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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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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28th October 2011
New York, USA
The last blog I wrote was about the tenth anniversary of 9/11. That seems quite a long time ago. Danny Lopez has written about UN General Assembly week and our many other activities in September. So I wanted to pick up a few themes that don’t get quite as much play in our blogs. Politics. Under the skin […]
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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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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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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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23rd November 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I had an opportunity to see and hear about some of the colossal opportunities and developments outside Mumbai, in the State of Madhya Pradesh. The State, which straddles the centre of India, remains one of the poorest areas of the country, with high figures for incidents of malnutrition among children and low levels of income […]
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28th June 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The British Business Group in Pune invited me to their AGM (Annual General Meeting) in mid June. Pune is Maharashtra State’s second largest city and I have heard estimates of a population between four to six million. The national census this year should give the figure. Pune is the major centre for the automotive sector […]
Read more on Pumps, turbines & degrees – from Pune to Warwick & Glasgow | Reply
