India Week Hamburg 2009 Hamburg baut seine Beziehungen mit Indien weiter aus

19.10.2009 16:00:32

(PA) Hamburg, 19. Oktober 2009. Indien in Hamburg erleben: Vom 23. Oktober bis 1. November findet zum dritten Mal die India Week in Hamburg statt. Ein vielfältiges Programm mit rund 30 Veranstaltungen informiert über aktuelle Handlungsfelder und Entwicklungen der indischen Wirtschaft, Politik und Kultur. Dabei geht es um Chancen und Perspektiven einer engeren Zusammenarbeit zwischen Hamburg und Indien.

(c) Joerg Boethling / agenda-fototext.de, 'Solarenergie Rajasthan', honorarfreie Veröffentlichung nur im Zusammenhang mit der India Week 2009

Indien ist neben China für Hamburg einer der wichtigsten Handelspartner. Trotz der Wirtschaftskrise verzeichnet das Land ein nahezu ungebremstes Wirtschaftswachstum. Der Anteil Hamburgs am deutschen Außenhandel liegt mit 11,4 Prozent auf hohem Niveau, Tendenz steigend. Große Hoffnungen werden nach den Wahlen im Frühjahr in die indische Regierung gesetzt, ihren Reformprozess der Öffnung fortzusetzen. Diese Entwicklungen und ihre Konsequenzen für die Beziehungen zwischen Hamburg und Indien stehen vom 23. Oktober bis 1. November auf dem Programm der India Week 2009.

„Die Zusammenarbeit mit Indien bietet für Hamburg ein erhebliches Potenzial, sowohl für Handel und Wirtschaft als auch für Wissenschaft und Kultur. Darum freue ich mich sehr, dass Hamburg mit der India Week 2009 das Tor für Kooperationen mit Indien weiter öffnet“, sagt Hamburgs Erster Bürgermeister Ole von Beust zum Start der Veranstaltungsinitiative. Am 26.10. wird er zu einem Senatsempfang im Hamburger Rathaus rund 400 Gäste der India Week begrüßen, darunter zahlreiche Hamburger Indien-Akteure, indische Gäste und Fachdelegationen aus den Bereichen Hafenwirtschaft, Erneuerbare Energien, Life Science, Bildung, Kultur und Wissenschaft.

Gefördert durch den Senat der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg wird die Veranstaltungsreihe von vielen Indien-Akteuren aus Hamburg und Schleswig-Holstein getragen, darunter der German Indian Round Table (GIRT), die Senatskanzlei, die Behörde für Kultur, Sport und Medien, die Handelskammer Hamburg sowie die HWF – Hamburgische Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsförderung und die WTSH Wirtschaftsförderung und Technologietransfer Schleswig-Holstein. Auch Organisationen wie GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, der Ostasiatische Verein (OAV) und die Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft sind mit dabei.

Kooperationsfelder Hafenwirtschaft, Logistik, Erneuerbare Energien und Life Sciences

Neben zahlreichen kulturellen Veranstaltungen (Infos unter http://www.india-week-hamburg.org) finden Tagungen und Workshops zu politischen und wirtschaftlichen Themen statt: etwa am 26.10. in der Handelskammer zum Thema „Hafen und Schifffahrt – Kooperationen zwischen Indien und Hamburg“. Zum Thema „Neue Chancen für die Deutsch-Indischen Wirtschaftsbeziehungen nach den Wahlen?“ veranstalten GIRT und Handelskammer am 27.10. eine Tagung am selben Ort. Axel Gedaschko, Präses der Behörde für Wirtschaft und Arbeit, und Frank Horch, Präses der Handelskammer Hamburg, begrüßen dazu hochrangige indische Gäste aus Wirtschaft und Politik, darunter auch den indischen Botschafter aus Berlin.

Im Haus der Wirtschaft in Kiel findet am 29.10. eine Veranstaltung der WTSH zum Thema „Wachstumsmarkt Indien – Markterfolg trotz Krise“ statt. „Erneuerbare Energien – Partnerschaft mit Zukunft“ thematisiert eine Veranstaltung der Behörde für Wirtschaft und Arbeit am 29.10. in der Handelskammer Hamburg. Und zum vierten Mal findet das „Hanseatic India Colloquium: Healthcare, Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences“ am 30.10. im Sprinkenhof statt, das der in Hamburg lebende indische Unternehmer Amal Mukhopadhyay (ELGA Biotech) ins Leben gerufen hat.

