July, 20172MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Babudom

IAS IPS Public Sector

IFS

Durga Shanker Mishra IAS (UP 1984)Presently Additional Secretary, Ministryof Urban Development has been ap-pointed as Secretary, Ministry of UrbanDevelopment in the vacancy caused dueto the appointment of the present incum-bent Shri Rajiv Gauba IAS (JH 82) asOSD in MHA.

Arun Kumar Panda IAS (OR 1984)presently Additional Secretary, Depart-ment of Health & Family Welfare has beenappointed as Secretary, Ministry of Mi-cro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Deepak Kumar IAS (Bihar 1984)presently Director General, ESIC hasbeen appointed as Chairman, NationalHighways Authority of India.

Rajeev Kapoor IAS (UP 1983) pres-ently Secretary, Ministry of New & Re-newable Energy has been appointed asSecretary, Department of Chemicals andPetrochemicals in the existing vacancy.

Subhash Chandra Garg IAS(Rajasthan 1983) presently ExecutiveDirector, World Bank has been appointedas Secretary, Department of EconomicAffairs in the existing vacancy.

Ajay Kumar Shalla IAS (AM 1984)presently Director General, ForeignTrade has been appointed as Secretary,Ministry of Power.

Yudhvir Singh Malik IAS (Haryana1983) presently Chairman, National High-ways Authority of India has been ap-pointed as Secretary, Ministry of RoadTransport & Highways

Jagdish Prasad Meena IAS (AM1983) presently Secretary, Departmentof Consumer Affairs has been appointedas Secretary, Ministry of Food Process-ing Industries

Ms Aruna Sundararajan IAS (KL1982) presently Secretary, Ministry ofElectronics& Information Technology hasbeen appointed as Secretary, Departmentof Telecommunications

Ajay Mittal IAS (HP 1982) presentlySecretary, Ministry of Information &Broadcasting has been appointed asSecretary, Department of Personnel &Training.

N K Sinha IAS (Bihar 1980) presentlySecretary, Ministry of Culture has beenappointed as Secretary, Ministry of Infor-mation & Broadcasting.

Rajiv Gauba IAS (Jharkhand 1982)presently Secretary, Ministry of UrbanDevelopment has been appointed as Of-ficer on Special Duty in the Ministry ofHome Affairs.

Ms. Aarti Ahuja IAS (OD 1990) hasbeen appointed as Joint Director (JSlevel), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Acad-emy of Administration (LBSNAA),Mussoorie under the Department of Per-sonnel & Training.

Reenat Sandhu IFS (1989) has been appointed as thenext Ambassador of India to Italy. She Is expected to takeup the assignment shortly.

Ajit Vinayak Gupte IFS (1991), Presently Joint Secre-tary in The Ministry of External Affairs has been appointedas the next Ambassador of India to Denmark

Ms. Ruchira Kamboj IFS(1987), presently Ambassa-dor/PR to Permanent Delegation of India to UNESCO, Parishas been appointed as the next High Commissioner ofIndia to the Republic of South Africa.

Param Jit Mann IFS (1987), Presently Ambassador ofIndia to the Slovak Republic has been appointed as thenext Ambassador of India to the Republic of Slovenia.

Sudeep Lakhtakia,IPS of Telanganacadre,1984 batch, who is presentlyADG,CRPF,MHA has been empanelledto DG rank in GoI.

Sandeep Mittal,IPS officer of TamilNadu cadre 1995 batch, who is presentlyas IG,NICFS,Ministry of HomeAffairs,GoI has been appointed as jointsecretary (Security) Parliament of India.

Saravanan.A,IPS officer of Tamil Nadu2007 batch, who is presently posted asSP,Dindigul Dist. TN Police will join centraldeputation as SP,CBI, Ministry of Personal& Training,GoI.

Shankhabrata Bagchi,IPS APcadre,who is recently returned from cen-tral deputation has been appointed asDirector, ACB, AP.

Gopinath Jatti, IPS Comdt. 6th Bn,APSP Mangalagiri, Chhattisgarh has beentransferred as SP, Prakasam district.

Vishal Gunni,IPS of 2010 batch SP,Nellore has been transferred as SP,Chittoor.

Sarvashresth Tripathi,IPS of 2010batch SP,Guntur Urban is been trans-ferred as SP,Kadapa district.

B.S.Yesubabu,IPS of 2011 batchAddl.SP (Ops), Kadapa district has beentransferred as SP,Anantapur District.

Shashi Shanker will be the next chairman and manag-ing director (CMD) of India’s biggest oil and gas producer,the Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC).Government head-hunter Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) selectedShanker to head ONGC from 1 October.

Sanjiv Singh has taken over as Chairman of Indian OilCorporation (IndianOil) .Prior to his elevation, he was Di-rector (Refineries) on the IndianOil Board since July 2014.Concurrently, he will also be Chairman of Chennai Petro-leum Corporation Ltd. (CPCL) and Hindustan Urvarak andRasayan Ltd. (HURL)

A.V.Girija Kumar presently General Manager of UnitedIndia Insurance Company Limited (UIICL) has been ap-pointed as CMD of Oriental Insurance Company Limited(OICL) for a period of five years.

T. Venkatasubramanian, belonging to Indian RailwayService of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME)assumed of-fice as the Chief Vigilance Officer of NLC India Ltd. atNeyveli. He started his career in Southern Railway. He is aMechanical Engineer with Diploma in Business Manage-ment and worked in various capacitieis in Trivandram,Erode, Trichy, & Mysore.

Rajiv GaubaNext Home Secy

Urban De-velopment Sec-retary RajivGauba namedas the nextHome Secretaryto succeed RajivMehrishi, whowill complete histerm onAugust 30.

Besides him,16 new secretar-ies have beenappointed to vari-

ous central government departments as part of a ma-jor top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.

Gauba, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Jharkhandcadre, will take over as the Officer on Special Duty(OSD) in the Union home ministry with immediate ef-fect, an order issued by Department of Personnel andTraining (DoPT) said.

He will take over as the home secretary from Au-gust 31, it said.Gauba has served in the home ministryas joint and additional secretary where he looked afterthe crucial Naxal division.

