News

Taj Mahal, other Agra monuments reopening cancelled

Agra monuments to not open today! In view of the increasing number of coronavirus cases, the iconic Taj Mahal and other monuments in the city of Agra will not be opening for tourists from Monday, according to a report in Reuters. The governmental order has been withdrawn as the authorities have expressed concern over the risk of new cases entering the cities with the tourists. The report added that a new order was issued by the city authorities on Sunday, extending the lockdown placed on the monuments in and around Agra. The order has not given a date till when the monuments will remain closed, the report stated. The report cited the order as saying that keeping in view the interest of the public, authorities had decided to keep the monuments closed for now. Monuments all over the country had been closed since March, when the coronavirus spread in India, and the Centre decided to open the historical monuments only from Monday. However, the reopening of these structures was contingent on the compliance of the state as well as district authorities. The report also quoted a district administration official in Agra as saying that the authorities did not expect a cluster of visitors around the historical monument in any case, since the shops and hotels in the area were closed. Meanwhile, the cases of COVID-19 in India are on a steep rise, with the country reporting the highest single-day number of 24,248 cases and nearly 500 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in India to 6.97 lakhs, according to the news agency ANI which cited the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This number pushed India to the third position globally in terms of absolute number of total coronavirus cases, replacing Russia. The government has been opening domestic travel in phases, and with domestic flights being allowed to operate, the government has been hoping that people would visit some of the popular destinations, even as containment zones continue to be under strict lockdown, according to the Reuters report.

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Indian Railways' private trains may provide you preferred seats

New Delhi: Indian Railways' latest megaproject allowing entry of private players to operate passenger trains will have several features that will come into effect for the first time. The railway has come up with a set of conditions for the private players willing to enter as operators of these passenger trains. The passengers opting for private player operated trains may have to pay for preferred seats, just like in airlines. Not just the preferred seats, passengers may even have to pay for any add on on-board services which may include wi-fi, onboard entertainment and few others. The decision to charge for these services, however, will be in the hands of private players. As per the conditions laid down for the private players, or as per the bid document, it has that bidders based on their financial capabilities will have to share gross revenue with the Indian Railways. While the railways has given private players the freedom to fix the fares for the trains they would be operating, they will also be having the freedom to explore areas of generating ancillary of new avenues to generate revenues. The proposed project which involves private trains to operate in Mumbai (cluster-1) will go through a two-stage competitive bidding process between interested parties, based on the share offered in the gross revenue of the project. Railways has clearly laid that a certain portion of gross revenue earned by the private player has to be shared with it as well. Factors mandated by Railways for private trains 1. Duration of journey: The running time taken by a train from originating station to destination station shall be comparable to the fastest train of Railways operating in the same route. No new similar scheduled train will depart the originating station in the same route within 60 minutes. 2. Length of Train: Each train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches and a maximum not exceeding the longest passenger train in the route. 3. Configuration of trains: To be decided as per party based on demand 4. Operation and maintenance: Governed by standards and specifications and requirements given in concession. While Railways will allow usage of its maintenance depots, private parties will have to provide for manpower, tools, and plants as required. The scheduled maintenance of the trains shall not be before 31 days or travel of 40,000 kms of such previous scheduled maintenance, whichever is later. 5. The crew (driver and guard) required for the operation of the trains shall be provided by Railways but will have to be trained by private parties 6. Safety certification shall be done by Railways based on its own safety parameters 7. Concession period will be for a period of 35 years commencing from the appointed date 8. Maximum Speed: Trains will have to be designed to operate at a maximum speed of 160 kmph 9. Determination of fare: The private entity shall have the freedom to decide on the fare to be charged from its passengers. 10. Ticketing: The private entity shall use the existing Indian Railway passenger reservation system for booking of tickets. In addition to the conditions laid down by the Railways for private players, the latter will have to pay a fixed and predetermined haulage charge, charges for energy consumed besides paying penalties for poor performance. Private companies will have a choice to procure trains and locomotives from a source of their choice complying with Railways' standards. However, the concession agreement would include provisions relating to mandatory sourcing via domestic production in India over a period of time. Although Indian Railways has set a target to run the first private player operated train by April 2023, the Ministry has called the first pre-bid meeting for the project on 21st July. The big companies including Esselgroup, Adani Group, RK Associates, Alstom, Bombardier, and several other big names have already shown their keen interest in this mega project. Earlier, the ministry has stated that “The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world-class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce the demand-supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.”

