Much to be done for NE, says Gen VK Singh

Kalyan Barooah

NEW DELHI, India, 5^th June, 2014 – In a fresh attempt to reach out to the people of the North East, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has decided to launch a web page exclusively for the region to get feedback directly from the people, newly appointed Minister, General (retd) VK Singh declared here today.

“My first thought in taking over the Ministry of DoNER is that there is a tremendous amount that has to be done for our North East and I would like to assure the country and the people of the region that I am here to implement what the BJP manifesto says and to give due importance to the people of North East,” he said while assuming charge of his Ministry at the Vigyan Bhavan Annexe.

“I want the people of the region not to feel alienated and instead feel a part of this country,” he said. “I want to inform that to connect with North East, we will launch a separate web page, so that people can give their suggestions and mention their problems. And I am ready to meet anybody who wish to meet me. For that I will travel to the North East. We are working on it and in the next week, the web page would be ready and operational,” he informed.

Gen VK Singh

The retired Army General, however, kept off controversial issue and did not take any question on security issues, including border disputes with China, stating that they do not fall under the charter of DoNER Ministry.

“Ï cannot reply to any questions on security issues because the charter of the ministry does not include security. Its charter is development and how to link the North East with the rest of the country and create an atmosphere, which would help in maintaining overall security,” he explained.

When asked for his views on the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the former Army Chief declined to comment. “Today I am speaking as MoS DoNER. AFSPA is a not a charter of this ministry,” he said.

Replying to questions about delay in execution of projects in the region, he admitted that there are a number of projects which are pending for the last 25 years. “My priority is to give due impetus and get these projects implemented within a timeframe,” Singh said.

About corruption in the region, the General said, “I have spent the whole of yesterday reading reports. I have understood what is to be done and what is not to be done. I wish to assure that the system will remain clean.”

Referring to the incidents of assault on people of North East in the National Capital, he said that he would give suggestions to the persons who deal with the matter. “It is my primary concern. I will reach out to the people. I can assure you that you will see a difference,” he said.

SOURCE: The Assam Tribune

Hotel chains Taj, Marriott, Carlson, Accor, Hyatt, others eyeing NE for expansion

MUMBAI, India, 5^th May 2014: Increased inflow of tourists has made northeastern states the next big destination for the hospitality industry, with hotel chains, including Taj, Marriott, Carlson, Accor, Hyatt and Best Western readying expansion plans for the region.

Northeast India has very few branded hotels and offers immense potential to hotel chains that plan to invest in the region, said PR Srinivas, realty firm Cushman & Wakefield’s director of hospitality services in India.

According to the latest data, for 2012-13, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland saw 20-29% increase in foreign tourist arrivals while Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland recorded 36-41% surge in the number of domestic travellers.

Luxury hotel chain Taj is planning to bring its upscale brand Vivanta to Guwahati by June 2015. “The Northeast is the least explored region of India,” said Veer Vijay Singh, chief operating officer of Vivanta by Taj. The 150-room Vivanta Guwahati is being built at an estimated cost of .`166.80 crore. Taj group already has its budget Ginger hotels in Guwahati (Assam) and Agartala (Tripura). “The region is recognised as the eastern gateway for India’s ‘look east policy’ and is also an entry point for the Southeast Asian markets,” said Singh, talking about the significance of the region for Taj group.

Graphical view of Taj Vivanta, Guwahati

Hotel chains face considerable challenges in the region, though. Poor infrastructure and limited connectivity, both within the region and with the rest of the country, are the key constraints for setting up hotels in the Northeast, said Dhruva Rathore, vice-president of development, South Asia, Hyatt Hotel Corporation. In the recent years, local governments, travel companies and airlines have taken several measures to encourage hotel companies and corporate investors to explore these destinations.

In 2013, the tourism ministry organised a three-day ‘international tourism mart’ in Guwahati that saw participation of tourism representatives from India and foreign countries including United States, Thailand and Japan.

SOURCE: The Economic Times

Meaningful Holidays are Here

NIVEDITA GANGULY

GUWAHATI, India, 5th June 2014: A new generation of travellers are seeking to embark on meaningful tours, which give them a chance to be close to nature and understand local issues

George Bernard Shaw once said “I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.” The growing tribe of experiential and volunteer travellers swear by these words. “What is the point of leaving your city and heading into the distant unknown if you are looking to live the same life elsewhere? Travel after all should be meaningful, discovering the local culture, getting close with nature, interacting with the communities and understanding the issues of the place. That takes the idea of travel to an altogether different level,” says Bipasha Majumder, a passionate traveller and a communication consultant.

