9th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
As the dramas of the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka unfurled last month, and the England Test series here begins next week, no-one living in India could fail to appreciate the importance of cricket to the nation. T20 Matches against big rival Pakistan, not to mention England and Australia, were watched by millions before […]
Read more on Weekend in Mumbai: Part 2: Soccer skills and info tech wizards | Reply
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 September 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Weekends in Mumbai, once the monsoon has passed, can involve a variety of activities: walks along the 5km Marine Drive past the art deco buildings and the landmark Oberoi hotel, brunch in one of the expanding range of cafes and restaurants around the town, a round of golf on what must count as one of […]
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10th August 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Goa could hardly be a bigger contrast with its neighbouring State of Maharashtra. Unlike Maharashtra’s huge population there are less than 1.5M in Goa’s attractive State, and its capital Panjim has around 115,000 inhabitants at the most. Most visitors to India associate Goa primarily with its fine beaches, exotic tropical terrain and Portuguese ancestry. But […]
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22nd June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I had the opportunity recently to call separately on the Chief Ministers of two Western Indian States, Maharashtra and Goa. In most respects these states could not be more different but they are both important, in a variety of ways, to the UK. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, underlined one difference to the […]
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7th May 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Not surprisingly, given the Tata Group’s major interests in the UK, I spend a good deal of time meeting representatives from the company. Most weeks I see someone from the one of the Group’s many divisions, and April has been no exception. Shortly after Easter we welcomed to Mumbai the First Minister of Wales, the […]
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3rd April 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai is one of the prime landmarks of the city, overlooking the colossal Gateway to India, built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay prior to the historic Delhi Durbar held in December 1911. Built by the founder of the Tata group over 100 […]
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28th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
At the Asia Task Force (ATF) seminars around the UK earlier in February, business speakers, my colleagues and I tried to give some steers to companies new to doing business in India. Inevitably, in a country of 1.2 billion people, and with a business audience covering everything from capital equipment to smoked salmon and spa […]
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23rd December 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I was fortunate recently to attend my first ever Parsi wedding. Two of the 40 or so Parsi staff in the Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, Nazneen (our press officer) and Burzin ( a member of the UKBA team), were getting married, and they had been kind enough to invite my wife and me to […]
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22nd November 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Mumbai is the centre of India’s film industry, where hundreds of “Bollywood” movies are produced every year. Shortly before the major Indian festival of Diwali one of the most expensive and extravagant films produced here, “Ra One”, hit the screens both in India and London. Reportedly costing over $30M the film is produced by, and […]
Read more on “Land.Gold.Women” – not your usual Bollywood drama: an honour killing in leafy English suburbia | Reply (1)
