Airport in Malkangiri, Odisha by March, 2024

Moist affected Malkangiri district of Odisha will be in the country's air map by March, 2024, state chief secretary S C Mahapatra said on Thursday. The airport will come up on 95 acres at the district headquarter town of Malkangiri. Mohapatra, who is on a two-day tour to the tribal district, visited the proposed site, which have already been acquired. "We have set a target to begin flight operations to Malkangiri by March, 2024," the chief secretary told reporters here. He said forest land diversion clearance has been obtained and the works department will soon float a tender for construction of the airport. He also reviewed the progress of various projects and flagship programmes in Malkangiri with district level officers and said the state government has prepared an elaborate plan for the Swabhiman Anchal, the erstwhile cut-off area, which was considered as the Maoist den. The chief secretary said the government has plans to ensure drinking water to all the towns in Malkangiri district on saturation mode. Balimela township has been fully covered with piped drinking water facilities and will be soon completed in Malkangiri district headquarters town soon.

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Oyo sees 134% jump in weekend vs weekday bookings during last weekend

Travel technology platform, OYO, has revealed that the company received over 310,000 bookings for the last festive weekend (Navratri, Durga Puja & Ashtami). This is the biggest booking for the company so far in 2022, surpassing weekend bookings for peak travel days such as Republic Day, Holi, and Valentine's Day. In fact this weekned also overtook overall gross bookings for New Year’s weekend, usually the highest booked weekend for the travel industry. OYO also observed a whopping 134 per cent jump in weekend vs weekday bookings during the festive weekend in 2022 vs 111 per cent in 2019, indicating that more travellers are stepping out during the weekends. This travel boost can be attributed to the pent-up demand for travel and increased vaccination rates. OYO’s booking data between April 8-10, 2022, reveals that leisure destinations like Srinagar, Manali, Shirdi, Prayagraj, Chandigarh, Gwalior, and Ludhiana saw the highest growth over the last weekend. Additionally, over 200 OYO hotels witnessed 100 per cent occupancy. Commenting on the rise in bookings over the last festive weekend, Shreerang Godbole, SVP - Product & Chief Service Officer, OYO said, “Travel optimism is at an all-time high across the country. As restrictions are eased and air travel bans lifted, travellers are looking forward to celebrating festivals with their loved ones, heading out on summer vacations, and making the most of their long weekends. This surge during the festive weekend is a testament to the travel boom that’s ahead of us in 2022. With over three lakh bookings, this was our biggest weekend so far and we are expecting the upcoming Good Friday/Baisakhi long weekend to be the highest ever since the pandemic in 2020. Overall, this summer is set to be the season of pre-pandemic travel recovery. As people are ready to travel again, we stay committed to make quality accommodations available to suit the needs of every traveller. I would like to thank every customer who let us be a part of their journey so far and hope to serve many more in the coming days.”

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Flight operations at Keshod airport in Gujarat all set to be inaugurated on April 16

In a bid to boost tourism in Junagadh, flight operations at Keshod airport will be inaugurated on April 16. The airport will connect Junagarh and other surrounding regions of Gujarat with the rest of the country. The inauguration will be done by Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Union Civil Aviation Minister. The minister will flag off new flights to Mumbai-Keshod-Mumbai under Regional Connectivity Schemes (RCS). As per reports, the terminal building has been renovated recently and nearly INR 25 crore has been spent on the process. District Collector Junagadh, Rachit Raj told IANS, “All the tourist destinations in and around Junagadh and nearby districts will be benefitted and tourism will be increased. It will boost tourism in Sasan Gir (only abode in the world of the Asiatic lions), Girnar, Somnath and Diu tourism circuit. The area will witness multifold increase in tourism activities due to flight connectivity". Sasan-Gir in Gujarat is around 50 km and Junagadh is 35 km from Keshod. For those who don’t know, Keshod is a historical city noted for the ropeway at Girnar mountain. The 2.32-km-long ropeway is built at a cost of INR 135 crore. It’s a big hit among pilgrims and tourists alike visiting Maa Amba temple on Mount Girnar in Junagadh. The ropeway project was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in 2007 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

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Drivers and train passengers warned of disruption

