Category: Life & Style

The Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission (RTM) on November 3 won the Global Responsible Tourism Award 2023 for promoting sustainable and women-inclusive initiatives. The state won the award instituted by the Responsible Tourism Partnership and International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) in the ‘Best for Local Sourcing – Craft and Food’ category.

London-based ICRT selected the Kerala RTM as a joint winner along with Eswatini, the erstwhile Swaziland, a landlocked country in southern Africa, renowned for eco-friendly Ngwenya Glass.

Kerala’s RTM was selected for the award for linking women-led small and medium-sized enterprises  to tourism activities and ensuring effective marketing of indigenous products. The mission has been implementing women-friendly tourism projects in the state with the support of UN Women, the UN organisation dedicated to gender equality and women empowerment.

This is the second time Kerala RTM has bagged the Responsible Tourism Global Award, after its Water STREET project implemented in Maravanthuruthu in Kottayam district received the honour last year.

The Global Responsible Tourism Awards, which cater to Africa, India and Latin America regions, were given in six categories, including Best for Tackling Plastic Waste; Best for Meaningful Connections; Best for Local Sourcing – Craft and Food; Addressing Climate Change; Best for Diversity and Inclusion, and Best for Nature-Positive Tourism.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore issued a warning on November 6, stating that individuals planning to visit Malaysia during the Deepavali holiday should anticipate “very heavy traffic” at both the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints.

Travellers are advised to account for additional waiting time for immigration clearance from November 9 to November 14, given the upcoming public holiday on November 12 and the year-end school holidays.

ICA advises motorists to check the traffic conditions at both checkpoints on the Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah expressways before embarking on their journeys.

In addition to providing traffic updates on its websites and social media accounts and broadcasting on local radio stations, ICA will collaborate closely with the Traffic Police to ensure road discipline at critical junctions and roads leading to the checkpoints.

In October, four sports cars travelling from Malaysia to Singapore were turned away at the Tuas Checkpoint for attempting to cut the queue when entering Singapore. ICA reminds travellers to ensure that their passports have a remaining validity of at least six months.

During the Children’s Day weekend last month, more than 1.27 million travellers used the land checkpoints. Traveller volume peaked on October 6 with over 4,60,000 crossings, marking the highest daily figure for land checkpoints since the borders reopened in 2022, said the authority.

On November 2, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) installed beehives along the India-Bangladesh border fence in West Bengal to deter incidents such as cutting the hedge for cattle smuggling and other crimes while also creating livelihood opportunities for the local population.

The first-of-its-kind initiative has been launched by BSF’s 32nd battalion in the border areas of Nadia district. The force has partnered with the Union Ayush Ministry for this project, which has provided the border-guard force with the beehives and the necessary expertise to install them on the alloy-made smart fence.

The BSF has undertaken this initiative as part of the Vibrant Village Programme. It has further requested the Union Ministry to provide medicinal plants that bear flowers. These plants can be planted around the bee boxes to facilitate abundant pollination by the bees.

The Ayush Ministry had supplied the BSF with saplings of medicinal plants like tulsi, ekangi, satmuli, ashwagandha, aloe vera. Both BSF personnel and local residents are planting these saplings in the border areas. The honey extracted from these beehives will be sold through the established shops of the BSF Wives’ Welfare Association, and the profits will go to the locals.

On November 7, UK Prince William and The Earthshot Prize named Acción Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Program, S4S Technologies, and Boomitra as the 2023 Winners of The Earthshot Prize in Singapore. The award ceremony – the first to be held in Asia – recognised environmental innovators with solutions to battle climate change and save the planet.

The five winners, chosen from among the 15 innovators and entrepreneurs named as 2023 prize finalists, were each awarded a £1 million prize to help scale their solutions and accelerate their growth and impact. The work of this third cohort of the prize spans the globe.

During his Singapore visit, Prince William, Founder and President of The Earthshot Prize, met Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He also attended the United for Wildlife Global Summit, a convening of international leaders from conservation, government, law enforcement, and the private sector to discuss solutions for combating the illegal wildlife trade.

The British royal, on November 6, had a less formal event, where he picked up the oar of a dragon boat to take part in a race on the Kallang River, which showcases a sport that dates back more than 2,000 years and involves a crew of 22 team members made up of 20 paddlers.

The Italian region of Calabria is providing €28,000 (about Rs 25 lakh) to individuals who are open to moving to small villages, with an aim to fight its declining population. However, the applicants should be no older than 40 years, must be ready to move within 90 days once approved, and set up a either a new venture or accept existing offers for specific professions sought by the region.

Famous for its stunning coastal beauty and mountainous landscapes, Calabria, over the years, has faced a significant population decline. To address this issue, it has planned this scheme. Under the plan, it will provide financial incentives to young individuals eager to work and contribute to the local economy. In return, they would receive a monthly income that could range from £26,000 (Rs 26.48 lakh) over a three-year period or a one-time lump sum to support the launch of a new commercial endeavour.

Restaurants, shops, bed and breakfasts, or hotels are among the most preferred business ventures encouraged by the local officials.

