discover india app launched by tourism ministry india

The Ministry of Tourism has launched a mobile application to enable its users to independently travel and experience 16 cities in the country. The self-guided tour application ‘Incredible India Walking Tours’ was launched by the Ministry in collaboration with Genesys International Corporation and will cover 16 Indian cities including Agra, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Coastal Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, Pune and Surat. The facility will be extended to 36 cities by December 2015. The app enables users to sight-see free of cost at their own pace and convenience, with the help of walking tours curated by travel experts. “We are extremely excited about this because it is the first time an app can enable users to discover India on their own. It’s free, easy to use and, most importantly, comes with 360 degree street views and information put together by a panel of experts. It’s like having a local take you by the hand and show you his city, at your convenience,” Tourism Minister Sripad Naik said. The application, however, is only available on Blackberry mobile handsets. It runs on all BlackBerry 10 handsets including the Z3, Z10, Z30, Q5 and Q10 phones. An Android version of the free application is also being worked upon and is expected to be announced in coming weeks, said a senior Tourism Ministry official.

Rahul's day out in Kolkata!

Kolkata: India's "PM-in-waiting" charms Kolkatans with his simplicity, as he devours hilsa and Bengali decicacies at city eateries. We also bring you his take on matters Bengal and national.



With shukto, mocha and chello kebabs to be had, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took time off from his hectic political schedule in West Bengal to dig into some delicious Kolkata cuisine. Sure enough, he left co-diners and restaurant staff in awe!

Rahul Gandhi, who has been in and out of Kolkata for the three-day trip ending Thursday, stepped into a couple of famous eating joints of the city.



He relished a traditional Bengali dinner at the famed Bhojohori Manna restaurant in south Kolkata Tuesday. The menu comprised delicacies like shukto and mochar paturi and fish items bhetki paturi and a hilsa preparation.

For dessert, he had nalen gurer ice cream and rosomalai, before finishing with a paan or betel leaf.



"He insisted on payment, saying as an MP he was reimbursed for such expenses. We tried to prevent him, but he was politely adamant and paid the bill," said a restaurant staffer.

After a tiring day Wednesday, during which he travelled from Kolkata to three North Bengal districts before returning in the evening, he seemed to be in a relaxed mood.



Having had a feel of Bengali food in Kolkata the previous day, he trooped into the city's fine dining hub Park Street.

Accompanied by some friends, he entered the iconic Peter Cat and placed an order for its famed chello kebab. He also had butter nan, fish sizzler, dal makhani, fresh lime soda and pineapple souffle.

"He enjoyed the food. He was just like any other customer. He also enquired about the recipe," said Michael Sarkar, who served Gandhi.

He spent all of 75 minutes at the restaurant.



Dinner over, he went up to people at other tables and shook hands, taking the diners by surprise. For want of anything better, some fished out the menu card to take his autograph. And he obliged!

"He looked very simple. I am surprised he is so simple. We are very happy," said a beaming customer.

A young girl who took Rahul Gandhi's autograph was over the moon. "He is so good looking. I will show the autograph to my schoolmates," she gushed.



'What Bengal thinks, India does'

Later, speaking at a press conference, Rahul said he believed in the old phrase, "what Bengal thinks, India does", but the state "needs to get back on the path of development".

"Bengal sochta hai, Hindustan karta hai (Bengal thinks, India does). You have more than enough capability to show direction not only to Bengal, but also to India," he added at the press conference.

He stressed West Bengal needs to get back on to the path of development.



Time and support to Omar

On Kashmir Rahul Gandhi said "we need to give (Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah time and support".

Addressing the press conference, Gandhi said: "Kashmir is a tough and sensitive job. We need to give Omar time and support."

He said he will go to Jammu and Kashmir to carry out a youth membership drive and added that there was a need to involve Kashmir youths in the political system.

The youth Congress and the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and the idea of bringing youngsters into politics is a full time responsibility.

"...My aim is to bring youngsters into politics...Kashmir is not a part-time problem. It is a full time problem," he said.

The death toll has risen to 89 in the unrest that started in the Kashmir Valley June 11.



'I respect Mamata, but we won't bow our head'

Rahul said that he respected Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee but "we are not going to bow our head. We have a partnership in the state and we are going to hold hands with Mamata Banerjee."

He stated that Mamata Banerjee is "a senior leader and I respect her", but "we are not going to bow our head".

He said: "Bengalis understand very well the definition of respect."
The Congress leader was on a three-day tour of West Bengal which ends Thursday.

Source: IANS

Rahul's tainted 'sipahi'

Kolkata: Over the next three days, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi will tour the entire state in a bid to strengthen the party in West Bengal. Among other things, he may have to tackle the issue of including a tainted leader in the party fold.



Even as Rahul announced during his recent Kolkata rally that the Congress in the state will have a "clean image", there's resentment brewing in the party regarding the inclusion of Mohammad Rafiq, once TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's pointsman in Keshpur, who has several criminal cases registered against him. In fact, a section of Congress leaders have already staged a dharna in protest outside West Bengal PCC headquarters, Bidhan Bhavan.

