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Flights between Nepal, India to resume from next week under 'air bubble' concept, say officials

Stalled for nearly nine months, flights between Kathmandu and New Delhi are set to resume from next week under the 'air bubble' concept, government officials confirmed. Flight connection between Nepali and Indian capital would resume from next week with the completion of preparations, Buddhi Sagar Lamicchane, the Joint Secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, confirmed. "We will send a positive response to the 'air bubble' concept that India sent through the diplomatic channel to the ministry regarding the date of operating the flights. After this, the airlines of both countries would be asked to make the necessary preparations to resume the flights. It will take a maximum of 10 days starting Tuesday," Lamicchane said. Accepting the proposal of India for 'air bubble' only two flights would be operated in between the Indian and Nepali capital on the first of the phased planned resumption. "One airline each from Nepal and India will each operate flights between Kathmandu and New Delhi. The two countries can increase the number of flights based as deemed necessary later," Lamicchane added. A meeting of Council of Ministers on November 25 had decided to accept the proposal floated by India. Furthermore, the meeting also decided to grant authority to MoCTCA (Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation) to grant permission for the same based on the need. "The flights would be operated after the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the regulatory body, together with India's aviation agency, prepares the flight standards," Joint Secretary at MoCTCA explained further. Although Nepal decided to resume international flights on September 1, nearly after six months of its discontinuation in wake of Covid-19 pandemic, flights to three destinations in India - New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore - are yet to resume owing to the increasing rate of Covid-19 infection.

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Atal Tunnel: Prior permission essential to cross it at night

Reportedly, only vehicles with prior permission shall be allowed to pass through the famous Atal Tunnel between Kullu and Keylong at night. The decision has been taken by the Lahaul and Spiti district administration for the sake of public safety. According to the latest reports, the call to restrict the movement of vehicles with no prior permission via the Atal Tunnel after sundown has been taken considering the slippery and risky nature of the road. Superintendent of Police Manav Verma told a news daily that the Manali-Keylong road through the Atal Tunnel turns slippery and risky for the passage of vehicles at night. Therefore, it has been decided that all vehicular traffic without the required permission will be barred from movement between Kullu-Manali and Keylong via the tunnel. In addition, residents of the district have been told to cancel avoidable movement on the road to prevent any accident. Reportedly, the movement was stopped in the past for the installation of 33KV power lines under the Atal Tunnel from Manali side towards Lahaul valley. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) permitted vehicular movement once the work was finished. In addition, no traffic would be allowed to pass through the tunnel between 2 PM and 3 PM for the maintenance work. About two weeks ago, the Atal Tunnel, which has now become a tourist hotspot, was closed due to snowfall and also in the wake of rise in COVID cases in the nearby villages.

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Indian Railways passengers can check IRCTC PNR status on WhatsApp. Here is how

To make travel experience favourable for railway passengers, Mumbai-based startup Railofy has come up with an innovative solution. The new feature allows passengers to get real-time PNR status and details of train journey directly on their WhatsApp. This will save the cumbersome and time-consuming process of searching for the PNR status and other train journey details. With the help of this feature, Indian Railways passengers can get live train status, previous railway station, upcoming station and other train journey details besides PNR status. Earlier passenger’s had to dial the railway helpline number 139 for live train status. Here is how one can check PNR status as well as real-time train journey information via WhatsApp: -Update the WhatsApp application on your phone. -Android users can update the app from the Play Store and iPhone users can update it from the App store. -Save Railofy's train enquiry number '+91-9881193322' on your mobile phone. -Go to WhatsApp and click on the new message button to open your contacts list. -Choose the Railofy contact and type in your 10 digit PNR number in the message window. -Now, send the PNR number to Railofy. -You will receive alerts and real-time updates about your train journey and status on WhatsApp.

