EPICOH 2023

Covid-19 Rules

Host Country - India

India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved all-round socio-economic progress over the last 70 years of its Independence. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production and is now one of the top industrialized countries in the world and one of the few nations to have gone into outer space to conquer nature for the benefit of the people. It covers an area of 32, 87,263 sq. km, extending from the snow covered Himalayan heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. As you travel, India offers a range of vast tourism choices, diverse in land and nature, people, tribes, cuisine, faiths, dance forms, music, arts, crafts, adventure, sport, spirituality, history; even these vary as you journey from one state to another. A fascinating aspect lies in the stark difference as you travel through the new and old parts of its cities. From world-class airports and hotels, luxurious shopping malls, restaurants, pubs and cafes to overcrowded streets and alleyways, in the same cities, filled with thousands of little shops offering every possible modern and ethnic product and native street food is a fascinating experience.

Some Facts About India

India, officially the Republic of India, is the 2nd most populous country in the world, after China. India has a total area of 3,287,263 sq km. It is a country in South Asia and has 28 states. The country’s capital state is New Delhi. India has eight union territories. Its National official language is Hindi however, English is widely spoken and understood.. It does not have any national language. The nationals or citizens of India are called Indians. The Indian currency is known as the Indian Rupee (INR). It has seven land bordering countries that are Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It shares maritime border with Sri Lanka, Thailand, Maldives and Indonesia.

Area

Total land area 2,973,190 sq km

Population

18,248,290 as estimated in 2015

Language

India has 22 official languages. Hindi is national language while English is widely spoken and understood

Access Communication World Class Facilities Capacity Enduring Appeal

• India’s major international airports are Mumbai (Bombay) and Delhi

• There are plenty of international flights also arriving in Calcutta and Chennai (Madras)
• English is one of the official languages of India and widely spoken and used
• India has made a substantial investment in tourism facilities.

• India is extremely well served by hotels, restaurants and other essential tourism/business infrastructure.

• There is also an outstanding selection of luxurious conference venues.
• Mumbai can cater for more than 10,000 delegates for larger association conferences

• There are over 250 hotels and 17,000 rooms available for delegates.
• Every year, hundreds of international companies choose India as their overseas location for conferences, corporate meetings, and incentive trips

• And many of them keep coming back to India again and again.

Time Zone

Despite its size, India has a single time zone.
It is 2-1/2 hrs behind Hong Kong and Singapore
5-1/2 hrs ahead of London (GMT),
10-1/2 hrs ahead of New York & 13-1/2 hrs ahead of San-Francisco

Weather & Climate

India has hot tropical weather with variations occurring region to region.
The coolest months are – November to mid-March
Winters in India are pleasant.

Currency & Banking

It is advised to convert required amount of money into Indian Rupees through authorized foreign exchange dealers only, and obtain a receipt for all such transactions
This receipt enables repatriation of any unspent Indian money into foreign currency.
The currency is Rupee. All major international credit cards such as American Express, MasterCard, Visa and affiliates are accepted in most places in India.
Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) offer a complete 24-hour service.

Visas

All Visitors coming from overseas will require visas which can be obtained from the Indian missions abroad.
Invitation letters will be issued on request to the delegates to facilitate visa and travel. All foreigners, with the exception of nationals of Nepal & Bhutan must have a valid passport (min 6 months) & visa to enter.

Tour Guide

Discover Incredible India, Tourists’ Paradise!

As one of the oldest civilisations in the world, India is a mosaic of multicultural experiences. With a rich heritage and myriad attractions, the country is among the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Come to India- to witness its natural beauty, be amazed by its diversity of peoples and cultures and to participate in the intellectual debates and dialogues of the world’s largest democracy.

A Trip to Agra - The city of Taj Mahal, the monument of eternal love

The Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world and is considered to be the most popular tourist attraction in the country. A symbol of love, the Taj was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his queen Mumtaz. Tagore described the Taj as a "teardrop on the cheek of eternity". The monument attracts a lot of tourists all around the year.

Golden Triangle – Delhi – Jaipur – Agra

Agra in terms of ambience is still associated with its Mughal period. The Mughals besides being great rulers were also great builders and they preserved their best architectural wonders for Agra & its neighborhood. It has many wonderful monuments and the Taj Mahal, the greatest of them all, is a masterpiece of Mughal architecture at its best.

