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Netherlands lifts ban on passenger flights from India starting June 1: Know details

The Deutch government on Tuesday has lifted the ban on passenger flights arriving from India, South America, Central America, and South Africa. Travelers from these areas are now allowed to enter the Netherlands again, provided they tested negative for the coronavirus prior to their departure, and follow the quarantine rules upon their arrival. "As of 1 June 2021, there is no longer a ban on flights from India, South Africa and the countries in Central and South America," the Deutch government website read. There is still a European Union ban on non-EU travelers from countries where the coronavirus situation is considered very high risk. A number of people are exempted from this ban, including family members of EU residents, students, and business travelers. Further to this, the Netherlands has imposed mandatory quarantine laws with effect from today (June 1). The mandatory travel quarantine for people arriving into the Netherlands from an area designated as a high-risk for coronavirus infection entered into force on Tuesday. Additionally, the country lifted its last flight bans as the law regulating the quarantine has taken effect. The law states that travelers need to quarantine at a location of their choosing for 10 days after their arrival in the Netherlands. The quarantine period can be shortened by five days if the arriving passenger tests negative for the coronavirus infection after five days. Quarantine is mandatory for people arriving from these high-risk countries such as Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, India, South Africa amongst others. Netherlands had on April 26 decided to suspend India flights as "the epidemiological situation on the ground (in India) is very serious..." The Netherlands Embassy in India tweeted in April, 2021 that the "ban on passenger flights from India has been extended until June 1, 2021." Netherlands government website had said: "There is a ban on passenger flights from India, South Africa and countries in Central and South America. New, highly infectious variants of coronavirus are present in these countries. The purpose of the flight ban is to prevent the further spread of these variants in the Netherlands. The ban is due to remain in place until June 1, 2021.... Air freight transport is exempt from the flight ban."

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Aarogya Setu to Work As 'All-in-One Pass' to Travel Across India

The Government of India's contact tracing app Aarogya Setu has announced a new feature that will now show the vaccinated status for users who have received the jab with 'blue ticks and blue shield'. The app was initially launched by the Indian government as a way to track infected people and to check if a user is in a high-risk area. How to Update Your Vaccination Status? 1. Open the Aarogya Setu app. 2. Tap the ‘Update your vaccination status’ option. 3. Log in to the CoWIN portal by using your mobile number verified by an OTP. 4. Select your name if you have added more than one person on the CoWIN platform. Now, your vaccination status will be updated. One Pass to Travel A top official from the ministry informed The Quint that the blue shield on the Aarogya Setu app will serve as a pass to travel within the country. "In the near future, if you plan to go to a public place, or for that matter you plan to travel to another state, 'blue shield' on Aarogya Setu will serve as an 'all-in-one pass'. This will allow you to freely move through the country,"a source told The Quint on condition of anonymity. The new feature will allow the government officials to distinguish between people who have got vaccinated and the ones who haven’t. In addition to that, there are chances that the blue tick system might introduce information that will prove helpful for vaccinated people. However, users will get both ticks only after receiving both doses of the said vaccine. Individuals who have received only one dose will be designated ‘Partially Vaccinated’ and have a single tick. Exclusionary Feature? While the developers at Aarogya Setu have launched the new feature to encourage more people to get vaccinated, they did not specify whether using the app as a pass will be made mandatory to travel across India. Nearly 90 crore Indians do not have access to smartphones in India yet, and using the app as a pass is disregards the digital divide. In addition to that, an acute shortage of vaccines across the country only indicates very few people will be able to travel across states. According to Our world in Data, only 4.31 crore Indians have now been fully vaccinated so far, which means only 3.2 percent of the country's population have got both the doses of vaccines as of Monday, 1 July.

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Maharashtra: E-pass mandatory for inter-district travel; here’s how to apply

Maharashtra has extended COVID-related restrictions till June 15. As such, an e-pass, which is an electronically generated travel pass, has now been made mandatory for a road journey outside one’s current district. Reportedly, not everyone will be eligible to get an e-pass. Only those with a valid reason will be able to get an e-pass, and get the liberty to travel within the state. Here are the key pointers that you need to keep in mind. Government servants travelling for official purposes and those involved in emergency services will not be required to apply for the pass. Further, as per the current rules, only those citizens can travel outside districts who need to travel due to emergency reasons, such as medical emergencies, marriage etc. To apply for the e-pass, one needs to visit covid19.mhpolice.in and apply for the same. From here, your application will be moved to the local police jurisdiction for processing, depending on your place of origin. To get the pass, one needs to have a valid identity proof, wedding cards or any documents related to marriage, medical report of persons travelling for medical emergency, or a document pertaining to other emergency purposes are required. Time taken to get an e-pass will depend on a case-to-case basis. As per the reports, every police jurisdiction will have a dedicated team to process the applications. Like, in Pune, the police have formed three special teams, for round-the-clock processing of applications. As such in this case, one can expect to get the approval within a day or latest by one day before the travel date. Do note that excess number of co-passengers than the allotted limit as per the government norms might also lead to rejection of your application.