July, 20173MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Bindass BossTalking about the one & only top cop

Anurag Sharma, whose office doors are‘always open’ for the common man fortheir grievances. Being an open minded& open hearted person, his team officersand junior cops leave his chamber with asmile.Meeting him is too convenient andwith a ‘take away’ offer of positiveenergy.That’s why we endorsed him as‘Bindass boss’ ! Hope the people who arearound him and the persons who all methim once will agree with this endorsement.Rest when it comes to policing andachievement, the entire country is ‘fida’on the state police, including the CM,PM& the PM too.In Hindi we can say ‘itniuplabdhiyaan hai ki likhtey likthey kapiyaabhar jayengi’ !!! About tenure, no com-ments abi tho ek aur term baki hai !!!

Khabardaar !No Ragging

The AP DGP N.Sambasiva Rao hasraised the bar against ragging.He has di-rected the officers to book a case and takeserious action against whoever involvedin ragging.The officer also directed thecollege managements to form Anti-Rag-ging Committee in the campus. He saidthe Police Department would take seriousaction against heads of educational insti-tutions based on UGC and Supreme Courtguidelines if any student faced ragging atcollege campus in the State. Thumbs upto the officer who is working to providethe safe atmosphere for the students.

SatyamevaJayathe

After a long legal tussle the seniorIAS officer B.P.Acharya and other of-ficers got relief from the RahejaMindspace case finally, as the HighCourt has quashed all the cases filedagainst the officers.The most sincereand hard-core officer Mr.Acharya is outof the case now.As Buddha said -“Three things cannot be hidden forlong,the Sun,the Moon & the Truth.”Satyameva jay athe…!!! The same truthness can be seen in his work from thebeginning and in coming days defi-nitely the government will take his ser-vices for more crucial & challengingdepartments.

AadabHyderabad

Aadab mein hu Mahendar ReddyHyderabad shehar ka ek lautha Police Com-missioner…..! The City Chief takreer in Urduduring the dawat-e-iftaar was in talk.Though some of the Urdu words are noteasy to pronounce, but the officer made itand why not as it’s a third dawat called-upin his headship at the wonderful venueChowmahalla Palace.It's a hatrick, but nowthe question is who will head the dawat-e-iftaar next year ? ! The time will decide that,but now Mr.Reddy is rocking with his su-perb policing ! Kudos.

Shafiullah-The Hard-core Babu

When it comes to the welfare of minorities, the hardcore babuB.Shafiullah,IFS is the one, who is doing his best to reach out andassist the needy.As a VC & MD of State Minorities Finance Corpora-tion & also the Secretary to Govt. Minority Residential Schools theofficer is personally monitoring the residential schools, where stu-dents in thousands are getting education with all the facilities andin a good atmosphere.Whereas many weaker section people arebenefited financially under various schemes of government for theminorities. Conveying the same grant without any tricky is a bigtask and the officer has succeed in this by work, which is not justan easy deal. Kudos to his efforts !

Farmers'FriendWhen it comes to the farmers,the first

priority of the Telangana Chief SecretaryS.P.Singh, who is putting all his efforts isthe welfare of the farmers.The CS directedthe concerned officers to ensure soon thatevery farmer should have ‘RuPay Kisan Card’and also check what best the governmentcan do for their welfare from time to time.Good one Singh sahab !

On The ToesThe senior lady officer Poonam Malakondaiah, who is known for her sincerity &

hard work in the officers fraternity is holding the Principal Secretary (Health) Depart-ment post in Andhra.The versatile lady officer is again in news for her commitmentafter the Anthrax alert announced at Vizag.The officer is working 24/7 to monitor themedical facilities of the patients especially in rural areas.The officer personally movingin coordination with her team to the hospitals to enquire about the medical facilities,she is doing her best to control it.Let’s applaud her services !

4 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Zor ka JhatkaTime game ! It’s unbelievable, but it’s true that a

criminal case was filed against five former VijayawadaMunicipal Corporation commissioners, includingRajiv Sharma, retired Chief Secretary and now theadviser to the Telangana government.The case isagainst the officer in regard to the land allotmentmade in 1989.Hope the officer might not be expect-ing this ! Shock.Whereas as an advisor he is makingrounds.

Behind The ScreenThe Telangana Government initiative ‘Haritha Haram’ is considered to be the

most revolutionary step, which is moving & working effectively.And the lady of-ficer working behind this initiative is Priyankaa Varghese,IFS OSD to CM (HarithaHaram).As per the report seedlings raised during 2014-15 is 38.62 Cr & in the year2015-16 is 46.30 Cr, whereas for 2016-17 seedlings proposed around 46.96 Cr.Theentire government machinery is committed for the cause, apparently the ladyofficer also making her last efforts to reach the proposed figures.

Anjani to Promote ‘Jungle Book-2’Pehchan Koun ! The tough cop Anjani Kumar,ADG (L&0) is all set to promote

‘Jungle Book-2’, as all know that the ‘Jungle Book’ film hit the screen with an bigcollection in the box-office.So, after the success the producers decided to go for itssequel and to promote the same in India they have appointed Super Cop Anjani astheir brand ambassador. So, look forward for the premier show ! Don’t be serious ,what is the fourth month of the year !! Ha ha it’s an vacation click

Koun Banega Lakhpati !After the success of ‘Koun Banega Crorepati’ now

the GHMC is all set to host a programme called ‘KounBanega Lakhpati’, but sorry guys this programme willbe exclusive for house wives.Yes as per the BaldiyaBoss Dr.B.Janardhan Reddy the corporation will giveaward to the Swachh housewives with a cash prize ofRs. 1 lakh every month who segregate the wet and drywaste at the households duly handing over the sameto the auto trolleys.As the GHMC is creating a new appto identify such women. Applaud to Mr.Reddy and goodluck to the housewives !

Get Them BackThese days the HMDA commissioner T.

Chiranjeevulu is quite upset and the reason behind isquite genuine.As the HMDA land worth Rs.7,500 Cr isencroached in the prime areas,of which most of thecases are pending in the court.In a meeting he directedthe officials to cooperate with the standing counsel ofthe urban body by providing with the necessary docu-ments and records to resume the lands.As the officeris stated the right point that the team officers shouldtake a lead to get the lands back to HMDA.

