News

Flight between India and Qatar to continue till July 31, under extended air bubble agreement

Air bubble agreement between India and Qatar has been extended till July 31, 2021. The Qatar Embassy recently made an announcement on the same. Indian Embassy's official Twitter handle also mentioned that flights have resumed under this arrangement. In its tweet, it stated, “The Air Bubble arrangement between India and Qatar extended for July 2021. The flights have resumed under this arrangement. Thank civil aviation authorities and airlines on both sides for their continued cooperation in providing the requisite air connectivity." Reportedly, the said air bubble arrangement had expired on June 30, and many flights from India to Qatar were cancelled early in the morning, which caused confusion among the passengers. It prompted the Indian Embassy to assure passengers that the flight services will be reinstated. Later, it sent out a tweet saying the deal is extended. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also extended the ban on scheduled international flights till July 31. It recently announced that the ban on international commercial passenger flights, which was supposed to end on June 30, will remain in place till July 31, 2021. The DGCA in its circular stated, "In partial modification of circular dated 26-06-2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs 1ST of 31st July, 2021."

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Coming soon: Mega tourism plan for TN

CHENNAI: The State government, on Thursday, decided to implement an integrated mega tourism plan to attract inland and foreign tourists and improve the classified tourism on par with the international standards. Decisions to this effect were taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin. During the meeting, it was also decided to create more tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu so that the foreign tourists would increase the duration of their stay in the State. New lighting arrangement for Thiruvalluvar statue at Kanyakumari, renovation of Poompuhar tourist spot, improving the roads leading to tourist spots, spiritual places, adventure tourism spots, etc., were some of the decisions taken at the meeting. Unveiling a new tourism policy, establishing more hotels, resorts, and convention centres and contribution of public and private sectors in the tourism sector were also discussed. Refurbishing the ancient monuments, ongoing excavation works in various historical places, virtual museum concept, consecration of 100 temples, the tanks and gardens attached to them, filling up 2,547 vacancies in the temples, appointment of 110 Odhuvars, digitisation of palm leaf manuscripts in Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple, etc., were the other issues discussed at the meeting. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also reviewed the long term plans for the school education department for the next 10 years. Improving basic amenities at the schools, improving the quality of education and other issues were discussed at the meeting.

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Under ‘Arth Ganga’, Bithoorto get a tourism makeover

Kanpur: Bithoor, a religious township of Kannpur Nagar, will be developed as a tourist spot with a budget of Rs 100 crore under the Arth Ganga project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has named this project as Arth Ganga project. Under this project, districts along the stream of river Ganga would be connected with a row-pass cruise. The cruise will not only carry passengers, but also work as freight carriers. There is a hope that after this service, business in the districts situated on the bank of the river would increase. According to Anupam Srivastava, the tourism officer project worth Rs 100 crore has been cleared. Now, a detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared. “The tourism department will decorate the ghats of the Ganga and depict the history of Bithoor. Brahmawart Ghat, Pathar Ghat, Druv Teela and other places would be decorated with solar lights and saplings of various species will be planted. Moreover, a Ganga nursery would be set up in which medicinal plants would be grown,” he added. “The Central government is spending a lot of money in cleaning the river under the Namami Gange project and the ghats of Bithoor have been renovated from the funds released under the project. However, this was not sufficient in view of the tourist department. To attract more tourists, some more development is needed,” he further added. He informed TOI on Thursday that under this project, one ghat each from Rishikesh (Uttrakhand), Bithoor (Kanpur) and Bhagalpur (Bihar) had been selected to develop them from a tourist point of view. Besides local craft and culture, local recipes will be publicized. Bithoor is a religious place as well as historical place. Therefore, it would be a special attraction for religious tourists. Tourism would enhance the income of local residents and craft. A cycle track from Dhruv Teela to Paththar Ghat is also proposed. Similarly, an amphitheatre is also planned under the project. Srivastava stated that on the lines of Haridwar and Varanasi, daily Ganga aarti would be performed here and efforts would be made to keep the river water at ghats even during summers. For tourists and visitors, food courts would be raised in which local prominent sweet shops and others would open their counters. Bithoor was selected due to its religious importance.

