I discovered your website purely by chance...
Rather interesting and I must say you are courageous.
Madalasa

BLAST YOUR AD TO DECISION MAKERS OF THE COUNTRY

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INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

For Rajesh Bhushan, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) the field of tourism is a passion.Bhushan is striving hard to ensure that old & rich legacy of Bihar was harnessed to boost inbound tourists to Bihar. In an interview with <whispersnthecorridors.com>

An energetic & hard working, Rajesh Bhushan, unfolded his road map for promotion of tourism in Bihar. In reply to a question he said "we hope that tourism would become a major revenue earner for the state of Bihar by 2020." Bhushan also hoped to achieve this through active encouragement and facilitation of state government, participation of the private sector in fulfilling infrastructural gaps and getting full participation of local communities.According to him various private promoters have shown interest in setting up budget hotels through Public-Private Partnership mode in places like Patna, Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodhgaya.

Here goes his interview:

1/What new projects has Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) taken up for development?

Answer : Bihar the land of Lord Buddha's enlightenment is known for its Buddhist Circuit destinations such as Bodhgaya, Rajgir and Vaishali. In Bodhgaya an ambitious master plan addressing basic infrastructure, tourism infrastructure, eco-friendly transportation etc. has been developed and is being implemented.

Tourism focusing on the river Ganges in and around Patna is another focus area of development. This includes - development of Ganga Ghats, and attracting domestic and external tourists to evening "Artis" at various Ganga Ghats, a floating restaurant with two decks (one housing the restaurant and another housing viewing area), speed boats with outboard motors for weekend cruise/picnics/dining out on the river Ganges.

Development of Eco-tourism projects focussing on rivers and hot water springs at Valmikinagar in West Champaran district and Bhimbandh in Munger District.

2/What steps are being taken to woo domestic tourists?

Answer: For the last three years inflow of domestic tourists in Bihar has been in the range of 60 to 70 lakh/annum. To ensure a quantum jump in this no. & to provide necessary fillip to domestic tourists, Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) has started on-line booking of hotel rooms for it's hotels and booking of tour packages through it's Website: <bstdc.bih.nic.in> These bookings/reservations can be made by domestic tourists through ICICI payment window by using their credit cards. The Bihar Tourism facilitation offices at New Delhi, Varanasi and Kolkata are electronically linked with the BSTDC hotels throughout Bihar. Hence on-line booking/reservation of hotel rooms can be done through these Tourism facilitation offices also.

The Corporation also provides attractive seasonal packages (with special discounted rates) in its hotels.

3/These days there is a lot of stress on budget hotels. How do you propose to explore this opportunity?

Answer:The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) presently runs 23 budget hotels with a total room capacity of 244 rooms at different tourist destinations like Patna, Bodghgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, Mohania, Sasaram, Valmikinagar, Purnia, Saharsa etc. The Corporation also provides extremely cost effective dormitory accommodation with a total Dormitory capacity of 277 beds at various tourist destinations within the state. Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) also provides attractive discount packages to tourists travelling in groups and off-season tourists in these hotels and dormitories.

The state Govt. is proposing to actively encourage establishment of budget hotels through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. Various private promoters have shown interest in setting up budget hotels through Public-Private Partnership mode in places like Patna, Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodhgaya.

4/Do you think that the Buddhist circuit needs improvement and reorientation?

Answer:The traditional Buddhist circuit destinations are spread over UP (Sarnath and Kushinagar), Bihar (Bodhgaya, Rajgir and Vaishali), and Nepal (Kapilvastu and Lumbni). What is required is better connectivity between these destinations and marketing of integrated tour packages involving all these destinations. Within the state of Bihar Govt. is exploring the possibilities of Air-taxi service for connecting these destination and for reducing the journey time from one destination to another.

5/Are any projects in collaboration with private sector being taken up?

