Singapore’s Changi Airport has recovered its title as the world’s best airport from Qatar, which held the crown for two years during the peak of pandemic travel restrictions, in the latest ranking by the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2023. Determined by a customer satisfaction survey, the airports awards ranked Doha’s Hamad International Airport at second place and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at the third place. The US was not present in the top 10 airports. Paris Charles de Gaulle was Europe’s top performer, up one spot to fifth place, while Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was
Finding the origin of the deadly COVID-19 virus is a moral imperative and all hypotheses must be explored, insisted the World Health Organization Head, affirming that the United Nations’ body is committed to finding how the virus occurred. “Understanding #COVID19’s origins and exploring all hypotheses remains: a scientific imperative, to help us prevent future outbreaks (and) a moral imperative, for the sake of the millions of people who died and those who live with #LongCOVID,” tweeted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on March 12, marking three years since the world
India has restored the e-visa services for the nationals of Saudi Arabia keen to visit the country with immediate effect. In 2019, India had introduced the Saudi nationals’ e-Visa service, which was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Embassy of India in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a tweet said, “The Embassy is happy to announce that the facility of e-visa has been restored for the nationals of Saudi Arabia with immediate effect in all five sub-categories, i.e. e-tourist visa, e-business visa, e-medical visa, e-medical attendant visa & e-conference visa.” India offe
India shone at the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles with two Oscar trophies, as The Elephant Whisperers won the Best Documentary Short Subject, and “Naatu Naatu” song from Telugu film RRR won for Best Original Song, becoming the first Indian song to win an Oscar. Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, The Elephant Whisperers is a heartwarming film on the deep bond between a pair of elephants and their humans. The 40-minute film on Netflix features, as Gonsalves said, the ‘sacred bond between us and the natural world and respect for indigenous communities’.
Union Minister for Labour & Employment and Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on March 11 inaugurated the NDMC G20 Flower Festival at Central Park, Connaught Place, New Delhi. New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had organised the two-day G20-themed flower festival to showcase the vibrant and colourful display of G20 members and guest countries. China, Japan, Singapore and the Netherlands participated in the G20 Flower Festival. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) also participated in the G20 Flower Festival, where a large variety of seasonal and exclusive flor
An 11-minute brisk walk daily could prevent one in 10 premature deaths worldwide, says the largest ever study of its kind. This equals 75 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, half the weekly 150 minutes recommended by the NHS. The study conducted by Cambridge University experts has found that brisk walking, dancing, riding a bike, playing tennis or hiking can all substantially cut the risks of early death, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers, including those of the head and neck and myeloid leukaemia. Globally, one in 10 early deaths could be avoided if everyone met ju
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), operated by DIAL, has bagged the award for Airport Service Quality (ASQ) best airport for 2022 in the category of over 40 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA). It has also been named as the cleanest airport in the Asia Pacific region by the Airports Council International (ACI). “The ASQ programme is the world's leading airport customer experience measurement and benchmarking programme. This recognition is based on live research via surveys gathered at the airport direct from the traveller rating their satisfaction on the day of travel,” DI
Cruise company Life at Sea Cruises is now accepting bookings for its 3-year-voyage on the MV Gemini, which sets sail from Istanbul on November 1, said a CNN report. The Rs 25 lakh per person cruise will take people to as many as 135 countries, covering 375 destinations, including the Caribbean, Antarctica, Hawaii, Asia and other places. The package of the three-year World Cruise, starting from $29,999 per year (around ₹24.5 lakh), includes access to all dining venues and alcohol with dinner, a state-of-the-art wellness centre, sundeck and swimming pool, high-speed internet, entertainment
Saudi Arabia is set to introduce yoga in its universities due to its significance for mental and physical health. Several agreements will be signed with major universities in Saudi Arabia to support and promote yoga over the next few months, according to Saudi Yoga Committee President Nouf Al-Marwaai. Al-Marwaai said that the committee was striving hard to introduce yoga to universities. “Yoga gives its practitioners many health benefits (for) both physical and mental well-being… One of the most important pillars of achieving Vision 2030 is to enhance participation in sports activities
Passenger traffic at Changi Airport should return to pre-pandemic levels by 2024, or possibly earlier, said Singapore’s Transport Minister S. Iswaran in the Parliament. S. Iswaran told the House that passenger traffic volumes, flights and city links at Changi are now at about 80 percent of pre-Covid-19 levels, while flights at Seletar Airport have recovered fully since January 2023. In 2019, 68.3 million passengers passed through Changi Airport, with 3,82,000 commercial flights taking off or landing at the airport. Passenger traffic fell to a low of 0.5 percent of this total during th