Umrah firms need SR2m bank guarantee to serve pilgrims.

All Umrah companies now need to provide the government with a SR2 million bank-guaranteed check if they want to operate in the Kingdom. This is one of several new regulations issued by the government recently to help regulate the industry.

Umrah firms must make out the bank-guaranteed checks to the Ministry of Haj. The guarantee has to be valid throughout the duration of the license period. The ministry would be entitled to withdraw amounts from any party that fails to fulfill its obligations. A withdrawn amount would have to be covered immediately by a violating firm. A guarantee can only be canceled with the permission of the ministry, or when the license ends.

Criteria for granting licenses would be issued by the interior, foreign affairs and Haj ministries. The criteria include financial solvency, efficient management, experience in the field, the number of delays in pilgrims leaving the country, and previous sanctions. If there are delays, then the government would deduct transport costs from a firm's account, or the money would be taken from the bank guarantee.

The new regulations also make provision for the establishment of a company that has to win a public tender process, to handle the documents of pilgrims when they enter and exit the Kingdom. This is aimed at easing the burden on Umrah companies. This company will be given a lump sum to offer the service, made up of fees collected from Umrah firms. The Ministry of Finance will be working with the other ministries to oversee this process.

In addition, companies that fail to ensure that their pilgrims leave as scheduled will not be allowed to use the automatic booking system for hotels and apartments.

The Interior Ministry has to implement several measures in accordance with the new regulations including punishing those who use Umrah visas for other purposes. 

The Haj ministry is required to ensure that all Umrah firms have security permits approved by the interior ministry. It also has to ensure that it sends details of all visas issued at the embassies to the interior ministry.

The new regulations allow Umrah firms to extend pilgrim arrival and departure dates by a maximum of 30 days.

Before granting visas, the government requires Umrah firms to input all information related to pilgrims' residences, room numbers and travel reservations onto the Umrah electronic portal, which will be linked to the electronic reservation of hotels and furnished apartments.

The regulations also commit the government to ensure that a mechanism is found, with the ministries of interior and foreign affairs, to deal with foreign firms that do not have Umrah agents in their home countries. Licensed pilgrim companies and institutions often refuse to sign contracts with these companies.

All government agencies are required to coordinate their actions to ensure that pilgrims arrive and leave as scheduled.

Limited 15-day Umrah visa remains

The government has rejected calls from local companies and agents abroad to increase the 15-day limit on Umrah visas during Ramadan, as reported in Arab News.

In addition, the government said that it would not grant visas for individuals under 17 years of age if they are not accompanied by close relatives. It would also not issue visas for women under 45 years of age with- out mahrams or male guardians.

An official source was quoted that the Ministry of Haj would grant visas to women over the age of 45 without mahrams provided they are accompanied by other adult women who would ensure they return to their home countries.

IATO to conduct Managing Committee elections on April 26, 2014

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has announced that their national Managing Committee elections will be held on April 26, 2014 at The Park, New Delhi. Announcing this at the luncheon meeting organised to honour Angli Dione Gomez, Miss Tourism International in New Delhi, Lally Mathews, Honorary Secretary, IATO said that notifications for the elections have been sent out on March 3, and Praveen Chugh will be the Returning Officer for the elections.  After receiving and withdrawal of nominations, there is only one member contesting for the highest post, that is IATO’s current President, Subhash Goyal. Rajesh Mudgill and Sarabjit Singh will contest for the post of Senior Vice President, and Arun Anand and Rajeev Kohli for the post of Vice President. Lally Mathews and Pronab Sarkar have filed their nominations for the post of Honorary Secretary. Amaresh Tiwari and Lajpat Rai will contest for the post of Honorary Treasurer. Atul Rai and Ravi Gosain will contest for the post of Honorary Joint Secretary. Harish Chopra, Raj Bajaj, Rajiv Mehra, Rajnish Kaistha, Ramesh Wattal, Ravinder Kumar, Sanjeev Joshi, T. Sriharan, Tony Marwah, and Vinay Tyagi, will contest for EC Member (Active), which are five posts. A Afzal, Amandeep Singh, N.S. Rathor, P Vijayasarathi, Sanjay Kaushik, Sunil Gupta, and Zia Siddiqui, are contesting for the three posts of EC Member (Allied). Paying tributes to Ram Kohli, the Founder President of IATO, who passed away recently, Subhash Goel, President, IATO announced the association’s decision to hold Kohli's commemorative annual lecture. The meeting also paid homage to the late Francis Wacziarg, Co-Founder, Neemrana Hotels.

