Saturday, May 31, 2014

Awesome Travel Images






















Thursday, May 29, 2014

Famous Bridges in the USA

Some of the most famous bridges in the United States deserve a mention not because of the history attached to them but also because of the sheer beauty that these bridges add to their surroundings making a magnificent view. In this article, they list of the most famous bridges in the USA.
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
Located in San Francisco, the Golden Gate bridge is not an icon for the city but an picture that the whole world identifies The united states with, making it of the famous bridges in the whole country. The construction of this bridge started in the year 1933 to connect the San Francisco Peninsula with Marin County. It was finally thrown open to public traffic in 1937. It cost a whopping USD 25.7 million in the method of construction. Till the year 1957, the Golden Gate bridge, at a length of two,737 meters, was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Some other facts about the Golden Gate bridge are that the span of the bridge is about one,280 meters and that about 100,000 vehicles use the bridge on a every day basis.
BROOKLYN BRIDGE
BROOKLYN BRIDGE
As the name suggests the Brooklyn bridge is located in Brooklyn, New York connecting across the East river, Manhattan and Brooklyn. Originally the bridge was christened the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. It is of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, having been opened in the year 1883. The length of the bridge is one,843 meters and it is flanked by Gothic towers made of granite on both ends. The bridge was declared a National Historic Landmark in the year 1964 increasing its standing as of the most famous bridges in the country. The bridge has been featured in several Hollywood films, the wide pedestrian walkway that allows a great view of East river and downtown Manhattan. A result of this is that it is now of the most famous bridges in the world.
MACKINAC BRIDGE
MACKINAC BRIDGE
This is the third largest suspension bridges in the world at a length of 26,371 feet therefore making it of the most famous bridges around the globe. Crossing over Mackinac, it connects the upper peninsula of New york with the lower peninsula. The architect of this bridge was Dr. David B. Steinman who supervised the construction of the bridge which started in the year 1954. The method of building the bridge took & a half years & the bridge was inaugurated & opened for public in 1958. People using this bridge are charged a definite amount of funds.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE
GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE
Also known as the Hudson river bridge & the Columbus bridge, the George Washington bridge which connects Fort Lee to Manhattan was inaugurated in 1931 after a construction period of four years. It is a level suspension bridge that cost about USD 52 million to build. The architect of the bridge, Othmar H. Ammann, famously designed this bridge in a manner that allowed the addition of lanes to cater to increasing traffic. This feature allowed the construction of the second level & more lanes on the first level. Today 300,000 vehicles use the bridge everyday making it of the busiest bridges in the world & of the most famous bridges in the United States of The united states.
NAVAJO BRIDGE
NAVAJO BRIDGE
The sheer panoramic view that this bridge contributes to makes it of the most famous bridges in the United States. Located in New york, this bridge crosses the Colorado river & is 250 meters long. The construction of this bridge started in the year 1927, ending years later. In the 1990s a second bridge was built which was opened to public in 1994. The first bridge is now used only by pedestrians.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Booziest US Flight Destination Cities Surprises