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Her travel experiences took her through the rugged terrains of Uttarakhand to living close to the wildlife at Pench National Park. But what made her journey different was her involvement with the local communities where she did volunteer work during the stay.

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An increasing number of travellers are seeking to embark on meaningful tours, which give them a chance to be in tune with nature and understand the local issues. So now, you can lend a hand in teaching local communities along with temple tours in Cambodia, do volunteer work for wildlife in South Africa, involve in community work with the local groups in Kerala or the Agency areas of Vizag and teach in a kindergarten and orphanage in Goa. The evolved traveller believes in “doing something” away from the cookie-cutter tour.

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Returning back to her hometown Vizag from Sandhakphu Himalayan expedition, Sunita Kona says it was a profusion of colours, culture and a journey that will stay with her for a lifetime. “The journey and the trek gave me a glimpse of the local communities. Trudging along the dense forest of Singalela National Park, we saw the dense vegetation of oaks, pines, bamboos and learnt about the endemic bird species. Travelling through the region of Darjeeling and the neighbouring places, I could sense the issues surrounding the ‘Gorkhaland’ movement haunting the region for many years now. This kind of an interactive travel experience is very enriching and I feel I am returning back as an evolved person,” she says.

Characterised by a desire to uncover diverse facets of the world, travellers are exploring the path less taken and the boom in travel sector has perked up the industry. Consider this: In 2001, 4.5 million Indians holidayed overseas; in 2011, the number swelled to 14.2 million. Domestic travel boomed too — from 270 million in 2002, the number of travellers soaking in the splendour of Indian destinations zoomed to 851 million in 2011.

This has resulted in a plethora of options of before the travellers today. Groups like ‘Journeys with a Meaning’, for instance, offer specialised tours to foster nuanced perspectives on earth-friendly living, conscious travel and social entrepreneurship.

Moresha Benjamin, who works in the development sector, says her experiences during a trip to Assam and Meghalaya gave a totally different perspective on travel. “It was not just about going around the places. We interacted with the local NGOs and organisations and it gave me a good perspective of the issues the regions face. Be it the rhino poaching problems of Kaziranga or the stark water shortage issues of Cherrapunjee despite being known as the place to record the highest rainfall. The journey made me a more aware and socially conscious traveller,” says the former journalist.

Adventure travel is often clubbed with a dose of local flavour where travellers get to soak in the local culture and taste the cuisine of the region. On his way back from BITS Pilani, Vishaal D.B. planned a week-long solo trip to Solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh where he spent time with the local families apart from experiencing the thrill of paragliding.

Seasoned travellers like Bipasha say that there are many NGOs that offer volunteering services. “Credibility Alliance is a platform of voluntary organisations whose financials are audited and so there is a transparency and authenticity,” she says. Organisations like Satpuda Foundation and Chirag have week-long voluntary services. In order to promote the concept of experiential and volunteer travel, tourism groups like Mountain Shepherds have involved the local communities to carry out a sustainable eco-tourism concept.

“Earlier, most of the trekkers were foreigners but now Indians account for half the number. I look for places that are far away from the tourist circuits. It brings with it the desire and potential to become a better person, something we all strive for,” adds Bipasha.

SOURCE: The Hindu

Assam issues white paper on wildlife conservation

GUWAHATI, India, 2^nd June 2014: Guwahati, Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain Sunday issued a white paper on wildlife conservation in Assam, saying his department has been working seriously to stop the menace of rhino poaching.

A total of 18 one-horned rhinos have been killed since January this year, including 17 in Kaziranga National Park. A total of 42 rhinos were poached in Assam last year which included 27 in Kaziranga.

“We have been taking steps to stop the poaching. When our government came to power in Assam there was lack of manpower in Kaziranga. We have increased the manpower strength to 1,200 inside the park.

Picture for representation

“We have also amended the Wildlife Protection Act so that the jail term of the poachers can be enhanced. We have also empowered the forest personnel to use arms to fight the poachers. Steps like setting up of electronic eye, increase in anti-poaching camps have also been taken,” said Hussain.

His statement came a day after union Minister of State for Sports Sarbananda Sonowal, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from the state, warned that no one involved in the poaching of rhinos would be spared.

