Category: Top Stories

In the latest Rankings of top countries in the world (excluding India) where All India Radio Live-streams on NewsOnAir App are most popular,Fiji has jumped from 5th position to 2nd, while Saudi Arabia has made a comeback in top 10. Kuwait and Germany are new entrants, while France and New Zealand are no more in top 10. United States continues to be number 1. In what is an important feat, All India Radio’s Telugu and Tamil live-stream services are popular in United States, while AIR Punjabi service is popular in United Kingdom. In major changes in rankings of top AIR ... Read more

Emirates has announced that it will not operate flights from India until the 15th of this month. The company had yesterday stated that it would not operate services from India until further notice. Earlier, Etihad and Air India had said they would not operate flights until July 21. UAE authorities have banned flights from India since April 24. The airline said in a statement that it had suspended the service, which was expected to resume this month.

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India to strengthen the Hospitality & Tourism Industry signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Yatra on 02nd July 2021. The event was organized under the arrangement between the Ministry of Tourism and the Quality Council of India (QCI) for implementing measures for strengthening the Indian Hospitality & Tourism Industry. The primary objective of this MoU is to provide extensive visibility to accommodation units, which have self-certified themselves on SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness & Training for the Hospitality Industry) on the OTA platform. The MoU also outlines both parties to encourage Units to register on ... Read more

Ministry of Tourism invites entries for National Tourism Awards for the year 2018-19, The last date for receipt of entries is 10th August 2021 The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has invited applications from individuals and organizations for excellence in the field of tourism. National Tourism Awards are presented in various segments of the travel and tourism industry such as State Governments / Union Territories, classified hotels, heritage hotels, approved travel agents, tour operators, and tourist transport operators, individuals, and other private organizations in recognition of their performance in their respective fields and also to encourage healthy competition with ... Read more

The Netherlands has become the 8th European Union (EU) nation to recognize the India-made Covishield vaccine as a valid proof of vaccination. Prepared by Serum Institute of India (SII)-manufactured Covishield vaccine was earlier not approved by the EU. Fully vaccinated travelers can visit EU nations unless they are traveling from a very high-risk country region due to the presence of the new COVID variant. As per the government of the Netherlands website, Covishield is now a part of the approved vaccines along with Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer-BioNTech. Before this, EU nations including Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, ... Read more

Virginia Messina, Senior Vice President WTTC, said: “WTTC is confident the EU Digital COVID Certificate will boost consumer confidence and the wider Travel & Tourism sector across Europe, which has been in a fight for survival for over a year. “The certificate is a great example and should aid the return of safe international travel; help recover jobs and signal the revival of a sector which will be critical to the economic recovery across the continent. “We’d like to commend the EU Commission and institutions for adopting this swiftly, however, EU Member States must take a coordinated and harmonized approach, ... Read more

Team India 2021 won 9 Grand Awards and 8 Special Awards at Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) for innovations ranging from identification of genes responsible that resist abiotic stress in species to augmented reality smart stethoscope that allows non-medicals to perform accurate pulmonary screening. These innovations were by young students who received the awards and brought accolades home. Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, virtually interacted with the 26 winners of the Initiative for Research and Innovation in STEM -IRIS National Fair, who participated as ‘Team India 2021’ in the Regeneron ... Read more

The aim is to make Wayanad one of the major tourist destinations in the country. A special master plan will be prepared before the next Onam. The minister said the cooperation of the people’s representatives, the district administration, the tourism department, and other institutions would be ensured for this. He was speaking to the media after a meeting with officials and people’s representatives at the Collectorate. A special tourism circuit will be set up for Wayanad. The connectivity with all the tourist destinations in the district under the Wayanad tourism map will ensure. The possibility of helicopters to Wayanad from ... Read more

Jim Corbett National Park is famous for the presence of tigers. The park is located in Nainital, Uttarakhand, and is considered to be the first national park in India. The park, which was closed due to the covid, is now reported to be open to tourists. It is a part of the year-long tourism. The five most important areas of the park – Bijrani, Dhela, Garija, Dhara-Jhirna and Pakhro – have been open for daily visitors for a year, said park director Rahul. The park has decided to reopen following a drop in covid cases in the country. Fifty bookings ... Read more

Those who work directly or indirectly in connection with tourist destinations will be vaccinated and opened as safe-havens. As a first step, Vaccination in Vaithiri and Meppadi in Wayanad district will be completed and opened to tourists within seven days. Mohammad Riyaz and Veena George said in a press conference. According to the list prepared by the Department of Tourism, the distribution of the vaccine is on a priority basis. Complete vaccination first at two centers in a district. In the next phase, the vaccine will be given in Munnar, Thekkady, Fort Kochi, Kumarakom, Kovalam, and Varkala. Through this, the ... Read more

Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced the relief package Rs 6,28,993 crore to support Indian economy in fight against COVID-19 pandemic on 28th June 2021.  The financial support to revive tourism in the country was announced with support to many other sectors to stimulate the economic growth. Scheme for Travel and Tourism Stakeholders and Registered Tourist Guides Financial support to more than 11,000 registered Tourist Guides / Travel and Tourism Stakeholders. Under the new Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Sectors, working capital / personal loans will be provided to people in tourism sector to discharge liabilities and restart ... Read more

The Indian research community will soon be able to pursue industry-relevant research opportunities in the areas of deep technologies that are novel, transformative, and can have a ground-breaking impact on a national scale. The opportunities will be offered by the first-of-its-kind research initiative called ‘Fund for Industrial Research Engagement (FIRE)’ launched by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in collaboration with Intel India on June 29, 2021. It will increase research opportunities in the space of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML), platform systems, circuits & architecture, ... Read more

Union Minister of State(I/C) for Culture & Tourism Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Manohar Lal Khattar held a meeting in New Delhi for the development of new tourism-related projects in Haryana and to speed up the ongoing projects in the state. Secretary, GoI, Tourism Shri Arvind Singh , joint secretaries of Union Ministries of Tourism and Culture and other senior officers of Central and State government were also present during the meeting. During the meeting, the state government gave details of the proposed Krishna Circuit Project-II. Development of tourist infrastructure at important tourist/pilgrim places related ... Read more

The Italian government has allowed U.S. tourists who have been vaccinated to visit the country without a quarantine. Italy allowed U.S. travelers to enter only after the European Union listed the United States as a safe travel destination. The new decision will take effect on Monday. U.S. travelers can avoid pre-arrival testing by showing the report card they received from the vaccination time. All restaurants and bars in the country are open. Also opened swimming pools, beaches, and theme parks for tourists. Limited access to museums across the country on weekends is also allowed. Greece, Spain, Denmark, and France also ... Read more

Maldives will reopen for Indian tourists from July 15. “Maldives will start issuing on arrival tourist visas starting 15th July to tourists travelling from South Asia. Tourists require negative PCR result to enter Maldives. Further details will follow accordingly,” Maldives tourism ministry said in a tweet on Tuesday. The island nation which has been a top attraction for Indian tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic shut its borders for Indians last month. The safety measures were put in place in view of the second wave of pandemic in India and rise in cases in other countries in the region. India has been the second largest source market ... Read more