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Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life- think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.
PURI RATH YATRA (CAR FESTIVAL)
Puri Rath Yatra is orgaanised for 8 days at the famour Jagannath Tempole in Puri, Orissa. For this spectacular festival which is also called the Chariot Festival, thousands of devotees flock to Puri during the occasion as they believe that a glimpse of Lord Jagnnath in his chariot gives salvation. Images of Lord Jaganath - the Lord of the Universe, his sister Subhadra and brother Balbhadra are taken out in a procession in three immense chariots. The main chariot is 14 meters high and 10 meters square with 16 wheels. The deities are brought out of the temple to the chariots by rhythmic movement called 'Pahandi' in a royal procession to the accompaniment of the beat of the 'cymbals' and drums and chanting of prayers by devotees. The pushing and shoving to seat Lord Jagannath on his chariot continues for hours. The god it seems is testing the perseverance of his devotees. The devotees in turn coax, cajole, they promise sweetmeats and other delicacies, when all this fails they call the Lord names and even give blows to the idol, all the while the surging crowd chants, sings and dances. It is believed that on these days Lord Jagannath will descend from his pedestal and mingle with his devotees with no barrier between them. After seating the idols, the traditional King of Puri sweeps the Chariots with a golden broom.
Thousands of devotees pull these chariots to Gundicha Mandir, a temple 3 km away. After a week, on 'Ashadha Sukla Dasami', the 10th day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha (June-July), return journey or 'Bahuda Yatra' of the deities commences in the same manner from Gundicha temple to the main temple like Rath Yatra. When two months of Ashadha fall in one year, Rath Yatra is observed as the festival of 'Nabakalebar' the old deities are buried within the temple premises ('Koilibaikuntha') and are replaced by new deities, carved out of Margosa trees for which there are set procedures. Double Ashadha occurs at intervals of 8 to 19 years. Construction of the chariots begin as early as April. Bhubaneswar is the nearest airport from Puri (60-km) and it is well connected through rail and road.
BUDDHIST TEMPLE IN DEHRADUN DRAWS TOURISTS
Buddhist Temple at Clement Town in Dehradun is attracting tourists from all over the country due to its matchless wall paintings in pure gold colour, meticulously depicting in events in the life of Lord Buddha. This structure, which was built in 1965, is a replica of original monastery in Tibet. It was created under one of the four schools of Tibetan religion named 'Nyingma', while other three being Kagyu, Sakya and Geluk. About 50 artists took almost three years to paint the walls of the exemplary structure with gold paint. According to temple authorities the religious establishment was built to preserve and promote Tibetan culture in the country. The tourists who visit the temple are spellbound to see the colorful paintings on the wall. They describe the serene surroundings of the temple premises as meditative.The Stupa accommodates about 500 lamas who are studying there. The residents are being provided with free clothing eating and medical facilities.Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava founded the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, in the late eighth century. Guru Rinpoche is credited with building Samye, the first monastery in Tibet, in about 779 CE.
TOURIST FLOW REGISTERS RISE IN SIMLIPAL TIGER RESERVE
The tourist flow to the Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) has registered an increase during this tourism season which ended on June 16. A meeting of the general body of the Simlipal Eco-tourism Society held here recently disclosed that altogether 15,531 tourists, including foreigners, visited the reserve during 2007-08, while 13,396 tourists, including foreigners, had visited the park during the preceding tourism season. Every year, thousands of visitors, including foreign tourists, visit the shrine located atop a hill flanked by dense woodland inside the sanctuary.
INCREASE IN TOURISTS TO 'GOD'S OWN COUNTRY
The number of tourists flocking to 'God's own country' is increasing by the year. While Kerala saw an 18.41 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals last fiscal, the growth was 7.70 percent for domestic holidayers. At the end of the last fiscal, a total of 554,921 foreign tourists and 6,879,885 (6.8 million) domestic tourists visited Kerala. The state has been successfully promoted as a tourism destination through the projection of the catch phrase 'Kerala - God's own country'. The tourism industry in Kerala has not only brought in increased revenues for investors over the years, but has also created a large number of jobs. The tourism revenue at the end of the last fiscal went up by 25.28 percent, touching approximately Rs.110 billion. The biggest problem the industry faces is a shortage of rooms. While there are 8,800 rooms in the four- and five-star category, there are 6,500 rooms in the one- to three-star category. In addition, there are 300 rooms in the heritage section.
The central government has now sanctioned 65 new three-star hotels. The state government is also offering 10 percent subsidy on investments in the tourism sector and also offers special rates for electricity for the tourism industry. To boost the industry, the state government has also decided to appoint organisations of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) working outside India as tourism brand ambassadors to promote the state as a tourist destination.
INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT UPGRADATION COMPLETED
The much-awaited modernization of the International Terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been successfully completed with improved facilities. Post modernization, a number of facilities has been enhanced and steps adopted to ease out passenger traffic.
