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India Unlock—No restrictions on inter-state and intra-state travel

In a much-awaited development, the central government has lifted all restrictions on passenger and goods’ movement for both inter-state and intra-state travel. Reportedly, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to all Union Territories and state and chief secretaries on the same. He has also communicated that any such imposition would henceforth be treated as violation of the guidelines issued by the MHA. The letter written by Mr Bhalla is quoted as stating that, "Such restrictions amount to violation of guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005. No restrictions be imposed and it should be ensured that MHA guidelines are followed." He has also written that any disruption in such movement will hamper the supply chains and also affect employment as well as other economic activities. Henceforth, no special permission, permits, or approval would be required for such movement. The development has come in the wake of unlock guidelines issued by the Centre on July 29. The same has ushered in the third phase of lifting the COVID-19 restrictions in the country.

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‘Keralam Kanaam’, the first step towards reviving sector by wooing local tourists

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The tourism sector in Kerala constitutes 10 per cent of the state’s GDP; more importantly, it accounts for close to 25 per cent of employment. However, with the global pandemic outbreak bringing the industry to its knees, the gross loss faced by the tourism sector in the state as of August this year has been pegged at a whopping Rs 25,000 crore. In an attempt to provide life support, the Association of Tourism and Trade Organisation of India (ATTOI) with the backing of Tourism Department has launched the ‘Keralam Kanaam’ campaign which aims to offer luxury staycations at affordable rates to resident Keralites. More than 35 resorts and hotels registered with the dedicated portal, Malayaliyatra.com, have come up with special discounted deals and packages like never before. “Many Malayalis have not experienced what their home state has to offer. Hence, were are making luxury holidays accessible to the public. All the resorts and hotels registered on the website, including 5-star hotels, have slashed their rates to between Rs 4,000 and 5,000 per day,” said P V Manu, secretary, ATTOI. The initiative is expected to provide a breather to the sector. While the Kerala Tourism Department is already in the works for a major big blast marketing campaign for the post-Covid scenario; the focus, for now, seems to be on propelling local tourism. Although the marginal tourist movement witnessed among domestic visitors over the past month is promising; the footfall of travellers from other states has been completely nil. “We want the tourists to realise that the Kerala experience inherently comes with social distancing practices. We don’t have many mass tourism spots and activities like houseboat rides, plantation visits, eco-tourism and treks are all catered to a small group of people or families,” said P Bala Kiran, director, Department of Tourism.

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Ministry of Culture announces seven new circles of ASI

Patel said that the Ministry of Culture has taken this step in accordance with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to facilitate and strengthen the process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments. The Ministry of Culture on Wednesday announced seven new circles of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel in a video message tweeted by him. Patel said that the Ministry of Culture has taken this step in accordance with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to facilitate and strengthen the process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments along with registration of artifacts with self-declaration. The Minister informed that new circles have been created in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Gujarat. He said that Trichy, Raiganj, Rajkot, Jabalpur, Jhansi and Meerut have been announced as new circles. In Archaeology, the Hampi city in Karnataka is a place of international repute hence Hampi Mini Circle has been converted into a full-fledged circle, the Minister added. Earlier there were 29 ASI circles across the country. Patel said that in a large state like Tamil Nadu which has thousands of temples and glorious memories of the Chola kings, Trichy has been made a new circle along with the circle of Chennai. Karnataka is an important state in terms of holiness. Hampi city in Karnataka is a place of international importance from the point of view of archaeological heritage therefore the Hampi Sub-Circle now has been made a new full-fledged circle. In West Bengal, Raiganj has been made a new circle along with Kolkata, this will eliminate geographical inconvenience in a big state like Bengal. In Gujarat, Rajkot has been announced a new circle along with Vadodara. Patel said that Jabalpur has been announced a new circle along with Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. This will include the monuments from Jabalpur, Rewa, Shahdol and Sagar divisions. The Minister also informed that Jhansi in Bundelkhand and Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh has been announced two new circles along with Lucknow and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

