Engage citizens of each city through exposure to their respective rich arts and cultures.

From the wiki entry:
The Independence Day of India, celebrated on 15 August, is a holiday commemorating India’s independence from the British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on 15 August 1947.

Read more about it here:
Independence Day (India)

An MOU was signed between the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Bangalore and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2009. Since then, there has been an ongoing exchange of students and ideas and as well as ongoing dialogues. The program has been a great success.

The graduating students from the Academy held a prestigious fashion show on May 3rd which was graced by the presence of Mayor Ed Lee and attended by many high end fashion gurus, owners and managers of luxury retail stores like Neiman Marcus, DKNY and Harvey Nichols and including members of the Board of the San Francisco – Bangalore Sister Cities.

Innovation Lead Entrepreneurship is the way to bring Indian Starups on the Global Platform. A Globally Networked Team Driving this initiatives is the key to the success. Cross Border Entrepreneurship (XBE) Initiative between The Bay Area the Silicon Valley and Bangalore the Silicon Valley of India with the following objectives, driving the Initiative; 1.Help innovative, commercial and global product ideas move beyond the concept phase 2.Create a global network of people, funds and resources and make it accessible to all entrepreneurs of Indian origin 3.Curate and mentor ideas and help them be funded by investment capital 4.Encourage execution through global teams – increasing cross border collaboration. We welcome like minded organization and Individuals to join hands.
India: shivaram.malavalli@gmail.com USA: sadachid@gmail.com

It’s a watershed moment in local Indian culture. The Asian Art Museum’s opening-night party for “Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Court” on Oct. 19 was the largest in its history, with 650 guests paying up to $2,500 per ticket for dinner and a preview of the exhibition.

Although Silicon Valley is a font of technology and may have the largest population of Indians outside of India (there are India studies chairs at UC Berkeley and a collection at UC Santa Cruz of films by Satyajit Ray, the Fellini of India), the Bay Area has not been a font of information about Indian art and history – until now. The traveling exhibition, which premiered at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2009 and showcases the lifestyles of maharajas, or grand kings, through paintings, furniture, jewelry, apparel, weapons and other objects, runs here through April 8.

Chaired by Pamela Joyner, tech entrepreneur Kumar Malavalli and Tatiana Sorokko, the event drew Indian Princess Asha Raje Gaekwad ; Amin Jaffer, international director of Asian Art at Christie’s, who co-curated the V&A show; Vivek Ranadivé, CEO of Tibco Software; Gateway Computer co-founder Ted Waitt and his wife, Michele Merkin Waitt; and fashion designer Naeem Khan and his wife, Ranjana, who showed off his elegant gowns at a lunch and trunk show the day before at Neiman Marcus on Union Square.

Read the full article….

Another article on Nob Hill Gazette

A high level delegation from Karnataka is visiting the Bay Area from September 24th to 26th to promote investment and further the implementation of the Sister City MOUs signed during Mayor Newsom’s trip to Bangalore in November, 2009.

The Delegation includes Murugesh R. Nirani, Honorable Minister for Large and Medium Industries, Dr. K.V. Raju, Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister, K. Jothiramalingam, Principal Secretary of Commerce & Industries, Dr. Raj Kumar Khatri, Secretary of Infrastructure Development, and M. Maheshwar Rao, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director of Industries & Commerce.

The San Francisco-Bangalore Sister City Initiative is greeting the Delegation and facilitating a variety of meetings and conferences for them at The Bay Area Council, the Bay Area Economic Institute, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and TiE Silicon Valley. Mayor Lee will welcome the Delegation at City Hall.

Download a PDF of the information

The following is the text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort here Monday:

“My dear countrymen,

I heartily greet 120 crore Indians on the 64th anniversary of our independence.

I have been addressing you from the historic Red Fort for the last seven years. In these seven years, our country has achieved much. During this period, we have travelled rapidly on the path of development and have seen success in many areas. However, I am also well aware that a lot remains to be done. We have to banish poverty and illiteracy from our country. We have to provide the common man with access to improved health services.We have to provide employment opportunities to each one of our youth.”

Read the full speech….

On July 13, 2011 Academy of Art University, School of Fashion in San Francisco welcomed representatives from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) India. The day included classroom visits, demonstrations in the knitwear, textile, and Tambour beading labs, as well as further discussion regarding curriculum and educational objectives.

This coming fall semester, the institutes will begin a second year of their student exchange program which was established as part of the San Francisco-Bangalore Sister City Initiative and is expanding to include NIFT campuses across India. The selected exchange students will soon settle into their new cities and host institutes: Uma Anupindi (from NIFT Hyderbad to the School of Fashion), Naomi Tripathi (from NIFT Mumbai to the School of Fashion), An Vo (from the School of Fashion to NIFT Mumbai), and April Thompson (from the School of Fashion to NIFT Delhi).

The new NGO, Cross Border Entrepreneurship Initiative, based in Bangalore, India, has launched its online presence and newsletter.

For more information, please go to the NGO Facebook page