Next meeting of GIRT Hamburg on 10th Sept. 2012

German-Indian Round Table (GIRT) Hamburg takes pleasure in cordially inviting its participants and other interested persons to its next meeting on September 10th, 2012.

On this occasion Mr. René Neukirchner, student at Hamburg University of Technology, will present results of a study of innovation strategies pursued by some of the largest German companies in India, which include BASF, Bosch, Daimler, SAP and Siemens. The study looks at a unique combination of “global innovation” with “open innovation”. It examines which projects are being pursued by those firms and to what extent they are engaged in research collaboration with local Indian partners. The underlying idea is to learn from such strategies and to reduce market risk and technology uncertainty.

Apart from presentation of this study, there will be discussion on current developments in Indo-German context. We will also inform our participants about the initial planning related to India Week 2013. As usual, participants will have enough time to exchange thoughts and ideas, and engage in networking.

The event will take place on Monday, 10th Sept. 2012, at 18:30h in Hotel Baseler Hof (Esplanade 11, 20354 Hamburg).

There is no participation fee. As usual, the meeting takes place in the form of a “Stammtisch”, whereby each participant is expected to consume his or her evening meal at the meeting and pay for own consumption of food and beverages. This is a part of the arrangement with the event venue, which allows us to do without a participation fee.

Those interested in attending the GIRT meeting may write to tiwari@tuhh.de latest by September 5th, 2012. Confirmation is subject to availability of seats. Since seating capacity is limited we require binding registration and will send the confirmed participants a written affirmation of the registration prior to the event.

(Infos as PDF)

With best regards

Rajnish Tiwari
Head, German-Indian Round Table Hamburg

Einladung zum German-Indian Round Table in Hamburg am 10. Sept 2012

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
liebe Freunde des German-Indian Round Table Hamburg,

wir laden Sie recht herzlich zum nächsten Treffen des German-Indian Round Table (GIRT) in Hamburg ein. Das erste Treffen nach der Sommerpause findet abweichend nicht am ersten sondern am zweiten Montag, also am 10. September, zur gewöhnlichen Zeit ab 18:30h im Hotel Baseler Hof (Esplanade 11, 20354 Hamburg) statt.

Diesmal wollen wir Ihnen die Ergebnisse einer Studie durch TU Hamburg-Harburg vorstellen, die die Forschungs- und Entwicklungsaktivitäten ausgewählter deutscher Unternehmen in Indien untersucht hat. Herr René Neukirchner hat sich die Innovationsstrategien der Unternehmen BASF, Bosch, Daimler, SAP und Siemens in Bezug auf Indien näher angeschaut. Dabei  ist er der Fragestellung nachgegangen, welche Projekte werden von den ausgewählten Großunternehmen vor Ort in Indien verfolgt und in welchem Maße werden lokale Kooperationen eingegangen, um Marktgerechte Produkte zu entwickeln und technologisches Risiko zu reduzieren. Wir freuen uns, dass Herr Neukirchner die Ergebnisse dieser Studie persönlich vorstellen wird.

Neben diesem Vortrag berichten wir über aktuelle Entwicklungen im deutsch-indischen Kontext und auch über die Planungen der India Week 2013. Wie üblich gibt es ausreichend Zeit zur Diskussion und zum Austausch mit anderen Teilnehmern.

Wir würden uns freuen, Sie auf dem GIRT-Treffen begrüßen zu dürfen. Angesichts der begrenzten Raumkapazität ist eine verbindliche Voranmeldung via E-Mail (tiwari@tuhh.de) bis zum 5. September 2012 notwendig. Angenommene Anmeldungen werden von uns einzeln bestätigt. Die Teilnahme ist kostenfrei. Bitte beachten Sie, dass GIRT-Treffen einen „Stammtisch“-Charakter haben. Teilnehmer zahlen ihre Speisen und Getränke selbst. Bei Rückfragen stehen wir Ihnen natürlich gerne zur Verfügung.

Beste Grüße
Rajnish Tiwari

Smart Mobility for India: Needs, Opportunities and Challenges

India finds itself in a precarious situation. While the lack of efficient and effective mediums of mobility for public-at-large outside metropolitan cities continues to cause loss of productivity and stifle economic growth in a considerable manner; the economic growth in major urban centres and the resultant growth of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers is leading to heavy traffic jams and pollution, again causing loss of productivity and chocking of economic growth. This article argues that a viable solution to these entwined and complex challenges lies in implementing “smart mobility” solutions. This could prove to be the next growth driver and present immense opportunities for Indo-German collaboration, in both private and public sectors. []

This article, authored by Rajnish Tiwari, has been published in GermanyContact India (issue 02/2012, August). To continue reading click here. An extended, unedited version of the article with additional information/graphs can be accessed here (PDF, 524 KB).

Hindi Language Trip to India (11.02. – 01.03.2013)

University of Hamburg (Dept. of Culture & History of India & Tibet) and the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, Wardha, India, are organizing a 3-week intensive Hindi course in India. The course will take place from 11th February to 1st March 2013.

Detailed information:

http://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/indtib/Hindi-Language-Trip.pdf

Registration / further information:
Dr. Ram Prasad Bhatt
University of Hamburg
Dept. of Culture & History of India & Tibet
Alsterterrasse 1, 20354 Hamburg, Germany
Tel: 040-42838-3388, -3385; Fax: 040-42838-6944
E-Mail: Ram.Prasad.Bhatt@uni-hamburg.de

‚God particle‘: The Indian connection with Higgs boson

The Times of India (4th July 2012) reports:

GENEVA: As all eyes today focus on the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, famously known as CERN, Indian scientific and technological contributions are among the many that keeps the world’s biggest particle physics laboratory buzzing.

In a ‚quantum‘ leap in physics, CERN scientists today claimed to have spotted a sub-atomic particle „consistent“ with the Higgs boson or ‚God particle‘, believed to be a crucial building block that led to the formation of the universe.

There is an intrinsic Indian connection to what is happening at CERN – Satyendra Nath Bose. It is Bose after whom the sub-atomic particle ‚boson‘ is named.

His study changed the way Particle Physics has been studied ever since. The Higgs boson is a particle that is theoretically the reason why all matter in the Universe has mass.

The name Higgs boson came from a British scientist Peter Higgs and Bose. The work done by Bose and Albert Einstein, later added by Higgs, lead to this pioneering day.

„India is like a historic father of the project,“ Paolo Giubellino, CERN spokesperson had said back in October last year when PTI visited the facility.

At the core of the CERN, spread over two countries as it is situated near the Swiss-Franco border, is the 27-km long tunnel, over 70 metres beneath the ground, where the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) or commonly referred to as the Big Bang experiment was conducted last year.

The experiment had aimed to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang, when the universe is thought to have exploded into existence about 14 billion years ago.

The CERN runs a number of experimental projects and over 100 Indian scientists are working round the clock.

Also see: Satyendra Nath Bose towers over Higgs in world of physics (Times of India, 6th July 2012)