Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Facing shortage of currency notes of lower denominations coupled with heavy rush at booking counters, the railways has reportedly stopped giving refund for cancellation of tickets in cash and is issuing ticket deposit receipts (TDR) instead. “So we are giving TDR to those who are cancelling tickets and if the refund amount is Rs 10,000 or more then it would be returned to the bank account of the person,” a railways official said. In case of refund amount touching Rs 10,000 or above, the railways will only transfer the amount to the customer’s bank account and the person concerned is required to furnish account details for receiving the amount while cancelling the ticket. According to IRCTC, the online ticketing arm of the railways, total 5,55,587 e-tickets were booked on 8 October, while it fell to 5,07,996 on October 9. The railways earned Rs 123 crore on ticket sales on October 9 as against the collection of Rs 109 crore on October 8, an increase of Rs 14 crore.

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of The Fern Goregaon, an upscale business hotel located approximately 0.9 km from Bombay Exhibition & Convention Centre off western express highway. The hotel is designed on the theme of Mumbai and its culture. The hotel’s proximity to Western Express highway, important business and entertainment hub, exhibition centre makes it an ideal location for business traveller. The hotel offers 89 rooms, an all day dining restaurant cum coffee shop and range of facilities such as banquet hall, roof top swimming pool, fitness centre and many more. Located strategically off western express highway in Goregaon East; just 0.9 kms away from Bombay Exhibition and Convention centre, 7 kms from international airport, 7.5 kms from domestic airport. The unit is owned and promoted by IJB Hotels. The hotel is managed by Concept Hospitality.

GMR Airports Limited (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited, signed the Concession Agreement with Goa Government for the development and operation of north Goa’s Greenfield International Airport at Mopa. The agreement is signed by R.V. Sheshan, CEO, GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL) and R.K. Srivastava, Chief Secretary, Government of Goa in the presence of Laxmikant Yashwant Parsekar, Goa Chief Minister, Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman-Airports, GMR Group and other dignitaries. As per the concession agreement, GMR will design, build, finance and operate the international airport for 40 years with extension option for another 20 years. The construction period for the first phase of the project is three years from the date of financial closure and is expected to be operational by mid of 2020. Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman-Airports, GMR Group, said, “We are excited about the project and the opportunity to partner with the Government of Goa. GMR Group has already delivered landmark airport assets for the Country. Delhi International Airport which is the ‘Gateway of India’ today ranks as the Number One Airport in the World in its category. This has brought tremendous pride to the Country and all Indians. Worldwide airports have been the economic engine of the Country/Region, and Delhi Airport has tremendously boosted not only the India’s economy but also the Delhi State economy. GMR Group very humbly takes pride in being the custodians of these national assets thus contributing towards our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of developing a progressive India.

Based on the advice of Ministry of Finance, the Director General of ASI has issued orders for accepting demonetized 500 and 1000 currency notes till the midnight of November 11, 2016, for entry tickets to centrally protected monuments. Foreign tourists can purchase foreign exchange equivalent to Rs 5000 using these specified bank notes at airport exchange counters within 72 hours after the notification provided the proof of purchasing the specified bank notes is presented, revealed Debjit Dutta, Chairman, IATO-Eastern Region.

Holidays By Sahibji has introduced a new online venture www.travkart.com which is launched to promote international and domestic destinations, packages, sightseeing, excursions and different products online. Travkart.com is unique in its features and is complete online and offline travel management solutions to both B2B and B2C clients for all specialised fixed departures to destinations around the world. Some of the main services include: Fixed departure packages including Air and Non – Air packages to Indian & International destinations, ranging from the shortest possible tour itineraries to long vacations, thus making travel easily accessible & feasible for everyone, Domestic & International Hotel bookings, Cruise Holidays, Special Theme holidays, Day Trips / Weekend Getaways and MICE: Special group rates for Meetings, Incentives, Conference, Exhibitions, Leisure or Training programme on all Domestic and International destinations.

Rajan Sehgal, Chairman, TAAI Northern Chapter, feels that for the next few months, it will be a big problem for domestic tourism as people use cash transactions for everything from staying, to eating and sight-seeing. “Foreign tourists also are facing a challenge in paying for basic needs like food as well as reports have also come from many places about people being denied entry in the monuments as they do not have the required cash. Foreign tourists who are in the middle of their journey in India and have already exchanged money, have no idea what they need to do with the cash they have as most of it is in denominations of 1000 and 500. Another big problem for us is that all the embassies and VFS centres do not take cheques or credit cards. They only take demand drafts, which is a longer process or they accept cash, which is posing as a big problem today. We are in talks with them and hoping for a positive outcome.”

Sarabjit Singh, Vice Chairman, FAITH, reveals that tour operators are facing problems everywhere they need to pay higher amount, especially at interstate tolls, which has now been relaxed till Nov 11. “The denominations for 50 and 100 is not available in large numbers as of now. Paying monument fee turned out to be a big problem for tourists. Jaipur has made the entry complimentary for the monuments, and the same should be followed at other places. Either there should be alternate arrangements to deal with this problem, or there should be some relaxation until normalcy returns,” he adds.

E.M. Najeeb, Chairman, IATO Southern Region, and Chairman & Managing Director, Air Travel Enterprises Group of Companies (ATE), says the decision has badly hit tourists today as thousands of tourists who are in India cannot pay in restaurants, do shopping, or pay for local purchases. “Apart from the stay, which is pre-paid, they can’t do anything else with the foreign exchange they have already taken. People are facing great hardships, queuing up at petrol pumps, there was not enough change at railway stations despite them accepting the 500 and 1000 bills. The government’s step to curtail black money is much appreciated, but I think it should have been better managed and the steps taken by the government shouldn’t have affected the normal people so much. We also have our hospitals and since the concession of accepting the larger denominations is only in government hospitals, private hospitals like us had to treat people for free.

Debjit Dutta, Chairman, IATO Eastern Chapter and Founder & CEO, Impression Tourism Services, says this bold move has definitely caused an inconvenience for travellers. “Foreign tourists who have recently exchanged money are now facing several problems even to buy food and shop since they are on holiday. Since we are tour operators, our business runs mostly on cash payments so it has hindered business as well. I feel that some facility should have been in place keeping in mind the number of tourists that are affected with this change – such turn of events might just lead them to have a bad impression of the country and go back with the same thing in mind,” he adds.

Lally Matthews, Hon. Secretary, IATO, says even though its a bold move by the PM, there are some immediate problems. “We are seeing that the clients who are travelling in India are facing a problem in paying the monument fee at the counters. There have been instances at the Taj Mahal as big notes are not being accepted at the counters and tourists are coming back without visiting it. The drivers are unable to pay road taxes and inter-state taxes owing to the same problem. Tourists who have already exchanged money can’t use the money they have in hand and can’t even take the new currency from banks. There are problems for tourist vehicles to pay at petrol pumps. Apart from that, foreign tourists staying in hotels are unable to pay by cash for any services, and the same problem they are facing at restaurants as well. There are also reports that some hotels are even charging 10 per cent extra if a tourist is paying by card,” he concluded.