Indisch-Deutsche Kooperationen in Wissenschaft, (Weiter-)Bildung und Wirtschaft diskutieren Austauschstudierende und Wissenschaftler am 29.10. auf einer Veranstaltung der Cognos International GmbH und der Fachhochschule Lübeck. Und zum Ausklang lädt die Deutsch-indische Gesellschaft am 31.10. die hier lebenden indischen Mitbürger und Indien-Akteure zur Feier des traditionellen indischen Lichterfestes DIWALI ins Hamburg Haus Eimsbüttel.

Weitere Programminformationen, kostenloses Bildmaterial und eine 22-seitige Sonderausgabe des Business Newsletters Indien aktuell mit Hintergrundinformationen zur India Week als Download finden Sie unter http://www.india-week-hamburg.org

(Quelle: 19. Oct. 2009 – Presseanzeiger – Meldungen | Handel – Wirtschaft)

Hamburg: India Week 2009 – Politics and Society (23rd Oct)

INDIA WEEK Hamburg 2009 – Politik und Gesellschaft / Politics and Society

Ein halbes Jahr nach den Wahlen in Indien:
Wandel oder Kontinuität in Innen- und Außenpolitik?
Half a Year after the Indian Elections:
Change or Continuity in Domestic and Foreign Policy?

Referenten / Speakers:
Bianca Stachoske (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies)
Prof. Dr. Joachim Betz (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies)
Dr. Christian Wagner (SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik / German Institute for International and Security Affairs)

Einladung / Invitation (PDF 98KB)

Ort: GIGA (Raum 519), Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg
Zeit: 23.10.2009, 18.00 – 19.30 Uhr
Eintritt: frei / free of charge
Veranstalter: GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Weitere Informationen unter www.giga-hamburg.de/giga-forum

Event programme: 23rd Oct – 1st Nov 2009

Flyer – India Week 2009 (PDF – 1.4 MB)

Indien aktuell Business Newsletter, special edition (PDF – 1.7 MB)

Contact:
- Johannes Freudewald – Büro für Medienarbeit (Office for Media Work) – johannes@freudewald.de
- Pressestelle des Senats (Press – Hamburg Senate) – Simone Ollesch – simone.ollesch@sk.hamburg.de

(Source: 09/2009 – www.india-week-hamburg.org )

Mysore: TEDIndia – The Future Beckons (Nov 4-7, 2009)

Mysore, India
November 4-7, 2009

Inspired speakers and game-changing ideas, evocative locations and transporting entertainment: TEDIndia offers a vision of the future that’s rich with invention, entrepreneurship, cross-disciplinary problem-solving, unexpected solutions and sensory delight. Hosted in a country that’s reinventing itself – and reshaping the world …

Registration is open for TEDIndia.

The incredible high-tech Infosys campus — and the surrounding historic city of Mysore — provides the backdrop for four days of TED magic.

About the Infosys campus

The site for TEDIndia is a powerful metaphor for the reshaped world of the 21st century. TEDIndia will be held on the incredible high-tech campus built by Infosys to train its thousands of engineering graduates. In addition to its beautiful setting, the campus represents the heart of the Asian outsourcing industry that’s transformed the global economy. We can think of no more appropriate place to gather to think about tomorrow.

Metaphors aside, the campus is beautifully laid out and matches perfectly with the needs of a TED event. Its focal point is a stunning Epcot-style dome, housing a state-of-the-art theater, with comfortable seats and concert-hall acoustics. The brand-new, 270-acre campus has manicured lawns, ample housing, fast WiFi, extremely tight security, and everything else one needs to be comfortably at home: health club, swimming pool, running track, bookshop, even a bowling alley …

Interestingly, this Mysore campus is the world’s largest corporate training facility for IT professionals — necessary for Infosys, which adds 12,000 employees every year.

