In a bid to support revival of sectors hit most by the Covid-19 pandemic, Reserve Bank of India on Friday decided to open a separate liquidity window of Rs 15,000 crore for certain contact-intensive sectors like hotels and restaurants, tourism and aviation ancillary services.
Having failed to receive even a lukewarm response to the open tender for marketing India as a tourist destination overseas, the ministry of tourism has decided to extend the deadline by over a fortnight to mid-August.
The Union tourism ministry has approved 51 hotel projects in South India, according to a Confederation of Indian Industry report.
Nangiohbok Rymbai, a graduate in economics who works as a daily wage labourer in Shillong, tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar what he would like to see in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget.
There were also posts on social media claiming that some Indians are cancelling their scheduled trip to the Maldives in view of the row.
A top Maldivian government official said that during the meeting, Naseer made it clear that the remarks do not reflect the views of the Maldivian government, and reaffirmed Maldives' continued support for its neighbour, the Sun Online reported.
'We don't have a say which MP stays where. We prepare everything and allot according to the list we get from Parliament.'
With India set to open up its border for international tourists, the government has decided on 'reciprocal treatment' to the applicants under new visa conditions. The visa facilitation will depend on the applicant's home country's policy for the Indian tourists.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the mascot of 'Incredible India' campaign with the Tourism Ministry finally deciding to do away with plans to rope in any Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, for the role which was lying vacant after ouster of Aamir Khan earlier this year.
In a bid to attract holiday makers from abroad, India has launched a major tourism promotion campaign at the ITB Berlin, the world's largest travel trade show.
Data for the first nine days of January shows that tourist arrivals from India to the Maldives has been at similar levels as last year during the same period.
The tourism ministry is awaiting tourist numbers from UP and Bihar, which would largely determine the economic feasibility of running a tourist train on a daily basis.
Close to 200 webcams are likely to be installed across the country
Industry insiders expect Chinese tourists coming to India to double in around two years.
India earned over Rs 3.22 lakh crore (Rs 3.22 trillion) worth of foreign exchange through tourism.
After the advent of the US Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, US insurance companies plan to encourage medical tourism.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress has opposed the appointment of senior Congress leader Shankarsingh Vaghela as chairman of India Tourism Development Corporation with a cabinet minister rank.
In the next 25 years, the Mumbai port will need five terminals because the current passenger traffic of 200,000 is expected to climb to 4 million.
The tourism industry expects a short-term impact, as it is counting on the state's proven expertise in managing such crises.
The Budget is likely to expand the scope of LTA and LTC.
The ministry of tourism is less concerned about the impact of the floods on life and property, but is more focused on promoting tourism, says Swathi Seshadri. Anupam Chakravartty reports
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central government will use the unorganised workers database - e-Shram portal - to provide the benefits of various government programmes to the nearly 300 million workers over the next five years, if it is voted to power for the third consecutive term in the upcoming general elections. "We have registered unorganised workers on the e-Shram platform. "We will reach out to the e-Shram registered 'shramik bandhu' and help them avail the benefits of various government programmes that they are eligible for," the manifesto of the party read.
In a statement on Sunday, the Maldivian foreign ministry said they were aware of the "derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals".
In the same year, medical tourism was a $333-million strong market and the ministry said given its growth rate of 25 per cent it will emerge as $2billion market in 2012.
Arvind Mayaram, who was shunted from Finance Ministry to Tourism only a fortnight ago, has now been transferred as secretary in minority affairs ministry even before he took charge of his new post.
These measures are part of initiatives by these nations to attract Indian tourists, says Aneesh Phadnis.
'It is flabbergasting to think that this heavenly region has, for decades, been coveted by India's aggressive neighbours,' says Claude Arpi after a recent visit to Ladakh. 'Wanting to use the newly created infrastructure to defend the borders after the clash of 2020 with China and the resulting standoffs, the home ministry is keen to boost border tourism to show that these areas are controlled by India.'
In the wake of rising incidence of crime against tourists, particularly women, the Centre has decided to review safety and security measures with the state governments on January 24. A communication in this regard was sent to all chief secretaries by Tourism Secretary Shilabhadra Banerjee on Thursday, according to an official spokesman.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the attendees of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi with his speech being translated for the audience in real-time using artificial intelligence.
A massive avalanche on Friday struck Mount Everest killing at least 13 Nepalese Sherpa guides and injuring several others in the deadliest mountaineering accident on the world's highest peak.
This is in addition to 43 countries which received approval last year.
The tourism ministry's Incredible India website acquired a business dimension on Wednesday with the launch of an e-commerce platform that will allow firms to conduct a host of travel-related activities.
In mid-October, travellers from the US, the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Australia were advised by their governments to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to India, citing terror threats.
A Supreme Court-constituted panel has asked the Union environment ministry to amend or withdraw the guidelines related to setting up zoos and safaris within tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries to discourage the use of wildlife habitats for tourism activities which are non-site specific.
Gearing up to deal with an impending slowdown in tourist arrivals, the tourism ministry is considering waiving off visa fee for foreign travellers.
To increase the inbound tourist inflow, the tourism ministry has also given a proposal to the home ministry.
Foreign exchange earnings from tourism also recorded a robust growth of 19.2 per cent during this period as the exchequer earned Rs 6,485 crore (Rs 64.85 billion) compared to Rs 5,440 crore (Rs 54.4 billion) in the corresponding period last year, according to Tourism Ministry data.
Petrol and diesel prices were cut by Rs 2 per litre each as state-owned oil companies ended a nearly two-year-long hiatus in rate revision, just hours before the general election schedule was announced.
The VoA scheme was introduced on January 1, 2010 for citizens of five countries -- Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore.
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