Insight: Why India Is Not So ‘Incredible’ For Tourists?

By Aeman Fatima / Hyderabad

On paper, India should be a tourist powerhouse. The country has all the right ingredients – good food, rich culture, beautiful historic monuments, spirituality, and diversity – to lure travellers from all over the world. Yet India lags behind Asian tourist hubs like Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and China.

While tourism in India continues to increase, with 6.65 million tourists visiting the country in 2012, it grew just 5% over 2011. Bhutan and Sri Lanka — from the same south Asian region — recorded over 17% growth in the same year.

Election Tourism: The New Mantra For 'Varanasi' Travel

By Saraswat Sinha | INNLIVE

SPECIAL REPORT Foreigners keen on experiencing a slice of Indian elections are being treated to guided tours of this holy city and many of them have taken this opportunity to create awareness among voters urging them to exercise their franchise.    

As political decibels rise, Varanasi is turning into a tourist magnet. "These tours are part of 'Heart of India', designed by a US-based operator which takes them to different parts of the country before ending in Varanasi. And, as the city has riveted the attention of the entire country, I thought it was only fitting to show them the heart of Indian democracy too," Som Nath, who conducts the tour here, told INNLIVE.  

Andaman & Nicobar Islands, A Forgotten Paradise

During my two-week stay in the islands, this was one discussion constantly coming up no matter which island I went to. The beaches at Andaman and Nicobar islands are just as good. The waters here shimmer in a million shades of blue and the dive sites are one of the best all over the world. Everyone, from the tourism department to resort owners and private tour operators as well as the locals, talks about this.

They knew the answer lay in the lack of infrastructure. I can vouch for that. Having travelled to few remote islands in the Andaman group, I understood what they meant. My deep-rooted need to escape the crowd drove me to places as remote as Long Island and Little Andaman. I stayed in dingy places and stared alone, taking in the wondrous views. When my phone caught signal after a week, I called home. My family chided me because I didn’t take them with me to Andaman. I retorted saying they wouldn’t be able to stay at the places that I did and travel the way that I did. But in reality, I truly wished I could show them what I saw.

Port Blair and Havelock Island are the only places with good accommodation options. Elsewhere you are at the mercy of some enterprising locals who thought of setting up lodging facility. These places, mainly targeting the foreign backpacker, have put up extremely basic accommodation. Connectivity between the islands is a problem too, with ships running on limited schedules. While it sounds very exotic to stay in remote islands with absolutely no tourists and facilities, it doesn’t do much good to the locals.

Muthu, a migrant from Kovalam who now runs a surf board rental in Little Andaman, tells me the government decision to ban camping on the beaches has been good to the locals. “If everyone camps on the beach, then what do we get?” he asks. Indro’s family migrated to Andaman many years ago, even before he was born. Today, he lives in Kalipur with his wife and three children. Before the only private resort in Kalipur opened up, he couldn’t find much work and supporting his family wasn’t that easy. He tells me things have been much better since he got work at the resort. He now takes guests hiking up Saddle Peak among others.

In early 2000s, the three existing timber factories were shut down when the Supreme Court banned logging in the islands. This left the many migrant factory workers without a living. Today, they live off the island by fishing, few on pension and others take up small jobs here and there. But the youth still remains largely unemployed in most of these islands. Long Island is a remote island that can be reached by a six-hour boat ride from Havelock. Pawan, a teenager from this island, accompanied me on my three-hour trek to the pristine Lallaji Bay. When I asked him what he did for a living, spitting the tobacco, he answered very casually that he took up odd jobs on the island every now and then. Back at the resort in Long Island, a young girl named Soniya served me tea. Just about a month ago, having heard of this place, she convinced her parents in Rangat, a small town in Middle Andaman, to let her work here.

Tourism could be a key proponent in boosting the economy and solving the unemployment problem in the rising settler population. The islands have immense potential. But like any other place, this place is unique in its own right and tourism has to be managed carefully in a way not to disturb the delicate balance of the existing ecosystem. The forests are pristine and the marine life remarkable, lot of them endemic to these islands. In fact, the place is so remote and so pristine I have half a mind to not write anything about it and let it be the well-kept secret that it is today.

Havelock Island is already beginning to show effects of excess tourism. These islands survive on limited resources which makes it even more imperative to share the tourism load between different islands. In order to protect the islands, however, cutting down tourism at the roots is not the solution. The solution lies in managing tourism in collaboration with the locals to generate enough income and awareness.