About Mysore

Mysore is one of India’s oldest cities — an up-and-coming center for outsourcing and IT, which retains its old-world charm. The second largest city in Southern India’s state of Karnataka (it lies 130km from Bangalore), Mysore is a city of palaces and gardens, shady avenues and sacred temples. It’s known for its academic and research institutions, and also for its heritage buildings and palaces constructed by the Mysore Maharajas.

Among Mysore’s most memorable sites are the lush Brindavan Gardens, with spectacular landscaping and fountains; Chamundeshwari Temple, with its 1,000 steps leading down to the city; and Mysore Palace, one of India’s most dramatic national monuments. Its nighttime silhouette — illuminated by 97,000 bulbs — is one of the city’s most iconic images.

In addition to its striking monuments, Mysore is known for its handicrafts. Mysore silk and sandalwood soap are famous throughout India, as is the city’s particular style of intricate wood carvings.

To deepen the sense of place, attendees will be offered a series of optional trips, discoveries and special programs before and after the conference, including tours of historic Mysore sites, and visits to nearby wildlife sanctuaries.

More highlights of Mysore and environs:

• The Jagan Mohan Art Gallery, with collections of Indian and world art and traditional Indian instruments.
• India’s first irrigation dam, the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam, built in 1932 and lying just above the Brindavan Gardens.
• The beautiful, ancient island town of Srirangapatna, with its many forts, ruins and palaces, including the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple — one of the oldest temples in India (foundation stones laid in 894 AD) — and the Gumbaz mauseleum, a beautiful example of Indo-Islamic architecture with its lofty whitewashed dome, ivory inlaid doors and elaborately carved stone windows.
• Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, a haven for native Indian wildlife and a migratory hotspot for exotic bird species, located on several small islets just 20km outside Mysore. The sanctuary is home to cormorants, darters, white ibis, storks, egrets, herons, terns, swallows, streaked weavers, ducks, teals, sandpipers, kingfishers, whistling teals and plovers.
• Delicious south Indian cuisine, less familiar to westerners.

(Source: 10/2009 – TEDIndia – www.ted.com)

Nandan Nilekani’s ideas for India’s future

‘Manna Dey should have got Dadasabhe Phalke award earlier’ (IANS)

By    IANS

Friday,02 October 2009, 21:45 hrs

Bangalore: Singing legend Manna is being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke award at the age of 90 and his close friends here feel that the highest honour in Indian cinema has come late.

“Manna Dey should have got recognition much earlier. When Lata Mangeshkar got the prestigious Bharat Ratna award, I thought dada will get the Padma Vibhushan. But he did not get it. I am happy that now the film industry’s greatest honour has been bestowed upon him,” said Guru Kiran, Kannada film industry’s well known music director.

“I loved Manna Dey as much as I loved (Mohammad) Rafi and Kishore Kumar. He has a great range in music. ‘Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo’ and ‘Chunari sambhal gori’ are my all time favourite songs. It is gratifying that Manna Dey is living with us here in Bangalore,” he added.

Born as Prabodh Chandra Dey May 1, 1919 to Purna Chandra and Mahamaya Dey, the singer was a name to reckon with in the Hindi film industry from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3,500 songs over the course of his career.

His all-time hits include “Sur na saje kya gaun main”, “Na to karanwa ki talash hai na to humsafar ki talash hain”, “Puchho na kaise maine rain bitayee”, “Laga chunari main daag”, “Aaja sanam madhur chandani mein hum”, “Dil ka haal sune dilwala”, “Ye raat bhigi bhigi, ye masta fijzayen”, “Jhanak jhanak tori baaje payaliya”, “Tu pyar ka saagar hai”, “Chunari sambhal gori udi chali jaye re” and “Ay meri Zohara”.

“Dada (Dey) should have got the award much earlier. It is too late, but we are very happy,” said Birendra Nath Das of the city’s famous KC Das Sweets.

“Everybody knows that dada is a wonderful singer. His music was liked for its class. He was a niche singer. He was always available for singing in many social and cultural programmes held by Bengalis and others in Bangalore,” added Das.

Recently, Dey gave a live musical concert with well-known Karnataka singer Archana Udupa.

In May last year, he had performed for a cause and the proceeds from the concert was used to fund the education of underprivileged children in the city.

He was also felicitated here by the Jadavpur University Allumni Foundation.

