YC Deveshwar is all set to step down as the Executive Chairman & CEO of ITC in February 2017. He completes his term on Februrary 4, 2017. However, he will continue to function as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the company. Deveshwar is the longest serving Executive Chairman of ITC till date. The news has reportedly come in the form of the notice to the shareholders of the company, ahead of the AGM on July 22. Deveshwar joined ITC in 1968 and became the Executive Chairman in January 1996

The Lemon Tree Hotel Company is all set to launch its second upscale hotel in Gurgaon. Lemon Tree Premier, City Center will have 61 rooms and multiple room categories including Superior, Deluxe Room, Executive Room and Garden Room. The hotel will cater to both business and leisure travellers. The hotel is located in the heart of the millennium city and is close to NH 8 expressway and a short distance from Signature Towers, Unitech Business Park and Unitech Trade Centre.

The South African Department of Home Affairs has finally submitted to the demands of the travel agents and tour operators regarding visa issues for Indians. Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager – India, South Africa Tourism, who will be in India till December 2016, has revealed that Indians do not have to carry birth certificates while travelling with children anymore. “We are very happy that the visa process for Indians has been simplified. The processing days have been brought down under five days as well as the need for carrying birth certificates for children has been eliminated. The Department of Home Affairs has mapped out the seasons and they send us extra support, in terms of manpower, during those times. So the processing is quickened at both the High Commission as well as the Consulate specifically for the Indian market. The big part of our travel is during the Indian monsoon from May through August, which led to a huge bottleneck,” she said.

Bharat Dev of Dev Travel has been elected unopposed as the new Chairman of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Chhattisgarh Chapter. His nomination was proposed by the outgoing team of the chapter. In addition, Raman Jadhwani of Ajay Travels is the new Secretary of TAFI Chhattisgarh Chapter.

Tunisia is offering Visa on Arrival for Indians who are travelling in a group of at least 20 people, it was revealed at a small interactive session on Tunisia by Embassy of Tunisia and BTC Travel Group. Addressing a gathering of travel agents and media, Tarek Azouz, Ambassador, Tunisia to India, said, “We have introduced visa on arrival facility for groups. If a travel agent has a group of 20 people, they can send prior information to the embassy and they can get visa at the immigration counter.” Tushar Jain, Group Managing Director, BTC Group, said that Tunisia is trying to attract mice groups from India. “Travel agents can easily apply visa for a group of minimum 20 people. They just need to produce their hotel voucher at the immigration counter and get visa on arrival.”

Tom Klein, president and CEO of Sabre Corporation announced that he will step down from his role, as well as from the Board of Directors effective December 31, 2016. He will continue to serve as CEO till the board finds a suitable successor. He said, “It’s a tremendous honour to serve as president and CEO of Sabre and to work with our talented team around the globe. We have transformed Sabre into a dynamic software company and the business is positioned for continued consistent growth, so my successor will have a strong hand to play.” Klein’s career with Sabre began while it was still a unit of AMR Corp., where he originally held sales and marketing roles with American Airlines, and then joined Sabre, leading a joint venture in Mexico. He went on to serve in a number of executive roles, including group president of both Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions. He was named president of Sabre in 2010 and CEO in 2013.

The Ministry of AYUSH is organising a two day International Conference in New Delhi titled ‘Yoga for Body and Beyond,’ from June 22-23 at Vigyan Bhawan as part of 2nd International Day of Yoga celebrations. Nearly 70 international delegates from 32 countries are expected to participate in the conference. The countries include Iraq, Afghanistan, Algeria, Malaysia, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Australia, Belgium, China, Egypt, Iceland, Japan, Kuwait, Korea, Kenya, Slovenia, Uzbekistan and UAE. Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Government of Mauritius, is expected to attend the conference. During the nine technical sessions of the Conference eminent Yoga Gurus, exponents and experts will extensively deliberate upon various themes such as ‘Yoga and Physical Wellbeing’, ‘Insights from Yoga Scholars’, ‘Integration of Yoga in Healthcare Delivery System’, ‘Yoga for Mental health’, ‘Yoga for Body and Beyond’. There will also be a panel discussion and an open ended session on experience sharing by foreign delegates. Hamid Ansari, Vice President, Government of India, will Inaugurate the conference. Sumitra Mahajan, Lok Sabha Speaker, will grace the Valedictory Session on June 23 while Shripad Yesso Naik Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, will be the Guest of Honour for the conference.

According to data released by DGCA, passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-May 2016 were 396.04 lakhs as against 322.32 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 22.87% . The statistics revealed that the passenger load factor in the month of May 2016 has slightly increased compared to previous month primarily due to the onset of tourist season. The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of May 2016 has been 0.55%. Air Asia has been leading in terms of On Time Performance (OTP) at 90.2 per cent leaving behind Vistara and Indigo. SpiceJet emerged as the winner again in Passenger Load Factor (PLF) at 93.5 per cent.

The Government will now permit 100% FDI in Brownfield airport projects under automatic route, extending the earlier cap of 74 per cent. The extant FDI policy on Airports permits 100% FDI under automatic route in Greenfield Projects. As per the present FDI policy, foreign investment up to 49% was allowed under automatic route in Scheduled Air Transport Service/ Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline and regional Air Transport Service. It has now been decided to raise this limit to 100%, with FDI up to 49% permitted under automatic route and FDI beyond 49% through Government approval. For NRIs, 100% FDI will continue to be allowed under automatic route. However, foreign airlines would continue to be allowed to invest in capital of Indian companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air-transport services up to the limit of 49% of their paid up capital and subject to the laid down conditions in the existing policy. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems celebrated the foundation laying of a new facility in Hyderabad for its joint venture named TATA Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL). The joint venture has been established to co-produce Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter fuselages and other aerostructures, as well as to pursue integrated systems in aerospace. The Hyderabad production facility will eventually be the sole producer of AH-64 fuselages globally. The Apache has been flown or selected for acquisition by the United States and 15 other nations, including India. Participating in the ceremony were Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister, Government of India; K. T. Rama Rao,  Minister of IT and Industries & Commerce, Telangana; and other dignitaries from the Telangana government. “The joint venture between Tata and Boeing is a significant step in developing India’s capabilities for aerospace & defence manufacturing and becoming a global exporter. This is a clear example of the significant progress made towards “Make in India for defence,” said Parrikar, Union Defence Minister. “I am delighted to see Boeing and Tata step forward and make this substantial investment, in defence FDI.” Speaking on the occasion, S. Ramadorai, Chairman of Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), said, “Today’s ground-breaking ceremony is a significant milestone in furthering our commitment to the Indian aerospace sector. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 this partnership could boost the emerging manufacturing sector, contributing to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Make in India. I am positive that this joint venture which brings together the core strengths of both companies will help take this strategic relationship to the next level.” “This joint venture is an exciting advancement for Boeing in leveraging our capital and expertise globally,” said Pratyush Kumar, …