Category: Top Three Stories

More than 250 hotels in Goa will throw open their doors on Thursday after the government granted permission to resume operation, the state’s Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has said. Hotels in Goa had been shut since March, when the lockdown was announced to contain the spread of Covid-19. The Goa government had sought applications from hotel operators who were willing to reopen with a declaration that they will abide by the standard operating procedures. “The hotels will be allowed to start from Thursday. Those who want to travel to Goa can do so. Hotel bookings should be done prior to ... Read more

India’s largest domestic carrier IndiGo on Tuesday introduced an additional 5.5 days of “leave without pay” per month for its pilots, effective July. IndiGo had implemented one to five days of leave without pay in May. The new move will effectively take the total number of “no pay days” to ten. The carrier has also implemented fresh salary cuts for some of the pilots. “There will also be a salary revision for under training transition captains and transition first officers and that would be communicated by the HR team,” the airline stated. The airline will review the leave without pay ... Read more

Two prominent Taj hotels in south Mumbai have received threat calls from Pakistan, with the caller threatening to carry out a terror attack similar to the 26/11 attacks. Security has been heightened at both the hotels following the calls. The Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba and the Taj Lands End in Bandra received calls on their landline phones. The police said they are in the process of identifying the caller. Both the hotels are extremely popular with both domestic and international tourists, but are currently closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Police said that the first threat call was made ... Read more

Rajasthan’s tourism minister Vishvendra Singh has expressed his public displeasure at the functioning of the tourism department in the state. The coronavirus outbreak has severely impacted the sector, counted as one of the major sources of Rajasthan’s revenue. In a series of tweets, the minister questioned the indifferent working of the department officials and their shortcomings while urging chief minister Ashok Gehlot to take harsh action against the errant officials. “I have maintained a silence on too many things for too long, going against my temperament and work ethics. But, my chief minister, has always advocated transparency and in that ... Read more

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has partnered with Wanderlust World for the launch of a new app designed to facilitate safe and seamless travel in the wake of COVID-19. The new ‘World Tourist Identification’ app is one of many solutions developed to meet the new demands of both tourists and destinations, UNWTO said. The app allows tourists to carry digital copies of key documents in one place. This will make identification of tourist arrivals easier, quicker and safer. The app is also designed to reduce the risk of fraud and identity theft. As many countries around the world begin to ... Read more

More than 30% of civilian pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses and are not qualified to fly, the country’s aviation minister has revealed. Addressing Pakistan’s National Assembly, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots in the country “did not take the exam themselves” and had paid someone else to sit it on their behalf. “They don’t have flying experience,” he said. Pakistan has 860 active pilots serving its domestic airlines — including the country’s Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flagship — as well as a number of foreign carriers. PIA has grounded all its pilots who hold fake licenses, effective immediately. “PIA ... Read more

Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading US airlines, announced that its member carriers will voluntarily pledge to refund tickets for any passenger who is found to have an elevated temperature, during a screening process conducted by federal authorities prior to travel. Last month, A4A and its member carriers announced they are supporting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to begin conducting temperature screenings of the traveling public and customer-facing employees as long as necessary during the COVID-19 public health crisis. As all screening processes for the traveling public are the responsibility of the US government, having temperature checks ... Read more

The Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which owns the Taj group of hotels, has announced the launch of its online food delivery platform, Qmin. Consumers can use the platform to order food from eight restaurants in Mumbai including Golden Dragon and Souk from Taj Mahal Palace, Thai Pavilion and Trattoria from President and Ming Yang from Taj Lands’ End to name a few. The launch will cover top ten markets in India including Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru among others over a period of five weeks. The Qmin mobile application will be launched on July 25. Puneet Chhatwal, managing director and ... Read more

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has told India’s flag carrier Air India that transportation of passengers — whether UAE nationals or not — to the emirates will not be allowed. If any one wishes to fly on a Vande Bharat Mission flight from India to Dubai, he or she will require “specific approval from the Embassy of UAE in New Delhi and UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation (MOFAIC),” said an Air India spokesperson on Wednesday. “All passengers including the Indian Nationals who are holding valid Residency Permit/Work Permit of United Arab Emirates and have procured approval of the UAE’s Federal Authority ... Read more

The US government has restricted charter flights from India, accusing it of “unfair and discriminatory practices” by violating a treaty governing aviation between the two countries, Bloomberg has reported. Air India has been making flights to repatriate its citizens during the travel disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, but also has been selling tickets to the public, the US Department of Transportation alleged. At the same time, US airlines have been prohibited from flying to India by aviation regulators there, the department said in its order. The situation “creates a competitive disadvantage for US carriers,” the agency said in a ... Read more

Air India has introduced a “shorter working week scheme” under which its permanent employees, except pilots and cabin crew members, can opt to work for three days a week at 60% salary. This measure has been introduced in order to improve the airline’s cash flow position amid the coronavirus pandemic, news agency PTI has said. “The permanent employee who opts for such a scheme can avail this for a period of one year,” according to the airline’s senior officials. The pandemic has impacted the aviation industry significantly, and all airlines in India have taken steps like slashing salaries of employees ... Read more

Morocco’s minister of tourism Nadia Fettah said the country was committed to extending  cooperation with their “brotherly Arab countries” in the field of tourism. During a virtual meeting, Fettah said Morocco is keen to reinforce “joint Arab action” and consolidate the “distinguished relations” between Arab countries, Morocco World News said in a report. The Moroccan minister also emphasized the importance of solidarity and joint action among Arab countries to preserve the resilience of the tourism sector amid the current global crises.  The Arab League, the World Tourism Organization, and Arab and regional organizations must support the tourism sector and mitigate ... Read more

Pranayama will help us in building immunity and curing respiratory illnesses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. Addressing the nation on Yoga Day 2020, Modi emphasised the benefits of yoga and how it is helping the world in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. “Yoga is helping us in this fight against this pandemic. The pranayama will help us in building immunity and resolving respiratory illnesses,” he said. Highlighting the importance of exercises, PM Modi requested citizens to make yoga a part of their regular life. “All of us are doing yoga at home with the family. International Day of Yoga ... Read more

Tomorrow is International Day of Yoga. The mass performance of the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) – one of the most popular Yoga programmes across the world – will remain at the heart of the International Day of Yoga (IDY) like always, but this year it will be observed in a non-congregative manner. Yoga is an invaluable ancient Indian practice with numerous benefits to both physical and mental health. Given the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic including restrictions on the movement of people and a slowdown in economic activity, the benefits offered by Yoga have become especially important for physical ... Read more

Air India Express is inviting applications from Indian citizens fulfilling requirements as on June 1, 2020, for the posts of manager (finance) grade M-4 and manager (finance) grade M-3. The jobs are located in Mumbai. Manager Finance Grade M-4 There are three posts available. Qualifications required: CA with minimum 10 years of post-qualification experience in the finance department of a large organization. Experience in finalisation, consolidation of accounts, tax audit and knowledge of SAP accounting system are musts. Exposure in coordinating with the government, audit exposure in managing and overseeing the daily operations of the accounting department, handling revenue accounting ... Read more