A cross-cultural voyagerAchala Moulik recalls grow-ing up with Pushkin, TagoreP.07

Parliamentary elections Seven parties throw their hats in ring, but experts say there is only one winner.

Russia inches closer to WTO Will it spur free trade deal

with India? P.03

BANGALORE ● MuMBAI ● NEW DELhI ● WednesdAy, nOvembeR 30, 2011

A Report from The Tmes of India. In association with Rossiyskaya Gazeta

RussiaIndia

REPORT

...marching towards a common future

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Once persecuted by stalin, Kalmykia has resurrected from the ashes, with buddhism emerging as a beacon of hope and solace for its distressed people.

Buddha glows, candles fly in sky

“Let all our wishes come true! Let all living creatures be free of suffering, of danger, of diseases and sadness! Let peace and happiness descend on Earth!” More than 2,000 Buddhists chanted the mantra, kneeling on mats before the Golden Abode of Buddha temple in Elista, the capital of the repub-lic of Kalmykia, one of three Buddhist regions in Russia. They intoned words of prayer after the Kalmyk Buddhist leader, Telo Tulku Rinpoche. Fi-nally, the square grew quiet as

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Religion Reviving Buddhist mentality

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the group sank into deep medi-tation.As night fell, thousands of can-dles were lit. Buddhist monks visiting from Tibet, Thailand, and the US as well as Russian Buddhist regions of Buriatya and Tuva, blessed those who gathered from all over Ka-lmykia and the neighboring southern regions of Russia. They sent candles flying sky-ward in hot air balloons, illumi-nating the dark night sky.The ceremony, an offering of light to Buddha, was intro-duced to Russian Buddhists for the first time as a symbolic event celebrating the launch of the international forum, “Bud-dhism: Philosophy of Non-Vi-olence and Compassion” held in Elista last month.

India's s.m. Krishna with Russia's sergei Ivanov in moscow.

OLGA PeTROvARIR

India and Russia have firmed up a slew of key initiatives that can take their bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2015.

New bounce in business ties Trade Joint public-private investment fund for financing key projects on its way

A new energy and synergy has been infused into economic ties between India and Russia, as the two time-tested strate-gic partners embark on a host of new initiatives, including setting up of a joint public-private investment fund to fi-nance key projects in both countries. The fund was one of the key outcomes to emerge from the meeting between

'The Arab Spring' came as a total surprise to the world com-munity, provoking different interpretations. What lies at the heart of these upheavals? Find out...

see PAGe 6

Islamic modernisation on way?

OPInIOn

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minis-ter Sergei Ivanov and India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in Moscow on Nov. 18. Ivanov and Krishna co-chaired the Indo-Russian In-tergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Techno-logical, Scientific and Cultur-al Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) and identified four key sectors to galvanise bilateral trade and investment.Besides the fund, the two countries will set up a Joint Study Group to firm up a Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement with the Customs Union, which unites Russia, Kazakhstan and Be-larus.

The Frolovs - Vladimir, his wife Nastya and their 5-year-old son Sergei - are a typical middle class fam-ily in Russia. They live in Tomsk, Siberia, around 3.000 km from Moscow. They are young, they be-long to a generation that grew up with no memories of the Soviet Union. They may complain about the state, but they don’t expect anything from it. It is people like the Frolovs who will de-termine the outcome of the parliamentary polls in Rus-sia on Dec 4, and who'll cre-ate the future of the coun-try for the next 20-30 years. In modern society, middle class accounts for 50 to 65% of the population. What is middle class in Russia? How do they live? In this edition, RIR traces the life of the Frolovs family and the mid-dle class in Russia.

Treading the middle path

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bookmarks02 Russia india RepoRtin association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_november 30_2011

en.russ-ind.ru Business council for cooperation with India roe.ru JSC Rosoboronexport websiteoilandgaseurasia.com Oil and gas industry newscooperation

in brieftelecomindia may join russia in gLonass commerciaL use

defenceindia cLose to cLinching second copter contract

India may become Russia`s key partner in commercial use of the global navigation satellite system, GLONASS, Russia`s Deputy Prime Minis-ter Sergei Ivanov said at the Russian-India Trade and In-vestment Forum in Moscow.All consumers in Russia and abroad can gain access to GLONASS on a free-of-charge-basis. The AFK Sistema-controlled federal

India is close to finalising a second contract with Russia for another 59 Mi-17V-5 tacti-cal transport helicopters. This will be on top of an existing order for 80 Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters. The origi-nal deal worth $1.34 billion

defencegorshkov: indian navy piLots to train in russia

tradephosagro to cut prices for 2 key indian buyers

Ahead of proposed induction of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier by end of next year, a team of 10 pilots will arrive to Russia for training in oper-ations of MiG-29K fighter planes from the warship. In-dia had signed a deal with Russia in 2004 for purchas-

Russian fertiliser group Phosagro has agreed to pro-vide a discount to two key Indian buyers after a sharp fall in the rupee. Both India Potash Ltd (IPL) and the In-dian Farmers Fertiliser Coop-erative Ltd (IFFC) will get the discount. "As part of this agreement, IPL/IFFCO has committed to purchase addi-tional volumes of phosphate fertilizers from Phosagro and

ing the carrier along with 16 MiG 29Ks. According to the agreement between the two countries, a team of 10 pilots will be in Russia around three months before the scheduled induction of battleship in De-cember next year, Navy offi-cials told PTI. rir

has granted the company a seller's option on these vol-umes," Phosagro said. Industry officials told Reuters earlier in Mumbai that they were rene-gotiating import deals after the local currency lost 14% this year. "Given our long-term relationship with IPL/ IFFCO, I believe we have found an ac-ceptable solution for all par-ties," Phosagro chief executive Maxim Volkov said. rir

operator NIS GLONASS has re-cently established a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, NIS Glonass Private Ltd, which plans to launch its products and services there, including equipment manufacturing, in early 2012. The company will operate out of an office in Mumbai. As of today, 24 GLO-NASS satellites have been placed in orbit to ensure full global coverage. rir

was signed in 2008. The chop-pers will be delivered to India in batches, with the deal complet-ed by 2017. The first shipment of 26 helicopters is expected to arrive in December. Confirma-tion is expected by the end of March next year. rir

