Best Adventure Holidays in India

Adventure travel in India is growing at a rapid pace. There are several destinations in every state offer different adventure sports activities in summer or/and winter. So, you can enjoy the thrill and excitement of adventure sports right in India. Whether you have just a weekend or a two-week leisure holiday to plan and enjoy, domestic travel destinations would not disappoint you. The natural beauty of Indian mountains, valleys, plateaus, beaches and rivers create burst of breathtaking experiences for adventurers and thrill seekers.

Winter sports:

Domestic travel destinations are not as well known as the international destinations as they have better awareness, infrastructure, training and support for the winter sports like ice skating, snowboarding and skiing. Yet, Himalayan charm of snow clad mountains is exhilarating for amateurs and professionals. Gulmarg and Ladakh are winter treks, skiing and snowboarding. The popularity of ice hockey and ice skating in Ladakh is rising with all the international attention coming its way.

Water sports:

White River Rafting is very popular in several states. Yet, the most popular destinations are Lidder River in Pahalgam, Ganges river in Rishikesh, Sind River in Ladakh, Brahmaputra River in Arunachal Pradesh and River Barapole in Karnataka. If you are into parasailing, paragliding, motorboat riding, snorkeling, canoeing and kayaking, then the most popular beaches are in Goa, Kerala and Maharashtra. But, the best scuba diving destination in India is Andaman Islands.

Land sports:

Though, there is zorbing, bungee jumping and mountain biking available India, most thrill seekers enjoy a trekking, rappelling, hiking and rock climbing. There are several group tour packages for trekking in Himalayas and Western Ghats. These mountains touch almost most all states in India, where trekking and rappelling is enjoyed as a great weekend activity. As a country blessed with forts, mountains and summits, India has several group tour packages for week long trekking excursions in Himalayas, camping in forests, wild life safaris in national parks and sand dune safaris in Rajasthan.

Though, sky diving is relatively popular, the heart of adventure in India is enjoying the natural beauty in spite of obvious lack of adventure infrastructure. Ice rinks in Shimla and Dehradun are not enough for all the true passion we have for ice skating. The homestays in North East Indian villages are not enough for true travellers seeking the simplicity and harmony of village life. But, the youth and adventure travel industry is getting better with each passing day. So, let’s make it happen.

Luxury Rhine River Cruise: A Romantic glimpse of the Roman Empire

For the river cruise enthusiasts, the thought of cruising through the serene blue waters of the legendary Rhine Rivergives great pleasure. Walking around the green plains, exploring the breath-taking landscapes and viewing the splendid mountain slopes are all great experiences while sailing on a Rhine river cruise. One of the most important and longest rivers of Europe, the Rhineoriginates from the Swiss Alps and empties in to the North Sea coast of the Netherlands and flows through six countries with a stretch of 766 miles.
The Rhine River Snap Shot
The rich ancient culture and history of Europe that the Rhine River takes you through is spell binding. The Rhine and the Danube are the silent testimonies of the Great Roman Empire. On a Rhine river cruise you can get a splendid view of the steeples, towers, churches, cathedrals, and castles on every street corner. Amazing buildings, both ancient and new, can be seen while you are cruising through the river. The tour takes you through the beautiful city of Zurich. It also passes through some other beautiful cities like Basel, Cologne, Dusseldorf, and covers some incredible places like the Black Forest of Germany &the French city of Strasbourg .The Rhine River is extremely important from a business aspect as it is a major route to transport raw materials and goods.
One of the most significant parts of the Rhine River is the Rhine gorge that falls between the German city of Bonn and Bingen. The gorge is quite deep and is classed as a world heritage site and is also called the ‘romantic Rhine’. There are many castles, historic fortifications and vineyards surrounding the gorge.
A river cruise through Rhine will allow you to view scenic beauty and to visit the rich history of Europe.
July and August are the time when normally people travel, although it can be a little hot. May and September are desirable.During the month of December; however, they have special cruises for the Christmas markets. The Rhine river cruise is usually a 14 – night cruise which starts from Basel and terminates at Amsterdam. Besides the 14-night cruise, many tour operators also offer some short duration cruise plans, spanning 4 to 5 days. The highlights of the cruise are:
• Historic towns and vineyards on the Rhine banks that can be explored in summer
• Enjoy the fabulous fireworks in the Rhine valley to celebrate the annual wine harvest
• During Christmas you can try some local delicious delicacies as well as enjoy the Christmas markets
• Be enthralled by historic castles at every turn of the river
• Stunning views, beautiful landscapes and a fabulous ambience in the wine and beer taverns
Some of the important tour operators who offer river cruise through the Rhine-Danube stretch include APT River Cruises, AMA Waterway, Viking River cruise, Avalon Waterways and Uniworld.