If alcohol promotes conviviality, then the friendliest skies of any in the US hover above a handful of cities—those en route to which passengers consume the most amount of booze.
You’d expect Vegas to top the list, and it does. But Seattle? Passengers bound for second-ranked Seattle, according to a recent analysis, are drinking more than coffee.
Passengers on flights to certain cities spend more money on alcohol.
Passengers on flights to certain cities spend more money on alcohol.
These rankings are the work of GuestLogix, Toronto supplier of in-flight payment systems to some 90 percent of North American airlines. The company analyzed the inflight sales of five carriers between November 2013 and February 2014, breaking sales down into categories including comfort items (pillows, headsets, in-flight entertainment, etc.), food (both fresh and packaged) and beverages. Sales of liquor, beer and wine accounted for 99 percent of all beverage dollars spent by passengers.
During the three-month period studied, beverage sales onboard flights to Las Vegas totaled $2.69 million, or about $93 per flight. Seattle’s average per flight was $79. Other very friendly skies belonged to Fort Lauderdale ($68), and San Francisco and Phoenix (tied at about $65 each).
Skies over Elmira, New York, weren’t especially friendly ($28). Those over Scranton ($23) were dour.
Ilia Kostov, GuestLogix’s executive vice president for sales and marketing, tells ABC News that a variety of factors determine how much alcohol gets consumed on any given flight. Longer flights—those lasting 3 hours or more—typically enjoy higher consumption. Both Vegas and Seattle, he says, are transcontinental destinations. “There’s definitely a correlation between sales per flight and flight duration,” he says. The size of the plane also is a factor: “The bigger the plane, the more passengers aboard, the higher the beverage sales.”
Passenger mindset also matters: Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany, a leading consultancy on airline ancillary revenue (revenue from baggage fees, re-booking fees and sources over and beyond ticket sales) says many Vegas-bound passengers are heading off on a vacation and want to start their partying early, before they land. The same probably cannot be said for Elmira.
Carriers increasingly depend on ancillary revenue for their profits. A 2013 report by IdeaWorksCompany and CarTrawler, a provider of car rental systems, estimated that the world’s airlines now get close to $43 billion a year from ancillary sources, up from $23 billion in 2010.
Fees for checked bags, says Sorensen, dwarf what airlines get from selling alcohol. The difference, though, is that while baggage fees have plateaued, beverage sales and other onboard sales are continuing to grow.
The airlines that get the most revenue from their beverage sales, Sorensen tells ABC News, are those that “think like a bartender.”
“If you walked into a bar and got a free soda,” he asks, “what would that do to sales?” Many customers would take the free soda and skip buying an alcoholic drink—or any other drink for which they have to pay. The same holds true in the air, he says. Smart carriers, he says—the ones with the highest alcohol sales–don’t offer free beverages.
Virgin America does something else that’s smart, he says: Not only does Virgin America let you order cocktails from your seatback, it lets you run an open tab. Allowing passengers to keep an open tab, he says, powerfully promotes sales: “Would you order desert, if the restaurant closed out your check after the entrĂ©e?”

Real-Time Airliner Tracking May Take 2-3 Years

Global standards to track aircraft in real time may not be ready for two to three years, a senior ICAO official said, although the process could be accelerated as airlines adopt voluntary measures.
Real-Time Airliner Tracking May Take 2-3 Years
Real-Time Airliner Tracking May Take 2-3 Years
IATA has formed a group to come up with methods for tracking by the end of September, responding to public concern following the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappearance.
IATA said its members would implement measures voluntarily, before any rules were in place.
“Typically a global standard can take 2-3 years to put in place,” Nancy Graham, director of the ICAO Air Navigation Bureau, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
“This will expedite that because we will have learned a lot of lessons from the voluntary path.”
Graham was speaking after a conference of aviation regulators and industry officials in the Malaysian capital tried to flesh out details of new tracking standards two weeks after ICAO nations agreed to set up the task force.
But the meeting left questions unanswered over how much the new systems could cost – and feed through to higher fares – and how smoothly they could be implemented across global airlines.
“The bigger airlines that fly globally might have the cash for it, but the smaller players already have their margins stressed and don’t have much money left to spare,” said one airline industry official who asked not to be identified.
Regular flight-tracking was one of the key recommendations of French investigators after the loss of Air France flight 447 in 2009. Aviation experts say previous attempts to reach agreement on tracking and other reforms in the aftermath of that disaster have been delayed by uncertainties over the cost and control of infrastructure.
Inmarsat, a satellite company whose data helped track MH370, has offered to provide airlines with tracking at no cost. Rival firms such as Iridium, however, say outfitting an aircraft with the tracking system could cost more than USD$100,000.
Malaysian investigators suspect someone shut off MH370′s data links making the plane impossible to track, prompting Prime Minister Najib Razak to call for the ICAO to adopt real-time tracking of civilian aircraft.
Graham rejected criticism that regulators and the industry should have been quicker to act on calls for real-time tracking following the 2009 disaster.
She said ICAO examined three different reports on the Air France crash and made 25 recommendations as a result. Real-time tracking would not have prevented that or the MH370 disappearance, she said.
“There was no requirement to develop a rule for global tracking out of the Air France incident,” Graham said. “That does not mean we should not do it. It just means we should not connect the two together.”
(Reuters)

