The Hindu : New Delhi News : World observes Earth hour

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Sunday, Mar 29, 2009
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New Delhi

New Delhi

World observes Earth hour

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

– PHOTOS: V. V. KRISHNAN

DELHI OBSERVES EARTH HOUR: (Top) The scene in the ITC Maurya Hotel dining hall with lights on just before 8-30 p.m. on Saturday; and (bottom) lights out during Earth Hour between 8-30 p.m. and 9-30 p.m.

NEW DELHI: Voting against the looming threat of climate change and global warming, Delhi joined 377 other cities across the globe on Saturday night to observe Earth Hour-2009 by switching off lights for an hour from 8-30 p.m. to 9-30 p.m.

The much talked about Earth Hour that began in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one full hour was conceived to drive home the message that by working together each of us on this planet can make a positive impact in the global fight against climate change.

In Delhi this Saturday, historic monuments such as Safdarjung Tomb and Humayun’s Tomb, Qutub Minar, Red Fort and Purana Qila, grand old educational institutions including Jamia Millia Islamia, hotel chains ITC Maurya, The Ashok and PVR Cinemas added their names to the long list of landmarks on the planet that observed Earth Hour.

For ITC Maurya Hotel’s restaurants, it was lights out for one hour as guests sat down for candlelight dinners.

The Ashok hotel too switched off lights to make way for a candlelit hour at its restaurants. The Archaeological Survey of India had also been requested to switch off its decorative lights on ancient monuments. The list of cities that took part in Earth Hour on Saturday included 37 national capitals and some of the greatest cities of the world including London, Paris, Beijing, Rome, Moscow, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and Dubai.

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