at 11.5 per cent – Ingredients for a “second tier” city in India | Reply
27th January 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Two senior figures in British politics were in Mumbai in January – Vince Cable and Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson and Peter Beckingham Two senior figures in British politics were in Mumbai in January – Vince Cable, Cabinet Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, and Boris Johnson, The Mayor of London. They don’t […]
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21st December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I am proud and a little relieved that my wife completed her trek in the footsteps of Gandhi. I am proud and a little relieved to write after my last blog that my wife completed her 350 kilometre trek in the footsteps of Gandhi’s famous Salt March of 1930 at the beginning of December. The […]
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10th December 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On Thursday 18 November forty people gathered pre-dawn at one of India’s most historic sites, the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where Mahatma Gandhi lived for many years. The occasion was the beginning of an India-UK Friendship Walk, which my wife Jill has organised with massive support from members of the Association of British Scholars in […]
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