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Planning to travel across Delhi on Independence Day? Check rules as city police tightens security

Ahead of the 75th Independence Day functions, Delhi police have taken several measures to ensure that the celebrations are conducted peacefully. Apart from issuing traffic advisory for 15 Aug around the Red Fort, security has also been beefed up across the city On Friday, a high-level meeting of top officials of Delhi Police was held to discuss a new intelligence alert about miscreants who could try to infiltrate the security at the Red Fort on August 15, news agency ANI reported. "An attempt could also be made to create a law and order situation at various religious sites in Delhi," ANI added. Following the meeting, Superintendents of Police of all districts in Delhi have been directed to be on alert ahead of Independence Day. City police to check check vehicles and identity cards of commuters Security has been tightened across the national capital and the city police have been instructed to check vehicles and identity cards of commuters. Further, security has also been tightened at New Delhi Railway Station. Delhi Police, Railway Protection Force, Bomb Disposal Squad, Dog Squad are deployed for security at the station Earlier on Friday, the Traffic Police issued an advisory for the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort. As per the advisory, eight roads -- Netaji Subhash Marg, Lothian Road, SP Mukherjee Marg, Chandni Chowk Road, Nishad Raj Marg, Esplanade Road and its Link Road to Netaji Subhash Marg, Ring Road from Rajghat to ISBT and Outer Ring Road from ISBT to IP flyover -- will be closed for general public from 4 am to 10 am.

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New 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway to Reduce Travel Time to Under 90 Minutes

The Bengaluru-Mysuru Economic Corridor is under construction and will be completed by October next year, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted with pictures of the ambitious project. The 117-km-long 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway will reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru from three hours to just 90 minutes. “10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Economic Corridor is being constructed at record speed. Rs 8172 Cr economic corridor is likely to be completed by October 2022. It will reduce the travel time between the two cities by half from current 3 hours to only 90 minutes,” Gadkari tweeted. The construction began in May 2019 but was briefly halted before resuming in December 2019 due to the pandemic. The construction of the highway is divided into two phases – the first phase is from Bengaluru to Nidagatta which is 56 km long, while the second is from Nidagatta to Mysuru, 61 km long. The Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway also includes bypass roads en route to the two cities in areas including Bidadi, Ramanagara, Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya, and Srirangapatna. It also comprises a six-lane access-controlled carriageway for traffic and a two-lane service road on either side for local traffic. As part of the central government’s Pragati ka Highway project, the 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Economic Corridor is being executed under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, at a cost of Rs 8172 crore.

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Canada announces vaccine mandate for air travel

Canada will require most commercial passengers traveling by air, rail or large ship to be fully vaccinated by fall. The vaccination requirement "includes all commercial air travelers, passengers on inter-provincial trains and passengers on large, marine vessels with overnight accommodations such as cruise ships," said Omar Alghabra, Canada's transport minister, during a virtual press conference Friday. The Canadian government also will mandate that all federal employees be fully vaccinated by the end of October. Canadian ministers speaking at the press conference indicated that they wanted to "set an example" for other employers and Canadians as they continue to try and safely reopen more sectors of the economy. In a statement released after the announcement, Air Canada said it supported the new mandate and said it was in line with science-based procedures for safe travel. "Although Air Canada awaits further details about today's announcement on mandatory vaccinations, it is a welcome step forward in the evolving measures to protect the health and safety of airline employees, customers and all Canadians," according to the statement. Canada has recently started to allow international leisure travelers across its borders, beginning with vaccinated Americans this week. There are tentative plans to extend discretionary travel to other vaccinated international visitors to Canada in early September. In the United States, there is currently no consideration at the Department of Homeland Security to mandate vaccines for airline passengers on domestic flights, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN's Pamela Brown Friday. "There is not at this time," he said when pressed on the issue. At least two US airline executives have said they don't expect vaccinations to be required for domestic travel. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Wednesday that "it's a government question, but I suspect that it won't happen domestically," and Delta Air Lines' CEO Ed Bastian said virtually the same thing in May. Kirby said it is possible that vaccinations will be required for some international travel.