Credence Independent Advisors: A look in to the pension changes

September 3, 2014 – These pension changes are generally all positive and the biggest for more than 100 years. Some of the changes are discussed here.

In order to ensure that all defined contribution schemes are able to offer greater flexibility to their members a permissive statutory override shall be introduced. The benefit of permissive statutory override is that it allows schemes to ignore their scheme rules and follow the tax rules instead; in order to make payments flexibly or to provide a drawdown facility.

According to the government mandating these schemes provide flexible payments, which would be disproportionate. Even though some schemes would like to offer flexibility to their members but due to the legal and administrative costs involved, they would prefer not to amend their schemes. The government under these situations would prefer that the schemes were in a position to provide flexibility without amending their rules.

On the other hand, if the schemes do not offer flexible access, the individuals would be able to transfer between defined contributions schemes up to the point of retirement.

It is also expected that the government would make various changes to the tax laws, in order to allow more freedom to providers to create new and innovative products, which meet the needs of the consumers more closely. These include; allowing lump sums to be taken from lifetime annuities, allowing payments from guaranteed annuities to beneficiaries as a lump sum, where they are under £30,000, removing the 10-year guarantee period for guaranteed annuities and decreasing lifetime annuities.

The real intention behind the new tax rules is to provide people with a greater access to their retirement savings. However, they also ensure that individuals do not use these new flexibilities to avoid tax on their current earnings by diverting their salary into their pension with tax relief and then immediately withdrawing 25 percent tax-free.

Those who choose to draw down more than their tax-free lump sum from a defined contribution pension will be able to benefit from further tax-relieved pension saving, and make further tax-free contributions to a defined contribution pension of up to £10,000 a year.

Under the current rules, those who are currently in ‘flexible drawdown’ are not able to make further pension contributions, having an annual allowance of £0. However, from April 2015 they will be subject to a new annual allowance limit of £10,000. This would allow individuals accessing a defined contribution pension worth more than £10,000 to contribute up to £10,000 a year with tax relief to a defined contribution pension, after their first flexible withdrawal.

Without being subject to a £10,000 annual allowance on subsequent contribution, individuals can make withdrawals from three small pension pots and unlimited small occupational pots worth less than £10,000.

Other proposed changes under the new tax rules include the increasing of minimum age at which people can access their private pension from 55 to 57 in 2028 for all pension schemes. However, this change will not be applicable to those in the public sector; which includes police, armed services and firefighters.

According to the government, when the new system is established in 2015; the 55 percent tax charge on pension savings in a drawdown account at death will be too high. As a result, in this year’s autumn statement; the government has intentions to announce the changes.

The government will introduce two new safeguards to protect individuals and pension schemes, but will continue allowing transfers from private sector defined benefit to defined contribution schemes, apart from pensions that are already in payment.

Prior to accepting a transfer; an individual would be required to take advice from a professional advisor, authorized by FCA and independent from the defined benefit scheme.

Currently, if the interests of the members of the pension fund trustee or the scheme are prejudiced by making the payments within the usual period, than they can ask the regulators for a longer time to make transfer payments. However, now there will be new rules for delaying the transfer payments for trustees and the scheme funding levels when deciding on transfer levels will also be taken in to consideration.

For those defined members who wish to access their savings flexible, the government has intentions to consult on removing the requirement to transfer first to defined contribution schemes.

Since, there is no money involved in transfers from unfunded public service defined benefit schemes; therefore, the government intends to consult on removing it. However, transfers from funded defined benefit to defined contribution schemes will be allowed, and safeguards similar to those in the private sector will be introduced where appropriate.

Under the trivial communication and small-pot rules, individuals are allowed to take up to £30,000 of total pension savings as a lump sum, or a £10,000 small pot as a lump sum regardless of total pension wealth. The age at which an individual can make use of these rules will also be lowered from 60 to 55.