The City beautiful turns into City Best
Another star for City Beautiful. Now, it's City Best. In what is claimed to be the first ever survey on 'Best cities to live in', magazine Outlook Money has put Chandigarh on the top. The city has scored the highest points on three counts job and income, financial infrastructure and …
Pong Dam tourism potential to be tapped: Chander Kumar
Himachal Pradesh Forest Minister Chander Kumar said that the Pong Dam wetland, known as Maharana Pratap Sagar in Kangra district, would be developed as a tourist destination for which several plans were underway. Addressing a public meeting at Nagrota Surian, he said that it was sad that despite having a …
Northeast: In search for a USP to promote tourism
Northeast India, often described as the country's Wild West ravaged by separatist armed movements and ethnic strife, is in search of a new USP to promote its landscape, rich bio-diversity, wildlife and culture. Last week, at a Northeast Tourism Summit in Shillong, participants found themselves bracing for heated exchange of …
Everest goes online
Fifty years after the first ever conquest of Mount Everest by Tenzing and Hillary, the world's highest peak has gone online. Earlier this week, Tsering Gyaltsen, the grandson of a sherpa who helped shift equipment on that 1953 expedition, kept his own hi-tech tryst with the Himalayas: he has set …
Only 44% pay for water by meter
While water is one of the most scarce and precious resources in the parched city, just 44 per cent subscribers of the 1.4 million water connections pay on the basis of actual consumption. This is because 77 per cent of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) connections are metered and most …
54 m more houses in the last decade
With the Housing Census 2001, the country at last has some data on ownership of houses and consumer durables. Carried out between April and June 2000, the census was released on April 17 by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani. The survey said the number of houses went up from …
Chandigarh the most livable, Delhi not on list
Chandigarh is the best city and Delhi consistently the worst on several counts in India. Six of the top 10 cities in the country are from South India, according to a survey. Only the metros are in the different directions. Chandigarh is the most beautiful and livable city in India, …
Paying a price for urbanisation
As per the draft report while percentage of residential land use has just doubled between 1987 and 2002, a negative growth has been registered in area of open land and parks in Lucknow. Not only this, the rapid urbanisation has also resulted in excessive exploitation of natural resources. Result being …
The best million-plus city
Mumbai is the best city in the country in terms of private finance and tourism, Kolkata has the most impressive relative growth and Bangalore tops in terms of professional education. But it is Delhi, with a modern and large communication network, that has pipped them all in the overall ranking …
Indira Awas Yojana row
Indira Awas Yojana has become the focus of a bitter political war between the ruling Biju Janata Dal - BJP combine and the opposition Congress in Orissa following the recent furore over the death of a Dalit while on dharna in the poverty stricken Nuapada district to demand his IAY …
Vigilance panels mooted for urban growth projects
The Union Urban Affairs Minister, Mr Ananth Kumar, has proposed setting up vigilance and monitoring committees for all urban development schemes to ensure their smooth functioning. Such committees would be chaired by Members of Parliament, Mr Kumar said at a meeting of the consultative committee attached to his Ministry. Outlining …
Kerala pins hopes on Cauvery tribunal
The Kerala Government is hopeful that the Cauvery tribunal will protect its legitimate interests despite the State's unenviable legacy of having had to share precious water while not being adequately compensated by its neighbours in kind. The State Water Resources Minister, Mr T.M. Jacob, told Business Line that the Cauvery …
CAG pulls up MCD for lack of amenities in schools
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's 2001-2002 report has pulled up the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its failure to provide basic amenities like toilets, drinking water, electricity, proper seating arrangements and uniforms to primary schoolchildren. The CAG report said the corporation has violated all purchase norms and …
`Centre to establish model villages`
The Union Government has decided to establish at least one model village in every panchayat union all over the country, at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore each, according to the Union Minister of State for Urban Development, of Tamil Nadu, Mr Pon Radhakrishnan. He pointed out that the …
Big trucking firms clean up their act with natural gas
The Tokyo municipal government plans to tighten regulations governing diesel engine emissions in October prompting an acceleration in the introduction of eco-friendly vehicles in the transport industry. Nippon Express Co. and Yamato Transport Co. have test-introduced heavy-duty trucks fueled by compressed natural gas, while Sagawa Express Co. and Fukuyama Transporting …
Kerala & Rajasthan sign MoU on tourism
In a major interstate partnership in tourism, Kerala and Rajasthan today entered into an agreement aiming at joint marketing of tourism products at international level and mutual extension of expertise and skills to tap the inherent strength of the two states.A memorandum of understanding (MoU0 in this regard was signed …
New norms to put road quality back on track
The government has issued fresh guidelines aimed at strictly controlling quality for execution of the projects in the Rs 60,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), following rampant reports of poor quality and maintenance besides loopholes in pinning responsibility for quality control.
Haryana tourism policy soon
Haryana Government is all set to announce the state tourism policy soon, that would emphasise to develop the state as a "tourist destination" in participation with the private sector. The state has plans to attract foreign investment to set up amusement parks, adventure parks and tourist spots on Haryanavi village …
2,000 jhuggies gutted in Noida
In a possible case of arson, about 2,000 jhuggies and commercial shops of the timber market here were gutted in a major fire in Sector 37 area, Noida. The fire broke out at 2 pm on Thursday, when the Enforcement Department officials of Noida were evacuating the land. The Noida …
CAG pulls up Slum Wing officials for lax attitude
The Slum and JJ Wing of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, responsible for implementation of various schemes and programmes to provide minimum civic amenities and resettlement of sqatter families, has miserably failed to provide the intended amenities and relocate slum dwellers due to its officials lax attitude. Pulling up officials …