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

#Article370: RSS hits out at Omar, says J&K will always be a part of India

New Delhi: Amidst the raging debate over Article 370, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) spokesperson Ram Madhav has lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeting that the state "has been and will always be a part of India."
"J&K won't be a part of India? Is Omar thinking its his parental estate? 370 or no 370, J&K has been and will always be an integral part of India (sic)," Ram Madhav tweeted.
Meanwhile, the core group of Jammu and Kashmir's ruling National Conference is meeting at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's residence on Wednesday to discuss the statement made by Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Article 370 claiming that the government had started speaking to stakeholders to repeal Article 370.



Article 370: RSS hits out at Omar, says J&K will always be a part of India

The National Conference will be meeting at Omar Abdullah's residence to discuss the statement made by MoS Jitendra Singh on Article 370.
Omar had warned the new Modi-led government against scrapping Article 370 saying that any such move would only further isolate the state. He also further added that any talks on Article 370 need to focus on strengthening it and not scrapping it claiming that abrogation of the law will further isolate the state.
In conversation with IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Omar said that "Article 370 is the constitutional link between Jammu an Kashmir and rest of India. You take that link away, what else is there? Please understand that J&K is exceeded to the union of India on the basis of Article 370, which cements that relationship.
He also said that denied BJP's argument that the Article weakens the process of integration than strengthening saying that it is the only process whereby J&K is a part of India.
However, he also said that he is ready for a discussion on the issue. "I had offered a dialogue from the first time when Modi had come to Jammu where he said in a speech that we're ready to talk. I said you name the time and place. I'll be there to talk. If you're willing to reopen the entire question of accession of J&K to India. Please by all means open the question of revocation of Article 370 and let's see where you reach," he said.
The debate over the Article erupted yet again after Dr Jitendra Singh, soon after taking charge as MoS in the PMO, said that the government has started a debate on the abrogation of Article 370, which gives special status and autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir.
While speaking to CNN-IBN, Jitendra Singh had said, "Article 370 has done more harm. Youth of Kashmir has to be convinced about this. That's why honourable PM has called for a debate." However, he later clarified that he had been misquoted. Article 370 grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Funny Animated gif Images for Tumblr, Bloggers etc – I








Monday, May 26, 2014

Adani Power wants Narendra Modi govt nod for export of electricity to Pakistan

Adani Power is planning to set up a 10,000-MW thermal power plant in the Kutch region of Gujarat and the bulk of the electricity to be produced from it is likely to be exported to Pakistan.
The company, a part of the $8.7-billion Adani Group, is arguably the country’s leading private sector thermal power producer with a current capacity of 8,520 MW. The ports-to-power group has plans to ramp up electricity production by over 10,000 MW by this financial year, other that the Kutch greenfield project. It is currently developing six projects in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Adani Power, part of the $8.7-billion Adani Group, is arguably India’s leading private sector thermal power producer with a current capacity of 8,520 MW.
According to a source, Adani Power has discussed the proposal of the Kutch project with the UPA-II government, but there was not much progress. The company hopes implement the proposal during the incoming NDA regime as a coal-based project in phases beginning with 3,300 MW and ramp it up to 10,000 MW within the next five years, he said. Since Gujarat is considered to be a power surplus state, Adani Power is learnt to have decided to sell the electricity to Pakistan. An Adani Group spokesperson did not reply to an e-mailed questionnaire, but called up to say “the company has no comments to offer.”
While the initial investment would be around Rs 13,000 crore, for ramping up the capacity to 10,000 MW a total of Rs 40,000 crore would be required, according to the source. The project is likely to be implemented by Kutch Power Generation Company Limited (KPGCL), a Adani Power subsidiary. KPGCL would be responsible for generation, evacuation and transmission of electricity. The company is learnt to have acquired land at Bhadreshwar in Kutch for the project, according to sources.
Adani Power has reported a net profit of Rs 2,529 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014, against a net loss of Rs 585.52 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. According to a company statement, its consolidated EBIDTA has risen to Rs 4859 crore in FY14, which is an increase of 322 per cent.
Last week the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had slapped a Rs 5,500-crore show cause notice on the Adani Group for alleged over-valuation of capital equipment imports. The notices were served to Adani Power Maharashtra, Adani Power Rajasthan, Maharashtra Eastern Grid Power Transmission Company-and a contractor to the last entity. Also last week the

