News

Singapore Will Now Allow Business Passengers From All Countries From Next Month

With the starting of the unlocking process, Singapore on Tuesday announced that it will open its airspace for business travellers and visiting officials from all countries from next month. The development comes as the financial hub seeks to recover from a coronavirus-induced economic downturn. Notably, Singapore is opening its international flights at a time when India has signed air bubble agreement with the country. Singapore’s trade ministry said under the new arrangements, a limited number of travellers can apply for stays of up to 14 days from mid-January. Prior to this, Singapore already had arrangements allowing in selected visitors from countries such as China and South Korea. However, the new arrangement marks a significant change in easing of travel curbs. Part of the guidelines, Singapore stated that travellers must undergo RT-PCR tests ahead of departing from their home country. And on arrival in Singapore and during their stay, they must undergo corona test. The country has also made arrangements for visitors to hold meetings with their guests in specially designed meeting rooms with air-tight glass panels to reduce the risk of transmission. The announcement about easing of travel restrictions came a day after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated that the city-state had no choice but to ease restrictions or risk losing its status as a global hub.

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Indigo to directly connect Nagaland with Delhi from December 26

Nagaland’s sole airport in Dimapur is all set to get non-stop connectivity with the national capital, courtesy of Indigo, starting December 26. The direct flight will considerably cut down travel time to 3 hours from nearly 8-24 hours, depending upon the airlines and number of stoppage. According to Indigo’s website, the first non-stop flight will leave Dimapur Airport on December 26 at 2:35 pm and arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi at 5:35 PM, signifying a travel time of exactly three hours. Technically, however, the first direct flight will be from New Delhi on the same day with an Indigo Airbus A320 flight taking off from IGI at 11:30 pm. It is expected to reach the Dimapur Airport at 2:05 pm denoting just 2 hours and 35 minutes travel time. The returned flight will inaugurate the first Dimapur-Delhi direct flight. Booking information on the Indigo website informed that the direct flight will be operated thrice a week – Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Earlier on Tuesday, Adviser to the Chief Minister of Nagaland, Abu Metha took top micro-blogging site Twitter to sharing the news and appreciating the airlines for the initiative. “…#Nagaland is FINALLY directly connected to NationalCapital. CorporateNationBuilding has to start from the far flung regions. Appreciated…” Metha posted. Retweeting the same, Advisor, IT, Science and Technology & NRE, Mmhonlumo Kikon called it a ‘perfect Christmas gift’ “Excited that there is now a direct flight from Delhi to Dimapur! Perfect Christmas gift for the people of Nagaland and the adjoining areas of Karbi Anglong,!” Kikon, who is also a BJP National Spokesperson and Party’s Mizoram In-Charge, posted. He also acknowledged Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri and Indigo for the initiative.

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Jaisalmer is back on tourism map after eight months

After nine months of lockdown, Jaisalmer is under the tourism spotlight once again. Rajasthan’s prime destination, Jaisalmer is now seeing a surge in tourism, as tourists from Gujarat and other northern states are returning. The city went through a slump in terms of tourism since the lockdown, much like most other destinations in the country. Jaisalmer, in fact, has about 70 per cent occupancy in its hotels right now. This comes after no tourists visited the city from March to October. Jaisalmer’s Sonar Fort in fact had a massive crowd, so much so that police had a hard time managing the traffic in and around that area. The parking places there were reported full. With masks and sanitizers on them, tourists made their way to the beautiful Sonar Fort that was also the topic of Satyajit Ray’s detective novel, and subsequent movie. According to locals, the tourist flow has been good after October, and this is proving to be beneficial for locals who depend on tourism. About 5000 families depend on tourism in the district. Jaisalmer is especially great during the winter months; according to reports, tourism has been booming here since Diwali. Whie the surge in tourism is a good thing, there have been some concerns regarding safety protocols. Some tourists have not been following COVID guidelines, due to which the district collector has now started Corona Bhachav Jagruta Abhiyaan. Under this latest campaign, masks are being distributed, and chalaans are being handed to those who are breaking regulations.

