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Odisha poised for International Sand Art festival amid Covid regulations; details

Odisha set to celebrate International Sand Art Festival! The state will be celebrating the International Sand Art festival amid Covid regulations at its pristine Chandrabhaga Beach starting from December 1. The five-day festival coincides with the Konark Festival that is held in the backdrop of the Sun temple in Konark and many celebrated classical dancers perform from different disciplines throughout the festival at Konark Natya Mandap. During the Sand festival, renowned artists from all parts of the country and the world exhibit their talents with the beach as their canvas. This year, however, due to travel restrictions only Indian sand artists will showcase their art in 20 sand art stalls set up all around the Chandrabhaga beach. Not just the traditional sand sculptures, tourists can also expect sculptures created on sand, bronze or wood. Odisha tourism has released a set of guidelines for the participants of the sand art festival. According to the guidelines the artists have to start their work from December 1 morning and the festival will be formally inaugurated in the evening on the same day. The artists will have to change their sculpture daily according to the theme given by the organizer. Every year the theme hovers around the pertinent issues in the world. The artists also need to submit their designs to the organizer before they start with the sand art. The artists also need to follow Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Government. The schedule and showtime will be given to the participants only on arrival and confirming their participation. A panel of Jury will assess the artworks whose decision will be final and abiding. The Konark Dance festival on the other hand will be held one km from the world heritage site Konark. The dance festival that started in 1986 this year will see performances by dance exponents like Guru Aruna Mohanty & Group Odisha Dance Academy, Dr Sheela Unnikrishnan & Group, Sharmila Mukherjee & Group, Suman Sarawgi and Group and several others. Performances by all dance exponents will be held between 6 pm and 8.30 pm on all day. Complementing the open-air dance auditorium performances and air filed with music will be Crafts Mela held at the urban Haat that will showcase beautiful sculptures and souvenirs made by expert craftsmen of the state.

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Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project: Contract signed with L&T for alignment works

The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) on Thursday signed an agreement for the country's biggest infrastructure contract for design and construction of 47 percent alignment for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The contract signed with Larsen & Turbo also includes four stations namely Vapi, Billimora, Surat and Bharuch, Surat Depot, 14 river crossings, 42 road crossings and six railway crossings including one mountain tunnel of 350 metres length, the NHSRCL said in a statement. "The NHSRCL signed contract agreement with Larsen & Toubro Limited today for the design and construction of 237 km length of viaduct between Vapi (Zaroli Village at Maharashtra- Gujarat Border) and Vadodara in the state of Gujarat for 508 kms of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail corridor," the statement from the company said. Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, was present at the event along with senior officials of the Railway Board and NHSRCL. Technical bids for this tender were opened on September 23 and in less than one month, the financial bids were opened after evaluation of the technical bids, it said. The duration for completion of the works is four years from the date of commencement of the contract.

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SpiceJet launches direct flight on Delhi-Ras Al Khaimah sector, passengers to get free road transportation in UAE

SpiceJet has flagged off its maiden non-stop international flight from Delhi to Ras Al Khaimah. The airline will operate two weekly flights on the Indira Gandhi International Airport-Ras Al Khaimah sector. Ras Al Khaimah is SpiceJet’s 12th international destination. SpiceJet flight SG 160 took-off from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 10:30 PM on November 26 to reach Ras Al Khaimah at 12:50 AM (local time) on Friday. The return flight, SG 161, departed at 1:50 AM (local time) to reach Delhi at 6:40 AM today. SpiceJet will operate scheduled flights on the Delhi-Ras Al Khaimah-Delhi sector twice-a-week. While the flight on the Delhi-Ras Al Khaimah route will be operational on Thursdays and Sundays, the flight on the return leg will operate on Fridays and Mondays. Flight Number SG 160 will depart from Delhi airport at 10.30 pm and will arrive at Ras Al Khaimah at 12.50 am (local time). This flight will be available on Wednesday and Sunday. Flight number SG 161 will depart from Ras Al Khaimah at 1.50 am (local time) and will reach Delhi at 6.40 am. This flight will be available on Thursday and Monday. Ras Al Khaimah, the fourth-largest emirate of UAE, is known for its close proximity to Dubai. It is one of the key business hubs in the Emirates owing to world-class infrastructure, easy accessibility to seaports and international airports, etc. It is also an important hub for SpiceJet in the Gulf region and the airline has operated around 350 cargo and 286 repatriation flights to and from the city since the nationwide lockdown in India. “SpiceJet is offering the cheapest return flight ticket on the Delhi – Ras Al Khaimah – Delhi route and this includes free road transportation from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. We are very excited to be playing a part in Ras Al Khaimah’s and the UAE’s post-Covid-19 recovery and look forward to building a strong rapport with SpiceJet passengers flying into and out of RAK Airport,” Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said in a statement.

