Tourists — both domestic and foreign has started to make a beeline to be a part of the unique Surajkund Crafts Mela held annually in Faridabad near the national capital of New Delhi. This year the Haryana Tourism Department will organize the 22nd Surajkund Crafts Mela from February 1 to 15 this year.
Disclosing this, the State Minister for Tourism and Forests, Mrs Kiran Choudhry said that West Bengal would be the theme state for this year’s Surajkund Crafts Mela. She said that the mela is a meeting ground for the talented artists, painters, weavers,craftsmen from all over India who would execute and exhibit their creations and attract tourists/visitors from all parts of India and abroad.
She said that the mela would showcase large variety of unique and intricate handicrafts of West Bengal like artistic leather craft, brass and bell metal, cane and bamboo, ceramic, clay dolls, dokra,
horn work, jute products, masks and puppets, paper mache, sandalwood carving and jamdan, needlework and embroidery.
Mrs Choudhry said that the Surajkund Crafts Mela would provide an opportunity to all the tourists/visitors to have fun, frolic, entertainment,fantastic shopping extravaganza and taste of rare cuisine of various states. The crafts mela has come to occupy a place of pride and prominence on the international tourism calendar and showcase the finest handloom and handicraft tradition of India, she added.
The vibrant performances by the folk dancers from all over India and the cultural programmes at Natyashala would enthrall the visitors at the mela, she added.
The Punjab government inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for the formulation of a Tourism Development Master Plan for the State. Principal Secretary Tourism Ms. Geetika Kalha and Executive Director of UNWTO Mr. Harsh Verma signed on the behalf of the Punjab Government and World Tourism Organisation respectively in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Badal said that it was a historic day when the state government had signed a MoU with WTO to prepare a blue print of Tourism plan in the state. Mr. Badal pointed out that the Punjab had a tremendous tourism potential which needed to be tapped optimally.
He said that the state government had identified tourism as one of the major economic sectors of the State and was committed to achieve a high degree of sustainable development with optimum utilization of a rich and wide variety of tourism resources. As a result, the State Government had entered into an agreement with the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a specialized agency of the United Nations and the leading international organization in the field of tourism, to formulate a Tourism Development Master Plan for the State, said Mr. Badal.
Explaining the details of the project Mr. Harsh Verma, Executive Director of UNWTO informed that this Tourism Development Plan would be prepared for next 15 years i.e. 2008-23, which would define Tourism policy and strategy, identify tourism products and services and develop these in a persisting manner besides, a five-years marketing action programme, two pilot demonstration projects and a training programme on destination development & management would also be chalked out. The project would also include series of initiatives to bring together the tourism private sector and the Government to realize its full potential, said Mr. Verma.
Punjab’s tourism resources cover an extensive range: religious, heritage/cultural, natural, medical and commercial. When combined with a very warm and hospitable people and a wide variety of folklore, these resources provide Punjab with an outstanding opportunity to develop and sustain a major and diversified tourism sector with resultant economic and social benefits for the people of the State.
As the birthplace of Sikhism, visitor flows are dominated by Sikhs- from within the State, elsewhere in India and from the estimated 10 million strong Sikh diaspora around the world. They are drawn by devotion to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the many other Gurdwaras around the State, and on pilgrimage routes such as to the site of the first guru’s enlightenment at Sultanpur Lodhi.
The waterways of Punjab are the lifeblood of the State providing irrigation to vast tracts of farm land. The rivers- the Beas, the Satluj and the Kanjli- along with the extensive canal system serve to attract large colonies of migratory birds in the winter (in particular at the wetland of Harike, Kanjli and Ropar wetlands). The natural beauty of the areas created by the Ranjit Sagar Dam and Talwara Lake (Pong Dam) offers strong prima facie opportunity for the development of an upscale resort, a wide range of boating opportunities and ecotourism activities.
Prominent amongst those who were present on the occasion included Tourism & Cultural Affairs Minister Mr. Hira Singh Gabaria, Chief Secretary Mr. R.I. Singh, Secretary Tourism Mr. D.P. Reddy, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and MD PIDB Mr. S.S. Sandhu, Mr. Parveen Kumar and Mr. Gagandeep Singh (both Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister) and Director Information and Public Relations Punjab Mr. Tejvir Singh beside senior functionaries of the state administration.