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Tourist spots in the Nilgiris get ready to reopen after eight months

Tourist spots that are set to reopen on Monday in the Nilgiris are being cleaned and readied for the arrival of visitors. Nilgiris district collector, J. Innocent Divya, announced on Friday that all tourist spots run by the Tourism Department and the Eco-Development Committees (EDCs), managed by the Forest Department and local communities, will begin functioning from Monday following the directions of the State government. While the parks and recreational spaces run by the Horticulture Department, such as the Government Botanical Garden, Sims Park, Rose Garden and Kattery Park, have been opened since last month, other tourist spots, such as the Ooty Lake and Boat House, Pykara Lake, Ninth Mile, Doddabetta Peak and Kodanad View Point have remained closed since March of this year. Northey Kuttan, a member of the indigenous Toda community, and the president of the Pagalkodu Mund EDC which is in-charge of maintaining the Ninth Mile Shooting Spot, said that preparations to safely open the area for the public have been completed. “Based on the instructions of the government, we have provided hand-sanitisers, gloves and masks to all the staff working in the EDC. We will also disinfect the area such as ticket stalls and sitting areas every two hours,” said Mr. Kuttan. Microphone and speaker systems have also been installed to make announcements to tourists to maintain personal distancing at all times and to wear the masks while they are visiting, he added. In the Boat House, boatmen spent the weekend repairing their boats and completed other maintenance works. “The boats have been unused since March, so some of them needed to be repaired,” said one of the boatmen working at the Ooty Boat House. Shopkeepers around the area too said that they would reopen, after many of them remained closed due to the lack of tourists over the last few months.

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Indian travel agencies plan ‘vaccine tourism’ with packages for UK, US and Russia

New Delhi: With the United Kingdom government approving the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, travel agencies in India have already started planning ‘vaccine tourism’ packages for Indians who want to travel to England to take the shots. Travel agencies such as Zenith Holidays in Kolkata, Gem Tours & Travels in Mumbai and Chariot World Tours in Bengaluru confirmed that they are formulating such tour packages, which could even include the vaccine cost. Travel agents have also been receiving many enquiries from Indians about travelling to the UK as soon as possible for the purpose, PTI reported last week. But there are words of caution from even within the industry. “Unless we hear from the Indian or the UK government, nobody should be offering tours like these,” Jyoti Mayal, president, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), told ThePrint. “Also, travel agents can get dragged into legal suits if they are making offers that are not authentic or yet to be approved by local governments.” The mass vaccination drive in the UK is likely to begin as early as this week with the elderly, especially those with comorbidities, on the priority list for the first phase. Then, the vaccine will be administered to the other risk groups from January to April. The vaccine will be administered in hospitals, mass vaccination centres and by general practitioners and pharmacists. It is a two-dose vaccine. India is currently allowing international flights via ‘air bubble arrangements’ with only 22 countries, including the UK. An individual has to undergo 14-day self isolation upon arrival in the UK but can opt for a Covid test after five days, the results of which normally come back within 24 to 48 hours. This means people can stop self-isolating after six days if they test negative.

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Kolkata metro extends timings and runs additional services

Kolkata Metro will be running additional services and will also be extending the timings of its services from Monday, December 7, 2020. In order to facilitate passengers to travel conveniently the Metro Railway, Kolkata, will run 204 daily services, instead of the earlier 190 services, every Monday to Saturday. In a tweet, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, also commended the Kolkata Metro team for extending its services. The first service will start from both Dum Dum and Kavi Subhash at 07.00 hrs, instead of 08.00hrs on Monday and from Noapara at 07.09 hrs instead of 08.09 hrs. From Monday onwards, the last service will leave Kavi Subhash and Dum Dum at 21.30 hrs, instead of 21.00 hrs and from Noapara at 21.25 hrs instead of 20.55 hrs. The metro services will be available every 7 minutes during the morning and evening peak hours. For senior citizens, ladies and children (below 15 years), e-pass will not be required throughout the day. For all other passengers, e-pass will not be required only in between 07.00 hrs to 08.30 hrs in the morning and 20.00 hrs onwards in the evening. No token will be issued, only smart card shall be used.

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