The initiative, known as Active Residency Income, is set to open applications in the coming weeks, with approximately £620,000 (Rs 6.31 crore) earmarked to fund the scheme. The initiative might serve as a precursor to more extensive repopulation projects. Villages that will pay people to move in include Civita, Samo and Precacore, Aieta, Bova, Caccuri, Albidona, and Santa Severina.

Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 2 fully reopened to passengers on November 1 after three and a half years of extensive upgrade work. Besides adding over 21,000 square metres to the existing building, the project has introduced features like a digital waterfall and a digital sky for passengers to marvel at while they wait for their flights.

The Wonderfall is a multimedia digital waterfall display at the departure hall that stands at four stories and 14 metres high and is complemented by a landscaped garden.

The transit area at the all-new Terminal 2 features a stunning new Dreamscape feature that comprises an immersive garden elevated over a pond, beneath a dynamic digital sky.

Changi Airport Group (CAG) said the expansion is expected to add 5 million passengers per annum to its overall capacity, with the airport’s total capacity across all four terminals reaching 90 million passengers

The revamped terminal has a central common-use Fast and Seamless Travel zone, with almost twice the number of automated check-in kiosks and bag-drop machines compared to the original set-up. The immigration halls can now accommodate more automated immigration lanes. The terminal is the first Changi terminal to introduce automated Special Assistance Lanes for travellers with disabilities and young children at arrival and departure immigration points.

Kerala’s Kozhikode and Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior have been declared as City of Literature and City of Music by UNESCO. On the occasion of World Cities Day, observed on October 31, UNESCO unveiled a prestigious list of 55 new creative cities, and Kozhikode and Gwalior made it to the list for their commitment to culture, creativity, and innovative urban planning.

Kozhikode met the stringent criteria, boasting a multitude of literary institutions, extensive experience in organising literary events, and a high level of literary education. The city’s literary activities, characterised by both quality and diversity, secured its place on UNESCO’s Creative Cities list.

Gwalior’s rich musical history, encompassing legends like Tansen and Baliti Bawra, along with the esteemed Gwalior Gharana, earned it this prestigious recognition of the City of Music.

With these latest additions, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network now boasts 350 creative cities in more than 100 countries, spanning seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music.

The newly designated creative cities will participate in the UCCN annual conference in Braga, Portugal, from July 1 to 5, 2024, under the theme, Bringing Youth to the Table for the Next Decade.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Singapore Airlines on October 29 unveiled plans to expand its services with five additional flights between Hyderabad and Singapore. The event was attended by senior officials from GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), key representatives from Singapore Airlines, and various airport stakeholders, who gathered at the terminal to celebrate the airline’s two decades of operation in the region.

These new flights aim to meet the growing demand for comfortable long-haul travel to Singapore, which serves as a convenient transit point for travellers heading to destinations in Australia, New Zealand, and Far East Asia.

The Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 519 will depart from Hyderabad at 11.20 (IST) and arrive in Singapore at 18.20 (Singapore Standard Time). The return flight, Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 518 will depart from Singapore at 8 (Singapore Standard Time) and arrive in Hyderabad at 10.15 (IST).

With these five weekly nonstop flights, passengers travelling from Hyderabad to Singapore and beyond will have increased connectivity options. Additionally, the introduction of wide-body aircraft A350-900 for the daily evening departure flight SQ522/SQ523 will offer an improved coach experience.

Kenya plans to end visa requirements for all Africans visiting the East African nation by the end of the year, said President William Ruto at the Three Basins Climate Change Conference in Brazzaville, Congo, held from October 26 to 28.

“By the end of this year, no African will be required to have a visa to come to Kenya,” said Ruto in his speech, which was met with resounding applause.

President Ruto underscored the potential benefits of eliminating visa requirements for citizens of African countries, emphasising the positive impact it could have on trade and opportunities.

According to a 2022 report by the African Union (AU) and the African Development Bank on visa openness, only three African nations—Benin, Seychelles, and The Gambia—currently allow African travellers to enter without a visa.

The initiative for a visa-free Africa for all Africans is a fundamental aspect of the AU’s Agenda 2063. However, its implementation has faced challenges and been slow to progress.

The AU introduced the African passport in 2016 with the aim of enabling unrestricted travel for all African citizens within the continent, eliminating the need for visas. However, its widespread availability remains limited, primarily due to concerns related to security, smuggling, and potential impacts on local job markets.

In a move to boost tourism, Thailand has waived off visa requirements for travellers coming in from India and Taiwan from November 2023 to May 2024, said a government official in a statement on October 31.

Arrivals from India and Taiwan will be permitted to stay in Thailand for duration of 30 days.

India has emerged as Thailand’s fourth-largest source market for tourism this year, after Malaysia, China, and South Korea, with approximately 1.2 million arrivals.

In September, Thailand had eliminated visa requirements for Chinese tourists. The country had 11 million arrivals from China in 2019.

The latest government data reveals that from January to October 29, Thailand received 22 million visitors, contributing 927.5 billion baht (approximately $25.67 billion) to the country’s economy.

With more airlines and hospitality chains targeting the market, inbound tourism from India showed signs of growth. Thailand is aiming at about 28 million arrivals in 2023.

In October, Sri Lanka announced visa-free entry for India and six other countries, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, until March 21, 2024, in a bid to boost tourism with immediate effect.