Even before taking on tourism on a large scale, there are a few critical problems that have to be addressed first. The major one being that of power generation. Of the 572 islands, 38 are inhabited and almost all these islands depend on diesel for electricity! Considering diesel has to be imported from the mainland and electricity is provided at highly subsidised rates, the government incurs huge losses and I am scared to even consider the massive carbon footprint of the islands. Local resources such as solar, tidal, wind and bio-mass could be considered as alternative options for power generation. The second is that of solid waste management. I have seen parts of the pristine shore lines at Havelock and Neil filled with plastic waste that wash up from the sea.

When I was travelling from Port Blair to Neil by ship, many times the ship passed by plastic bottles floating in the blue waters. Apart from garbage generated by tourists, washed up plastic from the mainland also forms a bulk of the waste collected on the shore. As of now, most of the trash is either thrown into the sea or burnt. GreenLife Society, a local NGO, has tied up with several resorts in Havelock to collect and recycle the plastic waste and has seen some success. But steps have to be taken on a much higher level to deal with all the plastic in the islands.

Apart from these, the islands are also facing a lot of environmental issues, such as several endemic floras in the forests of Interview Island being destroyed by the abandoned elephants used for logging earlier or the introduced species of deer wreaking havoc on the growth of new forest or that of bleached corals. Despite all this, it is extremely sad that the only two occasions when Andaman & Nicobar was talked about was when Tsunami struck and the issue of Jarawas’ exploitation popped up.

About 1,200 km away from the mainland, we almost seem to have forgotten that this paradise is part of India too with its share of problems. These islands are too precious to be ignored and everyone deserves a chance to witness the extraordinary beauty here. The trick is in finding a balance between growing tourism and preserving the islands and that is a very delicate balance indeed.

Focus: Healthy Growth, Stability Of Indian Medical Tourism

By Ramesh Menon (Guest Writer)

India is a hotbed of activity, despite the crisis it faces. There is a surging civil society movement determined to make democracy work. It is now demanding the implementation of a pragmatic bill to clamp down on corruption and give the country a new deal. 

A political party which is just a year old with all newcomers who are commoners has taken reins of power in the capital as political dowagers of mainline national parties bite the dust. Business may have slowed down with international market pressures and slack governance that is now punctuating India. But most think it is only a passing phase as the country can ill-afford not to grow. A mood of pessimism has crept into one of the promising economies of the world. The overwhelming feeling is that India needs to put its act together.

INDIA BECKONS AT DUBAI’S ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET

By Mehveen Khalid / Dubai

India is a kaleidoscope of diversity and culture. With its rich civilization  natural beauty, vivid festivals, exotic beaches and architectural marvels the country charms everyone – from bagpackers to high-end tourists. Whether it’s the grandeur of the palace and heritage hotels of Rajasthan or the serene calm of houseboats in Kashmir, India mesmerizes those who visit it. From the magnificent Himalayas to the beautiful backwaters of Kerala, the country is home to more than 28 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites. It is a land that overlaps many centuries, tastes, religions, customs and colours. For the discerning traveler, India offers an incredible mosaic of wonderment.

Travel Destination: Plan A Vacation To 'Bamiyan Buddhas' In Afghanistan, A Beautiful Tourist Haven!

By LIKHA VEER | INNLIVE

Ali Mohammad has a little cart near the giant gaps in the mountain that once held the mighty Buddha statues in the Bamiyan province of Afghanistan. He sells piping hot chicken soup to the several tourists that visit the historical site every year. “Many foreigners come here to see what’s left of the Buddhas; especially a lot of Chinese tourists,” informs the 19-year-old.

While tourism may not be the first thing you associate with Afghanistan, the country does have much to offer to an avid traveller. And for those who call this country their home, have to often meet the contradictions of common stereotypes with the famous Afghan hospitality.

'India Tourism will Lead the World Soon': Chiranjeevi

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

K Chiranjeevi has played many roles in his acting career. But the role he is playing in real life is tougher: that of a minister. He has managed to bring a whiff of fresh air into the stuffy corridors of power. The tourism ministry he heads has been on a high of late with increasing foreign tourist arrivals in the last few months. Excerpts from a free-wheeling interview:

Foreign tourist arrivals have increased in the recent months by 2.3 per cent. What accounts for this growth?
We have still not analysed the increase. But there has been growth, as was reported by the media.