Departure For departing passengers, the departure ramp on the city side has been widened to accommodate more vehicles. DIAL has deployed a large number of traffic marshals, free luggage porters and customer care executives on the city side. The numbers of entry gates into the terminal have been increased from the existing four to eight. In the departure check-in area, the terminal now features 100 check-in counters, up from 78. These check-in counters will assist airlines in processing passengers faster.
The modern three-level in-line baggage handling system will now facilitate passengers to now proceed directly to check-in counters upon entering the terminal, thus saving 10-15 minutes time. The numbers of immigration counters in the departure area have also been increased from 28 to 52. Furthermore, the space allocated to the immigration area in the departure level has been increased by 800 m². The number of security lanes has also been increased to 22 from 10 which will reduce the queues for security clearance. Additional X-ray machines are also being provided for hand baggage inspection. The aerobridges for aircraft boarding have been renovated and have a pleasant look and feel.
Arrivals Immigration will be smoother with additional 10 new immigration counters, taking the total count up to 38. In addition, ten more immigration desks will be added in the coming weeks. The baggage reclaim belts have been modernized and the length of four has been increased enabling processing of larger number of baggage per hour. Additionally, Customs Control is also being enhanced with the addition of more desks. Other facilities at the terminal have also been upgraded. The rest room facilities for passengers have been enhanced and modernized. New ergonomic seating systems have been installed, designed by Vitra – a Swiss firm counted amongst global leaders for seating systems design for public facilities. A new parking lot with space for 800 vehicles has also been commissioned for the convenience of passengers.
Domestic Terminal The modernization work on the Domestic Arrival Terminal (T1C) is also progressing well. The terminal is being expanded and number of baggage reclaim belts has been increased from five to six while two more belts will be added in the coming weeks.
AIR DECCAN TO LAUNCH CARGO SERVICE
Low cost airliner Air Deccan will launch its Cargo service within next six months. It is also to take advantage of its growing domestic network, Air Deccan had already set up a new subsidiary that would run the cargo service. The Civil Aviation Ministry, which had estimated the need for 500 dedicated cargo planes in 10 year's time, has increased foreign direct investment from 26 per cent to 74 per cent in the sector. There were 500 air strips in the country most of which were not utilized despite having potential of being developed into full fledged airports.
AEROFLOT RUSSIAN AIRLINES TO INCREASE FREQUENCY FROM MUMBAI
Aeroflot Russian Airline, the national carrier of Russia which connects Moscow to Delhi and Mumbai is looking at increasing its frequency from Mumbai by summer 2009, depending upon the availability of the aircraft. As per plans, the frequency will be doubled from thrice a week to six times a week. The airline is also considering increasing awareness about Russia as a destination by working in conjunction with Russian Tourism for promotional activities. Aeroflot Russian Airlines already offers discounted student fares and is also contemplating to come up more such schemes to attract bigger volumes of students.
EGYPT AIR EXPLORING ADITIONAL FREQUENCY TO INDIA
Egypt air, which was formally inducted as the 21st member of Star Alliance, proposes to increase its frequency to Mumbai and is looking at New Delhi as another destination in the country. The current frequency is from Cairo to Kuala Lumpur via Mumbai. . Following Egypt Air's induction as the 21st member of Star Alliance, the member carriers now have 18,000 daily departures from 1,000 airports in 162 countries. Air India is expected to join the alliance next year.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES TO ADD SEVEN MORE FLIGHTS TO INDIA
Singapore Airlines would introduce seven more schedules to the existing 58 from India in the wake of a boom in flow of tourists from the sub continent to the Far East with two new flights from Bangalore and five from Delhi. Airlines announced a value package in association with Malaysia tourism offering enchanting holiday experience that includes Kaula Lumpur, Langkwai, penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.Airlines had registered 20 per cent year on year growth in its Indian operations. Increase in fuel cost had not affected the operations and there was no immediate proposal to increase the fares.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES TO DOUBLE DAILY FLIGHTS FROM DELHI
Singapore Airlines is working on an aggressive expansion plan in India, beginning with doubling its daily flights from New Delhi from September. At present, the airline operates nine flights a week from Delhi using the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, with a three-class configuration. The new flights will be called 'Sunrise' services, and will be operated in the morning. This summer, the airline added two morning flights Friday and Sundays from New Delhi to Singapore.Additionally, Singapore Airlines plans to operate three flights daily from Mumbai; currently, it operates 14 flights per week. SilkAir, the subsidiary regional airline of Singapore Airlines, is looking at starting operations from Visakhapatnam, in addition to the daily flights from Kochi, four flights from Thiruvananthapuram and three flights per week from Coimbatore.