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Number of domestic passengers at Delhi airport increased by 3 times since mid-May

The number of domestic passengers at the Delhi international airport has increased by more than three times between mid-May and June-end, its operator DIAL said on Thursday. In June this year, most of those who flew were in ‘visiting family and friends’ category (48 per cent), which was followed by ‘vacation’ (25 per cent) and ‘business travellers’ (19 per cent), it said in a statement. However, in June 2019, around 44 per cent flyers were vacationers, while 41 per cent were of ‘visiting family and friends’ category, the DIAL added. “Delhi airport has witnessed over three times rise in domestic passenger numbers from around 18,000 per day in mid of May 2021 to over 62,000 per day at the end of June 2021,” said the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). Similarly, the number of international travellers grew from around 4,500 per day in mid of May to nearly 7,500 per day in June-end, it noted.

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First Tourists Arrive Thailand As Phuket Reopens For Tourism

In a regular year, hordes of tourists by the millions descend on the beaches, markets and islands of Thailand in search of sun, scenery and some sort of spiritual awakening. This year and the one that preceded it, however, are not regular years, and now Thailand finds itself devoid of the tourists that keep so many people employed. However, the “Phuket Sandbox” scheme concocted by the Thai government offers hope for those in the tourism trade, and the first wave of tourists entering as part of the scheme landed in Thailand on Thursday. Here’s everything you need to know about it. Phuket Sandbox – Information For Travelers At several points over the past few weeks, serious doubts of whether the sandbox scheme would even go ahead had arisen, following a back-and-forth between the government and those in charge in Phuket about the finer details of the plan. However, with the 1st of July now upon us, Phuket got it together in the end and welcomed its first sandbox travelers on Thursday. Travelers from 67 different countries are permitted to enter under the sandbox scheme, including the USA, the UK and Canada. They must obtain a Certificate of Entry, as well as a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before travel, and an insurance policy that covers treatment for Covid-19 with coverage worth no less than $100,000. On top of this, travelers must also provide payment confirmation for no less than 14 nights stay and PCR tests at hotels approved by the Thai government. Once travelers arrive in Phuket, they must take a Covid-19 test and download an alert application, after which they must stay on the island for 14 days. Once the 14 days are up, they are free to travel out of the province and around Thailand as they please. However, travelers should be aware that the Covid-19 situation in the country means that some areas, such as Bangkok are experiencing more severe restrictions, such as in-house dining in restaurants being banned for the time being. Phuket’s First Arrivals A plane landed in Phuket on thursday carrying the first sandbox passengers of the scheme, and it was greeted by a water tunnel provided by two fire trucks on the runway to celebrate its arrival. Flight EY430 arrived in Phuket from Abu Dhabi at 10:20 AM and was carrying 25 tourists, who touched down and went through the necessary entrance procedures before being free to explore the island.

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Nine European countries currently recognise Covishield for travel

Nine European countries, including key European Union (EU) members such as Germany and Spain and non-EU states such as Switzerland and Iceland, currently recognise Covishield for proof of Covid-19 vaccination for travel. Questions about travel to Europe by Indians who have received the Covishield jab, which is the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by Serum Institute of India, have arisen since the vaccine has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency. So far, EU members Austria, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain, and Iceland and Switzerland, which aren’t in the bloc but are part of the Schengen visa regime, recognise Covishield for Covid-19 vaccination for travel purposes, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity on Thursday. However, travel between India and Europe remains tightly restricted. Of the nine countries, India has an air bubble arrangement only with Germany, which has emerged as a key transit hub for Indian nationals travelling to Europe. Some of these countries, such as Switzerland, are accepting visa applications from fully vaccinated people who have been inoculated with doses approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) or EU or their national authority. On Tuesday, German ambassador Walter Lindner tweeted his country recognises a double shot of Covishield as “valid proof of anti-Covid vaccination”, but added that this does not “modify existing travel or visa restrictions for travellers from areas of concern/virus variants areas”. The Indian side has informed the 27 EU member states that it will follow a policy of reciprocity in recognising Covid-19 vaccines for travel, and exempt EU nationals possessing the “green pass” from mandatory quarantine only if the bloc recognises vaccines being administered in India, such as Covishield and Covaxin.

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