Rafiq was inducted into the party when Rahul visited the WBPCC headquarters after having addressed the rally. Top leaders had announced that his joining the party was "like the return of a wayward son to his mother's lap". Rafiq had reciprocated: "Mamata treated me like a brother as I was spearheading a movement against the CPM. But after her purpose was served, she disowned me."



Keshpur was rocked by violence in the early 1990s with several "political killings" reported from both the Trinamool and CPM camps. Rafiq was a TMC leader at that time, with 15 criminal cases against him registered at the Keshpur police station. These included rioting, arson, murder and extortion. A senior police official said, "The cases included four-five murder cases. Warrants are pending in three cases of arson and rioting."

According to police sources, Rafiq owns property in Midnapore town and also runs a transport syndicate.



Manoj Verma, SP, West Midnapore, said, "No new cases have been registered against Rafiq. But he has several old cases lodged against him. In some he has been acquitted."

Pradip Bhattacharya, a former state president of the Congress, said, "We all know Rafiq's criminal background. It is undesirable for the party to accept him. We were not consulted before he joined the party. We will take up the issue with senior leadership in Delhi and produce evidence against him." Kanak Debnath, another senior leader, said, "It's a shame that such a person has joined the party."

Partho Chatterjee of the TMC, when contacted about Rafiq being inducted into the Congress, said, "We expelled him during our last core committee meeting as he appeared to be a disloyal. He had committed several crimes too."



Rafiq is nonchalant about the criminal charges slapped against him. "The TMC used me and then branded me a CPM agent to expel me from the party. Didi will realise her fault. The criminal cases lodged against me are framed charges. After the Lok Sabha polls, the CPM lodged four cases against me. I will speak to Rahul Gandhi about these false charges."



Meanwhile, Congress insiders say Tapan Ghosh, a tainted CPM leader from Garbeta, has expressed willingness to join the party. Ghosh was the prime accused in Choto Angaria case in which he, along with Sukur Ali, allegedly burnt villagers to death in the house of one Bakhtar Mondal in West Midnapore district. The CBI in its chargesheet had included the names of 12 accused including Ghosh and Ali. However, in January, 2009, both were acquitted from the case as the CBI could not produce "sufficient" evidence against them.

Source: The Indian Expresss

Strike paralyses parts of India

Kolkata/New Delhi: Millions of people struck work and scores of flights were cancelled as a 24-hour nationwide strike called by eight trade unions against rising prices and privatisation disrupted life in parts of India, particularly those ruled by Left parties.



The strike was virtually complete in the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) ruled states of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, while it evoked a mixed response in states like Tamil Nadu and a tepid reaction in Karnataka.

The financial capital Mumbai and the national capital New Delhi were relatively unaffected except for commuters who were hit with autorickshaws joining the protest.

According to G. Sanjeeva Reddy, president of the Congress-backed Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), around 100 million (10 crore) workers and employees from sectors including banks, insurance, coal, power, telecom, defence, port and dock, road transport and petroleum and unorganised sectors such as construction joined the strike.



"The strike is 99 percent successful," the Rajya Sabha MP and convener of the Coordination Committee of the Central Trade Unions, which called the strike, told IANS from Hyderabad.

The strike, he said, was being held to "reassert" the bargaining power of the trade unions.



According to him, government leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wanted to discuss the workers' demands. He said senior central ministers had already contacted him for this.

The trade unions that called the strike are, besides INTUC, the Left-affiliated All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and the Centre of Indian Unions (CITU) as well as the All India United Trade Union Centre (AITUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).



The workers want a check on price rise of essential commodities, pro-active measures to protect employment in recession hit sectors, strict enforcement of all basic labour laws without exception, Rs.50,000 crore for an unorganised workers' social security fund, and a halt to privatization of central public sector enterprises.

The demands found resonance in West Bengal, where life ground to a halt in most parts, crippling commercial activities and road traffic.

However, with the opposition Trinamool Congress bringing out processions, a few shops and markets opened as the day wore on.

More than 100 flights run by private airlines to and from Kolkata were cancelled in advance.



Kolkata, which bustles with activity on normal weekdays, saw empty roads as vehicles did not venture out. The strike was total in industrial areas like Taratala.

Government and private buses did not ply and most people chose to remain indoors.

The strike paralysed the industrial belt on both sides of the Hooghly river in Hooghly, Howrah and North 24-Parganas districts, with workers picketing factory gates.



Clashes between CPI-M and Trinamool Congress erupted in several places.

Two people were injured when a scuffle broke out between workers of the two parties over the opening of shops in North 24 Parganas' Baranagar.



Life in Tripura was crippled as well with most markets, shops and business establishments, government and semi-government offices, educational institutions, banks and financial institutions shut. Roads were deserted and rail services between Tripura and the rest of the country affected.

In Assam, life was impacted in many places though tea and oil production were not hit.



Elsewhere in India, there was a mixed response.

In Mumbai, commuters had a tough time as autorickshaws joined the stir but banks and financial institutions, both in public and private sectors, responded wholeheartedly.



According to Vishwas Utagi, secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association, around one million bank employees protested against a host of issues including foreign direct investments in public sector banks and entry of foreign banks.

In Orissa, mining operations in Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts were paralysed. But work in major establishments, including at the state-owned National Aluminium Co (NALCO) mines and refinery in Koraput, was not hit.

Source: IANS

Image Credit: PTI