Answer:The Government is agreeable to taking the Public-Private Partnership route to encourage private sector participation in the developing tourism infrastructure in the state. This involves Public-Private Partnership for - (i) running of high-end luxury a/c coaches between various tourists† destinations (ii) Setting up of budget hotels (iii) Setting up of Air-taxi service etc.

6/Where do you see Bihar Tourism by the year 2020?

Answer: We hope that tourism would become a major revenue earner for the state of Bihar by 2020. We hope to achieve this through active encouragement and facilitation of state government, participation of the private sector in fulfilling infrastructural gaps and full participation of local communities.

Bihar is the only State that has the privilege of having destinations directly associated with all the religions of the country namely Buddhism (Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir and Vaishali), Jainism (Rajgir and Pawapuri), Sikhism ( Patna Saheb), Hinduism ( Patna, Gaya, Mundeshwari, Sitamarhi etc.) and Islam (Patna, Manersharif, Biharsharif, Sasaram etc.). The Govt. would be actively promoting tourist facilities in specific tourists† circuits i.e. Buddhist Circuit, Jain Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Sufi Circuit etc. to highlight these destination. This would enable the domestic tourists to include these destinations as - must see - in their itineraries.

Bhide is new Secretary Revenue

P V Bhide has been appointed new Secretary Revenue.1973 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officerBhide is presently Secretary Disinvestment.
Bhide has also served as Additional and Special Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and had worked earlier as Director in the Department of Economic Affairs. He was deputed to the World Bank during 1988-92 as Technical Advisor.

1971 batch did not get Revenue

Names of two 1971 batch IAS officers were in circulation for the post of Secretary Finance and Revenue.Ultimately the post went to 1973 batch IAS officer P V Bhide.
( We said this on May 28 )

Singhal is new Chairman of CBEC
S P Singhal is taking over as new Chairmen of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on Friday. He is 1970 batch IRS officer.
( We said this on May 4 )

B M Singh is new Chairman of the CBDT

B M Singh is taking over as new Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today.He is 1970 batch IRS officer.
(We said this on May 10)

Shrivastava to be DG Forests

J P L Shrivastava is being appointed DG Forests in the Government of India today. He is 1970 batch IFS officer of Haryana cadre.

Rajasthan CS gets three months extension

Rajasthan Chief Secretary Anil Vaish has been given three months extension. 1970 batch IAS officer Vaish was to retire on May 31.

CJI's deep concern

Chief Justice of India(CJI) K.G.Balakrishnan has convened an informal meeting of his brother judges.The meeting to be held shortly is aimed at discussing & proposing changes in the Criminal Procedure Code(Cr.P.C.) & prosecution related law.This is being done in the wake of a spate of high profile cases that have suffered from miscarriage of justice.The CJI is reported to have gone under a nerve shock after watching the NDTV's exposses.He is even reported to have broken down,only to be consoled by his family.

Three new Members of Settlement Commission
Ms Gita Kriplani, Suresh Trikha and R Saran have been appointed Members of the Income Tax Settlement Commission.

Meena to be CVO ITDC
1981 batch IRTS officer Meena is being appointed CVO of the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

Appointment of Chhattisgarh DGP on June 3 !
Appointment of the new Chhattisgarh DGP is expected to be made on June 3. In all probability new incumbant will be acting DGP from outside the state. The post has fallen vacant following the sudden demise of O P Rathore.

150 Women IPS officers in the country
There are about 150 women IPS officers in the country as against the total strength of about 3,000.

Will Cabinet Secretary fulfil commitment ?
Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi has assured that he will see to it that 1974 batch IAS officers are empanelled to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India before relinquishing office. Will Chaturvedi fulfill his commitment before June 14?

Poddar is CVO of PEC
Ashok K Poddar has joined as CVO of the Projects and Equipments Corporation of India. He is 1988 batch Indian Postal Service officer.

Sanjay Murthy is Director Personnel
Outgoing PS to Former Union Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, Sanjay Murthy is now Director in the Department of Personnel. He is 1989 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre.

