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Meghalaya all set to reopen religious places from August 16

Meghalaya is all set to reopen religious places from August 16. After 16-month closure, the Meghalaya state government has now finally allowed places of worship to open doors to people. As per the reports, the state has not even 50 per cent of its population vaccinated, and still has more than 4000 active Coronavirus cases. However, the state government has decided to ease restrictions by allowing religious places across the state to reopen from August 16. Reportedly, the decision was made during a review meeting, which was chaired by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. While addressing the media personnel, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Health and Family Welfare Prestone Tynsong stated that all places of worship and religious places will be allowed to reopen with effect from August 16. He added that they arrived at this decision after receiving requests made by the concerned stakeholders, and after getting inputs from all the district administrations. He, however, added that there will be a limit on the number of people being allowed to attend religious places or places of worship, which should not be more than one-third. Speaking further on this, Tyson stated that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and notification (in this regard) will be issued by the chief secretary within a few days time from now. He further urged people to abide by the COVID protocols, and requested all religious organisations to ensure the SOPs are strictly adhered to.

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Hotels, flight bookings shoot up ahead of Independence Day weekend

As the second wave of coronavirus has subsided, travellers are returning back to spend their leisure time with family and friends. Bookings across trains, hotels and flights have shot up dramatically over the past two weeks. Airlines like Go First and Vistara are running promotional schemes to lure passengers ahead of Independence Day weekend. While Vistara is offering 10 per cent discount for passengers travelling with family and friends, Go First is giving its passengers a chance to win a free holiday at Novotel Goa Dona Slyvia. In addition, online travel aggregators (OTAs) are running campaigns to spur demand. EaseMyTrip, for example, has a traveling carnival between August 4-22 during which it is offering discounts on flights and hotel bookings through tie-ups with banks. "All bookings are up. Not just because of the weekend ahead but also because of lower fares offered by the airlines. In the past two weeks, the prices of domestic flight tickets have come down. The flight bookings are up about 30 per cent; hotels bookings have shot up by 55 per cent across the industry," says Rikant Pitti, co-founder at EaseMyTrip.com. Experts say that during the October 2020-March 2021 period, only the tourist destinations got traffic. However, this time the city hotels have also made a strong comeback as people just want to move away from home and stay in a hotel for three-four nights. "With lower Covid cases in most part of the country, tourists are getting their confidence back. Domestic travel is on a rise. Some hill stations had suffered due to heavy rains but otherwise, the demand has increased. Since many salaried people are working from home, it becomes easier for them to take a break in between their work. City hotels are also seeing demand. We are now waiting (for) international borders to open up and visa dates to be announced," says Jyoti Mayal, president of Travel Agents Association of India(TAAI). Travel industry is now hoping that the government will raise the cap on the number of passengers who can travel through domestic flights from the current cap of 65 per cent of the pre-Covid level. Last December, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had allowed airlines to fill up to 80 per cent of their seats, but it was brought down to 50 per cent in June. "We are asking the government to open more flights. They are still capped. We want the capacity to come back to at least 80 per cent. There's a rise in demand, and if this kind of demand persists, the fares will start to move up," says a travel consultant.

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Cambodia has now reopened for Indians

Good news for Indians who want to go on a historic vacation. Cambodia has finally lifted the travel ban on Indians. According to the country’s Health Minister, Mam Bunheng, the country has lifted the ban after covid case declined. According to reports, the country’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen has approved the lifting of the ban. The country is known for its age-old sites, such as the Angkor Wat Temple Complex, and islands, among other things. A very popular destination for backpacking travellers. Cambodia suffered a great deal since the cases rose to a great extent since February 2021. The Southeast Asian country is home to the largest religious structure in the world, called the Angkor Wat, which is a city of temples. It is the single most important reason to visit Cambodia. While there are other attractions, such as its beautiful islands, nothing can beat this extraordinary temple complex. Cambodia is however not an old place, instead, it is a place where the old and new meet. The country’s capital Phnom Penh is enormously cool, with a lot to do. Its cafes will keep you busy, and so would its streets that are so full of vehicles moving in all directions. A trip to Cambodia can certainly be on the cards now that it has opened up for Indians. But it must be remembered that tourists should maintain covid appropriate behaviour at all times, and have respect for the local culture.

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Amid Beefing up Surveillance At Border, Karnataka Mandates Negative Covid-19 Report For People From Tamil Nadu

Following a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, the Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka has made it mandatory for travellers from its neighbouring Tamil Nadu to submit a negative Covid-19 report. However, people who have taken both the jabs are expected from the mandate. Earlier, Karnataka had made the negative Covid-19 reports mandatory for those travelling from Kerala and Maharashtra. According to the Times of India, travellers from Tamil Nadu will have to carry the negative report that is not older than 72 hours at the time of arrival, from Sunday. Travellers who fail to submit the negative report will be sent back and it also applies to the drivers of vehicles carrying essential commodities including fruits and vegetables, between the states. The report said that those who have taken both the jabs of vaccination need not submit the negative covid-19 report, but they have to submit their vaccination certificate upon their arrival.

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Soon you can enjoy homestay and water-based tourism in Chhattisgarh

In a bid to promote tourism in the state, the Chhattisgarh Tourism has announced to formulate guidelines for homestays and water-based tourism soon. The government said that these guidelines will make tourism development in the state community oriented and sustainable. The announcement was made at a government-organised e-conclave on tourism. Chhattisgarh has rural and tribal communities, and with this step, the committee aims at providing employment opportunities to people belonging from these communities. The member of the committee informed that the tourism board is continuously working with self-help groups to make sure that there is community participation in the tourism activities. Shubhda Chaturvedi, Head - Communications and Marketing, Chhattisgarh Tourism further elaborated that the state tourism board is working in sync with several agencies to promote ecotourism and agri-tourism. Talking about accessibility issues, she said that the state is well-connected with the rest of the country via a good network of by road, rail and air. Also the new Jagdalpur and Bilaspur airports have improved the connectivity of the state. Chhattisgarh is a beautiful state brimming with natural wonders. From the gorgeous Chitrakoot Waterfalls in Jagdalpur and Amrit Dhara Falls in Koriya to Kailash Gufa in Jashpur and Turturiya Springs, the state is perfect for anybody looking for spending time amid nature.

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UAE recognizes jabs in India, allows travel

Many Indians working and living in the UAE who have been stranded in Kolkata when travel to the Emirates was suspended in April were relieved on Monday when the authorities there agreed to recognise vaccination in India and permitted them to fly. Till Sunday, only those who had taken the two vaccine shots in the UAE were allowed to fly to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and other cities in the UAE. “UAE’s National Emergency & Crisis Management Authority has informed that passengers who have taken both doses of either Covishield or Covaxin in India to fly back if they have residency permits. The only requirement is that they should have completed the vaccination at least 14 days prior to travel. This will be a huge help to several hundreds of people who had come to Kolkata and other cities in the east on either business or family visit in March and early April and had then got stranded after the UAE put India on the red list and prohibited Indians from travelling to the Emirates to stop the spread of the Delta variant of Covid,” Travel Agents’ Federation of India chairman (east) Anil Punjabi told TOI. The decision by the UAE authorities ends a confusion over vaccines. Several of those who had been stranded here had taken the vaccine in India. Others who are yet to take the shots will now take them so that they are eligible to fly back and rejoin work.

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