Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tourism promotion now on mobile eatery's menu
Hijackk, a restaurant on wheels, will soon serve diners information about various tourist attractions in Gujarat. Not only this, it will also offer booking facilities to people keen to explore such places. This initiative to promote tourism is the result of a strategic tie-up between the restaurant and state-owned Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL).
Hijackk is basically an eatery on a double-decker bus. In a short period, it has become quite popular. An official of TCGL said that the restaurant had been appointed as an official partner for providing tourism-related information and booking services.
Interestingly, as part of the agreement, the mobile eatery will organise trips for sightseers. It will halt near heritage places such as Sabarmati Ashram and Adalaj ni Vav; shrines like Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar and Modera Sun Temple in Motera and institutes like MICA and IIMA. A visit to Tata Motors’ Nano plant in Sanand is also under consideration.
“It (Hijackk) is doing good business. It attracts people who don’t mind spending lavishly. This is one of the reasons why we have entered into a tie-up with the restaurant,” a senior tourist officer of TCGL, H D Pradhan, said. “We are confident that the move will help promote tourism in Gujarat.”
Pradhan said that participants of the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit could board the restaurant on wheels for sightseeing. Anirvan Dam, the director of Moistclay Entertainment & Media that owns Hijackk brand, said that the company was planning to start more such eateries.
“We see 1,500 to 1,800 visitors every month. We now plan to introduce seven Hijackk buses. Of these, one will be started in Surat and one in Rajkot,” he said. “By the end of this financial year, our monthly footfall should go up to 7,000.” Hijacck is also working out packages for local, national and international clients.
We see 1,500 to 1,800 visitors every month. We now plan to introduce seven Hijackk buses
— Anirvan Dam, director of Moistclay
Entertainment & Media that owns Hijackk
Source: Ahmedabad Mirror 30th November, 2010
NRG secures plot near SG Highway for Rs 34 cr
The land, which belonged to Heart Foundation and Research Institute, was sold for Rs 92,000 per sq yard as against the current price of Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000 per sq yard
A plot of 3600 sq yard near S G Highway gone for Rs 34 crore in an auction held on Monday. The land, which belonged to Heart Foundation and Research Institute, was sold for Rs 92,000 per sq yard as against the market rate of Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000 per sq yard.
According to sources in charity commissioner office, Bharti Dhanak, a Dubai-based Gujarati, has bought the land. Dhanak owns jewellery business in Dubai. The auction was carried out at the charity commissioners office where some local developers also took part.
Source: Ahmedabad Mirror 30th November, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
NRIs secure voting rights in India
Finally, NRIs secure voting rights in India
New Delhi: A longstanding wish of millions of NRIs for voting right in India has come true with the Centre issuing a notification to this effect to enable them to exercise their franchise.
Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a gazette notification in this regard.
“Gazette notification has been issued giving voting rights to Non-Resident Indians,” overseas Indian affairs minister told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
An estimated 11 million NRIs are living in various countries across the world.
However, the person will be able to exercise the franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on the polling day.
Ravi said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of any other country and are living abroad owing to employment, education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in their passport.
He said the Election Commission is likely to soon finalise the rules and regulations prescribing modalities for entry of names of NRIs in electoral rolls.
The government had decided to allow the NRIs to participate in the democratic process to further boost the two-way engagement.
As per the existing rules, an NRI’s name gets deleted from the voters’ list if he or she stays outside the country for more than six months at a stretch.
The new law will allow an Indian citizen residing abroad to enroll in voter’s list and exercise his franchise even if he or she remained away from place of residence in India for more than six months owing to employment, education or otherwise.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas earlier this year, had indicated that Indian passport holders living abroad could get voting rights by the time of next Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
Source: Times of India 25th November,2010
New Delhi: A longstanding wish of millions of NRIs for voting right in India has come true with the Centre issuing a notification to this effect to enable them to exercise their franchise.
Parliament had in the monsoon session passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs to vote in Indian elections and now government has issued a gazette notification in this regard.
“Gazette notification has been issued giving voting rights to Non-Resident Indians,” overseas Indian affairs minister told Lok Sabha, replying to a question.
An estimated 11 million NRIs are living in various countries across the world.
However, the person will be able to exercise the franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on the polling day.
Ravi said NRIs, “who have not acquired citizenship of any other country and are living abroad owing to employment, education or otherwise, are now eligible to register their names in the electoral rolls” in their places as mentioned in their passport.
He said the Election Commission is likely to soon finalise the rules and regulations prescribing modalities for entry of names of NRIs in electoral rolls.
The government had decided to allow the NRIs to participate in the democratic process to further boost the two-way engagement.
As per the existing rules, an NRI’s name gets deleted from the voters’ list if he or she stays outside the country for more than six months at a stretch.
The new law will allow an Indian citizen residing abroad to enroll in voter’s list and exercise his franchise even if he or she remained away from place of residence in India for more than six months owing to employment, education or otherwise.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas earlier this year, had indicated that Indian passport holders living abroad could get voting rights by the time of next Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
Source: Times of India 25th November,2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Looking to buy a house? Wait till March next year.
Those of you who wanted to buy a house, but have found the prices too steep, can take heart. If realty experts are to be believed, the coming March will see property prices coming down. The past one year has seen investor groups from across the country and abroad pumping money into Ahmedabad’s realty market.
Developers have taken advantage of this and hiked the residential property rates, comparing the city with metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
This had resulted in the investors’ share in residential segment going up to 75 per cent. According to experts, this is not an ideal situation for real estate. Hence, realty experts and consultants are expecting around 25 per cent correction in the residential property by March 2011.
Mukesh Vasani of City Estate Management said, “Investors’ share in residential segment here has gone up to 75 pc. Of which, 50 pc comprise investors from Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, NRGs and NRIs.”
Moreover, Vasani added that around 50-odd under construction schemes will produce an additional 12,000 to 15,000 unit houses. So, the investors of overpriced properties are willing to exit first. Same is the case with the small-time investor, he said.
Ashutosh Limaye, associate director (Strategic Consulting), Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, agrees with the trend. Explaining the reason for the looming crises, Vinod Thakkar, CEO of Square feet realty firm in Mumbai, said, “IT cities such as Pune, Hyderabad, Banglore and Chennai are still struggling to come out of the financial crisis. Hence, the realty market there is unstable, whereas Delhi and Mumbai have become super-speculative markets. The outskirts of Mumbai is also seeing some correction. For example, Kalyan has a poor infrastructure and is far away from the city.
Thakkar, who has opened a branch here, is hopeful. “Gujarat being a progressive state and Ahmedabad being the financial hub, it is seeing robust realty boom. This has motivated other state investors to pump in money here. If this continues, it can go the Mumbai way.”
Ahmedabad Mirror, 22nd November, 2010
Kuldip Tiwari
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)