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Indian Railways likely to run 100 more trains soon

NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is likely to announce operation of nearly 100 more passenger trains soon. These would be both inter-state and intra-state trains. Sources said the railway ministry is seeking go ahead from the home ministry. All these trains would be designated as "special trains". Currently, only 230 express trains are being operated, which include 30 Rajdhani type trains. Sources said the timing of these trains won't be changed when railways launches its zero-based time tables next couple of months or in April. The railway ministry had earlier said that more trains would be announced in phases considering the demand and the Covid situation. In fact, earlier plans were deferred. Now with the Unlock 4.0 announced and Metro Rail services starting from September, there is high probability of the workforce moving from one place to another.

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Egypt is set to resume cultural tourism on Sept. 1

CAIRO: Egypt is set to resume cultural tourism on Sept. 1 after a five-month hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The decision, issued by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, will involve strict adherence to precautionary measures against coronavirus. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the health regulations after the decision by the Supreme Committee for the Management of the Coronavirus Crisis to allow tourism in the Luxor and Aswan governorates. Tourist locations are to operate at 50 percent of their maximum operating capacity, while tourist transport (buses, limousines and golf carts) must carry 50 percent of their maximum capacity and leave vacant seats between each passenger. Limousines are limited to two passengers. Mohammed Othman, head of the Cultural Tourism Marketing Committee in Upper Egypt, said that tourist and hotel establishments in Luxor and Aswan have completed preparations to receive foreign and domestic visitors. He added that tourists from Poland and Belgium will be the first to visit archaeological and cultural sites, followed by groups from Japan, South Korea and France throughout the month. Othman said that Egyptian tourism companies sent promotional leaflets to foreign tourism agents for Egyptian tourist destinations. The leaflets included praise for the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili, for the suggested precautionary measures applied to Egyptian tourism and hotel facilities. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who met with Pololikashvili during a recent Egyptian trip, said there is a list of hotels and restaurants in Luxor and Aswan that have health and safety certificates. He added that Luxor International Airport is ready to receive tourists after precautionary measures were put in place. El-Sisi said that about 700 tourism workers in Luxor have been trained to practice social distancing measures. Tharwat Agamy, head of the Chamber of Tourism Companies in Upper Egypt, said there have been dozens of requests from countries, including Japan, Italy and Belgium, to organize trips to Luxor during September.

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Sri Lanka ready with short term plan to revive tourism

Colombo, Aug 31 (IANS): Sri Lanka will implement a short term action plan to revive the country's tourism industry which has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said on Monday. He said the government will allocate nearly $1 million over the next four months to revive tourism and the short term action plan was being finalized, reports Xinhua news agency. Under the plan, 12 new tourist attraction sites identified in several districts would be developed while community tourist villages would also be developed. Ranatunga said the action plan will also be taken to modernize the Negombo, Kandy, and Kalutara railway stations, in outer Colombo, central highlands, and the south, within the next four months under a project to upgrade the railway stations to attract local and foreign tourists. Three old forts in Mannar, Kalpitiya, and Batticaloa which are under the supervision of the Archaeology Department will also be further developed. Nearly 500,000 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka from January to March this year after which the country's international airports were closed due to the pandemic which has so far infected over 3,000 people. The government said the airport will remain closed till such a time when repatriations are completed.

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Ban lifted, Chikkamagaluru is now open for all

Chikkamagaluru district, which till now had banned inter-state and intra-state tourists, has now opened up itself to welcome tourism. Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham issued an order withdrawing the ban. He had said that the ban was imposed earlier to stop people flocking the popular tourist destination to control the virus, and has been revoked now. During the middle phase of lockdown, when restrictions were eased, thousands visited Mullayanagiri (the highest peak in Karnataka), which is very close to Chikkamagaluru city. This had raised concerns and the district administration had soon come out with a ban to restrict flocking and curb the spread of the virus. As per the latest order, tourists can only travel in their personal or hired vehicles like cars or two-wheelers and not come in groups or ‘en masse’ in buses. The same directive has been communicated to homestays and village panchayats. Geetha Rani, a techie said, “Personally, Chikkamagaluru is a visual treat and I always go for an unwinding trip. I really thank the district administration for revoking the ban. As physical distancing can be easily ensured, tourists should ensure that they always wear masks.” Sridevi G, a homemaker, said that for her Chikka­ma­galuru also meant a devotional place, with its many historical temples. With the ban lifted, she is hoping to travel to Chikkamagaluru soon. The district administration too has given a set of guidelines for homestays and hotels to follow and ensure strict sanitization of the place.