After staying in Mumbai for more than five decades, the singer sold off his bungalow in Juhu and moved here to be with his younger daughter Shuroma. Manna Dey and his wife Sulochana Kumaran, who was from Bangalore, loved the city.

Apart from singing for numerous Hindi and Bengali films, Dey sang for three Kannada films. Out of them, the most popular was “Kuhu Kuhu” from the movie “Kalavathi”. He also sung the song “Kannillaveno, Nija Kanadeno” for the movie “Margadharshi” and “Jayathe Jayathe” for “Kalpavruksha”.

(Source: 10/02/2009 – SiliconIndia.com)

film Meri Surat Teri Aankhen (1963) – Poocho na kaise maine – MANNA DEY

…

film “Raat Aur Din – Night and Day” (1967) – Dil Ki Girah Khol Do
- LATA MANGESHKAR & MANNA DEY

…

film “Dil Hi To Hai” (1963) – Laaga chunari mein daag chhupaun kaise – MANNA DEY

Four-volume Gandhi biography releases today (HindustanTimes – books)

Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, October 02, 2009 (First Published: 12:21 IST)

A four-volume biography of Mahatma Gandhi, with intimate details penned by one who in his childhood played with the great man, has been translated from Gujarati into English and releases today on the 140th birth anniversary of the icon of peace and non-violence.

When Narayan Desai, 84, published Maru Jivan Ej Mari Vani (My Life is My Message) in October 2003, it was immediately hailed as a milestone by Gandhian scholars. “Within the first months, three editions of this four-volume text were sold out. It went on to re-prints later,” Ahmedabad-based academic and Gandhi scholar Tridip Suhrud, who has translated the biography into English, said.

The English version of the biography penned by the son of Gandhiji’s personal secretary Mahadev Desai is now ready and will be released at a function at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad today. “Until 1948, Narayan Desai lived with Gandhiji in the Sabarmati Ashram and therefore his biography has very personal details, Gandhiji’s letters and other facts,” Suhrud said.

Narayan Desai later worked with Vinoba Bhave in the Bhoodan (land donation) movement and Jaiprakash Narayan on the Total Revolution movement. He has been based in Vedchhi near Surat.

After the publication of the Gujarati biography, he also held a series of readings – calling them ‘Gandhi Katha’ on the lines of Ramayana narrations across India and also abroad.

“It’s ironical that there should be just one complete biography of Mahatma Gandhi in his mother tongue, Gujarati. My aim in translating this text is that the world has the right to know how Gandhi was perceived by Gujarat,” he added.

According to Suhrud, there is a tradition among those who have lived in the Sabarmati Ashram to write about Gandhi. “Whether it was Mahadev Desai, Pyarelal or others, there is a tradition amongst Ashramites to write on Gandhi, but for the last many years this has not been done. My translation is therefore like a culmination of these works,” he said.

Suhrud is confident that the book will be of much interest to everyone, including the younger generation. “This text has such personal details on Gandhi…it has the essence to change you. There have been a lot of advance bookings and if there was no interest why would the publishers go ahead with the four volumes?” he said.

A professor of humanities at the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT), Suhrud has authored 11 books including one on Mahatma Gandhi’s eldest son Harilal Gandhi.

“My book on Harilal Gandhi about two-three years back was partly based on research and partly translated from another work. It was later made into a movie, Gandhi, My father he said.

Suhrud is now working on three more books on Gandhi, slated to be released by the end of this year and early next year.

My Life is My Message (Orient Publishing House, 2,500 pages, Rs.2,995) will be released by noted scholar Ashis Nandy.

(Source: 10/02/2009 – hindustantimes | books)

Berlin: Asia-Pacific Weeks from 7 to 18 October 2009

Asia-Pacific Weeks from 7 to 18 October 2009

Under the heading “Asia-Pacific: Partner for a Common Future”, the 7th Asia-Pacific Weeks will be focusing on the priority themes of “mobility” and “energy” .

The business and science program includes two specialist conferences on mobility and energy, to be held from 8 to 10 October at the Berlin Town Hall, and, from 12 to 17 October, other symposia, conferences, and “business days” on individual countries of the Asian-Pacific region.

