Being a Norwegian Leader in India

March 8th 🇳🇴💃🏼🇮🇳 Gender equality stands at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2023, achieving gender parity will take another 131 years. As we approach 8 March, we're excited to shed light on the journey of Kristin Andresen and the inspiration behind her remarkable initiative, Sunder Rang. At the World Economic Forum, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani emphasized the need to normalize conversations around women's challenges. India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has made significant strides with the construction of 110 million toilets. Additionally, for the first time in our nation's history, there's a dedicated administrative protocol for menstrual hygiene management established by the central government. Gender equality remains one of the greatest human rights challenges of our time. Investing in women isn't just a moral imperative; it's a fundamental step towards building inclusive societies. Progress for women benefits us all. Listen to our special podcast episode on March 8th, where we delve deeper into these crucial conversations. Let's continue striving for a world where every woman and girl can thrive!

Listen to Ambassador May-Elin Stener in conversation with our founder, Rina Sunder! As The Modern India (Det Moderne India) are gearing up for the World Economic Forum we invited the Ambassador of Norway to India for a conversation on India - Nordics. 🇳🇴🇸🇪🇫🇮🇮🇸🇩🇰🇮🇳 There is significant scope for future growth between India and the nordics. There is a vast opportunity for Indian industry to form partnerships & JVs and enter into technology transfer agreements between institutions and enterprises in the Nordic Region. India's need for greater market knowledge, information on specific procedures, compliance norms, and more can be met through the Nordics.

Wilhelmsen Ship Management operates 250+ ships in global trade. Supporting their operational excellence, Indian seafarers plays an important role. In this episode, we have with us Lasse Kvarsnes Hansen, Global Head of Marine HR in Wilhelmsen Ship Management. Rina Sunder interviews our guest for all our listerners focusing on how India is a Strategic hub.

A packed crowd gathered for the debate on India’s politihus and economy - why should we care? KÅKÅ|nomics host many debates to a broad audience how they see the world develop. Joining economists are psychologists, technologists, philosophers, historians, journalists, artists, politicians and comedians. This year they had a strong focus on India. The timing was perfect as India, the world's fifth largest economy in the world, is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of USD 7.3 trillion by 2030. DMI was represented by Erik Solheim and Rina Sunder. Please note the episode is in Norwegian.

This month The Modern India (Det Moderne India) was co organizer at the International Climate Summit held on 14-15 September, 2023 in New Delhi. The Conference had more than 60,000 people attending physically and virtually combined! 60 000! This mega event unfolded at the prestigious Vigyan Bhawan, a venue reserved for only the most distinguished guests — usually graced by the presence of the President, Vice President, or Prime Minister of India. ICS 2023 had the honor of hosting the former President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind. We rolled out the first The Indo-Nordic Cooperation seminar, which focused on Clean Energy and Renewables. The session fostered collaboration between India and the Nordic countries in clean energy, sustainability, and renewable technologies. This session focused on two key aspects: cities and the unique offerings of individual Nordic countries towards the Indian market. 2 rooms had to be set up to give space to the audience present at the Indo-Nordic Cooperation session. It was an overwhelming and humbling experience to be part of this mega event. The credit goes to PHD Chamber of Commerce and industry, Sturle Harald Pedersen and my partner in crime Knut Linnerud. Special thanks to all the amazing women who joined us. DEIB is core of DMI. We always try to give women an equal seat at the table. Here is the first session of the Indo-Nordic Cooperation!

Vi i Norge kan når vi vil! Det fikk vi bevis for da Sadhguru besøkte Norge juni i år. Vi visste en stund at vi kom til å få storfint besøk fra India. Tidspunktet visste vi nesten også, men ikke om dette besøket faktisk ble noe av. Endelig dato og bekreftelse kom først seks dager før besøket startet. Over 50 selskaper møtte Sadhguru på Stortinget. Flott at Kompass NRK lager en egen sending Sadhgurus besøk til Norge. Hør på samtalen mellom Pål Plassen og Rina Sunder. English: We in Norway know the worth of having what we want! We got proof of that when Sadhguru visited Norway in June this year. We knew for a while that we were going to have a great visit from India. We almost also knew the time, but not whether this visit actually came to fruition. The final date and confirmation only came six days before the visit started. Over 50 companies met Sadhguru at the Storting. Great that Kompass NRK is making a separate broadcast of Sadhguru's visit to Norway. Listen to the conversation between Pål Plassen and Rina Sunder. The episode is in Norwegian.