What’s happening !These days coal den Singareni Collieries is burning

with the unrest of the employees and that’s the reasonworkers in thousands decided for a strike on a larger.TheSCCL Chairman & MD N.Sridhar & other officers failedto convince the Union Leaders.If the same unrest con-tinues then this will affect a lot.As the loss of produc-tion in the Collieries would be around 40 per cent of the1.70 lakh tonnes a day.So, after some time things arenot wonderful at SCCL. Meet The Writer

Most of the people may not know that the lady officerRema Rajeshwari, presently SP of Mahboobnagar district is anexcellent writer too.Yes you are right ! The lady is keen in writ-ing articles on burning issues like Gender unequality, Nirbhayaact, that were published in front line publications. Policing &writing are two different paths, but making it possible at onetime is what called as a balancing affair. Kudos Rema !

Kya Baat Hai !Warangal police rescued a 40-year-old

woman from Lakshmipuram village inKadapa district in AP from the clutchesof a Sheik in Riyad.The initiative of citypolice commissioner G.Sudheer Babuand his team members traced the agentsand made them bring the woman backsafely to India.

It all started when a video sentthrough WhatsApp was received byWarangal urban collector Amrapali Katain which the woman Subhalakshmi

Change in the RangeIn the recent reshuffle the GHMC transferred

and posted the new Zonal Commissioners.AdwaitKumar,IAS Addl. Commissioner (Advt & Revenue),GHMC is transfer and posted as Addl. Commis-sioner (Sports & Health) (NUHM), GHMC.Whereasthe versatile lady officer Harichandana Dasari,IASZC for Central Zone is now posted as the newZonal Commissioner of West Zone, Best wishes !

pleaded to rescue her from the clutches of a Shiek in Riyad.The collector forwardedthe video to Sudheer Babu, who immediately responded and formed a team to rescuethe woman. Kudos to both the officer, who responded instantly.

Hero No. 1Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat

is making rounds as Office to Monitor and CombatTrafficking in Persons, U S Department of State, haslisted him in the 2017 TIP Report Heroes for his remark-able commitment in fighting against human traffick-ing for the past 13 years.He is the third Indian and thefirst Telangana State officer, to receive such a presti-gious award. Kudos to the Hero No. 1…!

Krishna Krishna…. ! GovindaFormer Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary and the cur-

rent Chairman of Brahmin Welfare Corporation,IYR.Krishna Rao was sacked from his position followinghis posts on social media criticizing the TDP govern-ment pointing out it's inefficiency. After retiring as theChief Secretary of AP Government, Rao was appointedas the Chairman of Corporation, whereas Mr.Rao deniesthe allegations pointed-out on him.Whatever may be thereason now Krishna-Krishna Govinda……!

5 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Public SectorNHPC signs MoU with Ministry of Power

NHPC Limited, India’s premier hydropower utility and a Schedule ‘A’ Mini Ratna Enterprise ofthe Government of India signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ministry of Power,Government of India for the year 2017-18. The MOU was signed by Shri Pradeep Kumar Pujari,Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India and Shri K. M. Singh, CMD, NHPC in thepresence of senior dignitaries from MOP and NHPC. In the signed MOU for NHPC, generationtarget under excellent rating has been set as 24000 Million Units as against last year target of23500 MU. Excellent Targets for Revenue from Operations has been kept as Rs.7350 crores,Operating Profit as a percentage of Revenue from Operations (Net) has been kept as 25.09%and PAT/ Average Net Worth has been kept as 7.15%.

Further to ensure optimum utilization of budget CAPEX programme of NHPC has beenassigned 10% weightage in the MOU 2017-18. Targets regarding Plant Availability Factor,Forced Outage, and Reduction in outstanding claims, Trade Receivables, Dividend/PAT, etc.have been included in the MOU. In addition, Human Resource Management (HRM) relatedparameters have also been included with 10% weightage in the MOU.

NLC doubled its capacity in last 3 yearsWhile the power generating capacity of NLCIL till 2014 is

2740 MW, by the meticulous planning of the Company as wellas the Union Coal Ministry, now it is operating power stationswith a capacity of 4295 MW.

Achieving the Mission of 24×7 Affordable Clean ‘Power forAll’ and ensuring the optimum utilization of natural resources fornational development are critical to ‘Ujwal Bharat’ which will helpin realizing Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision

of New India. Over the past three years, the Ministries of Power, Coal, New & RenewableEnergy and Mines have made considerable progress towards achieving this goal.

NLCIL joined hands with the Union Government to realise the Mission of “Power for All”andsynchronised two Thermal Power Station namely Thermal Power Station-II Expansion (2 X 250MW), NTPL Thermal Power Station (2 X 500 MW) run by NLC Tamil Nadu Power Ltd., a JointVenture with Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation Ltd., during the last 3 yearsperiod. In addition, the company entered into the green energy sector and installed Wind Tur-bines of 51 MW Capacity at Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu . (46.50 MW commissioned and the4.50 MW will be commissioned soon). The Company also established Solar Power Project of 10MW at Neyveli itself.

BHEL to pay 79% Dividend for fiscal 2016-17

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has proposed an equity dividend of 79% (including40% interim dividend paid earlier) for fiscal 2016-17. Significantly, not only is this four times thedividend paid (20%) in the previous year but also the highest dividend to be paid by the companyin the last three years. With this, the company has maintained its impeccable track record ofrewarding investors by paying dividends uninterruptedly for four decades without a break.

Notably, in fiscal 2016-17, BHEL has achieved double digit growth in its topline and bouncedback into profit. During the year, BHEL recorded a turnover of Rs.28,840 Crore, up 11% overthe previous year - after reversing the trend of negative topline growth prevailing for the lastthree years.

ONGC facilitates Startups underflagship programme of GoI

ONGC has launched the ‘ONGC Start-Up Fund’ on 14th August 2016. ONGC,SINE and IIT Bombay entered into a MoU towork together for incubating innovative ideasand business Start-Ups in the Energy Sec-tor at the Society for Innovation and Entre-preneurship (SINE) of IIT Bombay. ThePitching Session to select Start-Ups underONGC Start-Up Fund was held recently atIIT Bombay. The Start-Ups made presenta-tions to the Steering Committee, constitutedfor this purpose comprising of Mr ShashiShanker, Director (T&FS), ONGC (Chair-man, Steering Committee), Mr. A K

Srinivasan, Director (Finance), ONGC, Prof. Dr. Milind Atrey, Program In charge SINE (Co-Chair, Steering Committee) and Prof. Dr. S B Kedare, IIT Bombay and other members.

