India’s Ministry of Railways has said that a series of studies have already been conducted into the new lines.

The most challenging of these projects would be to Bhutan, which does not currently have any railway lines. Bhutan borders the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
For Nepal, work is already underway on an 18.6 km cross-border railway line connecting the Indian city of Jogbani, in the state of Bihar, with the Nepalese city of Biratnagar.

But the most extensive connectivity is likely to be between India and Bangladesh.

For example, the existing rail journey between Agartala and Kolkata, which circles around Bangladesh, is 1,613 km. But this will be slashed by around 900 km following the launch of the new line.

Kaziranga now to be open 8 months in a year

The Government of Assam, Tourism Department has declared to open the Kaziranga National Park from the first week of October this year till middle of May 2017. Earlier, it was from November 1 to April 30 every year. The government is taking steps to keep the Park open for the tourists for eight months instead of the normal six months with an aim to increase tourist inflow to UNESCO’s world heritage site, which suffered due to the recent floods.

196.6% growth in eTV tourist arrivals in August

HOTEL NEWS

Sarovar arrives in India’s tea capital

The new RS Sarovar Portico Palampur becomes the Himachal Pradesh town’s first branded hotel.
It offers 43 rooms and suites, all with views of the Dhauladhar mountains, plus a revolving restaurant, a sixth floor bar with 360-degree views, a fitness centre, and Palampur’s largest conference and banqueting facilities. The new hotel is located 6km from Palampur Railway Station and 40km from Kangra Airport.

81 rooms Gateway Resort Pushkar opens

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has launched its latest property in Rajasthan — The Gateway Resort Pushkar Bypass Ajmer. The 81-room and suite resort hotel is built in the Rajasthani royal style for leisure and business travellers in the heart of the Aravalli Mountains to the north of the city.

The hotel’s architecture and design is inspired by the culture and history of Rajasthan; its regal design in typical Rajasthani pink sandstone features private balconies with sit outs and jhoolas (swings) in every room.

The Gateway Resort Pushkar Bypass Ajmer is 15km from Ajmer railway station and 140km from Jaipur airport. Pushkar and its attractions are 11km from the resort by road.

AccorHotels unveils new Indian beach resort

The new Varun Beach Bheemili Resort is set on a two-hectare plot of beachfront land 25km up the coast from Visakhapatnam. It features just 28 rooms, all of which offer sea views.

Resort facilities include a restaurant, poolside bar and grill, a rooftop infinity pool, spa and facilities for meetings and outdoor team-building activities. The Varun Beach Bheemili Resort becomes AccorHotels’ second property in the state, following the existing 225-room Novotel Visakhapatnam.

Eastin Residences Vadodara opens doors

The 4-star premium apartment hotel Eastin Residences Vadodara opened its doors for regular, business and leisure travellers.

The attached kitchenette provides a distinctive edge to the functionality and convenience of every apartment. All studio apartments are furnished with twin/king beds, which comprises of a sofa-cum-bed in the sitting area, walk-in wardrobe, kitchenette with microwave, refrigerator and heating facility, etc

Dusit’s only Indian hotel to be rebranded

The Bangkok-based hotel group operated the Dusit Devarana New Delhi as part of an agreement with India’s Bird Group. But this 50-room luxury hotel will now be rebranded under the new Roseate Hotels & Resorts label, marking Dusit’s exit from the Indian market.

Along with the rebranded Roseate New Delhi, it has also acquired the Roseate House hotel in the Indian capital. And two other Bird-owned properties in the UK have now been rebranded as Roseate Hotels.

Lakshadweep to re-open Bangaram island on 14

The Union Territory of Lakshadweep has announced that it will re-open one of its island – Bangaram island – for tourists on October 14, 2016

The highlight for 2016-17 for Lakshadweep is re-launching of Bangaram island resort, which was the flagship of Lakshadweep Tourism till 2010

AIRLINES NEWS

ANA to fly Dreamliner to Delhi

Effective 30 October 2016, the airline will deploy its B787-8 Dreamliner on all of its daily flights between Tokyo’s Narita Airport and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International. This will replace the older B767-300 aircraft that currently operates this route.

Then from 1 December 2016, ANA will upgrade the route once again, deploying its larger B787-9 Dreamliner to Delhi. The arrival of this twin-aisle jet will also mark the introduction of premium economy seats on the route.

