NEW DELHI: India paid tribute to Earth Hour on Saturday by joining 5000 other cities across the world by symbolically switching off lights for an hour in solidarity of environment conservation. Co-ordinator of Earth Hour 2012 Ravi Singh, chief executive officer (CEO) of World Wide Fund (WWF) said that Earth Hour was observed across the world on the last Saturday of March and in India it stretched from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. “Earth Hour 2012 aims to encourage cities to collectively shift towards sustainable development and to urge citizens to reduce the growing environmental impact of urban lifestyles,” he said. Two of India's iconic, illuminated monuments including the Gateway of India in Mumbai, an archway near the sea from where the last of the colonial British troops retreated from India and the India gate in New Delhi slipped into darkness for an hour at the appointed time. The Earth Hour movement has been spurred on to new heights with the roping in of ace cricket Sachin Tendulkar as a brand ambassador for the global event in India. Park Hotels, a leading chain of hotels in India has also committed to switching off lights across all its properties in India as their bit towards observing Earth Hour. The United Nations headquartered in its landmark building in New York, will join hundreds of other landmarks around the world by switching off its lights for an hour. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/5AP81 Tags: Earth Hour, featured, India, Lights Section: Environment, Going Green, Latest News, South Asia