ONGC had received nearly 2900 applications on its website. After two rounds of screening,thirty-one applicants were shortlisted and invited for the Pitching Session. The proposals werein the areas of Exploration & Production of Oil & Gas, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics,Under Water Robotics, Solar Energy, Waste to Energy, etc.

MoU between NTPC and MOP for 2017-18

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the year 2017-18 between NTPC and Ministry ofPower, Govt of India was signed. As per the MOU, NTPC has generation target of 250 BillionUnits during the year under “Excellent” category. Revenue target from Operations under “Ex-cellent” category is Rs 79,280 Crore. In addition to above, parameters related to financialperformance, operational efficiency, CAPEX, projects monitoring and HR Management are alsopart of MoU in line with guidelines of Department of Public Enterprises. NTPC is the largestpower utility company in India with a total installed capacity of 51,635 MW. Company haspresence in Coal , Gas , Solar PV, Hydro and Wind Power Generation and Coal Mining.

PFC all set to launch itsmaiden 54EC bond issue

Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) has been allowed byGovt. to raise bonds eligible for capital gain tax exemption u/s54EC of the Income Tax Act. Section 54EC provides that capitalgain subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakhs arising from the trans-fer of a long term capital asset shall be exempt if the assesseinvests the whole or any part of capital gains in certain specifiedbonds within a period of six months. An investor can save upto toa maximum Rs.10,00,000 by investing maximum permissible

amount of Rs. 50 lakhs in these bonds. PFC intends to launch its maiden 54EC bond issueshortly and will be kept on tap. Bonds will carry highest domestic credit ratings of ‘AAA’ fromCRISIL, ICRA and CARE. As there is no cap on the amount that can be raised by the issuer, fullallotment is assured to the investors up to the amount permitted u/s 54E

NBCC annual pact with govt. targetssubstantial growth in profit

NBCC, a Navratna CPSE under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Govt. of India,has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the FY 2017-18 with its Ministry today.The annual MoU has been signed by Shri Rajiv Gauba, IAS, Secretary (UD), Govt. of India, onbehalf of the MoUD and Dr. Anoop. K. Mittal, CMD, NBCC, on behalf of NBCC.

The MoU outlines targets on various performance parameters for the Company during theyear. While Revenue from operations has been targeted at Rs.6850 Crore, the PAT has beenprojected at Rs. 261.43 crore (PBT Rs.304.83 crore).

The Company during the year, plans to secure new works worth Rs.8600 Crore. Further,this year’s MoU of NBCC has laid specific emphasis on capacity utilisation, aiming to complete8 million sq.ft. of structures during the Financial Year. Among the milestones targeted to beachieved include Completion of 36 Towers at the Mega Redevelopment Project of East KidwaiNagar; Demolition of - all 628 existing Residential Quarters at Nauroji Nagar, 600 existingResidential Quarters at Sarojini Nagar and 500 existing Residential Quarters at Netaji Nagar,New Delhi which all are part of integrated Redevelopment of the three colonies.

This apart, the Company also targets demolition of 75,000 Sqm. area out of total 1,26,829Sqm. area and Construction of works valuing Rs 250 Crore in its ITPO Project, Pragati Maidan,New Delhi during this FY 17-18. The important projects that the Company plans to completeinclude IIT Roorkee (UK), Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum, Varanasi (UP), ESICMedical College and Hospital at Mandi (HP) and VNIT Nagpur (Maharashtra).

SAIL Q4 loss reduces to Rs 771.3 crState-run steel manufacturer SAIL reported a net loss of Rs

771.3 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, which was lowerthan the loss incurred in the same quarter of 2016, on the back ofhigher revenues during the last quarter. The company suffered anet loss of Rs 1,184.64 crore in the corresponding quarter a yearago. For the entire fiscal 2016-17, SAIL has narrowed down itslosses by 30 per cent and recorded an overall improvement, in-cluding in production, sales and productivity, the company said ina stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

During the quarter in consideration, the company’s total in-come increased to Rs 14,543.5 crore, as compared to Rs 12,946.5crore in the same period a year ago.

“The unprecedented increase in coal prices during FY17 impacted the numbers and stuntedthe overall margins,” SAIL said. Chairman P.K. Singh said in a statement here that despite sharphikes in imported and domestic coal prices, SAIL has “managed to compress the loss.”

“There is an improvement in the performance on all accounts”. The company has targetedthe production of more than 15 million tonnes (MT) of saleable steel during the ongoing fiscal2017-18.

SAIL’s sales turnover showed an increase of around 14 per cent during 2016-17 and stoodat Rs 49,180 crore, as against sales of Rs 43,294 crore during the same period last year. SAILstock closed trade on Tuesday at Rs 58.45 a share, down 0.43 per cent on its previous closeon the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

6 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Hyderabad best city to investin Asia Pacific, 5 other Indiancities among top 10

Indian cities have emerged as the top destination for investors looking to investment in Asia Pacific Region. SixIndian cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Pune are well placed to outperform other citiesfrom emerging economies in Asia Pacific. However, Hyderabad tops the list of target cities in APAC due to growthprospects in commercial office activity, mentioned a latest report by Cushman and Wakefield.

Siddhart Goel, Sr. Director, Research Services Cushman & Wakefield said, "Asia Pacific remains a very viableinvestment target for global capital. After entering in 2005 to 2008 and having learnt many valuable lessons sincethen, global investors are now well equipped to take advantage of the potential that Indian real estate markets offer.The country is firmly on track to become an economic powerhouse with strengthening GDP, better businessenvironment and investor-friendly policies by the Central Government. Despite concerns about global events suchas BREXIT and changing US immigration policies impacting the IT-BPM sector in India, we have seen that othersectors such as BFSI, healthcare, consulting services and various manufacturing industries are increasinglydriving demand for commercial spaces."

Limited investment opportunities due to a shortage of investment-grade assets in the safe haven core marketsof Asia Pacific have prompted investors to turn their attention to secondary and tertiary markets and even to non-core property types, mentioned a latest report by Cushman & Wakefield.

