Today's Birthday Frankfinnian!
>> Nisha Khalasi
Monday, October 4
Friday, October 1
MAHATMA GANDHI SKETCH COMPETITION
Hurry! The last date of submission is 4th October 2010.
Show us your creative side!
Your sketch will also be put it on our Blog and Facebook page.
Terms & Conditions:
1. Applicable for Frankfinn Surat centre students only. (existing or passed out)
2. Student has to submit at the Front Office of the Surat centre before 4th Oct, 6.30 pm. between working hours.
3. The sketch must be a new creation and not a copy. The decision of the judge will be final in this regard.
4. The decision of the centre in every aspect of the competition will be reserved.
MAHATMA "The Father of National" GANDHI
The second day of the month of October presents yet another occasion to a grateful Nation to recall the teachings of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The advent of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on the Indian political horizon posed enough reasons to excite as well as attract hundreds of Indians towards him and – more towards his ideology, which later came to be called the Gandhian Philosophy. It is indeed amazing that the personality of Gandhiji gripped the imagination of millions of his countrymen and in later stage an overwhelming number the world over.
It was to his unique credit that in a world marred by violence and man-made hatred, Mahatma Gandhi stands firm as a man of universal goodwill and a protagonist of peace. What is more striking is that Gandhiji emerged during his life time as a torchbearer of peace, even today he continues to surprise mankind with his non-violent methods of resolving conflicts. To many, it is not merely a strange phenomenon that a Nation subjected to colonial rule put up a strong resistance against the British hegemony with non-violence as a principal tool under a frail looking leader like Gandhiji. What is stranger still is the magic spell of success his methodology continues to have.
Can there be any denying the fact that 'non-violence' and the message of peace is still a familiar catchword among the world leaders to settle any international or bilateral dispute? It goes without saying that it is never possible to evaluate how much India and the world owes to Mahatma Gandhi, the holy mascot of peace.
A peace – however with a difference! This is what the protagonist was himself to say: "I am a man of peace. But I do not want peace at any price. I do not want the peace that you find in grave". This is precisely an element that gives a suitable clause about Gandhi as a 'man of peace'. This is only to underline that despite being a crusader of peace, Mahatma Gandhi was not just cut out to be someone who would or could accept anything or everything in the name of a peace deal.
Gandhiji's definition of peace was not without struggle. In fact, he had led brilliantly in fight against apartheid in white-ruled South Africa. Consequently on his return back home in 1915, Gandhiji took on the mantle as a social reformer with campaign against untouchability and other social vices. Later he extended this yardstick to political sphere and in the long run took his message of love, peace and mutual adjustment to the cause of Hindu-Muslim harmony.
His 'Ram dhun', the popular devotion number, 'Ishwar Allah tera naam' is still the nation's best hymn for Hindu-Muslim peace. This brings us into debate what was then 'peace' to Gandhiji. Well, one can say that the highly upheld 'Peace' was not an end by itself to him. Rather it was only a sort of a means to ensure better welfare for the mankind.
Mahatma Gandhi in real sense was a harbinger of truth. In fact, he even had said that 'Truthfulness is more important than peacefulness'. In this context, the following words of the Mahatma, as quoted from 'Young India' newspaper are quite relevant. Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "Though we sing – all glory to God on high and on the earth be peace — there seems to be today neither glory to God nor Peace on earth". Mahatma Gandhi wrote these words in December 1931. He died 17 years later in January 1948 to an assassin's bullets. It indeed was tragic that a saint of universal peace and non-violence fell a victim to violence and hatred. But even today in the circa 2010, Mahatma Gandhi's words of 1931 holds true.
The world is today faced with plethora of conflicts – of all types. Therefore, we see Gandhi's emphasis on universal brotherhood and peaceful co-existence has all time relevance. His teachings are therefore the most upheld principles of patriotism as also on ways and means to end various global conflicts. In fact, a true testimony of Gandhij's teaching lies in the fact that mere "good ends" do not justify 'bad' means. The world over therefore, today the emphasis is on human dignity and upholding the values of natural justice.
It is obvious that in today's world, nothing seems to be permanent except the 'crisis of peace' – and nothing would be a better tribute to this man than to re-dedicate ourselves towards the cause of 'peace' and mutual tolerance. Here lies the relevance of Gandhism. (PIB Features)
Nirendra Dev
Disclaimer : The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of PIB.
Oct 1, 2 & 3 - Birthday Frankfinnians!
Birthday Frankfinnians!