Its curtains for Dr.Goyal in IRCTC

It seems to be curtains for Managing Director of the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)Dr.P.K.Goyal who is on leave at present.After his 10 day leave he attended office for a few hours,only to proceed on 45 days long leave. Meanwhile, heir apparent to Dr.Goyal ,i.e. K.B.L Mittal was reportedly flooded with congratulatory messages.As it is he is ahead in the race to become new MD of IRCTC.At present he is Executive Director(ED) in the Railway Board.Other two contenders are H.C.Poonia CCM Allahabad & Rakesh Saxena DRM Delhi

Raina and Gautam promoted in ITBP
Sanjeev Raina has been promoted to the rank of Additional DIG and posted at ZHQ North Dehradoon. He is 1987 batch ITBP officer. Anil Gautam, another 1987 batch ITBP officer and ace skier, has also been promoted as ADIG and posted to the snow resort AULI in Uttarakhand.

Meena Gupta is Secretary Forests and Environment
Secretary Tribal Affairs in the Government of India Meena Gupta has been moved to the Department of Forests and Environment.1971 batch Orissa cadre IAS officer, Ms Gupta, will succeed Prodipto Ghosh who is retiring today.
( We said this on May 28 )

Arun Ramanathan is Secretary Petro-Chemicals
Arun Ramanathan is moving from Tamil Nadu to Delhi to take over as Secretary Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals.1973 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre, Ramanthan, will replace 1971 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre Ms Satwant Reddy who is superannuating today.
( We said on May 28 that 1973 batch officer will get this post)

Mukherjee is Secretary Tribal Affairs
Gautam Buddha Mukherjee has been appointed Secretary Tribal Affairs in the Government of India in place of Meena Gupta. He is 1973 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

Joshi is Member-Secretary Space Commission
R C Joshi has been appointed Member-Secretary Space Commission, Bangalore. He is 1973 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Panda gets extension
Counsellor in Kuala Lumpur S K Panda has been granted extension till May next year.

Anil Ambani poised to take over Aaj Tak

Anil Ambani is on the verge of finalising 74 per cent stakes in "Aaj Tak" TV group.He already has 21 per cent stakes in it.Anil Ambani is also in touch with management of CNN & IBN to jack up his stakes in these two channels as well.

Ajay Kumar to move Khartoum
Second Secretary in Cairo Ajay Kumar has been moved to Khartoum in place of K P Ram who is retiring.

Buta Singh appointed Chairman
Former Bihar Governor Buta Singh has been appointed Chairman of the SC Commission.The post had fallen vacant following the demise of Suraj Bhan.
( We said this on March 16 )

Pawar to head World cup body

Chief of BCCI Sharad Pawar is likely to head the committee for next Cricket World Cup.The event is scheduled be held in three countries of India,Pakistan & Bangla Desh in 2011.

FORUM

This is what Ex-Supreme Court Judges want
We thought of writing through your site as custodians of our constitution. On this black day when prosecution and defence work in tandem to subvert justice, our judiciary should rise to the occasion and take a deterrent action. Our Chief Justice of India is a farsighted man and we are sure he will use his powers to restore public confidence in judiciary. The President and the Prime Minister of India should also personally look into this issue of national calamity. Thanking you and God bless your site.
Ex Supreme Court Judges (Pl do not ask for names )

Will the PM intervene in IRCTC affairs?
The current crises in Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), its MD on forced leave and likely to be dislodged by some other IRTS officer, can mainly be attributed to the so called departmental fiefdom in the Railway system. When the earlier selection was held, there were lot of disagreements about who should be the nodal agency for selection ie PESB or Railway Ministry. Also were the questions of eligibility of officers from other departments within Railways than IRTS. Possibly, none of these aspects were given any due importance as per the directives of Government of India (DOPT) for following the rules that such selections will be open to all, on merit, and would be done by the PESB. Greater mess will be visible if such a situation continues. This is the right time when corrective measures, without any interference from Railway Ministry, are required. Let the selection be open to all, being main activity under Hospitality industry, and let PESB be the nodal agency. This will be fair and justified and the interest of all will be protected. Lets' see next move in this matter.........Hope PM will intervene.

