News

Goa imposes night curfew; casinos, bars to operate at 50% capacity

The Goa government has imposed a night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am starting today till 30 April to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on Wednesday. All restaurants, bars, casinos and cinema halls will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity. The Goa Board has also postponed class 10 and 12 examinations. The Board will inform 15 days in advance before holding the exams, the Goa CM announced today. Earlier today, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that he will prefer the imposition of certain stringent restrictions given the rise in Covid-19 cases. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that imposition of a lockdown should be the last option. Lockdown will not control coronavirus. We have to impose some restrictions to control the situation," Sawant said while speaking to reporters. Sawant said he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday and briefed him about the steps taken by the state government to break the transmission of coronavirus. "As the second wave (of coronavirus) is affecting people below 50 years, everyone must take anti-Covid 19 vaccines after May 1 (when the drive opens for every adult)," he said. Goa reported a total of 69,312 coronavirus positive cases until April 20 while the overall death toll stood at 926, including 26 fatalities recorded on the previous day, the health department had said. "Deaths are occurring in Goa because Covid-19 patients are arriving late at hospitals for treatment," he said. The CM attributed the rise in coronavirus positive cases to extensive testing.

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Nilgiris to stay closed for visitors till April 30

Those travelling to the Nilgiris for tourism purposes would be restricted from entering the district. As per the latest reports, the district borders would, however, not be closed. If recent government orders are to go by, botanical and rose gardens, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Ooy Lake and the Sim’s Park at Coonoor, are among some tourist places that will remain closed to visitors till April 30. Referring to this, Nilgiris Collector J Innocent Divya, explained that those visiting the hilly spot for medical purposes, trade, or other essential services would be allowed to enter only after submission of relevant documents. She added that to check this, special teams will be deputed on the border check posts to check the purpose of their visit to the district. Reportedly, movement of essential services will be allowed. The Collector further elaborated that processing industries in the district in order to run their units, will have to get special permission from the district administration. Reports state that their staff and workers would also need to get special identification cards for the said purpose. Also, the e-registration process for those coming from other districts would continue as usual. Divya, reiterated, “Of the total population of 7.30 lakh in the Nilgiris, at least 105434 have been vaccinated against Covid-19 so far. The total number of RT-PCR tests conducted in the hill district till date stands at 397,000”. However, as per the records, tourist flow to the district had also come down in the past two days.

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Multi-pronged strategies required to rebuild tourism: IMC Chamber

A virtual interaction organised by IMC Chamber of Commerce & Industry with participation of top government officials from various Tourism Boards and private industry professionals has called for multi-pronged strategies to rebuild tourism which is the worst impacted sector in the global pandemic. The officials representing countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, spoke about the steps being taken by their respective governments to restart tourism. In his introductory remarks, Farhat Jamal, Chairman - Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Committee, IMC Chamber has said that the tourism industry in the South Asia region has lost 50 million jobs and about 50 billion dollars in GDP due to the pandemic. Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism, while speaking on the situation in Sri Lanka stated that the island was prepared fully “long before we had the first patient.” Sri Lanka is fully opened for international tourists now and started receiving a lot of tourists from the Middle East, she said. ‘’It's not the numbers, it's the yield we will be looking at,” she said. While speaking about the situation in Australia, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager - India & Gulf, Tourism Australia said that through discipline and efforts of government over the past 30 days there have been zero cases in Sydney & Melbourne. He also shared that the Department of Home Affairs will be waiving off VISA charges for travellers travelling between March 2020 & December 2022. For travel agents, 130 million dollar program has been rolled out, For MICE community, there is 50 million dollar exhibitor grant program. Tourism Australia is supporting 1800 products & experiences, Indian outbound travel industry grew by 8% whereas Australian counterpart grew by 16%. Travel & tourism segment has got a potential to bounce back rapidly, 40 million dollar fund has been created for indigenous communities, he said. While speaking on the Industry’s revival situation in Indonesia, Sigit Witjaksono, Director of Tourism Marketing - East, South, Central Asia, Indonesia Tourism said that they are waiting and watching the situation and , if situation improves, they will open up Bali and other destinations for tourists. Vachirachai Sirisumpan , Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand,while speaking on the situation in Thailand expressed the hope that things will get better in Thailand very soon. “We are optimistic and confident that we are going as planned. From first of July, we'll open for vaccinated tourists without quarantine for Phuket island. We will open Thailand for vaccinated tourists first,” he said. While speaking on the Travel and Tourism situation in India, Rupinder Brar, ADG - Tourism, India said that there is a shift towards immersive experiences even amongst the domestic travellers. In many parts of India, domestic travel has truly kicked in. We have to spread our destinations to create high-value tourism. Speaking about the Hotel Industry, Rohit Khosla, Executive Vice President - Operations, Taj Group said that India has to wait till 2023 for the international inbound to resume. Mandeep S. Lamba, President - South Asia, HVS Anarock moderated the discussion.

