Category: India

Adventure seekers of Jharkhand and the neighbouring states are going to have fun and adventure filled trips in various parts of the state next month. The state tourism department is all set to conduct adventure tourism events in various districts of Jharkhand from January 11 to 20. Ranchi, Betla, Netarhat and Chandil Dam are the locations identified for the events,; where over 20 types of adventure activities will be organized. Various events which people can enjoy includes cycling, bullock cart ride, trekking, stargazing, paragliding, paddle boating, rock climbing, kayaking, rope course, fishing, bungee jumping, cliff jumping, banana boat ride, barefoot ... Read more

Pakistan’s medical tourism sector has been losing clients from Afghanistan, as they are moving to India for treatment. It was acknowledged by the Ministry of Commerce in a written reply to a question from minority lawmaker Mahesh Kumar Malani regarding reasons for the decline in exports to Afghanistan over the past four years. The reason for the shift is reported to be due to the border management policy of Pakistan, increasing difficulties faced by Afghanis in getting Pakistani visa, compulsory police reports and security clearances and unnecessary security checks at border crossing point. Another bunch of factors listed by Pakistan’s ... Read more

Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) told ET that it is planning to approach the Competition Commission of India and the tourism ministry and that all four regional associations under FHRAI – North, South, East and West – are in line with its stance of nationwide protests if their demands are not met. Two weeks before FHRAI has warned of action against room aggregator OYO for large-scale breach of contracts, jeopardizing the safety of consumers and violation of laws. The move comes a week after the apex body issued a notice to online travel aggregators (OTAs) – ... Read more

As per a recent report by a parliamentary panel, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced by the Center has a negative impact on the tourism sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The panel suggests reconsidering the indirect tax system in the tourism related activities of the state. The committee was headed by Rajya Sabha member Kanwar Deep Singh, who expressed concern at the declining tourism in the picturesque State, has asked the Government to hold talks with the countries which have issued advisories against travel to J&K. “It (GST) must be done in a cautious and phased manner in order ... Read more

After conquering Kilimanjaro, 8-year-old Hyderabad boy climbs Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko along with five other members, including his mother and sister. Samanyu Pothuraju has so far climbed 4 mountains, and is now gearing up up to climb Mount Fuji in Japan. The team donned Telangana handlooms while climbing Kosciuszko with an aim to promote handloom weavers in the state. The team to scale the 7,310 feet peak, by Raji Tammineni of Boots and Cramptons, included four women and the 8-yr-old Pothuraju. Earlier in 2017, Pothuraju claimed the world record after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2,281 days, beating USA’s Montanna Kenney who accomplished the task in ... Read more

The Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), launched a 50-day countdown for Unani Day 2019. During the next 50 days, the CCRUM and its regional institutes / centres would organize a host of activities and events as a run up to Unani Day which is celebrated on 11th February every year. The countdown activities would include marathons, writathon, quiz competitions, public health talks, daily health tips for the general public, workshops, etc. The 23 institutes of the CCRUM would start their functioning with a five-minute public talk on the role of Unani Medicine in the management of different ... Read more

An India-China Film Festival is going to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in order to strengthen people-to-people connect and deepen cultural understanding between the two countries. It is as part of the 1st India-China High Level Mechanism on Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges taking place from 22nd to 24th December, 2018. The three day Festival will be organized at Siri Fort Auditorium II, New Delhi by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. A total of seven films including four Chinese and three Indian Films will be screened during the Festival. ... Read more

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued notification under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 mandating the provision of Vehicle Location Tracking (VLT) device and emergency buttons in all Public Service Vehicles registered on or after 1st January, 2019. States may decide timelines for implementation of VLT and emergency buttons in vehicles registered upto 31st December, 2018. Two-wheelers, E-rickshaw, three wheelers and any transport vehicles for which no permit is required under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 are exempted from this requirement. The Ministry has sanctioned proposals under Nirbhaya Fund after recommendation by Empowered Committee of Ministry of Women ... Read more

Mahindra Group is to develop a Bollywood theme-based tourism project in Kandivali area of Mumbai with an investment of Rs 1,900 crore. The proposal is approved by the Maharashtra government through a Government Resolution (GR). The project will be developed on 82,950.5 sqm area belonging to the Mahindra Group on its plot in suburban Kandivali. A high-powered government committee had earlier this year accorded it in the ultra-mega project status. As per the state tourism policy of 2016, an ultra-mega project would require a capital investment of Rs 500 crore and to employ 750 people and complete it in 84 ... Read more

Tiger Reserve Entrance Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), located in the Southern Western Ghats in Tirunelveli District and Kanyakumari District in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu State. The Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve was created in 1988 by combining Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary (251 km) and Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary (567 km), both established in 1962. Notification of 77 km of parts of Veerapuli and Kilamalai Reserve Forests in adjacent Kanyakumari district, added to the reserve in April 1996, is pending. A 400 km2 core area of this reserve has been proposed as ... Read more

From the press meet The 3rd Edition of the Dwijing Festival will be held from December 27, 2018, and continue till January 7, 2019. It was officially announced on 19th December 2018, in a press conference held at Novotel, Guwahati. Minister of Tourism, Chandan Brahma and Chairman, ATDC, Jayanta Malla Baruah etc., have taken part in the press meet. With the target of promoting river tourism in the rural areas of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and the State, the festival was initiated in the year 2016-17 under the moniker of ‘Aie River Festival’ on the bank of river Aie in ... Read more

ISRO is working on reusable technology for reducing the cost of access to space including the development of a winged body unmanned reusable launch vehicle for launching payloads into low earth orbits. ISRO has successfully developed a scaled down (1:5) technology demonstration version of Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) vehicle and successfully carried out the first experimental mission on May 23, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. In this mission, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control and reusable thermal protection system have been successfully demonstrated. Development of Reusable Launch Vehicles is a technical challenge ... Read more

Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has signed an MoU with National Building Construction Corporation Ltd on 30th June 2017 for redevelopment of 10 stations, viz. Tirupati, Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Nellore, Madgaon, Charbagh (Lucknow), Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane New, Ernakulam Jn. and Puducherry as a part of the SMART City project launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. This information was given by Rajen Gohain, Minister of State of Railways, in Lok Sabha on 19th December 2018, while answering a question related to it. Contracts have been awarded for redevelopment of Gomtinagar and Charbagh (Lucknow) railway stations. Bids have been invited ... Read more

Photo for representative purpose only Uttarakhand government is planning to introduce mobile caravans or motor homes equipped with all facilities available in a house, to attract tourists to the major tourist destinations. The state also envisages encouragement of home-stay facilities in the outskirts of trekking tracks and hill stations. “We are working on a plan to introduce fleets of mobile caravans equipped with all facilities available in homes, which will be introduced soon. The scheme aims to attract high-end tourists to a number of scenic spots dotting the mountain state,” said Satpal Maharaj, Tourism minister. Photo for representative purpose only ... Read more

The retro, classic Italian brand, Lambretta, is planning a return to India with a prototype debut at the Auto Expo 2020 (February 6-9). Lambretta will come in an electric avatar, but expect it to retain the classic design. The product is currently under development in Milan and the Italian company has tied up with the Delhi-based Lohia Auto Ltd and Bird Group to sell the products in India. The company has not disclosed the product specifications and the name of the product yet. Lambretta is collaborating with a global company to develop the electric two-wheeler. Lambretta has also announced the development of ... Read more