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India releases new SOPs for international travel

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) for international travel on non-scheduled commercial flights under the Air Transport Bubble arrangement and the Vande Bharat Scheme. As per the protocol, anyone wishing to travel to India will first need to register themselves with the Indian missions in the country that they are currently stranded or residing in, along with all the required details as prescribed by the Ministry of External Affairs. Reportedly, the SOP has been issued to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection, and is aimed to keep a check on the movement of international passengers in a calibrated manner. However, those coming to India on flights under air-bubble arrangements will not be required to register themselves with the Indian missions. As of now, India has managed to create bilateral ‘air bubbles’ or air travel arrangements with the following countries—the United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the Maldives. Apart from these, India is also negotiating with 13 more countries for similar kind of arrangement. Reportedly, the SOP outlines that priority will be given to certain cases in distress, such as those short-term visa holders who are nearing the expiry of their vias, workers who have been laid off, pregnant women, elderly persons, those persons with medical emergency, or those required to return to India due to death of family members and students. For all inbound travellers, the External Affairs Ministry will prepare a flight/ship wise database that will include all the required details, such as name, age, gender, place of residence, mobile phone number, their final destination, and information on their RT-PCR test taken and its result. Then, the same will be shared by MEA in advance with the respective state or union territory.

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Religious places in Rajasthan to reopen from September 7

All religious places in Rajasthan will reopen for public from September 7, months after they were closed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, an official statement said on Wednesday. The decision was taken during a review meeting on the coronavirus situation in the state chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Social distancing norms will have to be followed and all religious places will be sanitised from time to time, the statement said. District collectors and superintendents of police will carry out inspections and ensure all safety measures are taken, it said. Gehlot instructed officials to ensure that health protocols are followed properly and there is no crowding at these places, according to the statement. The chief minister also directed officials of the health department to make sure that private hospitals do not deny admission to COVID-19 patients, the statement said. Health Minister Raghu Sharma, Chief Secretary Rajeeva Swarup and other officials attended the meeting, it said.

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Short-distance travel, brief stay are new tourism trends: MP

BHOPAL: Amidst the raging coronavirus, a new trend of tourism seems to have surfaced. Tourists are preferring short-distance travelling and brief stay out during the weekends. The pattern has emerged over the last few days when many tourist spots witnessed good turnout. There is also another aspect of tourism which has been noticed during the corona times. People are preferring open spaces and spots with abundance of nature and good quality air. So, the tourist spot at Gandhi Sagar dam witnessed almost 100% occupancy during the past two weekends. Udaygiri near Vidisha also had a good number of tourists. As buses, trains and air services are restricted to contain the corona virus spread, people are travelling at a distance of 200-300 km by their own vehicles with family and or a select group of friends like people from Raipur and Bilaspur are visiting Amarkantak. Managing director of MP Tourism Development Corporation, S Viswanathan, said, “For some more months, I don’t expect overseas tourists or even domestic tourists travelling from a long distance.” Places like Udaygiri, Amarkantak, Gandhi Sagar dam, Pachmarhi, Choral and Mandu are drawing scores of tourists while in places like Khajuraho or Orchha which have archaeological monuments, the number is less. The MP Tourism Board is also trying hard to promote tourism in the buffer zones of national parks. However, the response so far is lukewarm. One reason behind this may be the heavy monsoon in jungles. For the past few years, after the closure of national parks for the monsoon, the government had decided to open the buffer zones for tourism a few years back. But the idea could never pick up. “Even before the Covid era, people avoided going to jungles during monsoon because of the obvious reasons of waterlogging and scare of insects and snakes,” said a forest department official. The hotel industry in Khajuraho, a big international tourist spot, looks “reluctant” to start operations because of the corona scare. “There is almost zero footfall of tourists in Khajuraho . We will review the situation after September and hope things would be under control during the festival times from October onwards,” said an official.

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