On one side we are screaming after talent on the other we have exceptional internationals not being fully utilised. In a recent statement by Hans Christian Holte Director of NAV states we are lacking 53 000 employees in different industries today. In addition, we know Norway has a big challenge when it comes to recruitment of tech talent with a shortage of 40,000 IT professionals by 2030. The competition for the best global talent is a tough one! Recruiting from international borders is one thing but how to include them in our society is another. How can we make sure Norway is rigged up for welcoming internationals? Does our own biases prevent us from hiring from the broader talent pool? Get answers to your queries regarding recruitment of international talents in this episode where Jyoti Sohan-David, Co-founder & COO of Umbrella makes her debut on The Modern India Podcast by hosting Øystein E. Søreide, CEO of Abelia.

Welcome to The Modern India’s Podcast episode on March 8, International Women’s Day with a very special guest, Rolee Aranya, Professor in Urban Planning at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at NTNU. Do listen to the podcast episode to find answers to the following questions: Happy International Women’s Day, 2023 !!

Norway and India share a long maritime history, and maritime issues are central to the bilateral dialogue between our two countries. Our guest for this episode is Cristina. Cristina Saenz de Santa Maria is responsible for DNV’s maritime operations in South East Asia Pacific & India since October 2017 in her capacity as Vice President, Regional Manager. She has worked in newbuilding and operations phases as a ships surveyor and project manager in Spain, Portugal, South Korea and Norway. In 2015 she became responsible for DNV GL’s maritime and oil & gas operations in Africa in her capacity as Area Manager and Country chair for Africa until September 2017. A significant channel to start reducing carbon emissions is by using coastal shipping. Coastal shipping is widely acknowledged as a viable and effective substitute for road transportation. India can look to the unique Norwegian shipping ecosystem for inspiration. Norway is at the forefront of developing and using technology and concepts that help to reduce emissions and improve the environment. Norway becoming one of the most advanced maritime nations in the world today. Do listen to this insightful episode of The Modern India Podcast!

Sustainability Dialogues The Standing Committee on Energy and Environment of the Norwegian Parliamentary visited India last week. Our guest today is Nikolai Astrup. Nikolai is a MP, a Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party. Astrup - the first person to hold the post as the minister of international development for in years. India is rapidly undergoing sustainable green transformation. Norway is the leader in the whole of Europe in terms of renewable energy. Ties between Norway and India have deep historical roots. We all know that developments in India will have a significant impact on how successful the world is in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and global climate targets. Do listen to Nikolai’s experiences in India!

The government of India is hosting the 17th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention from January 9 to January 11 on the theme - 'Diaspora : Reliable partners for India's progress in Amrit Kaal.' On this special occasion, NewsX presented a special one-hour telecast from 6 pm to 7 pm ist on Monday, January 9, to highlight the successes and achievements of the 17.9 million strong Indian diaspora community in the globe as well as to find new ways to harness their potential to innovate, invest and initiative their ideas in India. Through VaKu Diaspora Broadcasting Network - Diaspora Dialogue - NewsX has built a dedicated community-based ecosystem to connect India's brilliant and change-making diaspora with a large Indian audience by providing them a platform on the channel to narrate their stories Our founder, Rina Sunder, beautifully presented her life journey in both the countries, India & Norway.

In light of the objectionable comments made by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto against PM Modi, there has been outrage across India. We are conducting a live discussion. We are aiming to bring together Indian diaspora to share their views on how Indians across the world must rally against Pakistan's disrespect on international forums, are global protests the answer? Along with Rina Sunder, the founder of our NGO, Det Moderne India, other panel members in this discussion are: 1 - PROFESSOR KISHAN Devani BEM - UK POLITICIAN, BUSINESS MAN 2 - KULDEEP SINGH SHEKHAWAT - PRESIDENT OVERSEAS FRONT OF BJP, UK 3 - DR RAVI GODSE - INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR EXPERT 4 - DEEPAK KAVADIA - INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR EXPERT

Our built environment is also one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and drives a significant amount of air pollution in our cities. The ‘Clean Construction’ approach promotes the reduction of air pollutants from construction activities. The Government of India launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), in 2019, that aims to reduce air pollution levels by 20-30% by 2024. In this episode we have invited a guest who represents the private sector: Kristin Sæterøy. She has hands on knowledge on clean construction. Kristin Sæterøy is the Managing Director of Aneo Build. This is how we attempt to drive the transition towards clean construction.

