Monday, December 10, 2007

Friendless dollar is turned away at the gates of the Taj Mahal

Ashling O�Connor in Bombay � The Times November 20, 2007

The Taj Mahal and other top tourist sites in India are refusing to accept dollars to pay for admission, dealing another blow to the prestige of the weakened American currency.

Entry tickets to the world famous Mughal tomb in Agra and about 120 sites run by the Archaeological Survey of India will be available only at a fixed rupee rate after the dollar lost more than 12 per cent of its value against the local currency this year.

Tourists had been encouraged to pay in dollars where possible, a legacy of the time when foreign currency was difficult to come by because of India�s cash inflow restrictions. However, with the fall of the dollar against most other leading currencies and the surge of the rupee on the back of India�s booming and liberalised economy, the greenback will no longer be welcome at the door.

As a result, tourists will pay nearly a third more to enter India�s top tourist attractions by paying in rupees than the previous fixed dollar rate.

The dollar has suffered other blows to its image of late, not least when it was reported that Gisele B�ndchen, the Brazilian supermodel, would sign contracts that were paid only in euros because of the slide in the American currency � although her agent was quick to deny the story for fear of angering clients in the United States.

The dollar has also suffered the indignity of being ridiculed by the American rapper Jay-Z, who chose to cruise the streets of New York in European-made Bentleys and Rolls-Royces with a briefcase stuffed full of �500 notes.

The Indian Ministry of Culture said that it was ditching the dollar to correct �any anomaly� caused by currency fluctuations that were adversely affecting its income.

The Government had fixed a $5 entrance fee for World Heritage sites such as the Taj Mahal and $2 for other monuments of interest at a time when the dollar was worth about 50 rupees. Buoyed by capital inflows into the surging Bombay stock market, the rupee rose yesterday to 39.28 rupees against the dollar.

The new fixed entry fee of 250 rupees and 100 rupees means that a foreign tourist will pay the equivalent of about $6.40 (�3.10) and $2.50 (�1.20) respectively. Indians pay a significantly lesser rate of about 20 rupees to enter official monuments, many of which are in dire need of maintenance. The ministry is planning to extend this favourable price to nonresident Indian citizens and to tourists from other South Asian countries.

More than four million tourists visited India last year, earning about $6.6 billion in foreign exchange. The unprecedented inflow of money from overseas has brought with it inflationary difficulties and problems for exporters, particularly IT services companies, which on average earn half or two thirds of their income from the US.

India�s central bank bought a record $11.87 billion in September to intervene in the rupee�s appreciation. It continued to be active in the currency markets in October and this month.

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Bioshock scoops game of the year


Bioshock
Bioshock is one of the most celebrated games of the year

Action thriller Bioshock has been awarded game of the year at the Spike TV awards in Las Vegas.

The underwater adventure, widely praised for its storyline and production values, also won the prize for best Xbox 360 title and best score.

It beat high-profile titles such as Halo 3, Mass Effect and The Orange Box to win the top prize.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare won the awards for best shooter and best military game.

Call of Duty 4
Call of Duty 4 won two prizes

Actor Samuel L. Jackson hosted the awards, which were broadcast on cable channel Spike TV.

Nintendo title Super Mario Galaxy, which has been feted with a series of near-perfect review scores, won for best action game and best Wii game, while science fiction epic Mass Effect won best RPG and PC title Crysis won for best graphics.

Blockbuster title Halo 3 picked up two awards, for best multiplayer and most addictive game. The Orange Box, a compendium of Half-Life 2 titles, 3D puzzler Portal and online game Team Fortress, was named PC game fo the year.

Other highlights included Colin McRae: DiRT picking up the best driving game prize, Ratchet and Clank winning the best PlayStation 3 prize, and Portal chosen as the breakthrough technology winner.

Compass not so golden in US chart

The Golden Compass
Dakota Blue Richards (left) beat 10,000 girls to the role of Lyra
Fantasy film The Golden Compass has topped the North American box office despite disappointing ticket sales.

The $180m (£89m) movie starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig took $26.1m (£12.8m) in its opening weekend.

But distributor New Line Cinema said it was disappointed the film had not pulled in the $30-40m (£15-20m) it had hoped for.

Fairytale Enchanted fell to number two taking $10.7m (£5.3m), and comedy This Christmas took third with $5m (£2.5m).

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE
1. The Golden Compass - $26.1m (£12.8m)
2. Enchanted - $10.7m (£5.3m)
3. This Christmas - $5m (£2.5m)
4. Fred Claus - $4.66m (£2.3m)
5. Beowulf - $4.4m (£2.2m)
Source: Media By Numbers

With cinemagoers in the festive spirit, Vince Vaughn comedy Fred Claus rose two places to number four.

Fantasy epic Beowulf fell two places to five, in its fourth week on the chart.

Takings for the Golden Compass plus a generally weak field of films saw overall year-on-year sales down for the fifth consecutive weekend, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers.

The top 12 films in the chart earned $73m, (£36m) down 12% from last year.

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