Page 99 - Hospitality Recreation
Thai 'Indiana Jones' divers scour Bangkok's murky river for treasure
Kneeling before his homemade metal scuba helmet, Bhoomin Samang prays for good fortune before he dives into the day's work -- scouring the bed of Bangkok's Chao Phraya river for sunken treasure. The 62-year-old is part of a small community known as Thailand's "Indiana Jones" divers, who brave the inky-black underworld of the trash-filled waterway in search of coins, china, jewellery and scrap metal. "We look for old coins, sometimes we are hired to find lost objects in the river," says Bhoomin, a veteran diver who has been scouring the river for 30 years. Sometimes the find is more macabre -- the divers have stumbled across skulls and skeletons as they feel their way along the river bed in total darkness. "If you're afraid of ghosts, you can't go in because you can't see anything. But we're used to it," he explains. Trained foreign and Thai Navy SEAL divers were recently at the centre of global attention for their daring rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a waterlogged cave in ...
Add Vietnam's 'Goden Bridge' to your travel bucket list
Straight out of the fantasy world, the 'Golden Bridge' in Vietnam is breathtakingly beautiful.Cradled by two giant hands, the bridge is situated in central Vietnam.Reportedly, it took less than a year to construct the 150 metre long bridge which is about 1,400 metres above sea level. The bridge opened for tourists in early July and has been a hot favourite ever since.Even the Twitterverse can't contain it's excitement about this marvel.A user tweeted, "This view at the #CauVang , known as "The Golden Bridge in #Vietnam designed by TA Landscape Architecture. I love how the hands give the illusion that they're holding up the bridge.""Love that the Danang Golden Bridge in #Vietnam are bordered by #gardens of what appears to be lavender," read another.A user wrote "The Golden Bridge in Danang, Vietnam our world can be wonderful..."The bridge surrounded by the Ba Na hills is making its way into everybody's bucket list." Wow!! Isn't this beautifully creative. Now on the bucket list!! ...
Jaipur walled city proposed as Unesco heritage site
The walled city of Jaipur in Rajasthan is the next proposed site for Unesco World Heritage recognition, Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Dhaka's history told through its landmark buildings
The story of Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka is told in a new book through its iconic buildings that played transformative roles in its architectural formation. "DAC Dhaka" focuses on 25 buildings in Dhaka, representing different architectural phases since the Mughal era, beginning in the early 17th century. The earliest surviving structure in Dhaka is a small pre-Mughal mosque in Old Dhaka. According to the authors Adnan Morshed and Nesfun Nahar, both architects, the list is neither exhaustive nor necessarily representative of the "best" in town. The featured buildings communicate larger ideas about Dhaka's building tradition, represent an architectural trend, influence the architectural scene, and offer a spatial story in the evolution of this city. The book, published by Bloomsbury, acts as a traveller's guide and combines nuanced architectural and urban histories of these buildings, along with maps, drawings, and pictures. It also includes practical information such as Dhaka's ...
Photo history of a place cannot be rewritten: Raghu Rai
History can be written and re-written but 'photo history' of a city or its people cannot ever be re-written, eminent photographer Raghu Rai has said. Inaugurating an exhibition featuring digital reproductions of 96 gelatin silver photographic prints from the collection of the Victoria Memorial Hall, Rai said, "...history is written and it is being re-written now. We all know that. "But this photo history cannot be re-written. These images left by our great masters are like our culture and heritage." The exhibition titled 'Frozen in Time: Late 19th and Early 20th Century Photographs of Calcutta and its Neighbouring Areas' will continue till September 1. Ninety-six digitally restored photographs taken from the collection of Bourne and Shepherd and Johnston and Hoffmann and later in the possession of Victoria Memorial are on display at the exhibition. Bourne and Shepherd was the largest commercial studio in the city during British rule while Johnston and Hoffmann was the ..
Harley-Davidson rebels with an electric motorcycle
Smaller bikes, electric engines, online sales and urban storefronts, Harley-Davidson, we hardly knew you. The American motorcycle company, facing dwindling sales in its home market, today said that it will roll out some new products and stores to broaden its audience and invigorate sales. Harley, known for its car-alarm triggering engine rumble, will roll out an electric motorcycle called LiveWire next year, with no clutch and no gears. It is promising to expand that line over the next few years. It will also open smaller storefronts in urban areas to broaden its appeal. With sales rising in Asia and India, Harley-Davidson says it is developing smaller bikes with 250 to 500 cubic centimeter engines, to make the vehicles more accessible. The company has no plans to pull back on manufacturing its big bikes.
