Kochi : If you've been putting off Kerala for the longest, now is the time to reconsider the destination. The Park Group of Hotels has launched its first leisure gateway, comprising. The Park on Vembanad Lake, a 10-room luxury resort that will act as a docking station for the first luxure lake cruiser in the state, the Apsara.

London : The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has joined an international network for the  return of priceless artifacts taken away during the British rule including the Kohinoor diamond and the Sultanganj Buddha.

Hyderabad : Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the government body of the Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala is planning to ask devotees not to wear “indecent” dress while on pilgrimage to the hill shrine.

Mumbai: Whether you are calorie conscious or suffer from aliments like diabetes or high cholesterol, the next time you travel long distances by the good old railways, you don’t need to fret.

Gandhinagar: Dry Gujarat is all set to get its biggest watering hole in a desert. This could be a jackpot for a state a struggling to boost its tourism. The Gujarat government is betting big on Casino Zone, replete with bars to draw visitors. The Rs 480-crore project, already tipped as ‘Indus Oasis’ will come up at Khadir in the Rann of Kutch near the famous ruins of Dholavira, the Indus Valley civilization site.

They all want to spend time with farm labourers in dwellings

CHANDIGARH: Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s forays into the huts of the poor and downtrodden may not have had the desired effect in the country, but super-rich Punjabi NRIs have taken a fancy to this experiment. A few,were found to be following the young politician’s footsteps nights in improved dwellings of their farm labourers.

Rambagh Palace, Jaipur has been voted the Best Hotel in the World by Conde Nast Traveller in the Readers Travel Awards for 2009 across travel and industry categories, in the World Top 100.

This former residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur also tops the list of 'Overseas Leisure Hotels for Asia and the Indian sub-continent'. Scoring an overall 95.62, Rambagh Palace has the 'best ambience/decor' (98.12) and 'location' (96.5) of all hotels in the category.