Int'nl Tourism Event 'Skips Charminar Agenda' in Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh seems to have missed a golden opportunity to showcase its iconic heritage sites like the Charminar and Qutub Shahi tombs before foreign delegates likely to attend a three-day international tourism event that will begin here from April 12, officials said.

According to them, none of the 375 foreign delegates, who will attend the mega event to be sponsored by UN World Tourism Organisation, will get to visit those rare heritage sites.

“Though these heritage sites hold attraction for tourists, they won’t be shown to the participants of the mega international event,” said an official.

“By not including such important heritage sites in the foreign delegates’ itinerary, we have really lost a golden opportunity to popularise our state as a heritage destination worldwide”, he told this correspondent.

‘Sustainable Tourism Development’ has been chosen as the theme of the upcoming three-day conference.  As per the programme, three separate conferences will be organised. One of these will be a joint meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and Pacific and the UNWTO for South Asia. Besides, the conference and the joint commission meeting are also proposed to be held.

While the foreign delegates will be put up in plush hotels and shown places like Ramoji Film city, Nagarjunsagar Lake etc. the iconic heritage sites like the Charminar, Qutub Shahi Tomb, Chowmahalla Palace and the grand Salarjung Museum won’t form a part of their itinerary, regretted an official. The same goes for other prime sites like Warangal and the Araku Valley or the sites that have been selected by the government to ignite foreign tourists’ interest in the state’s tribal and village tourism.

“We will provide all details soon,” was all an official said when asked why the government ch-ose not to show the foreign delegates the rare heritage sites. A close aide of the Union tourism minister, K. Chiranjeevi said the latter would soon announce the details of the propose event. He, also revealed that the Chiranjeevi, a film icon in his own right, had also produced a short film on the rich cultural heritage of Hyderabad, which would be shown to foreign delegates during the conference.

Asia dives into moon race

By M H Ahsan & M Raja

With the Chinese and Japanese making plans to establish moon bases, can India be far behind? "Global players have declared that by 2020, they will have their bases on the moon," Madhavan Nair, chief of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), declared on August 18. "I don't think India can afford to be lagging behind in that." Nair said ISRO is defining technologies needed for India's first manned space mission in an Indian space vehicle scheduled for 2015 (Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma spent eight days aboard a Soviet Soyuz T-11 in 1984).

Fifty-nine of 122 lunar probes launched worldwide were successful. More are heading moonward in a renewed interest in Earth's neighbor 385,000 kilometers away. Leading Asia's moon ambitions is the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which rescheduled its lunar orbiter, Kaguya, to September 13 instead of this month. On August 17, China insisted its lunar Chang'e I program is purely scientific and not competing with any other country (read Japan).

India is expected to invest US$1.5 billion over the next five years to develop technologies for a manned space flight by 2015 and a moon flight by 2020. Most of the designing, research and technical jobs are to be completed by 2012. The United States wants a permanent outpost on the moon. This month, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released a master list of potential lunar objectives, consulting more than 1,000 people from businesses, and it included developing lunar commerce.

Scientists say moon resources could support life on Earth with cheaper and cleaner energy and help human exploration of the solar system and outer space with cheaper rocket fuel and space-travel construction materials. Lunar mineral deposits include aluminum, magnesium, titanium, iron (for building moon structures), and silicon (to make solar cells for energy), besides the lunar soil enriched with oxygen (for astronauts to breathe and for making rocket fuel) and hydrogen; the soil could also be melted into casts and used as construction blocks. Former Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt says a tonne of helium-3 from the moon could be returned to Earth to produce fusion power that would be price-competitive with oil at $30 a barrel. But this technology could be still decades away to make it cost-effective.

"If investment visionaries have their way, the moon of the 21st century is going to be dotted with robot factories, underground cities, power towers, tourist stopovers, science stations, even lunar burial sites," promised Space.com at the turn of the millennium, reporting on the second annual Lunar Development Conference held in the US and attended by entrepreneurs, land developers, space technologists and researchers. Growing interest in space tourism makes moon inhabitation closer to reality.

Patrick Collins, a space-tourism expert and professor of economics at Azabu University, Japan, says that just 10% of existing governmental space budgets would be needed to make space tourism a $100-billion-a-year business. Russia's Federal Space Agency has announced a moon-tourism project to be launched by 2010. With California-based Space Adventures and the Tokyo-based travel agency JTB Corp as partners, the project offers around-the-moon trips on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Two tourists per trip will go on the moon ride, accompanied by a professional astronaut. The return ticket? Just $100 million. Shimizu Space Systems, a Japanese company working on space and lunar tourism, plans to build lunar bases with inflatable buildings served with golf courses and tennis courts.