Drivers are being warned to expect delays on what is predicted to be the busiest day for road travel of the Easter weekend. The RAC estimates around 4.62 million journeys by car are likely across the UK on Good Friday. It is predicting a total of 21.46 million trips over the bank holiday - the highest figure since 2014. The motoring group said disruption to trains due to engineering works could also push more people onto the roads. Rod Dennis from the RAC advised drivers to set off early, with roads forecast to get busier towards the middle of the day. "Expect your journey, especially if you're going any distance, to take longer than it normally would," he told the BBC's Today programme. After two years of relatively quiet Easter bank holidays on the roads due to Covid restrictions, Mr Dennis said: "It's very possible this weekend could turn out to be one of the busiest for leisure journeys for many years". Data from transport analytics specialists INRIX suggests the M6 north between Liverpool and the Lake District, south towards Stoke-on-Trent, the M25 between Surrey and the M40 exit, and the A303 near Stonehenge could see some of the worst congestion. Meanwhile, rail passengers are facing delays and cancellations, with Network Rail carrying out 530 engineering projects across the bank holiday weekend, costing a total of £83m. No trains will run in or out of Euston station in London until the end of Monday on the West Coast main line, which is likely to disrupt football fans going to the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley. Trains to the West Midlands, north west England and parts of Scotland will instead start from Milton Keynes Central. There will be also be no Southern services to and from London Victoria all weekend, nor any direct trains from London to Stansted Airport. Alternative services are expected to be busy and Network Rail has advised people to travel either side of the bank holiday. Disruption is also continuing at the Port of Dover, where P&O Ferries' services are still not running. There were long queues at the port on Friday morning, with some travellers complaining they missed their ferries after waiting for hours. Ferry company DFDS initially advised customers on Friday morning to arrive at least 90 minutes before their departure time, saying it was "expecting a busy day through the Port of Dover". However, it later updated its guidance, urging customers to allow two hours. It said customers delayed due to traffic at border control would be transferred to the first available departure. Some lorries are being forced to queue on the A20 outside Dover, as part of the Traffic Access Protocol (TAP) scheme, which is designed to limit congestion in the town. P&O Ferries' Dover-Calais services remain suspended, nearly a month after the company sacked around 800 workers without notice. Two of the company's ferries which normally serve the route are still detained after they failed safety inspections. Bad weather, the Easter holidays and problems with an IT system for customs checks following Brexit have also contributed to congestion around Dover in recent days. This has led to long queues for lorries crossing the Channel. Operation Brock, where lorries heading to Dover queue on one side of the M20, was put in place last week to help manage the traffic. However, National Highways said it had now been scaled back as the threat of disruption had reduced. Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, said the queues around Dover had now eased. "In terms of the Easter getaway, it was worse two weekends ago and last weekend," he told the BBC. Mr Ballantyne said the decision by DFDS last weekend to say it could no longer accommodate P&O ticket-holders, whilst frustrating for customers, had "kept a chunk of people away". Meanwhile, there were long queues for Eurostar services at London's St Pancras station on Friday. Airports are also expected to be busy, with many people taking the opportunity to head abroad for the first time since Covid travel restrictions were lifted. More than 9,000 flights are scheduled to depart from UK airports between Good Friday and Easter Monday, according to aviation data firm Cirium. The figure is 78% of the total for the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. Cirium said the busiest day will be Good Friday, when around 2,430 flights are due to depart. Some travellers have faced long queues at airports and cancelled flights over the Easter holidays, with staff shortages and Covid-related absences blamed for the disruption. The travel industry cut thousands of jobs during the pandemic, but as demand for flights has returned, it has struggled to recruit, carry out security checks and train new staff quickly enough.

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US government to cut back on 'do not travel' COVID advisories

The U.S. State Department said Thursday it will sharply cut back on "Do Not Travel" advisories for international destinations after public health officials announced a change in how they will assess COVID-19 concerns. Out of about 215 countries and territories that it rates, the department currently lists nearly 120 at "Level Four: Do Not Travel", including much of Europe Japan, Israel and Russia. The department said its update "will leave approximately 10% of all travel advisories at Level 4" including all risk factors, not just COVID. "We believe the updated framework will help U.S. citizens. make better informed decisions about the safety of international travel," it said in a statement. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday said it would shrink from around 90 the countries it rates as Level 4, starting Monday. Airlines and other travel groups have been pressing the Biden administration to lift the pre-departure COVID negative test requirements for international travelers, as many other countries have done. Administration officials say the issue has been under review but health officials have announced no changes.

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5 States Where Coronavirus Cases Are Rising, Plan Your Travel Accordingly!

In India, following a period of low Covid cases, some states are now reporting a gradual uptick in daily Covid cases. Over the last two weeks, the country has seen an average of over 1,000 Covid infections per day, with a recent surge in these instances raising new fears about the virus’s spread. The country’s overall coronavirus tally is 4,30,39,025, with an active caseload of 11,058, accounting for 0.03 percent of the total caseload, according to data from the Union health ministry. It’s only natural to look around and ponder if it’s truly safe to travel at such a time. 1. Delhi The no. of weekly new cases in Delhi increased from 724 to 826, accounting for 11.33 percent of all new cases in India. The Covid cases have also increased in the recent week, rising from 0.51 percent to 1.25 percent. 2. Maharashtra Maharashtra recorded 794 new cases, accounting for 10.9 percent of all new cases in India. In the last week, the state’s cases have increased from 0.39 percent to 0.43 percent. 3. Kerala Kerala recorded 2,321 new cases in the previous week, accounting for 31.8% of all new cases in India. The state’s weekly positive cases have also increased to 15.53 percent from 13.45 percent. 4. Haryana Haryana recorded a rise in weekly new cases from 367 to 416, accounting for 5.70 percent of all new cases in India. 5. Mizoram Mizoram has recorded 814 new cases accounting for 11.16 percent of India’s new cases and has also experienced an increase in Covid cases in the last week from 14.38 percent to 16.48 percent.

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