Today we mark the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought which highlights the need of an early action to avoid disastrous consequences for humanity and the planetary ecosystems. #India is particularly at risk given the impacts of #ClimateChange and human activities. In fact, land degradation in the country has increased from 96.32 million hectares in 2011-13 to 97.84 million hectares in 2018-19. This has far-reaching effects on the agricultural sector and thus for people's food and livelihood security. Together with our partners, we are actively addressing desertification by providing technical assistance to Indian farmers and relevant authorities in different parts of the country. The Indo-German development cooperation project ‘Climate Adaptation and Finance in Rural India (CAFRI-NABARD)’, for instance, is working with farmers in Patan district, Gujarat, to make irrigation systems more efficient while improving soil health, reducing its salinity, and increasing overall fertility. This will enable the restoration of land threatened by desertification and can mitigate the overall impact of climate change. Learn more about the work we are doing: https://bit.ly/3b6L55w

On World Environment Day, people around the globe took action to draw attention to the fact that we have #OnlyOneEarth which we need to preserve. Now it's down to the other 364 days of the year to achieve the ambitious #ClimateAction targets. Innovative, sustainable technologies will play an important role in this. The Indo-German development cooperation project ‘Climate Adaptation and Finance in Rural India (CAFRI-NABARD)‘ therefore promotes climate resilient farming practices like the Bamboo Mat Technology which are characterised by cost-effectiveness and ease of adaptation. Together with our partners we work towards strengthening climate resilience of vulnerable small holder farmers in the ginger and garlic value chain. Besides the environmental aspect, sustainable methods can also contribute significantly to reducing post-harvest losses. Watch the video below to see how the Bamboo Mat Technology is having a positive impact on the lives of farmers in the Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh. Learn more about our project activities: https://bit.ly/39gPAKe

A powerhouse of the German economy, Hamburg has been a commercial hub in northern Europe for centuries. The city gained economic prosperity due to its strategic location as a maritime port on the river Elbe. It is one of Europe’s richest cities with over 40,000 millionaires and hosts a large number of expatriates from across the globe due to the various job prospects it offers.

Geographically remote and often overlooked, the northeast region of India comprises eight states that offer a world of adventure, pristine nature and a melting pot of culture for those keen on exploring India beyond the Taj Mahal and tigers. In this article, Sanika Diwanji informs about the myriad offerings of northeast India and the ongoing work to raise awareness about sustainable tourism.

Sanika Diwanji in conversation with Stefan Halusa, Director-General of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), on the various aspects of Indo-German bilateral trade, pandemic and post-pandemic recovery and his time in India since he took up position in September 2020.

The Hamburg Welcome Center is supposed to be the first point of contact for many foreign residents in Hamburg for issues related to visa, city registration, tax enrolment and so on. And yet, not many are aware of the various other services offered by the Center to foreign workers and their families. In this article, Sanika Diwanji explores the role of the Hamburg Welcome Center along with their lesser known offerings.

A midnight’s child born in 1947, Hoshang Merchant is as young as independent India. Recognised by his many identities - India’s first openly gay man, a poet, a thinker, an activist, an academician - Merchant has carved a name for himself as a rebel with a cause. In this candid chat with Sanika Diwanji, Hoshang Dinshaw Merchant talks about life, poetry, power and politics.

Sanika Diwanji delves into the educational connection between India and Hamburg and tries to deconstruct the positives versus negative experiences of Indian students opting for an education in this port city.

Since it was founded in 2011, the Hamburg Representation Office in Mumbai has built a bridge between India and Germany by providing advice and support to various economic, cultural and academic institutions in both regions. As the representative office celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, Sanika Diwanji takes a look at its role and tasks.

An honorary Hamburg ambassador, founder of the Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad for 18 years and representative of the German Research Foundation for ten years, Amita Desai has had a long and deep connection to Hamburg. In this open interview with Sanika Diwanji, she takes us on a nostalgic journey to her connection to both Germany and India.

