Crowded inn

The Centre has issued fresh guidelines to make hotels in the metros more secure and environment-conscious after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and in time for the Commonwealth Games next year. But Delhi still faces a massive 60 per cent shortage of hotel rooms to accommodate the expected surge in visitors.

But if the bad news is that the required number of hotel rooms are unlikely to be ready when the Games kick off, the good news is people are also unlikely to come!

Indian hotels, on the whole, have seen a 73 per cent dip in net profit in the first quarter of the year. The impact of recession, the terrorist strike and now swine flu are obviously more severe on hotels in Mumbai.

Although Mumbai does not face an international deadline as Delhi does, the hotel accommodation sores are as acutely felt in India's financial capital as in Dilli.

Imperial Delhi

The book launch of Malvika Singh's "Delhi" was refreshingly raucous. An intellectual and substantive book it is, but had a launch attended by a rather combustible mix of politicians, bureaucrats and media personalities.

It was naturally house-full at the Imperial. The book was released by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur and our very own Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit. Mala was nervous but reassured by the warmth of close friends in the room.

Malvika Singh the author certainly knows Delhi rather well. Her husband after all is the grandson of one of the builders. With photographs researched painstakingly by Pramod Kapoor who for the first time mixed his roles as publisher and researcher and produced a stunning visual documentary. The scholarly Rudrangshu Mukherjee, gave the historic and Bengali link to this Capital book.

The book will be a fabulous introduction for anyone who lives in, loves Delhi or even just visits.u00a0

Dilip Cherianu00a0is lobbyist, celebrity creator and tycoon watcher. He currently parties on a 24/7 schedule that mixes cities nixes bores, and analyses Dilli. He's widely regarded as India's Image Guru.