Indo-Nepal forum to be set up for promotion of tourism: Alphons
The Ramayana and Buddhist circuits will be promoted through common branding by India and Nepal and a forum will be set up for mutual consultation and promotion of tourism by the countries, Tourism Minister K J Alphons said today. In a meeting held on July 6 of the joint working group (JWG) of the two countries it was decided that an Indo-Nepal Tourism Forum should be set up. The forum will have representation from the government and private sectors of both the nations for mutual consultation and promotion of tourism in India and Nepal. "This JWG also decided to officially recognise two circuits, the Ramayana Circuit and the Buddhist Circuit, by both governments for joint promotions through common branding and marketing exercises," the minister said. Earlier, during the Conclave of Special Committee on Tourism for SAARC countries held in India in 2016, the Tourism Ministry had agreed to offer 50 seats for B.Sc programme and diploma courses through the Institute of Hotel Management ...
Dubai keen to increase number of Indian tourists
Indian tourists accounted for over 13 cent of the total 16 million visitors to Dubai in 2017, a top tourism official of the UAE city said today. The Dubai Tourism now aims to scale up the number to 20 million international tourists by 2020, and substantially raise the percentage of Indian visitors by that time. "Tourism continues to be the bedrock of Dubai's economic growth and diversification, and the Tourism Vision 2020 will further leverage the sector by broadening its tourism offering across events, infrastructure, services and packages," said Khalid Al Awar - Manager, India and Pakistan, International Operations, Dubai Tourism. A 'Dubai Tourism Roadshow' was held in Kolkata today, which aimed at boosting the number of visitors to the largest city in the United Arab Emirates. "While the Dubai Tourism roadshow kicked off from Kolkata on July 30 (today), we will now be hosting similar road shows in Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai till August 3," Awar said. He said Indians plan
Over 1.6 lakh people visited India for cruise tourism in 2017-18
More than 1.6 lakh people visited India for cruise tourism in 2017-2018, Tourism Minister K J Alphons told Parliament today. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister said a task force on cruise tourism was jointly formed by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping with representatives of all the major ports and stakeholders for coordinated efforts to create an enabling ecosystem for the development of cruise tourism in India. The task force meets regularly and the last meeting was held on May 21, he added. "During the year 2017-18, a total of 1,62,660 cruise passengers visited India at six major ports namely Mumbai Port, Chennai Port, Cochin Port, Kolkata Port, New Mangalore Port and Mormugao Port," the minister said, adding that during the same period, 139 cruise ships visited these ports. The Ministry of Tourism had also sanctioned projects worth Rs 106.39 crore for the development of cruise terminal-related infrastructure at the major ports of Goa, ...
Taxi strike targeting Uber brings chaos to Spanish cities
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish taxi drivers blocked major city streets including Barcelona's Gran Via and Madrid's Castellana on Monday in a protest to pressure the government to curb licences to online ride-hailing services such as Uber.
Dubai aims for 20mn tourists by 2020, India among top targets
Dubai is aiming for 20 million visitors from around the globe by 2020 and is heavily banking on tourists from India, which is currently the country's number one source market with 13 per cent of its total tourist share, a Dubai Tourism official said here on Monday.
Cure.fit raises $120 mn, funding led by IDG, Accel
Health and fitness startup Cure.fit today said it has raised USD 120 million (Rs 824 crore) in new round of funding led by IDG Ventures, Accel Partners and Kalaari Capital. The series C round also saw participation from Chiratae Ventures and Oaktree Capital, Cure.fit said in a statement. "The fresh investment will enable Cure.fit to strengthen technology platform, invest in building a national brand and scale the geographical footprint for the company's four flagship products Cult.Fit, Eat.Fit, Mind.Fit and Care.fit," it added. Founded in 2016 by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart executive Ankit Nagori, CureFit operates a chain of fitness centres under Cult.Fit. It also focusses on mental fitness (through Mind.fit), healthy food (Eat.fit) and primary care (Care.fit). "Health is over USD 100 billion category in India and is ready for new tech driven approach for much better consumer experience. With very high health awareness and rapid technology adoption among ...
