Foreword
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Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India, the largest vaccine-manufacturing nation in the world, has been sending a steady stream of Made in India vaccines to neighbouring and friendly countries around the world. India has also provided medical supplies to nearly 150 countries, on both commercial and non-commercial basis. The success of this initiative bears testimony to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign and his commitment to help the global community to fight the pandemic.
In this issue of India Perspectives, we take a closer look at howa bilateral ties between India and the Gulf countries have strengthened during the pandemic. This has also opened up new avenues of collaborations and partnerships in economic and emerging technology spheres to aid the recovery of the global economy.
As countries across the world struggle to revive economic growth in the post-pandemic era, India’s economy has been gaining from its robust start-up ecosystem. In 2020, 12 start-ups from the country joined the prestigious unicorn club. We look at how start-ups have been creating new opportunities while simultaneously furthering PM Modi’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
In one of his recent radio addresses to the nation, PM Modi had hailed the superior quality of saffron produced in Jammu and Kashmir. We delve deeper into the versatility of this unique cooking ingredient and its numerous health benefits. Also in focus is another culinary delight from the country – Parsi cuisine. With the Parsi community in India getting ready to celebrate Navroze on March 21, we focus on how food is an integral part of the community’s culture and history.
In the ‘institutions’ section of this edition, we highlight National Defence Academy, one of the most prestigious military establishments in the world, which trains young cadets for Army, Navy and Air Force. The training imparted at the academy not only covers academics and defence drills but also instills such life lessons as discipline, empathy and camaraderie among its cadets, who go on to become world-class military officers.
Discipline also forms the bedrock of sports, and taking cue from PM Modi’s radio address where he highlighted the success that the Indian martial art form of Mallakhamb has attained overseas, we explore various forms of Indian martial arts.
In this issue, we also pay our respects to Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha, who spearheaded the nation’s civil nuclear energy programme and was instrumental in establishing two of the country’s premier institutions for scientific research – Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC).
Anurag Srivastava