INDIA: IndiGo Now Flying To Jorhat And Dhaka

IndiGo is further enhancing its customer experience with the launch of Jorhat and Dhaka as its new destinations.

Under the UDAN scheme, Jorhat will be the 54th destination on IndiGo’s network. Furthermore, Dhaka will be the 55th destination. Both new services start on August 01, 2018.

To provide more enhanced connectivity across India, IndiGo has announced the addition of 16 new flights to its network.

Effective August 2018, the Indian airline will operate its first daily flight between Bengaluru and Raipur.

Additionally, the airline will operate a second daily flight between Kolkata-Nagpur, a third daily flight between Bengaluru and Nagpur, and fourth daily flight between Bengaluru and Jaipur, and Bengaluru and Vizag respectively.

IndiGo will also operate its fourth daily flight between Kolkata and Patna.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said:

It gives us immense pleasure to add Dhaka, Bangladesh to our ever-expanding route network, and we are equally pleased to announce Jorhat as our new UDAN destination after Tiruchirappalli and Tuticorin.

With the addition of sixteen new flights connecting various cities within India, we will now be able to extend our on-time, courteous and hassle-free service, and low fares to everyone, that IndiGo is synonymous with.

IndiGo will continue to expand its network to meet the requirements of both business and leisure travelers wherever they demand it.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: IndiGo Starts Flights To Lucknow,Goa And Pune

Marking a milestone of being the first airline to launch Lucknow-Goa and Lucknow-Pune sectors to its network, IndiGo has announced the introduction of its maiden flights effective July 2018.

IndiGo will operate a daily non-stop flight between Lucknow-Goa-Lucknow and Lucknow-Pune-Lucknow respectively. Continuing the low-cost carrier’s expansion in the domestic skies, IndiGo’s average daily departures will now be 25 flights out of Lucknow to 13 destinations.

The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travelers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar, IndiGo’s Chief Commercial Officer, said:

We are pleased to announce the launch of these two sectors from Lucknow, which will further provide more flexibility of choice to our customers.

Lucknow continues to hold immense potential for IndiGo and we are indeed happy to be the first airline to operate maiden flights between Lucknow-Goa-Lucknow and Lucknow-Pune-Lucknow.

We are providing affordable fares on these new routes for our travelers.

It is our constant endeavor to provide the best travel experience to our customers, as IndiGo continues to offer them on-time, courteous and hassle-free service and an affordable flying experience always.

IndiGo is further enhancing its customer experience with the launch of Jorhat and Dhaka as its new destinations.

Under the UDAN scheme, Jorhat will be the 54th destination on IndiGo’s network. Furthermore, Dhaka will be the 55th destination. Both new services start on August 01, 2018.

To provide more enhanced connectivity across India, IndiGo has announced the addition of 16 new flights to its network.

Effective August 2018, the Indian airline will operate its first daily flight between Bengaluru and Raipur.

Additionally, the airline will operate a second daily flight between Kolkata-Nagpur, a third daily flight between Bengaluru and Nagpur, and fourth daily flight between Bengaluru and Jaipur, and Bengaluru and Vizag respectively.

IndiGo will also operate its fourth daily flight between Kolkata and Patna.

Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said:

It gives us immense pleasure to add Dhaka, Bangladesh to our ever-expanding route network, and we are equally pleased to announce Jorhat as our new UDAN destination after Tiruchirappalli and Tuticorin.

With the addition of sixteen new flights connecting various cities within India, we will now be able to extend our on-time, courteous and hassle-free service, and low fares to everyone, that IndiGo is synonymous with.

IndiGo will continue to expand its network to meet the requirements of both business and leisure travelers wherever they demand it.


Tourism Observer

BANGLADESH: Thousands Evacuated As Cyclone Mora Hits Bangladesh

Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh Tuesday packing winds of up to 117 kilometres per hour (73mph) after authorities evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from low-lying coastal villages.

The severe cyclonic storm made landfall on the coast between Cox's Bazar and the main port city of Chittagong at 6:00 am (0000 GMT), the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said in a special weather bulletin.

Bangladesh had raised its highest number 10 weather danger alert as the storm approached with officials quickly evacuating more than 300,000 people to cyclone shelters.