"This has resulted in net absorption across the top 8 Indian cities to remain in the range of 32-35 million squarefeet (msf.) in the last three years even as the share of the IT-BPM sector in commercial office leasing has steadilygone down from 65-70% to 52-55% during this period. Within APAC, India is expected to continue contributing highlyto the total office demand. Consequently, global investors are increasing their capital outlays substantially as theyare confident about the long-term prospects of the Indian economy in an environment of increasing transparencyand accountability backed by policy reforms such as RERA, REITS, GST, Benami Transactions Act, etc," headded.. According to Cushman and Wakefield, investment activity in Asia Pacific has been robust in 2017. Realestate investment volume in Asia Pacific is expected to hit $611 billion this year. A total investment value of close to$136 billion in the region in the first quarter of this year, which is a record quarter high and is a good indicator of healthof investment in real estate in Asia Pacific region.

Real estate pricesto rise with GST

The real estate prices in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are set to riseranging from six per cent to about 10 per cent or more.

With GST, the real estate prices in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh areset to rise ranging from six per cent to about 10 per cent or more (depend-ing on the specifications, locations, height). Currently, the tax incidence is11.85 per cent including service tax of 4.5 per cent and VAT of 1.25 percent and registration charges of 6.1 per cent.

With GST, the first two- service tax and VAT- will be subsumed and thenew rate will be 12 per cent from the existing 5.75 per cent. The registrationcharge, which is a State subject, remains the same taking the total tax to18.1 per cent. This apart, the rationalisation of taxes for building materialswill add to the costs. With RERA also, the compliance costs will go up,which will be passed on to the customers.

According to C Shekar Reddy, real estate lobby body Credai formernational president proposed GST is a double taxation on real estate seg-ment. Under the GST, there will be a need to pay registration charges onland, apartment built-up area and undivided share of land. “The cascadingeffect of the registration charges will increase the tax burden to the cus-tomer. To understand the increase in prices, consider a flat measuring1,800 sft and priced Rs 4,000 per sft. The cost will be Rs 72 lakh. On thisa service tax of 4.5 per cent is levied- Rs 3.2 lakh (or Rs 180 per sqft morethan the base price). Then, it attracts a VAT of 1.25 per cent (Rs 90,000 orRs 50 more per sft). The registration charges are 6.1 per cent (Rs 4.64lakh or Rs 258 more per sft). The total tax is 11.85 per cent and Rs 488 isadded per sft to the base price.

Chennai Metro Brings Areas Closer,Real Estate Boom Awaited

A month after its grand inauguration,the second phase of Chennai metro thatcovers a seven kilometre stretch is help-ing the citizens of Chennai get around thecity, hassle free.

Not only has the city's first under-ground metro service reduced travel timeby a considerable margin, it has also en-sured a possible real estate boom. Thecapital city's real estate industry has beenon a sluggish growth trajectory, for thereason that the physical and social infra-structure is not at par with the growth and

expansion of the city. After the launch of Chennai's first metro line in 2015,the launch of its second line took place after a prolonged delay. Since it wasopen to public, the 7.4 kilometre stretch connects important parts of thecity, including the government bus depot, airport, Central Business Districtand South Chennai. Not only has the newly launched metro line helpeddecongest roads, it has improved land value and boosted the rental mar-kets along these areas. Real estate consultant Knight Frank says theremight be a 45 per cent price appreciation in Guindy-Alandur by 2020. Withthe metro line in place, these areas are turning out to be homebuyers'favourite due to their affordable pricing.

Post the announcement of the second metro line, the cities real estatedevelopers were quick to cash in on this opportunity. Big names in the cityincluding Appaswamy, Ramaniyam, Casa Grande and Kgeyes have al-ready established massive integrated townships along the metro corridor.

No advertisement of real estate projectswithout registration with regulator

The government on Thursday said that no ongoing or future projects can be advertisedwithout registering them first with the new regulator, in order to make the advertisementsissued by the real estate developers more transparent. The Real Estate (Regulation andDevelopment) Act, which came into force from May 2017, was passed last year to regulate thereal estate sector as well to safeguard buyers’ interest. "Section 3 (1) of the Act prohibitsadvertisements for all projects (ongoing/future) without registration with the real estate regula-tor. This provision has come into effect from May 1, 2017," the ministry said, while respondingto the NAREDCO’s letter. Earlier, realtors’ body NAREDCO had submitted a representation to

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation seeking clarity on advertisement and sale of the ongoing projectsamid conflicting reports and interpretation of the issue.

Indiabulls Real Estate jumps 6.6%Shares of Indiabulls Real Estate surged almost 7% on Friday. The company is planning to raise up to ?500 crore

through the issue of non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.The stock jumped 6.6% to close at ?204.45 on the BSE.On the volume front, 63.35 lakh shares of the company were traded on the BSE and more than 5 crore shares

changed hands on the NSE during the day. The promoters had on Thursday sold 3.3 crore shares of the firm for ?662.83 crore through open market transactions.

7 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

The port city is the best place forinvestment in real estate, opined the ex-perts at a panel discussion on“VizagProperty -Trends Today and To-morrow' at Credai-VSP Property Expo-2017 at AU Engineering College Groundson Sunday. Initiating the discussion,G.Sambasiva Rao of AP. Chambers ofCommerce and Industry said several in-dustries and other projects in the field oftourism, education, and IT are in the pipe-line and such development would boostthe real estate sector. "Development ofsix lane roads and the international air-

port at Bhogapuram would also contribute to the development of real estate," he added. ONaresh Kumar, managing director of Symbiosis IT firm, said even though the IT sector hada late start in the city, it has picked up in recent years thanks to surplus power supply andother steps taken by the state government. The revenue from the IT sector was Rs 2,000crore per year and is expected to go up, he added. President of Credai-VSP, GVVS Narayanasaid there was no possibility of prices of flats coming down, but are likely to rise. P KoteswaraRao, convener of the Property Expo, made a plea for construction of a modern conventioncentre in the city. Pappula Chalapati Rao, MLC, appreciated the contribution of Vizag CredaiChapter to the overall development of the city, especially housing. G Chakradhar, president,APREDA (Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Developers Association) asserted thatdemonetisation had no negative impact on the housing sector.

He said the master plan of Vizag is being revised. This would take at least one to one anda half years. Representatives from real estate sector should represent to the governmentand get required changes incorporated in the proposed master plan.

Vizag is the best place forreal estate investment

These days commercial designers are on screen and when we talk about this seg-ment then one cannot forget to discuss about known commercial interior designers ofthe town Gyan Prakash & Ravi Prakash.The hello brothers has started the work in theyear 2010 to provide a new looks to the commercial structures in the firm name GRInteriors.

