12th November 2013
Chennai, India
It’s hard to describe the maelstrom that is a big, high-level visit. The calm before the visit is transformed instantly into high-octane excitement. Impressive convoys that had been sitting idle moments earlier roar into action. Massive crowds seem to suddenly materialise everywhere, many with hastily written welcome placards. The first visit was to the hugely […]
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11th November 2013
Chennai, India
We all woke up early a few hours to see the horrifying death toll in the Philippines. A reminder of the power of nature. The resilience of the people is humbling. And the impressive speed at which NGOs and Aid Agencies – including DfID – have moved is impressive and will save many lives. We’re […]
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10th November 2013
Chennai, India
It’s really hard to believe that I’ve been in Chennai for 2 months: it still feels like a dream. Our departure from Cameroon was quick, with a one-week stop in the UK for a brilliant Course on South Asia at Kings. The perfect induction into Asia after 4 brilliant if challenging years in Africa. Working […]
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8th November 2013
Washington DC, USA
The following is a guest blog from Major James Knight from the Royal Marines. Major Knight works in the British Embassy as the staff officer to the Royal Marines Attaché. James has been in the Marines for 11 years and his career has seen him deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan and various ship deployments around the […]
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8th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Diplomats represent their country’s interests. Traditionally, this leads to barely veiled competition between embassies accredited to third governments: for access, for influence, for commercial contracts. We will occasionally pull together for a common cause – EU embassies often do so as a matter of course – but generally as ‘coalitions of the willing’ rather than […]
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7th November 2013
Washington DC, USA
Last month, Ambassador and Lady Westmacott hosted a reception to celebrate the Bloomingdales GREAT British Invasion Campaign. The Campaign is a line of menswear designed to honour the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, as well as a ‘Best of Britain’ menswear line featuring 40 high-end and traditional British designers […]
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6th November 2013
New Delhi, India
Hello readers! Following from my earlier post on the UK Innovation is GREAT showcase event; here is an update on some of the UK companies that will be speaking at the event. As mentioned in my earlier post, the event is designed to enable R&D intensive businesses in India to hear experiences and network with […]
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4th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Serendipity, “The God Particle” and Turkish-British Collaboration in Science – a guest blog by Dr. Başak Candemir, Science and Innovation Officer, British Consulate-General Istanbul On 8 October, the Nobel Committee awarded the Physics Prize jointly to British scientist Peter Higgs and Belgian scientist Francois Englert. Professor Higgs gave his name to the the “Higgs Boson” or […]
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31st October 2013
Washington DC, USA
I’ve been looking forward to October 31st for some time now. Why you ask? Because it marks two occasions that signal the UK’s commitment to aid transparency – the official full launch of DFID’s Development Tracker website and the first day of the 2013 Open Government Partnership Summit. That may not have been the answer […]
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28th October 2013
Bangalore, India
We had the pleasure of working with Accelerator India, C-CAMP and the Electronics, Sensors and Photonics Knowledge Transfer Network on a workshop in Bangalore on Digital Innovations in Healthcare. We considered this an area of great potential for future UK-India collaborations. It may also be an area where companies in both countries could bid into […]
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