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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.

UPA candidate for President before Mrs Gandhi's foreign trip

There are indications that Presidential nominee of ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of which major partner is Congress, may be decided soon. It is quite likely because Congress chief Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is going on a vacation abroad in the second week of June, 2007

Joshi to join on Monday
R C Joshi is joining on Monday as Member (Finance) of the Space Commission, Bangalore. He is 1973 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Prof Lama to be VC of Sikkim University
Prof. Lama of the JNU, New Delhi, is being appointed Vice Chancellor of the Sikkim University. He is expected to join the new assignment in July.

Major IAS reshuffle in Madhya Pradesh

As many as 28 IAS officers were transferred by Madhya Pradesh Government being headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.They are:R.N.Berwa PS Tribal Welfare to PS Social Justice & Backward Classes Welfare,Rakesh Bansal PS Labour & Parliamentary Affairs to PS Jail & Transport,Mrs.Ranjana Choudhary PS Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, Sports & Youth Welfare to PS Forest, Sports & Youth Welfare,Avani Vaish PS Forest to PS Commerce, Industry ,Employment & PSU department,PS Technical Education & Training to PS Labour & Parliamentary Affairs. Dr.A.N.Asthana PS Food & Civil Supplies to PS Human Rights Commission,M.K.Roy PS Transport, Jail & Backward Classes Welfare to PS Food & Civil Supplies,O.P.Rawat PS Commerce & Industry to PS Tribal Welfare,Mrs.Abha Asthana PS Tourism & Culture to PS Religious Trusts & Endowments,Ashok Das Commissioner Indore to PS Urban Welfare,Raghav Chandra Commissioner Tribal Welfare to PS Technical Education,Rakesh Agrawal PS Mining & MD MP Mining Corporation to PS Fisheries, Animal Husbandry,B.P.Singh MD Small Scale Industries Corporation to Commissioner Ujjain,Jaideep Govind Commissioner Ujjain to Commissioner Tribal Welfare,Sewaram PS Urban Welfare to PS Mining & MD Mining Corporation, Deepak Khandekar on his return from Central deputation has been made Industries Commissioner with additional charge of MD Small Scale Industries Corporation & MD State Industries Corporation,M.K.Singh Director Rajya Shiksha Kendra to Commissioner Panchayat & Social Justice,Iqbal Singh Bains Secretary to CM,Aviation & Tourism,M.Gopal Reddy Industries Commissioner to MD MP Marketing Federation(MARKFED), S.K.Vashistha MD MARKFED to Commissioner Ujjain, Dr.J.T.Ekka Member Board of Revenue to MD Warehousing Corporation,Surya Pratap Singh Parihar Secretary to Chief Minister & Secretary Horticulture,J.N.Kansotia MD Agro Industries Corporation & Secretary Horticulture to Secretary Tribal Welfare, Anurag Jain Secretary to Chief Minister has been given charge of Information Technology(IT) also,Dr.V.S.Niranjan Commissioner Panchayat to MD Agro Industries Corporation & Commissioner Horticulture,K.M.Gautam Additional Secretary to Secretary MP Public Service Commission(PSC),Ashish Shrivastava MD AKVN Indore to Additional Secretary & Mrs.Madhu Khare Secretary MP PSC to Additional Commissioner Ujjain.Prabhat Parashar Registrar Cooperative Institutions has been given additional charge of MP Oilfed.

IAS changes in UP

Himanshu Kumar will be new Excise Commissioner.Kamran Rizvi has been made Sugarcane Commissioner.Jitendra Kumar will be Secretary Revenue.A L Venketshwar Lu Commissioner Faizabad Division.R C Shrivastava has been posted as Principal Secretary Sports and Youth Welfare.Ajay Kumar Shukla,Anita C Meshram, Muktesh Mohan Mishra will be DMs of Gaziabad,Mainpuri and Gonda respectively.

Bhonwal is State Election Commissioner UP

Rajendra Bhonwal is new State Election Commissioner in Uttar Pradesh. He is retired 1975 batch IAS officer.