7 Air Passenger Rights You Might Not Know About


When something goes wrong on a trip, the first question many flyers ask is, "What are my rights?" The short answer is fairly simple: The U.S. and the European Economic Community (EEC) have established some very specific rights for air travelers. In addition, contracts of carriage between passengers and carriers establish some promised rights, but those heavily one-sided contracts seldom call for any specific compensation or enforcement teeth in the event the carrier fails to meet its "promises." Either way, it's important for passengers to know their rights when faced with air-travel snafus, from delayed flights to overbooked planes. The following is a primer on basic air-passenger rights in the U.S. and Europe.

Honest Fares in Europe and the U.S.
When booking a flight, the price you see is the price you pay—that's the law. The EEC and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) require airlines to display the full cost of an air ticket, including all mandatory airline charges, governmental taxes, and user fees, in online postings and other advertising. Travel providers, from online travel agencies (OTAs) to airline websites, must clearly display full prices or face penalties.

U.S. Air-Passenger Rights: Bumping
The DOT mandates certain air-travel rights, including passenger rights in cases of involuntary bumping, by requiring airlines to cover them in their contracts. (Check the DOT's FAQ sheet for full particulars.)
When an airline bumps you involuntarily due to overbooking, it may owe you compensation—unless the airline can get you to your destination within one hour of your scheduled arrival, in which case it owes you no compensation.
If your airline can get you to your destination between one and two hours of your scheduled arrival on a domestic flight, or between one and four hours on an international trip, it owes you compensation of 200 percent of the one-way fare to your destination, up to $650. If the airline can't make these time requirements, it owes you 400 percent of the fare, up to $1,300. If your airline elects to arrange alternate transportation on another airline, it must cover all of the expenses and extras that the new airline might assess.
In any case, you get to keep your original ticket, which you can use for a subsequent trip or have refunded. DOT adjusts compensation values for inflation every two years.
As a practical matter, only about 10 percent of overbooked travelers get involuntarily bumped. Instead, most accept airlines' offers of confirmed seats on later flights, plus vouchers for up to several hundred dollars toward future tickets and cash for meals. These rules also apply to "zero fare" tickets, most notably frequent-flyer awards, with monetary amounts based on the prices of similar tickets. They apply to all domestic flights and international flights departing from the U.S. but not to inbound international flights. And travelers must have confirmed reservations on scheduled flights and meet the airline's check-in and gate-arrival deadlines.
Involuntary-denied-boarding rules do not apply to flights on planes with fewer than 30 passengers (this is not a serious flaw, as almost all regional airlines now use larger planes). And, most importantly, these rules do not apply when an airline bumps a traveler for any reason other than overbooking—for example, as a result of a switch to a smaller plane, for weight-and-balance issues on planes that seat 30 to 60 passengers, or if a flight is delayed or canceled.

U.S. Air-Passenger Rights: Delays and Cancellations
If, for any reason, your flight is canceled, substantially delayed, or rescheduled, you have the right to reroute at no extra cost or to receive a full refund, even on a nonrefundable ticket. Airline policies vary, however, about what constitutes a "substantial" delay or schedule change.
Federal rules require that domestic airlines and foreign carriers flying into the U.S. file "Customer Service Plans," which describe what the airline promises to do in the case of a long list of circumstances, including delays, cancellations, and diversion events, among others. (For the most part, these commitments are restatements, in plain language, of the more detailed legalese of each airline's official contract of carriage.) Contracts and service plans generally call for meal vouchers when a delay extends over a normal meal time and for hotel accommodations in the event of an overnight delay. But implementation varies by airline.
In the event of a delay, a few airlines say that they will transfer you to another airline if that carrier can get you to your destination earlier than your original flight. A few others say they "may" transfer you, but the decision is theirs, and still other airlines only offer a seat on their own next-available flight. Neither customer-service plans nor contracts of carriage call for specific compensation when an airline fails to meet its commitment. See our Ultimate Guide to Airline Contracts of Carriage for details.