Every two years, the free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg hosts a week-long event to promote the bilateral relations between Germany and India. As the media coordinator for the event, my role and responsibilities included planning and maintaining press relations with German and Indian media, designing a thorough communications plan in compliance with the Hamburg Senate guidelines, and maintaining content for the website, publicity brochures and press releases.

As the field of Earth Observation becomes increasingly important in our quest to better monitor, assess and understand our planet and the environment, there is also an unprecedented amount of data being generated. The 2021 edition of the Big Data from Space Conference aimed at tackling this issue with its theme of "From Insights to Foresights".

Data is ubiquitous. Especially in today’s digital world, data has become a crucial element for a wide range of industries and organisations to make important decisions. We count and compile a variety of data to make business and even personal decisions. This article provides an introduction to some basic concepts of data storytelling and the importance of not forgetting the human stories behind cold data.

In 2012, the United Nations Human Rights Council declared internet a human right. This included the right to internet access, freedom of information, privacy and digital rights that are fundamental in upholding liberal democratic values. However, the degree of internet freedom that ordinary citizens experience depends widely on governments in their respective countries across the world. India was given 55 points out of 100 in 2019, as a country with partial internet freedom.

India has embraced the internet with open arms, and its digital population has been rapidly growing in the past decade with over 680 million active internet users . What started with simple email correspondences, has expanded to a digital universe with social networking giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter becoming a part everyday life for millions of Indians.

As a leading producer of cost-effective and quality-controlled generic drugs, India supplies around 20 percent of the global pharmaceuticals demand in terms of volume. In fact, the Indian healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector was one of the fastest growing in the world and was expected to grow by a whopping 754 percent between 2017 and 2060. Generic drugs have traditionally been India’s stronghold and contributed over 70 percent to the overall market revenue in 2018 alone.

The global banking landscape has seen seismic shifts in the last decade with the emergence of digital payments, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies and more. As a country with the second largest population of internet users, India has been quick to adopt to this world of financial technology. According to recent reports, India and China were the global leaders in consumer fintech adoption with an 87 percent adoption rate, compared to the global average of around 64 percent in 2019.

In 2019, over 45% percent of Indians stated that they regularly came across news stories that were entirely made up for political or commercial reasons. At the same time, over 44% of people have never heard of fact-checking sources! Moreover, research shows that supporters of the BJP seemed to have more trust in Indian news media compared to those who were non-partisan.

Banking in India is considered a fairly mature and stable sector in terms of credit, market and liquidity risk. Indian banks are considered to be dependent, relative to other banks in comparable economies in the region while also being generally resilient to global economic downturns. This focused topic page gives an overview of India's banking industry, with some key statistics on the public, private and foreign banks in the country. In addition, a focus on the government's financial inclusion program - Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana's has also been added.

The concluding day of SPOT Festival 2017 brought together three renowned music commentators for a talk on rock and politics. As we get back to routine lives and shake off the SPOT hangover, one can’t help but marvel at the capacity music has to energise and unite people. While music has always garnered a special place in society to bring people together, it is also a powerful tool of expression, and for taking a break from the mundane.

With the energy and spontaneity of a mad artist, AddisAbabaBand got the audience grooving at Ridehuset on the first day of SPOT Festival 2017. A 13-member band that fuses jazz, psychedelic rock, funk and afro-grooves was something I couldn’t miss for the life of me. And I wasn’t alone in feeling so. Even before their sound check, the band had a crowd gathered around the stage, waiting in anticipation.

Aquasonic, the world’s first underwater band, performed in Aarhus recently, taking the audience on a journey into the unknown. It was a mixed crowd of young and old, curiously standing in the long queue, waiting for the venue door to swing open. Their curiosity was justified. Aquasonic, the only underwater band in the world, was playing that evening.

Jazz is not dead… It’s alive and kicking in Aarhus! On March 9th, jazz lovers in Aarhus were in for a treat when, as part of the Århundredets Festival, the renowned Aarhus Jazz Orchestra played a heady concoction of jazz through history. Curated by Rasmus Rosenørn, a doctorate and music historian with a special forte in Jazz, the event titled ‘Jazz is Not Dead’ was a stimulating journey through the history of jazz in Denmark.