Travel News from India Invites
RED FORT OFFICIALLY DECLARED UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE: On November 23 UNESCO handed over a certificate and a plaque formally notifying the Red Fort as a World Heritage Site. With this, Delhi becomes the first in the country to have three World Heritage Sites — the other two being Humayun’s Tomb and the Qutub Minar.
UNESCO has also recognised the colonial structures built by the British inside the Fort complex. These unused buildings will display uniforms, artefacts and other insignia showcasing not only colonial, but also significant chapters of Indian history. Two museums which are within the fort complex – the Mumtaz Mahal museum and the Indian war museum – which presently exhibit these artefacts will be shifted into two of these buildings. Meantime, a restaurant called Dawat Khana has become operational, inside the Red fort premises, open for lunch for tourists.
NEW YEAR'S GIFT FROM INDIAN RAILWAYS: After months of will-it-won't-it speculations, the Railway Department has now decided to go ahead with the proposal for automated teller machine (ATM) facility on moving trains. As a beginning, the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) will install an ATM on the Delhi-Agra Shatabdi Express, which is likely to be operational by February 15. After the project's success, the railways plan to extend similar facility on other routes too. The railways propose to rope in six nationalised banks for setting up ATMs at various railway stations.
PERSONALISED VINTAGE WHISKY FOR ITC WELCOMGROUP: The Rare Whisky Collection is, perhaps, the only private vintage in the world to offer personalized whiskies as old as between 22 and 29 years and sometimes even more. In India, its first customer, ITC Welcomgroup, will now have a private vintage cask of our own label – the private vintage 1975, a 32 year-old malt. The label on the bottle will have customized messages to suit the occasion
CHANGING OF GUARD AT PRESIDENT'S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE NOW OPEN TO TOURISTS: The traditional changing of guard ceremony at the President's official residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan' can now be viewed by tourists. The ceremony will be a major event for tourists visiting the Capital. The military ritual, a ceremony in which infantry Army Guards and the President's Bodyguards, smartly attired and riding horses, change guard with clockwork precision, will be open to the public on Saturday mornings. The show will be conducted for the public from 10 am during winter and 8 am in summer. Around 150 foot soldiers, along with 36 horses, will take part in the ritual. The public can watch it from between the North and South Blocks free of cost.
WAR MEMORIAL TOURISM IN NORTH-EAST INDIA: The Northeast's rich legacy of being one of the main battlegrounds of the World War-II has many takers now. The countless soldiers, who fell fighting for the country would have been forgotten, but for the War Memorials that stand in faraway places like Kohima, Imphal, Guwahati and Digboi. The sites, where the battle actually took place about 63 years ago, have now turned to lush, azure hills, and the epitaph reads: "When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today".
NONGKHNUM RIVER ISLAND IN MEGHALAY TO BECOME TOURIST ATTRACTION: Nongkhnum River Island on Kynshai river in the West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, was discovered by a group of students during their project work in 1996. The state government is now promoting it as a tourist destination and will carry out a survey to ascertain if it can claim to be the second largest river Island of Asia. The Island, owned by four brothers of the Nongslej clan, has five houses which belong to them. It also has three waterfalls Thum, Wenia and Langshaing. Rebuilding of roads, developing infrastructure near the Island and a guest house are part of the government's plans to turn this scenic spot into a tourist attraction.
January 26, 2008
Posted in: India