Chilax Cafe Lounge, Klub Trinity & the Earth Lounge designed by them and slowlythey have moved to many of the commercial designing in the town,which has addedmore popularity and the work for them.In last years they have done many commercialkitchen designing.Today which have turned up as a prominent restaurants of the town.

After their diploma in interior designing course the hello brothers have set a newtrend in the commercial designing.It would be any cafe,or an club or any restaurant

they are quite expert to set according to the client choice and customers favoriteplace.

GR Interiors : ExpertIn Commercial Design

Gyan Prakash & Ravi Prakash

Trump Empire In India To Double With 2 New Gurgaon DealsThe Trump Organization is about to double its real estate empire in India with two new

projects in this suburb of New Delhi known for rapacious development and poor planning.In two deals signed before Donald Trump was elected president, the company aligned

itself with Indian partners who were already attracting the attention of law enforcementauthorities. One, called IREO, is under investigation by India's Enforcement Directorateover the source of its funding, suspected violations in its land purchasing and the possibilityof money laundering. The other, M3M India, has been the target of sweeping tax raids; on adifferent project, the company was recently cited in a criminal complaint of bribing officials toclear-cut land.

8 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Publisher/Printer/Owner: G. Narahari, Printed at Colour Graphics, 3-1-351, Bhagya Laxmi Nilayam, Nimboliadda, Kachiguda, Statio n Road, Hyderabad - 27. Published at4-6-252, Esamia Bazar, Hyderabad-27 (A.P.) Editor : Dr. Chaitanya Singh, Cell : 8008175000. E-mail : mrnewseditor@yahoo.com. A nnual Subscription 500/- Rupees Only.

Rise Of RathoreThe senior politician Prem

Singh Rathore has been ap-pointed as a Chairman of MusiRiver Front Development Corpo-ration announced recently byKCR, the CM of TelanganaState.The above nominated postis said to be the state cabinetrank, which has been newly con-stituted, although considered tobe a prominent one.Rathore isthe only politician who repre-sents the entire Hindi speakingpeople of the state in theTelangana government. Bestwishes to him !

Celebration TimeSushil Agarwal hosted his birth-

day party.Near-dear friends & yaar-dost all gathered for a blast.All hadgood time.Next to him is buddy RaviBhirani, but the Rani is invisible !!!

KK - Kavita & KhadiYes ! Konda Kavitha Reddy is all set to launch her

dream project Raatnam Khadi Udyog very soon, whereone can get designer collection & fabrics of all over Indiaunder one roof.This Udyog will be the first of its kind inentire South,which will soon make rounds in town.

Just DhamaalYDI ROCKSTARS 2017’ Great Grand Fi-

nale was in talk held at Bhasker Auditoriumpresented by Yash dance institute & YdiEvents. Choreographer Yash Joshi & his stu-dents hit the screen with the wonderful per-formance. Cheers Yash !!!

Hurry !! ThirdAnniversary

The trend setters , the father& the son Ramesh & HiteshJashnani are celebrating the 3rdanniversary of their designer stu-dio, which is known for trendycollection.We all know that theyare specialized in tuxedo suits,sherwanis,jodhpuri and ethenicwear & buisness suits also inready-mades,textiles & bespoketailoring too.So Hitesh what isthe special anniversary offer !

Birthday ClickSwetha Reddy celebrated her birthday with her

dear friends. Music, glamour, fun & selfies were allaround.In the click Swetha with her friend AbhilashaReddy. In discussion, especially the cake ! Pleaseshare the details, Swetha !!!

On Silver ScreenSuma Tripurana, the known

fashion designer as usual work-ing for a film & meanwhile thefilm director gave her offer to actin the movie. Wow ! This is calledthe luck…! The journey from fash-ion to acting ! This will go on !Best wishes Suma !

9 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Promoting India MedicalServices with commitment

- SumanSuman Sayani runs a Medical Tourism Com-

pany called ‘Ivaan health services (IHS )’, whichis into promoting Indian medical services in 8countries Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nigeria, Af-ghanistan, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman &UAE.Providing right guidance to internationalpatients and taking care of entire health jour-ney helps them to get good medicalopinion,line of treatment and best deals fromtop Indian Hospitals. Creating awarenessthrough health talks and conducting Medicalcamps in underdeveloped countries is also apart of the activity of the company.

The Fashion world is myhome - Aruna

Versatile lady entrepreneur ArunaGoud, who is an Engineer in Electron-ics & Communications and a reputedfashion designer is the founder of ‘In-dia Glam Fashion Week’ and a propri-etor of Titoos-Asian Grill-Lounge &Almara-Design Studio. ‘India GlamFashion Week’ first edition held at Goa,which was quite successful and coin-cidentally the 2nd edition is going tobe happen soon at Hyderabad.In facther team is on toes to make the show agrand success. Aruna desires to takethe fashion week to various states nnew form and with all new trends.

Aruna stated, " today the fashionworld is like my home and very soonmy brand flag will fly high." Like thespirit !

Sirisha Roddam , the hard-core ladyis been associated with Oakridge Inter-national School , Gachibowli campus forthe past 5 years in it's admissions andbrand building team. Presently she isworking with People Combine Group, aparent company of Oakridge,as a com-munications consultant. She is contentand enjoys her job, She says, "what-ever may be the profession one shoulddo it joyfully,I am looking for my contin-ued association with Oakridge and itsassociates as it is one of the best placesto work for.”

I am currently working with them fromRomania as we had to relocate here for ashort duration for my husband’s work.

Readers the above photo of Sirishawas taken at the Indian Embassy whereNamasthe India in collaboration with In-dian Embassy hosted an event to show-case Indian Weaves. Amazing !

Whatever be the prodo it joyfully - Sirisha

I address millions sit-ting in a quite-packedroom - RJ Preet

A journey from Preeti Raghuwanshi toRJ Preet ! That doesn't mean that I havetransformed completely but yes the name"Preet" has given me so much. PresentingRJ Preet, a Radio Presenter, a radio jockeyand an emcee for more than 2 years in thisbeautiful city of Nawabs - Hyderabad.I ama mic person, at times I speak and enter-tain thousands of people under the sameroof or maybe I am addressing millions ofpeople in front of me and at times it's justme sitting in a quite-packed room with noone around and my voice is reaching outto numbers of people I have never seen orinteracted before, but in fraction of sec-onds they just sound like someone veryknown and yes that's a magic of Radio. Ijust love getting connected to everyonearound me or to someone who can justlisten to me.

