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Indian Hospitality Congress to honour university toppers

The Indian Hospitality Congress (IHC) will felicitate university toppers from different streams in the hospitality sector across India, at its two-day national conference on 27 and 28 March at Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. According to Ashish Dahiya, the Joint Secretary of IHC, the organisation has requested universities for the profiles of toppers in hospitality institutes affiliated with them.  Dahiya said that universities such as Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra; Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak; Bhundelkhand University, Jhansi; MJP Rohelkhand University, Bareilly; Mumbai University; Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune; Mangalore University, and Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, have already submitted the student details, and these students will be honoured during the conference. "One of IHC's objectives is to promote hospitality education in India. Initiatives like these will act as a morale booster for students pursuing hospitality education. Unfortunately, there was no formal platform for honouring these students at the national level so far," says Dahiya. Looking at the current dearth of manpower in the industry as well as in academics, Dahiya says that it was important to create interest among brilliant students to pursue higher education and become role models in the hospitality segment. "Since most of the universities have incorporated hospitality education into their curriculum, there has been a need for research-based programmes in hospitality education. Motivating these toppers to take up advanced programmes based on more research work is very important," says Dahiya.

Yoga festival attracts foreign tourists in large numbers

 The ongoing International Yoga Festival at Rishikesh is drawing a large number of foreign tourists.
The seven-day long festival that started on March 1 has been jointly organised by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and Parmarth Niketan Ashram.
The festival was first organised in 2001 and since then it is being held every year.
A large number of visitors are coming every year to attend the yoga sessions and perform yoga exercises.
"The environment is such that people can learn, enjoy and also listen to speeches of big people. There is serious study and exposure," said Birju Mehta, a visitor.
The participants said that attending the festival has been an enriching experience for them.
The festival is held on the banks of the river Ganga, it offers a wide variety of yoga including Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Reiki, Pranayama, Power Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranic Healing, Music Therapy, Yoga Therapy, Nada yoga, Meditation and special satsangs.
The question-answer sessions with prominent exponents of Yoga are one of the highlights of the Yoga Week.
The Yoga festival has been uniting people of different cultures and faiths as it promotes the unity of the body, mind and soul.

5000 volunteers reach Rishikesh to save Himalayan ecology

Rishikesh (Uttarakhand). With a three-pronged objective of saving the
Himalayas from ecological disaster, cleansing the River Ganges of
pollutants and also saving the cow, 5000 volunteers who have embarked
upon a 'Ganga Yatra', have reached Rishikesh. The rally termed as
'Ganga Yatra' commenced on February 11 from Gangotri Dam and will end
on February 28 in New Delhi, where the Government will be persuaded to
take steps to save the region from ecological damage. "We will strive
for the protection of the holy cow, the holy river Ganges and the
Himalayas. These are the basics of our journey," said Gopal Maniji
Maharaj, a volunteer. "The Ganges has been forced to change its course
with bridges and tunnels being built across it, and as a result, the
sanctity of the river has been destroyed," Maharaj added. The cow is
regarded as the saviour of mankind, and its slaughter can threaten
Indias entire population, he claimed. "The cow, Ganges and Himalayas
have not received adequate attention needed for their preservation.
And whatever little has been done, is not sufficient. The cow is being
sacrificed often and this is not right," said Subhash Sharma, one of
the organisers of the Ganga Yatra. "For 24 years, Gopal Maniji Maharaj
has been monitoring the situation and following an analysis. He has
suggested that around 5001 people should come forward and begin the
holy journey to draw the attention of the Government to these issues,
so that they may take relevant steps to protect them," Sharma added.
According to a recent official report, only 39 percent of the primary
target of the Ganga Action Plan, which the Central Government had
started in 1985, has been met so far. The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was
originated from the personal intervention and interest of the late
Prime Minster Indira Gandhi, who requested a comprehensive survey of
the situation in 1979. After five years, the Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) published two comprehensive reports, which formed the
base from which the action plan to clean up the Ganga, was developed.

To prevent the holy River Ganga from further pollution, a massive campaign has been launched from Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganges to West Bengal's Gangasagar, the point from where River Ganga flows into Bay of Bengal

To prevent the holy River Ganga from further pollution, a massive campaign has been launched from Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganges to West Bengal's Gangasagar, the point from where River Ganga flows into Bay of Bengal.