U.S. Air-Passenger Rights: Tarmac Delays
During a lengthy tarmac delay in the U.S. (upon either arrival or departure), the DOT mandates that an airline may not keep you on a plane for more than three hours (on a domestic flight) or four hours (on an international flight) without allowing you to get off if you wish, subject to security and safety considerations. Each airline is also obligated to provide food and water after two hours of delay, provide updates to passengers every 30 minutes, and assure that airplane lavatories are operable.
When an airline violates the tarmac rules, you receive no compensation. Instead, the DOT fines the airline.

Europe Air-Passenger Rights: Bumping and Overbooking
The EEC's Regulation EC261 establishes passenger rights similar to—and generally exceeding—U.S. DOT requirements. The current rules apply when you board a flight on either a scheduled or charter airline at any airport within an EEC member state and also when you fly into an EEC airport on an airline based in the EEC, Norway, or Switzerland. As in the U.S., you must meet check-in deadlines and other airline requirements for the rules to apply. And compensation applies if you're on a frequent-flyer ticket.
If an airline is unable to get you to your final destination within three hours of your scheduled arrival, EEC requirements call for "Article 7" compensation: €250 for passengers on flights of 1,500 km or less (in distance); €400 for passengers on flights of more than 1,500 km within the EEC or flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km outside the EEC; and €600 for passengers on all flights of 3,501 km or more outside the EEC. All flights from the EEC to North America are longer than 3,500 km (2,175 miles). On connecting flights, the distance is calculated to your final destination, not to some intermediate hub. Upon request, airlines must also offer "Article 8" assistance, either rerouting bumped passengers or offering them full refunds.
If you're bumped, the EEC regulation also requires that airlines provide "Article 9" care: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to waiting time, hotel accommodations in cases where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, and transport.
The EEC directive does not limit this bumping compensation just to instances of overbooking. It applies to any instance.

Europe Air-Passenger Rights: Delays and Cancellations
EC261 says that if your flight is canceled, you're entitled to Article 7, Article 8, and Article 9 provisions. The Article 7 financial compensation does not apply, however, if an airline notifies you of a cancellation more than two weeks before departure, if the airline notifies you seven to 14 days in advance and reroutes you to arrive in your final destination within four hours of your originally scheduled time, or if you're informed less than seven days in advance but the airline can reroute you to arrive at your destination within two hours of your original arrival time. And cancellation penalties do not apply when the cancellation is caused by "extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken."
In the event of a delay of three hours or more, you are entitled to the standard Article 7 compensation. Also, if the delay exceeds five hours, you are entitled to an Article 8 refund. These provisions also apply to extended tarmac delays.

Europe Air-Passenger Rights: Enforcement
EEC studies have uncovered many cases in which airlines did not inform travelers of their rights to compensation or offer the compensation outright, as well as some cases in which airlines stonewalled legitimate claims. Reports also indicate that some U.S. citizens have had difficulties receiving compensation from European airlines for delays and cancellations on inbound flights covered by the EEC regulations. The situation is apparently bad enough that several online start-ups are offering legal assistance to travelers attempting to collect from recalcitrant airlines. Among the start-ups are refund.meFlight-Delayed, and EUclaim. Typically, these outfits assess either a flat fee or 25 percent of the recovery.

This article was originally published by SmarterTravel under the title Air-Passenger Rights: A Guide to Your Rights in the U.S. and Europe.
Ed Perkins can be emailed at editor@smartertravel.com.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

How to find cheap flights?