Surendra Singh

A point of view

I believe, being in certain service does not make an official biased or unbiased. It can make them ignorant about other services depending on capabilities/competence of the official concerned itself. On the other side, official from a certain service can not be deemed to be appropriate for higher managerial position within his service. I have seen in my 18 years of service that most officials from technical discipline (revenue/ customs etc can also be taken as technical disciplines) still tend to function from the perspective of that discipline instead of focussing on policy level thinking as they go higher in heiarchy.
However, it is open for debate. Any system is as good as the official you are talking about. It boils down to primarily the competence/capabilities of official concerned.

Vijay

TAIL-PIECE

A Must Read!!!

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning RICE Each year he entered his RICE in the state fair where it won honor and prizes.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed RICE with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed RICE with your neighbors when they are entering RICE in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir, " said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening RICE and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality RICE, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my RICE.
If I am to grow good RICE, I must help my neighbors grow good RICE."
The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His RICE cannot improve unless his neighbor's RICE also improves. So it is in the other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbors and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well. The value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.

Success does not happen in isolation. It is very often a participative
and collective process. So share the good quality RICE.....

Anita

Aaj Ki Aawaz

NDTV's exposé brings out the malaise in our judicial system…. really bad!!!
Prosecution and Defence working hand in glove is very sad!!!

How did the other witnesses in BMW case turn hostile…. this needs to be looked into??
For the Court this would be the apt thing to do!!!

Shouldn't the bail of Nanda be cancelled…… and what about the Lawyers?????
After the exposé they come out as cheating liars.

And imagine Anand is the Chairman of the Bar Council…embarrassing for the Bar!!!
Public's response is that from practicing law both Khan and Anand ko karro bar.

But please do remember its not that easy to pin Lawyers down… they know the game!!!
In fact they'll try to put the people behind the Sting to shame.

They have got many off the Sting hook,
They'll do the same for themselves and get off by hook or crook!!!!

Unless Perjury does not attract a heavy penalty with justice this joke will not stop!!!
No stringent law against perjury is like a right to lie ….this right to lie needs the chop.

BMW case must be tried a fast track Court,
And on progress to SC Court must report!!

Also shouldn't the Media also look into the past cases of these two Vakeels,
May be this could lead to some appeals!!!

Seems Raje's been caught playing at the wheel,
With prompt action the protest by Gujjars she did not deal!!!

Quota has got communities clamoring for special status!!
No community wants to miss the bus.

Today India's Stock Market is booming but peace is falling!!!
Money is there but humanity is bawling.

Compare this to India Shining times when India was at peace,
Is this for growing selective affluence the fees!!!

If good sense prevailed next President could be elected by consensus,
That's if Congress comes to its senses!!!

Shekhawat in VP elections got 97 cross votes,
Hope this point Congress notes!!!

Congress does not want to bargain!!!
Does not want a NDA VP again.

Because if there is a consensus and NDA agrees to UPA's choice for President!!
Then bargain will be for a NDA nominee to be India's Number Two Resident!!!

Now that Amar is an XYZ his Z plus Security has been recalled… Amar wants it back!!!
Says that he's always under the threat of non secular forces attack.

Arre why doesn't he hire Commandos for protection???
So that he can cater for his under threat contention!!!

Amrinder's sidekick Chahal appeared in Court and got a one day stay on arrest!!!
To stay away from the waiting VB Officials Chahal tried his best!!!

Pawar now's changed track,
Now he says that UPA's candidate for Presidential Poll NCP will back!!!

But what if in the secret ballot NCP does just the ulta!!!
NCP would be in glee if for Congress things go ulta - pulta!!!