I design not onlydressesbut dreams

-Sravya"Dress how you want to be addressed ",

is what I strongly believe in and been raisedwithin the intimate world of couture designand destined to make my mark in the indus-try, while fascinated by impeccably stylishworld I have spent hours inciting passion forart, fashion and the female body. This eventu-ally led me to pursue fashion design as a pro-fession.

Says Sravya Pethakamsetti ! My modernyet edgy illustrations were so sought after bytop fashioners for body skimming designscreated with transparent fabrications like laceand tulle, though I never shy away from heavymaterials like leather, duchesse satin and taf-feta in order to create volume and a bold out-fits ,when desired. Traditional textiles artfullyadorn my signature designs to create an ethe-real glow under any light. Every piece at MyCouture, is hand sewn and a team of skilledcraftsmen spend hundreds of hours on fin-ishing delicate details. I don't design dresses,I design dreams as I feel that Fashion design-ers are the dictators of taste.

10 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

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11 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Tourism

TN top draw for foreign tourists,Goa gets 9th slot

Tamil Nadu has bagged the top spot as the country's most popular tourist destinationamong foreign and domestic tourists in 2016.

Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the second most popular destination among domestictourists and third in foreign tourist visits. For foreign tourists, Maharashtra is the second mostpopular choice, after Tamil Nadu. Surprisingly, Goa has failed to make it to the top 10 list ofpopular destinations for domestic tourists, but it has bagged the 9th place on foreign tourists'popularity charts. Gujarat, despite its aggressive marketing campaigns, failed to impressenough foreign tourists. It is, however, the 9th most favoured holiday destination for domestictourists. Tourist arrival data, compiled by the Market Research Division of the ministry oftourism, also suggests 2016 was a happy year on the tourism front, where domestic tourismsaw a 12.68% jump, while the foreign arrivals increased by 5.92%. The top ten states in termsof number of domestic tourist visits during 2016 were Tamil Nadu, followed by Uttar Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujaratand Rajasthan.

The ministry's survey also suggested the Top 10 performing states contributed to about84.21% of the total domestic tourist visits during 2016.

India has improved its performance on the World Tourism Index, where, according to thelatest UNWTO Barometer for March 2017, India's ranking in international tourist arrivals inboth 2014 and 2015 rose to 24 in comparison to its previous ranks of 41 and 40 in 2012 and2013, respectively. The number of foreign tourist arrivals in May, 2017 were 6.30 lakh ascompared to 5.27 lakh in the same period last year registering agrowth rate of 19.5%.

Gujarat tourism grows 17%, even7 years after campaign

The ‘Khushboo Gujarat Ki’ campaign is well past its prime. Amitabh Bachchan's appear-ance in the campaign, which first went on air in 2010, had given a shot in the arm to Gujarat’stourism sector then. But, the state still manages to hold on to impressive growth rates in touristfootfalls. On a much-enlarged base, it has accomplished a 16.94 per cent growth in touristarrivals in FY17 over the previous year.

Gujarat’s tourist inflow grew from 38.3 million in FY16 to 44.8 million in FY17. Tourist inflowfrom other Indian states grew 22 per cent. Business remained the dominant purpose of visit,at 55 per cent of tourist inflow, followed by spiritual tourists at 36 per cent. According to datacollected from the Gujarat Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation (Gitco), whichmanages the Tourist Flow Information System for the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd, thegrowth in tourist inflow was 263 per cent compared to 2006-07.

Goa set to target Europe in shift in tourism policyTourism minister Manohar

'Babu' Azgaonkar said that Goa'smarketing strategy will be changedto boost tourist arrivals from tradi-tional European markets. Tourismstakeholders also feel that it's hightime Goa tourism overhaul its mar-keting techniques to make the des-tination more competitive. The just-concluded charter tourist seasonended on a happy note with a rise incharter arrivals. Goa received 988charters with 614 flights arrivingfrom Russia and 168 from Ukraine.

Yet, the stakeholders were not completely content. Except for the UK (156 charters) andFinland (12 charters), Goa did not receive charters from other European destinations such asGermany or any other Scandinavian countries even as arrival from Russia picked up in 2016-17. While Goa's charter market was Europe-centric since the inception of the charter busi-ness in the 80s, the trend reversed about eight-nine years ago. The vacuum created with thedecline in arrivals from European destinations and more specifically UK, was filled by increas-ing arrivals from Russia. While UK has shown signs of growth during the last two seasons,similar improvement is not seen in other markets of Europe.

Sikkim Tourism Hit After Darjeeling UnrestTourism in Sikkim has been hit by the

Gorkha Janamukti Morcha-sponsoredindefinite shutdown and clashes inneighbouring Darjeeling and Kalimpong,said Ugen T. Gyatso, Sikkim’s TourismMinister. Pro-Gorkhaland activistsblocked National Highway 10 that con-nects Siliguri in North Bengal to Sikkimbringing traffic to a standstill.

According to the tourism departmentof Sikkim, there has been a fall in the num-ber of tourists since the Darjeeling unrestas security is a major concern.

“Nearly 17-18 buses are plying ev-ery day between Sikkim and Siliguri in North Bengal. So the tourists are coming here. However,the number of tourists has gone down a little bit,” Gyatso told IANS. “The tourists are a bit scaredto come here as they would have to travel through the violence-stricken area. We are trying tosort out the situation by talking to the authorities,” he said. On Monday, the GJM shutdownentered its eighth day to push for a separate Gorkhaland state. Sikkim, situated roughly 126 kmnorth of Darjeeling, is famous for its picturesque tourist destinations including its scenic capitalGangtok.

Kerala draws up Rs 300 crore riverbasin tourism project

Malabar region, the northern partof Kerala known for its picturesque-ness, heritage and cultural uniqueness,will soon find a place in the global tour-ism map. With an aim to explore theuntapped tourism potential of the region,Kerala government has drawn up anambitious Rs 300 crore river basin tour-ism project for Malabar.