A Lunar Hilton bigger than the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, could dot the moonscape if British architect Peter Inston's designs for a lunar complex for Hilton International appears. The Lunar Hilton would be a 5,000-room, domed, solar-energy-powered structure, with drinking water from lunar ice, and with restaurants, a church, a beach, and moon buses taking guests on lunar picnics. Asia could soon have its versions of the Texas-based Moon Society, affiliated to the Artemis Society, whose Artemis Project works to "design, fund and deploy the first private lunar base for commerce and tourism".

The Moon Society's top agenda is to establish human communities on the moon and promote large-scale industrialization and private enterprise on the moon. Greenpeace, of course, would then have its lunar branch. NASA, aiming for a moon base at either the north or south pole of the moon, estimates that by 2024, there will be continual presence on the moon, with International Space Station-like crews being rotated around the year. Private US space companies are already in business, each with projects to send orbiters, landers or robot rovers to the moon in the next few years.

On August 13, California-based SpaceDev - describing itself as "an entrepreneurial space-systems company" - declared its second-quarter and six-month fiscal results, reporting $17.7 million in revenue, a 12% increase from the previous year. TransOrbital, with its tagline "The moon is open for business," says it's the first private company to be authorized by the US State Department for commercial flights to the moon. Given the Indo-Chinese economic-growth rate, Asian companies will not be far behind.

Asia dives into moon race

By M H Ahsan & M Raja

With the Chinese and Japanese making plans to establish moon bases, can India be far behind? "Global players have declared that by 2020, they will have their bases on the moon," Madhavan Nair, chief of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), declared on August 18. "I don't think India can afford to be lagging behind in that." Nair said ISRO is defining technologies needed for India's first manned space mission in an Indian space vehicle scheduled for 2015 (Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma spent eight days aboard a Soviet Soyuz T-11 in 1984).

Fifty-nine of 122 lunar probes launched worldwide were successful. More are heading moonward in a renewed interest in Earth's neighbor 385,000 kilometers away. Leading Asia's moon ambitions is the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which rescheduled its lunar orbiter, Kaguya, to September 13 instead of this month. On August 17, China insisted its lunar Chang'e I program is purely scientific and not competing with any other country (read Japan).

India is expected to invest US$1.5 billion over the next five years to develop technologies for a manned space flight by 2015 and a moon flight by 2020. Most of the designing, research and technical jobs are to be completed by 2012. The United States wants a permanent outpost on the moon. This month, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released a master list of potential lunar objectives, consulting more than 1,000 people from businesses, and it included developing lunar commerce.

Scientists say moon resources could support life on Earth with cheaper and cleaner energy and help human exploration of the solar system and outer space with cheaper rocket fuel and space-travel construction materials. Lunar mineral deposits include aluminum, magnesium, titanium, iron (for building moon structures), and silicon (to make solar cells for energy), besides the lunar soil enriched with oxygen (for astronauts to breathe and for making rocket fuel) and hydrogen; the soil could also be melted into casts and used as construction blocks. Former Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt says a tonne of helium-3 from the moon could be returned to Earth to produce fusion power that would be price-competitive with oil at $30 a barrel. But this technology could be still decades away to make it cost-effective.

"If investment visionaries have their way, the moon of the 21st century is going to be dotted with robot factories, underground cities, power towers, tourist stopovers, science stations, even lunar burial sites," promised Space.com at the turn of the millennium, reporting on the second annual Lunar Development Conference held in the US and attended by entrepreneurs, land developers, space technologists and researchers. Growing interest in space tourism makes moon inhabitation closer to reality.

Patrick Collins, a space-tourism expert and professor of economics at Azabu University, Japan, says that just 10% of existing governmental space budgets would be needed to make space tourism a $100-billion-a-year business. Russia's Federal Space Agency has announced a moon-tourism project to be launched by 2010. With California-based Space Adventures and the Tokyo-based travel agency JTB Corp as partners, the project offers around-the-moon trips on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Two tourists per trip will go on the moon ride, accompanied by a professional astronaut. The return ticket? Just $100 million. Shimizu Space Systems, a Japanese company working on space and lunar tourism, plans to build lunar bases with inflatable buildings served with golf courses and tennis courts.