They have been evacuated to at least 400 cyclone shelters, schools and government offices in the coastal areas,Golam Mostofa, senior government bureaucrat who is coordinating the evacuation, said.

Mostofa said they had not received any reports of casualties so far but some houses have been damaged and trees uprooted.

The weather office has said the cyclone could unleash a five-foot (1.7 metre) high storm surge around Cox's Bazar, Chittagong and several other coastal districts on the Bay of Bengal which are home to millions of people.


The local administration has called in all fishing vessels and advised them to remain anchored, while the Chittagong port authority has postponed activities.

Bangladesh is routinely hit by bad storms between April and December that cause deaths and widespread property damage.

In May last year, Cyclone Roanu hit the southern coast of Bangladesh leaving 20 people dead and forcing half a million to flee their homes.

Flash floods and excessive rain led to landslides in hilly areas, which caused most of the casualties.

But this time we are more prepared, disaster management authority spokesman Abul Hashim said

VIETNAM: Train Dangerously Passes Through Heavily Residential Area

A narrow train street in Hanoi’s old quarter, where the train passes terrifyingly close to the houses, is fast becoming a tourist attraction.

It still boggles my mind that a massive speeding train passes through this insanely narrow street at 3.30pm and 7.30pm every day. And yet the residents don't have a care in the world. Such a unique place!

The twice-daily train, linking Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh in the far South, passes through a residential area in Hanoi’s old quarter, causing residents to carry all their worldly possessions inside every afternoon and evening.

Walking down the street where the train literally runs through it. A metre each side of the track separates the train from people's houses.

The train runs so close to the houses that residents must actually stay indoors at 3.30pm and 7pm every day to stay out of the way of the train. The street is so unusual that tourists visiting the city have started to flock there to take photos and videos of the passing train as well as the street itself.

Visitors to Vietnam have been posting photos of the famous train street to social media, with photos highlighting just how narrow the street really is. The train is shown to pass by just mere inches from some the buildings on either side of the tracks.

Train travel has seen a new lease of life recently, with a new bullet train linking Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Bangladesh launching their first luxury train and a new bullet train cutting travel time in India.

MYANMAR: 190 Pagodas Destroyed By Earthquake

A 6.8-magnitude powerful earthquake, which shook Myanmar on Wednesday, killed at least four people and damaged 190 ancient famous pagodas in Bagan-Nyaung Oo region and Rakhine state, official report said on Thursday.

A man and a women died in Pakkoku township in Magway region when a tobacco processing factory collapsed and two young girls aged seven and 15 also lost their lives in Yenanchaung township, local Information and Public Relations Department said.

The earthquake's effects were felt in neighbouring Bangladesh and India's northeast and Kolkata megapolis.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the epicentre of the earthquake was at a point 190 km south of Myanmar's Mandalay city and about 19 km west of Chauk town. The depth of the earthquake was 90 km.

This is second time in two days that tremors were felt in Myanmar. On Tuesday, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake in the Myanmar-India border region also rocked Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and some other parts of northeast India. However, there was no report of major damage.

The quake, the strongest among the 26 quakes that have rocked the country since January 2016, is said to have damaged the building of the House of Nationalities in Nay Pyi Taw.

NEPAL: Extinct Bird Rediscovered

A species which was on the list of extinct birds in Nepal has been found in the hilly region of Chitwan district recently.

The bird “red-faced liocichla” with the scientific name “Liocichla phoenicea” of Leiothrichidae family was presumed to be extinct in Nepal. A joint team from the Bird Education Society and the Nepalese Ornithological Union has found the bird at Chisapanitar, Dahakhani VDC in the district.

Ornithological studies since 1838 were unable to find any red-faced liocichla in Nepal, said the former president of Bird Education Society Basu Bidari.

The red-faced liocichla and eight other species of birds have been listed among the extinct birds of Nepal in research projects after 1970.

The bird measures about 23 centimetres in length. The scarlet wings, neck and the ventral part of the tail dominate the brown-coloured body. The male and female liocichla resemble each other. The bird is found in the tropical forests of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, and Myanmar.

Now, after the rediscovery of liocichla, Chitwan district has become a home to 631 species of birds among total 878 species of birds found in Nepal.

