Category: India

When the nation is celebrating its 70th Republic day on Sunday, 26th January 2019, Indian Railways is all set to showcase their tableau with the theme “Mohan se Mahatma”. The tableau illustrates an evolutionary journey of Mahatma Gandhi and Indian Railways. Indian Railways Tableau depicts the “transformation of Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi”. The incident in 1893, when the young Mohan Das was thrown out of a “European only” compartment at Pietermaritzburg railway station in South Africa, acted as a catalyst for him to practice ‘Satyagrah’. He later emerged as ‘Mahatma’ for this nation. The front portion ... Read more

Mandovi Bridge Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways will inaugurate the newly built, 5.1 km long, four-lane, cable stayed bridge over river Mandovi in Goa on Sunday, 27th January 2019. The bridge will support and sustain burgeoning traffic in Panjim. It will facilitate routing of Mumbai bound traffic coming in from Bangalore via Ponda route and Old Goa towards NH-17, bypassing the main Panjim City. It will also help overcome the bottlenecks caused at Panaji KTC Circle, and Panaji Entrance as the same route is currently being used by local traffic as well as NH-17 Highway bound ... Read more

A workshop on ‘Andhra Pradesh: Building a Global Tourism Destination’ was organized at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi by Centre for Strategy and Leadership (CSL) in association with Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), Government of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati is aimed to become a world class capital and a tourism hub as envisaged by the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The Amaravati Tourism City is planned in proximity to the historic Undavalli caves along the river Krishna water front with the objective of boosting leisure, business, eco, health as well as religious tourism. APCRDA is the nodal agency which is developing ... Read more

Goa, the state known for its beach tourism, is planning to ban drinking liquor in public places and beaches.  Goa Cabinet has approved the amendment to the provision of strict disciplinary measures to ban food and cooking food besides drinking alcohol. As per the new law, the offenders will be imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 or three months imprisonment. Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said the amendment was aimed at preventing liquor bottles in the beaches, discouraging alcohol and cooking food. “Nobody can drink alcohol on our beaches and tourist places any more. Bottles cannot be carried there. Food ... Read more

Indian railway extends 22 pairs of train services running on Indian Railways system. It was announced by Piyush Goyal, Minister or Railways and Coal, in Rail Bhavan on Wednesday. These extensions will provide additional connectivity between various places in the country. Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board; Girish Pillai, Member Traffic, Railway Board and other senior officers were present on the occasion. Speaking of the occasion, the minister said, the extension of train services will reduce additional lie-over time of the trains across various Zones of Indian Railways. “The first successful experiment of extension was introduced on Gatimaan Express, which ... Read more

Giving stimulus to the tourism industry, Visakhapatnam port to receive a cruise liner from Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) carrying around 100 foreign tourists. The seven starred cruiser – Silver Discoverer- will reach the port on Thursday morning for a dawn-to-dusk halt. “It will be a special day to remember for all of us. The arrival of such a big cruise liner will also give impetus to our plan to construct a world-class cruise terminal between the Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd and Channel Berth,” said P L Haranadh, Visakhapatnam Port Deputy Chairman. The proposed cruise terminal will be built with cost ... Read more

The Apeejay Surrendra Group, which owns The Park Hotels, is planning to double its inventory to 4,000 keys over the next five years. It is also planning to add niche offerings that include management of heritage properties and making them commercially viable. The Park and The Park Collection will target the luxury and super-luxury segments, while the Zone by The Park will cater to the upscale category. The company currently has an inventory of 1,770 keys, through 19 properties. Nearly 65 per cent of the rooms are located across own properties. According to Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park ... Read more

The Indian Railway Catering Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) is all set to open pod hotels near the Mumbai Central Railway station, for which they have already sent a proposal to the Western Railways, and approval is awaited. Pod hotels/capsule hotels were first developed in Japan and had attracted the world’s attention with their compact accommodation system which includes top-of-the-class amenities that one would find in any hotel room. India’s first such hotel opened in Andheri (Mumbai) in 2017. With these pod hotels,which is set to be spread over 4000 square feet, IRCTC is planning to provide a stopover option that is ... Read more

Forget about going to Antarctica to experience the life in an Igloo. Two youngsters, Vikas Kumar and Tashi Dorje, have built snow huts near the Hamta Pass at Sainthen village in Kullu district to attract tourists in the region. The concept of igloo tourism (stay in snow houses) was conceived by the youth in 2017 to give fillip to winter tourism in Kullu-Manali. The igloo tourism is gaining momentum. They had built one igloo on a trial basis. When the response was encouraging, they decided to move forward in an organised way. This year they have developed three igloos, especially ... Read more

Jammu and Kashmir’s Sericulture and Tourism departments are planning to introduce ‘Seri-Tourism’ as a joint venture to promote both the sectors for enhancing the livelihood opportunities, a senior government official has said. Under the first phase, model mulberry gardens of highly improved Japanese mulberry plants would be established at the Jammu Tawi Golf Course (JTGC), Sidhra and the Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC) in Srinagar during this season, said Secretary, Tourism, Rigzin Samphael at a meeting here on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Director Sericulture Gulzar Ahmad Shabnum, Secretary of the JTGC, Sidhra Hitesh Gupta and other senior officers ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that film industry has an enormous role in promoting tourism, which has the added benefit of employment generation. He was inaugurating the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai on Saturday, 19th January 2019. The PM took a tour of the Museum, after which he addressed a gathering of the film fraternity. Speaking on the occasion, he congratulated everyone for the inauguration of NMIC, which he said showcases the entire history of Indian cinema in one place. He also congratulated the film fraternity, under whose guidance Indian cinema has been continuously making new strides. Talking about ... Read more

Aman and Dia in a playful fight(Photo Courtesy: Hindustan Times) Navjot Singh Sidhu , Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister of Punjab, decided to adopt two Royal Bengal tigers at Chhatbir zoo on Thurday. The Six-year-old Aman and his five-year-old companion Dia will be now the responsibility of the cricketer-turned-politician. Dia is a white Royal Bengal tiger, born in the zoo in 2013, while Aman, born in 2012 at a Kanpur zoo, was brought here in 2015. Dia’s brother Love, was given to the Kanpur zoo in exchange for Aman by the Chhatbir zoo authorities. Sidhu has to spent Rs 4,12,800 ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the super-specialty public hospital – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research- in Ahmedabad on 17th January 2018. Built by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the 78 meter high, 1500 bed hospital is equipped with all modern amenities, including an air ambulance. PM inspected the facilities at the hospital. He lauded the efforts of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for setting up a world class hospital and said, “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Ahmedabad hospital will prove to be a model for other government hospitals in the country.” Built at a ... Read more

The 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit gets underway at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre in Gandhinagar on 18th January 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of the summit aimed at giving a fillip to investments in Gujarat. In the run up to the start of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit scheduled to be held during January 18-20, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Global Trade Show at the Exhibition centre. The PM visited the various pavilions and evinced keen interest in the stalls of ISRO, DRDO, Khadi etc., among others bringing to the fore his vision ... Read more

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts said the group is expanding its footprint in Jammu and Kashmir with signing of an agreement with a new hotel, Viraj Sarovar Portico, in Jammu. The 45-room hotel will become operational in mid-2019 and will be Sarovar’s second hotel in the state after RK Sarovar Portico in Srinagar, the company said in a statement. Viraj Sarovar Portico, Jammu, is strategically located in the epicenter of corporate, educational & industrial areas of Bari Brahmana. The hotel is in close proximity to Jammu Airport and railway station. The hotel will offer 45 rooms with contemporary amenities and extensive ... Read more