‘Blown away' by magnitude of Adani Group's Khavda RE park: Former Danish Ambassador
Copenhagen/New Delhi: Freddy Svane, the former Danish Ambassador to India, on Sunday said he was "blown away" by the magnitude of the Adani Group's mega renewable energy (RE) park in Gujarat's Khavda.
Speaking to IANS, Svane, a well-travelled and highly experienced diplomat, visited Khavda RE park - the world's largest - in November last year, along with ambassadors from the European Union (EU), Belgium, and Germany.
"I was so blown away by the magnitude and the kind of strategy aligned behind it. It was an eye opener, and shows that the green transition, green strategic cooperation, whatever we call it, is so important," he said.
Svane further stated that such green energy projects are not only good for bilateral relations but also a must for humanity, as "we need to have a better and more sustainable world".
"Our next generations will be suffering if we don't solve this climate crisis," the former Ambassador told IANS.
During the ambassadors' visit, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, had said it was a privilege to host them.
Gautam Adani said the discussions with the envoys focused on strengthening global partnerships to drive India's energy transition and accelerate the hydrogen ecosystem.
"It was a privilege to host the ambassadors from the EU, Belgium, Denmark and Germany at our office. I deeply appreciate their visit to the world's largest renewable energy park in Khavda, Gujarat, and India's largest port, logistics and industrial hub in Mundra," the Adani Group Chairman had posted on social media platform X.
The discussions were "truly insightful, focusing on strengthening global partnerships to drive India's energy transition and accelerate the hydrogen ecosystem,' said the billionaire industrialist, adding: "At Adani, we continue to drive forward with our ambitious renewable energy initiatives while ensuring a balanced energy mix that supports a sustainable future for all of India".
Svane further said he was so pleased when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Denmark, and "we could really take the green strategic partnership forward, which is so important".
"I do hope that it will also inspire others because what can be done bilaterally is not enough. It calls for a kind of global action, like the fight against terror," Svane told IANS.
PM Modi paid an official visit to Denmark on May 3-4, 2022 and had bilateral talks with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen.
During the talks, the two Prime Ministers reviewed the progress of India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
35 minutes ago
- Mint
The importance of repetition in the workplace
If you had to define the indispensable power of a leader, which would you pick? Would it be probing intelligence? Boundless energy? Or perhaps just being lucky? One ability may not come to mind for many, but really should. For if there is a talent that every boss needs to master, it's the ability to say the same thing over and over and over again without seeming bored. You don't have to spend a lot of time with executives to hear repeated words and phrases. They might be drumming home the critical elements of their strategy to investors. They might be reciting talking-points with the media. They might be inculcating the company's culture at town halls with employees, or telling the firm's origin story for the thousandth time. What they are not doing is starting afresh every time. When Kevin Lobo first became the chief executive of Stryker, a medical-technology firm in Michigan, his team drew up a mission statement ('Together with our customers, we are driven to make health care better") that he used at the start of every presentation he gave. He says that the combination of simplicity and repetition helped it to spread organically: presentations within Stryker now routinely start with its mission. Anyone who takes on a leadership role at Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma firm behind Wegovy, a weight-loss jab, will head to Copenhagen to hear Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, the ceo, give a talk about the firm's enduring values. If Amazon's culture is coupled to certain ideas, such as its 'day one", never-settle, mentality, it's largely because of repetition. The firm always reattaches its first shareholder letter, where the term is prominent, to its most recent one, for instance. Likewise, if you associate JPMorgan Chase with a 'fortress balance-sheet", it's probably because Jamie Dimon, the bank's boss, has been saying it for 20 years straight. Repetition is partly a function of time constraints: in the same way that many politicians have a stump speech they can give at every rally, most bosses are too busy to craft their messages from scratch every time. But mainly it's to do with the way that people remember things and absorb ideas. Repetition makes things stick, as every schoolchild knows. That's true in offices and beyond. David Gergen, a doyen of American political communications, advised candidates in debates to pick the three or four points they wanted to drive home. Songwriters do something similar. One analysis, by Joseph Nunes of the University of Southern California and his co-authors, found that songs with more repetitive lyrics were more likely to make it into the top 40 singles chart in America. Another study, by Emilia Parada-Cabaleiro and Maximilian Mayerl of Nuremberg University of Music and their co-authors, concluded that lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the past five decades. If it works for Fatboy Slim, why not the senior leadership team? Repetition helps persuade people that something is correct, a phenomenon known as the illusory truth effect. In various studies, people have been given a list of plausible statements (the capybara is the largest of the marsupials, for example, or this column is the best one in The Economist), whose veracity they are asked to judge. They are then shown more statements, some new and some repeated. The more times someone is exposed to a statement (this column is the best one in The Economist), the more likely they are to say it is true. Repetition is harder on speakers than listeners. It takes time for anyone to realise that they are hearing the same thing over and over. Workers are in any case likely to be forgiving. In a recent paper, Francis Flynn and Chelsea Lide of Stanford University looked at the comments people made about leaders in an archive of 360-degree assessments. Less than a quarter of leaders were judged to have got communication right. The miscreants were nearly ten times more likely to be criticised for under-communicating than over-communicating. Repetition may even be a positive sign for employees. In autocratic organisations, bosses may rely on fear to make people attentive. In more decentralised firms, managers need to find other, more subtle ways to guide behaviour. The burden falls more heavily on the repeaters. But if Mr Lobo has had enough of reciting his mission statement or Mr Dimon is fed up of the word 'fortress", you would not know it. There is more to leadership than repetition. But it is still a singular part of the job. Subscribers to The Economist can sign up to our new Opinion newsletter, which brings together the best of our leaders, columns, guest essays and reader correspondence.