Program of the Conferences

Application

Ten days of art and culture from the Asian-Pacific region: as a center for non-European art and culture, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) is coordinating the cultural program of the Asian-Pacific Weeks again this year. Three new high-profile partners have joined the team: the National Gallery at Hamburger Bahnhof, RADIALSYSTEM V, and the theater Hebbel am Ufer. Each of these institutions is organizing a program that reflects its artistic and curatorial focus. The AEDES Forum für zeitgenössische Architektur, the Deutsch-Japanische Gesellschaft, NEXT – Interkulturelle Projekte, Fashion Patrons, and the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK) will be presenting other projects on urban development, fashion, young people’s art, and theater.

In 2009, your gateway to Asia is still in Berlin: Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit and the strategic partners of the Asia-Pacific Weeks – Berlin Partner GmbH, the Asia-Pacific Forum Berlin, and the House of World Cultures – invite you to immerse yourself in the Asian-Pacific region in October 2009.

(Source: 09/2009 – Berlin.de)

ET Bureau: For Kolkata, Durga’s no more an American idol

by Anirvan Ghosh & Sreeradha Basu

Durga Puja lighting at a pandal in Guwahati on Wednesday night. Picture by Eastern Projections (The Telegraph, 2009)

BANGALORE/KOLKATA: Durga puja is being celebrated in the US and Europe this time with the same fervour and gaiety as any other year, but with a bit of austerity thrown in. The global recession led to many a job loss and pay cuts, and some members cut donations by as much as 50%. A puja in Cologne, Germany, for instance, has resorted to a reusable idol of the devi. Another in Massachusetts has done away with the frills — it has cut expenditure from a quarter million dollars to $100,000. And resident Bengalis in Kuala Lumpur joined the austerity drive by organising one puja instead of three.

All this has had a major impact on idol makers back home, especially in Kolkata’s Kumartulli, from where most of the idols are sourced by puja samitis overseas. “Our export business is down 50%,” says Pradyut Pal, among the biggest exporters of idols, who gets orders from puja associations in the US, Malaysia, Australia and Germany. “Even the number of online enquiries were much less this year because budgets are down.” Potters in Kumartulli do business worth Rs 8-9 crore every year by selling idols in India — mainly in the city of Kolkata — and abroad. Kumartulli makes around 11,000 small and large idols (including 3,000 big idols) every year, of which 220-230 are exported. “This year the number of idols shipped has fallen to 134,” says Aloke Sen, a prominent idol maker and artisan.

Dance Drama Goddess Durga (The Hindu, 2004)

Mr Pal adds that 60% of the business comes from exports, because the potters charge a premium on the ‘exported-idols’ that are made of fibreglass for safe transportation. An overseas order rings in bigger profits, as exported idols cost around Rs 2 lakh apiece, far costlier than a clay idol of the same size that retails for around Rs 10,000.

What has added to the potters’ woes is the increase in cost of materials required to make fibreglass idols. Cost of fibreglass sheets, chemicals and paint have gone up.

Overseas organisers confirm the trend. “Pujas have tighter budgets this year. Job losses and an uncertain future have contributed to this end,” says Amit Ghosh, who is involved with a Puja organisation in Kuala Lumpur and employed with a top consultancy. The bigger pujas can cost around Rs 20 lakh, but this year, they are making do with Rs 10 lakh at the most.

In Massachussets, Houston and New Jersey, the impact of the downturn is palpable. “Donations from members have slipped this year,” says Prithviraj Chaudhuri, a research scholar at Harvard and a regular member of the core organising committee since the past couple of years at Puja celebrations in Boston. This year, the minimum contribution from members dipped by around 20% as some of them, with families, have lost their jobs, and aren’t sure when they would be employed again. As a result, expenditure for the Boston puja, which used to have a budget of around Rs 50 lakh, is now down to just about Rs 35 lakh, including the cost of the idol. Spends at the grander pujas have slipped to Rs 60 lakh from Rs 1 crore a year ago. “People are pooling in money and concentrating on fewer good pujas than thinning out the pie,” says Shweta Sen, part of an organising team in Houston.

