Imtiaz Ali Khan
Counsellor Space & ISRO Technical Liaison Officer
Embassy of India
13-15 Rue Alfred Dehodencq
75016 Paris
Telephone: +33 (0) 1 42 66 33 62
Fax: +33 (0) 1 42 66 32 72 (Fax)
More information on ISRO’s website: http://www.isro.gov.in
15 December 2014
Mr. Ujjal Datta
Minister (Science)
Embassy of India
13-15 Rue Alfred Dehodencq
75016 Paris
Telephone: +33 (0) 1 40 50 50 75
Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 24 33 57
The objective of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to develop space technology and its application to various national tasks. ISRO has successfully operationalized two major satellite systems namely Indian National Satellites (INSAT) for communication services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for management of natural resources. ISRO has also developed the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching IRS type of satellites and Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for launching INSAT type of satellites. For more details, please refer to the ISRO Website http://www.isro.gov.in
France and India view each other as important partners in space technology and applications. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its French counterpart the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have a rich legacy of cooperation and collaboration for more than four decades. ISRO and CNES jointly worked on a scientific satellite programme for studying tropical atmosphere, called Megha-Tropiques which was launched on October-12, 2011 by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Megha-Tropiques is designed to study tropical weather. On September 9, 2012, ISRO's PSLV-C21 successfully launched the French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-6. Another joint Indo-French satellite SARAL (Satellite for ARGOS and ALTIKA), carrying a Ka-band altimeter to study the ocean surface and a platform for collecting data was successfully launched by PSLV on February 25, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India. On 30th June 2014, India’s PSLV-C23 successfully launched the French SPOT-7 satellite.
ISRO and CNES hold regular bilateral meetings and the scientific communities of India and France cooperate in joint experiments, space components development and space education. A 'Science Seminar' and 'Research and Technology Workshop' was organised in Bangalore during February 05-06, 2013 and ISRO and CNES have jointly identified areas of further cooperation. A Statement of Intent for Long-Term Co-operation in Space between ISRO and CNES was signed between Chairman ISRO and President of CNES on 14 February 2013. The two Chiefs reiterated their willingness for continuing the good cooperation during their meeting in Paris in April 2014.
Those are going to India for professional assignments could have their visa applications processed in priority if they so wish. For the same, they should address a request to Attaché (Press, Information & Culture) along with scanned copies of supporting documents, i.e. an assignment letter (lettre de mission) from the organisation for which they are working. The e-mails to which requests for facilitation of professional J-visas should be sent are: attache.pic@ambinde.fr and pic03@ambinde.fr. For information on filming in India, you could send a mail to the above-mentioned mails or call 0140505020 (Press Desk)/0140505106 (Reception desk).
Consular information of any kind is to be sought from VFS only.
It is underlined that the Embassy of India, Paris can issue urgent visas only to French nationals (those applying for visas in their country of origin). The urgent visas are issued within 24 hours to 48 hours, on payment of extra urgent visa fees of 43€, in addition to the usual visa fees. All other nationalities, including citizens of other European Union / European countries will have to wait for minimum 72-hours period in addition to the usual processing time for visas, and are not eligible for urgent visas under any circumstances.
The Press, Information & Culture Wing remains at the disposal of the Medias, publications and communications sector for facilitating their demarches and for any further information.
COUNSELLOR (PIC)
EMBASSY OF INDIA
13-15 RUE ALFRED DEHODENCQ
75016 PARIS
In order to have actual access to the Polling and Counting areas for coverage, the media persons will require an “Authority Letter” from Election Commission of India (ECI). The information on applying for the Authority Letter on line is available on the website (http://pib.nic.in).
On-line System for submission of Application for issuance of ECI’s “Authority Letter” to Media Persons for coverage of General Elections to the 16th Lok Sabha.
Each month, the Embassy presents to the public a list of various musical recitals, dance performances, cultural expositions and other artistic events with Indian themes that are scheduled to take place in France. Collated for everyone who has an interest in India, and wishes to explore her rich traditions, the list is an indispensable tool to understand the artistic and creative processes that shape the foundation of the nation today.
