[praveen_yadlapalli]

What about a separate forum for Uttarakhand (Abode of Gods)?

There would definitely be a lot many topics in that forum.

[Piyush]

Yes Praveen..why not...Uttrakhand(abode of Gods...Devbhumi)

[machadinha]

Originally Posted by praveen_yadlapalli

What about a separate forum for Uttarakhand (Abode of Gods)?

I think that's what this thread is about. You may understand keeping track of state name changes is not a top priority, but I'm sure it's on the admin's to-do list.

[Dilliwala]

Originally Posted by machadinha

I think that's what this thread is about. You may understand keeping track of state name changes is not a top priority, but I'm sure it's on the admin's to-do list.

Keeping track?

There have been the following state/territory name-changes in the last 60 years (creation of new states is something different):
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (luckily, the initials didn't change)
Central Provinces and Berar
Madhya Bharat
Vindhya Pradesh
Bhopal
Bombay
Saurashtra
Kutch
Madras
Travancore-Cochin
Mysore
Coorg
Hyderabad
Patiala and East Punjab States Union (aka PEPSU)
Bilaspur
Ajmer-Merwara
Rajputana
North-East Frontier Agency (aka NEFA)
Laccadive, Amindivi and Minicoy
Goa, Daman and Diu (real tough, that one)
Pondicherry
Uttaranchal

Of all the above the last change before 2006 was in 1987, 20 years ago (Goa).

And only the last 2 after IM's formation, last year to be precise.
Keeping track???

[machadinha]

Er yes, well, whatever. Shall we open a Bengaluru forum then? (But what about all those poor souls looking for Bangalore?) Write to your politicians to stop giving us a hard time already! Tell them the IM mods are going crazy with it!!

Hold your horses, it's been under revision for a while, there have been forum name changes before, and I'm sure it will happen in the near future. But thanks for bringing it up Hey, at least there's now a UP & Uttarakhand forum like it should, so it's still moving. Next: Jharkhand! Chhattisgarh! What about the North-East! All coming up.

[Dilliwala]

Originally Posted by machadinha

Er yes, well, whatever. Shall we open a Bengaluru forum then? (But what about all those poor souls looking for Bangalore?)

U mean u can't modify the title of the present one to "Bengaluru (Bangalore)"? <written with dead-pan face so u can't guess whether I'm trying to get your goat or not>
That wud cover both search-parties.

Write to your politicians to stop giving us a hard time already! Tell them the IM mods are going crazy with it!!

Just be happy there are no sub-forums to be renamed Belgavi, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Shivamogga and Hubballi. And that Mana, Ranthambhor and Kullu, to name a few, haven't gone back to their ancient names either.

BTW, in my previous post the very last smiley is crucial in understanding the post's tenor. And actually I was also showing off (only a bit), not trying to get your goat (ok, maybe I was trying to get your goat too). Some of those old state names I had to pull out of wikipedia.

Hold your horses, it's been under revision for a while, there have been forum name changes before, and I'm sure it will happen in the near future. But thanks for bringing it up

I brought it up almost 4 months ago already (showing off again), without success.

Hey, at least there's now a UP & Uttarakhand forum like it should, so it's still moving.

I must give credit where it's due , post #20 in the a.m. thread will show the first ever reference to "Uttarakhand forum", even if doubly erroneous at the time.

Next: Jharkhand! Chhattisgarh! What about the North-East! All coming up.

We have a new state called North-East??
WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME??

[machadinha]

Er, yeh, I was being tongue-in-cheek as well, lest you missed it, and I caught your being so. Nothing amiss, I think, you'll notice I threw in some smileys above, too, just to make sure.

The North-East (I know, blasphemy to North-Easterners) is actually one of those interesting considerations: With the overwhelming lack of interest in some of its separate states (not to mention the essential off-limits-ness of some), must one have a forum for each one, or might this increase such interest, or would people more likely visit several of them in one go, etc. and so on, ad infinitum. (Note also how many people tend to visit Sikkim and West Bengal in one go, hence grouping their questions about both together.) And are there new capitals and cities to be highlighted or not? Where might people conceivably like to move to? And should their queries best be parked under Trains, Itineraries, Pet Canaries, or...? But what about how to take a canary on a train whilst moving to Bangalore? And does that or does it not fit under Passports?

Oh well, all in a mod's day. It's being worked on as we speak, and stuff like this is always and constantly under revision. But thanks for thinking along I guess that's how the existing forum structure evolved anyway. Keeping it simple and accessible without too many cross-links and overlap is, however, always another strong consideration I guess. So that's kind of the balancing act you're dealing with. (All just this guy's opinion, of course.)

ps In all earnestness, reforming the state forums structure has long been on the agenda, but as far as I know there have been some other priorities first. And, er, it's not like Uttarakhand has gone unmentioned till now just because the forum name didn't fit, right

[Dilliwala]

Nothing amiss, I think.