ANA will also deploy the B787-9 Dreamliner on its Narita-Mumbai route from mid-February 2017, in place of the B787-8.

AIR INDIA’s direct Delhi– Madrid flight from Dec

Air India’s direct New Delhi to Madrid flight will launch from either December end or first week of January.

The national carrier’s direct New Delhi to San Francisco flight was introduced last December, following which two other international destinations – Delhi-Austria and Ahmedabad-London-New York – were connected by the airline. These flights are being operated using Air India’s two-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

SpiceJet’s Silchar, Gorakhpur & Aizawl flight from Oct 4

Starting  October 4, SpiceJet to add new markets like Silchar, Gorakhpur and Aizawl and will operate new flights on routes like Kolkata-Silchar-Guwahati; Kolkata-Aizawl-Guwahati and Kolkata-Gorakhpur-Delhi. Kolkata-Visakhapatnam-Kolkata flights will also start from November 1.

Scoot connects Jaipur-Singapore from Oct 2

Scoot will commence its Jaipur–Singapore flight from October 2. Scoot has named its first plane landing in Jaipur ‘KamaScootra’ taking inspiration from the ancient Indian text. With this, India becomes the second country after Singapore to inspire an aircraft name after it for Scoot Airlines. The plane will have 335 seats, including 21 premium economy. There will be three flights every week from Jaipur to Singapore till October 29 and afterwards, the frequency will be increased to four.

GoAir to connect Hyderabad to 4 cities

Effective October 12, GoAir will commence services from Hyderabad. The new schedule will introduce daily non-stop flights connecting Hyderabad to Chennai, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. Hyderabad will also be connected to Port Blair via Bangalore which will provide leisure travelers additional travel option.

Effective October 30, 2016, Air China will fly four weekly non-stop flights between Mumbai and Beijing. The airline will operate Airbus A330-300 on this route. The flight CA890 from Mumbai will depart at 0230 hours and arrive in Beijing at 1130 hours four times a weeks. While CA889 will depart from Beijing at 1940 hours and arrive in Mumbai at 0100 hours.

Air China’s Mumbai-Beijing flight from Oct 30

Effective October 30, 2016, Air China will fly four weekly non-stop flights between Mumbai and Beijing. The airline will operate Airbus A330-300 on this route. The flight CA890 from Mumbai will depart at 0230 hours and arrive in Beijing at 1130 hours four times a weeks. While CA889 will depart from Beijing at 1940 hours and arrive in Mumbai at 0100 hours.

Indigo connects Port Blair to Kolkata & Chennai

IndiGo will introduce new daily non-stop flights to Port Blair from Kolkata and Chennai effective September 28 and September 30, 2016, respectively. Port Blair will also be connected to Delhi (via Kolkata) and Hyderabad (via Chennai).

UPCOMING EVENTS & FESTIVALS

NAVRATRI (1-10 Oct) All over India, specially in Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi & Mysore
Navaratri is a nine day festival that celebrates the Mother Goddess in all her manifestations, including Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.

MYSORE DASARA (2-11 Oct) Mysore, Karnataka
Mysore Dasara is Dussehra with a difference! The city’s royal heritage ensures that the festival is elaborately celebrated on a grand scale. In Mysore, Dussehra honors the Goddess Chamundeswari, who killed the great demon Mahishasur.

INDIA ART FESTIVAL (6-9 Oct) Nehru Centre, Worli, Mumbai
This modern and contemporary art fair aims to provide a cultural bridge between Indian artists, art galleries, art collectors and connoisseurs.

DURGA PUJA (7-11 Oct) Kolkata, West Bengal
In honor of warrior Goddess Durga, beautifully handcrafted statues of Durga are installed in podiums in almost every lane of the city during this festival.

DUSSEHRA (11 Oct) Particularly in northern India
The tenth day of the Navaratri festival is known as Dussehra. It’s devoted to celebrating the defeat of the demon king Ravana by Lord Rama.

SAMSARA HIMALAYA EDITION 2016 (7-17 Oct) The Tibetan section of Bir village, Himachal Pradesh
A new platform for bringing together wellness and psybient (chilled out psychedelic) music lovers from all over the world. As well as encompassing the Bir International Yoga Festival conducted by Arya Marga Yoga, it will feature a wide range of natural health and wellness practitioners and teachers.