Bhide takes over as Secretary Revenue

P V Bhide has taken over as Secretary Revenue in the Government of India. He is 1973 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Meena Gupta is new Secretary Forests and Environment

Meena Gupta has taken over as new Secretary Forests and Environment in the Government of India. She is 1971 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

Singhal takes over as CBEC Chairman
S K Singhal has taken over as Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs(CBEC) on Friday. He is 1970 batch IRS officer.

B M Singh is new Chairman of CBDT
B M Singh has taken over as new Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Friday. He is 1970 batch IRS officer.

Mahmood is Member of Law Commission
Tahir Mahmood has been appointed Member of the Law Commission. He is former Chairman of the National Minorities Commission.

Justice Mohan appointed Chairman
Tamil Nadu Government has appointed Justice S. Mohan as Chairman of the review committee of the Town and Country Planning Act.

No Secr level empanelment from Punjab
So far 1973 batch of IAS officials are concerned, there has been no Secretary level empanelment from Punjab.

Congmen have no time for Congress
Congress men these days, it seems, do not have any time for the party. They can be seen more busy in finding out links either for Rahul Gandhi or, at least, Priyanka. Party comes later for these sycophants.

India Today group's newspaper
Famous India Today group which belongs to media magnate Arun Purie is going to launch its English morning by the year end. It is going to be a joint venture with "Daily Mail" of UK.

Major changes in NDTV India likely

NDTV India & its affiliate channels are likely to go through a major shake up in coming weeks. As the grapevine has it Barkha Dutt is likely to be made Group Editor of NDTV.Dibang & his team will be shifted out of NDTV India.Dr.Prannoy Roy & Radhika Roy are considering either elevating a person from NTV media as its head or get any other brilliant Hindi journalist as its head.

BAG films go Balaji Telefilms way

BAG films is setting up a major production facility in Dubai. The said company which belongs to Rajiv Shukla has reportedly also tied up with Shiekh Mubaraq Al Nayham-Education Minister as well as chief of cricket board, for setting up a branch of his film Institute in United Arab Emirates (UAE).Miss Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms & Zee group's chief Subhash Chandra already have a set up in Sharjah.Mrs.Anuradha Prasad wife of Rajiv Shukla will be touring Dubai shortly.

Infighting in BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) of which chief is Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is witnessing a severe infighting over the Zee group's decision to cancel its five year telecast rights worth $200 Million. Many BCCI members are reportedly of the view that the Zee should be sued for surrendering telecast rights.

Mushtaq Sheikh joins BAG group

Mushtaq Sheikh has joined BAG Films Ltd as announced that journalist-cum-scriptwriter Mushtaq Sheikh has joined as creative director for its upcoming glamour channel in B.A.G Group. Sheikh who to his credit has a book on Shah Rukh Khan,was earlier a scriptwriter with Balaji telefilms.

Harsh Rohtagi joins NDTV group

Harsh Rohtagi will be new Executive Vice President(EVP)with NDTV group. Hitherto he was general manager marketing and content with Star India

Mohammed Afzal shifted to Turkmenistan
Mohammed Afzal, currently Ambassador of India to Angola, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Turkmenistan in succession to Prof. Ram Pal Kaushik.

Ten allotted IRPS
Ten candidates have been allotted to the IRPS 2005.

Raha gets additional charge in CBEC
A K Raha has been given additional charge of the Member (P & A ) in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

Raj Kishore joins in Mumbai
Raj Kishore has joined as Member of the Income Tax Settlement Commission in Mumbai.

Rao to move to Kuwait
First Secretary in Manila, K Narsingh Roa, is moving to Kuwait in place of P M Thomas.First Secretary Thomas will go to Male.

Srinivasa goes to Lima
K J Srinivasa Second Secretary in Madrid will go to Lima.First Secretary in Lima A Agarwal has been shifted to the MEA Headquarters.

Transfers in Railway
V Bhartuar, SAG/IRSME/South Central Railway, presently working as SDGM has been transferred to East Central Railway and posted as CAO/Diesel Loco Factory/Marhowra. R Vijay Mohan, SAG/IRSME/South Central Railway has been posted as SDGM/South Central Railway in place of Bhartuar. Romen Rawat, Junior Scale/IRSME/South East Central Railway has been shifted to South Central Railway in the same capacity.
Ashwani Kumar Dikshit, Senior Scale/IRSME/West Central Railway will move to North Eastern Railway in the same capacity. V K Jha, SAG/IRSME/Northern Railway has been shifted to North East Frontier Railway and posted as CME in SA grade, vice A K Upadhyay, HAG/IRSME, already transferred to Railway Board and posted as Adviser (Vigilance).