OSLO-the first city in the world that began with the first zero-emission urban construction by using only electrified construction equipment. Oslo is also leading the Clean Construction Forum @ C40. New C40 research reveals that fossil gas use contributed almost as much as coal power plants to premature deaths in 2020 and current NDCs would result in 776,000 more premature deaths in C40 cities by 2050, compared to a 1.5oC scenario. In contradiction with their own inadequate NDCs, key nations are undertaking a gas expansion that will add 86% to gas use capacity in and around C40 cities by 2035, while a 1.5oC scenario would require a 30% decrease. While in the seven years since world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, no nation has developed 1.5°C-compatible plans, 62 C40 cities have done so, with more in the works. Three quarters of C40 cities are reducing emissions faster than their respective nation states. Thanks to the work of cities around the world, air pollution is down 5%. In this episode, we have with us Andre Aasrud, Senior advisor for the C40 Clean Construction Programme. Do listen to this latest informative episode of The Modern India Podcast!

Norway India Sustainabilty Dialogues We have with us: Kristin Skofteland, Chief Commercial Officer & Legal Counsel for Beyonder AS & Soumya Kukreti, CEO of Midwest Energy Private Limited. Beyonder designs and manufactures safer battery solutions based on Norwegian sawdust, with high power, fast charging and a long lifetime. Produced without cobalt and nickel using clean energy and energy-efficient methods, Beyonder batteries have the smallest environmental footprint possible. Beyonder´s high power battery cells can be fully charged and discharged in just a few minutes and is designed as power storage for renewable energy grids, heavy transportation and offshore energy infrastructure. Midwest Energy is engaged in developing solutions to resolve the current impediments faced by the electric mobility and aid acceleration in its adoption bids to March towards Decarbonizing the environment with an aim to positively impacting the businesses and transforming lives. Beyonder and Midwest Energy have entered into an agreement to start planning giga scale battery production in India, based on Beyonder's unique and patented technology. The agreement was signed at Beyonder's Battery Centre in Sandnes, Norway a few weeks back. Listen to this informative episode!

Save Soil is a global movement launched by Sadhguru to address the soil crisis, by bringing together people from around the world to stand up for Soil Health. Furthermore, it supports leaders of all nations to institute national policies and actions toward increasing the organic content in cultivable Soil. Agriculture, deforestation, and other factors have degraded and eroded topsoil at alarming rates. Globally, 52% of agricultural land is already degraded. The planet is in crisis. If current rates of soil degradation continue, this would cause the end of life as we know it. We are happy that 250+ people enjoyed the debate we had at Arendalasuka. This was the first time we streamed an event from Arendalsuka. For this debate we have with us: •Heidi Bade, Norad •Katrine Sund-Henriksen, CEO, Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment •Torleiv Næss Ugland, CEO, Terramarine AS •Ashish Sahu, Marketing Manager, Cambi AS The Panel discussion is led by Rina Sunder. We are extremely proud that we had with us Sadhguru JV and Erik Solheim at Arendalsuka. Listen to their conversation in episode #39 Saving Soil where Sadhguru was interviewed by Erik Solheim, published on India’s Independence Day, 15th August, 2022.

This episode is the speech by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the International Climate Summit 2022 held in Bergen on 30-31st August. International Climate Summit 2022 is an initiative of the Indo-Norwegian partnership with a special focus on exploring ‘Opportunities for Green Hydrogen in India’. It aimed to present the next-generation opportunities for Bi-Lateral Trade, Joint Ventures, Technology Transfer, and International funding across the green hydrogen industry value chain in India. Greenstat, Arena H2Cluster, Det Moderne India and the Norwegian Hydrogen Forum represented the Norwegian Partnership, together with the Indian side represented by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Invest India.

Save Soil on India’s Independence Day!! DMI and Norad are hosting a Save Soil debate at Arendalsuka. DMI is celebrating India's 75th Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Independence Day at Arendalsuka to discuss Save Soil - a global movement launched by Indian spiritual leader Sadhguru JV. Sadhguru is a yogi and a mystic a man whose passion spills into everything he encounters. Named one of India's 50 most influential people, Sadhguru's work has touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs. Sadhguru has a unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, acting as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life. His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful. Do listen to this insightful and informative talk where Sadhguru is interviewed by Erik Solheim, Board Member of DMI.

Sustainability Dialogues Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to make and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The Make in India initiative was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2014. Do want to know more? Listen to this episode!