Image Source
We’ve all used hours before the machine or in a go organization attempting to get the best arrangement on carrier tickets. Anyhow there are route for you not to leave the cost of your tickets up to risk and terrible arranging. Here are some useful tips that can help you spare hundreds or thousands on your go far and wide.
1. Book ahead
Aerial shuttle ticket costs shift extensively normal, carrier to air transport. In any case, the shabby air transport tickets dependably offer first and foremost, remunerating voyagers that arrange ahead. Booking a flight ahead of time will by and large get you less unmanageable aerial shuttle tickets for your fancied course. Be that as it may, this does not so much imply that the first individual to book his ticket will pay less. Estimating is continually overhauled via aerial transports and it is frequently simply a matter of good fortune! Read more article........

Friday, May 23, 2014

World Cup 2014 - Football

World Cup 2014 results and fixtures - live scores and tables Complete fixtures for the World Cup in Brazil including the schedule for all matches in the group stages, how the results will decide the route to the final, and live scores and tables To see Full Shedule  -

Match Dates & time of 2014 FIFA World Cup

MATCHDATE [IST]TIME [IST]
Group Stage
Brazil vs Croatia13-06-201401:30 am
Mexico vs Cameroon13-06-201409:30 pm
Spain vs Netherlands14-06-201412:30 am
Chile vs Australia14-06-201403:30 am
Colombo vs Greece14-06-201409:30 pm
Ivory Coast Vs Japan15-06-201406:30 am
Uruguay vs Costa Rica15-06-201412:30 am
England vs Italy15-06-201403:30 am
Switzerland vs Ecuador15-06-201409:30 pm
France vs Honduras16-06-201412:30 am
Argentina vs Bosnia Herzegovina16-06-201403:30 am
Iran Vs Nigeria17-06-201412:30 am
Germany vs Portugal16-06-201409:30 pm
Ghana vs United States17-06-201403:30 am
Belgium vs Algeria17-06-201409:30 pm
Russia vs South Korea18-06-201403:30 am
Brazil vs Mexico18-06-201412:30 am
Cameroon vs Croatia19-06-201403:30 am
Spain vs Chile19-06-201412:30 am
Australia vs Netherlands18-06-201409:30 pm
Colombia vs Ivory Coast19-06-201409:30 pm
Japan vs Greece20-06-201403:30 am
Uruguay vs England20-06-201412:30 am
Italy vs Costa Rica20-06-201409:30 pm
Switzerland vs France21-06-201412:30 am
Honduras vs Ecuador21-06-201403:30 am
Argentina vs Iran21-06-201409:30 pm
Nigeria vs Bosnia Herzegovina22-06-201403:30 am
Germany vs Ghana22-06-201412:30 am
United States vs Portugal23-06-201403:30 am
Belgium vs Russia22-06-201409:30 am
South Korea vs Algeria23-06-201412:30 am
Cameroon vs Brazil24-06-201401:30 am
Croatia vs Mexico24-06-201401:30 am
Australia vs Spain23-06-201409:30 pm
Netherlands vs Chile23-06-201409:30 pm
Japan vs Colombo25-06-201412:30 am
Greece vs Ivory Coast25-06-201401:30 am
Italy vs Uruguay24-06-201409:30 pm
Costa Rica vs England24-06-201409:30 pm
Honduras vs Switzerland26-06-201412:30 am
Ecuador vs France26-06-201401:30 am
Nigeria vs Argentina25-06-201409:30 pm
Bosnia Herzegovina vs Iran25-06-201409:30 pm
United States vs Germany26-06-201409:30 pm
Portugal vs Ghana26-06-201409:30 pm
South Korea vs Belgium27-06-201401:30 am
Algeria vs Russia27-06-201401:30 am
Download File: Save to device
Group Stage Round: From 13 June to 26 June 2014.
Round of 16: From 28 June to 02 July.
Quarter final matches: 4th & 6th July
First Semi: 9th July & second Semi final on 10th July
Match for third place & final match date: 13th July [12:30 am].
You can watch all matches of 2014 FIFA World cup on Sony Six. The timings of the above games is according to Indian Standard Time.