NAMASTE
A TRAVEL NEWSLETTER FROM INDIA

June 2017

AI’s non-stop Delhi-Stockholm service from Aug 15 Jet Airways’ third non-stop daily flight connecting Mumbai-London from Oct 29 Hotels with 3 or more stars to reopen bars in Kerala
 
GoAir launches 3 daily direct Ahmedabad-Delhi flights
Air India will commence non-stop flight service between Delhi and Stockholm from August 15, 2017.
Effective October 29, 2017, and as part of the airline’s forthcoming Winter schedule, the new daytime service – 9W 116 will depart from Mumbai at 0905 hrs.
 The dry spell is over in Kerala with the state government reversing the restricted liquor policy GoAir has announced the launch of three daily direct flights between Ahmedabad and New Delhi.
       

Dear Partners,
Namaste from India!

This National Park, part of an ambitious government initiative that seeks to preserve and reclaim dwindling forests, is a landscape of hills and ravines. As your eye ranges carefully over this readily visible contrast, you will begin to notice the many small things that make the Satpura National Park unique—an intersection of North with South, and indeed, East with West, never mind what the good Mr. Kipling said. A zone of meeting, mingling and divergences of transitions and continuities.

This month we bring to you Satpura National Park, Madhya Pradesh, as the destination of the month!

Regards,
Sanjeev Joshi

 

Jet Airways’ third non-stop daily flight connecting Mumbai-London from Oct 29

Effective October 29, 2017, and as part of the airline’s forthcoming Winter schedule, the new daytime service – 9W 116 will depart from Mumbai at 0905 hrs. to arrive at London Heathrow at 1335 hrs. (local time). On its return, the planned departure for 9W 115 from London Heathrow is at 1530 hrs. (local time), arriving in Mumbai at 0555 hrs., giving guests a head start to their day in India’s economic capital.


GoAir expands Patna operations from Delhi

GoAir is set to expand its operations to Patna with the launch of their fourth daily flight between New Delhi and Patna, with effect from June 11, 2017. The launch of this additional daily service between Patna and New Delhi aims at strengthening GoAir’s extensive network of flights to Patna. This additional flight will benefit a large number of passengers travelling from Patna to New Delhi further bolstering the airline’s already extensive network.

GoAir launches 3 daily direct Ahmedabad-Delhi flights

GoAir has announced the launch of three daily direct flights between Ahmedabad and New Delhi. The airline will give business travellers same day connectivity between these two important cities with effect from June 11, 2017, and a third daily direct flight will also be operational with effect from June 16, 2017.

Fly direct Goa-Surat on SpiceJet

SpiceJet has started its daily direct flight service from Goa to Surat. This will be the first-ever direct connection between Goa and Surat by any airline. As the first nonstop flight between Goa and Surat, the new flight will provide travellers with a convenient travel option, thus saving their time while making their journey hassle-free.

116 ASI monuments to be under MOT; open to PPP model

The Ministry of Culture has offered a total of 116 ASI monuments to the Ministry of Tourism (MOT), which would then be open to PPP model, as revealed by Rashmi Verma, Secretary of Tourism, in a meeting with FAITH recently. Under the PPP model, these monuments will be taken over by private players for the upkeep, maintenance and to be illuminated for night tourism as well.

 

 

 

 

Travel with time

In today’s world where man and machine are synonyms due to fast growing technology, a holiday has become must for us to relax and rejuvenate. The tourism industry therefore has become one of the fast growing industries and is changing its dimensions every minute. We at TIME understand the changing time and demands of travelers and therefore aim to provide all our clients with an experience, which is unparalleled. TIME was established in 1998 with the sole aim of providing quality services viz a viz value for money. The Indian sub-continent being one of the most challenging destinations requires lot of expertise and dedication, therefore we at TIME ensure to provide all our Travel Partners services which not only make their clients happy but gives us a repeat value.

Our motto, “The Company that cares”, says it all.

 

 

 

 

 

AI’s non-stop Delhi-Stockholm service from Aug 15

Air India will commence non-stop flight service between Delhi and Stockholm from August 15, 2017. The flight will operate thrice a week (Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) with each flight roughly having eight-hour duration.


Air India to start new flights from Lucknow

Air India is all set to start new flights not only under government’s Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme but non-UDAN flights as well to strengthen its domestic network. Air India informs that they will be starting flights under UDAN to Pathankot and Ludhiana. There will be non-UDAN flights as well, where new flights will be operational from Lucknow from June 25 on Lucknow-Jaipur, Lucknow-Dehradun and Lucknow-Bhopal routes. In South India, Air India will be putting an aeroplane in Bengaluru, which would be flying to Coimbatore, Chennai and Madurai.

AI direct flight connecting Delhi-Copenhagen from Sept 16

Flag carrier Air India has announced direct flights between New Delhi and Copenhagen thereby adding its 11th destination in Europe. Starting from September 16, these flights will operate thrice a week.

Tiger count in Kaziranga rises from 83 to 104 in 3 years

Latest estimates show that there are 104 tigers in the Kaziranga National Park and Burachapori. In 2014, there were 83 tigers in Kaziranga.
While 95 adult tigers were found in Kaziranga National Park, two adult tigers and their cubs were found in Burachapori. Both the parks are located within the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, sprawling over an area of 860 sq km.
With 104 Tigers, the big cat density in Kaziranga has been found to be 21 tigers per 100 sq km. The thriving tiger population points to the fact that there is a healthy prey base for the big cats.
 


 

Nepal gets its first Marriott hotel

Fairfield by Marriott, part of Marriott International, has announced the opening of Fairfield by Marriott Kathmandu.
Close to all of Kathmandu’s popular attractions including the Narayanhiti Palace Museum, Garden of Dreams and the Kathmandu Durbar Square, the hotel is also situated 5km away from the airport. Featuring 115 rooms, Fairfield by Marriott also has ‘Kava’, the all-day dining restaurant, that serves local, Indian and international cuisine.