A Lunar Hilton bigger than the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, could dot the moonscape if British architect Peter Inston's designs for a lunar complex for Hilton International appears. The Lunar Hilton would be a 5,000-room, domed, solar-energy-powered structure, with drinking water from lunar ice, and with restaurants, a church, a beach, and moon buses taking guests on lunar picnics. Asia could soon have its versions of the Texas-based Moon Society, affiliated to the Artemis Society, whose Artemis Project works to "design, fund and deploy the first private lunar base for commerce and tourism".

The Moon Society's top agenda is to establish human communities on the moon and promote large-scale industrialization and private enterprise on the moon. Greenpeace, of course, would then have its lunar branch. NASA, aiming for a moon base at either the north or south pole of the moon, estimates that by 2024, there will be continual presence on the moon, with International Space Station-like crews being rotated around the year. Private US space companies are already in business, each with projects to send orbiters, landers or robot rovers to the moon in the next few years.

On August 13, California-based SpaceDev - describing itself as "an entrepreneurial space-systems company" - declared its second-quarter and six-month fiscal results, reporting $17.7 million in revenue, a 12% increase from the previous year. TransOrbital, with its tagline "The moon is open for business," says it's the first private company to be authorized by the US State Department for commercial flights to the moon. Given the Indo-Chinese economic-growth rate, Asian companies will not be far behind.

UNDERWATER AQUARIUMS TO BOOST TOURISM IN AP

By Saeed Mirza / Hyderabad

While construction of underwater tunnel aquariums are expected to cost Rs. 100 crore each, the water sports facility at Nagarjunasagar will be a Rs. 250-crore project

The Tourism Department in its effort to offer new tourism and entertainment options to tourists in the State, is planning to construct two world-class underwater tunnel aquariums and marine theme parks in the capital and also at Visakhapatnam. The department is also working on developing a water sports and marine theme park at Nagarjunasagar as well.

The 'Kumbh Mela' Of Elections Cashing For Indian Tourism

By Siddharth Shukla | INNLIVE

Election in the world's largest democracy is ringing in cash for India's tourism trade as tour operators and hoteliers are promoting the new theme-based holiday package.

Advertised as the 'Kumbh Mela' of elections, tour operators, online sales agents, speciality and niche guide-touring firms are also cashing in on the five-week-long election polling exercise.

"Election tourism is new a phenomenon which is fast gaining popularity. It is being marketed as an additional attraction to those who are already planning a trip or made their bookings for holidays in India," Sharat Dhall, president, Yatra.com, told INNLIVE.

INCREDIBLE! CHIRANJEEVI'S IDEA OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

By Mukund Rao / New Delhi

Ever had a cup of tea for Rs 1,200 and lunch at Rs 3,500 per head? Sounds outrageous? 

Now, simply multiply the cost of one tea by 200 cups, and lunch by 150 people, and you will land up with a whopping bill of Rs 2.4 lakh and Rs 5.25 lakh respectively. That is exactly how much the Ministry of Tourism, under Union Minister of State Chiranjeevi, paid for its guests for just a day during the recently held United Nations World Tourism Organisation conference on Sustainable Tourism Development. And if you’re wondering how much the entire expense of the conference was — it was a staggering Rs 2.14 crore for three days. This was revealed by an RTI enquiry filed by city-based activist Sai Prasad.

‍‍Kinnerasani Eco-Tourism Project Struck Between Lack of Political Will And Govt Apathy In Telangana

The Kinnerasani Eco-Tourism Project commenced in 2015 and went on briskly till 2018 and later due to the political tensions and clashes the project became neglected. Now  this project need attention for revival as water resources developed in Telangana.

People are blaming Kothagudem MLA Vanama Venkateswara Rao for not following up on Kinnerasani Eco-Tourism Project by way of getting clearances from forest department and getting funds. This has led to the project, started six and a half years ago, getting delayed.

Earlier, former MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao of TRS had focused on development of tourism in Kothagudem district. As part of it, a budget hotel, boat club and revival of Addala Meda (glasshouse) was planned. The Addala Meda had been built by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and was a famous spot in Kinnerasani. However, it was destroyed by Maoists by planting landmines.

It may be recalled that NITI Aayog released funds Rs. 3.23 crore for renovation of dilapidated cottages and give boost to tourism within Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary spread over 633 square kilometers and populated by a variety of wildlife species.