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Jammu and Kashmir to reopen for tourists soon: Officials

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday decided to reopen the tourism sector, which has been shut since August last year when the government scrapped the former state’s special status. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu, who issued directions to reopen the tourism sector, considered the backbone of J-K’s economy. “J&K to reopen for tourism soon. Govt to issue detailed guidelines and SoP shortly. LG issues directions in high level meeting in Srinagar today,” Rohit Kansal, J&K’s spokesperson and principal secretary, tweeted late on Monday night. Very few tourists have visited the Union territory in the last year after Article 370 was revoked and the coronavirus pandemic broke. Authorities had banned the entry of foreign tourists into the region as a precautionary measure in view of the outbreak of coronavirus disease around the world. The district administration in Srinagar, which houses many of Kashmir’s prominent tourist places, ordered the closure of parks and gardens, including tourist places like Mughal Gardens, as a precautionary measure soon after the lockdown. The Srinagar Tulip Garden, one of the largest tulip gardens in Asia where over 1.3 million flowers grow, was also kept closed. Hotels, restaurants and community kitchens were also closed and there was a ban on home delivery of food. Tour operators and travel agencies were asked to share details of bookings of national as well as international air travel. They were asked to share details of all residents travelling outside India and planning to return to Srinagar through their agencies. The outbreak of disease and the subsequent measures put further burden on Kashmir’s tourism industry, which had been witnessing a downturn since August last year.Tourism nosedived last year after the government issued a travel advisory asking tourists and pilgrims to leave the Kashmir Valley, a few days before the central government revoked the special status under Article 370 and split the region into two Union territories on August 5. For months, restrictions remained in place with no internet as the region remained shut. Though the restrictions were later removed, low-speed internet was restored and the travel advisory revoked, there were hardly any tourists visiting the region.

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Indian Railways all set to roll out new timetable

New Delhi: As the Indian Railways prepares to go back to normal operations, the new norm seems to be far from the pre-COVID times. The railways is preparing a 'zero-based' time-table for all trains. This means that the schedule and frequency of the earlier time-tabled passenger trains will be revised giving the railways flexibility to reduce the number of halts of mail/express trains and some other trains as well, TOI reported. Earlier, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said that due to the coronavirus pandemic there has been a delay in implementation of the decision, but it will be implemented. As reported by TOI, sources have said that in few cases the halts of express/mail trains would be done away with after accessing the number of passengers, who board or de-board from a specific stoppage. The reduced number of halts is expected to reduce the travel time as trains can run non-stop for longer distances. Yadav had said that the 151 trains that are to be operated by private players will also be a part of the zero-based timetable. Private players to operate 151 trains Chairman Railway Board VK Yadav has said the operation of private trains along 109 routes is scheduled to begin by 2023. Talking about the fares that these trains will attract, he said: “We need to note that this is the era of competition, IRCTC had also run a few private trains. The fares that private train operators decide will weigh in factors including airfares that come in the same segment and also AC bus fares and we will fix the fares after comparing with them. I do not think that the fares fixed by private train operators will be too high ultimately if they want to keep financial viability,” he added. On June 22, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal had said that "Private sector can support in a million ways... I am going to lease out new routes, in the sense that I am going to say that okay, you (private players) identify the route (where) you want to set up a train service. "If you want, we are willing to co-invest with you in new lines. We are willing to lease out traffic routes, we are willing to lease out parcel trains. So, there are a lot of opportunities opening up for the private sector," Goyal said. Passenger trains cancelled till August 12 As of now, Indian Railways has cancelled all the passenger train services till August 12. The trains include regular time-tabled mail or express trains and suburban rail services across the country. However, the railway ministry has said that the special Rajdhani trains that started from May 12, will be functional. The railways has also introduced 200 special mail and express train services for passengers during the lockdown, starting from June 1. Those trains will remain operational till August 12, 2020, it added.

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MP Tourism launches social media campaign ‘Intezaar aapka…’ to attract tourists post-Covid

BHOPAL: The MP Tourism Development Corporation has launched a social media campaign to draw tourists to the state, post the corona lockdown. The campaign with tagline ‘Intezaar aapka…’ (we are waiting for you) is aimed to draw potential visitors to tourist destinations in the state. “The campaign has been launched on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter,” corporation additional managing director Sonia Meena said. The campaign promises visitors, ‘Safe travel, safe stay and safe tour’. The tourist destinations being promoted through campaign include Amarkantak, Panchmari, Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Ujjain. The corporation is ready with tour packages of different durations that can suit the pockets of different income groups of people.

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Himachal Pradesh plans to open up for tourism

Himachal Pradesh lockdown is over much like the rest of the country, but tourism is still not operational. However, latest news reports suggest that the Himachal Pradesh government might be opening up for tourism from next week. Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur said that the state is opening up for tourism with guidelines that are required to be followed by interested travellers. According to reports, Himachal Tourism will come up with some Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), so that tourism in the state can function smoothly without any hiccups during this time. One of the things that is already mentioned by the state government is that it is making it mandatory for tourists to show test reports for negative COVID-19 upon entry. Furthermore, the report must be furnished from an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recognised lab. The Ministry of Home Affairs has now confirmed that tourists will not be restricted from moving around the state. However, following the SOPs is important at the same time. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh said in a statement to the media, "We have taken up the matter to MHA that registrations would be mandatory and we would keep a record if someone is tested positive and this record will help in contact tracing. As far as tourism is concerned, the tourists will have to come minimum for five to seven days and SOPs would be issued by Monday." The good news in all this for the state is that there were no new cases of COVID-19 in the state of Himachal Pradesh in the last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases in Himachal Pradesh is 1046, with 326 active ones, with 9 reported deaths.

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