Well, this is interesting: Google India has partnered Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to create 360-degree street view imagery of 100 prominent heritage sites to Google Maps, reports The Hindu Business Line. These heritage sites include Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, Qutab Minar and Ajanta & Ellora caves. As per the partnership, Google will be taking panoramic 360 degree imagery of the sites approved by ASI and will be uploading the imagery to Google Earth, Google Maps and its World Wonders project. At the time of writing this article, Google offers street view imagery for Qutub Minar, with other monuments in the works. A Telegraph report says that Google India plans to upload imagery of 24 heritage sites in the first phase and cover all the 100 sites in the next six months. The report also mentions that ASI will be providing additional high resolution imagery of these monuments to Google and will be providing text for 3D images and the architectural floor plans of the monuments for Google's World Wonder project. This development leads to a really interesting situation wherein the central government is opposed towards allowing Google Street View in India while a government organization ASI has partnered Google to create awareness about various heritage sites in the country and thereby increase the footfalls at these sites through a similar service. Google Maps v/s Indian Govt Timeline - May 2011: Google had extended its Street View project to India, by starting to collect 360-degree street level imagery in Bangalore. The company had told Medianama that it had taken a formal approval from the Bangalore Police…
