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Aug, 2005
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Ford company to promote Ski village in Himachal

     Kullu (Himachal Pradesh): The Himanch Pradesh government is going to introduce some new features to transform the State into a bigger tourist attraction. Recently, it signed an agreement with a private organisation, promoted by the US- based Ford Company, to build a 10 billion-rupee ski village in the State.The project will comprise Gondola ski lifts, a 600-room five-star hotel, 300 chalets, a convention centre and also have ski slope to enable Winter Olympics in its vicinity. John Robert Sims, Managing Director, Ford Corporation, said the project, which aims to tap the State's rich cultural heritage, would provide direct employment to over 2000 people. Ford company says through the eco-friendly project, it aims to boost tourism, backbone of the region's economy. "We will also be developing some of the village tourism potential, which I think is very great. I think there is a lot of scope for small home stays, small guest houses and touring the cultural aspects especially the sacred places, temples they are extremely interesting especially to international tourists," Sims told reporters during an international workshop on conserving ecology. After getting an environmental impact assessment from the Indian Institute of Forest Management in Bhopal, the company will start work on the project in 2006 and complete the first phase by 2009. Once the project comes into existence, it will provide revenue of 300 million rupees annually to the Government in the form of luxury and royalty tax. State's tourism officials are yet to finalise several aspects of the proposed resort project, to be located at 8,500 feet above the sea level in Kullu valley. Sims said their project would be built keeping all environment conservation aspects in mind. "We expect that that in the first five to six years, we will spend about 300 million dollars on the development of the project, especially because we are taking great pains to be environmental-friendly. So it will be a little more expense and little more time to be certain that we do the least damage," he said. The project, though not a part of the world famous Ford Motors, is, however, owned by the family. Himachal Pradesh takes pride in having some of country's best ski slopes. About four million tourists visit the State every year. This figure has been increasing by about 15 per cent every year.
-Aug 27, 2005

Chennai showcases exotic marine life (Go to Top)
by Jai Krishna

     Chennai: Enthusiastic visitors thronged a zoological complex in Chennai for getting a peek at a collection of live marine creatures brought in from along the city's coast and the Gulf of Mannar. The creatures, initially maintained in quarantine tanks, were recently released into assigned tanks for public viewing after acclimatization.The artistically designed aquarium includes a variety of sea creatures in 18-feet-long tanks designed to resemble the deep sea. On display are several species of fish, sea snakes and lobsters among others. The aquarium, which preserves the rich coastal sources from all over the world, besides providing facilities for research, also aims to educate the public, especially school children about marine life. "This has been set-up mainly for educating the school children, general public and we provide facilities for research work to study how marine life behaves in an aquarium. We have provided facilities to the general public for viewing marine animals as they are actually seen in the sea. We have simulated the sea environments in the aquariums," J T. Jothinayagam, officer-in- charge, Zoological Survey of India. Tanks of wimble fish, boxfish, lionfish, sea horses, clown fish, moray eel, groupers, and porcupine fish enthralled the visitors who were seeing them for the first time in their life. Among the sea creatures the starfish and sea snakes known for the venomous nature were the main attractions. "I have not seen such things earlier. I have also not seen such a display in my life. It is really wonderful. Sea snakes, sea lions, colourful fish and so many other varieties, I think it will be useful for the public as well as the school and college students," said Santhanam, a visitor.
-Aug 27, 2005

Dharamsala witnessing illegal overstay of foreigners (Go to Top)

     Dharamshala: Queen of the hills, Dharamshala is thronged with thousands of foreigners coming from different countries to study Tibetan Buddhism. These foreigners were welcomed, but what is causing concern, now, is that many of them are overstaying after their visas have expired. Recently the police booked a Japanese couple from the Upper McLeodganj area for overstaying. They were arrested under the Foreigners Act for not having their visas updated. "A Japanese couple has been arrested after raids were conducted in hotels and guest houses. They came here in 1997. Their visas have long expired and very conveniently they forgot to get their visas renewed. They have been keeping themselves busy learning about Tibetan religion and other religions of our country", says SP Singh, Superintendent of Police, Kangra district. Social workers and locals are, however, agitated that the administration is not doing enough to control the illegal stay. "Any person who is a Non- Indian is a foreigner. He is expected to have his visa and other travel documents checked. If the visa expires then he is expected to renew it after speaking to the concerned authority. There is a computer to check as to who's visa has expired and who's has not. There are also officials deployed for the same. But nothing much is done", says Prem Sagar, a travel agent. Residents fear that the abode of the Dalai Lama is fast being converted into a hub of illegal foreigners, which is seriously affecting their business.
-Aug 27, 2005

Vaishno Devi pilgrimage suspended (Go to Top)

     Katra (Jammu): Due to unprecedented rush of pilgrims at the revered Vaishno Devi shrine near Jammu, the authorities have temporarily suspended the pilgrimage. No pilgrim is allowed to leave Katra base camp, 15 kilometres from Jammu on Monday and Tuesday, from where some of the devotees take the pilgrimage to the shrine on foot, while other ride on ponies. This is the last week of the auspicious Hindu Shravan month, and pilgrims continue to pour in large numbers to pay their respects. Over 100,000 pilgrims arrived at the weekend at Katra as against the daily average of 20,000-25,000 pilgrims for the shrine. Sources said another reason for the suspension of the pilgrimage was the militant threats on the eve of India's 58th Independence Day. A pilgrim, who had been waiting for more than 4-5 hours, said they did not expect such a rush despite the long weekend including Independence day on Monday which was a national holiday in India. "We had three days holiday so decided to visit the revered shrine. But we were unaware of this amount of rush. We had got ticket for our parents but of no use. I faced a lot of problems and there is no water also," said Sham Sharma, a pilgrim from Chandigarh city. The route to the Vaishno Devi shrine, which attracts about 5.5 million pilgrims annually, is perched atop the Trikuta Hills, 1,700 meters above sea level. Over 3.5 million pilgrims from across the country have already visited the shrine since January this year.
-Aug 16, 2005

Amarnath pilgrims leave for the shrine with Chari Mubarak  (Go to Top)
by Bilal Butt

     Srinagar: Hindu pilgrims bound for Amarnath shrine, which is situated at the height of 3880 meters (12,725 feet) above sea level, in Srinagar on Monday (August 15) took out a religious procession of Chari Mubarak, the holy mace of Lord Shiva, in Srinagar. One of the many groups of pilgrims led by Mahant Deependra Giri, the head priest of the Amarnath cave temple and also the custodian of the holy mace, marched holding flags from Dashmi Akhada in the city. The procession will move to Pahalgam, then to Chandanwari, Sheshnag, Panchtrani and finally will conclude at the Amarnath shrine on the full moon day (August 19). Giri said that they would pray for global peace at Amarnath. "We will pray for peace and harmony for Kashmir. May people live in peace and prosper," said Giri. On the concluding day of the annual pilgrimage, the main rituals will be held inside the Amarnath cave where Hindu devotees worship the ice Shivalingam (stalagmite), believed to be the phallic symbol representing the regenerative powers of the Shiva. Legend has it that a Muslim shepherd, Adam Malik, discovered the cave four centuries ago. His descendants still receive a share of the cash and other offerings made by devotees to the Lord at the cave. The pilgrimage leads devotees through monsoon rain-swollen streams and past a glacier-fed lake to the Amarnath cave, 141 kilometres from Srinagar.
-Aug 16, 2005

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