Promotions in Railway

Ministry of Railways have decided to promote following JA Grade officers of IRSME in Selection . They are :- K S Reddy on SCR. A M Singh on NWR. Rajesh Malik on DMW, Neeraj Jain on DLW , Vikas Purwar on RDSO , Muppala Srinivas on SCR , Smrutiranjan Sethy on EcoR , Ravish Kumar on NER , Samir Lohani on WR , Manish Kumar Gupta on DLW, Pankaj Singh on ER , Tarun Huria on IRIMEE , Ramnik Singh on RCF , Gaurav Agarwal on RCF , Amitava Chaudhary on CLW , Sheel Bhadra on NR, Ujjal Haldar on ER, Uday Singh Meena on CR, S Bairwa on SER, Vinod Pal on NR , S C Prasad on CLW, B Sukumar on ICF , C Nandkumaran on SR 24. Shri R N Saha on ER (w.e.f. 01/01/07 20 28/02/2007, his date of superannuation) , V Raviveerchavan on RWF , B Datta on SER , S R Bhabhor on CR and R B Singh on DMW.

New CGM BSNL Kerala
K.S. Srinivasan has taken over as Chief General Manager, BSNL, Kerala Circle.

Neeraj Mishra joins "The Pioneer",

Neeraj Mishra has joined Bhopal edition of "The Pioneer" as Resident Editor & Chief Executive Officer.Earlier he was with "India Today" magazine in Delhi.

Livingmedia's newspaper named "Today Mail"

Living media group owners of multilingual India Today magazine, which belongs to media magnate Arun Purie has christened its to be launched English morning newspaper as "Today Mail." It is being launched in collaboration with "Daily Mail" of UK.

V.George to join Today Mail

Varghese George will be Chief of Bureau with "Today Mail" the English morning daily of India Today group of magazines which is be launched later in 2007.So far he was with "The Indian Express".

IAS postings in Assam
K K Diwedi has been appointed Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia . A K Absar Hazarika has been transferred to the Department of Power.

FORUM

People have expectations from CJI

There are a lot of expectations from the CJI Balakrishnan. People are looking upto to him. Hope he can deliver. May god bless him with strength and courage.

Ravi

No proposal to raise retirement age

Kishore Kumar please be informed that as per the statement of Honb'le Minister Suresh Pachauri, there is no proposal to raise the retirement age to 62.
R Singh

Buddhist Tarin by IRCTC a flop show

Buddhist Train by IRCTC is a big flop show. In the first trip there were 4 paid bookings rest others were on free rides and similar was the fate with second trip.
Third trip was cancelled as no booking was made. Leaving apart advtertisng and publicity cost, the running cost of one trip of Buddhist Train to IRCTC is approx Rs 15 lakhs. Tourism portal of IRCTC at www.railtourismindia.com has very poor quality. It stands nowhere in comparison and contents of makemytrip and yatra.com. Lord Buddha is not pleased with grand ideas of Dr P.K Goel.--Staff from IRCTC
....Buddham Sharnam Gachami......

Sangeeta

Keep up the good work Rajesh Bhushan

Rajesh, it was heartening to note your achievements and aspirations.Keep up the good work.Hoping to see bihar restored to its past glory!.

Maitreyee Brahmo

Excellent Dewan
Dear Dewan Sir, Excellent pearls of wisdom.
Sanjay

Aaj Ki Aawaz

It's the same old story…… response always is 'give us unedited tape'!!!
And as usual in total disbelief Public karr rahi hai gape!!

This matter too will be caught in legal tape!!!
And justice ka firr se hogaa rape!!!

Seems Anand or Boss or Badde Sahib is calling his clients in various Political Parties!!!
Boss's request must be ' Save karro mujhe me hearties'!!!!

'Me hearties'…… these guys are Legal Pirates,
Pirates who play with people's fates!!!

Court should order an Investigation …appoint three eminent Lawyers to investigate!!
This matter should not be allowed to be brushed under the carpet at any rate!!!