Costs are also being cut in Cologne, Germany, a major puja location for Bengalis in that country. “We are going to use the same idol because it can last a few years,” says Shondip Chatterjee, who works with a prominent bank and one of the organisers there. He says that costs were cut 30% from Rs 20 lakh a year ago, and that has meant no new idol and using cheaper items for the marquee. Another puja in Bonn has done the same — it hasn’t ordered a new idol.

In the UK, where several pujas are held not just in London but also in cities like Manchester, the puja budget is down 30%. “People have lost their jobs there, and we could not raise more than what we did,” says Abhinav Bose, one of the organisers in south London.

Fortunately, domestic demand hasn’t gone down, and local organisers have continued to spend on the clay idols. But potters at Kumartulli will pray that the Mother Goddess will not let down the world another year.

(Source: 25 Sep 2009, 0418 hrs IST | The Economic Times – News By Industry)

Invitation to the Press trip (Oct 25-31) – INDIA WEEK HAMBURG 2009

Invitation to the Press trip:

“India Week Hamburg 2009”

Press trip from October 25 – 31, 2009

India is a fast growing economy – and an increasingly interesting trade partner for Hamburg. The attractiveness of the Indian domestic market is as much important as the cost-reducing advantages for the international buying markets. At the same time, the Indian economy boasts some financially highly potential and innovative companies, who are self-confident global players on the world‘s markets.

In total, approximately 35 Indian companies are present in the Hamburg Metropolitan Area, with figures rising. In return, some 500 Hamburg companies are active in India. To strengthen these business ties and to broaden the bilateral contacts the Hamburg Senate, HWF Hamburg Business Development Corporation, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, the German Indian Round Table, the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, ELGA Biotech and
other institutions and organisations dealing with India launched two years ago the first “India Week” in Hamburg.

This year the third “India Week Hamburg“ – taking place October 23 – November 1, 2009 will offer even more chances to make contacts and to learn about the manifold business options between Hamburg and India during talks, discussions and receptions, while also presenting India‘s diverse cultural landscape.

On the occasion of the 3rd India Week Hamburg we´d like to invite you to take part in a press trip to Hamburg. We have drawn up a program that brings you into contact with the main highlights of the “India Week”, with companies dealing with India as well as with the key players in the relationship Hamburg – India.

We would also like to show you Hamburg – the ambitious city on the waterfront with its economical and cultural highlights.

We are enclosing our first program draft mentioning the main points. We should be delighted to welcome you to  Hamburg from October 25 – 31. To attend, simply complete and return the enclosed fax. We shall treat registrations on a “first come – first serve” basis and will contact you individually to arrange your travel to Hamburg.

Should you have questions or require any further information, you can call us at +49-(0)40-41 11 10 620 or send an e-mail to anette.boos@marketing.hamburg.de

We look forward to welcoming you in Hamburg.

Yours sincerely,
Anette Boos
Project Manager Media Relations
Hamburg Marketing GmbH

Dowload fully programme here (PDF)…

______________________________________

HH4u: HAMBURG 2009 (part 1 of 3) – SUNNY & RAINY

HH4u: HAMBURG 2009 (part 2 of 3) – AMAZING HARBOR

HH4u: HAMBURG 2009 (part 3 of 3) – COLORS OF THE NIGHT

Bhuvan (beta) launched: Indian Earth Observation Visualisation (prototype – 08/12/2009)

Bhuvan, (Sanskrit: भुवन Hindi: भुवन, lit: Earth), is a satellite mapping tool similar to Google Earth and Wikimapia. It was developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It offers resolution up to 5 metres and is considered as a rival to Google Earth and Wikimapia.^[1]

A prototype (beta)^[2] of this application was launched on 12th August 2009.^[3]

ISRO launched the beta version of its web-based 3-D satellite imagery tool, Bhuvan, on August 12, 2009. Bhuvan will offer superior imagery of Indian locations compared to other Virtual Globe software with spatial resolutions ranging from 6 m to 55 m. Locations can be viewed from different perspectives and will allow for the measurement of distances. The Bhuvan portal is designed to run on slow Internet connections. The imagery would steer clear of all sensitive military installations in India for security concerns.^[4]