1. Afwan Patha (Oct 1)
2. Rinku Rawal (Oct 1)
3. Denisha Tanawala (Oct 2)
4. Nachiket Patel (Oct 3)
3. Denisha Tanawala (Oct 2)
4. Nachiket Patel (Oct 3)
Thursday, September 30
Sep 30 - Room for Growth
Luxury will have a new address in the national capital from November. Joining other opulent structures in the diplomatic enclave will be the Rs 1,600-crore, 260-room Leela Palace Kempinski Hotel in Chanakyapuri. As business and leisure travel picks up again, the hospitality industry is back in business. To keep pace with rising demand, both domestic and global hotel chains are in expansion mode. Currently, India has 1,30,000 hotel rooms. The ministry of tourism expects an ambitious 10 million foreign visitors in 2010 while industry estimates forecast six million international tourists and 650 million domestic travellers. That will still put tremendous pressure on hotels, and tariffs will soar. At the height of the boom in 2007-08, rooms were being sold at a 20 per cent premium.
Not surprisingly, India has emerged as a destination for the world's biggest names in hospitality. As they look to grow outside their saturated home markets in the US and Europe, brands like Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels, Hyatt, Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, Accor Group, Dusit International, and Swissotel Hotels and Resorts amongst many others are stepping up expansion efforts in India. And those who are yet to come in, like Jumeirah of the United Arab Emirates, Europe's Corinthia Hotels and Thailand's Amari Group, are rapidly firming up their strategy.
"India is a key focus of our expansion efforts, in large part, because it is a market that today is relatively under-hoteled," says Phil McAveety, executive vice-president and chief brand officer, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. "As a point of perspective, India with a population of one billion has just 1,00,000 hotel rooms, while New York City has roughly 80,000."
As hotel chains expand, 89,449 rooms are expected to come up in the branded segment over the next five years, estimates HVS Hospitality Services, a hotel consultancy firm. Much of this will be driven by homegrown hotels. The Indian Hotels Company, for instance, is aggressively expanding across segments. While the Taj will remain a luxury brand, 19 hotels are being rolled over into the group's newly minted five-star brand Vivanta. It also has the two-year-old Gateway Hotel in the three-star segment and Ginger Hotels in economy.
Similarly, ITC operates and manages close to 100 properties in 80 cities under various brands like WelcomHotels, WelcomHeritage and Fortune, while the Oberoi Group operates the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and Trident Hotels' brands, and Krizm Hotels operates Lemon Tree and Red Fox. It's not difficult to understand why: none is willing to let go of any price segment.
Given that India is expected to continue growing at 8 per cent plus, the hospitality sector will follow. Branded rooms are up from 39,000 to 62,531 in four years; much of the growth since 2009. Last year alone 12,500 rooms were added. "It is very rare to see a growth of 25 per cent in a single year and this definitely is the fastest growth in the world, albeit on a low base", says Manav Thadani, managing director, HVS Hospitality Services. But, he cautions, only 67 per cent, or about 60,000 rooms will come up.
While there is plenty of development in the luxury and upscale segments, there is a shortage in the mid-market and budget categories. Unlike the US where for every one five-star room, there are five to six three-star rooms and seven to eight economy rooms, in India over 50 per cent rooms are in the four-star category, thanks to sky-high real estate prices. That is equivalent to 50 per cent business class seats in an airline.
Adding It All Up
The Big Boys Will Get Bigger
Hotel Brand: Accor: Novotel
Category: Five-star
Footprint in India: Three hotels- two in Hyderabad and one in Mumbai
Expansion Plans: To add 3,376 rooms across 13 cities
Hotel Brand: Accor: Ibis
Category: Three-star
Footprint in India: Two properties in Gurgaon and Pune
Expansion Plans: To add 3,111 rooms across 16 cities
Hotel Brand: ITC*
Category: Four- and five-star deluxe
Footprint in India: Owns and manages over 100 properties across 80 cities
Expansion Plans: To add 4,000 rooms across 95 cities
Hotel Brand: Oberoi
Category: Four-and five-star deluxe
Footprint in India: Owns and manages 11 hotels across 10 cities
Expansion Plans: To add 431 rooms in two cities
Hotel Brand: Peppermint
Category: Budget
Footprint in India: One property in Gurgaon
Expansion Plans: To add 500 rooms across eight cities.
Hotel Brand: Lemon Tree
Category: Three-star
Footprint in India: Owns and manages over 12 properties across 10 cities
Expansion Plans: To add 1,770 rooms across six cities
* includes ITC/WelcomHeritage/WelcomHotels/Fortune
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