a new business chemistryThe talks also saw a forward movement on a key connectiv-ity project that has languished for long – an International North-South Corridor linking India with Russia via Iran and Central Asia to ensure speedy movement of goods and cargo. The two sides also agreed to promote economic coopera-tion between various regions of the two countries. If these signature initiatives are fast-tracked, New Delhi and Mos-cow can confidently hope to achieve a bilateral trade tar-get of $20 billion by 2015.The talks between Krishna and Ivanov have set the stage for the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Moscow for annual summit with Russian President Dmit-ry Medvedev on Dec 16. The joint fund is perhaps the most important initiative that has the potential to accelerate trade and investment. The size of the planned fund for setting up projects in Indian states and Russian regions, and other modalities are yet to be worked out by the two sides. Ivanov said that India will prepare a roster of enterprises in which Russian companies may take part in modernisa-tion efforts. “A wide array of facilities had been built in India with the participation of Soviet specialists, including industrial enterprises, which definitely are now in need of upgrades," he added. Russia has already delivered a list of Russian technological plat-

on modernisation is expected to reflect the objectives of the modernisation programme launched by Russian Presi-dent Dmitry Medvedev," Ajai Bisaria, joint secretary in charge of Eurasia in India’s external affairs ministry, told journalists. This group has been added to the nine JWGs already existing within the IRIGC, and is expected to boost bilateral and multilat-eral technological interaction with BRICS. The working group on the energy and ener-gy efficiency reviewed issues of bilateral cooperation in this sphere. Mutually beneficial cooperation of JSC NK Ros-

russia's gas major gazprom eyes india as an "incredible" gas market for Lng trade.

neft and India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd. was cited as one of the best examples. Moreover, LNG supplies to India are growing from year to year. From 2009 to 2011, Gazprom has shipped 10 deliveries of LNG to India totaling 0.65 million tonnes. “In 2020, natural gas con-sumption in India will be 1.7 times more than today. The In-dian market is very promising for us and we take this into consideration while planning to construct export capacities under the Eastern Gas Pro-gramme,” said Gazprom chair-man Alexei Miller at a recent meeting with Ajai Malhotra, India’s ambassador in Mos-cow.Russia’s ministry of industry and trade and India’s ministry of chemicals and fertilisers signed a memo on cooperation in the sphere of pharmaceuti-cals and bio-pharmaceuticals during the IRIGC sessions.A slew of pacts in various areas of cooperation, includ-ing nuclear energy, pharma-ceuticals, banking and the in-teraction between antitrust agencies of the two countries are expected to be signed dur-ing Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow in December. In the educational sphere, Russia and India may also soon agree on mutual recogni-tion of diplomas and degrees, Ivanov told journalists. The Russian side has already pre-pared a draft agreement, and expects a positive response from the Indian side on this issue in the near future, he said.

forms to India with contact in-formation about companies involved in related develop-ment work,” he said. Concerning the North-South Transport Corridor that has failed to take off for more than a decade, the two sides agreed to accelerate the decision-making process. The Indian government will organise a brain-storming international conference to discuss the NSTC and new trade routes to the former Soviet Union, in-cluding through China.Special emphasis during the talks was given to the forma-tion of Joint Working Group on modernisation. "The JWG

aLexandr vostrovRIR

russian radio network voice of russia has a huge fan following in india that cuts across towns and villages. it remains a trusted source of news on russia for indians.

Never say die: 70 years on air and going strong

radio Indian listeners of Voice of Russia will meet in New Delhi in December

dians' unflinching loyalty to radio as a form of media broadcasting even in the mul-timedia age. “It is the only di-rect source of information about Russia whereas most news comes from specialised news agencies and is not al-ways impartial and unbiased," says Bystritsky. Voice of Rus-sia is ideal in terms of depth and credibility: it offers the latest news and developments in Russian science and cul-ture.Among the VoR listeners are mainly intellectuals, young professionals and school-

"Tens of thousands of Indians regularly listen to Voice of R u s s i a , " s ay s A n d r e i Bystritsky, the chairman of the Russian radio network. The upcoming Sixth All-India Conference of Listeners' Clubs of Voice of Russia on Decem-ber 1-2 only goes to show In-

teachers. But an older genera-tion is also part of the audi-ence. Which makes sense: the first broadcast was aired on May 18, 1942. Radio fan clubs have mush-roomed over the years. In fact, one of the most active clubs is the Kisaan Shrota Club (Club of Farmer Listeners) in the vil-lage of Barma, Bihar. Bystritsky notes that listeners' clubs all have the same aspiration: two-way communication with their favourite media. Almost all lis-teners' clubs consider it their duty to send letters to editors. And VoR editors manage to squeeze in an interaction with the audience in the short peri-od of two hours FM-band broadcasting every day.

andrei bystritsky, the chair-man of the voice of russia radio station.

Full version on www.indrus.in

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in association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_november 30_2011 business

www.pharma-conf.ru/index_en.shtml Conference «Pharmaceutical Business in Russia 2012»www.wto.ru/en Russia and WTO analytical website en.rian.ru/business RIA Novosti business news

dadan upadhyayjOuRNAlIsT

ment, depending on the sec-toral strength and interests in those sectors,” said Sharma. Bi-lateral trade between the two countries, which touched $8.5 billion in 2010, has grown three-fold since 2005, but has a long way to go to achieve $20 billion target for 2015. India and Russia signed an MoU in February, 2006, to set up a Joint Study Group (JSG) to assess the feasibility of sign-ing CECA between the two countries. The CECA is much wider in scope than a FTA as it not only includes goods, but also services and investment.The JSG has already prepared a roadmap for achieving a sig-nificant increase in bilateral trade by diversifying and strengthening relations in di-verse areas, specially trade in

goods, services, investment and economic cooperation. The two sides also set up a Joint Task Force (JTF) to mon-itor the implementation of the JSG report with the ultimate goal of concluding the CECA when Russia joins the WTO.Indian pharmaceutical com-panies, in particular, are very excited about Russia's acces-sion to the world trade body, which is expected to facilitate sales of innovative drugs in the domestic market and increase its investment attractiveness.After Russia joins the organi-zation, the data exclusivity re-gime aimed at protecting the data of pre-clinical and clini-cal trials of innovative drugs will start working locally.

Dadan Upadhyay is a senior Indian journalist based in Moscow.

Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Russia after nearly two

decades of torturous negoti-ations for its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The turning point came on Nov 3 when Russia clinched a bilateral trade deal with its neighbour Georgia. Russia, with a GDP of $1.9-trillion, is by far the largest economy outside the WTO and its accession to the world trade body would mark the biggest step in world trade liberalisation since China joined it in early 2000. The World Bank has estimated the WTO mem-bership could add three per-cent to Russia's economy in the medium term and upto 11 percent in the long term. With Moscow's entry into the world trade body almost certain by next month, one may ask how it will impact the prospects of India-Rus-sia economic ties.Russia's entry will open the way for the two countries to sign a Comprehensive Eco-nomic Cooperation Agree-ment (CECA), which is ex-pected to give a great boost to bilateral trade by providing greater market access for the partners. “We will revisit the subject for the CECA. India is very desirous of taking the next step,” India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told Indian journal-ists on the sidelines of the 5th Indo-Russian Trade and In-vestments Forum in Moscow on Nov. 10. “Once Russia be-comes a WTO member, we will negotiate CECA. It is on our agenda,” he said. “It (CECA) will definitely im-prove the access for Indian companies to the Russian market through lower tariffs. It creates a better environ-

economic diPLomacy

Russia’s WTO entry: What’s in it for India?

Moscow's WTO entry will open doors for CECA with India and greater access to each other's markets.

eLena krovvidiRIR

when vikram singh Punia entered pharma business in russia in 1997, there were sceptical sniggers. he now heads a thriving company, with ambitious growth plans.

'shed conservative style, take risks and score big'

business Indian pharma magnate has big plans: $150 million turnover by 2015

Pharmaceutical industry topped the list of subject dis-cussed during the recent 5th Indo-Russian trade and in-vestment forum in Moscow. “And it's not surprising,” says Vikram Punia Singh, the head of pharmaceutical company Pharmasynthez. “I think this event helps us not only to find business partners, but also produces concrete results. Previously, it helped us to launch the production of med-ications for treating oncologi-cal diseases,” says Singh, an Indian businessman who is making a mark in Russia’s business landscape. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has seen rapid ad-vancement of new technolo-gies, stressed Singh, who has worked in the pharma busi-ness for 15 years. Educated in the Irkutsk Medical Institute, Singh believes that sharing the experience of Indian chemists and technologists can be useful for the Russian market. He points that the price of generic medicines made by Russian producers are several times higher than the Indian ones. But while keeping pace with the fast progress of new technologies, he says, it’s essential to make the best usage of the drugs al-ready in production. “Although innovations are important, we shouldn’t forget that 90% of diseases can be cured using existing medications,” he points out. Singh stresses that although Indian companies are keen to

foray into the burgeoning Rus-sian pharmaceutical market, there are some peculiarities that should be taken into ac-count. "Firstly, Indian part-ners sometimes display a con-servative approach and are reluctant to make direct in-vestments as they are afraid of risks,” he explains. "And that's where our company comes into the game acting as an in-termediary." He attributes the success of his enterprise to his penchant for taking risks and moving ahead. Besides, there are sometimes delays and difficulties in get-ting visas and permission to work in Russia that create im-pediments for the Indian com-panies’ activities in the Rus-sian pharmaceutical market, he says. But being an optimist, he adds that those obstacles can be overcome provided one has enough patience and per-sistence. Singh distinctly remembers

russia-educated indian entrepreneur vikram singh Punia at his office in moscow.

his first steps in the pharma business in Russia. “Indeed, 1997 - the year when I started my business - was a tough time for the country and especially for launching a new enter-prise." In those days, many people, he recalls, simply couldn’t understand his deci-sion to invest so much money in the production of medi-cines. “They asked me: why can't you just follow the ex-ample of some other business-men and simply buy from abroad and resell?" he says. But Singh decided to take the plunge and started to produce anti-tuberculosis drugs in 1999 right after the severe eco-nomic crisis of 1998. To begin with, he opened two factories in Irkutsk. Currently, 80% of anti-tuberculosis medicines are produced in Russia. Singh is confident that medicines re-lated to oncology and diabe-tes, which are mostly imported by Russia at the moment, are

to follow suit soon. No wonder, Singh is upbeat about Phar-masynthez’s plan to scale the turnover to $150 million by 2015 from $100 million. Singh’s business success has an interesting personal back-story. In the 1990s, he was not sure of permanently residing in Russia and making his ca-reer here. He shares his mem-ories of having entered the medical college in Delhi and then deciding to study in Rus-sia without making long-terms plans to stay in this country. However, fate had other plans. His marriage dur-ing his second year at the Ir-kutsk medical institute, com-bined with his intense dislike for heat, he adds half-jokingly, sealed his decision to start pharma business in Russia. The entrepreneur is also up-beat about the encouraging attitude of both Indian and Russian governments about developing pharma industry.

To advertise in this supplement contact sales@rbth.ru ph. +7 (495) 775 31 14

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wciom.com Russian Public Opinion Research Center russiaprofile.org/culture_living Russia Profile on-line magazinert.com Russia Today TV Channelsociety

home truths & small dreams They aRe fighTing fOR jObs, a small aPaRTmenT and a sPOT in kindeRgaRTen fOR TheiR ChildRen

income & living the middle class

andrei molodych, Filipp tschapkovskiRussian RePORTeR magazine

the new middle class in russia does not complain about the government, nor about fate; they work hard to fashion their future and make their dreams real.

A typical courtyard in Tomsk: surrounded by five storey tower blocks and in the dis-tance, through the poplars, you can just start to make out the wooden houses of the old town, withered by time.

vladimirThe Frolovs are a typical fam-ily from the new, ambitious middle class. Near a modern block tower, Vladimir greets us. He is 28 and his wife Nas-tya is 22. They came from close to Tomsk in Siberia, a city some 3,000 kilometres east of Moscow with a population of 500,000. He attended the poly-technic university, and she the pedagogical institute. After his studies were completed, Vladimir began working for the electro-mechanics plant in Tomsk. It is here that he met his wife Nastya when one day she asked for his help with a technical drawing. They mar-ried, and soon after their son Sergey was born.Vladimir’s starting salary was