{loadposition spaceagenda}
The bilateral educational cooperation between India and France has grown over the last few years. There is a growing desire to further strengthen the bilateral educational collaboration within the governmental framework and outside amongst universities and academic institutes. This is reflected in the joint statement issued during the visit of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to France in April 2015, where both the leaders expressed mutual interest in boosting the number and quality of student exchanges and invited educational institutions of both the countries to further expand their cooperation in the field of engineering and applied sciences. During the visit, an MoU between School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi and National Architecture Institute in Paris was signed which envisages cooperation to undertake joint planning and geographical studies.
To promote bilateral cooperation in area of social sciences, there exists an MoU between the Maison de Science de l’Homme (MSH) on the French side and the ICSSR (Indian Council for Social Sciences Research) on the Indian side. The major activities under this MoU are: collaborative research projects, seminars, workshops, conferences, exchange of scholars, documents, data, publications etc.
Besides higher education, both India and France also have a vibrant school exchange programmes in order to facilitate contact between French and Indian schools. In 2015, 30 French schools have visited India and 15 Indian schools have visited France. So far schools from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, NOIDA, Pune, Ajmer, Jaipur, Chennai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Pondichery and other places have been able to establish contacts with French schools.
The number of Indian students studying in France in various fields, has increased over the years. For the academic year 2014-2015, around 3000 Indian students came to France and considering the fact that most of the students come for a period of at least 2 years, approximately there are 5000 Indian students in France. The majority of students come to study in Grande Ecoles (elite institution) and the rest attend universities. There are approximately 40% students in Masters, 21% in bachelors and 39% in higher education including PhD.
As agreed during the visit of our Prime Minister to France in April 2015, the French government (w.e.f. September 2015) has started granting second ‘autorization provisoire de sejour’ of 12 months following the first period of 12 months already granted to Indian students of Masters level and upwards, offering them the possibility of finding suitable employment related to their area of studies. In this regard, the Government of India has already implemented VIE scheme for the French students offering special two years resident permit to join French companies operating in India.
In order to provide accommodation primarily for Indian students, the ‘Maison De L’Inde’ (India House) a student hostel in the Cite Internationale de Universite de Paris was established in 1967. The Governing Board is chaired by the Ambassador. The MDL with 110 rooms continues to serve as a home for Indian student /scholars/scientists seeking affordable accommodation in an intellectually stimulating campus in Paris. The Government of India had decided to undertake the extension of MDL. Under the new extension programme a building housing 72 additional rooms was constructed and started functioning from October 2013.
The Indo-French scientific cooperation is more than three decades old. The Inter Governmental Agreement for Cooperation in the field of Science and Technology was concluded on 18th July 1978 in New Delhi. The Indo –French S&T cooperation has a long and rich history wherein strong bonds have been created between Indian and French Scientists.
The Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR) or Centre Franco-Indien Pour la Promotion de la RechercheAvancée (CEFIPRA) is a model for bilateral R&D cooperation in advanced areas of science and technology. The Centre was established in 1987. CEFIPRA supports high quality research groups through collaborative research projects in advanced areas of basic and applied science to nurture scientific competency. So far, around 500 projects have been supported and around 2500 Scientists exchange organised by the Centre. It also provides linkages between industry and academia of France and India by leveraging the research skills of academia to enhance the competitiveness of the Industrial partner involved. For enabling knowledge-sharing on science and technology in the areas of current relevance, it also organises seminars/workshops. As there is a strong desire from both the countries to create an enabling environment which strengthens the Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) of both the countries and ability to translate knowledge towards creating global common goods, the orginsation has introduced different innovative programmes through public private partnership mode.
Collaboration to develop better water technologies is underway through a variety of joint projects in the form of ‘Indo-French Cell on Water Sciences’ at Bangalore, ‘Indo-French Centre for Ground Water Research’ at Hyderabad and ‘Indo-French Programme for Research on Weather & Climate’ at Goa. During the visit (December 2010) of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to India, an MoU between Institut de Recherche Pour le Development (IRD),France and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (India) was signed to set up an International joint laboratory called the Indo French Cell for Water Sciences. Since 2014, the MoU has been renewed for the period of another 4 years and it now involves the National Institiue of Oceanography, Goa ; the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorolgy, Pune ; and 6 French reserach institutes as principal partners.