Health start-up Cure.fit raises $120 mn in Series C funding
Health and fitness start-up Cure.fit on Monday said it has raised $120 million in a Series C round of funding.
Indian pilgrims throng Nepal's Pashupatinath for 'Bolbom Kawaria'
Hundreds of Indian pilgrims participating in the 'Bolbom Kawaria' are heading to Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal during the holy month of Shrawan.An Indian pilgrim, Balmukund Manvi came to Nepal's capital Kathmandu from India's Madhya Pradesh along with his 60 members as a part of their pilgrimage devoted to Lord Shiva.Talking to ANI, Balmukund said, "We are a group of 60 people which have departed from (MP) Madhya Pradesh in 45-day long pilgrimage touring various places to Nepal. We are feeling very happy. All the facilities and management are well. There are ample facilities and there is no problem at all. We were told of some difficulties but we did not experience it. The darshan of the temple also was easy, Jay Bhole Nath.!!!""Our family members came over here and then they suggested going and making a visit to the temple of Bholenath," Rekha Malvi, one of the members of the group of 60 arriving in the capital city of Nepal, added.The Himalayan nation, Nepal hosts several
Tesla just built a USD 1,500 surfboard, because why not
If the Flamethrower wasn't exactly your thing, Tesla quietly introduced a limited edition surfboard worth USD 1,500.The surfboard won't take you to Mars or help you ride around the city on electricity, but is just a Tesla-branded surfboard in black and red colours, meant simply for surfing, Engadget reported.Built with the help of Lost Surfboards and board maker Matt Biolos, the Tesla-branded surfboard was quick to sell out as soon as it appeared in the store.
Casual to couture: Look chic in white (Sartorial Trends)
From skirts to saris, jumpsuits to lehengas, shrugs to business suits, and shirts to sherwanis -- white and pastels are acing the race in the fashion world -- both in the casual and couture space.
Lalu Prasad, wife, son and others summoned as accused in IRCTC scam case
A Delhi court today summoned RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav and others as accused in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) scam. Special Judge Arvind Kumar directed them to appear before the court on August 31 in a case related to alleged irregularities in granting operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm. The CBI, which had on April 16 filed the charge sheet in the case, had said that there were enough evidence against the accused. The CBI had earlier informed the court that sanction has been procured from the authorities concerned to prosecute Additional Member of Railway Board B K Agarwal, who was then the group general manager of the IRCTC. Besides Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members, former union minister Prem Chand Gupta and his wife Sarla Gupta, Agarwal, then managing director of IRCTC P K Goyal and then IRCTC director Rakesh Saxena were also named in the charge sheet. The other names in the
Boost immunity with nutritious recipes
If immunity and a bit of boost is what you are looking for, look no further than your kitchen where you can experiment with easy to prepare nutritional dishes that can uplift your mood.
Ageing, overweight divers at heart attack risk underwater
Older, overweight scuba divers are being urged to shed pounds to avoid an underwater heart attack, by scientists who found that cardiac ailments are one of the leading causes of diving-related deaths. From 1989 to 2015, the proportion of diving fatalities involving 50-59 year-olds increased steadily from 15 to 35 per cent, while fatalities in the over-60s soared from five to 20 per cent. Cardiac events are now the second leading cause of death behind drowning. People who pay to go diving must learn skills and theory and be screened for fitness. But, after that initial screening, certification to scuba dive lasts for life. "It's not commonly new divers who have health problems, because they have been recently screened. It is older divers who have not looked after their health," said Peter Buzzacott, of the University of Western Australia. "Divers who learned to dive years ago and who are now old and overweight, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are at increased risk of ...
Ramoji Film City, Wonderla in top in Asia theme parks
With theme and water parks becoming popular across the globe, two amusement parks in the country have been featured among the top 10 travellers' choice in Asia. While Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad ranks sixth in 'TripAdvisor 2018 Travellers' choice awards for amusement and water parks across the globe, Wonderla Amusement Park in Bengaluru secures seventh place in the same list. The TripAdvisor 'Travellers' choice awards for amusement parks and water parks' is based on consumer reviews and bookings on the site. The selection has been done using an algorithm taking into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for amusement parks and water parks worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period. "It's great to see a number of parks from India being recognised among the best in Asia, which only goes to show their popularity among the travellers as well as the international standard services being maintained," TripAdvisor said. Wonderla Amusement Park in Kochi, is ..