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Uttarakhand: COVID-19 test mandatory for people coming to Doon from Delhi

Uttarakhand has made it mandatory for people travelling from Delhi to the state to undergo a COVID-19 test at the Jollygrant Airport in Dehradun. This move comes in the wake of rising Coronavirus cases in the national capital. Reportedly, Dehradun Health Department has decided to conduct mandatory tests of people arriving from Delhi. As per the reports, the tests will take place at the airport and railway station, apart from the Asharodi check post in Dehradun. As per a random sampling round of around 1000 people that was carried out in the past week, as many as 29 people tested positive at the Doon border. Reports state that of those infected with the virus, 25 were from Delhi-NCR. Also, in the wake of tourist season when it is expected that more tourists will be thronging the region, Uttarakhand administration has started precautionary measures beforehand. Elaborating on this, Dr RK Dixit, District Surveillance Officer, Dehradun, said that it has been found there has been extensive movement of people from Delhi to Uttarakhand, especially to Dehradun, in the past fortnight. He added that people from the capital are coming here mainly for weddings and short vacations, and thus it is important to test them before they move to the hills or other tourist places. As per the Health Department officials, testing at the border is being conducted free of charge for now, and might have to be paid for in the coming days. Nainital is also considering starting COVID testing at its border. Nainital CMO Dr Bhagirathi Joshi said that the final decision regarding this will soon be taken by the district administration. Haridwar Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr SK Jha also added that random COVID sampling is being done at the city border for those coming from Delhi, especially those who halt in Haridwar.

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Vistara to operate non-stop flights between Mumbai and London from Jan

Vistara will operate special, non-stop flights between Mumbai and London Heathrow from 16 January 2021. The airline will operate these special flights thrice a week – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, complementing its recently-launched service between Delhi and London Heathrow as part of the ‘transport bubble’ agreement between India and the UK. The flights will be operated on Vistara’s brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, offering world-class service and hospitality in Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins. Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “We are delighted at the very positive response to our service between Delhi and London Heathrow which has encouraged us to further strengthen the network by adding connectivity from Mumbai as we see considerable demand between the two countries, and remain optimistic about the future. Vistara is well-positioned with its brand new fleet, world-class cabin products, award-winning service, and more importantly, the trust of our customers.”

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Shillong-Delhi flights: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma discusses final plans with FlyBig officials

Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday had a discussion on the final plans to operationalise flights from Umroi Airport in Shillong and Delhi. The Meghalaya chief minister had discussions with officials from FlyBig and Transport department. Informing about the discussions, Meghalaya chief minister Sangma in a tweet on Thursday said efforts are being made to obtain air operators permit from the Union civil aviation ministry at the earliest. He hoped the flights on the Shillong-Delhi route would be launched soon. “Discussed the final plans to operationalise flights from Shillong to Delhi with officials from FlyBig & Transport Dept. Efforts are on to obtain the Air Operators Permit from @MoCA_GoI at the earliest. Looking forward to launching the Delhi-Shillong flight soon,” Conrad Sangma tweeted.

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