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For passengers’ convenience, Indian Railways extends trips of five special trains; see list and other details

Extended trips of Special Trains: For the convenience of railway passengers and in order to meet the travel demand, Indian Railways has extended the trips of certain Special Trains. According to a press release issued by Western Railway, the zone has extended the trips of five pairs of Special Trains o­n special fare. Only those railway passengers having confirmed tickets will be allowed to board these special trains. Passengers who are planning a trip are requested by the zonal railway, to adhere to all norms, SOPs related to the COVID-19 pandemic during boarding, travelling as well as at the destination. Here is the list of special trains with extended trips along with other details: 1) Train Number 09049/09050 Mumbai Central – Samastipur Special (Eight trips): The trips of Train Number 09049 have been extended and the train will now also run o­n 1 June, 3 June, 5 June and 7 June, 2021. Similarly, the trips of Train Number 09050 have been extended as well and now it will also run o­n 3 June, 5 June, 7 June and 9 June, 2021. 2) Train Number 09117/09118 Mumbai Central – Bhagalpur Special (Two trips): The trip of Train Number 09117 has been extended and the special train will also run o­n 4 June, 2021. Similarly, the trip of Train Number 09118 has been extended as well and now the train will also run o­n 7 June, 2021. 3) Train Number 09011/09012 Udhna – Danapur Superfast Special (Two trips): The trip of Train Number 09011 has been extended and the train will now also run o­n 31 May, 2021. Similarly, the trip of Train Number 09012 has been extended too and it will now also run o­n 2 June, 2021. 4) Train Number 09087/09088 Udhna – Chhapra Superfast Special (Two trips): The trip of Train Number 09087 has been extended and the train will now also run o­n 4 June, 2021. Similarly, the trip of Train Number 09088 has been extended as well and it will now also run o­n 6 June, 2021. 5) Train Number 09521/09522 Rajkot – Samastipur Special (Two trips): The trip of Train Number 09521 has been extended and the special train will now also run o­n 2 June, 2021. Similarly, the trip of Train Number 09522 has been extended too and now the special train will also run o­n 5 June, 2021.

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COVID-19: Air India announces waivers for those holding domestic, international tickets

Amid continued impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry, Air India has announced one free waiver on various services, including change in date, sector/flight change, flight number on all domestic flight tickets for the travel period till June 30, 2021. As per the reports, this decision was taken after assessing travel restrictions that have been put up by the various state governments. Further, for travellers impacted by international travel bans imposed by various countries on travellers from India, the airline is offering such waivers as well. As per the reports, waiver facility is offered to travellers holding tickets for countries including the United Kingdom, United States of America, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries that have imposed travel bans. Referring to this, Air India tweeted, “Due to the continued impact of COVID-19 across the globe bringing uncertainty in travel plans, Air India is offering various Waivers/flexibility to passengers who are holding tickets for international travel.” The waivers and flexibility options that are offered by the national carrier include - flexibility of sector change, flexibility of routing change, waiver for fare difference and change penalty, enhance travel validity, flexibility of cabin change and enhanced refund validity. Reportedly, the offer of one free change in date, flight sector or number in its domestic network will remain in place until June 30, 2021, for the convenience of passengers.

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MP to reopen national parks, tiger reserves from June 1

National parks and tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh, which had been shut amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be kept open from June 1 to June 30, state forest minister Vijay Shah said on Saturday. National parks and tiger reserves have remained shut since the last two months as a precautionary measure during the pandemic. "Madhya Pradesh is known as a tiger and leopard state. National parks and tiger reserves had been shut due to the coronavirus outbreak. We have decided to keep these parks and reserves open from June 1 to June 30," Shah said in a video statement. The move will help people involved in tourism activities in these national parks, the minister said, adding that visitors will have to follow Covid-19 guidelines during their trips. Madhya Pradesh is home to several tiger reserves such as Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Satpura and Panna. The central state had regained the top slot in the 2018 census with a population of 526 tigers. The maximum number of big cats (3,421) were found in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Karnataka at 1,783 and Maharashtra 1,690. Earlier on Friday, forest officials had revealed that 41 tiger cubs, from newborns to one year olds, had been spotted at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

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