HHI signs submarine deal in India

Hyundai Heavy Industries’ dockyard in Ulsan. Korea’s largest shipbuilder has set goal of collecting 22.9 billion dollars worth of orders this year. Provided by the company

The world’s largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), has established an agreement to build submarines for India as part of a 40-year program to strengthen the nation’s naval forces.

The financially struggling company said it signed an MoU with Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) last week stating that the Korean shipbuilder will work with the Indian company to build six submarines that the nation’s navy is preparing to order.

“Since HSL wants to be a part of the submarine manufacturing project by the navy, they asked us for help,” said a spokesman for HHI. “Because they are the largest shipbuilder in their country, the possibility that they will win the order is big.”

If HSL wins the contract, HHI will dispatch a work force to give technical support that the company needs to build the submarines while HSL will take charge of manufacturing the vessels. The Indian government will spend about $9.72 billion (10.47 trillion won).

In an interview with Indian media, HSL said, “HHI will help us build submarines as they are the biggest shipbuilder in the world and have some of the best high-end equipment and techniques. Since India has a 40-year submarine construction program, this will be a win-win situation for both of us.”

This is some of the best recent news for HHI, which has been struggling to make a profit as its number of orders decreases. The company expects that the project with HSL could help it grow in India in the future. The country is considered a big market for Korean companies in the defense industry. The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade said last year that India will become Korea’s second-largest export market in defense after the United States. According to the industry, the amount of weapons imported by India increased an average of 29.3 percent from 2009 to 2013.

Another Korean firm, Kokam, a lithium polymer battery manufacturer, is also seeking technical cooperation with HSL.

“It looks like India will invest about $76.9 billion in the next five years to replace their decrepit military devices and weapons,” said a spokesman for the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. “Since Korean submarines, radars and howitzers have good price competitiveness in the market, this will be a good business opportunity for us.”

The institute said India’s recent expansion of its military force is a matter of survival, especially after China has been aggressively strengthening its navy recently to expand its influences in the Indian Ocean, a transport route for about 80 percent of the world’s oil.

Last year, China sent two submarines to run a combat simulation in the Indian Ocean, saying it was necessary to protect the nation’s businesses from pirates.

According to military sources last year, China has a total of 52 submarines in operation, three of which are nuclear powered. India, however, has 14 submarines and only one is nuclear powered, which it borrowed from Russia in 2012. About half of the 14 submarines were built in the 1980s, according to the industry.

source: KOREA JOONGANG DAILY

한국인 대상 ICCR 장학 프로그램

인도문화교류위원회(ICCR)는 한국의 우수 학생 2인에게 장학금을 지급한다. 본 장학 프로그램은 2015년 인도대학에서 공부를 희망하는 한국인 학부생, 대학원생 및 연구원을 대상으로 진행된다. 인도문화교류위원회(ICCR)는 선발된 학생들에게 학비, 생활비 등의 경비를 지원한다. 2 장학 프로그램에 대한 세부내용 및 지원서는 서울 인도문화원 홈페이지(http://indoculture.org/)에서 확인할 수 있다. 대학 및 기관에 대한 자세한 정보는 ICCR 홈페이지(http://www.iccrindia.net/GCSS_Scholarship_Letter.pdf)에서 확인 가능하다.    3. 지원자는 신청서 6부를 2015년 1월 21일까지 주한인도대사관에 제출해야 한다.  2015년 1월 23일에 영어 시험과 면접이 진행된다.      2014년 12월 31일  서울   자료: 주한인도대사관

In Seoul, Tagore's lamp is still lit by a Korean poetess and author

Kim Yang-shik’s eyes sparkled behind those stylish glasses while talking about the letter she received from Shantiniketan’s Visva-Bharati university earlier this year. The university, according to her, had finally in principle given the green signal to her opening a Korea Bhawan in the town synonymous with Rabindranath Tagore. It was “no answer, no answer, no answer” for years, she said. Tagore, of course, has been Kim’s “mentor” and her “spirit”. “Through Tagore’s poetry, I saw the world,” she told me while we sat chatting in the Indian Art Museum in a trendy Seoul neighourhood. Kim heads both the museum and the Tagore Society of Korea; she set up the society in 1981 following years of reading Tagore’s works and translating some including the Gitanjali from English to Korean. Her elder brother urged her to read Tagore, handing her copy of The Crescent Moon; there was no looking back after that, only turning more pages. She did her MA in Indian philosophy, eventually becoming a poet and essayist herself, and devoted time to translating Tagore. Currently, Kim is translating Tagore’s entire collection of poetry.  “Around 20 percent is left. I have been translating the poems for years,” Kim said, carefully wrapping her 30-year-old favourite embroidered Kashmiri shawl around her shoulders. Tagore never visited South Korea. But four lines he uttered about the country calling it the “lamp of the east” still remains lit in hearts like that of Kim’s. The city has Tagore statue in an university area as well. Tagore isn’t her only passion in life; India is a huge part of it. She’s travelled to India 30 times since 1975 and, over the years, collected Indian nearly 2000 artefacts – ranging from wood and stone carvings, musical instruments, paintings, furniture, fabric and handicraft – from across the country. The artefacts are displayed twice a year for a few months at the Museum, the curator, Kim Kyu-Won said. Kim also sponsors a scholarship at the Korean language course at JNU. She took me downstairs for a quick cup of coffee before rushing off for a meeting with lawyers and a visit to the National Museum of Korea. Looking at the chic, young Korean girls at the café, she grinned: “Very busy, these girls. Quick coffee after lunch”. At a sprightly 83, the Padma Shri awardee, Kim Yang-shik isn’t doing too badly either, I’d say. Source:Embassy of India,Seoul

ICCR Scholarships for Korean nationals

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is offering two scholarships to meritorious Korean students for the academic year 2015-16 to pursue Undergraduate, Postgraduate or Research studies in various disciplines in India. All expenses, including tuition fee, living allowance, etc. of the selected students will be borne by ICCR. 2 Detailed information about the scholarship programme, application process and form, is available at the Indian Cultural Centre, Seoul’s website -http://indoculture.org/. Further information about the University/ Institute or academic course of interest, is available at ICCR’s website - http://www.iccrindia.net/GCSS_Scholarship_Letter.pdf 3.       The last date for receipt of applications (in six copies) at the Embassy of India, Seoul is 21 January 2015. The English proficiency examination and interview would be conducted on 23 January 2015. Seoul 31 December 2014   Source:Embassy of India,Seoul