DGCA validating new radar at Mumbai airport to enhance passenger safety

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is in the process of validating the installation of the latest state-of-the-art radar at the Mumbai airport. The radar will help in enhancing passengers' safety and provide better efficiency in air services, airport officials said, as per a report by Shahkar Abidi in DNA. Airport insiders said the most important feature of the radar is its ability to make a particular aircraft visible on accurate real time to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) as well as to any nearby aircraft. Vital information such as velocity, altitude, weight and number of passengers will be transmitted every second from the aircraft to the ATC and other aircraft. This feature is called Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast.

At present, the ATC and pilots depend on the Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) and Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR). While PSR determines an aircraft's specifications by calculating the time required for it to receive the wave or the reflected beam, SSR depends on the pilot’s reply from the aircraft. However, at times, both fail to deliver, insiders revealed.

“The DGCA is validating the new radar before giving it a go-ahead for commissioning,” said a senior official from Airports Authority of India. The official said the new radar will replace the PSR, which has been operational for the past 13 years.

Among the many benefits, the new radar will reduce voice communication between the pilot and ATC as communication will take place through an internal channel, similar to MS Office messenger. At present, all aircraft in airspace on the same frequency can listen to all communications. This leads to confusion and, in certain cases, to serious incidents. Communication will now be direct, in textual (template) form, and will be meant only for the intended pilot.

Also, with the existing radar, there are chances of data leakage. The new radar has smooth data link network and, therefore, no chance of data loss.

Relaunches 109-year-old steam engine on Kalka-Shimla heritage track by IRCTC

A 109-year-old British-era steam engine restarted operations over the weekend on the Kalka-Shimla heritage track with over 12 passengers, mostly foreigners on board, railway officials said. Considered to be an engineering marvel, locomotive KC 520, the only narrow-gauge steam engine that dates back to 1905, operated between Shimla and Kathlighat, Amar Singh Thakur, Commercial Inspector (Railways), was quoted as saying in an IANS report.

The one-way 22-km-long journey between the two stations, located on the Shimla-Kalka rail line that figures in UNESCO World Heritage Site list, takes more than one hour.

The steam engine-hauled train, being handled by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a wing of the Indian Railways, with two chartered coaches was booked for Rs 96,000, including taxes, Thakur said.

The Indian Railways in February last year rolled out the indigenously built coal-fired steam locomotive for the first time in over six years. This was for the second time since then that it was hired.

IRCTC officials said under the plan, any company or individual can hire a steam train comprising two to three coaches with a capacity to accommodate up to 40 people between Shimla and Kathlighat at a cost of Rs 80,000 plus 20 per cent Service Tax. Food is provided on board.

The British-era steam engine was recently repaired and restored in Amritsar.

The steam locomotives, which ferried Europeans to and from this hill town, the erstwhile summer capital of British India, were gradually phased out with the launch of diesel engines from 1952 onwards.

The ascent on the track begins from 2,100 ft above sea level at Kalka in Haryana and crosses Dharampur, Barog, Solan and Kandaghat before it reaches Shimla at 7,000 ft.

Passport Seva goes rural.

Services to be shortly launched in pilot mode at 15 select CSC in UP and Jharkhand...

The Ministry of External Affairs (MoEA) plans to reach Passport Seva to rural areas.

Getting a passport will be more easier through PSK

The MoEA, along with Common Services Centers (CSCs) will offer Passport related services through the vast network of over one lakh CSCs across rural hinterland.

The services would be shortly launched in pilot mode at 15 select CSC locations in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand in the second week of March 2014. The full roll out across the country is expected to conclude by end of March 2014.

Under the Passport Seva, the MoEA has made it mandatory to complete the entire form filing process on-line, including payment of applicable fee and scheduling of appointment for seeking Passport related services. The CSCs would facilitate filling and uploading of Passport application form, payment of applicable fee and scheduling of appointment for the visit to the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) at nominal charge not exceeding US$1.63. As per the appointment schedule, an applicant will have to visit the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) for completion of application submission process. The services through CSCs would be available throughout the week, including during the weekend.

The CSC Scheme was approved by the Indian government in September 2006 for setting up of 100,000+ Internet enabled centers in rural areas under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The CSCs are the delivery points for the government, private and social sector services in the areas of agriculture, health, education, banking, insurance, pension, utility bill payments, entertainment, etc. to rural citizens of India at their doorstep. The passport related services are being added as part of their bouquet of services.

AirAsia India could launch in May – CEO

Likely to get flying permit in three weeks

AirAsia India could launch its first flights in May 2014, according to its CEO.

Speaking to Indian newspaper The Hindu, Mittu Chandilya said he hopes to see progress within the coming weeks.

“We may get the air operator permit in about three weeks. Thereafter, we may commence operations in two months from Chennai,” Chandilya said in an interview in Chennai.

AirAsia India is a joint venture between Malaysia’s AirAsia and India’s Tata Group. It will operate both domestic and international flights from its base at Chennai, using a fleet of Airbus A320s.