Addressing the party office bearers’ meeting at Kaziranga Saturday, Sonowal said a total of 1,060 rhinos were killed by poachers since 2001.

Hussain, justifying the conservation efforts undertaken by the Congress-led government, said the rhino population in the state had also registered a significant increase in the last few years.

“While we had only 1,672 rhinos in Assam in 1999, the last census of the rhinos indicated more than 2,500 rhinos in the state,” he said.

The minister further said that poaching is a global phenomenon and that countries in Africa have also been facing the menace of rhino killing.

SOURCE: Silicon India Travel, IANS

Planning to use crowd funding to travel? Here’s how

MUMBAI, India, 2^nd June, 2014: You’re probably not new to the idea of crowd-funding, but don’t you want to know how to use it to make your travel dreams come true? Avril-Ann Braganza decodes the process.

How would you like to go on a holiday? And what if someone else, or rather, many others paid for your trip? Are you jumping up and down in excitement, yet? Hold your horses! It’s not that easy, but it is possible.

Simon Good and Chris Kastern from South Africa received funds for a trip to Uganda, which was part of a travel bloggers’ tour. Simon couldn’t make it because of an accident, but Chris did. The tour had three main objectives: The first was to raise awareness about the plight of mountain gorillas and the benefits of responsible tourism. The second goal was to highlight the importance of iconic African National Parks and Reserves in conserving the continent’s natural integrity. The third aim was to promote overland trekking in Africa to the domestic tourist market and inspire leisure travel to the continent.

They obtained a great deal of monetary and non-monetary support, but they monetised the non-monetary support for easier tracking purposes. “We received hiking gear from Hi-Tec and Cape Union Mart, travel insurance from TravelInsure, support from the NEDBANK Greenbacks loyalty reward programme (they donated rewards that we redeemed for discounted flights), flight discounts from SouthAfrica.Travel Online and travel support from NOMAD,” they tell us. Chris’ eight-day trip was breath-taking and deeply emotional. The opportunity to immerse himself in the gorillas’ natural habitat gave him a deep appreciation for East African forests. That’s one successful trip down!

Kunho Kim and his team, who will be on a road trip to 20 cities in 20 states from San Francisco to Boston, in order to publish a wheelchair-accessible travel guide, have Hampton Inn in Pittsburgh sponsoring their stay there, and Hertz has offered them a discounted rate on a wheelchair-accessible van rental.

What is crowd-funded travel?

You may have heard of crowd-funding to finance a new business venture, a commercial campaign or a medical emergency, but crowd-funded travel? Online portals like Trevolta, which went live in October, 2013 and Fund Your Travel (not yet a live platform and with no definitive launch date to offer as yet) enable travellers to go on sponsored trips. Sounds too good to be true, right? How does it happen? Travellers create and submit their extraordinary travel campaigns for expeditions in order to raise funds for them. “We strongly encourage our travellers to spice-up their trips. It is highly unlikely that a traveller will raise funds for his trip if it’s boring and all about him. Either your trip must be extraordinary–something that no one else does, or it must have a humanitarian aspect–do good and you will be rewarded. However, we don’t restrict what trips go up,” says Mark Karimov, CEO of Trevolta. These projects then await backing by inspired people or sponsors looking for marketing opportunities and brand awareness.

Lindsey Richardson and her sister Kailey lost their mum to cancer in November 2010. They are following her travel journal; 6 months, 10 countries to honour her legacy by teaching–English to the youth in various villages around Slovakia, exploring–Europe as their mum did 30 years ago with her best friend, following her travel journal to see the same sights, hear the same sounds, eat the same foods, experience her adventures and have a few of their own; and learning–in Israel for three months through Master’s College.  “While we have achieved and exceeded the goal of USD $1,700 on Trevolta, we still need about USD $5,000 for our ministry and service funding in Slovakia,” says Lindsey

So what’s in it for the sponsors?

In case of Fund Your Travel, travellers will blog throughout their trip, which will be followed by the FYT community. This will serve as a platform for businesses or sponsors looking for opportunities to advertise. In return for funds, travellers will promote brands and review their merchandise or services, during their trip, in the most creative ways possible.