Amazing Goa – Beaches, Sunsets and Crazy Nights

Goa, this drop of golden sun on the West coast of India is bestowed upon by innumerable gifts: picturesque landscape, sun-drenched beaches, historic monuments, pleasant climate, culinary expertise and above all hospitable people. You can create your own kind of holiday at the Idyllic seaside stretches - sunbathing in quiet secluded spot or choosing the exhilarating thrills of parasailing, speed boating, water skiing, windsurfing and deep-sea diving.

Fatehpur Sikri

A city, predominantly made of red sandstone, Fatehpur Sikri was once the capital of Mughal Emperor Akbar. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site and a famous tourist attraction. The city offers a fine example of Akbar's architectural finesse.

Heritage in the Caves

Aurangabad is the most convenient point from which one can visit the renowned Ajanta and Ellora caves. This city gets its name from Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughal emperors. Following his death, it continued to be governed by the Nizam Shahi dynasty.

Castle in the Desert – Jaipur & Udaipur

Jaipur's past is never too far from Delhi. The city of victory, Jaipur presides over the fascinating desert state and its people: surrounded by rugged hills, each crowned by a formidable fort; and beautiful palaces, mansions and gardens dotted throughout its precincts.

Ayurveda Tour – Kovalam

Sixteen kilometers away from Thiruvananthapuram lies Kovalam, an internationally renowned beach. The beach has been a favorite haunt of tourists, especially Europeans, since the 1930s. A visit to the beach provides you with plenty of leisure options. You can go for sunbathing, swimming and herbal body toning massages.

Gods Own Country - Cochin Periyar Kumarakom Allepey

Thekkady is one of the major destinations of the state of Kerala, the God’s own country. Due to its unmatched natural beauty and serenity, this small town is visited by a large number of tourists every year. Thekkady is also the major base point to access some of the other exotic sites in Kerala as well as in Tamil Nadu. A visit to Thekkady also provides you the opportunity to see wildlife at close ranges, besides the varied vegetation and a wide variety of birds. Lying at an altitude of 700-1900 m above sea level, Thekkady has a cool and comfortable climate.

Buddhist Circuit – Varanasi & Bodhgaya

The antiquity of Varanasi is veiled in immortal times and has been the center of religion, learning and civilization since ages. It has an endearing universal mystique, which has to be experienced to be understood. The city gets its inherent charm from the location as it’s situated on west side of the Holy Ganges. The principal attraction being the bathing ghats that are always bustling with life at any given time of the day.

Some facts about Incredible India

The name ‘India’ is derived from the river Indus. It is a valley around which people settled in earlier times.

Its civilization- India is the world’s oldest, largest and continuous civilization – the Indus Valley civilization.

India is also one of the largest democracies in the world.

Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer and innovator born in Ladakh, India, designed the SECMOL campus that runs on solar energy. The campus also provides clean energy for heating, lighting and cooking. The building is designed in such a way that even when the minimum outside temperature falls to minus 25 degrees Celsius, the normal evening temperature inside this campus in the coldest part of the winter stays around plus 14 degrees Celsius. The building has south facing windows to collect heat during winter and insulation is also used in the roof, outer walls and some places under the floor. The building is made from earth. So they dig and use the same material and mix some sand and clay to get the desired strength for the building’s constitution. The construction of the building is such that no electric lights are needed during the day.

India has more than 300,000 active mosques. This outnumbers any other country in the world, even the Muslim countries.

India has the world’s largest Hindu population. Nearly 81% of its population identifies itself as Hindu. India is one of the three countries (other are Nepal and Mauritius) in the world where Hinduism is the majority.

Navi Mumbai, a planned satellite township of Mumbai, is the largest planned city in the world. Its development was started in 1972 to de-congest Mumbai.

Over 4700 daily newspapers in more than 300 languages are produced in India

India is the second largest English speaking country in the world – 125,226,449 numbers of English speakers.

India has the fastest growing telecom market and cheapest telecom tariff in the world.

Bollywood is the largest movie industry in terms of output, followed by Nollywood – the movie industry of Nigeria.

India is the world’s largest milk producer, with 16 percent of global production, followed by the United States of America, China, Pakistan, and Brazil.

India’s space program is among the top five space programs in the world despite having budget constraints.

The largest wholesale spice market of Asia is in India – Khari Baoli, New Delhi.

India’s road network is the world’s second largest with 4,865,000 km of roads constructed. (2014)

In August of 1982, ‘the highest bridge in the world’ – the Baily Bridge, was built by Indian Army.

Banaras, now known as Varanasi is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Buddha had also visited it.