10,000 roubles, roughly $330, which even for Tomsk was not much. But he stayed on, and not only because love kept him there. His company offered the promising, young engineer a company loan with no interest for 25 years, which he used to purchase a one-bedroom apartment in a modern build-ing on the river. The only catch was that if he were to be fired or quit not only would the loan be payable immediately, but he would also have to pay interest on everything he had borrowed up to that point. Vladimir is, therefore, bound to the company for 25 years. Vladimir, however, does not find the deal unfair. “Maybe we are dependent. But that’s a small price to pay for our own apartment.” Vladimir was lucky. The ma-jority of young Russian fami-lies cannot afford a loan, nei-ther from a bank nor from their employer,one more rea-son more why only 15% of all real estate in Russia is ac-quired via financial assis-tance.

life and workThe electro-mechanics plant in Tomsk fabricates air purify-ing turbines for subways. Today, there are six of these turbines in subway stations in Moscow. The future of the

Frolovs depends on the com-pany’s success. After taking the loan rate of 8,25%, the Frolovs have roughly $860 left. Vladimir is the sole earner be-cause Nastya started pursuing a second degree and takes care of raising Sergey. Food costs are somewhere around $200 a month. “Everything else has to be split between child, clothes, culture and everything else,” says Vladimir. Not surprisingly, he is not very upbeat about his future. To have any sense of security, Vladimir says he needs at least $1500 a month, but to receive higher wages, productivity must increase, which in turn, can only happen if the equip-ment in Vladimir’s plant is modernised. “Sometimes, I visit Germany on business, and there people try to use as many German products as possible. We need that same mentality in Russia,” he says.

the conscientious citizenWhat's Vladimir's idea of a good life? That would be a house on the outskirts of town and three kids. The only prob-lem for this typical Russian citizen is that he has no dream. To put it more accurately, his dream of an apartment has al-ready come true. and he still has 22 years to go, before he has paid off his loan.

nastyaNastya has similar dreams, but she would be happy with her two kids. Her goals are more pragmatic: she wants her son to go to kindergarten and then to work. Therein lies an additional, serious prob-lem for the family, in many regions, some 10,000 kids are waiting to get into kindergar-ten (In Russia, that figure is 1.5 million according to the Russian Ministry of Health).With a serious demographic crisis looming, the govern-ment is actively campaigning for more children, but there is no infrastructure to support them. Many kindergarten buildings from the Soviet era have been leased as office space, and incredibly strict regulations for registering child facilities prevent the creation of private kinder-gartens. Whenever it does fi-nally work out with a spot in kindergarten, Nastya would like to work in the social ser-vices sector. She would like to earn 20,000 roubles, but would settle for 15,000 ($500). Vladimir and Nastya are a part of a new generation, they don’t complain about the government and try to solve everything by themselves. But the health system cer-tainly does get on their nerves, something on which they agree with a vast majority of Russians.Nastya’s idea of a good life is a trip to Sevastopol, where she has relatives. Then, she would like to go to Egypt to see the pyramids, then Thai-land and finally Germany, be-cause Vladimir has said lots of good things about it. What this family needs is to get out of their home. But since the parents have no one to look after the child, they pretty much never go out.

the friendly companyVladimir constantly com-mutes between the office and the plant. What would happen if Vladimir had an accident at the plant? Would the loan be payable? Suddenly, Vladimir becomes happier. “We do not have to worry about that. If something were to happen, an insurance company would pay my loan.” That too would cost a few roubles." As we depart, he pauses and says, “to be per-fectly honest, I am incredibly lucky. Millions of Russians are probably jealous of me.”

mobility hurdle

taxes, loans, corruption

A new job in another city could lead to more money and better life for people like Frol-ov. With his talent, he would do much better in the dynamic region around Leningrad. But due to his loan, he is bound to Tomsk. Such barriers, as well as administrative procedures,

Many Russian companies are fighting the same problem: a vicious circle of high tax rates/interest, protectionism and corruption. Due to the same, it is unfeasible for Vladimir’s company to modernise every-

prevent an exchange between the regions and an efficient distribution of the workforce. In Russia, only six out of 1,000 move to a new city each year. In the US, that figure is four times as high. A lack of mobil-ity thrusts many Russian fami-lies into poverty.

thing at once. However, if the proper equipment is lacking, then the productivity suffers, thus forcing clients to take their business elsewhere. Ob-solete facilities remain a major problem.

a picture of middle-class happiness: Floral wallpaper, burgers, doting parents...

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en.rian.ru Ria Novosti news agencywww.themoscowtimes.com The Moscow Times newspaper themoscownews.com Online newspaper

what’s middle in russia?

Even after ten years of eco-nomic boom, the Russian mid-dle class is difficult to grasp. The Ministry of Economic De-velopment recently unveiled a study which gives some facts and figures. It shows that the middle class in Russia compris-es only 20-25% of the popula-tion. Nearly 5-6 years ago, the figure was 18%, and by 2020 it won’t exceed 30%. In West-ern countries, the middle class comprises 50-65% of the pop-ulation. A typical Russian mid-dle class family earns at least $2000, but the total income includes money from all fam-ily members. The family has a car, bank savings and a house/apartment. Middle class in Rus-sia are mostly people who are related to currency and finan-cial sector, oil and gas, natural monopolies, such as electric-ity and rail transport. People engaged in intellectual labor, health and education often can’t be related to the middle class because of their law in-come or are placed at the bot-tom of this social strata.

evgeny utkinRiR

the number of parties contesting the duma polls and the margin of united russia's victory aren't known yet. but everything else is as predictable as it can get.

Voters' choice: 7 parties and 1 sure winner

Polls Freebie promises: land, power, 1 million rouble credit

The Russians will be voting for a new Duma (Chamber of Dep-uties) on December 4. Yet only a few outside Russia know about this. Focused on their do-mestic affairs, people are not interested much in foreign pol-itics. If we ask an average Indi-an, when the next Russian elec-tions will be, the best answer one might get is “Putin’s elec-tions” (meaning the presiden-tial elections next year). It is very unlikely that anyone will know what is happening in the Duma, “the thinking place” in Russian.The upcoming elections will, however, be the most interest-ing for Russians, because they will present some uncertain-ties. The first is one is not sure how many parties will enter the parliament. Three parties, Unit-ed Russia, the Communist Party (CPRF) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) will surely gain seats in parliament, yet the fate of A Just Russia is still uncertain. After its leader Sergey Mironov left office as president of the Federation Council (the Russian Senate), this party lost administrative resources and appeal. While the first three parties are well posi-tioned (even in the voters’ minds): at the centre, we find the ruling party, United Russia; on the left – the communist op-position and, on the right, the nationalist liberal-democrats, with the slogan “Russia for the Russians”. A Just Russia want-ed to be a strong opposition, but they have not managed to do this or feared they would lose votes by doing so. The net result is that that they are now some-where between the Commu-nists and United Russia. The rising star among Russian par-ties, Pravoe Delo (Right Cause), faded out long before the Duma elections. Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, currently the third richest man in Russia, left the project. Two other parties, Yabloko (“apple” in Russian) and Patriots of Russia (both liberal and right-wing) do not have a clear line for the voters and have little chance of enter-ing Parliament. The other thing to watch out for will be wheth-er the Putin-Medvedev party

