MPG - 06 International Study Tour Report (MIT - SOG)

MPG-06: INTERNATIONAL TOUR REPORT

DAY ONE

COMMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT

Date: 23rd

June '2011 Time: 11:00am to 12:30pm

Commonwealth Nations is one of the most esteemed international organization which was

formed post second world war by the union of 54 countries which was once colonized by the

then Great Britain. It has been international peace, security, cultural integrity, human rights and

education. The students of MIT School of Government had a great interactive session with Ms.

Geraldine Goh at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Their new initiatives to tackle climatic

change, unemployment, women's participation in the socio-ecomnmoic-politico aspescts were

highlighted upon. Further the working of Commonwealth Nation as a united organization of

independent nations were discussed. All the 54 member countries have equal voice in the

proceedings and belive in the democracy as the major aspect to run a nation successfully.

Hence, commonwealth nations is a modern grouping of working together for cultural integrity ,

socio-economic political scenario, international peace and human rights.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY HQ

Date: 23rd

June '2011 Time: 13:00hrs to 14:30hrs

The Conservative Party is the largest party in the ruling coalition.

On the 23rd

of June, the MIT SOG students had the opportunity to have an interaction with Mr.

Rob Thomas, advisor from the international party office at the Conservative Party HQ, London.

He widely talked about the origin of the party in the 17th

century and how it took it's

organizational form in the 19th

century.

From the period of 1997-2005 he widely spoke about how the party realised they needed to

change and adapt but by retaining core values, especially because the Tony Blair led Labour

party appeared unified.

David Cameron took charge of the party and adopted a fresh coherence strategy in the field of

environment , health service and social justice. The campaign made use of social media

innovations like facebook, twitter, etc. The campaign's tag line was – Vote for change.

It was a very insightful session that ended with a vibrant q&a interaction with the students.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Date: 23rd


The Liberal Democrats is a small but effective party which is now a part of the Coalition

Government with the Conservative Party.

The MIT School of Government were hosted by Mr. Mathew Hanney , Senior Political Advisor

to the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Mr. Paul Speller, Head of the International Office

at the Liberal Democrats Headquarters at London. He spoke about their ideology , strategy,

market economy, individual human rights, social justice and how they are moderate centrists.

Predominantly he spoke about how a coalition works, the compromises made and how the

perception of the liberal democrats changed post joining the government. Talks about India-UK

relations and how they perceived India and China in the modern changing world.The session

ended with an enthusiastic Q&A interaction with the participants.

DAY TWO

WESTMINISTER PARLIAMENT Date: 24

th June '2011 Time: 11:00hrs to 13:00hrs

Parliament and government each play a part in forming the laws of the United Kingdom. They

are separate institutions that work closely together, so it’s easy to mix up what each one is

responsible for. The delegation from MIT School of Government reached the Westminster

parliament on 24.06.2011. The entire group was taken on a detailed tour for the House of lords

and House of commons where the participants were enlightened about the history of the Great

Britain parliament starting from the Magna Carta to the present existing leaders, their

proceedings and working. It was indeed a great experience.

BHARAT BHAVAN

Date: 24


Bharat bhavan is one of the most historic building which has its origin during the time of King

George and Queen Mary. It has a great significance in the contest of Indian history. Today it

stands as one of the most esteemed national organisation in the United Kingdom. The

administrative officers and bureaucrats deal with bilateral issues and relations of India and UK.

The participants of MIT School of Government got a great opportunity to have an interactive

discussion with the Mr.RajSekhar, Minister for political and media and Mr. Vasudeva, Secretary

for education. Issues like education, India – UK relations, promotion of cultural and educational

exchange programmes, stand of UK regarding India’s claim for permanent membership in

security council etc were discussed. It was indeed a good learning experience.

DAY THREE

GUIDED LONDON TOUR

Date: 25


The day started with a guided tour of the London city. The guided tour showed the participants a

glimpse of the history of London, as a city. As a part of the tour, the participants were then taken

to Buckingham Palace to watch the change of guards ceremony, the tour further went on to the

famous London bridge over river Thames as also the very important Tower Bridge. Finally, the

tour culminated with a visit to the famous Trafalgar square, both a place commemorating the

great Battle of Trafalgar and also bustling shopping centre of modern London.

