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Six Senses the Palm, Dubai signed for 2024 opening

Six Senses will mark its entry into the United Arab Emirates’ market with a 60-room hotel and 162 branded residences along a private stretch of beach on Palm Jumeirah. Six Senses the Palm, Dubai is set to open in late 2024. Coral is the main inspiration for the architectural narrative, with the undulating rooflines, silhouettes, and cellular facades resembling its natural form and beauty. This creates outward-looking environments that are shaded and protected from the sun. As the popularity of tranquil beachfront locations grows, the Six Senses hotel and branded residences will offer a new dimension in community living, and further elevate the burgeoning real estate and hospitality sector. The Majlis is a central part of Emirati life. Community and ceremony will therefore be foremost at Six Senses the Palm, Dubai, enhanced by over 60,000 square feet of amenities. Facilities include restaurants, bars, indoor cinema, pool, squash court, kids’ club, and games room, library, shared workspace, function and meeting rooms. Another highlight of the resort is the central garden. This naturally shaded landscape forms a series of mini jebels (hills), meandering valley paths, and romantic courtyards. It will be a hub for activities including badminton, yoga, and football, all accessed via bridges, stepping-stone paths and tunnels wrapped in native beach planting. The main pools and sun decks are banked by undulating native planting, which flows down to the beach. Commenting on the announcement and the foray into the UAE market, chief executive of Six Senses, Neil Jacobs, said: “Six Senses the Palm, Dubai marks a new milestone for the brand as it enters this remarkable destination. “From the bottom of the ocean to the signature rooftop bar, our concept celebrates the natural beauty of the Gulf, the solidarity and hospitality between host and visitors, and the journey that Dubai has been on, with its unique Emirati traditions and bubbling optimism for the future.”

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Flights to Kolkata from Delhi and Mumbai to operate three times in a week

Flights to West Bengal will be operating thrice weekly from Mumbai and Delhi, according to latest reports. The West Bengal Home Secretary has written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, notifying of the operation of flights on Mumbai-Kolkata and Delhi-Kolkata routes, thrice per week. According to the latest rules flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Delhi and Mumbai. The flights are already operating as of today, and the rule came into effect from January 5, 2022. As of now the rule stands, but this could change as and when the situation changes. Currently, COVID cases are on the rise in the state of West Bengal, much like it is in most parts of the country. The state reported 14022 new cases on Wednesday, which is 4949 more than what it was a day earlier. The state government is currently acting with caution, but is said to be sensitive towards the inconvenience caused to passengers. The state government in West Bengal had earlier announced restrictions on flights from Mumbai and Delhi. This is due to the high rate of positivity caused by the new Omicron variant. The state is currently under a partial lockdown, which means that markets, shopping malls, bars, and restaurants are operating at 50 percent capacity. All such establishments close at 10 pm sharp. Moreover, entertainment parks, and zoos are shut. These rules will continue until January 15. The West Bengal government had also banned all flights coming in from the United Kingdom into the state from January 3 onwards. All international passengers are required to get a COVID-19 test upon arrival at the airport.

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Israel removes all COVID-19 travel bans; scrapes its red list

Israel’s Ministry of Health on Thursday announced the scrapping of its red list of destinations with high COVID-19 cases. The Ministry's Director General, Prof. Nachman Ash, said that COVID-19 travel restrictions on all countries have been lifted. The Ministry's decision is a result of the government policy, which says that the "red" nation list will be suspended as the number of people tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival has gone below 5% of total patients in Israel. Israel will now allow travel to and from nations that were still on its red list. These countries were the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Tanzania, France, Turkey, Mexico, Hungary, Switzerland, Spain, and Nigeria. As per the recent data, Israel will go through a surge and soon record 50000 COVID-19 cases per day. Ash said that though the number of hospitalisations are increasing, it has been noted that the number of critically ill patients connected to ventilators remains stable. The former "red" countries have been moved to Israel's "orange” list, which is a collection of nations to which the Health Ministry recommends against unnecessary travel due to high cases of virus. According to the Health Ministry, all vaccinated or recovered people from these orange nations must quarantine for 24 hours upon arrival in Israel or until they get a negative test report. On the other hand, unvaccinated travellers must get two negative tests: one upon arrival, and one after seven days of quarantine.

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Bhubaneswar modifies arrival guidelines: No testing at airport for those with RT-PCR report

In a partial modification of its earlier order, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Friday said that RT-PCR tests of passengers deboarding at Biju Patnaik International Airport will be done on those who do not carry reports of their tests and not on all. The passengers will be required to show reports of RT-PCR test conducted 72 hours prior to boarding a flight to Bhubaneswar, the modified order said. Physical distancing norms should be followed while de-boarding and passengers who are found to be symptomatic during screening will be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility of the BMC, it said. The BMC has set up a testing facility at the airport. The civic body, in its January 6 order, had said that all passengers deboarding at Bhubaneswar airport, barring those in transit, will have to undergo an RT-PCR test from Friday. Passengers whose destination is Bhubaneswar will have to isolate themselves till the result of their RT-PCR test. The usual protocol will be followed in case the report is positive, the order said. Meanwhile, Odisha on Friday registered its biggest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases in six months with 2,703 people testing positive for the virus.

