Category: India

Glion Institute of Higher Education, a hospitality management institution in Switzerland, is offering a new set of online certificate courses starting from March 2019. The new courses occur four times per year with a span of two weeks. The course includes videos, readings, discussions, peer-reviewed assignments, quizzes, and a final exam. The Online courses are : • Maximising Spa Profitability and Excellence in Spa Operations are taught by Glion faculty member Mariana Palmeiro and leading spa and wellness expert Dr Mary Tabacchi on the financial and organisational aspects of spa management, a particular growth area in the hospitality industry. • Revenue ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: BIAL twitter Safety of women travellers have always been a main subject of discussions in the media recently. To ensure safe and hassle-free journey for women travellers, the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) has launched a fleet of ten ‘women only’ cabs, in association with Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL). As Bengaluru airport is at a fair distance away from the main city, it is expected that the service will be helpful to women travellers, especially at night. The Pink Cabs will be a 24 hour service from the airport. The cabs will be equipped with GPRS ... Read more

As per the press release issued on 8th January 2018, the government aims at enhancing  the length of National Highways in the country to 200,000 kms. Currently the country have around 131,326 km of national highways. In addition to this about 53,031 km of state roads has been declared as new NHs in principal. The total length of National Highways in the country was 91,287 km as on March 31, 2014. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the 58 kms, four laned,  Solapur – Tuljapur – Osmanabad section of  NH-211 (New NH-52) in Solapur in Maharashtra ... Read more

Manipur Tourism organizes the 4th edition of Manipur Statehood Day Women’s Polo Tournament from January 17 to 21 at Mapal Kangjabung in association with All Manipur Polo Association. Besides the Indian teams, international teams from the USA, Canada, Argentina and Kenya will take part in this year’s edition of the tournament, stated an official from Manipur Tourism. “We are very proud to be the presenting as sponsor of the only international women’s polo tournament in India, in the birthplace of modern polo,” said Nidhi Kesarwani, Tourism Secretary, Manipur. The tournament is initiated by the Manipur Government and the final match ... Read more

In the year 2017-18, a total of 139 Cruise ships carrying 1,62,660 passengers visited India at six major ports namely Mumbai Port, Mormugao Port, New Mangalore Port, Cochin Port, Chennai Port and Kolkata Port. Major ports of the country namely, Mumbai Port, Mormugao Port, New Mangalore Port, Cochin Port and Chennai Port have been developed to attract cruise ships with dedicated terminals and other related infrastructure for berthing of cruise vessels and embarking and disembarking of cruise passengers. The Ministry of Shipping has brought out a Vision Document with a view to develop India as a Cruise shipping destination. The ... Read more

Arunima, a volleyball player, was just like any other traveller in the Padmawati Express. But, while resisting a chain-snatching attempt by hooligans in the train in 2011, she was thrown of the moving train and lost her leg. Unlike those who blame the fate and prefer to spend the days in the dark, Arunima decided to go out, after reading articles on mountaineering while she still lay on the hospital bed. And, now she began conquering mountains. Arunima has now become a mountaineer and scale the highest peaks in the world. Arunima Sinha has once again done her country proud by ... Read more

Chamundesswary Temple The union ministry has sanctioned development project worth Rs 100 crore in Chamundi Hills of Karnataka, under the PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme. The project will be implemented without affecting the surrounding ecosystem of the iconic Chamundesswary temple. The ministry has approved the project in principle and it is said to be the only temple from Karnataka to have developmental works as per the PRASAD scheme. The scheme was launched in 2014-15 by the Union Ministry of Tourism. It aims at integrated development of pilgrimage destinations in planned, prioritized and sustainable manner to provide ... Read more

  World’s largest cricket stadium, with seating capacity of over 1 lakh is coming up at Motera in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Cricket Association vice-president Parimal Nathwani on Sunday tweeted out pictures of the stadium under construction, stating that the dream project of the state cricket board will become a symbol of pride for the nation. “World’s Largest Cricket Stadium, larger than Melbourne, is under construction at Motera in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Once completed the dream project of GujaratCricketAssociation will become pride of entire India. Sharing glimpses of construction work under way,” tweeted Parimal Nthwayi. The stadium is said to be built across ... Read more

Andhra Pradesh Tourism department plans to promote the concept of homestays in areas where commercial accommodation providers are less in the Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari districts. This is as part of the state’s second phase of rural tourism development plans. Relevant places from these districts will be selected and included in the tour packages. The authorities envisage identifying three villages in every district for developing rural tourism. 37 villages with scope of rural tourism in all 13 districts of the State have already been identified and out of them, 17 have been finalized and five clusters were formed. In ... Read more

Emirates has launched special fares for travellers from India to select destinations from the airline’s global network, providing opportunities for travellers to explore over 159 destinations. The limited-time only fares can be booked between January 8 and 15, for a travel period from January 15 till November 30. “With return fares starting from Rs 19,473 to Dubai, there is more reason to embark upon new adventures,” Emirates said in a statement. The passengers who have booked on an Economy Class roundtrip ticket to Dubai can also enjoy additional baggage allowance on their return journey during the Dubai Shopping Festival 2019. ... Read more

The Nilgiri Mountains, one of the popular tourist destinations in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, witnessed drop in number of visitors in 2018. There is around 10 per cent decline in the number of tourists, when compared to the previous year. The main reason of the drop is said to be the factors affected the neighbouring states – Kerala and Karnataka in 2018. As per the information provided by the officials of the Horticulture Department around 31 lakh people had visited the Government Botanical Garden in 2017-2018, the numbers fell to 28.69 lakh during 2018-2019. The Tourism Department estimates ... Read more

Indian Railways envisages providing a comfortable jerk free journey to its passengers and endeavours to achieve that with the use of better technology continuously. Currently travel by rail is not that comfortable as travelling by road and Air. In order to minimize the effect of jerks and to improve riding comfort for passengers, Indian Railways has introduced new design of Center Buffer Couplers (CBC) with Balanced Draft Gear (BDG) as per specification prepared by Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow. It has been decided to introduce CBCs with BDG on all the mainline passenger coaches of Indian Railways. All ... Read more

War flight Tupolev-TU 142 M, the anti-submarine warfare aircraft of Indian Navy, will be converted to a defence museum in Hyderabad. Telangana State Tourism Department in association with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is planning to establish the defence museum in Hyderabad where defence related labs and missiles would be exhibited for the public. B Venkatesham , Telangana Tourism Department Secretary, wrote a letter to the defence authorities requesting them to facilitate a war fighter and submarine to display at the museum. As per the plans, the officials approached DRDO Chairman Dr Satish Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence ... Read more

Murud, Maharashtra Maharashtra state government has inked an agreement with realty firm Mahindra Lifespaces to develop the coastal town of Murud in Raigad district as a medical tourism and wellness destination. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 500 crore and it is expected to generate around 6,000 job opportunities. Deep Mangal Developers, subsidiary of Mahindra Lifespace Developers (MLDL), will be executing the eco-friendly project in an area of 1,300-acre; which is expected to be the largest medical and wellness tourism investment in the state. It is said that the project will strengthen Maharashtra’s impression as a global tourist ... Read more

The ISRO plans to set up Space Galleries in various locations in the country. It was informed by Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. The Space Galleries are expected to disseminate the knowledge about space science and technology amongst the citizens of the country. The Gallery will consist of interactive methods and models describing the principles of Space science and technology. Initially, Space Galleries are planned to be established at Birla Science Center at Hyderabad, Nehru Science Center at Mumbai and National Science Center at ... Read more