Not at all.

The North-East (I know, blasphemy to North-Easterners) is actually one of those interesting considerations: With the overwhelming lack of interest in some of its separate states (not to mention the essential off-limits-ness of some), must one have a forum for each one, or might this increase such interest, etc

That's a very good point (in bold), never thought of it that way. Certainly I've read posts by some members (mostly from outside India) on the lines of "Hey, I never heard of that little place/town before, thanks for the description/whatever, I'll check it out", so who knows whether some states/regions north-east wud not benefit that way?
I can make a few suggestions (low priority, for whenever there's time) - Certainly Assam, being a big state and having a good deal to see (Kaziranga and Manas [also in Wildlife I know], Guwahati, Majuli, tea-country), cud have its own sub-forum. Valid point that it still won't have high post-traffic, but "and Meghalaya" (Shillong, Cherrapunji) cud be tagged on - they were once one state (highly specious reasoning and borderline insulting to any Meghalayans, but together the post-count shud be a decent number).
Hmmm, "Manipur and Nagaland"? Again, same specious reasoning as above, and both are difficult to get to, unless flying. And ILPs for some parts . But they do adjoin. Yes, a difficult one - I'll still suggest it, if it doesn't put a strain of any kind on the system/resources, they cud use the publicity.
Next - "Mizoram and Tripura"? Hidden jewels, those 2, and not strife-torn like the above ones. Tripura epecially has oodles of history - an independent kingdom with one dynasty, the Manikyas, ruling for 3000 years - right upto 1947! Even finds mention in the Mahabharat (didn't know any of this till very recently, I regret to say - I blame our school-system).
Some probs maybe with Restricted/Inner-line areas, but still worth a sub-forum, I think.
So, Arunachal Pradesh? Difficult to get to, under-developed, restricted/prohibited areas, still Indians do make it there, and a bikers' and nature-lovers' paradise. I really don't know - the post count will never be high. Leave it in "Other Areas"? Lump with one of the above?? I really don't know........
(Ironical, isn't it? Tiny states like Sikkim and Goa punch well above their weight, more than "Punjab and Haryana"!)

Now, not the North-east but while checking the States list, I was surprised that Bihar was missing. Yes, badlands and all, but still plenty of history (Nalanda/Gaya/Bodh Gaya/Buddhist circuit) and plenty of people still go, and already posts in "Other Areas". It cud at least be lumped with Jharkhand (no attachment to either, so I cudn't care less . In any case, UA was/is a valid case becos of sheer bulk of posts) - I think together the 2 wud reach critical mass, as in "MP and CG".

And now some nit-picking , apologies in advance - the label says "States in India". Maybe it shud read States/Regions or States/Territories, becos ANI is not a state (it's a Union Territory).
Neither is 'Ladakh & Zanskar'.
Ok, I don't expect this to be taken too seriously, just thought I'd bring it up before someone else did. ANI is a state-like administrative unit, at least. But Ladakh certainly isn't, it's a part of J & K state, as unpalatable as that is to some. I'm fully aware of the keen interest and high post-count it generates though, more than the state it's in. So an exception cud be made for "Ladakh" (if the forum title "States in India" remains unchanged), but Zanskar shud be removed from the title - it's already a part of the administrative region of Ladakh anyway, so its posts wud stay in "Ladakh" as it were. I don't believe it wud suffer either - Kumaon, Garhwal, Kinnaur and Spiti have similarly distinct geographical/cultural identities, but don't suffer for being in the respective parent state's sub-forum.
"ANI" cud also be amended to "The Islands" so that Lakshadweep cud be moved there, rather than floating about in the nameless/faceless nether-regions of "Other Areas".

And now I have to point out a real bloomer -
Background: as small as Goa is (the cities of Delhi and Mumbai are roughly the same size), it's a full-fledged state. And we all know what it's post-count is, with regard to its 'stand-alone' status and consequent right to its own sub-forum. So of course it shud have one. But certainly NOT in the "Cities in India" forum, where I saw it a short while back!!
Moving it en masse to the "States in India" forum shud be a simple task, since there's absolutely no culling of posts involved.

Re WB and Sikkim: If it's not a problem for the system or other resources, I suggest/request that they be left separate. It will always be the case that people will try to see as much as they can in the time available, espesh overseas visitors, and adjoining areas are the logical choice/s. Just my opinion.

[machadinha]

Um, yes. In short: All this gets talked about behind doors a lot already. So I recognize all those concerns.