will have a majority in parlia-ment. Last year, the party’s ap-proval rating dropped below 50%, and, according to several surveys, it is hovering around the same figure at the moment (Levada-Center suggests an even lower figure of 45%). The ruling party is losing consensus among retired workers and

members of the military forces, but is still the favourite among women. According to the “Pub-lic Opinion” Foundation (POF), the ratio of United Russia sup-porters between men and women stands at 36-64. Ac-cording to POF president Alex-ander Oslon, this is because women possess a strong “moti-vation to support the powers that be”, while other observers think that men and women play two different roles: for women it is important to “pre-serve stability”, while men are more inclined towards “risk and change”. According to POF, support is also growing among young people. “Young people, especially girls, know only Vladimir Putin and United Russia,” says sociologist Sergei Belanovsky. Or, probably, the

real reason is the active use of social network sites by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The target of the party guided by Medvedev is nevertheless to obtain 60% of the votes or at least half of them. A reasonable wish, but it has been years since a single party won half the elec-toral votes without resorting to coalitions in any country of the world.All parties have very broad pro-grammes. There are problems with housing – the parties will solve them. Yabloko suggests giving everybody 3,000-6,000 square metre of land to build a house and that “oil and gas profits” should be used to build infrastructure, roads, to give people free water, electricity and gas and to pay 2/3 of hous-ing costs. The LDPR wants to give a hectare of land, free in-frastructures and a 1-million-rouble credit to everyone. After all these promises, United Rus-sia’s goal of doubling house building and lowering mort-gage interest rates to 6.5% (now over 10%) seems even modest. Everyone promises to raise sal-aries, even by 50%, in 3 years (United Russia), or to put 60% of the GDP into salaries. If we add up the costs of all the prom-ises made by the seven Russian parties, we would not reach the value of the Italian debt but we would easily outstrip that of Greece. But Russian voters be-lieve in promises; 4% think ev-erything will be done, 69% at least part of it. And they are all sure that their lives will get bet-ter.

the parties' leaders hold pre-election tv debates.

Duma polls present some uncertainties. One is not sure how many parties will enter the parliament.

The other thing to watch out for will be whether Putin-Medvedev party will get a majority.

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bookmarks06 www.cdi.org/russia/johnson Johnson’s Russia List www.russiaprofile.org Analysis of business, eco-nomic, political and cultural trends en.fondsk.ru Strategic Culture Foundation magazine

Russia india BusinEss REpoRtin association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHE Economic timEs wednesday_november 30_2011opinion

IndIa adrIft: Goodbye nehru, hello amerIca?

the arab SprInG: return of local, ISlamIc IdentIty?

andreivolodin

SpeCiALLy FoR RiR

boris tumanovgAzetA.Ru

in early October of 2000, I happened to take part in a conference in New Delhi on

security issues in the Asia-Pa-cific Region. At that forum, In-dian expats in the US did their best to convince participants that America is India’s preem-inent strategic ally. At the time, I regarded this as the aspiration of a part of the Indian elite to establish new foreign policy guidelines for the world’s largest democracy while also keeping the tradi-tional ones intact. I could be overly suspicious, but increas-ingly I am convinced that the “Nehruvian” foreign policy is being dismantled, and if we still consider ourselves friends, we need to discuss these sensi-tive matters candidly.

the so-called "Arab Spring” came as a total surprise to the world community.

At first glance, there was some-thing unnatural about the sud-den and simultaneous anti-dic-tatorship upheavals in several Arab countries around the same time. The proclaimed democratic goals bred suspi-cions that the fighters against dictatorship were acting at the behest of or on a signal from the West, suspicions that were further reinforced by the co-alition’s messy adventure in Libya. At the same time, the fact that Islamic parties were openly and actively involved in these movements generated pan-icky forecasts of an imminent triumph by Al Qaeda and fu-ture aggression on the part of the Islamic world. Indeed, the victory of the Islamic party in the Tunisian parliamentary elections shortly after the fall of the dictatorship came as a surprise, while Libya an-nounced that its future politi-

Aren’t we indeed witnessing a gradual rejection of the idea of a multi-polar/polycentric world? Isn’t India’s foreign pol-icy establishment using Chi-na’s rapid economic growth as ideological grounds for aban-doning its independent orien-tation in the global geo-strate-gic space?India has invariably promoted strengthening the security sys-tem in the region that the Americans call “Greater Cen-tral Asia,” which includes South and Central Asia, in ad-dition to Afghanistan and Iran. Until recently, New Delhi was an active proponent of the idea that the countries in this region should be the ones tackling its complicated problems. It seems to me that India’s po-sition has lately undergone a metamorphosis that is hard to explain. At a recent forum in Istanbul, India appeared to

cal system would follow Sha-ria principles, including polygamy and a ban on di-vorce. All this is taking place against a background of grow-ing popularity of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt. If one looks at developments in the Arab countries from the viewpoint of their internal historical evolution, it is clear that the current events are a logical and inevitable stage, necessitated by an objective

need for national self-identi-fication. The process was arti-ficially held back in the 19th and 20th centuries by Europe-an colonisation of the entire Muslim belt from North Afri-ca to Southeast Asia. Herein lay the contradiction of the post-colonial statehood of the Muslim countries: having

East is not so much a denial of Western, essentially Christian values as a natural strength-ening of local religious, ethnic and ethical traditions by legit-imising them. Those who had expected the Arabs, for exam-ple, in the face of globalisa-tion, to build their societies according to European tem-plates were simply naïve, not to say ignorant. It is hard to say how aggressive the emerging independent and self-sufficient Islamic world will be. The quest for self-iden-tification might result in a

all articles appearing on page 6 do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the editors of rossiyskaya gazeta and russia india report.