Public outcry is that both Defence and Prosecution Counsels should be prosecuted!!!
And both Counsels Legal Practices be executed!!!

Lawyers like Anand are Legal System's bane!!
On India's legal system a stain!!!

And how can the Court overlook the epicentre …. the Nanda boy!!!!
After all Anand's services Nandas ne kiye employ!!!

Nandas are a power to reckon with ….. 'business relations' cut across Party lines!!!
Their influence is already working behind the scenes as per signs!!!

If the two Lawyers and Nanda boy are able to get off the hook!
Then where Justice is concerned like a Banana Republic India will look!!

Then it will be if you have money and influence you have license to kill!!!
Kindly kill at will only be prepared to settle the bill!!!

During Mulayam 'Jurrum kumm' Raaj goons were given Z Plus Protection!!!
And now after revocation of Security many in SP are in dejection!!!

Raja Bhaiya was given Z Plus protection…. what a joke!!!
Actually Public needed protection from this bloke!!

Amar is approaching the Courts to get back his Z Plus status!!!!
After all it's a matter of status!!!

Without his Z Plus Security Amar Singh must be feeling nangaa!!!
And then who'll protect him when he takes pangge pe panggaa!!!

BIS Chahal till July 04 has got bail!!!
Came out of Court looking abs pale!!!

Amrinder says , 'Give me a pen-drive and I'll put Badal's in a similar fix or spot'!!!
Hope he realizes that to do this five years he had got!!!

Not that he did not try...... but simply could not trace Badal's alleged treasure!!!
Though he used every measure!!!

Why does he want a free pen-drive....can't he buy a pen-drive himself????
He just go to go to a Store and pick it up form the shelf!!

Problem is he's habituated to living on the house… muffat khor (moocher) !!!
And if pen-drive details are proved then it'll be muffat khorr chor!!!

Now the Centre is planning an Urbanization Policy…. too late!!!
For so long why did Sarkaar wait????

Cities gobbling agricultural land…… and also becoming unfeasible to sustain!!!
All this time Sarkaar ignorance kyon karr rahi thi feign????

And by the time the Policy sees daylight India would be an urban jungle!!!
There's no doubt in urbanization and SEZs Sarkaar ne kiya hai bungle!!

In Rajhasthan now a caste war looms…. BJP needs to act!!!
But this Quota problem is Congress's doing and that's a fact!!!

All the OBC and Muslim appeasement have got other Communities wanting the same!!!
At Congress's doorstep squarely lies the fragmenting India on caste lines blame!!!

No doubt Raje was found lacking!!!
Had she acted decisively in time could have sent protestors packing!!

Now Meenas are up in arms and want to keep Gurjars out!!!!
Explosive situation without a doubt!!!

NDA did not divide India and that's why during its rule there was peace,
Whereas Congress for its vote bank politics is dividing India piece by piece!!

A CD is HP shows that Congress Sarkaar there has indeed been very seedy!!!
Voices of Virbhadra and others discussing bribes is on the CD!!!!

In Hamirpur by the looks of its 50-50 who will win!!
On whom will the Public of Hamirpur grin???

But Congress's euphoria after the Shimla MC polls is misplaced!!!!
In HP in the upcoming Assembly polls in number two position Congress is being placed!

Anti incumbency is today Congress's bane!!!
What's the reason that in States where Congress rules people don't want it back again!!!

Court has rejected Bachchan's plea....allottment has been declared null and void!!!
Media ko karr raha hai Big B avoid!!

Because Media will question him annulments fallout,
Will this mean that from the land in Pune he'll be thrown out????

Land in Pune was allotted because Barabanki land made him make Farmer grade!!
This was the specific reason why the Barabhank land allotment to him was made.

Bharat Kumar
Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

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CORPORATE

Telang is ED Tata Motors
P M Telang has been appointed Executive Director (Commercial Vehicles) by Tata Motors.

Desai to head SBICAP
Jignesh Desai has been appointed Head of Institutional Sales of the SBICAP.

Krishnan is Zonal Manager PNB Kerala
Krishnan Ramaiah has taken over as new zonal manager of Punjab National Bank (PNB), Kerala Zone.

Parik is President of CBOF
N K Parik has been elected President of the Central Bank Officers Federation.