General Awareness

TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS - March 2019

Mar 2019

Oct 23, 2019

Railways To Implement ₹18000-Cr Project To Run Trains At 160 Kmph

The railways will implement a ₹18000-crore project to operate trains at a speed of 160 kmph on the busy Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes by upgrading infrastructure, Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said.
Once the project begins, it will take at least four years to complete, he said after inaugurating the International Rail Conference-2019 and the 13th International Railway Equipment Exhibition.
The events have been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Railways at Aerocity.
The railways' target is to operate high speed trains in two categories -- at 160 kmph on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes, and up to 320 kmph under the ongoing bullet train project between Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

Indian Embassy Issues Advisory To Indian Tourists Visiting Turkey

India has issued a travel advisory asking people to exercise utmost caution while travelling to Turkey. India's Embassy in Turkey, in its advisory, said although there have been no reports of untoward incidents in the country, travellers should be cautious.
It said the government has been receiving queries from Indian nationals on travelling to Turkey in view of the situation in the region.
Those requiring assistance may get in touch with Embassy of India, Ankara through helpline numbers - 90312 4408259 and 90312 4382195 and Consulate General of Istanbul at helplines 90212 2962131 and 90212 2962132.

Indian Railways Install Most Advanced Electronic Interlocking System on Grand Chord Route

Indian Railways has installed the most advanced Electronic Interlocking System on the Grand Chord route.
The measure is expected to help Indian Railways speed up trains and achieve the objective of reducing the travel time between Delhi and Howrah to about 12 hours from the existing 17 to 19 hours.
Grand Chord is part of the Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line. It acts as a link between Sitarampur in West Bengal and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, Uttar Pradesh, and covers a stretch of 450 kilometres falling in North Central Railway Zone.
The new Electronic system has replaced outdated 65-year old mechanical signalling system at Tundla Junction in Uttar Pradesh on the route.

MoCA To Seek Nod For 6 More Airports' Privatisation

The Ministry of Civil Aviation would seek Cabinet approval for privatising half a dozen more airports by the first week of December, 2019.
The six airports up for privatisation are Varanasi, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Trichy, Indore and Raipur.

Alitalia To Launch Its Group Booking Platform 'Group Connect' In India

Alitalia launched its B2B community platform, called 'Alitalia Connect', in Italy to offer personalised relationship between Alitalia and its B2B customers like travel agencies, companies and SMEs.
Now, the Italian carrier is set to launch 'Group Connect', a web platform under Alitalia Connect in India on November 13, 2019.
Group Connect is aimed to manage and speed up quotations and group bookings, revealed Nicola Bonacchi, Vice President, Leisure Travel Sales, Alitalia. Other prominent features of 'Group Connect' include requesting an offer, booking a group and having the quotation and the contract in real time, monitoring the contract terms and conditions, changing the reservation (increasing or decreasing the group) and entering passengers' names in the system.
The platform offers increased flexibility, allowing the agents to customise the conditions to be chosen based on customer's characteristics and period.

Oct 22, 2019

Piyush Goyal Launches Jaipur-Sikar- DEMU Passenger Service

Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated 79603/04 Jaipur-Sikar-JaipurDEMU (6 days a week) Service between Jaipur and Sikar through Video-conferencing.
Member of Parliament from Sikar Shri SumedhanandaSaraswati participated in the inaugural ceremony from Ringus.
This service will operate on the newly Gauge converted Jaipur – Ringus section.

Siachen, World's Highest Battlefield, Now Open For Tourists

The world's highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier, is now open for tourists, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced. Tourism will be allowed from Siachen base camp to Kumar Post that lies above 15,000 feet.
Meanwhile, while explaining that India and China have handled the boundary issue with maturity, Singh added that Kashmir is India's internal matter and Chinese President Xi Jinping didn't mention it during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chennai.

IRCTC To Pay Around Rs 1.62 Lakh As Compensation For Late Running Of Tejas Express

A delay of more than three hours in the running of Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express on October 19, 2019 has cost IRCTC around Rs 1.62 lakh which the railway subsidiary will pay through its insurance companies as compensation to around 950 passengers, a first in the history of Indian Railways.
While from Lucknow to Delhi there were 450 passengers who will get Rs 250 as compensation each, from Delhi to Lucknow there were around 500 passengers who will be paid Rs 100 each.

