India NewsletterEmbassy of India, Tel Aviv No. 54 March-April 2013

Cultural EventsCommercial EventsVisits of AmbassadorOther eventsIndia Recipes

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Celebrating India in Israel

The Embassy, in co-operation with Teamwork Productions Ltd, organised the third

edition of annual cultural festival “Celebrating India in Israel”, a festival showcasing the wealth of India’s classical and contemporary cultural heritage including dance, music, film and visual arts. The 2013 edition kick started with the opening of exhibition “Sari - Timeless Tradition” on April 18, 2013 at Shenkar College of Design and Engineering. The exhibition was inaugurated by Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar and Prof. Yuli Tamir, President of Shenkar College. Curated by Doron Polak, the exhibition offered a rare glimpse into an exclusive collection of saris including ornate Benares brocades, splendid southern Kanjivarams, riotously colourful bandhinis, intricately woven geometrical patterns of ikat and pochampally, story-telling Balucharis. It also included works from several Indian and Israeli artists on the theme of Sari.

The exhibition was followed by a national musical tour of Rajasthan Express and Israeli musician Shye Ben Tzur, a Bollywood Film Festival

with a selection of Bollywood’s finest, recent and popular movies screened in the Cinematheques o f Te l Av i v, J e r u s a l e m a n d Haifa, enchanting Odissi dance performances from Nrityagram Dance Ensemble at Suzanne Dellal and “Words on Water” literary Festival of Indian and Israeli writers in Haifa University and Mishkenot Shaananim in Jerusalem.

Cultural Events

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1-2 Saris on display 3. Deputy Ambassador Vani Rao at a panel discussion in Shenkar 4. Ms. Namita Gokhale in conversation with Israeli author Savyon Liebrecht 5. Nrityagram Dance Ensemble 6. Rajasthani musicians Chugge Khan & Nihal Khan 7. Ambassador with Rajasthani Musicians & Shye Ben Tzur

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Cultural Events

CommercialCultural Events

IN April, Embassy organised “Raaga Vedika” – a series of lecture-demonstrations sessions by

Israeli exponents of Indian classical music in the Embassy. Raaga Vedika gave an introduction to the basics of Indian music - Raaga-Taal-Laya and traditional musical instruments like Sitar, Sarod, Flute, Tabla, and Pakhawaj. Israeli artists Nurit Ofer (Vocal), Sanjay Kumar Sharma (Sarod), Ron Cohen (Flute) Benny Djubass (Sitar), Ram Hadar, Daniel White (Tabla) and Amit (Pakhawaj) performed and conducted these sessions, which were well attended and tapped into the fascination Israelis have for Indian culture. Encouraged by its success, a beginners' course for learning Bansuri (flute) will be offered in the Embassy from June 13.

AS part of International Women’s Day celebrations, Ms. Swati Jha and Ms. Indrani Dutta

conducted Rangoli workshops for Israeli women. The works, created during these workshops, along with mandala creations were displayed in an exhibition titled “Rangoli & Mandalas as life circles” organised by curator Ms. Aya Bernhard in cooperation with Drom HaSharon Municipality. A similar workshop and exhibition was organised by Ms. Aya on March 22 at Kibbutz Yagur in co-operation with the Zvulun regional council. Both events were graced by the presence of respective Mayors.

Raaga Vedika

Rangoli workshops for Israelis

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1. Creations by Israelis 2. During the workshops 3. Ms. Vani Rao , Deputy Chief of Mission, at the event 4. During the workshops.

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For more details, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/466212373455420/

Commercial Events

MR. Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, visited Israel from April 26-May 1, 2013

accompanied by Mr. Jeetender Singh Minister of Public Health Engineering Department, Shri C K Mathew, Chief Secretary, and senior officials. He met the Israeli Minister of Agriculture, Mr Yair Shamir and Head of MASHAV Ambassador Daniel Carmon and discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in agriculture. He visited the Arava region to see application of Israeli technologies in arid areas for agriculture and water management. Chief Minister Gehlot v is i ted the Agr iculture Research Organization in Volcani, to know more about Israeli expertise in R&D, and management of extens ion network. Shri Gehlot also placed wreaths at the memorial for Indian soldiers (who lost their lives in the First World War) in Haifa and visited the Indian Hospice in Jerusalem. The delegation met senior executives of Israeli companies which have expertise in agriculture and water technologies.

