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BILATERAL HIGH COMMISSIONER’S VISIT TO MONTSERRAT High Commissioner seated with Minister of Culture & Sports and an aide H igh Commissioner visited Montserrat, a self-governing UK overseas territory in the Caribbean under the Mission’s concurrent jurisdiction, from 5-8 December 2010. The most important part of the visit was signing of the Letter of Intent between the two governments conveying their mutual intention to augment bilateral cooperation through signing of a MoU at a future date in 4 | YATRA | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2011 HE and Mrs. Mishra and members of the Media following the Press Conference the areas of Technical Cooperation, Culture, Agriculture, Small Business Development, IT, Healthcare, Seismology, Sports etc. CM himself drove HC around upcoming project sites in the island, particularly those in the future capital township of Little Bay. HC also met separately with Minister of Education, Health, Youth and Sports, Mr. Colin Riley and Minister of Agriculture, Land, Chief Minister of Montserrat Reuben T. Meade signing the Letter of Intent Housing and Environment, Mr. Joseph Taylor-Farrel. Govt. of Montserrat (GOM) is extremely keen on engaging with India bilaterally and there is significant scope for India’s engagement in the development of the island, particularly in the areas of SMEs, viz. small manufacturing, agriculture, viz. Green House farming, not to mention the areas of IT, healthcare, culture and sports. ❖ FARMERS’ MEET AT SANGRE GRANDE High Commissioner addressing the farmers at the Toco community Centre (on the right, Minister of Tourism, Rupert Griffith) A Farmers’ Meet was organized on 4 December 2010 at Sangre Grande, in eastern Trinidad, by the T&T Tourism Minister, Hon’ble Rupert Griffith, who is also a Member of Parliament from the area. The High Commission had earlier been requested by the Minister to address and advise a group of farmers in the area who would like to know what India could offer in terms of expertise in agriculture, and agri-business. The Meet was organized at the Sangre Grande Government Secondary School premises where approx. 100 farmers, members of agricultural associations and officials from the T&T Ministries of Agriculture and Tourism had assembled. The Minister of Tourism himself conducted the programme. He welcomed the High Commissioner and appreciated his support for the agricultural community in his View of the Gathering at the Toco Community Centre constituency. High Commissioner in his address talked of the big strides India has made in the agricultural sector – from a food-importing country at the time of independence in 1947 to becoming not only self-sufficient in food-grains but also exporting food-grains and other agricultural produce to a number of needy countries in the world. He also spelt out the possibilities of sharing India’s vast expertise with the farmers in The High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain
Trinidad & Tobago not only in agricultural production but also in agri-processing and agri-business in order to develop all these sub-sectors together. On the occasion, the High Commission showed a short film from the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) on Incubator DR. V. KUMAR, HORTICULTURE EXPERT’S VISIT TO DOMINICA AND T&T Under the bilateral cooperation programme between the Governments of Commonwealth Dominica and India, Dr. Vadivel Kumar, Senior Scientist with specialization in canopy management, nutrient, water & weed management, high density planting, growth regulators, was deputed to the Govt. of Dominica for one month from 22 December 2010. The Horticulture Expert from the National Research Centre, Tiruchirapalli visited all the major agricultural extension regions in the country and studied the field situation, problems and prospects of the horticulture industry, particularly banana and plantain industry. He also interacted with farmers to ascertain the situation and problems being faced by them and gave his technical suggestions to improve cultivation practices. The Commonwealth of Dominica is blessed with plenty of water resources and the country has ideal climatic conditions that favours excellent growth of many crop species. Dr. Kumar assured that with the timely supply of farm inputs and technical guidance, excellent growth in agriculture sector could be achieved. Dr. Kumar thereafter paid a short visit to Trinidad & Tobago from 21- 25, January 2011 on his way back to India from Dominica. While in Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Kumar accompanied the High Commissioner to a meeting with Mr. Vasanth Bharat, Minister for Food Production, Land and Marine Affairs and senior officials in his Ministry. He also met representatives of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and The High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain Systems which included some projects on agri-processing as well. This was followed by a presentation on ‘Agriculture in India’ by Second Secretary Mahavir P. Bhardwaj. In the ensuing question-answer session, the farmers showed good amount of interest in India’s achievements in agricul- Development Institute (CARDI), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), University of the West Indies (UWI) and the India-T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce. CARDI and IICA organized a seminar for him on 24 January at the IICA premises which was attended by a number of experts farmers and media-persons. In the seminar, High Commissioner spoke of the long and rich experience India has earned in the field of agriculture and the high quality of research that ICAR and other Indian institutions have achieved. He also talked about how T&T could avail India’s expertise and the possibilities for cooperation that existed between India and Trinidad & Tobago not only in agricultural production but also in agri-processing and agri-business. Dr. Kumar made a long and effective presentation on research facilities at the National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli and how this BILATERAL tural production and agri-processing. Ms. Dhana Sookoo, President of the Agricultural Association of Trinidad & Tobago while saying that the agricultural sector in Trinidad & Tobago faced a lot of challenges, expressed the hope for higher cooperation between India and Trinidad & Tobago. ❖ had benefitted the banana-growers in Tamilnadu and other states in India. He compared the banana-plantation scenario in Trinidad & Tobago with India and offered a number of suggestions to the local scientists and farmers for better plantation and higher yields. He also spoke on how the banana fruit and tree, in its various forms, was being utilized in India to produce a number of household items. Given the local soil-pattern, plenty of rains and sunlight, there exists a huge scope for banana plantation in Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Kumar opined. He also advised the local people on how other fruits could be grown alongside banana to get maximum land-area utilization. Later, he was invited to visit the UWI St. Augustine campus to have detailed discussions on horticulture and banana. Both CARDI and IICA have expressed their desire to find more avenues for cooperation with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. ❖ YATRA | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2011 | 5
Page 2 and 3: YATRA (The Journey) Vol. 3, Issue 1
Page 6 and 7: BILATERAL 6 | YATRA | JANUARY - FEB
Page 8 and 9: CULTURE On the eve of Republic Day
Page 10 and 11: BILATERAL - CULTURE TRIBAL FOLK ART
Page 12 and 13: EXCERPTS OF PRESIDENT OF INDIA’S
Page 14 and 15: FEATURE Also coming out of the conv
Page 16 and 17: ECONOMY America, Europe, Middle Eas
Page 18 and 19: SCIENCE India uses the sun to battl
Page 20 and 21: BIOGRAPHY laws was condemning peopl
Page 22 and 23: BIOGRAPHY physical, intellectual an
Page 24 and 25: DIASPORA View of the gathering at t
Page 26 and 27: DIASPORA The Global Indian Diaspora
Page 28 and 29: CULTURE Flying high: International
Page 30 and 31: HINDI SECTION 30 | YATRA | JANUARY

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