Oct 18, 2019

Railways Buddhist Circuit Train Covering 26 Sites In India, Nepal To Run From Oct 19-26

The Railways will run its first Buddhist Circuit train from this October 19 to October 26, 2019 covering sites related to Gautam Buddha in India and Nepal.
IRCTC will run the train covering destinations like Lumbini, where Buddha was born; Bodhgaya, where he gained enlightenment; Sarnath, where he gave his first sermon; and Kushinagar, where he attained nirvana.
The package will cost Indians Rs 1,23,900 per couple in AC first class and Rs 1,01,430 per couple for AC two tier.
It will include road transport by AC deluxe coaches for the Nepal tour, visits to monuments and locations, accommodation, meals, services of tour manager, guides, entrance fees and travel insurance.
However, passengers will have to pay their visa fee for the Nepal leg of the journey and any other expenditure like laundry and other services.
The train will have four first AC coaches with 96 seats, two second AC coaches with 60 seats, two exclusive dining cars with a capacity of 64 guest in each and a pantry car.

Sirisena Inaugurates Lanka's 3rd International Airport

An Alliance Air flight from Chennai landed at the Jaffna International Airport as Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena inaugurated the country's third international airport, upgraded with India's assistance, in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province.
The inaugural flight from Chennai was the first to land at the new international airport in Jaffna. The ATR 72-600 aircraft was accorded water salute as it landed at the Jaffna airport, about 400-km from capital Colombo.
The Jaffna International Airport was earlier known as Palaly airport which was used as a military air base and for domestic flights.
President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe formally unveiled a plaque commemorating the inauguration of the airport. Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu was also present.

Oct 16, 2019

Air India Becomes First Airline In World To Use Taxibot on A-320 aircraft

Air India has become the first airline in the world to use a Taxibot on an A-320 aircraft with passengers on board.
Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway and vice-versa. Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani flagged off flight AI665 and it was carried to runway using Taxibot at Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport - to Mumbai. It is a pilot-controlled semi-robotic towbar-less aircraft tractor used as alternate taxiing equipment.
Mr Lohani said it is the first such usage on any Airbus aircraft worldwide. It is a giant step forward towards a cleaner environment.
It will bring down the consumption of fuel by 85 per cent and reduce engine wear and tear. The ignition will be turned on only when the aircraft reaches the runway.

Railways To Be 'Net Zero' Carbon Emitter By 2030

As part of India's strategy to combat climate change, Indian Railways will become "net zero" carbon emitter by 2030.
India is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, and is among countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Meanwhile, the national carrier has a rail network of around 125,000km, making it the world's largest railway network under a single management. It also has large tracts of land along its network, which will be used to set up solar power generation capacities.
As the country prepares to curb pollution and cut its dependence on foreign oil, India has become one of the top renewable energy producers globally with ambitious capacity expansion plans.
The country has an installed renewable energy capacity of about 80 gigawatts (GW) and is running the world's largest renewable energy programme, with plans to achieve 175GW by 2022 and 500GW by 2030, as part of its climate commitments.

Qantas Airways To Embark On World's First 20-Hour Airline Flight

Fresh insight into the physical and emotional toll of ultra-long haul travel should emerge when Qantas Airways Ltd. flies direct from New York to Sydney.
No airline has ever completed that route without stopping. At nearly 20 hours, it's set to be the world's longest flight, leaving the U.S. and landing in Australia.
This will be more than an endurance exercise. Scientists and medical researchers in the cabin will turn Qantas's brand-new Boeing Co. Dreamliner into a high-altitude laboratory.
They'll screen the brains of the pilots for alertness, while monitoring the food, sleep and activity of the few dozen passengers.
The aim is to see how humans hold up to the ordeal.

Oct 15, 2019

Railways to launch new Sewa Express trains from Delhi, Coimbatore, Bengaluru

In a big stride towards achieving last-mile connectivity for people travelling between small towns and major cities, the Indian Railways will launch 10 'Sewa Service' trains on 15th October.
Out of these, 5 trains will run on a daily basis, whereas the rest of them will have 6 days a week service.
The Ministry of Railways had recently approved 10 trains under its 'Sewa service' initiative for better connectivity between smaller towns and important cities.
The Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce daily Sewa Express trains between Delhi and Shamli, Bhubaneswar and Nayagarh town, Murkongselex and Dibrugarh, Kota and Jhalawar City and Coimbatore and Palani.
It will run as a daily train with effect from October 15, 2019. Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal will start the 'Sewa Service' trains by inaugurating Delhi-Shamli daily passenger train from New Delhi. He will also flag off other trains through video-conferencing.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

September GK, August GK, July GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services And Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26