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Karnataka: Water sports club to come up in Mangalore to promote tourism

MANGALURU: The tourism department of Dakshina Kannada district in association with a private agency is all set to open a water sports club at Kuloor in Mangaluru city. The new under the river tourism concept will also have various other cultural activities to attract tourists. In fact, the river tourism concept was proposed in 2017 when former IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil was the deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada. City-based Samruddhi water sports will be setting up the new water sports club and it is expected to be inaugurated on January 2, said P Shivakumar Pailoor, partner of the venture. Infrastructure for the water sports club is being set up on the banks of Phalguni river near Kuloor bridge on the way to Tannirbavi Beach. “The water sports club will have four boats designed in Kerala. Though the boats will have the capacity to accommodate 25 tourists, considering the pandemic regulations, only 12 will be accommodated. The boat with tourists will sail from Kuloor to Ullal and to Maravoor. Additionally, four-seater boats will be introduced for small families and friends. House boats and other water sports activities will also be introduced in the club. All necessary precautions will be made for the safety of tourists. Measures as per government guidelines will also be in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” he said. While an entrance fee of Rs 50 per head will be collected, separate coupons will be issued for boating and other activities. A 3.5-acre land on the riverbank has been obtained from the district administration on a lease basis for five years.

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Himachal Pradesh to continue the night curfew till January 5

Himachal Pradesh has decided to extend the night curfew imposed in four districts of the state in the last week of November till January 5, 2021. The State Cabinet, which met under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur has taken the decision to continue with the existing Covid-19 SOPs including the night curfew in four districts considering the increasing number of the Covid cases in the state. The four districts where night curfew is on are Shimla, Kullu, Manali and Kangra. While imposing the night curfew on November 24, the State Government had banned all movements of people or vehicles other than emergency services in those four districts till December 15. The government also imposed restrictions like operation of inter-state buses with 50% capacity. The government through the revised order also brought in amendments to the holding public, social functions as well. All these restrictions will now continue to remain in place till January 5. The tourism industry in the state had criticised the government’s action of imposing too many restrictions which are adverse to the movement of tourists in the state. The hotel industry associations had blamed the other factors including political rallies, local bodies elections, unrestricted social functions, etc. for the spread of the virus scare in the state. “Curfew is bad for tourism,” said Sanjay Sood, President of Shimla Hotel & Restaurant Association and Vice President of Federation of Himachal Hotel & Restaurant Associations (FOHHRA). The tourism sector which restarted on a promising note after a long lock down met with these roadblocks on its way in the State. The ongoing farmers' agitation in the Northern Indian States especially the feeder states of Punjab and Delhi has also inflicted heavy damage to the prospects of the tourism sector in the State. “If it is not resolved immediately, the X-Mas and New Year business will also get washed out,” said Sood.

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Sri Lanka all set to resume international flights from December 26

Sri Lanka is all set to resume international flights from December 26. It has been after a hiatus of eight months as flight operations were closed in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Referring to this, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) stated that it would be issuing directives for the travel industry regarding the opening of Sri Lanka's airspace for charter flights and commercial flights operations. Reportedly, Sri Lanka's two international airports have been closed since mid-March, when the country went into a lockdown to tackle Coronavirus spread. The nation gradually started lifting restrictions by mid-May. Although there were plans to start operating the international flights by the end of August, the COVID-19 cases in other countries were witnessing a surge, which lead to stalling of the plans further. Sri Lanka was hit by a second wave of Coronavirus in October. Earlier, the Sri Lankan Government also postponed all repatriation flights after a COVID-19 cluster was detected at a garment manufacturing facility in Gampaha district. However, the Foreign Ministry on COVID-19 Action and Director General East Asia stated that around 40000 stranded Sri Lankan citizens from 122 counties have returned to the country so far. With the restart of international flights, Sri Lanka will also be gearing up to welcome foreign tourists soon, with all safety measures in place. Speaking on similar lines, Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga said that Sri Lanka should consider opening airports for tourism when the United States and Europe start initiating the COVID vaccination process.

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