What is happening in Arab east is a natural strengthening of local, religious and ethnic traditions.

“modernistion” of Islam and the Islamic political culture. Yet, if that process is carried through to its logical conclu-sion, we will inevitably wit-ness another world split. And what of Russia? Its au-thorities have reacted to the “Arab Spring” in an equally panicky way, being apparent-ly convinced that Russian so-ciety could follow the example of the Egyptians and Tuni-sians. But no one seems to have noticed that the processes going on in our country’s Mus-lim republics are basically the

same as those that preceded the “Arab Spring.” They, too, are seeking national-cultural and religious identity. Politicians and the Orthodox Church are making state-ments from which it follows that the restoration of Russian national traditions and Ortho-dox morality constitutes the only way to restore Russia’s identity as a state. Thus, they turn the logical and natural search for national identity by the peoples of Russia into an ethnic and inter-religious con-frontation.

support the American idea of a “new Silk Road,” which is in-tended to maintain a “balanc-ing” influence of out-of-region forces. There are several other problematic questions as well. First of all, the resurrection of the idea of an “alliance of four

democracies” (the US, Japan, Australia, and India) – an American-Japanese-Indian “strategic dialogue” being its initial phase – is beginning to seriously worry Beijing, which calls this concept nothing other than an “Eastern NATO.” Sec-

ondly, it's not clear how India plans to marry vigorous eco-nomic growth, the goal of 9% economic growth for the next decade, as set by Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh, with ac-tive rearmament under the current Indian circumstances.

Thirdly, the new political thinking in India bewilders those in the Russian leadership who have adopted the multi-vector foreign policy model as part of their idea of Russia’s in-ternational role. A friend of mine at the Russian Foreign

Ministry, who is trying to grasp the logic of India’s behaviour with regard to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, confided to me: “I just can’t un-derstand our Indian colleagues. We are doing our best to wel-come them with open arms, but it seems like they are gently pushing us away. Perhaps they have already made their stra-tegic choice in favour of Amer-ica?” Frankly, I couldn’t suc-ceed in convincing the diplomat otherwise. Apparently, Russia needs to pause a little regard-ing its relations with India while developing relations with both China and South Asian countries based on our strategic interests.Which brings to mind com-ments by former Indian diplo-mat M.K. Bhadrakumar: "At a time when Europe is in disar-ray and America is in decline, "China isn’t bothered about In-

dia’s ‘military modernisation’ programme… It also seems to understand our compulsions to exaggerate the ‘threat percep-tions’ so as to justify the mas-sive military expenditure at a time when the economy is on a distinctly downward slide and we face a ‘resource crunch’ very soon. In brief… Beijing esti-mates that this is a superfluous, contrived path and India will realise it on its own.”The strength and vitality of the “Nehru course” lie in the fact that India’s first prime minister always played his own game and always defended Indian interests. Time has shown that this is the only “policy game” that will always be both effec-tive and up to date.

Andrei Volodin is Senior Re-searcher with the Institute of World Economy and Interna-tional Relations, Moscow.

evolved and become en-trenched under the influence of former mother countries, they could not, a priori, accord with the mentality, traditions and social patterns or, to put it simply, with the national iden-tities of the local societies. A more convincing precedent is offered by Turkey, which lived under the democracy in-stituted by Kemal Ataturk ac-cording to Western templates for a whole century before it turned out that democracy had been effective only thanks to the stern oversight of the army, which eventually lost its political influence under the onslaught of advocates of Tur-key’s Islamic identity.Today, the time has now come to modify that statehood in accordance with the long-sim-mering demand for national self identification, which in-cludes a religious element. If European democracy, in its time, was rooted in Christian morality, why should Islam and other religious countries be deemed incapable of giving an impetus to democracy with “its own face”?What is happening in the Arab

india's position on various issues has lately undergone a metaphorphosis that is hard to explain.

Russia needs to pause a little regarding india while developing relations with China.

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in association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_november 30_2011 culture

www.pushkins-poems.com Pushkin's poems in Eng-lish with Russian texts alongside the translation.jrusk.tripod.com/russian/russian.html Russian lit-erature in English translation.

achala mouliksPEcially foR RiR

author achala moulik, who was awarded the Pushkin medal recently, recalls the profound influence the russian iconic poet and tagore had on her thinking.

growing up with Pushkin and tagore in my blood and bones

heritage Heralds of literary renaissance, Pushkin defied Tsarist establishment, Tagore returned the British knighthood

In a vast hall illumined by mas-sive chandeliers, Russian Pres-ident Dmitry Medvedev recent-ly presented Pushkin Medals to foreigners who had contribut-ed to the understanding of Rus-sian culture in their countries. This silver medal with blue rib-bons is embossed with the self portrait of iconic Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Watching the glittering cere-mony held in the picturesque town of Nizhni Novgorod was Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Sitting by his side were high dignitaries of the Russian Or-thodox Church, an Imam, high Russian officials, diplomats, and interpreters. The ceremony was meticulously planned and conducted, preceded and fol-lowed by stirring music, songs and folk dance. It was with a sense of fulfilment that I received the Pushkin Medal from the Russian presi-dent on November 4. As I said in my brief address, I was a humble traveller on the road that joined India and Russia, where great Russians such as Lev Tolstoy, Vassily Vershagin, Gerasim Lebedev and numer-ous Indologists had contribut-ed to understanding India while the two greatest Indians of our age – Rabindranath Tag-ore and Mahatma Gandhi - were great admirers of Russian culture and philosophy. Tagore’s Letters From Russia introduced me to that fascinat-ing country. I read it when I was a little girl; while many of the passages on history and social reconstruction went over my head, I learnt through Gu-rudev’s eloquent but simple language that there was a country far away, a land of snow and forests, inhabited by

courageous people. Reading the Letters many decades later, I learnt that the aristocratic landowner Rabindranath was deeply impressed by the new socio-political experiment in the Soviet Union. He was criti-cal of some aspects of that ex-periment but it was with rap-ture that he described the Russian people. He had called Tolstoy “the teacher of man-kind” and stressed that Tolstoy’s voice against violence and op-pression was “crying out in the wilderness”. Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by Tolstoy’s doc-trine of non-violent resistance to injustice, and called him his “Guru”. My interest in Russia deepened with the years. As a school girl in London, I began learning the Russian language in various evening classes that offered in-struction. One day, I decided to go to a place called Pushkin Club where young people met to discuss Russian letters and events. Genuine students and scholars attended the classes while others posed as nihilists and revolutionaries. Fearing that I might turn to nihilism, my parents ensured that I had Rus-sian lessons in a more conven-tional environment. Later, when I studied Economics at London University, I began reading Pushkin and other Russian writers. My study of and writ-ing on Russian history, litera-ture and music continued even after entering the Indian Ad-ministrative Service. Both Pushkin and Tagore were heralds of a literary renaissance in their countries. After elegant preludes, modern Russian liter-ature began as a full symphony with Alexander Sergeyvich Pushkin. He was born when the French revolutionary armies swept through Europe, sowing the seeds of future revolts that would blossom into the Decem-brist Revolt in Russia. Pushkin’s poems inspired the leaders of the uprising. Sometimes ban-ished, often persecuted by the Tsarist officialdom, Pushkin

