‘One Nation – One Election’ refers to conducting simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Legislatures, a concept which has recently been debated and discussed across the country. ‘One Nation- One Election’ concept has gained support because of the perception that simultaneous elections will bring India out of a continuous election mode and will also save huge expenditure made in multiple elections…. While the objective of the concept is well meaning, however there are Constitutional, Legal and Political facets that need to be addressed…. The debate on ‘One Nation – One Election’ should however continue.

Looking forward to address the session on ‘One Nation – One Election’ at “UDGHOSH – The Youth Parliament” on 5th Feb at Law Centre-II, University of Delhi.

“Over the last decade, India has grown to become a sought-after destination for medical tourism. Today, India is one of the top 10 medical tourism destinations in the world. Modern healthcare facilities, skilled doctors and low cost of treatment have made India a popular hub of medical tourism attracting a large number of patients every year…. India however deserves a larger share of the medical value travel opportunity. For making India a destination of choice for medical tourism for countries beyond South Asia and the Middle East, medical value travel stakeholders in India need to consolidate their efforts and design strategy to leverage the available opportunity…. India also needs to be more ‘tourist-friendly’ for medical tourists coming to the country by way of ease of services at airports, faster immigration clearance for medical tourists, ambulance services at airports, proper transport infrastructure, affordable accommodation, food as per a patient’s requirement, hygiene and an environment of holistic care…. India today, is called ‘the pharmacy to the world’. In order to achieve the stated vision of being ‘the provider to the world’ by delivering quality care at affordable cost, integrated effort by all key stakeholders including the Government, Health & Tourism industry, Service providers, Facilitators and Regulators is the need of the hour.”

India is truly a land of heritage. Blessed with 37 World Heritage Sites notified by UNESCO, India ranks 6th in the world in having the largest number of world heritage sites after Italy, China, Spain, France and Germany. 
India’s world heritage sites are in fact the best ‘ready destinations’ for showcasing to the world. Sites like Tajmahal, Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri do receive reasonable footfall of foreign tourists, however majority of our world heritage sites are still not visited in big numbers and their potential still remains untapped. Better Air, Rail and Road connectivity to these sites, improved tourism infrastructure and aggressive marketing of these lesser known iconic sites can put India into a higher orbit where Italy, China, Spain, France and Germany are located and are reaping the potential of their world heritage sites by getting record number of international travellers. Majority of India’s world heritage sites are not very well visited by the domestic travellers also. Every Indian domestic traveller should not miss an opportunity to visit these ‘wonders’ of the world located in India ( list attached ).

“Tourism in India is on a high growth trajectory, that has brought significant changes in demand and supply patterns. Tourism being a service industry, its growth would continue as long as supply of human resource and service providers matches the demand of the industry. The key to future success in tourism would however depend upon the quality of services and therefore quality training of human resource to prepare professional and talented service providers, is the immediate need of the hour. The role of tourism educational institutions and educators therefore assumes very high importance..With fast changing tourism environment, use of digital technology in the sector, e-commerce bringing about paradigm shift in consumer behaviour and emergence of Niche tourism areas, it is time that educational institutions in the tourism sector accelerated their focus on strengthening the skills and competency of their teaching faculty, sensitized them to the changing needs and demands in tourism sector and ensured regular industry – academia interaction with a view to producing quality and professional manpower for the sector.”

India is one of the few countries that is gifted with history, cultural diversities, natural resources and variety of religions, an ideal mix of heritage tourism products. India has served as the cradle for many civilizations and has left an indispensable mark in the world history. The country’s inventory of diverse cultural heritage is immense with multiple ethnicities, customs, festivals, languages, clothing, folk lore, dances and culinary. India is also blessed with a variety of natural heritage in the form of Himalayas, Wildlife, Forests and Rivers and the country offers a mixed culture of all religions.

India’s Aviation sector is witnessing a high growth trajectory and is currently one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. The rapid growth has however been hamstrung by shortage of appropriate skills comprising not only trained pilots but also aircraft engineers, technicians, cabin crew, ground handling staff, cargo handling and airport management staff. The boom in aviation sector in the country has led to the challenge of bridging critical skill gaps in almost all sub-sectors of aviation.

New India Tourism, a new ‘Ideating’ & ‘Advisory’ forum and a ‘Think tank’ was launched yesterday, at a formal ceremony at Hotel Le Meridien in New Delhi. The new forum also organised its first event, a national seminar on the subject ‘Opportunities and Challenges of Tourism in New India’ with special focus on exploring India’s heritage diversities, leveraging heritage and promoting the curated heritage (museums) in New India.

The launch ceremony and the seminar were also attended and addressed by Excellency, Ambassador of Greece; Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations; Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India; and President, Indian Heritage Hotels Association.

‘Destination Weddings’ is a growing Niche market, that has impacted tourism destinations all over the world. India is one such destination, which is emerging as a popular wedding destination. A recent study has shown that wedding market in India is more than INR One hundred thousand crores, of which INR Twenty five thousand crores is the share of destination weddings. The wedding industry in India is expected to register a growth of 25 to 30 percent in coming years.

There is ample reason for India’s high potential in destination wedding sector. The country has a blend of diverse, exotic and beautiful locations suitable for all tastes and occasions. To name a few, India has, the Lake City Udaipur for Pretty weddings; Pink City Jaipur and Sun City Jodhpur for Royal marriages; Goa for beach weddings and Kerala for weddings in the midst of backwaters.

India is the ‘Land of Buddha’. The State of Bihar, in particular, offers an enriching experience of ‘Buddhist Trail’. While Bodh Gaya is the main centre of attraction, Nalanda and Rajgir are two prominent destinations of Buddhist Circuit in the State. Gautam Buddha is said to have visited and preached at both these places.

Nalanda, regarded as one of the greatest universities of ancient world, rose into prominence in 5th Century AD as a great Monastic-cum- Educational Institution for oriental art and learning in the whole Buddhist World, attracting students from distant countries including China.