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Tourism to offer employment opportunities to youths in state: Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that the improved tourism will not only promote the state but will also offer employment opportunities for the youth and will bring the "colour" of state's heritage in front of the country and the world. Addressing the public in Lucknow, Adityanath said, "The way tourism has been promoted in Uttar Pradesh, the youth here are getting employment opportunities. At the same time, our heritage is also coming in front of the country and the world in a new colour." Talking about the management of the four-yearly Kumbh, the Chief Minister said, "In 2019, when our government got the privilege of organising Kumbh, the whole world saw that Kumbh can happen like this - 25 crore devotees enjoyed the Kumbh but there was no disturbance," he added. Adityanath inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 488 development projects worth INR 642 crore of the Tourism and Sanskrit Department in Lucknow on Friday. He also distributed free tablets and smartphones to students in Ayodhya to boost digital education in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Smartphones and tablets are being distributed among one crore students in the state which will enable them to have access to digital content for information about employment opportunities and prepare themselves for competitive exams", said the CM. The tablets and smartphones would be distributed among one crore students, stated the CM. "On December 25, we have distributed 60,000 smartphones and tablets among students in Lucknow", informed Yogi. The CM further added that the government is making arrangements for the students who are preparing for competitive exams. "The students won't need to go outside for preparing for exams", he added. "Our government has signed an MoU with Infosys so that good contents are available for students over the internet. These contents would be available for free. So that the parents don't need to bear the cost. The government has started the Abhyudaya coaching for the students to prepare for exams", said Yogi.

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Railway Min flags off three new trains in Lucknow, launches coaching complex

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Thursday flagged off three new trains in Lucknow and inaugurated a new coaching complex at Gomti Nagar station and said the development of stations was being done keeping in mind the needs of the next 50 years. The Minister also said that railway projects worth INR 97,000 crore are under construction in Uttar Pradesh. According to North Central Railway (NCR) Chief Public Relations Officer Shivam Sharma, the Railway Minister inaugurated the terminal facilities and coaching complex including the newly constructed second entrance of Gomti Nagar Railway station at a programme organised at the station in the state capital. He also inaugurated Gomti Nagar-Kamakhya Express, MailaniBichhiya passenger train and Kanpur Central-Brahmavart MEMU train, Sharma said. Addressing the function, Vaishnav said Lucknow is developing and expanding rapidly, and this city holds special importance in the educational, industrial and cultural fields. Keeping this in mind, Gomtinagar station, located in the eastern area of the city has been developed as a terminal station and provision has been made for other necessary facilities including a coaching complex. With the development of Gomti Nagar as a terminal station, the movement of long-distance trains has become possible from here, Sharma quoted the Minister as saying. The Minister said the residents, students and public representatives of Lucknow and surrounding areas had been demanding for a long time that trains should be run from Lucknow to Guwahati. Keeping this in mind, after developing Gomtinagar into a terminal station, approval was given for the operation of the Gomtinagar- Kamakhya weekly express train and today this express train was started, he said. Railway Minister Vaishnav said the development of stations is being done keeping in mind the needs of the next 50 years which benefits all sections of the society. "With the joint efforts of Railway and Postal Department, the goods of farmers and small entrepreneurs are being sent to every nook and corner of the country. At present, the work of multifaceted development is going on in Uttar Pradesh," he said, adding that presently, rail projects worth INR 97,000 crore are under construction in Uttar Pradesh. North Central Railway CPRO Sharma said that after completion of gauge conversion and electrification of Mandhana-Bahmavart section, Kanpur Central-Bahmavart MEMU train was started on Thursday. This MEMU train will stop at all stations on the route. The operation of these MEMU trains will prove to be convenient for the devotees coming for darshan of Brahma ji located in Brahmavart and the passengers going to the industrial city of Kanpur, Sharma said. Sharma said 15078 Gomtinagar-Kamakhya Express will leave Gomtinagar regularly from 10th January 2022 at 10:00 hrs on every Monday and will reach Kamakhya at 15:30 hrs on the next day. In the return journey, 15077 Kamakhya - Gomtinagar Express will leave every Tuesday at 18:30 hrs from 11 January 2022 to reach Gomtinagar at 01.40 hrs on the third day. Sharma said that for the convenience of the people of Mailani-Dudhwa region located in the foothills of Himalayas and tourists visiting Dudhwa National Park, Mailani-Bichhiya passenger train with tourist coach was started on meter gauge section. The 05320 Mailani-Bichhiya special train and 05319 Bichiya-Mailani special will run thrice a week from January 8. The 05320 Mailani - Bichiya Special train will depart from Mailani at 07:00 hrs on every Saturday, Sunday and Monday from January 8 and will reach Bichiya at 11:30 hrs. The 05319 Bichiya - Mailani special train will leave Bichiya at 13:45 hrs on every Saturday, Sunday & Monday and will reach Mailani at 17:55 hrs from January 8. This passenger train will stop at all the stations on its route.

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