Since 2008, the Geological Survey of India and the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques at Minieres have expanded their cooperation on areas of geo-thermal energy, ground water resource management, sub-soil storage of CO2 and geological mapping. Combined research and training of scientists in the fields of biotechnology, bioinformatics, pharmacogenomics and agrarian research (ICAR) is separately undertaken between our Department of Biotechnology and laboratories of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA). During the visit of our Prime Minister in April 2015, an MoU has been signed between Dept of Biotechnology, CNRS and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) regarding setting up of a National Institute of Marine Biololgy and Biotechnology in Goa with hub and model network of laboratories in marine regions of Andaman and Lakshadweep..
A number of MoUs have been signed between India and France to strengthen bilateral cooperation in area of applied sciences. A MoU was signed (January 2012) between Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and DST for establishment of Applied Mathematics Center at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Another MoU has also been signed (Jan 2012) by CNRS for establishment of International Associated Laboratory in Informatics in Chennai with Chennai Mathematical Institute, Institute of Mathematical Sciences and IISc. During the visit of our Hon’ble Prime to France in April 2015, CNRS signed an MoU with Department of S&T, Government of India for furthering cooperation in the field of science and technology.
There are several Indo French Joint labs operational in India and France. Most of them are virtual labs where the reserchers work in their own institituions and exchange their findings and occcsaionally meet to discuss further. Therefore, these are projects with no physical existence of one roof where reserachers work together.
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am happy to inform you that the admissions for 2014-15 to National Institute of Design (NID) have been announced. As you may be aware, NID, the premier design school of India, offers 8 Under Graduate Programmes and 17 Post-Graduate Programmes in different design disciplines from its Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar & Bengaluru campuses.
Looking at the great interest shown by foreign students, we have announced a special 15% quota for applicants from foreign countries / SAARC region / NRIs on supernumerary basis.
You may like to circulate this information to the leading institutes for students interested in applying to NID.
Students can visit and download information from www.admissions.nid.edu. They can also visit www.nid.edu for additional details about the institute. The last date for applying is : 31st October 2013.
I am also attaching a copy of the Admissions Brochure as well as a copy of the e-flyer on NID, for information
Best wishes,
Pradyumna Vyas
Director
National Institute of Design
India
Please download the following document
More informations can be found at www.edcilindia.co.in
Please download the documents :
Mr. Lavanya Kumar
First Secretary (Press, Information and Culture)
Embassy of India
13-15,Rue Alfred Dehodencq
75016- Paris
Tel: +33 (0) 1 40 50 50 14
Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 24 33 45
Email: pic.paris@mea.gov.in
The Government of India, through its various bodies and organisations, offers a variety of scholarships and study abroad programs to students who wish to pursue their education in India. These scholarships and programs are provided at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD level. The opportunity to study in India is not only an opportunity to study in world class institutions that offer insider access to one of the world’s fastest growing economics, but is also a chance to be a part of a rich cultural heritage that guides the lives of a billion people.
ICCR Scholarships under Ayush Scholarship Scheme (2015 – 2016)
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through its Ayush Department, offers a scholarship for students willing to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD courses in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. While promoting the ancient medicinal arts that originated in India, the Ministry allows students to select their own courses and the university they wish to pursue their course in, but requires them to prepare the relevant documents for the same. Six copies of the given application form are required to be submitted, and any documents that are not in English require a certified translation to be submitted as well.
Scholarship for the Study of Hindi (2015 – 2016)
Direct Admission of Students Abroad into Undergraduate Engineering Programs (2015 – 2016)
The Ministry of Human Resource Development offers foreign nationals an opportunity to study in one of India’s premier undergraduate engineering programs. Under this initiative, students can get the opportunity to study in a variety of institutions including the internationally recognised IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), NITs (National Institutes of Technology), SPAs (Schools of Planning and Architecture), and other technical institutions through a simplified application process tailored for foreign students. Apart from receiving a world class competitive education, students will also have the opportunity to experience the rich traditions and cultures of India first hand. A complete list of participating institutions, along with a detailed explanation of the admissions procedure, is available in the brochure given below.
Click here to download the brochure
ICCR Scholarships in the Fields of Art and Dance (2015 – 2016)
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations offers a scholarship to international students wishing to learn Indian music and dance under cultural masters in India. An opportunity to learn under teachers who have gained international recognition and acclaim for their work, this scholarship also offers students an opportunity to explore Indian civilisation and the creativity that is its spiritual sustenance through an artistic medium. Five sets of application forms, including English translations of documents, are required to be submitted to the Embassy. A list of schools and teachers is attached with the application form given below.