HONG KONG'S DRAGONAIR STARTS BANGALORE OPERATIONS
Dragonair, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Airways has started a daily direct service between Hong Kong and Bangalore. As part of its plan to increase flight frequency to India, the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has added 20 new flights to India. Bangalore is the seventh new destination Dragonair has launched since becoming part of the Cathay Pacific Group in September 2006. Dragonair and Cathay Pacific Airways together operate 35 flights from India.
EMIRATES LAUNCHES FLIGHT TO KOZHIKODE
The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) airline Emirates has launched its flights to Kozhikode in India and Guangzhou in China. The Dubai-based airline is launching six flights a week each to the Indian and Chinese cities. The launch of Emirates' flights to Kozhikode will allow international tourists to cover the length and breadth of Kerala more conveniently, by enabling them to arrive in northern Kerala and depart from the state's southern region or vice versa. The new flights will also serve Keralites living in the Gulf region and visiting home each year.A large number of the 1.5 million expatriate Indians in the UAE hail from Kerala. Stating that Emirates has a robust presence in the Middle East, serving the region with 163 weekly flights to 12 gateways via its Dubai hub. Kozhikode is Emirates' third gateway in Kerala and its 10th in India, and the new operations will increase the airline's number of flights to India to 125 a week.
This is the highest frequency operated by an international carrier serving India. According to the new schedule, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the flight will leave Dubai at 2:15 p.m. local time and reach Kozhikode at 7:50 p.m. The return flight will take off from Kozhikode at 9:20 p.m. and reach Dubai at 11:40 p.m. On Thursday and Saturdays, the flight will depart from Dubai 3:30 a.m. and arrive in Kozhikode at 9:05 a.m. The return flight will leave Kozhikode at 10:35 a.m. and reach Dubai 12:55 p.m. The airline said it would operate both Boeing 777-200 and A330-200 aircraft on the Kozhikode route. Emirates' efficient and reliable air links will facilitate inbound arrivals from over 60 countries on six continents, and will support the Chinese authorities as they ready to welcome over half a million international tourists for the Beijing Olympics 2008
GULF AIR TO ADD THREE NEW DESTINATIONS EVERY YEAR
Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air, which has recently launched its services to Hyderabad, announced plans to add three new destinations to its network every year. The airline, which made Hyderabad its eighth destination in India, also plans to add three aircraft to its fleet every year over the next five years and aims to become the best and biggest airline in the world. Gulf Air, which launched services to China's commercial capital Shanghai last month, currently operates flights to 40 destinations in 26 countries and has 30 aircraft. An Airbus A320-200 will serve the daily non-stop service between Bahrain and Hyderabad. The airline is already operating flights to Banglore, Chennai, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. It operates over 275 flights per month offering 50,000 seats to eight destinations and plans to add two more destinations, Calicut and Ahmedabad, within a year. The airline operated 588 flights every week in the Middle East, with more non-stop flights than any other airline.
SIEMENS TO HANDLE BAGGAGE AT DELHI AIRPORT
Siemens Mobility Division (Siemens AG) along with Siemens Limited has bagged Rs 300-crore contract from the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) for terminal baggage system at the Delhi Airport. According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, the project is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2010. Terminal 3 is also expected to be completed around the same time. In future, bags can be handed at 168 check-in-desks at the departure level of the terminal, which covers an area of 5, 20,000 sq. mtrs. Five desks will be assigned for over-sized luggage. The sorting system has been designed for a capacity of over 11,300 bags per hour and has a total length of almost 13 kms. For this purpose, tilt-tray sorters, as well as vertical sorters and high-speed diverters will be used.
CRM GLOBAL TO REPRESENT THE MARMARA HOTELS IN INDIA
CRM Global Enterprises will represent the Turkish hotel chain, The Marmara Hotels & Residences, in India. One of the largest hotel chains in Turkey, The Marmara has nine hotel properties in Turkey and one in New York. CRM Global Enterprises is a company launched by Parmod Sahni, former sales and marketing manager of Turkish Airlines in India.
DE SOUZA GROUP TO OPEN EIGHT TO TEN APART HOTELS BY 2018
Goa-based, de Souza Group which opened its first apart hotel property ‘Surya Sangolda,’ plans to build eight to ten apart hotels by 2018. The concept of apart hotel is a fusion of apartment and hotel, providing the service of a hotel with the space and benefits of a fully furnished luxury apartment. The apart hotel will have a room inventory of maximum 35 rooms at each of the apart hotel to be built. All the apart properties to be built will be in the non-coastal areas. At the existing apart hotel, Surya Sangolda, the de Souza Group has undertaken development keeping nature in mind. Each room at the Surya Sangolda incurred an investment of about Rs 50 lakh. Though the property was started on a trial basis, the Group is now looking at marketing it well to the tourists visiting Goa.
Did you know ?
Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.