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Indian Railways unveils 17-Day Sri Ramayan Yatra: Check dates, price, routes and more

In order to promote religious tourism in India, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has finally unveiled Shri Ramayana Yatra through a deluxe AC tourist train. Indian Railways has planned to promote the government of India initiative called ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. This tour will commence from Delhi’s Safdarjung Railway Station on November 7 and the tour will be completed in 17 days and it will include around 7,500 km. The entire train yatra will have all the important places covered that are linked with the life of Lord Shri Ram. The first stop will be Ayodhya so that tourists can go to visit the Shri Ram Janmbhumi temple and Hanuman temple along with Bharat Mandir at Nandigram. This tour will commence from Delhi’s Safdarjung Railway Station on November 7 and the tour will be completed in 17 days and it will include around 7,500 km. The entire train yatra will have all the important places covered that are linked with the life of Lord Shri Ram. The entire package of IRCTC will cost Rs 82,950 per person. In order to promote religious tourism in India, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has finally unveiled Shri Ramayana Yatra through a deluxe AC tourist train. Indian Railways has planned to promote the government of India initiative called ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. This tour will commence from Delhi’s Safdarjung Railway Station on November 7 and the tour will be completed in 17 days and it will include around 7,500 km. The entire train yatra will have all the important places covered that are linked with the life of Lord Shri Ram. The first stop will be Ayodhya so that tourists can go to visit the Shri Ram Janmbhumi temple and Hanuman temple along with Bharat Mandir at Nandigram. After Ayodhya, the train will reach Sitamarhi in Bihar, the birthplace of Sita, and Ram-Janki Temple in Janakpur, Nepal will be covered by road. After that, the train will go to Varanasi, and tourists will visit temples at Varanasi, Prayag, Shringverpur, and Chitrakoot by road. The night stay will be provided at Varanasi, Prayag, and Chitrakoot. Then the next stoppage will be Nasik, Hampi and Rameshwaram and that will be considered as the last destination of this train tour after which the train will return to Delhi on the 17th day of its journey. In terms of features and amenities, the train will have modern features and amenities as it will be a deluxe AC train. The state of the art deluxe AC tourist train will come with features such as two fine dining restaurants, a modern kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor-based washroom functions, foot massager. The entire air-conditioned train comes with two types of accommodation- 1st AC and 2nd AC along with enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and security guards for each coach. Also, if you are fully vaccinated, then only you can board the deluxe tourist train with an age above 18 years or more. In addition to that, IRCTC will give a safety kit to all tourists containing face masks, hand gloves and sanitiser. The entire package of IRCTC will cost Rs 82,950 per person. The package price covers train journey in AC classes, accommodation in AC hotels, all meals, all transfer and sight-seeing in AC vehicles, travel insurance and services of IRCTC tour managers.

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IRCTC launches cruise booking service from Mumbai

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited(IRCTC) is venturing into the international and Domestic Cruise Business for the first time targeting the domestic market including potential outbound guests. IRCTC has signed an agreement with Cordelia Cruises for the same. Starting from September, the cruise service will remain available to tourists who want to explore India’s coastline can book their tickets for the month of October, November and December from irctctourism.com, the official website for booking tourism packages offered by IRCTC. People can now enjoy travelling on a cruise from Mumbai to places like Goa, Diu, Lakshadweep, Kochi this month.People can book tickets through IRCTC for taking a cruise journey this month from Mumbai to all the tourist places which falls on India’s coastline. In the first phase, the base of the cruise will be in Mumbai and it will travel all over India.

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Noida International Airport likely to start operations by 2024

The Noida International Airport (NIA) will likely start operations in around three years, and will start handling 1.2 crore passengers annually with a runway and one terminal. The government has also approved the master plan for the said airport. As per the reports, it will reach a peak capacity of 7 crore passengers in its 40-year concession period, during a four-phase expansion through as many terminals and two runways. As per the reports, the Zurich Airport International AG has prepared the master plan and has secured the final approval for the development of greenfield Noida International Airport (NIA) at Jewar, Uttar Pradesh. The plan has been cleared by DGCA, BCAS, AAI, and environmental authorities too. Reports have it that the masterplan has been prepared to accommodate the demand with two runways throughout the 40-year concession period. However, the Government of Uttar Pradesh plans to expand it with five runways in the future. Reportedly, the master plan has been divided into four phases, whereby the authorities expect that the passenger capacity of 12 million passengers per year will be reached during Phase I, and the numbers will grow to 70 million passengers by the end of Phase IV. According to the reports, the NIA masterplan also has provision for General Corporate Aviation facilities, including a General Aviation Terminal, VVIP terminal, and heli taxi pads. The airport will be equipped with high-end facilities to cater to the needs of state dignitaries, handle helicopters, and private jet movements as well.

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Assam COVID-19 update: Fully vaccinated passengers to be exempt from mandatory RT-PCR test

As per a notification that has been issued by the Assam state government, all fully-vaccinated incoming passengers, who are able to provide proof of COVID vaccination certificate, will now be exempted from mandatory testing. As per the notification issued by the government, all incoming passengers, who are fully vaccinated and have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and are able to show proof of a certificate to the screening authority, will be exempted from mandatory testing on arrival at airports, border points, and railway stations. Reports have it that the order, however, instructs authorities that they should mandatorily carry out RT-PCR tests on people who are unvaccinated, are partially vaccinated with a single dose, or those who are symptomatic even after taking both doses of the vaccine. As per the new guidelines, the state government has also announced a night curfew that will be imposed across all districts from 9 PM to 5 AM, to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections across the state. Reportedly, if COVID-19 positive cases in any area reaches more than 10, the jurisdictional District Magistrate will notify those areas as containment zones and necessary containment measures for COVID will be imposed on those areas. The state government added that the new directives will be effective from Wednesday, and will remain in place until further notice. Also, as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), all workplaces, state government offices, private offices, and establishments will be allowed to function normally but not beyond 8 PM.

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India imposes travel restrictions on these countries

In light of the new variants of the COVID-19, India has decided to expand the travel restrictions. protocols, to countries across the world. India has ruled that passengers coming from the United Kingdom, European Union, and West Asia are supposed to show a negative RT-PCR report before boarding their flights. Moreover, passengers from these regions will have to go through mandatory testing upon arrival in India. Now with the risk of new variants, and more dangerous ones, India has decided to add to the above list, and include countries such as New Zealand, Bangladesh, South Africa, and China, among others. All passengers from these countries are required to follow the updated protocols. In a statement during a press brief, Rajesh Bhushan, the Union Health Secretary, said, “Considering the risk of mutations in SARS-CoV-2, we have added to the list of the UK, EU and Middle East more countries, including South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. International travellers from all these countries would now need RT-PCR negative reports to get on flights to India and RT-PCR testing upon arrival here," The World Health Organization is presently looking at a variant that has been named as Mu. This particular variant could be more resistant towards vaccines, as it is a result of multiple mutations. It is a variant of concern, and was first identified in Columbia in January 2021.

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British Airways to resume Chennai-London flights from Thursday

British Airways said on Wednesday it will resume its Chennai-London flights, which had stopped in May last year due to Covid-19, from Thursday onwards. The passenger flights between India and the UK have been operating under the air bubble arrangement that the two countries have formed in mid-2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. British Airways's statement said the flights on London-Chennai route will operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday while the services on Chennai-London route will operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the pandemic. "The return of this direct flight from Chennai to the UK is really important in reuniting people with their loved ones who have been kept apart due to Covid," the airline mentioned. PTI DSP RHL

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