Jaipur : If you are aiming to holiday in Rajasthan, you might have to change your plans as most hotels and guest houses here are overbooked owing to the extended weekend the country is enjoying.

One is greeted by the No room available tag at almost all places of tourist accommodation with bookings made for an entire week - a sign of roaring business.

This short-term tourism boom in the off-season is due to the regular weekend followed by the Indian Independence Day Aug 15 and Janmashtami Aug 16.

Though its just a week-long affair, it is really fetching good revenues for the industry. Owing to the public holidays in a row, several domestic tourists are flocking to the city, says Sanjay Kaushik of travel agency Rajputana Holiday Makers.

Jaipur : For the first time, the main Independence Day function in Rajasthan Tuesday would be held at Udaipur and not in the state capital here.

The venue for the function was shifted as Sawai Man Singh stadium where the state-level Independence Day and Republic Day functions are held normally is under renovation for the forthcoming International Cricket Councils Champions Trophy tournament in October.

However, an official denied that the shifting of the venue was because of the renovation work.

The official said that Chief Minister Vasundhara Rajes was keen to organise Independence Day and Republic Day functions at district headquarters to ensure larger public participation. The official said that Udaipur was selected on this ground.

The move, however, angered a section of people who feel that state-level functions should not be shifted out of the capital.

New Delhi : Devraj Singh, the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, is not averse to settling differences over management of Jai Mahal Palace out of court, but said he was merely defending his rights through the case before the Company Law Board.

My uncle (Prithviraj Singh) has retained full management control of the Jai mahal Palace hotel following my fathers death in 1997. Since then I have never been consulted with regard to any of the hotels management affairs, despite the fact that I have a degree in Business Administration and Hospitality Management… (my mother thinks) we should defend our rights, Singh said in an interview from Bangkok.

While his grouse was that no share of the income or any benefit whatsoever from the hotel was paid to him despite his late father owning 99 per cent stake in the company, he said he was open to an out-of-court settlement.

We will consider all the options, Singh, who was born to Maharaja Jagat Singh and Thai princess Priyanandana Rangsit, said when asked whether he was prepared to settle differences mutually.

JAIPUR: Up in arms against soft drink multinationals in the view of a report claiming alarmingly high pesticide content in fizz drinks, NGOs in Jaipur on Friday demanded a total ban on such beverages in Rajasthan and threatened to hit the streets if the government did not act.

The Jan Sangarsh Samiti, an umbrella of atleast 10 NGOs, demanded that the ruling BJP ban the production and sale of cold drinks including Coca Cola and Pepsi from all places in the state and not just from the Assembly and educational institutions.

If the state government fails to act, the JSS would hold demonstrations and break soft drink bottles on the city streets as mark of protest on August 22, JSS Convenor Sawai Singh told reporters here.

India Travel Mart (ITM), a prominent international travel & tourism exhibition, will start tomorrow in Jaipur and continue till August 13.

Rajasthan tourism is the host state, Uttaranchal tourism the partner state, and Malaysia and Dubai the partner countries for this event.

ITM showcases cruises, railways, aviation, hospitality and other related industries. The three-day exhibition will focus on outbound, inbound and domestic tourism.

Participants include the tourism departments of Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Andaman & Nicobar; international tourism boards from Malaysia and Dubai; Star Cruises; the Indian Railways; leading hotels, resorts, palaces, travel agencies, and tour operators; and other participants from Goa, Shimla, Nainital, Manali, Mussoorie, Ranikhet, Almora, Corbett, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Gandhinagar, Manesar, etc.

There is still widespread ignorance about AIDS in rural UP and poor health services have made the situation worse.

Glass syringes are still being used without sterilisation. One village in eastern UPs Kushinagar district has seen two deaths from AIDS in the last four months.

So now people here, many of whom are semi-literate, have begun asking young men from their families working in Mumbai and other big cities to get themselves tested for HIV before returning home.

They have become suspicious, so most of us now are getting the tests done and coming back with our reports, said a local.

Jaipur : Golf prodigy Amanjyot Singh yesterday was felicitated by state sports minister Younis Khan and the chairman of the State Sports Council Manohar Kant.

Amanjyot Singh, who recently won the prestegious British Open Junior Silver category golf title, was also assured of financial support by the state government.

The government had earlier granted Rs. two lakh to Amanjyot in the previous financial year.

Amanjyot said the most inspiring moment for him so far had been meeting world number one Tiger Woods at the British Open Junior Golf.

He congratulated me and said well done, keep it up. I wish to do that, he said.

The collection is very pretty; we even have pictures of Lord Ganesha on silver discs…

If you still haven t bought that special rakhi that you ve been looking for your brother, for Raksha Bandhan, which falls on Wednesday, don t fret. We ve found a couple of shops in the city that are selling rakhis made out of -hold your breath- silver and semi precious stones. Priced rather reasonably, these rakhis are aimed at sisters who want to gift their brothers something precious this festive season.

Amrapali, the spacious design studio at the Oberoi, is offering an entire range of rakhis prepared out of silver and semi-precious stones like lutopas, garnet, citrin and pearls. According to Pinky Dawda, the Manager of the store, This is the first time we ve come out with this concept. Although sales are slow, we are certain they will pick up. An in-house team in Jaipur designed our entire collection, where we also have a branch. The collection is very pretty; we even have pictures of Lord Ganesha on silver discs. There s also a lot of filigree work with different stones. Instead of a normal thread, we’ve made the use of silver beads. The unique collection is priced at Rs 500 onwards, we suggest you go there and browse through it.

The Jaipurias have set up a fully-equipped campus that offers post-graduate diplomas in management (PGDM, which is a full-time course) in Jaipur. They run several such educational institutes.

Set up over 5.12 acres of land at the Bambala Institutional area in Jaipur, the institute is equipped with contemporary infrastructure and high-tech instructional aids.

The library has automated services and is air-conditioned, with a rich collection of titles, national and international journals and e-journals.

The state-of-the-art computer labs have more than 70 nodes with high-speed internet available through 2 mbps broadband. The institute subscribes to the latest software — Libsys, Delnet, Ebsco and Prowess.

Lecture halls are centrally air-conditioned and have a PC, an overhead LCD projector and OHPs. Regular seminars, presentations, workshops, industry interface and industrial visits project the institute’s commitment to holistic development.

JAIPUR: Bollywood actor Vidya Balan launched Radio Mirchi on 98.3 FM here on a common frequency on Friday. The radio station was earlier operational in the city on 105 FM and is the first FM station to go on air for 24 hours.

Entertainment Network (India) Ltd (ENIL) managing director and CEO AP Parigi said: Earlier this year, private FM operators had made a presentation to the ministry of information and broadcasting seeking permission to switch over to a common frequency per operator across markets.

Radio Mirchi listeners in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai already enjoy the advantage of tuning in to the radio station on 98.3 FM. From this month, listeners of Radio Mirchi in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jaipur too can tune in to the station at 98.3.