News

India: Govt. to launch Ayush visa to boost medical tourism

In a bid to boost medical tourism in India, PM Narendra Modi recently announced the launch of a special category of Ayush visa for tourists, who want to visit India for medical treatment or tourism. As per the reports, the said initiative is a part of the government’s Heal In India campaign to promote medical tourism in India. As such, the government will soon launch a special Ayush mark to provide authenticity to locally-made Ayush products. Referring to this, the PM added that India is a very attractive destination for medical tourism, which has also been witnessed in the rise in Kerala's tourism due to its medical industry. This model can also be replicated across the nation, where Ayurveda, Yunani, Siddha forms of traditional medicine and wellness centres can become very popular, he added. The government has decided to set up a special visa category to ease the visa process for foreign travellers wishing to avail medical treatment in India and are medical tourists, he stated. PM Modi also announced that a special Ayush mark will be created to mark the highest quality Ayush products just like the BSI and ISI marks. He elaborated that this will give the global consumers a recognised and high-quality assured Ayush products. He also announced setting up of an Ayush Park, wherein the products will be manufactured. The Prime Minister informed that the idea for an Ayush summit came to him during the COVID-19 pandemic, when ayurvedic medicines, Ayush Kadha, and many such other products helped people to boost immunity. And, if reports are to go by, during the times of COVID-19, turmeric export from India did increase manifold.

Read more

Govt to enable self-registration for touchless travel under digiyatra

In wake of the pandemic, the government has altered the process to register for digi-yatra (DY) programme that will eventually allow a paperless air travel for passengers. Under the new process, people can enrol by digitally validating a government-issued I card like Aadhaar or driving licence. “Passenger can create a DY credential with identity data, travel data and if needed even health data. All these data points are tagged to the single token face biometric of the passenger,” says a notification on “implementation of e-boarding process (DY)” issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on April 18, 2022. Manual processes that exist today for check-in shall remain even after the much-delayed DY gets implemented, which has been delayed by the pandemic. DY will be available to both Indian and foreign travellers. “The DY credentials would be created using self service mode by the passenger with a government of India identity that is possible to be validated digitally. Right now, Aadhaar and driving licence are options available. Others like passport e-passport will be subsequently added in the future,” it says. In case there is an issue with this self registration, the originally prepandemic time envisaged procedure of registering for the first time at airport registration kiosks for the first time will remain available. In such cases, “ a one-time ID check and face biometric capture will be done at airport registration kiosk by the passenger at a DY-enabled departing airport. In the authentication process, passenger’s ID will be verified and validated by an authorised security officer (of CISF) and activate DY credentials.” The DY credentials will be encrypted and stored in a secure Walter on the passenger’s smart phone. The data will not be centrally stored to minimise risk of theft or loss. “DY credentials are shared only when travel happens and shared with passengers’ consent (by him/her) with… airlines, airports and regulatory agencies if needed,” the DGCA order says. Such data will be shared 24 hours before flight departure time and retained for 24 hours after the same, following which it will be purged from the system. Airports, airlines and their travel agents will be responsible for complying with these requirements. Airlines will be required to make a provision for creating and receiving DY credentials of passengers when they book tickets through any platform “for domestic travel and in future for international travel… this implementation will be done in a phased manner.” Airlines will share passenger data with DY biometric boarding system of airport operators at least six hours before flight departure time on a secure line for the purpose of ticket and ID validation.

Read more

US extends COVID vaccine requirements for non-citizens at land borders

The United States government said on Thursday it was extending a requirement that non-US citizens crossing land or ferry terminals at the US Mexico and US-Canada borders must be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The requirements were first adopted in November as part of reopening the United States to land crossings by foreign tourists after the borders had been closed to most visitors since March 2020. The vaccination requirements had been set to expire on Thursday unless they were extended. International air travellers over the age of 2 regardless of citizenship must provide a negative test for the virus before arriving and non US citizens must also show proof of vaccination. People travelling at land or ferry crossings do not need to provide a negative test. There are some limited exceptions to the rules including for those who have recently recovered from Covid-19. The Homeland Security Department (DHS) said the decision was made after consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says vaccines are the most effective public health measure to protect people from severe COVID-19 related illness or death. In January, DHS extended vaccination requirements to foreign essential workers such as truck drivers and nurses crossing U.S. land borders. Major airlines want the government to end Covid-19 pre-departure testing requirements for vaccinated international passengers traveling to the United States. They argue testing requirements are unnecessary and deter Americans from travelling abroad because of testing costs and risks they could be stranded abroad if they test positive. Britain, France, Canada, Italy and many other countries have dropped predeparture testing requirements for fully vaccinated visitors.