Hotels with 3 or more stars to reopen bars in Kerala

The dry spell is over in Kerala with the state government reversing the restricted liquor policy of the previous government and allowing bars to function as usual. The government will allow the bars to function in hotels with three-star status and above. The five-star hotels are already allowed to open bars. Hotels below three-star category will be allowed to run beer and wine parlours. The bars will remain open from 11 am to 11 pm. Bars will be allowed to remain open from 10 am to 11 pm in tourism centres. Both international and domestic terminals of the airports will be allowed to sell liquor. The permissible age limit for consuming liquor has been increased from 21 to 23. The new liquor policy will protect the interests of the traditional liquor, toddy. Bars, including the 5 five-star ones, will be allowed to sell toddy.

 

Time Recommends

Tour of the month

Satpura National Park

Satpura is a Sanskrit word, that means seven mountains (sapta=seven;pura=mountain). In earlier times, most of the Satpura range was heavily forested, but the area has been subject to gradual deforestation in recent decades, although significant stands of forests remain. These forest enclaves provide habitat to several at-risk and endangered species, including the Tiger.
Satpura National Park is one the areas of this landscape preserved marvelously for the protection of flora and fauna.

What makes the National Park such a great birding destination?

It is home to a diverse ecosystem and, in addition, the Satpuras form one corridor of movement between the mountains of the Eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats. It thus provides a habitat for migrant waterfowl, including Bar-headed Geese, the Pintail, the Garganey, the Pochard and the Ruddy Shelduck. Birds of prey such as the Black Eagle, the Rufous-bellied Eagle, the Shahin Falcon, Bonelli’s Eagle, and the Mountain Hawk Eagle have often been sighted. These are but a small sampling of a long list of more than 300 oft-spotted bird species. And we haven’t even begun talking about the rarer species.
Satpura National Park is one of India’s finest Tiger Reserves and was the winner in 2010 of the TOFT Wildlife Tourism Award for ‘most visitor friendly’ wildlife destinations. Located south of Hoshangabad it is part of India’s Central Highlands and gets its name from the Satpura Hill ranges, or Mahadeo hills. These Highlands were one of the last places to be ‘uncovered’ by the English Raj’s authorities in the early 1860’s, but also, due to the rapid Teak deforestation at the time, one of the first reserves in the world, Bori Sanctuary, to be formally declared. Satpura National Park, today covers an area of 524 km, and along with the adjoining Bori and Panchmarhi Sanctuaries to form the Satpura Tiger Reserve, provides a total 1427 km² of unique Central Indian Highland ecosystem stuffed with wildlife.
Satpura is a little-visited park in Madhya Pradesh, but it’s one distinguishing feature is the ability to walk within its boundaries, accompanied by local guides, something not possible to do in most Tiger reserves in India. Do not visit Satpura if you are only after Tigers, but do come here if you want to see just what else Central India has to offer in both wildlife and birdlife.

 


 

The Park

Satpura National Park is spread over 1427 sq km and was formed in 1981 after joining Satpura, Pachmari and Bori sanctuaries and the altitude ranges from 300 to 1,352 metres (980 to 4,436 ft). The terrain of the national park is extremely rugged and consists of fascinating deep valleys, sandstone peaks, narrow gorges, rivulets, waterfalls, thick dense green forest of Sal and other medicinal herbs, it also has large tracts of Teak forests.
Its fauna comprises Spotted Deer, Indian Bison (Gaur), Tigers, Leopards, Wild Boar, Wild dog (locally called Dholes), Sloth Bear, Black Buck (unique attraction), Porcupine, Sambhar, Four Horned Antelopes (Chowsingha), Otters, Crocodile, Malabar squirrels, Langurs etc.
The flora consists of mainly of Sal and famous Bori Teak forests, but also includes Tendu, Mahua and Bel trees, a variety of bamboo species, and a variety of grasses and medicinal plants.
Indian Giant Squirrel and White Bison are a special feature of Satpura National Park. It offers good birding opportunity due to its unique terrain and many water bodies including the Tawa reservoir. From November to March it also hosts a variety of migratory birds in the Tawa reservoir and fields around the park.
The striking terrain of the national park is what gives it its beauty, from extremely rugged hills and mountains with sandstone peaks, narrow water-filled gorges, deep ravines, dense Sal and mixed forests, and thanks to the Tewa lake bordering the park, some delightful coves and bays, which you can explore by kayak. The altitude ranges from 300 m on the plains of Marai and Churna to Dhoopgarh peak as high as 4500 feet (1400 m).

How to Reach

The nearest town to the national park is the old Raj hill station of Pachmarhi. The nearest railhead is Piparia at a distance of 55 km and the state capital, Bhopal is situated at a distance of 210 km or 4 hour’s drive away.
By Road: Satpura National Park is close to Pachmarhi hill station and can be easily travelled by road from cities like Bhopal, Jabalpur, Chindwara, Nagpur. It is in Hoshangabad district and well linked by road from other places.
By Train: Nearest railway station for reaching Satpura tiger reserve is Sohagpur about 20kms from national park. Being a small station, many long-route trains do not stop here so next better option in Pipariya railway station which is about 45kms from national park.

Best Time to Visit

Park is open for visitors from 16th October to 30th June.


For More Information

Tourism india management enterprises pvt. ltd.

Plot No. 78, Sector - 44, Gurgaon-122002, Haryana India
Phone :0091-124-4932450 Fax :0091-124-4932499
E-MAIL: timepl@tourismindiamanagement.com