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Dubai reduces validity of RT-PCR to 48 hours from 72 hours for entry from April 22

Travelers to Dubai till now required a negative report from RT-PCR test done within 72 hours before departure. The time frame has been reduced by 24 hours by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) . Residents and tourists, barring UAE nationals, must present a valid negative Covid-19 PCR test certificate for a test taken no more than 48 hours before departure from April 22. Airlines operating to Dubai under the `air bubble agreements’ have received communication to this effect from DCAA on April 18 and the protocol received from the Covid-19 Command and Control Centre, states that effective from April 22, 2021 at 00:01 hrs the validity of COVID-19 Test certificate is 48 hours instead of 72 hours. The airlines are now communicating to the passengers the same. The DCAA has directed airlines carrying inbound passengers from any point in India, to Dubai Airports, that every inbound passenger is holding a valid Covid-19 test certificate that is issued within the updated valid time frame, namely 48 hours, from the time of collecting the sample and also ensure that the time of sample collection - “Date & Time” and time of reporting “Result date and Result time” are accurate. Apart from a valid negative Covid-19 test report for passengers travelling to the UAE, airlines have again cautioned passengers the test report should be present in the printed (original) form, from government approved lab in India (ICMR/ Pure Health/Micro Health accredited laboratories). Apart from this, UAE residents who have Dubai issued residence visa must obtain GDRFA approval before travelling through and UAE residents holding residence visa issued through any other emirate are required to get ICA approval to verify the authenticity of their travel. In order to be able to travel, customers must show a green status against their registration details on above website. All passengers are also required to download the Covid-19 Dubai Smart App and generate a QR code on their device before entering Dubai. Also, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has mandated QR code linking, on the original report, to the patients’ original RT-PCR test report.

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Damodar Ropeways to invest INR 50 cr in two new ropeway projects in Odisha and Rajasthan

Damodar Ropeways & Infra Limited (DRIL), a company specialised in building ropeways and related infrastructure in the country, has announced two major ropeway projects in two important tourist destinations in the country. These projects will come up at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha, and in Udaipur, the lake city of Rajasthan. The company will invest INR 50 cr for these two projects under Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) by the end of 2022. DRIL’s Ropeway in Odisha will start within Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar and will end at Botanical Garden, Bhubaneswar. The proposed project will also cross-stream Kanjia Lake, a natural lake on the northern outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The total length of the ropeway here would be 628 m with a capacity of 400 PPH. There will be 12 cabins in the project with a capacity of four people in each cabin. The Ropeway in Udaipur will start near SCERT Hostel, Fatehsagar Lake and end at Neemach Mata Temple at Hill Top. The Neemach Mata Temple, which is situated on a hill on the banks of Fateh Sagar Lake, has both stairs and a 900-meter-long uphill slope walkway to climb. The total length of the ropeway project would be 430 m; it will have 12 cabins with a capacity of six people in each cabin. The ropeway will alleviate the pain of climbing up to it and allow visitors to take in the stunning views of the city and lakes without running out of steam.

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Meghalaya closes doors for tourists from other states due to rise in COVID cases

As cases of COVID-19 rise in India, states have been implementing new rules and guidelines. Meghalaya too has done the same, and has banned the entry of tourists from April 23 onwards. Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma arrived at this decision after reviewing the situation at hand in the state. This means that you will not be able to travel to your favourite destination in the beautiful hill state. Sangma announced this in a tweet saying, “Meghalaya will close its doors to tourists from outside the state from April 23, 2021. However, local tourism will continue.” So if you are from the state of Meghalaya, you can still go around within the state, and have a good time. But be sure to follow all COVID-19 protocols, such as wearing masks, and social distancing. Sangma further stated that those tourist destinations with a lot of footfall will be closed for the time being, while the RT-PCR test report's time frame has been reduced to 48 hours from 72. The state has also gone ahead with the closure of schools for two weeks, up until May 4. Meghalaya’s biggest tourist draws are Shillong, Cherrapunji, Dawki, among others. It is also home to the cleanest village in Asia, Mawlynnong. Visiting all of these fantastic places will not be possible for the next few days till the COVID situation gets better. Even after it does get better, tourists should be travelling with caution.

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