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RT-PCR negative certificate must for travelers returning to flats in Bengaluru

Residents of apartment complexes and gated communities who are returning to Bengaluru following inter-state travel are mandated to carry RT-PCR negative reports (not older than 72 hours). If they are not carrying such reports, they should compulsorily undergo an RTPCR test and stay in home quarantine till the results are out. This is part of the latest measures announced by BBMP chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta in the backdrop of an increase in the number of Covid clusters and containment zones in the city. There were more than 160 containment zones in the city and half of these are apartments. Kids above 3 to wear mask in open spaces: BBMP In a note to resident welfare associations (RWAs) and management committees of apartments, housing societies and gated communities, Gupta stated: “If any resident or his/ her family members has undertaken interstate travel, it is suggested to ensure they are tested. This rule shall be applied for official travel too.” he advisory is silent on exempting those completely vaccinated from producing the negative test report. While emphasizing on strict adherence to Covid protocols such as masking and distancing, the chief commissioner’s note suggests the apartment associations and committees to maintain a comprehensive list of all nonresidents visiting or accessing the complex. While allowing the common areas to be used with Covid-appropriate behavior, the associations/ committees are to ensure that these places do not get converted into socializing or meeting points for residents. The BBMP note states that children above three years should wear masks while in open spaces/play areas and conduct of group classes/ group activities should be avoided. Gupta stated that if three or more cases are reported within 100 metres in a housing society or gated community, the it will be declared a cluster and that house, along with all adjoining houses within 100 metres, will be notified as containment zone. In case of an apartment, if a cluster is detected on a single floor, that floor along with one below and above it will be declared a containment zone. Containment zones shall remain active for a minimum of 14 days from the date of declaration of the last detected positive case. The BBMP directive suggests RWAs to form task forces for effective communication, surveillance and containment of Covid. The RWAs have been instructed not to stigmatise, harass or abuse any affected resident of family.

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Lakshadweep administration imposes travel restriction to mainland in view of rising COVID cases in Kerala

The Lakshadweep administration has imposed curbs on the movement of people travelling to the mainland from the islands in view of the COVID-19 situation prevailing in neighbouring states, especially Kerala. “Considering the circumstances, local residents of Lakshadweep islands are hereby advised to avoid all unnecessary travel to the mainland,” said the order issued by Lakshadweep district Collector S Asker Ali on Thursday. The administration also directed the authorities officials concerned to give permission only for essential travel to mainland. The islands have three entry points from mainland Kochi and Kozhikode in Kerala and Mangaluru in Karnataka. According to the administration, the COVID-19 situation has been stabilised and there are only 40 active cases in the islands as on August 12. The administration said all those who come to the islands from mainland and other islands must undergo seven days mandatory quarantine at the institutional quarantine facilities provided by the administration or in their respective houses provided that there is a separate room with washroom. They must be tested for COVID-19 by the local health department after ending their quarantine period, the order said. However, there will be only three days mandatory quarantine for those who have taken both doses of COVID-19 vaccination 14 days prior to the movement from mainland to islands or from one island to another on production of valid vaccination certificate, or for those persons who have become COVID-19 positive in the months on production of valid discharge certificate, the administration said. They will be tested after three days of quarantine. Until mid-January this year, the islands were a COVID-19-free territory in the country. The administration had come under attack from the residents and politicians in the islands for its decision to relax the stringent quarantine measures in December 2020, causing a sudden spike in virus infection cases. The administration’s old standard operating procedure (SOP) had stipulated seven days quarantine for people in Kochi before taking an RT-PCR test for the travel. After arriving in Agatti also, they had to undergo another 14-day quarantine.

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Gujarat Tourism organises roadshow in Hyderabad

The roadshow was aimed to provide an opportunity to promote tourism in both the states and also help the travel and tour operators who are working hard to revive their business. Speaking on the occasion, Upalla Srinivas Gupta, Chairman, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC), who was also the chief guest of the event stressed on the need to strengthen tourism ties between both the states and create new opportunities for tour operators. "I request all the tour operators to work as partners of Tourism Corporations. All the stakeholders who have suffered due Covid-19, we would look at the issues faced by them and try to address them at the earliest. Currently TSTDC has started operating tour packages across Telangana state and planning to launch new tour packages exclusively for UNESCO Site Ramappa Temple. We have also discussed introducing new tour packages in collaboration with other state government tourism bodies. Our focus is to follow covid protocols at all TSTDC facilities and provide comfortable stay and safe travel to all the tourists visiting Telangana," informed Gupta. Sharing the state tourism body's marketing plans, Gupta said that he has discussed focusing on aggressive marketing of existing packages and promotion of new tourism packages. Sai Rupa Dutta, Assistant Director, Indiatourism Hyderabad also attended the roadshow along with representatives of the various travel trade associations.

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