kolkata got its new italian consul general gianluca rubagotti who reached the city in july amid the pandemic situation after being in quarantine for weeks the cg is now all set to explore the and cultural heritage of kolkata in a candid chat with times gianluca spoke about his journey from italy to india in the time of corona his to in durga puja festivities indo italian collaboration plans with local artists more excerpts when did you india assumed office i arrived in kolkata on july 20 middle of the lockdown to fight pandemic in the light of this extraordinary pandemic situation tell us about your journey from italy it was not an easy i had to take different flights to arrive in kolkata i got a covid19 the day before boarding which of course negative and upon arrival spent two weeks quarantine how italy is coping with situation italy as you was the first country after china to face the virus the main problem was lack scientific clarity about the virus origin way of transmission the violence of its attacks human the government had to put in place serious measures of containment including a severe lockdown of the entire which allowed us to significantly reduce the spreading of the coronavirus scientists warn that the battle is not yet won but considering the cases due to movements for summer holidays we can say that in italy the situation is under control and the system is perfectly capable of dealing with recent cases a of who went to italy from india came back due to the pandemic did you reach out to is there programme you might want to take them embassy in delhi the consulates general in and kolkata attach greatest importance to indian students who decided to enrol in universities the ambassador vincenzo de luca explained his interview the times of india choosing is a choice of quality not the quality of education the students will receive but also the quality of life most of italian universities are in the heart italian cities renowned all the world for what they can in terms art culture beauty food and in general to show the cg of italy priority to requirements we have organised a small event in which we have together present and future three personalities a chef a product designer architect who in italy and now are back in kolkata with their knowledge and experiences they gathered for the city and its people the was at a city hotel full with rules social distancing and you have come to kolkata how do you the city how did prepare yourself to cope