Pushkin was inspired by Marya Rayevskaya with whom he fell in love as a 22-year-old youth during his exile in the Cauca-sus. It is not clear why they did not get married. This extraor-dinary woman was the model for many of his heroines. He paid her this tribute in his last poem

The memory of words last spoken

By you, and your sad wilderness,

Have been my only sacred token,

Sole refuge and ultimate redress.

Tagore fell in love with his sis-ter-in-law Kadambari in his youth. She inspired the young poet’s blossoming genius and acted as a catalyst to his cre-ativity. He wrote poignantly- “with her suicide, it felt as if the earth had moved away from under my feet and the light had gone from the sky.”Pushkin is the most loved of all literary figures in Russia. His popularity has withstood changes in political ideology, social systems and literary styles. It has been said of Tagore that there is no episode in human existence that he has not described in his soul-stir-ring poems. Though both poets were ardent nationalists, they attained universality because of their intense humanism, and their gift for understanding the human predicament. Their themes on human destiny will always be relevant. Alexander Pushkin and Rabi-ndranath Tagore are perennial inspirations for me.

never ceased to extol ideas of liberty, both for the individual and nations. But his inspiration transcended political ideolo-gies; he drew sustenance from Russian people, both high and humble, from stirring events and challenges of the past.Tagore was born when India, like Russia, was experiencing internal ferment and external

Pushkin and tagore: Poets who fired the imagination of people.

stimulus. While British rule brought many inequities, it also exposed Indians to Western sci-ence, medicine and technology. Tagore, like Pushkin, enthusi-astically embraced new ideas from the West. Nevertheless, both poets drew inspiration from their own people and from their historical and cul-tural traditions. Pushkin com-

posed epic poems on Russian history such as Boris Godunov, Bronze Horseman and Tagore captured heroic deeds of the past in his anthology Katha o Kahini. The two poets shared another similarity; they were both art-ists. Pushkin’s sketches and drawings, caricatures of him-self and others can be seen in his house by the canal in St. Pe-tersburg. Sometimes, he drew them on the margins of manu-scripts. Tagore began by doo-dling, which formed patterns on his manuscripts from which portraits emerged.Both men belonged to the land-ed gentry and could have led comfortable and secure lives had they accepted the political scenario. But they condemned the abuse of power. Pushkin’s defiance of the powerful Tsarist establishment eventually led to the court intrigue that resulted in his untimely death. Tagore opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905 and returned the Brit-ish knighthood after the mas-sacre of Jalianwala Bagh in 1919. After the participants of the Decembrist Revolt were ex-iled to Siberia Pushkin wrote

In the depth of Siberianmines,

Keep the proud patience, The heavy chains will fall, The prison doors will

open outside.

In his letter to the British Vice-roy, Tagore stated the reasons for renouncing the knighthood - “in order to give voice to the protest of millions of my coun-trymen suppressed into a dumb anguish of terror.”

about the author

‘a humble traveller on the road joining india and Russia’

Achala Moulik held important posts in Karnataka and Union ministries and institutions in India. But literature and dra-matics always remained her passion. Born in Kolkata in family of scholars, civil ser-vants and diplomats, Moulik, a former Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, is the author of more than 20 books on culture, art and architectural monuments. Since 1976, when “Silhouettes of Russian Literature”, Moulik’s first book dedicated to the treasures of the Russian litera-ture, was published, the author has been enthralled by this subject. Moulik's “Pushkin’s Last Poem” made a successful debut in Moscow and St. Pe-tersburg in the Year of India in Russia in October 2009. Sep-tember 2010 saw the publica-tion of the author's seminal re-search work entitled, “Tolstoy’s Century in the Indian Perspec-

tive”. In 2010-11, she wrote “Rabindranath Tagore: A Man for All Times.” A chapter in the book focuses upon a com-prehensive historical and liter-ary analysis of Tagore’s “Let-ters from Russia.” The award ceremony was held in Nizh-niy Novgorod on November 4, 2011. Moulik's profound insight into foreign cultures have im-parted a distinctive character to her writing.

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BOOKMARKS08 RUSSIA INDIA REPORTIN ASSOCIATION WITH ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA THE TIMES OF INDIA WEDNESDAY_NOVEMBER 30_2011

buddhist.ru/eng Russian buddism in the Internetkhurul.ru/?eng Buddism in Kalmykiaburyatia.ru Buryat buddist culturewww.buddism.ru Moscow buddist centreFeature

in The Economic Times Every second Wednesday

BUSINESS REPORT

December 14

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WEBSITE of the embassy of the Russian Federation in India

www.rusembassy.in

A phoenix rises from the ashesKalmyk Buddhists had to bear the brunt of Stalin’s terror tac-tics in the 1930s. Every reli-gion was persecuted under Soviet policies, but Buddhism experienced almost a total de-struction. By 1941, all Buddhist monasteries and temples had been closed or destroyed; the most outstanding members of the Buddhist elite were execut-ed or disappeared in concen-tration camps. A second wave of repressions took place in 1943 when about one third of Kalmyks were taken from their homes and sent to Siberia.

1 Traditionally, Buddhism is the main religion in republics of Buryatia,

Kalmykia, The Tyva, Altai Re-public, Zabaykalsky Krai and Irkutsk Oblast (all of them in Siberia except Kalmykia). Bud-dhism came to Russia in the 17th century; in 1764, it was of-ficially accepted as one of the state religions.

2 Today, there are ap-proximately 1.4 mil-lion Buddhists in Russia,

comprising 1 percent of the population.