Meeting with Mr. Yair Shamir, Israeli Minister

for Agriculture

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Visit of Chief Minister of Rajasthan - Mr. Ashok Gehlot

Visit to Hydroponics farm in the Arava CM visits Naan Dan Jain irrigation

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ONFebruary 27, 2103, Municipality of Tel Aviv organised a tour of the city (from

Mazeh 9 to Rothschild Boulevard) for Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar. Ambassador visited Mazeh 9, a social lab (provided by the Municipality for its young residents) facilitating the involvement young people in community, helping them develop their most audacious ideas. Ambassador also met Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, who briefed him about some of the initiatives to keep the vibrant and youthful character of the city intact and his efforts to make Tel Aviv a truly international city.

Ambassador H.E. Jaideep Sarkar, accompanied by Mahesh Kumar, Second Secretary, visted Agricultural Research

Organization (Volcani Center) on April 25. He met Director of ARO, Prof. Yoram Kapulnik and other senior officials, during which ARO’s contribution to agriculture in Israel, and ongoing & future research projects were

presented. Prof. Yoram spoke about ARO’s connections with India, including students from India, research collaboration and Indian attendance in various training programmes organised by ARO for Agriculture and allied sectors. Ambassador met Indian students in ARO, some of whom gave a presentation about their research projects.

1. Ambassador interacting with young entrepreneurs in Tel Aviv Municipality's youth center at Mazeh 9

2. Ambassador with Mayor of Tel-Aviv Ron Huldai

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Visits of Ambassador

Other Events

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OPENING OF INDIAN VISA APPLICATION CENTRES IN ISRAEL

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1. Address by Ambassador at IVAC-Beer Sheva 2. Opening of Tel Aviv Visa Center by Ambassador 3. CKGS officials explaining the process in the Tel Aviv visa center to Ambassador

Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar inaugurated the Indian Visa Application Center (IVAC) in Tel Aviv on March 10, 2013. Three more centers in Jerusalem, Haifa and Beer Sheva were subsequently inaugurated and became operational from April 9, 2013. The Indian Embassy has authorized an Indian Company, Cox &

Kings Global Services (CKGS) to operate these centers.

An IVAC is a dedicated center where any Israeli or foreign national in Israel can apply for an Indian visa. One can visit any of the centers, fill the visa application form online, attach 2 recent photographs and submit these along with passport and visa fees. The receipt (issued on payment of fees) has details that applicants can use to track the status of the application on the Internet. The whole process is not expected to take more than 15 mts. The visas will continue to be processed and issued by the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv. The visas can be collected from the same center after 5-7 working days.

This is the latest in the series of steps taken by the Indian Embassy to make it easier for Israelis to visit India. These include issue of long-term visas with multiple entries and removal of earlier restrictions imposed on tourist visas on duration of stay.

Indians Visa Application Centers in Israel:City Address Tel (T)/Fax(F) Website/ e-mail

Tel AvivCKGS/ S.M. Visa, 14th Floor, Clal house, 5, Druyanov Street

T: 03-7626905F: 03-5250786

www.in.ckgs.co.il/ india@smvisa.co.ilJerusalem Gad building, 6, Hasoreg street.

T:02-5829494F:02-5814296

Haifa 104, Hatzmaut street. T:04-6229060F:04-6825898

Be’er Sheva 53, Hatzmaut street. T:08-8558805F:08-6289848

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Other Events

Maharashtra Day was celebrated during the 25th Annual Celebration of the Maiboli Marathi Magazine of Israel on 2 May 2013 at Lod.

The Function was hosted by the Managing Committee headed by the President & Chief Editor Mr. Noah Massil.