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These states to resume buses, trains: Union Home Ministry

Interstate bus services are to resume in Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu starting Tuesday, September 1, and metro services in Kochi and Bangalore beginning on September 7 as mass transport systems in the states and cities resume after the five-month lockdown for Covid-19 pandemic. Maharashtra is contemplating allowing inter-state buses to ply from September 7, officials in the state said. This comes a day after the Union home ministry allowed states to resume metro services and hotels and bars to reopen from September 7 as part of Unlock 4. Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, meanwhile, announced extension of lockdown till September 30. “Under relaxed norms, no complete lockdown will be enforced on Sundays in September. E-pass system for inter-district travel will be discontinued. All places of worship, hotels and resorts have been allowed to re-open,” he said. Buses run by state owned enterprise will run with 50% capacity with the government deciding to bear the loss. Bihar, which is likely to hold assembly polls in November-December, however, is likely to announce significant relaxations after September 6, when the state-wide lockdown ends. The Centre has prohibited lockdowns outside containment zones without its permission as part of the Unlock 4 guidelines. The Bihar government may come up with guidelines related to social gatherings, public meetings and political functions in view of the elections. In the state-wide lockdown, enforced since August 1, only shops selling essential goods remained open. “Till September 6, the state-wide lockdown is in force. The government will review the situation and likely issue new orders,” said additional chief secretary, home, Amir Subhani. As social distancing norms are being enforced, bus travel in Jharkhand would become costlier from September 1 as the state has allowed only 50% seating capacity to be occupied. Kerala government officials said Kochi Metro will start functioning from September 7 in a staggered manner. Maharashtra government officials said more relaxations would be offered under its ‘Mission Begin Again’ in a calibrated manner including opening up of inter-state bus travel. The state is likely to allow gymnasiums to open and government and private establishments to increase employee strength to between 30% and 50% from the present 10-15%, the officials said. “Going by the surge in cases, we are not in a position to open what all has been allowed by the Centre,” said an official. He said the government is unlikely to open religious places despite demands by the opposition. The relaxations are likely to be notified on Monday.Officials in the West Bengal said that new Unlock guidelines may not be announced as chief minister Mamata Banerjee has declared a complete state-wide lockdown on September 7, 11 and 12.

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Uttarakhand relaxes norms to visit state, removes 2000 visitors per day ceiling

DEHRADUN: In an effort to boost tourism revenue, one of the major sources of income of the state, Uttarakhand government has relaxed norms to visit the state and has removed the ceiling of 2000 visitors per day. Other relaxations were granted in terms of ICMR recognized COVID-19 negative report and making 'Truenat' tests acceptable. Madan Kaushik, state cabinet minister and spokesperson for the state government said, "The visitors have to register themselves on a state government smart city portal smartcitydehradun.uk.gov.in and produce COVID negative report ranging in the last 72-hours." A letter from the secretary of disaster management SA Murugesan dated August 30, 2020, stated that there shall be no restriction on interstate or intrastate movement of people and goods. The move comes after the demands of relaxations by the tourism sector which forms the backbone of the economy of the hill state. The tourism, especially religious tourism has been hit hard in the state with thousands left struggling for ends to meet. As religious tourism has got hit badly in Uttarakhand due to Covid 19 epidemic, priests are opting for odd jobs including factory workers. The priests by working in factories are earning between Rs 8000-12,000 per month. Many also appealed to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to help them in this hour of financial scarcity. The state government had canceled Kanwar Yatra this year in the wake of the epidemic which hit religious tourism in Haridwar the hardest after Char Dham Yatra. However, the Char Dham Yatra was allowed from June 2020 for state residents and later for residents of other states too since last month giving some respite to the sector. The devotees of 'Kanwar Yatra' come from the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to Uttarakhand. Last year, more than 3.5 crore devotees visited Haridwar through the yatra in the auspicious month.

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