It is, indeed, a matter of logical structure and accessibility and avoiding too much overlap I think. (Again, that's just me speaking. It's so far also been a simple question of board software or server capacity btw, I believe. None of that is unlimited.)

Also one of avoiding too much PC (as in politically correct) concerns as opposed to more practical ones. I understand full well members would like to see all their places named and in the right spelling (which itself is sometimes open to debate, as you'll know), but meanwhile those places already get covered anyway no matter what they're called or in what forum they are. But it evolves over time, of course, and going on such concerns, and there's absolutely no problem in bringing it up from time to time, like we're doing here now. Meanwhile, to the average traveler, which of course the board was set up for, it won't matter all that greatly.

[nyraghu]

Originally Posted by machadinha

Um, yes. In short: All this gets talked about behind doors a lot already. So I recognize all those concerns.

It is, indeed, a matter of logical structure and accessibility and avoiding too much overlap I think. (Again, that's just me speaking. It's so far also been a simple question of board software or server capacity btw, I believe. None of that is unlimited.)

Also one of avoiding too much PC (as in politically correct) concerns as opposed to more practical ones. I understand full well members would like to see all their places named and in the right spelling (which itself is sometimes open to debate, as you'll know), but meanwhile those places already get covered anyway no matter what they're called or in what forum they are. But it evolves over time, of course, and going on such concerns, and there's absolutely no problem in bringing it up from time to time, like we're doing here now. Meanwhile, to the average traveler, which of course the board was set up for, it won't matter all that greatly.

Oh, well, so you do know about all these concerns, you have more pressing things to do, anyway these issues are impractical to all but the nitpicking "PC" ones out here, and you have no problems with people bringing them up. Thanks for the clarification. Your forum, your call. As far as I am concerned, time to step out of this thread, and become an uninterested bystander.

Raghu.

[machadinha]

Raghu, thanks for reminding me of that one fatal transgression: Moderator deliberations shall not be discussed openly on the board.

To cut this very short, as you can see your query has been duly noted and addressed by the mods, presented to and discussed with and addressed by the site owner, the forum name has duly been adjusted, and further revisions are under review.

So thanks for your time.

[Aishah]

No smilies here because haven't time to 'Go Advanced' - I think I'm an average traveller and if Bangalore became Benga..somthing
no time to put the thread back at present - i wouldn't know what you were talking about. The history of name changes is very interesting but needs to be a while in common use before radically changing here i should think. When Bombay became Mumbai and Chennai for Madras, I found that difficult enough to remember at the time, of course, now i automatically think the correct names in use now.
And thanks for making Uttarakhand now in a Sub-Forum- rightfully so.

[Dilliwala]

Originally Posted by solo_trekker

How about having an independent sub-forum for "Uttarakhand" under the States sub-forums... In any case, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, with which it has been combined, attract entirely different sets of tourists / IMers...!

Cheers...!

Originally Posted by nadreg

Quote:
Originally Posted by solo_trekker
Soo...
How do we ask Nadreg...?

Ummmm... well, you can start by posting on the board...

Quote:
Originally Posted by solo_trekker
Yes, it will be a time-consuming exercise to separate the threads of the two states into different sub-forums...

Yes, it would be a lot of work. But, if the group thinks it's a good idea, I'd be willing to do it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by solo_trekker
How about you forwarding this request to Nadreg as you already are on the Editors' Board...!!!

Ummmm... OK.

Originally Posted by solo_trekker

Thanx Nadreg...!

Honestly, I have felt that need for two independent separate forums - for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand - for over a year now...

My body is in Uttar Pradesh... But my heart n soul is in Uttarakhand almost all the time...!

It's not just me - I feel that it would be a useful exercise for anyone n everyone browzing through the site for information...

I have asked for UA to be separated from the UP sub-forum on two prior occasions, the last time in this thread; I am now asking for the third time.
In addition to previous full and partial offers of help to cull relevant threads, I am again offering to identify ALL the threads that need to go into the new Uttarakhand sub-forum, I only need to be told how to go about passing on the concerned links.

[capt_mahajan]

Leaving a word for the boss now.

[nadreg]

Originally Posted by Dilliwala

I have asked for UA to be separated from the UP sub-forum on two prior occasions, the last time in this thread; I am now asking for the third time.

Third time's the charm, I guess, DW! I have made the change to the forums, and will announce something on the open board shortly.

Originally Posted by Dilliwala

In addition to previous full and partial offers of help to cull relevant threads, I am again offering to identify ALL the threads that need to go into the new Uttarakhand sub-forum, I only need to be told how to go about passing on the concerned links.

Thank you very much for the offer to help. I think I might take you up on that, but will have to figure out how to best make it work.