About Delhi




FSE 2004 will be organised in New Delhi, capital of India .

New Delhi is India's major gateway for international flights to all parts of the world. Most of the global airways touches New Delhi and have their branch offices here. The city has well-knit domestic flight network to all major indian cities (Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad). New Delhi has an important railway station, connecting all major Indian destinations. The underground rail services (metro rail) of New Delhi facilitates hassle-free traffic movement in the city.


The facilities of the hotel Le Meridien will be used for the conference. The hotel is centrally located and is easily accessible from any part of the city. Transportation will also be arranged for the participants staying at other hotels. The conference hall can accommodate around one hundred fifty persons. It will have facility for both LCD and overhead projectors. Computers with internet connection will also be available in the conference hall.


Weather

The weather of Delhi is very pleasant during the Februaries. The winter is still there but it is not too cold. The temperature varies 8-18 degC. Rain is unlikely in the first week of February.


Hotels

Arrangements will be made for group booking in The Hotel Le Meridien where the conference will be held. The rate will be US $135 (Aprox.) for single occupancy.

The delegates can also choose from a number of other good five-star/five-star deluxe hotels (US $180-$220 per night) in Delhi (Taj Mahal, The Oberoi, Ashok hotel, Maurya Sheraton, La Meridien etc. ) and make their booking personally. Reasonably good hotels will be available at affordable rates (US $50-$70 per night) for student delegates. Additional accomodation facilities (including boarding) will also be provided in the well furnished guest house of ISI at a very nominal cost (US $10 per night). Any assistance required regarding hotel booking may be forwarded to one of the General Co-Chair e.g either subho@isical.ac.in or rlk@isid.ac.in


Attractions

Delhi is an amazing blend of India's rich cultural heritage, traditional values and wisdom with the modern social ethos, ideas and dynamism. Here remnants of the past survive with skyscrapers, residential colonies and bustling commercial complexes. Delhi is divided into Old and New Delhi. The history of Old Delhi is more than 3000 years. It has always occupied a strategic position in the country's political history. The imprints left by the Hindu and Islamic (specially the Mughals) dynasties and the British colonial rulers, in the from of numerous tombs, palaces, memorials and other relics, recapture throbbing moments of history live. The major places to visit in Old Delhi are Red Fort, famous seventeenth century Mughal fort; Jama Masjid, the largest mosque of India; Chandni Chowk, the colorful and magnificient old bazaar of the Mughal days.

The city of New Delhi is a creation of British imperial rulers during the early twentieth century under the leadership of famous architect Lutyens. It is now Asia's one of the fastest growing cosmopolitan city with spacious tree-lined avenues, imposing government buildings, several foreign diplomatic and trade centres, modern shopping arcades, speciality restaurants and beautiful open parks and gardens. Throughout the year New Delhi hosts an amazing plethora of cultural and political events, religious festivals, national and international conferences and seminars. The major tourist attractions of New Delhi are Qutab Minar (73 m high victory tower of the muslim rulers, built in the twelfth century), Humayun's Tomb (an excellent example of early Mughal Architecture, recently declared a world-heritage site), Jantar Mantar (an eighteenth century observatory), Rashtrapati Bhavan (residence of the President of India), Parliament House, India Gate (the 42m stone-arch memorial for the martyrs of first world war), the beautiful lotus-shaped Bahai Temple and the tree-lined broad Rajpath, anked with ornamental ponds and lawns. Delhi is the travel hub of north India. It is a convenient base for visiting the breathtakingly beautiful Taj Mahal in Agra (only 200 km away) the majestic Rajasthani palaces of colourful Jaipur and Udiapur (260 km away), quiet hill stations (Mussourie, Ranikhet, Nainital) of the Himalayas or the mystique ghats of Varanasi.

A half day's tour around Delhi will be arranged during the conference. If sufficient number of participants are found to be interested, we can also arrange a day's tour to the Taj Mahal in Agra at a nominal cost (USD 70-80 per person) on Feb. 8 2004.