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
36 minutes ago
- First Post
Simla Agreement not 'dead document'? Pak fact-checks its defence minister
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Office had to fact-check the country's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif after he stirred headlines by calling the 1972 Simla Agreement with India a 'dead document.' read more Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif gestures on the day of an interview with Reuters in Islamabad, Pakistan April 28, 2025. File Image/Reuters Pakistan had to fact-check yet another goof made by the country's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif , about the future of the 1972 Simla Agreement and other bilateral agreements with India. On Thursday, the Pakistani foreign ministry stated that no formal decision has been made to scrap any agreements with India, including the Simla Agreement. The statement came a day after Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, declared the Simla Agreement to be irrelevant, calling it a 'dead document' due to India's recent action, calling out the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. 'The Simla Agreement is now a dead document. We are back to the 1948 position,' Asif said, referencing the Line of Control (LoC) as a ceasefire line established after the first India-Pakistan war. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While speaking to The Express Tribune, a senior official from the Pakistani foreign office noted that while India's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty to abeyance prompted internal discussion, there have been no formal announcements that the bilateral treaties between the two nations have been annulled. 'At present, there is no formal decision to terminate any bilateral accord,' the official told the Pakistani news outlet, insisting that the existing bilateral agreements, including the Simla Agreement, remain in effect.' Asif's goof While speaking on the ongoing India-Pakistan tensions, Asif commented on the future of bilateral agreements between the two nations. 'Whether the Indus Waters Treaty is suspended or not, Simla is already over,' Asif remarked, reflecting Pakistan's frustration with India's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty on hold. The remarks by Asif raised many questions about the validity of the 1972 agreement. The agreement between the Government of India and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Bilateral Relations, also known as the Simla Agreement, was signed in July 1972 between then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Pakistani counterpart Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The agreement was signed following Pakistan's comprehensive defeat in the 1971 war, which eventually led to the independence of Bangladesh. The agreement was expected to lay the foundation of a peaceful and stable relationship between the two nations. The deal emphasises resolving issues between the two in a bilateral manner, superseding the UN's resolution on Kashmir. The fact that there has been only a limited war since the agreement was signed reflects its effectiveness. The agreement stressed that nations go back to the Line of Control (LoC) and respect the region. Tensions between India and Pakistan have been all-time high since the Pahalgam terror attack rocked a tourist destination in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 people. The main perpetrators of the attack remain at large. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
40 minutes ago
- Business Standard
India, Italy to increase cooperation in aerospace, energy, mobility, auto
India and Italy have agreed to increase cooperation in areas such as manufacturing, auto, aerospace, energy transition, migration and mobility, an official statement said on Friday. These issues were discussed during the meetings between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani. Brescia is Italy's manufacturing hub. "India and Italy agreed to prioritise cooperation in several emerging and strategic sectors. These include Industry 4.0, aerospace, energy transition, and sustainable mobility," the commerce ministry said. The two sides also stressed the importance of joint efforts in skill development, digital transformation, migration and mobility, as well as global connectivity initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). The two leaders co-chaired the 22nd session of the India-Italy Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC). The ministry said that several concrete outcomes emerged from the JCEC, and that includes the two countries agreeing to strengthen cooperation in agriculture and food processing, and to set up Joint Working Groups in the automobile and space sectors. "Both sides identified collaboration opportunities in sustainable agri-value chains, agri-machinery, food packaging technologies, and renewable energy," it said. They also agreed to work together in areas such as green hydrogen and biofuels and expressed intent to facilitate the movement of skilled professionals between the two countries. A strong Indian business delegation comprising top leadership from nearly 90 companies accompanied the Minister during the visit. The delegation visited Italian industries and held several meetings with local companies. Goyal also held one-on-one interactions with Italian corporate leaders and welcomed their plans to expand operations, manufacturing, or establish a presence in India.