DAY FOUR

GUIDED AMSTERDAM TOUR

Date: 26th


Day started with a guided tour of the Amsterdam city. The group was made aware of the history

of the city. Visit included the palace of the Queen Beatrix, the famous man-made water canals of

the city, showcase the magnificent use of water as a medium of navigation within the city. The

country-side is full of vast stretches of farms & orchids as well as huge wind &water mills.

CANAL CRUSINE

After some rest, the group went cruising on the famous gentlemen’s canal of Amsterdam which

showed around the concentric navigational structure of the canals which were once upon a time

used by the Dutch troops for movement of troops. The famous patrician houses along the canals

are architectural masterpieces and a pleasure to watch.

DAY FIVE

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Date: 27th


The International Criminal Court, governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty

based, international organisation. International Criminal Court established to help impunity for

the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The ICC is

an independent organisation, and is not a part of United Nations system. The ICC has jurisdiction

over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely

Genocide, Crimes against humanity and was crimes, when committed after 1 July, 2002.

The delegation from MIT School of government had a great opportunity to be a part of such

reputed international organisation. Here the participants had an interactive session with Mr.

Matias Hellman and Mr. Reinhold Gallmetzer where participants got the aware of functioning of

ICC. The live proceeding of Tean- Pierre Bemba Gembo was witnessed by the participants

which gave them a taste of the trail of the crime cases in the ICC.

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE Date: 27


The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). Its

seat is at the Peace Palace in the Hague (The Netherlands). The organisation and functioning of

the court are governed by a statute which forms an integral part of the United Nations charter.

The ICJ is composed of 16 judges elected to nine years term by the UN General Assembly and

Security Council.

The participants of MIT School of Government got a privilege to visit this esteemed

International court. They had a great interactive session with Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin. It was

indeed a great enlightening session. The participants got a clear understanding of the working of

the ICJ.

THE NETHERLANDS INDIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND TRADE

(NICCT)

Date: 27th


The Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce and Trade situated at the Hague (Netherlands) is

one of the international organisation which aims at promoting bilateral trade relations between

the two countries Netherlands and India. It believes in unity and integrity through trade and

commerce.

The delegations from MIT School of Government attended a seminar on “Social Media and

Listening Platforms”. They got a great opportunity to interact with the delegates of multinational

Companies like Mr. Sajan Jacob (associate head of Tata Consultancy services) and Mr Raj Raina

(director, Global Marketing Research, Novo Nordisk). It was a great platform for the participants

to build on a friendly relation among the delegates of both the countries and have an essence of

trade and marketing.

DAY SIX

GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENCE

Date: 28th


ORGANIZATION FOR PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WARFARE

Date: 28th


DAY SEVEN

HAGUE UNIVERSITY – SESION I

Date: 30th


The delegations of MIT School of Government first visited the Hague University. A lecture was delivered by Mr. Joris Voorhove, director and lecturer of SEN foundation for research and international cooperation on Europe and democracy. He is also former defence minister of Holland. The key points he stressed on were as follows: All the people in Europe feel that the roots of democracy are in Europe but the fact is

that the facts of human rights and democracy are in ancient India. He also made some statements on democracy and discussed the positives and negatives

on democracy. Later, a workshop was conducted on Europe and democracy, all the students actively participated and were awarded certificates by Dr. T. I. M. van Tongren, Dean for Academy of public management, safety and security in the Hague University. The staff and students of Hague University showed their interests in mutual exchange programme in MITSOG and were keen to visit MITSOG. The hosts were cordial and amicable, their hospitality was amazing!

DUTCH PARLIAMENT

Date: 30th


After visiting the Hague university, the MITSOG visited the Dutch Parliament. A documentary related to the working of house of representatives of Holland was shown. The students were then taken to the Planary Session Hall. The healthcare policy of Holland was being discussed in that hall. The health minister of Holland, Miss. Scheppers was answering to the questions posed to her by the MP’s. The speaker for the house was Miss. Arip. The visit to the planary session was followed by the visit to the library of the Dutch Parliament. The library had the proceedings related to the all the discussions of the planary session that has taken place since 1850. Then there was an interactive session with Ms. Tanya Jadnansingh (MP from labour party).

She had an energetic personality, sticking to her own set of beliefs, she is an ardent follower of Gita which influences her political decisions to a great extent. The section was very enlightening and the students enthusiastically participated in the interaction. The hospitality we received at the Dutch Parliament was great and the visit was very fruitful!

