Israel has started giving prominence to promoting tourism in India

February 2011

Windows to the world

Israel

The India connection:
Israel Tourism still does not have an exclusive office in India but in the recent years Israel has started giving prominence to promoting tourism in India.

Success so far
Earlier few thousand tourists used to visit Israel annually, mostly for religious reasons (pilgrimage). Over the years Israel has emerged as a vibrant tourist destination famous for diverse sites and scenery, food, fashion and eco-tourism. The number of Indian tourists visiting Israel has touched 40,000 per annum. Business and agro-tourism has been growing significantly as well.

Key campaigns and promotions
A senior delegation of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism visited India last year and met leading tour operators. As part of the tourism promotion campaign Israel plans to participate in important tourism exhibitions including MTDC Tourism Expo in February 2011. In the last few years several Indian delegations of lifestyle journalists, fashion photographers and tour operators were taken to Israel. Beautiful coverage from them is helping us to promote Israel as a tourist destination .

Primary target market
We wish to have visits to Israel by people who are experienced travellers and are now looking for a new, exciting, exotic destination. Israel has lots to offer to everyone from snowy mountain peaks to camel rides in the desert, scuba diving and surfing in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to enjoying spas of the Dead Sea. Places like Jerusalem or Nazareth attract people of all religions. It also has very modern and lively cities like Tel Aviv or Haifa. Israel has lots of history and archeology, and at the same time very modern shopping centers, art and craft markets and much more.

Strategy for 2011
Our strategy is to increase this awareness further by participating in travel events in India, taking more delegation of journalists and tour operators, run a tourism promotion campaign through web and social networking sites. 

http://www.expresstravelworld.com/201102/management40.shtml 

Vegetables centre comes up in Haryana with Israeli help

2011-01-17 23:10:00

Chandigarh, Jan 17 (IANS) Aiming to give a boost to agriculture in Haryana, a centre of excellence for vegetables has come up at Gharaunda town in the state's Karnal district, with support and expertise of Israel.

This centre was inaugurated by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Monday.

This centre, which is part of the India-Israel bilateral agreement on agricultural cooperation that was signed in 2006, has been set up at a cost of Rs.6 crore.

'Besides this centre of excellence for vegetables, another centre of excellence for fruits is being set up at village Mangyana in Sirsa district at a budget of Rs.9.7 crore. Haryana farmers have the capacity to meet the growing demand of vegetables and fruits of Delhi market,' Pawar said on the occasion.

'The two projects would empower the farmers with modern technology to increase the yield. It would also help them in ameliorating their economic status,' added Pawar.

Pawar said that a third centre of excellence for flower, with Israeli support, will be established at Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar in the coming months.

Israeli Ambassador to India Mark Sofer also attended the inauguration ceremony.

'This excellence centre set up in Haryana would serve as model for farmers from throughout the region. I must stress that this is not the end of the story. Work is going on towards the establishment of more such excellence centres and the sky is the limit,' said Sofer.


http://www.sify.com/news/vegetables-centre-comes-up-in-haryana-with-israeli-help-news-national-lbrxkoeicda.html

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/demandsupply-gap-behind-rising-prices-says-pawar/738850/ 

India plans use of Israeli spy sats for coastal surveillance

http://www.siasatepaper.com/SS/SS/2011/01/17/ArticleHtmls/17_01_2011_001_017.shtml?Mode=1

Published: Sunday, Jan 16, 2011, 16:35 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI  
Aiming to enhance surveillance capabilities along the coastline, India is planning to use Israeli spy satellites to keep an eye over its maritime boundary with Pakistan.
Under the plan, New Delhi is looking to use the spy satellite coverage over the maritime region off the coast of Gujarat near Kutch, the region which was used by the terrorists involved in the 26/11 terror attacks to enter India through the sea route, sources said.
A discussion in this regard between the two sides was held recently during the visit of a high-level Indian defence delegation to Israel, they added.
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, cooperation between India and Israel in anti-terrorism efforts has been on the rise and New Delhi is taking Tel Aviv's help in securing its maritime and land borders with Pakistan.
Once in place, the planned system would help the sea-guarding agencies such as the navy and the Coast Guard to keep an eye over a large area and keep a check on the vessels moving through the region and also verify their identity, they said.
The satellites would also be used to forewarn the authorities in case of any suspicious movement of ships or smaller vessels moving from Pakistan towards India.
With the satellites covering all the suspicious routes which the terrorists can possibly use in future, it will help the navy and the Coast Guard to locate, check, and if necessary, destroy such vessels.
The navy is going to commission its squadron of its Israeli Searcher and Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) tomorrow at Porbandar in Gujarat for enhancing its capabilities to tighten the vigil over the maritime traffic there.
India has a over 7,500-km long coastline, which was not well-guarded till recently and after the Mumbai attacks, several steps are being taken by the Centre to plug the gaps in coastal security.
With an increased threat perception, the government has sanctioned procurement of equipment including fast attack craft, offshore patrol vessels and reconnaissance aircraft for the navy and the Coast Guard.
The navy is also raising a new force called the Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB) to protect naval bases and the coastline areas.
The SPB will be deployed to carry out shallow water operations in both day and night for seaward anti-terrorist patrols for security of naval assets, besides interception at high speeds and perform search and rescue operations.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_india-plans-use-of-israeli-spy-sats-for-coastal-surveillance_1495207