3 In 1979, the Dalai Lama made his first visit to the Soviet Union. After 1994,

the Dalai Lama was received enthusiastically when he visit-ed Russia’s three Buddhist re-publics. But as Moscow’s trade with China became increasing-ly important after 2004, Rus-sia stopped giving visas to Da-lai Lama.

Tibetan monks came to Kalmykia to bless the temple.

The entrance to the Buddhism exhibition in Thimphu.

Buddha glows, candles float in airDespite objections from China, a group of 30 Tibetan monks from the Gyudmed Monastery, assigned by the Dalai Lama, descended to bless the republic’s main tem-ple and 17 sculptures of Tibet-an Buddhist scientists inside.At the ceremony, the candle kites formed a path of light in the pitch-dark sky. “That is our white road,” somebody whispered in the crowd. “Have a white road” -- is how people traditionally greet each other in Kalmykia.It’s a � tting wish for people in this poor region, stuck in sandy steppe as � at as a pan-cake. The republic of Ka-lmykia, home to over 300,000 people, have revived the tradi-tional philosophy and culture of Tibetan Buddhism, giving them hope and spiritual sus-tenance. The religion was ad-opted by their predecessors, the Oirat tribes in Mongolia, in the 13th century and im-ported to the Russian empire when Oirats migrated there in 1609.All Buddhist prayer houses, temples and holy relics were brutally destroyed during St-alin’s repressions of the 1930s. The entire indigenous Kalmyk population spent 17 years in exile in Siberia.Today, Kalmykia is the second poorest region in Russia, after Ingushetia. Visiting Kalmykia last March, President Dmitry Medvedev called the situation “difficult”, as the 15% unem-ployment rate in Kalmykia was twice as high as the na-tional average.Buddhism teaches tolerance and kindness, so Kalmyks have learned to cope with their harsh realities. “We have seen it much worse,” Yevdokiya Kutsayeva, 84, said, while re-calling savagery of the Stalin era. Until the late 1980s, it was dangerous for Kutsayeva and her family to light a candle for Buddha, much less send one into the sky in a hot air bal-loon. To Kutsayeva’s joy, Ka-lmykia has built 55 new Bud-dhist prayer homes and 30 temples in the past decade.“That is all we have left to make people happy and peace-ful today,” said Alexander Nemeyev, a local business-man. Nemeyev pointed at the

golden statue of Buddha in the temple that he had built for his village, Ulduchiny, two years ago. He spent about $41,000, or 1,230 thousand roubles. On a recent weekend, about 100 Buddhists came to pray to-gether with Tibetan monks visiting the republic.Not everybody in the village participated in the ceremony. “The temple is not giving me food for my two children,” said Khondor, a 47-year-old wid-ower and an electrician, show-ing his modest two-room house that he shares with his two teenage children. Khon-dor said he was proud to be one of two people who had full-time jobs in Ulduchiny.Khondor’s children, Aveyash, 14, and Nagaila, 13, said their dream was to leave Kalmykia, perhaps by going to study in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Their father did not mind this goal, as he saw no future for them in the republic, he said.Kalmyk Buddhist leaders say that today, their efforts are not only towards rebuilding tem-ples, something supported by the government, but also aimed at the revival of Bud-dhist mentality and culture, along with basic secular eth-ics like compassion, love, kind-ness and forgiveness.Exhausted after two decades of economic and social crises, Kalmyks often come to the re-public’s main temple, or Cen-tral Hurul, saying, “my soul is damaged, please help me,” the Buddhist leader, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, said. “In a way, we are a spiritual, psychological center giving people hope, moral support and spiritual guidance.”According to Yulia Zhironki-na, director of the Moscow-based Save Tibet Foundation, Telo Tulku Rinpoche has be-come Russia’s major spiritual leader for Buddhists. “He goes to India to consult the Dalai Lama about most of his im-portant decisions for Ka-lmykia education and cultural programmes,” says Zhironki-na. Kalmykia is one of the 19 Russian regions introducing experimental programmes on basic ethics for the 4th and 5th grades at Russian state schools. “The Dalai Lama con-sulted Telo Tulku Rinpoche about the concept for the school history and basics of

Buddhism he supported dur-ing his rule saved Kalmykia from getting involved in the terrorist wars in the neighbor-ing North Caucasus republics. “The peaceful and kind phi-losophy of Buddhism is a solu-tion for Kalmyk people in the chaos and hard reality they live in,” says Zhironkina.

Anna Nemtsova is a Moscow correspondent for Newsweek and "The Daily Beast."

Buddhism in Kalmykia,” he says.But there are areas where nei-ther the Dalai Lama nor his followers have power to help. On one of his visits to Ka-lmykia, Barry Kerzin, a Bud-dhist doctor from Philadel-phia, said he was shocked by the problems local doctors faced. “The entire hospital, in-cluding the surgery rooms, had no running water that day,” he said. This year, local

activists criticised the author-ities for not � nishing the re-construction of the republic’s only children’s hospital. This month, about 300 successful Kalmyks, calling themselves “a partisan Internet move-ment”, wrote a letter to the US President Barack Obama ask-ing him to restore the decrep-it hospital. The letter was also designed to shame the Rus-sian federal government and call attention to their plight.

Kalmykia has not seen any bounty, nor promises of any infrastructure from deals that Royal Dutch Shell signed this year for the exploration of oil � elds on the steppe. Major dis-coveries have been made in nearby Kazakhstan, also on the Caspian Sea.Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a former Kalmyk president, was on hand for the recent ceremo-nies. He stepped down in 2010. He said that the teachings of

3 FACTS ABOUT BUDDHISM IN RUSSIA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

EVGENIA LENTSJOURNALIST

On November 24, the exhibition “Buddhism in Russia” was opened in the city of Thimphu – the first Russian exhibition in the Himalayan kingdom.

Bhutan gets treat of Buddhist relics from Russia

The exhibition formally opened at a ceremony in the J.Nehru-Wangchuck Cultural Centre. L.M. Dorji, Minister for Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan, O.P. Neretin, head

of the Russian delegation and others participated in the event. The exhibition has sev-eral sections and presents 3D holographic pictures of Bud-dhist relics given as a gift to Eemperor Nicholas the Sec-ond, archival photographs of the 19th century as well as re-cent photos of Buddhist mon-asteries in Russia.

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