India has recently given its nod to the signing of an agreement with Egypt on the abolition of visa requirement for holders of diplomatic and official passports, according to a News Service.
“This agreement will spur visa-free travel between India and Egypt for diplomatic and official or service passport holders while entering, transiting through and exiting from the territory of the other country,” India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said.
It will also facilitate the issuance of residence visa valid for the duration of the assignment to members of diplomatic or consular missions, he added.
The agreement will allow a citizen of either country to stay in the other country for a maximum period of 90 days without a visa.
India has similar agreements with 35 other countries, the report said.
Air travel in India would be faster, and possibly cheaper, as soon as the civil aviation and defence ministries work out ways for civilian aircraft to fly over the country’s restricted airspace.
Aircraft would then be able to fly at higher altitudes, resulting in faster travel and lower fuel consumption. Air is thinner at higher altitudes, offering lower resistance to a plane’s passage, thus increasing its speed.
‘We have already initiated a pilot project in southern India called the Chennai Flights Information Region. We will soon extend this project in other regions. Once complete, we can fly civilian aircraft at higher altitudes,’ civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla said.
The civil aviation and defence ministries are working on ways to jointly manage airspace in the country.
‘This will be worked out soon and civilian aircraft will be allowed to use restricted airspace,’ Chawla said.
Currently, the defence ministry and the Indian Air Force (IAF) control more than 50 percent of India’s airspace. They have been strongly opposing the move to allow civilian aircraft into this space.
The civil aviation ministry, on the other hand, has been pitching for freeing more airspace for the smoother movement of civilian aircraft.
‘The draft of the civil aviation policy had clearly stated that the Airport Authority of India would take care of the civilian air space and the defence ministry would control the restricted airspace,’ he pointed out.
‘The security and control of restricted airspace would still be retained by the defence ministry and the IAF,’ he added.
Earlier, major differences had emerged between the IAF and the civil aviation ministry on the proposed civil aviation policy. The IAF had publicly expressed its displeasure at not being consulted at the drafting stage of the policy.
The defence ministry had also raised several objections to the proposed civil aviation policy, including a move to release more airspace meant exclusively for the IAF.
But the civil aviation ministry had said the policy should be converted to a ‘national aviation policy’ rather than be restricted only to the civil aviation sector.
Air travel in India would be faster, and possibly cheaper, as soon as the civil aviation and defence ministries work out ways for civilian aircraft to fly over the country’s restricted airspace.
Aircraft would then be able to fly at higher altitudes, resulting in faster travel and lower fuel consumption. Air is thinner at higher altitudes, offering lower resistance to a plane’s passage, thus increasing its speed.
‘We have already initiated a pilot project in southern India called the Chennai Flights Information Region. We will soon extend this project in other regions. Once complete, we can fly civilian aircraft at higher altitudes,’ civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla said.
The civil aviation and defence ministries are working on ways to jointly manage airspace in the country.
‘This will be worked out soon and civilian aircraft will be allowed to use restricted airspace,’ Chawla said.
Currently, the defence ministry and the Indian Air Force (IAF) control more than 50 percent of India’s airspace. They have been strongly opposing the move to allow civilian aircraft into this space.
The civil aviation ministry, on the other hand, has been pitching for freeing more airspace for the smoother movement of civilian aircraft.
‘The draft of the civil aviation policy had clearly stated that the Airport Authority of India would take care of the civilian air space and the defence ministry would control the restricted airspace,’ he pointed out.
‘The security and control of restricted airspace would still be retained by the defence ministry and the IAF,’ he added.
Earlier, major differences had emerged between the IAF and the civil aviation ministry on the proposed civil aviation policy. The IAF had publicly expressed its displeasure at not being consulted at the drafting stage of the policy.
The defence ministry had also raised several objections to the proposed civil aviation policy, including a move to release more airspace meant exclusively for the IAF.
But the civil aviation ministry had said the policy should be converted to a ‘national aviation policy’ rather than be restricted only to the civil aviation sector.