Pawar says he's working on the PPP strategy to revive Farming!!
As of now all his plans have proven to be harming!!

Pawar seems to be at sea,
The real problem he cannot see!!

Farming has to be made productive and consumers have to be kept in mind!!!
It should not be patting one on the head and kicking the other in the hind!!!

And speculation in essentials should not be allowed….. banned!!
Speculation in necessities of paap pett need to be canned!!!

Laloo bann gaya gentleman…. Laloo brigade's boast!!!
By Foreign Universities Laloo is sought most!!!

But the boast why they seek him is under doubt!!!
Against the boasts CAG Report shout!!!

But then they don't read Indian Papers….come here because of Laloo's PRO's flyers!!!
Praising Laloo's so said achievements PRO never tires!!

But neither does Laloo or his PRO have answer to question that what happened Bihar!!
If he's done miracles in Railways how come for 15 years under him Bihar ko paddi maar!!!

Ask him this question and Laloo runs for cover,
Pop this questions and he'll say Press Conference or Interview is over!!!

Bharat Kumar
Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

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CORPORATE

Transfers in Coal India Ltd
Senior level transfers have taken place in the Coal India Limited. They are Mssrs :- D K Sinha BCCL to CCL,T L Bhattacharya BSECL to BCCL, Pradip Kumar ECL to Wcl, P K Anwar MCL to WCL, M K Sinha WCL to Mahanadi Coalfields, Manoranjan Birua Jarangdih to Headquarters, T S P Singh Badkanana to Kathara, Meena Birua Dhori to Gandhi Nagar, M Ansari NK to Rajrappa, P K Farida Gandhi Nagar to P & I, Rashmi Dayal HRD to Medical and Vineeta Sharan Headquarters to AR.

Delhi gives nod for 2nd Airport in Mumbai

At last the the Indian Government has given its approval for the construction of an International Airport at Navi Mumbai. The Airport will be developed as a Greenfield Airport through Public Private Partnership (PPP) along the lines of the Greenfield Airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore.The airport would be one of world's few ''greenfield'' international state-of-art airport offering world class facilities to passengers cargo, aircrafts and airlines.The site of airport is located in an area of 950 hectares accommodating two parallel runways for simultaneous and segregated parallel operation with provision of full length taxi ways on either side of the runways. The airfield has been designed to accommodate the new large aircrafts compatible to aerodrome code 4-E. A techno-economic feasibility study was conducted by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd., (CIDCO).

(We said this on January 29,2007).

Nimbus's loss is ESS's gain

The ESPN Star Sports (ESS) has bagged the rights on a revenue share arrangement as the the Asian Cricket Council has scrapped its deal with Nimbus to telecast the upcoming Afro-Asia Cup.Reason for scrapping the deal is believably non-fulfilment of contractual obligations. As the grapevine has it ACC will get 80 per cent of the revenue generated while ESS will keep 20 per cent.Above all the ESS will also bear the production cost of the live feed.

3 Channels get nod for uplinking from India

TG Angel Media ,Triveni & Creative Pvt Ltd have been granted permission to uplink news & entertainment channels from India.

Ambani Bros. get a major jolt

In a major setback two Ambani brothers i.e.Mukesh & Anil ,saw deferment of permission to their two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) the Board of Approval (BOA) of SEZs.The BOA had met in Delhi yesterday to consider proposals for setting up of SEZs and also approve other miscellaneous requests pertaining to notified SEZs. Interestingly the BOA okayed SEZs in Uttar Pradesh while Adani's SEZ in Gujarat & other software related SEZs in Karnataka.

Desai is Country Head ING Vysya Bank
Janak Desai has been appointed as Country Head - Wholesale Banking, India of the ING Vysya Bank.

Visa blues for Software cos

Software companies & Indian Educational Institutions having research programme tie ups with American Universities are finding it difficult the wait for processing of their visa applications.Even observance of other formalities are proving to be too long to make their research programmes feasible.