HAGUE UNIVERSITY – SESION II

Date: 30th


DAY EIGHT

NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION

Date: 1st July '2011 Time: 9:00hrs to 12:00hrs

Today the MITSOG delegation had the most awaited visits to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), one of the most important politico-military alliances in the world, located in Brussels, where they had the privilege of 3 interactive sessions.

The 1st session was conducted by, Mr. Zsoit Rabai, Information Officer Public Diplomacy, NATO

HQ on the topic `Introduction to NATO in the Light of New Strategic Concept’. Some of the key points he covered :-

NATO was a totally different alliance during the cold war and most of the people remember it as

a military block. It is political military alliance based on common values and security interest , with a motto

‘PEACE AND SECURITY. THAT’S OUR MISSION’. Its core task is to protect the population of member states wherein it carries out joint

assessment, consultation and launching operations. NATO doesn’t expect any traditional military attack or war but at the same time it is concerned

about the emerging threats like cyber attacks, global warming and terrorism. This was followed by a very interesting and informative Q & A session and a need for greater

interaction of countries like India with NATO was felt

The 2nd session was conducted by Mr. Gilles Vander Ghinst, Head, Contact Countries/Global Partners Section & Co-operation Directorate Political Affairs & Security Policy on the topic `Relation with Partner Countries and Partner across the Globe’.

The speaker started the session by giving a historical perspective and some of the key points he

covered are :-

NATO was concentrating on a different mandate during the Second World War unlike today. It was concentrating only on protecting the territories of member states.

It is for member states and is like an Insurance Policy. India is one of the most important contry contributing for UN troops. NATO has pre-training centres for NATO forces unlike United Nations. NATO operations do not always mean military operations. NATO visited Delhi last year to attend a conference organized by Ministry of External Affairs. Followed by this beneficial session, students actively participated in the Question – Answer

round.

The 3rd session was conducted by Mr. Erik Sandahl, Operation Section A, Operation Division and

there was a powerpoint presentation on ‘NATO’s operations’. NATO’s history is divided in 3 parts

1949 -89 From early 1990s After 26/11

Risks & Challenges before NATO

Instability Failed Failing status Misuse of emerging technologies Climate change Availability of conventional weaponry Regional crises and conflicts Disruption of the flow of vital resourses Cyber attacks

NATO’s Strategic Priorities

Collective Defence Crises management Co-operative security

A wonderful session was being followed and was a great learning experience for lifetime.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Date: 1st July '2011 Time: 14:30hrs to 16:30hrs

The delegates then visited the European Parliament in Brussels and was addressed for nearly 2 hours by Mr. Ryan Meilak. The following points were disussed in the session:

Currently 27 countries are members

of EU. Concept of European union is

innovation, EU has contributed to put an end to

border disputes. European Commission, European

Parliament, Council of Ministers, European Central Bank, European court of Justice are the institutions of the European Union.

EU always propose ideas and now the European Parliament consist of 736 MPs.

There is a systematic structural arrangement in European Union.

In the 6th general elections(2009) of European Parliament 43% of voting is done.

Out of 736 MPs 256 Mps are women which consist of 34.8% in European Parliament.

After the presentation, the MITSOG delegations was conducted around the European Union Parliament. They were briefed in the central Hall where important Planary session of the EU parliament are held. It was indeed a good learning experience.

DAY NINE

UNESCO, PARIS

Date: 2nd

July '2011 Time: 16:00hrs to 18:00hrs

The delegates of MIT School of Government were welcomed by Mr.Sachin Bhatt of the secretariat of the UNESCO. He made the participants aware pf the UNESCO’s activities, functions and structure. He emphasised that UNESCO works with various governments to bring sustainable development and to preserve the cultural heritage of the world. The participants also informed Mr. Bhatt about their survey on education at wardha Gandhi ashram and gave him a feedback regarding the ‘NAEE TALIM’ principle of education of Gandhiji working wonders in the village. This was greatly appreciated by Mr.bhatt. After that participants were then shown around the Japanese garden.

DAY TEN

PARIS TOUR

Date: 3rd


DAY ELEVEN

TRAVEL TO GENEVA FROM PARIS

Date: 4th


DAY TWELVE

INDIAN EMBASSY

Date: 5th


Parliament square

MPG - 06 International Study Tour Report (MIT - SOG)

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