Click here to download the application form
Offer of ICCR Scholarships under AYUSH scholarship scheme for 2015- 16 Click here to download the form
Know India Program
The Ministry of Overseas Affairs organises an annual Know India Program which gives Persons of Indian Origin residing abroad the opportunity to visit India and explore its culture and heritage. The program includes travel to different states of the country, and aims to connect young individuals to their roots. Youth between the ages of 18 and 26 are eligible to participate in this program, and can apply to the Embassy in Paris after reading the details given in the link below.
Please download the following :
Please download the following document:
Please download the following document:
More information can be found at www.edcilindia.co.in
e-Tourist Visa facility is available for holders of French passports with effect from 1.5.2015.The eTV scheme requires eligible French nationals to apply four days in advance and obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization before traveling to India. It may be noted that the visa is not being granted on arrival at the airport. For more information visit the link: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/index.html. To apply, go to the link: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/info1.jsp
Eligiblity for e-Tourist Visa
e-Tourist Visa Scheme
1. e-Tourist Visa can be granted to the following foreigners who are passport-holders of any of the countries covered by the e-TV Scheme:
(i) whose sole objective of visiting India is recreation, sight seeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business visit etc. and no other purpose/activity;
(ii) who do not have a residence or occupation in India;
(iii) who hold a passport with a minimum validity of six months and a re-entry permit, if that is required under the law of the country of nationality of the applicant;
(iv) who is a person of assured financial standing (the production of a return ticket/onward journey ticket and availability of sufficient money to spend during his stay in India may be considered sufficient for this purpose);
(v) who is not a persona-non-grata to the Government of India;
(vi) who is not considered an undesirable person;
2. Procedure for applying for e-TV
In order to avail of the facility of e-Tourist Visa, the foreign national concerned shall mandatorily fill in the application online on the e-Tourist Visa website https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html
The Visa applications are cleared in 72 hours and an e-TV authorization is sent to the email ID provided by the applicant. The visitor is expected to travel to India with this authorization and a passport with a minimum remaining validity of six months. In view of the 72 hours taken for clearance, visitors are expected to apply for e-TV at least 4-5 days before the day of their journey to India.
3. Entry Points
The e-Tourist Visa will be provided only at designated international airports namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Goa. With effect from 15th August 2015, visitors holding e-Tourist Visas authorizations will also be able to arrive at 7 more Indian airports (Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Gaya, Jaipur Lucknow, Thiruchirapalli & Varanasi), taking the total number of airports designated for this purpose to 16 (Sixteen).
4. Validity
An e-Tourist Visa will be valid for entry and stay in India within the period of its validity, subject to the conditions specified. The Immigration officer may grant a single entry e-Tourist Visa valid up to 30 days to the passport-holders of the countries covered by the e-TV Scheme.
5. Conditions for e-Tourist Visa.
e-Tourist Visa can neither be extended nor converted to any other kind of visa during the visa-holder’s stay in India.
(For background: Except in the following circumstances, by the FRRO/FRO concerned.
(a) e-Tourist Visa may be converted to ‘X’ (Entry) Visa if a foreigner who has come to India on an e-Tourist Visa marries an Indian national during the validity of his/her e-Tourist Visa
(b) e-Tourist Visa of a foreigner who falls ill after his/her entry into India rendering him/her unfit to travel and who requires specialized medical treatment may be converted into a Medical visa if he/she is eligible for the grant of Medical Visa and a medical certificate is obtained from a government/ICMR recognized hospital. In such cases, e-Tourist Visa of the attendant accompanying the foreigner (whose e-Tourist Visa is converted into Medical Visa) may also be converted into Medical Attendant [Med X] visa co-terminus with the Medical Visa of the foreigner.
Note: On conversion of an ‘e-Tourist Visa’ into ‘X’ visa/ Medical Visa/ ‘Med X’ Visa, the following endorsement shall be made on the Passport/ Residential Permit ‘Employment/Business not permitted’.)
6. Fee for e-Tourist Visa
A fee of US $60/- or equivalent amount in Indian rupees per passenger (including children), is currently being charged from each foreigner for the grant of an e-Tourist Visa.
7. Repeat visits
e-Tourist Visa may be allowed for a maximum of two times in a calendar year to a foreigner.
8. Diplomatic/ Official passport holders
The e-Tourist Visa facility shall not be available to holders of Diplomatic/Official passports.
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