The Supreme Court of India issued a judgment on February 2nd revoking 122 telecom licenses of 11 telecom operators, including 21 of the 22 licenses held by Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL). 

The significant contributions made by well-known Soviet and Russian film-maker Sergei Tarkovskiy to the world of cinematography were remembered and rich tributes paid to him by speakers at a function to mark his 80th birthday anniversary at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture on January 27, 2012.

The Russian Centre of Science and Culture presented a gala cultural programme entitled “Kathak without Borders” to mark the 63rd Anniversary of the Republic Day of India on January 25, 2012. The function was held within the framework of the 65th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Russia and India.p>

Republic Day message of the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev to the President of India Mrs Pratibha Patil and to the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh.

The 56th Solo Exhibition entitled “Earthly Heaven” by noted Indian artist Surjit Akre was opened at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture on January 20, 2012. The exhibition which will continue till January 31, 2012, consists of 61 recent painting, oil on canvas on different themes. In the exhibition, the artist interprets her feelings of love to her motherland and her countrymen.

The cities are the soul of a nation. On the face of it, New Delhi and Moscow, Mumbai and St. Petersburg may not appear to have much in common, but go deeper and you will find striking cultural affinities. The twin-city relationships also promise to accelerate people-to-people camaraderie.

Writer, playwright and Russophile Achala Moulik, awarded in Russia the Pushkin Medal, recalls falling in love with the country of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

Tens and hundreds of greeting letters and post-cards reach Indian Embassy in Moscow these days. They congratulate Indian ambassador Ajai Malhotra with the Republic Day of India, which is celebrated on the 26th of January.  Russian colleagues and many friends of India, who met with the ambassador in Saint-Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok, Severodvinsk, Sochi, Archangelsk and other Russian cities, send the ambassador their best wishes.

General Director of the Rostekhnologii (Russian Technologies) state corporation Sergey Chemezov has ruled out any further delay in the handover of the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier to India. Speaking about three other frigates constructed at the Baltic shipyards of Yantar, Chemezov admited that ‘there was a certain delay but shipbuilders are doing their best to get it reduced to the minimum”.

Russian science fiction writer Alexander Belyayev, popularly called the “Soviet Jules Verne”, was a visionary of sorts. In his captivating novels, he created vivid worlds and predicted modern marvels such as organ transplant, hormone therapy and space missions. But not many know about his love for India and its beautiful and nuanced evocation in Ariel, his last novel before he died.