Bhuvan displays better images of India than the ones relayed by Google Earth along with a number of other interesting features which include weather information and even administrative boundaries of all states and districts, relevant only to the country. Bhuvan is equally capable of offering images of the globe, but the best resolution area includes India at the moment. In the Indian subcontinent, Bhuvan will be able to display a picture from ten meters away that is; a commuter moving on the road can be easily spotted.^[5]

National Remote Sensing Agency played an important role in the creation of this product. ISRO has used data provided by satellites including Resourcesat-1, Cartosat-1 and Cartosat-2 to get the best possible imagery for India. ISRO claims that the application can provide imagery of up to 10 metres for major Indian cities compared to 200 meters provided by Google Earth.^[6]

Bhuvan is based on TerraExplorer software a product of Skyline Software Systems ^[7] .

Features…

• Bhuvan allows users to access, explore and visualize 2D and 3D image data along with rich thematic information on soil, wasteland, water resources etc in the Indian subcontinent.
• It displays multi-resolution, multi-sensor, multi-temporal image data.
• Users can superpose administrative boundaries of choice on images as required.
• It allows visualization of AWS(Automatic Weather Stations) data in a graphic view and use tabular weather data of user choice .
• Fly to locations (Enables users to fly from the current location directly to the selected location)
• It features a Heads-Up Display(HUD) navigation controls (Tilt slider, north indicator, opacity, compass ring, zoom slider)
• Allows navigation using the 3D view Pop-up menu (Fly-in, Fly out, jump in, jump around, view point)
• 3D Fly through (3D view to fly to locations, objects in the terrain, and navigate freely using the mouse or keyboard)
• Drawing 2D objects (Text labels, polylines, polygons, rectangles, 2D arrows, circles, ellipse)
• Drawing 3D Objects (placing of expressive 3D models, 3D polygons, boxes)
• Snapshot creation (copies the 3D view to a floating window and allows to save to a external file)
• Measurement tools (Horizontal distance, aerial distance, vertical distance, measure area)
• Shadow Analysis (it sets the sun position based on the given time creating shadows and effects the lighting on the terrain)

There would be many more value added functions and facilities which will be added into the package from time to time. Particular interest of ISRO/DOS would be to provide such functionalities to common man so that they can adopt participatory approach with scientists to solve simple problems easily and interactively.

Some of the advanced functionalities to be provided in future versions:

• Urban Design Tools (to build roads, junctions and traffic lights in an urban setting)
• Contour map (Displays a colorized terrain map and contour lines)
• Terrain profile (Displays the terrain elevation profile along a path)
• Draw tools (Creates simple markers, free hand lines, urban designs)
• Navigation map (to jump to and view locations in the 3D India)

Technical Requirements – Hard- & Software

The Beta version of Bhuvan can run only on windows system and is optimized for Internet Explorer 6. or higher. and turn off internet explorer protected mode.

• Operating System: Windows XP/Vista
• CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
• System Memory (RAM): 512MB
• Hard Disk: 2GB free space
• Network Speed: 768 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 32MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1280×1024, 32-bit True Color

References…

1. ^ “India to launch Bhuvan in March 2009“. Silicon India. 2008-11-23. http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/India_to_launch_Bhuvan_in_March_2009-nid-50273.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-23.
2. ^ “Bhuvan, Indian Earth Observation Visualisation“. ISRO. 2009-08-12. http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/. Retrieved on 2009-08-12.
3. ^ “Bhuvan: India’s answer to Google Earth“. Jai Bihar. 2009-08-12. http://jaibihar.com/bhuvan-indias-answer-to-google-earth/11174/. Retrieved on 2009-08-12.
4. ^ http://www.merinews.com/article/isros-bhuvan-stands-up-to-google-earth/15781365.shtml
5. ^ http://www.devicemag.com/2009/08/13/isros-bhuvan-earth-to-take-on-google-earth/
6. ^ http://stuff.techwhack.com/7118-bhuvan
7. ^ http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/copy.html

Links…

• Bhuvan: India’s answer to Google Earth
• Bhuvan’s official website address
• ISRO launches beta version of 3D mapping tool – Bhuvan

(Source: 08/15/2009 – Wikipedia (ENG))

Happy Independence Day 2009 (15th Aug)

(Public Holidays in India @ Wikipedia)