Following NITI Aayog’s initiative, then Kothagudem MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao followed up with the state government and got Rs. 7.53 crore allotted for the project.

The Kinnerasani Eco-Tourism Project commenced in 2015 and went on briskly till 2018. However, things changed after that. Venkat Rao lost the election to Vanama Venkateswara Rao of Congress, who went on to later join the TRS. But Venkat Rao has not shown interest in completing the pending works.

The project is also languishing due to forest department putting in various queries for giving permission to set up a sewerage treatment plant (STP) and laying a road for connecting the budget hotel. Though the forest department gave land for the hotel and cottages, it is not clearing the land required for constructing the road and other utilities.

Ramakrishna, an engineer looking after the project, said: “Sewerage treatment plant is very important. Sewage cannot be let into the Kinnerasani River. Some land is required for setting up the STP. But forest department is not giving permissions,” he maintained.

Forest officer Damodar Reddy said they have no objection to the Kinnerasani project in the permitted area. “In the process, we cannot allow works in the forest area that damage the environment,” he maintained.

K. Surender, a citizen of Kothagudem said, “Political will is needed to settle these issues. Local MLA Venkateswara Rao must take the project seriously. Otherwise, it will continue languishing,” he added. #KhabarLive #hydnews

Asia dives into moon race

By M H Ahsan & M Raja

With the Chinese and Japanese making plans to establish moon bases, can India be far behind? "Global players have declared that by 2020, they will have their bases on the moon," Madhavan Nair, chief of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), declared on August 18. "I don't think India can afford to be lagging behind in that." Nair said ISRO is defining technologies needed for India's first manned space mission in an Indian space vehicle scheduled for 2015 (Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma spent eight days aboard a Soviet Soyuz T-11 in 1984).

Fifty-nine of 122 lunar probes launched worldwide were successful. More are heading moonward in a renewed interest in Earth's neighbor 385,000 kilometers away. Leading Asia's moon ambitions is the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which rescheduled its lunar orbiter, Kaguya, to September 13 instead of this month. On August 17, China insisted its lunar Chang'e I program is purely scientific and not competing with any other country (read Japan).

India is expected to invest US$1.5 billion over the next five years to develop technologies for a manned space flight by 2015 and a moon flight by 2020. Most of the designing, research and technical jobs are to be completed by 2012. The United States wants a permanent outpost on the moon. This month, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released a master list of potential lunar objectives, consulting more than 1,000 people from businesses, and it included developing lunar commerce.

Scientists say moon resources could support life on Earth with cheaper and cleaner energy and help human exploration of the solar system and outer space with cheaper rocket fuel and space-travel construction materials. Lunar mineral deposits include aluminum, magnesium, titanium, iron (for building moon structures), and silicon (to make solar cells for energy), besides the lunar soil enriched with oxygen (for astronauts to breathe and for making rocket fuel) and hydrogen; the soil could also be melted into casts and used as construction blocks. Former Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt says a tonne of helium-3 from the moon could be returned to Earth to produce fusion power that would be price-competitive with oil at $30 a barrel. But this technology could be still decades away to make it cost-effective.

"If investment visionaries have their way, the moon of the 21st century is going to be dotted with robot factories, underground cities, power towers, tourist stopovers, science stations, even lunar burial sites," promised Space.com at the turn of the millennium, reporting on the second annual Lunar Development Conference held in the US and attended by entrepreneurs, land developers, space technologists and researchers. Growing interest in space tourism makes moon inhabitation closer to reality.

Patrick Collins, a space-tourism expert and professor of economics at Azabu University, Japan, says that just 10% of existing governmental space budgets would be needed to make space tourism a $100-billion-a-year business. Russia's Federal Space Agency has announced a moon-tourism project to be launched by 2010. With California-based Space Adventures and the Tokyo-based travel agency JTB Corp as partners, the project offers around-the-moon trips on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Two tourists per trip will go on the moon ride, accompanied by a professional astronaut. The return ticket? Just $100 million. Shimizu Space Systems, a Japanese company working on space and lunar tourism, plans to build lunar bases with inflatable buildings served with golf courses and tennis courts.

A Lunar Hilton bigger than the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, could dot the moonscape if British architect Peter Inston's designs for a lunar complex for Hilton International appears. The Lunar Hilton would be a 5,000-room, domed, solar-energy-powered structure, with drinking water from lunar ice, and with restaurants, a church, a beach, and moon buses taking guests on lunar picnics. Asia could soon have its versions of the Texas-based Moon Society, affiliated to the Artemis Society, whose Artemis Project works to "design, fund and deploy the first private lunar base for commerce and tourism".