"It is a very comprehensive riverbasin tourism project. The state gov-ernment has sanctioned Rs 15 crorefor this. It is worth to be included in theCentre's Swadesh Darshan project. Wehope, they will consider this," TourismMinister Kadakampally Surendran told

reporters here. With the implementation of the project, holidayers can enjoy a river cruise forabout 193 kilo metres enjoying the scenic beauty, cultural festivities and ethnic food of the region,he said. Air-conditioned boats with bio-toilet facilities would be launched for holidayers. Homestayswould also be introduced in the region, the minister said detailing various features of the project.On the other initiatives of the department, Surendran said the much-hyped Thalassery HeritageProject would be revived and monsoon tourism package would be introduced to tap the poten-tials of rainy season. "The government wants to explore tourism potentials throughout the year.To tap the possibilities of rainy season, we are planning to introduce monsoon package focusingon Wayanad and Alappuzha districts," he said. Two adventure parks would be set up in Veli hereand Kottakkunnu in Malappuram to woo more holidayers, the minister said adding that a specialprogramme to renovate heritage buildings is also on card

12 July, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Melania's birth country Sloveniahopes to boost tourism revenues

Slovenia, the country whereU.S. First Lady Melania Trump wasborn, hopes to strongly increasetourism revenues in the comingyears, the government said in astatement. According to the draft ofthe government's tourism strategy,revenues from foreign touristsshould rise to at least 3.7 billion eu-ros ($4.12 billion) by 2021 fromsome 2.4 billion euros last year,pushed up by investment in the sec-tor. "The vision of Slovenian tourismis that Slovenia is an active, greenand healthy destination," the gov-ernment said in a statement.

Slovenia is an Alpine state witha number of spa and seaside re-sorts. More than half of the countryis covered by forest.

Last year the number of foreigntourists in Slovenia rose by 12 per-cent to 3 million, as tourists turnedto European countries due to ter-rorist fears elsewhere. The U.S. FirstLady's fame also raised Slovenia'sprofile. The number of foreign tour-ists soared by 43 percent year-on-year in April, the latest data avail-able, with the number of Americanvisitors up by 31 percent over thesame period.

Tourist arrivals up despite Marawi crisis

Despite the ongoing crisis in Marawi City, tourists continue to flock to major tourist destina-tions in the Visayas, Palawan and the Ilocos region, an official of the Department of Tourism(DOT) said. DOT Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre said Boracay, Bohol and Palawan remainthe top destinations of tourists from Korea, the United States and China. “We have an averageof 600,000 tourists - Koreans, Americans and Chinese - monthly,” he added. An average of400,000 Korean tourists arrive in the Philippines every month because of the presence ofKorean communities in the country. Many tourists from the US are Filipino-Americans whoreturned to their places of origin to reunite with their relatives, the DOT said.

The DOT also noticed an increase in Chinese tourist arrivals in the country following thestate visit of President Duterte in China. Alegre said that when the hostilities broke out in Marawilast month, the DOT negotiated with airline companies for free rebooking of tourists bound forMindanao to other destinations in the country. Last year, 5.5 million tourists visited the Philip-pines. The DOT expects seven million tourist arrivals this year

Jamaica Tourism pushes for stronger ties

Jamaica Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has been invited to make a specialpresentation at the 85th Annual Meeting of the US Conference of Mayors, in Miami Beach,Florida, to further support the twinning of the City of Miami Beach with the resort town of Negril.

Minister Bartlett, who first made the proposal to Mayor of Miami Beach Philip Levine inFebruary of this year, says the twinning of Negril and Miami Beach will help drive the exchangeof technical knowledge, including shoreline maintenance, interest and investment opportunitiesbetween the Jamaica and Florida.

“We are moving aggressively to make the twinning of Negril and Miami Beach a reality. I amtherefore very happy Mayor Levine was gracious enough to extend an invitation to me to sharethe proposal in detail, highlighting how mutually beneficial it will be,” said Minister Bartlett.

The 85th Annual Meeting of the US Conference of Mayors, which takes place June 23-26,2017, will bring together approximately 250 mayors from across the United States to discussa wide range of issues. The conference aims to promote the development of an effectivenational, city and metro-area focused policy; strengthen federal city relationships; and to en-sure that federal policy meets urban needs.

Britain maps out magic sitescountrywide to promote tourism

Tourism chiefs an-nounced they have re-leased an interactive mapto coincide with the 20thanniversary of the firstHarry Potter book.

VisitBritain, thecountry's official tourismoffice, is celebrating thepublication of Harry Pot-ter and the Philosopher'sStone by showcasingwhat makes Britain a magi-cal destination for interna-tional tourists. The inter-active online map high-lights magical sitesacross Britain which haveinspired some of theworld's greatest literatureand legends, from HarryPotter to Sherwood For-

est, famed as the home of Robin Hood, and the legendary King Arthur to Scotland's Loch NessMonster. VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates said: "From Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland where theHarry Potter's Hogwarts Express travelled, to Professor McGonagall's classroom at DurhamCathedral, to exploring the Forbidden Forest at Warner Bros Studio, Harry Potter's Britain is thestuff of magic." "Harry and his wizarding world continue to hold generations of readers fromacross the globe spellbound, firing up imaginations and inspiring people to explore locations andlandscapes and experience the wonder themselves."

Attracted by culture and heritage, overseas travellers who visit Britain's castles or historichouses spend more than 10 billion U.S. dollars annually exploring cultural venues.

Film and literature are also powerful motivators for travel, with more than a third of potentialvisitors to the UK wanting to see places featured on screen, says VisitBritain.

Tourists Are Finally Coming Back to TurkeyThe number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose for the first time since a row with Russia

deepened a crisis in the nation’s tourism industry. Tourist arrivals rose 18 percent from a year agoto just over 2 million in April, ending a losing streak that began in August 2015 and worsened afterTurkey shot down a Russian jet near its border with Syria -- bringing ties with Moscow to a near-collapse. Russia, then the second-biggest source of visitors, responded by banning travel toTurkey for tourism. A tourism recovery is crucial for Turkey, which relies on the foreign-exchangerevenue to plug part of a current-account gap predicted to reach 4.7 percent of gross domesticproduct this year, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Nearly a year after Turkeyapologized to Russia for the jet incident, the April data is the first sign of a possible turnaround,according to Muammer Komurcuoglu, an economist at IS Investment in Istanbul.

Tourism revenue may jump more than expected this year if the trend continues, Komurcuoglusaid , adding that he had predicted a 10 percent increase. “This will have a positive impact on thecurrent-account gap and growth,” he said. Gross travel income was about $18.7 billion last year,according to central bank data.