Mr. Reuben Charikar, a Marathi drama artist and his wife Mrs. Sipora Charikar, a Marathi writer were the chief guests. The function was graced by Mr. Samir Kumar Jha, First Secretary in the Embassy. He lauded Maiboli’s untiring efforts to keep Marathi language alive in Israel. He mentioned that Maiboli is not merely a magazine but a ‘movement’ determined to act as ‘a bridge’ linking generations of Marathi origin communities with each other. He inaugurated a book “Madhyanichya Savalya”

written by Marathi writer Mrs. Aviva Miller.

Mr. Massil summarized the 25 years of “Maiboli” publication and unveiled a poetry book written by artist Mr. Kedar Parulekar “Rutu Antaricha”. There was a cultural program in which local artists performed and artist Mr. Kedar Parulekar and co-artist Prof Vikas Lele, who came from Mumbai, encouraged the Marathi speakers in Israel.

Interaction with Indian students from ARO

Ambassador Jaideep Sarkar met Indian students, who are pursuing their Ph. D / Post-Doc studies in Agricultural Research

Organisation (ARO), in the Embassy on March 1, 2013. The meeting was a part of the outreach efforts of the Embassy to connect to the Indian student community in Israel. If you are an Indian student studying in Israel, please contact us by email (sspol@indembassy.co.il) with your details.

Indian delegation wins medals

A delegation of young boys and girls from India won several medals

(Gold medals-10, Silver-3, Bronze-3) in the Israel Junior International badminton tournament held in Rishon Le Tsiyon from March 15-17. The delegation was led by their coach Mr. G. Sudhakar reddy. Mr. Eldos Punnoose, Third Secretary in the Embassy participated in the closing ceremony and distributed prizes to the winners.

Maharashtra day celebration In israel

Mr Samir Kumar participated in Maharshtra Day

Indian delegation with coach Sudhakar

Mr. Eldos with Indian winners

Indian Recipes

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Ingredients

Chicken legs-1 kgTurmeric powder - ½ tsp. Chilly powder - 2 tsp.Coriander powder - 2 tspGinger garlic paste - 4 tspCumin powder - 1 tspGaram masala powder - 1 tspRed food colouring - ¼ tspThick yogurt - ½ cupOil for fryingSalt to tasteJuice of one lime

Method

- Mix chilly powder and a little salt in the lime juice.

- Clean the chicken legs and using a sharp knife make vertical cuts on all sides of the chicken legs. Smear the chilly and lime paste

over the chicken, so that the paste gets into the cuts well. Keep aside for 30 minutes.

- Mix all the other ingredients in the thick curd and coat the chicken pieces well with this mixture. Add one tsp of oil and coat well and let it marinate for about 1-2 hours.

- Preheat the oven before you place the chicken inside. Temp :400 F

- Arrange all the pieces on the grill and cook for about 25-30 minutes.

- Squeeze lime over the fried chicken before serving. Garnish with onion rings.

Ingredients For Cover:1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)Water to Knead dough2tbsp oilLittle salt1/4th tsp. Carom seeds (optional)For Stuffing: 2 Cups of coconut grated finely1onion finely chopped 14 raisins 1-2 Green Chilies (finely chopped) 1/2tsp Ginger (crushed) 3tbsp coriander finely chopped Few chopped Cashews (optional) peanuts roasted and slightly broken 1/2tsp sugar Salt to taste Red chili powder to taste

MethodFor Cover:

- Mix all the ingredients (salt, oil, Carom seeds) except water.

- Add a little water at a time.

- Pat and knead well for several times into a soft pliable dough.

- Cover it with moist Muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes.

- For Stuffing:

- In a bowl add grated coconut and all the other ingredients and Mix well.

- This mixing should only be done when you are ready to make the samosa; or else the stuffing becomes soggy and looses the crispy taste.

- Make small rolls of dough and roll it into a 4”-5” diameter circle.

- Cut it into two parts like semi-circle.

- Now take one semi circle and fold it like a cone. Use water while doing so.

- Place a spoon of filling in the cone and seal the third side using a drop of water.

- Heat oil in a deep frying pan and deep fry till golden brown (fry on a medium flame).

- Serve samosa hot with mint chutney, tamarind chutney or good old ketchup.

Tandoori chicken

Coconut Samosa