Read more

Tourism on upswing in Tamil Nadu

After two years of pandemic and resumption of international flights, tourism has finally picked up pace in Tamil Nadu. Tour operators are receiving heavy booking requests with flights to the domestic and international destinations getting full. Surjit Das, of Akbar Travels of India, a leading tour operator while speaking to IANS said, "Bookings are on the high for both domestic and international destinations. People from Tamil Nadu prefer to travel to Malaysia, Singapore, and the middle eastern countries. The rates to UAE and Singapore, Malayasia are on the high now." He, however, said that most of the North Indian domestic destinations are packed and bookings are mostly for Kulu, Manali, Srinagar, and Nainital other than New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Udaipur. He said that the flight charges to these destinations have increased. Abdul Wahab, of Kerala Tours and Travels, while speaking to IANS said, "We are getting bookings to European destinations and interestingly most of the bookings are after May and the reason is the examination of both CBSE and ICSE boards are taking place till May end. Another interesting fact is that more than upper-middle-class, we are getting bookings from the lower-middleclass. He said that a package for seven days to Europe is costing around 2.15 lakh per person and almost all the bookings are for families inclusive of a father, mother, and two children. There are, however, apprehensions among the tour and travel operators about the slight increase in Covid cases in New Delhi and in other parts of the country. While experts have said that the possibility of a fourth wave in the country is remote, the tour operators said that even a slight spread would bring doom to the industry that is slowly picking up. Inbound tours to Tamil Nadu are also on the high and most of the hotels in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchi were full for the past few days due to tourist inflow from North Indian states and also from the Tamil diaspora settled in Europe, the United States and in the Far Eastern countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Shanmughandhan, who runs the Tambaram taxi services and has a fleet of cars including ordinary and luxury cars told IANS," The tourist season has picked up and we are getting several bookings. Our cars were not plying for the past two years due to the pandemic and the increase in tourists has suddenly boosted our revenue. We have to make good the losses of the past two years and must bring the company back on rails." He also however shared the apprehension about the Covid spread as New Delhi and other areas of the country witnessed a slight increase in positive cases over the past couple of days.

Read more

Vande Bharat train to run between Delhi and Khajuraho soon

Good news for all train lovers. Soon, Vande Bharat Express train will chug between Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district and Delhi. Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw recently made this announcement. During his visit to the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, he informed that two rake points have been approved at Chattarpur and Khajuraho, and added that rail tickets can now be obtained from 45000 post offices. While mentioning the operation of Bharat Gaurav trains like Ramayana Express, the electrification of which will be completed by August, he added that soon Rail Over Bridge /Road Under Bridge (ROB/RUB) will be constructed at key places. And by the same time, Vande Bharat will also start rolling out, he added. The Khajuraho railway station falls under the North Central Railway. Also, people visit Khajuraho mostly to witness the beauty of the Khajuraho groups of temples and monuments. The Union Minister also informed about the redevelopment of Khajuraho station, and that they are making all efforts to make it a world-class station. In another related development, Vaishnaw added that the rail tickets will be available in 45000 post offices, whereas the scheme was first launched in Uttar Pradesh in January, with the ticket booking facility available in around 9147 post offices across the state. Notably, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2022-23 had also proposed the development of 400 new Vande Bharat trains over the next three years.

Read more

Series of astronomy-related activities lined up across India for International Dark Sky Week

As a part of the International Dark Sky Week, India’s leading astro tourism company, Starscapes, is all set to host a number of astronomy-related activities, such as planetary parade, astrophotography sessions, and the Messier Marathon. This event will be held from April 22 to April 30 at Starscapes’ observatories in Kausani, Bhimtal, and at their mobile observatories in Madikeri, Virajpet, Puducherry, Goa, and Munnar. What is International Dark Sky Week? International Dark Sky Week is celebrated during the New Moon week in April, across the world. And this year, this week falls in April, April 22 to April 30. As per the reports, the said event began in 2003, which aims to raise awareness regarding the night sky, and the ecosystem that thrives in the dark on Earth, and the universe that exists beyond our planet. Astronomy enthusiasts from across the world commemorate this week with certain activities like stargazing sessions, switching off lights to minimise light pollution, and astrophotography workshops. In this regard, Starscapes has been working actively towards promoting Dark Sky Locations in India to boost interest in astro tourism. Reports have it that Starscapes recently collaborated with the Uttarakhand Tourism Board to develop Benital as India’s first-ever astro village. Also, Hanle is now home to the world's tallest astronomical observatory, which was designated as a Dark Sky Sanctuary by The Union Territory administration in Ladakh a few months ago. Referring to the said celebration, Starcapes CEO and Co-founder Paul Savio stated that the International Dark Sky week celebrates the magic of the nocturnal world and the importance of preserving and protecting our night sky from light pollution. He further added that to bring more awareness to this cause, Starscapes has curated a series of fun events for astronomy enthusiasts to learn all about the universe. Savio added that a number of locations in India have low-levels of light pollution and provide an undisturbed view of the night sky, making them ideal for a Dark Sky Park. At Starscapes, they aim to assist in opening many more Dark Sky locations across the country in a bid to promote astro tourism, he stated.

Read more