The Moon Society's top agenda is to establish human communities on the moon and promote large-scale industrialization and private enterprise on the moon. Greenpeace, of course, would then have its lunar branch. NASA, aiming for a moon base at either the north or south pole of the moon, estimates that by 2024, there will be continual presence on the moon, with International Space Station-like crews being rotated around the year. Private US space companies are already in business, each with projects to send orbiters, landers or robot rovers to the moon in the next few years.

On August 13, California-based SpaceDev - describing itself as "an entrepreneurial space-systems company" - declared its second-quarter and six-month fiscal results, reporting $17.7 million in revenue, a 12% increase from the previous year. TransOrbital, with its tagline "The moon is open for business," says it's the first private company to be authorized by the US State Department for commercial flights to the moon. Given the Indo-Chinese economic-growth rate, Asian companies will not be far behind.

Focus: Bringing 'Hollywood' To The 'Desert Of Abu Dhabi'

A red Porsche sports car speeds down a California street known to be popular for drifting cars. Driven at around 160kmh and with a former professional racer at the wheel, it eventually loses control, crashes into a concrete pole and bursts in flames.

While the scene was caught on film and the passenger in the car was actor Paul Walker, famous as the Hollywood star of the high-adrenalin, billion-dollar Fast and Furious film franchise, this was no film set.

New Filmi Initiatives: Bringing Hollywood To The Desert

By Rasul Al Harthy | INNLIVE 

EXCLUSIVE A red Porsche sports car speeds down a California street known to be popular for drifting cars. Driven at around 160kmh and with a former professional racer at the wheel, it eventually loses control, crashes into a concrete pole and bursts in flames.

While the scene was caught on film and the passenger in the car was actor Paul Walker, famous as the Hollywood star of the high-adrenalin, billion-dollar Fast and Furious film franchise, this was no film set.

From Kashmir To Srirangam — A Tale Of Medieval Tourism

By Prakash Villai | INNLIVE

Tourism was a highly-developed economic and cultural activity in South India during the medieval period with even people from Kashmir in the far north ventured deep into the region to support temples and cultural activities, an expert in the field said.

“From the epigraphs available of the period, it is clear that there was a lot of North-South movement. Generally, people from North India are termed as Aryan in the inscriptions. You can see people from Kashmir and Bengal in many pilgrim centres of South India,” historian and epigraph-specialist S. Chandni Bi of the Aligarh Muslim University’s history department told INNLIVE in an interview.

“There are many inscriptions in Tamil denoting the presence of Kashmiri people. They are seen as donors, making endowments to the Srirangam, Tiruvottiyur, Kancheepuram and Chidambaram temples, to mention only a few. There are at least eight Tamil epigraphs that mention Kashmiri donors between the 11th and 13th centuries,” she added.

Special Report: 'Suddh Godavari' Should Flow With 'Glory'

In the path of Suddhh Ganga, now Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments are making Suddhh Godavari to clean and making the religious customs and traditions alive. 

One of the most revered rivers for the Hindus, the Godavari originates from the famous pilgrim center Nashik of Maharashtra and travels 1465 kilometer to meet the Bay of Bengal. On her journey the Godavari provides livelihood to millions of people in Maharashtra, Telangana  and Andhra Pradesh. 

Charminar Area Dug Up Against Law, What ASI Doing?

By Aeman Fatima Nishat / Hyderabad

India's Heritage Icon and Hyderabad's Pride - Charminar is in danger. Construction Activity Near Monument Goes Unchecked. Destruction of the Charminar heritage precincts continues unabated with three fresh instances of construction activity reported within the 100-metre and 200-metre zones, right under the nose of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), whose job seems to be restricted to just slapping notices. 
     
The ASI, custodian of the 400-year-old monument has sent more than a dozen showcause notices, but most property owners have ignored the toothless giant’s missives. 
    
“Property owners simply don’t come to us to obtain permission,” said an ASI official, underscoring the pathetic state of affairs. 
    
The latest incident of construction within the 100-metre protected zone came to light earlier this month and the ASI facing criticism for going soft on violators, shot off notices to Royal Hotel, a restaurant on the Sardar Mahal stretch, to stop construction work. The correspondence remains ignored.