Basanta Utsav in Visva-Bharati - time limit set for revelers to return to hostels

The Basanta Utsav in Visva-Bharati is a major festival celebrated to welcome spring and the authorities have issued a notification that students must return to their departments or hostels within an hour of the completion of the festivities.
This is issued because there have been complaints lodged by students in the past of teasing. Even after the end of the official song-and-dance programs in the ashram ground, many students continue to hold sessions in smaller groups. In view of the large number of people who come (roughly 1.5 lakh every year) proper care has to be taken. This year, the festival is on March 12.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 March 2017.

Apart from the Basanta Utsav program on the dais, thousands of students participate in a procession that starts from the Patha Bhavana campus and ends in front of the main dais. Even after the cultural program of songs and dances, many of the remain on the campus for hours.
In order to keep a check, additional CCTV cameras would be installed to monitor the crowd on the campus. Four temporary watch towers are also being constructed for policemen to keep an eye on the visitors. Students have also welcomed the move of the authorities.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Long weekend for Holi makes for attractive getaways to exotic destinations

Its a long weekend from March 24 to March 27 because of Holi plus Easter holidays and it adds up to making travel plans to destinations at home or abroad. As indicated by a popular travel portal - there has been a 25-30 percent increase in bookings for different destinations with more expected in the coming days. The holiday crowd are opting for Goa, Kashmir, Himalayan hill stations, Corbett National Park, Ooty, Udaipur and Puducherry which continue to be main attractions. Other are Gangtok and Darjeeling.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 15 March 2016.

Another reason for this holiday season is that school exams will get over by March 15 and the new session will begin from April - hence, this is an ideal time to go on a short vacation since it happened to be one of the longest weekends this year.
Apart from domestic locations such as Goa and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, there are no dearth of travelers planning holidays at international destinations like Dubai and Singapore. The fact remains that Indians are holidaying like never before and festival tourism had taken off in the country in a major way. Till recently, festival celebrations meant family homes but, the concept has changed today.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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