On Trevolta, each traveller offers rewards on their trip page–what the backer will get for  contributing X dollars. Rewards can be personalised postcards, souvenirs, delicacies, pictures from the places they visit and more. There is also a section called ‘Chip in any amount (more than the largest contribution on a given trip page) and Create your own reward,’ where contributors can ask travellers to perform fun tasks during their travel in return. It could be anything from asking the travellers to visit a specific place, spend a night without a room or to eat something unusual. Chris who had trekked in search of mountain gorillas in Uganda says, “We were asked by local South African celebrity, Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp, to eat a local grasshopper delicacy called Nsenene, but I couldn’t find any as they were not in season and it turned out to be Okay, because Elana never actually came through with the funds that she promised!”

Alexandre Côté and Audrey-Ann Brunelle left their hometown, Québec, for a five-month trip to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaïï, bringing back a whole lot of breath-taking pictures on their return. “Our contributors can benefit from all our pictures in any way they want to use them. They have all rights to them,” Alexandre tells us.

Are there consequences if you don’t stick to your promises?

Of course, there are! If a Trevolta traveller doesn’t deliver–what he promises, he must either refund the backers or face legal action from his contributors. The same applies to Fund Your Travel. “Travellers will be required to share their entire trip on-the-go, making it easier to track whether they are doing what is expected. The campaign owners or travellers will have to declare rewards for the backers and a tentative timeline by which the rewards will be delivered. If the travellers don’t stick to their timelines, they will be bound to return the money to their respective backers,” explains Sandeep Mehta, co-founder of Fund Your Travel.

Final Verdict

While it may sound easy, these travellers do have their own set of challenges. “Our challenges include, the large amount of planning we’ll have to do, raising the necessary support and more. Obviously as this is a long trip we’re going to face major logistical challenges! Our limited time frame will also play into these,” adds Brad Riew from Kunho Kim’s team.

For Lindsey,”Other than monetary challenges, safety is a concern. It is a little scary to travel as girls, but we really aren’t that worried. I think setting off is sometimes the hardest part and you can only plan so much; once you’re holding your ticket and you step on the plane, there is no going back.”

Whether you’ve already had a successful crowd-funded trip and you’re planning the next one, or if your campaign is still a vague plan dancing around your brain, make sure you have an idea that’s worth backing.

SOURCE: Daily News Analysis (DNA)

Travel light is the best philosophy

Parvesh Sharma, Hindustan Times, Chandigarh, June 02, 2014: About five years ago, I decided to visit holy places like Haridwar, Rishikesh and Vrindavan in the company of my friend Prof Shubhprem. It being a tour of about a week, I packed a jumbo-sized suitcase and an airbag with dresses and other things.

On the contrary, Shubhprem just carried a shoulder bag with only an extra T-shirt, a pair of shorts, a toothpaste, a toothbrush, soaps and a couple of books. Wherever we stayed during the trip, he would wash his dress. Throughout the journey, Shubhprem remained tension-free while I faced a tough time grappling with my heavy baggage.

This experience turned out to be an eye-opener for me. Now, when I see people setting out on a journey loaded with heavy luggage, I am pained to think that we have no faith in the travel-light philosophy of life. In fact, we have made our lives so burdensome with useless paraphernalia that simplicity has become alien to us. We have before us the example of Diogenes, the Greek mystic who had nothing worth its name to possess but an earthen pot to drink water from a pond. But one day, as the holy man saw a dog quenching its thirst from the river, he threw away even the earthen possession thinking why he can’t do without it if even a pariah can. Unfortunately, we treat Alexander, not Diogenes, as our role model.

It’s a law of nature that as we ascend higher, we keep losing weight and a stage comes when we get out of the reach of gravitational pull, totally weightless. Therefore, nature wants us to shed more and more weight for scaling new heights. And this truth is applicable not only at a physical level but also at a spiritual one. Sages and seers of yore did not leave their homes and hearths for nothing in quest of the ultimate truth.

We, the lesser mortals, have not learnt to live in the present. Poets like Omar Khayyam have exhorted the man to forget both the dead past and the uncertain future and enjoy the present. Nonetheless, we have become accustomed to carrying the load of the past in the form of years-old grouses, jealousies, feelings of vengeance and rivalries on our minds. Even the future keeps clinging to us like a leech. During the course of bringing up our children, we persistently worry about their careers, marriages and even bequeathing property to them. So the need of the hour is to stop both the past and future from making a hell of our lives and enjoy the present with an unflinching faith in the travel-light theory.

SOURCE: Hindustan Times