Dr Hem Sagar Baral, Tika Ram Giri, Basu Bidari, Badri Chaudhary, Bishnu Mahato, Raju Tamang, Som Bahadur Tamang, Ramgir Chaudhary, Phuleshwar Chaudhary and Rupendra Karmacharya were members of the team which rediscovered the supposedly extinct bird

NEPAL: Nepal To Woo Chinese Tourists With Free Visas

Nepal will grant free visas to visitors from neighbouring China as the Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild its tourist industry after two devastating earthquakes in April that killed nearly 9,000 people.

The first of Nepal's tremors struck during the peak of the tourist season, forcing thousands of visitors to flee early while thousands of others cancelled.

China - the second-largest source of tourists to Nepal - was one of several countries that subsequently warned their citizens to stay away.

China lifted its Nepal warning on Friday, after the two countries' foreign ministers held talks in Beijing.

"This will help increase the number of Chinese tourists and boost our economy," Sherdhan Rai, Nepal's minister for information and communications technology, said on Saturday.

Nepal has already turned to China to beat an acute fuel shortage following a blockade at India border crossings enforced by ethnic Madhesi groups. They complain that a constitution adopted in September has failed to address their grievances.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks including Mount Everest, received 800,000 tourists in 2014. Of those, 123,000 were Chinese, second only to 135,000 Indian visitors, who do not require a visa for Nepal.

Nationals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the other members along with India and Nepal in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, also get a free visa every year.

Tourism accounts for 4 per cent of Nepal's economy. On Friday, eight months after the twin earthquakes, Nepal gave the green light for its National Reconstruction Agency to begin work and appointed a chief.

NEPAL: Nepal Woos Chinese Tourists With Free Visas

Nepal will grant free visas to visitors from neighbouring China as the Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild its tourist industry after two devastating earthquakes in April 2015that killed nearly 9,000 people.

The first of Nepal's tremors struck during the peak of the tourist season, forcing thousands of visitors to flee early while thousands of others cancelled. China - the second-largest source of tourists to Nepal - was one of several countries that subsequently warned their citizens to stay away.

China lifted its Nepal warning on Friday, after the two countries' foreign ministers held talks in Beijing. "This will help increase the number of Chinese tourists and boost our economy," Sherdhan Rai, Nepal's minister for information and communications technology, said on Saturday.

Nepal has already turned to China to beat an acute fuel shortage following a blockade at India border crossings enforced by ethnic Madhesi groups. They complain that a constitution adopted in September has failed to address their grievances.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks including Mount Everest, received 800,000 tourists in 2014. Of those, 123,000 were Chinese, second only to 135,000 Indian visitors, who do not require a visa for Nepal.

Nationals from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the other members along with India and Nepal in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, also get a free visa every year.

Tourism accounts for 4 percent of Nepal's economy. On Friday, eight months after the twin earthquakes, Nepal gave the green light for its National Reconstruction Agency to begin work and appointed a chief.

THAILAND: Current Southeast Asian Migration Laws Good For Human Smugglers

Southeast Asia needs legal channels of migration to help curb human smuggling, the International Organization of Migration said on Thursday, days after it urged efforts to avoid a repeat of this year’s disaster when hundreds of refugees were lost at sea or died in jungle camps.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations established an economic community last month to free up capital and trade, but made limited provision for labor movement even though the region has millions of migrant workers.

“There needs to be more legal channels of migration, so that we don’t end up unintentionally subsidizing the smugglers,” IOM Director General William Lacy Swing said.

“If the visa regime makes it impossible for people to get to the jobs that are there to be filled, then obviously they will go to smugglers and pay a lot of money.”

Thousands of migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar have fled persecution and poverty in recent years, putting their lives in the hands of human smugglers to reach countries with better prospects in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Lacy spoke ahead of a meeting in Bangkok this week to address the migrant crisis, a follow-up to a meeting that took place in May as the humanitarian disaster unfolded, just as European countries were struggling to cope with refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.

A clamp-down by Thai police on human trafficking gangs triggered the regional crisis earlier this year. It followed the discovery in May of 30 bodies in graves near the Thai-Malaysian border, which sparked international outcry.