 

Organised by Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the 99-day campaign named "Ganga Sanskriti Pravah Yatra" which commenced on February 1, reached Varanasi earlier this week.

 

The campaign would conclude at Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganges on May 11.

 

"People have lost their faith in those who give speeches. They have even lost their faith in the Saints. There have been so many swords coming out during the Kumbh fair to take a dip in the river Ganga, if the same come out even to save, the river could be saved.," said Satya Narayan Baba, an artist.

 

"It is a group effort of Ganga Mahasabha and 145 other organisations from Ganga Sagar and Gangotri. We have called for this yatra (campaign) completely on the trust of the people of this nation and those living on the banks of River Ganga and not the government. The people who have come riding on boats in this Yatra are not a sponsored lot," said Acharya Jitendra, National Secreatary of Ganga Mahasabha, an RSS outfit.

 

"We believe soon a time will come when even the public would come out on roads to save the sacred River Ganga", Acharya Jitendra added,

 

"Pollution and commercialization has increased a threat to river Ganga. The society is also polluting Ganga in the name of development. We believe this initiative would help in creating awareness regarding cultural and water pollution," said Indresh Kumar, All India Karamkarini Member of the RSS.

Many prominent Hindu clerics are likely to join the campaign.

 

After Varanasi, the campaign would be taken to Allahabad, Kanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Rishikesh and Devprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi before concluding at Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganga.

 

Meanwhile, the principal sources of pollution are domestic and industrial wastes. Conservative estimates put the effluents flowing into Ganges at 1.7 billion litres each day, out of which 1.4 billion litres is untreated.

 

Nearly 88 per cent of the pollution originates in the 27 cities that are located along the river's banks and the banks of its tributaries.

 

According to a recent official report, only 39 percent of the primary target of the Ganga Action Plan, which the Central Government had started in 1985, has been met so far.

 

The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was originated from the personal intervention and interest of the late Prime Minster Indira Gandhi, who requested a comprehensive survey of the situation in 1979.

 

After five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published two comprehensive reports, which formed the base from which the action plan to clean up the Ganga, was developed. By Girish Kumar Dubey

Road building along Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand challenged

The construction of a road in Rishikesh in Uttarakhand skirting the boundary of the Rajaji National Park was challenged in the Supreme Court Friday on the ground that it posed danger to the wildlife there. The apex court Friday issued notice to the Uttarakhand government on a plea of advocate A.K. Sahu, who said he discovered the road building activity in the prohibited zone during his recent visit to Rishikesh.

 

A special three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, also asked the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC), constituted by the apex court to assist it in matters elated to ecology, to visit the area and apprise the court of the dangers posed by the road to the sanctuary.

 

The bench, which also included Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia, asked the CEC to file its report to the court within two weeks.

 

Sahu told the bench that the road was being built on the edge of the sanctuary, despite an earlier court order prohibiting construction of any road within a distance of one kilometre from the edge of the sanctuary.

 

This road, besides destroying the sanctity of the river Ganga which flows there, would also eat into the area of the wildlife sanctuary and prevent migratory birds from coming to the place in winter, the petition said.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi cremated

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may have been born in India but his real fame
and following as a meditation guru was in the West. The Maharishi's
ashes will be immersed in the Sangam after 20 days, but not before
small urns of his ashes are sent to each of his thousands of ashrams
around the world. His funeral, on the banks on Ganga in Allahabad, saw
his foreign following outnumbering Indians.

They were all there in their white robes, most of them middle-aged
followers of the Maharishi, who made headlines when the Beatles first
came to his ashram in Rishikesh in the year 1968.

When the last flavours of the hippie movement was pushing many in the
West to look towards alternative philosophies, with the Beatles as
brand ambassadors, the Maharishi's transcendental meditation became a
global mantra.

Through the 70s the Maharishi cult grew into what is today a
multi-billion dollar global empire, a cult that drew not only the
faithful but even foreign press.

Given Maharishi Yogi's global footprint, his successor is not an
Indian but a Lebanese follower Tony Nader, who now has been
rechristened as Maharaj Raja Ram.