The crackdown disrupted smuggling routes, leaving thousands of migrants abandoned at sea. More than 4,000 of them landed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

More than 1,900 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are still in shelters and immigration detention centers, according to the IOM. Many of them are members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority who fled apartheid-like conditions in the country’s Rakhine state.

It was as yet unclear if a November election in Myanmar won by the Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition National League for Democracy would lead to an improvement in the situation of the Rohingya, Lacy said.

October and November mark the start of the four-month “sailing season”, the busiest time for smuggling and trafficking ships plying the Bay of Bengal.

BANGLADESH: Myanmar Separatists Seek Ransom For Missing Tourist Guide In Bandarban

An armed separatist rebel group of Myanmar has demanded Tk50 lakh ransom for the two tourists and their guide who went missing in Bandarban on Saturday.

Yesterday, Passing Mro, brother of the missing guide Mangsai Mro, told the Dhaka Tribune that the local commander of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) had called him and asked for the ransom.

On Saturday afternoon, Munna, 35, and Zubayer, 28, both residents of Dhaka’s Mirpur, and their guide Mangsai went missing in the Raikkhong Pukur Para in Ruma upazila of the hill district.

Local sources said a 10-member armed team of ALP, clad in uniforms similar to that of the Bangladesh Army, abducted the three and took them to their den in the deep remote forest near the Myanmar border.

Citing intelligence sources, Ruma upazila Executive Officer Kazi Mohammad Chahel Tasturi said the two tourists and their guide are alive.

He, however, said he does not know anything about the ransom demand from the Myanmar separatists.

After the news of their alleged abduction came in the media, a joint security force launched a massive drive in the area to rescue them.

Munna and Zubayer went to the hill station on vacation on September 28. They took Mangsai with them as a guide for a trekking trip to the popular tourist spot Boga Lake.

Sources said that it is mandatory for tourists to report to the local police station before entering the Ruma area. But the two tourists did not do that; as a result, the local police station does not have information on them.

They were three of the five people abducted this week in Bandarban, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.

The other two are businessmen from Ali Kadam who were kidnapped by criminals. They, however, were released on Monday in exchange of a ransom.

Seeking anonymity, a local businessman said the spree of abductions has brought tourism in the district to a standstill as people are now scared to go there.

THAILAND: Thailand To Host Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2016 Awards

The lavish event, supported by TAT, is expected to generate extensive publicity for the kingdom’s gastronomic delights, promote Thai cuisine worldwide through various publicity channels, as well as enhance the delight of sampling the huge array of restaurants that have opened in Thailand.

Thailand has been selected to stage “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016 Award.” The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) together with William Reed Business Media is preparing to officially announce this collaboration at Paste, Artisanal Thai Cuisine, Gaysorn Shopping Centre, on 20 October, 2015.

The lavish event, supported by TAT, is expected to generate extensive publicity for the kingdom’s gastronomic delights, promote Thai cuisine worldwide through various publicity channels, as well as enhance the delight of sampling the huge array of restaurants that have opened in Thailand.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said “TAT’s support for this event is consistent with the theme of our marketing plan 2015, which is to promote Thainess, Thai culture and Thai cuisine. It will also strengthen the country’s strong brand image and differentiate us from other countries. Moreover, this event will promote the high-end side, especially on the fine dining of Thailand that accommodates various upscale Thai and international restaurants underlined with the expertise chefs and unrivalled services.”

This year, Gaggan in Bangkok took first place in the list of “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” at a ceremony hosted in Singapore. Also, Nahm took seventh place and was joined by other Thai successes including Chef Tim Butler’s Eat Me (25th place), Bo.Lan (37th place) and Ian Kttichai’s Issaya Siamese Club (39th place).

Mr. Yuthasak added that “Thailand will draw tourists as well as gastronomes to visit Thailand not only for indulging themselves with dishes from the awarded restaurants but also for enjoying a trip in Thailand.”

“Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards” has been held annually since its founding in 2013 by the publishing venture William Reed Business Media. The list is created by the Diners Club Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia, each selected for their expert opinion of Asia’s restaurant scene.

The Asian countries eligible for voting are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Lao PDR, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Micronesia, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.