The mighty Mount Everest.

New Delhi: Taming the mighty Mount Everest by climbing the world’s highest mountain peak is no longer a feat. Apparently, hurtling down its icy, steep, rugged peaks is.

A six member team of the rugged Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a specialized para-military force which was created to guard the Indo-Tibet border, is all poised to create a world record by skiing down the mighty Mt Everest down from the Chinese side of the cold, brutal slopes.

The team which had been flagged off from New Delhi last month, has already scaled the peak and have spoken to their base camp via satellite phone. The ski run down the 8,848 mts peak is expected to begin within this week.

“The six-member squad will now begin the ski down from the Chinese side, which the force is attempting this time as part of its golden jubilee celebrations,” ITBP spokesperson Deepak Pandey told reporters.

The team members comprise of Ratan Singh Sonal, Pradeep Kumar Negi, Pasing Sherpa, Devendra Singh, Birendra Singh and Kishore Prasad Gurung. The six members of the 23 member ITBP team have scaled the Mt Everest from the Chinese side of the slopes which are more rugged and tougher than the ones looking down Nepal.

If the ITBP team pulls the ski run off, they would be the first Indian team to do so.

Malaysia Airlines has new baggage rules.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines announced it had put into effect its new baggage limit for passengers on all its flights on Wednesday.

Economy Class passengers were entitled to one piece of hand baggage weighing a maximum 7kg, while those in First and Business Classes were allowed two pieces, a statement from the airline read.

Each hand baggage must be not more than 36cm long, 23cm wide and 56cm high.

All cabin baggage must conform to local laws and security measures applied at the respective airports and regular rates would apply for cabin baggage in excess of these new allowances.

In addition, each passenger is also allowed to carry, as part of their cabin baggage, a small handbag and a walking stick, and one of the following: a notebook/laptop, a briefcase, a camera bag or binoculars bag, MAS said yesterday.

Those travelling with infants could also bring one bag containing baby food and nappies weighing up to 5kg, a carry cot and a fully collapsible baby stroller, the statement added.

The new rules were in preparation for MAS’ entry into the oneworld Alliance, a network of airlines that fly to some 950 destinations in 150 countries.

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Air India reporting massive daily losses, but is going international.

NEW DELHI: India’s struggling flagship airline Air India began its international operations Wednesday. Operations to Europe and the United States were started as a part of its contingency plan to reinstate normalcy.

Hundreds of Air India pilots were staying away from work and had called in sick as an attempt to make the management accept their demands in a dispute over training.

As the stir by the pilots entered its second week Air India clubbed many of its flights to stabilize its international operations.

“We have put in force our contingency plan and started operating our international flights, which were affected for the past eight days causing great inconvenience to our customers. Slowly, we hope that our operations would normalize,” an Air India official said.

Air India was compelled to stop its International operations on Monday after 16 pilots called in sick. The pilots are protesting against former Indian Airlines pilots who were moved to Air India after the merger of Indian Airlines and Air India in 2007.

The pilots think this move threatens their career prospects.

“We have deployed Airbus 320 aircraft for our short haul flights to Bangkok, Singapore and other destinations,” he said.

After the protest Air India was forced to cancel its flights from Paris, Riyadh, Toronto and Tokyo.

The airline operates a fleet of Boeings and Airbus aircrafts that serve Asia, Europe and North America.

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Indian Army's women expedition to attempt Everest summit this week.

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Army Chief General CMS Gurung on Tuesday said he would assist all possible help to Indian Army’s women Everest summit expedition team.

The team, which is currently in Nepal, is hoping to summit the world’s highest peak between Tuesday and Sunday, the team said in a statement.

Gurung also said that he would like to see Nepal and India’s militaries join together in future expeditions to the tallest peaks of the Himalayas as early as next year.

“I bring greetings from the Nepal Army, the Indian people and the Indian Army,” he told the team members.

Gurung was accompanied by the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad and the Indian Defence Attaché to Kathmandu Col Ajay Pasbola.

Motivating the team, which has been training at Everest Base Camp in Nepal for the past two months, he said, “Physical fitness can get you here, but it is mental strength, drive and determination that will get you to the summit of Everest.”

As a display of magnanimity towards the team, he extended all help to them and said that a helicopter is available to the team and a smaller aircraft is on standby at all times for any exigencies that may arise during the expedition.

Citing the 2003 Joint Indo-Nepal Everest Expedition and the recently-concluded Eco-Annapurna Trek 2011, the Army Chief recalled the past joint expeditions between the armies of the two nations.

He also revealed the plans of holding joint expeditions between the two armies in India and Nepal in 2013.

The 22-member Indian team comprising seven women officers had left Delhi for Kathmandu on March 22 and are making summit attempts between 15-20 May. It is being led by Colonel Ajay Kothiyal.

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Singapore Airlines gives women more years on the job.

SINGAPORE: Singapore women wanting to enter the flight attendant sector received positive news this week, allowing them to work longer, highlighting what women’s rights advocates say is a step in the right direction.

“It makes women have more power in their professional careers and no longer is flying and working on a plane the right of only a certain look,” said one activist, telling Bikyamasr.com that there “remains many hindrances for women in the country, but we are on the right path.”

Under the new agreement signed by Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the Singapore Airlines Staff Union, junior stewardesses – who usually start working at 23 – can fly for up to 20 years from 17 years previously, SIA said.

Those promoted to leading and chief stewardess rank can serve for up to 25 and 30 years respectively, up from 23 and 28 years previously.

The new rules also apply to male cabin crew who joined after 2004. Men who signed up before 2004 are allowed to work until they are 62.

The new agreement, which came into effect on May 9, “allows us to offer longer employment terms for all our employees,” the airline said in an email to AFP. “At the same time, it will also help us to retain experienced cabin crew.”

The airline’s flight attendants, who it has referred to as “Singapore Girls” since the 1970s, have long played a central role in the airline’s advertising campaigns, despite critics labeling the marketing as outdated and sexist.

Frequent winners of travel industry awards for cabin crew service, the flight attendants are recruited from several Asian countries and wear distinctive uniforms with batik prints.

“People are living longer and starting families later, so the aim is to make sure our people stay employed longer,” the Straits Times newspaper quoted SIA staff union president Tony Sim as saying.

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Indian travelers make Thailand top destination.

BANGKOK: Thailand remained the top travel spot for India tourists last year with some 900,000 Indians arriving in the Southeast Asian country, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said in a statement.

According to their figures, a record 917,832 Indians were received in 2011, a 16 percent jump over the 791,185 handled in 2010.

In the first quarter of this year, 210,722 Indians traveled to the country, a 1.64 percent hike over the same period last year.

Sethaphan Buddhani, director of the authority in Mumbai, said, “we have achieved this consistent growth due to our result-oriented marketing strategies that are matched with performance indicators. We are also grateful to the Indian travel trade, which has been actively supporting our initiatives through joint promotions that showcase Thailand as a value-for-money destination.”

According to Buddhani, TAT’s ongoing efforts to tap the Indian market include educating travel consultants, tour operators, wedding planners and media about new attractions and products, through various ground-based marketing activities incorporating workshops, seminars and educational tours.

These activities are augmented by exhibitions, joint promotions, and mass communication through a range of outdoor, print, electronic and online media.

Buddhani added that “we realized the need to tap niche segments as the Indian market has matured over a period of time. As a result, we now tap niche segments such as golf, luxury holidays, weddings, medical, and Bollywood tourism.”

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Yemen's tourism industry struggling as violence wracks country.

SANA’A: 2011 was a catastrophic year in terms of tourism in Yemen as the country was enthralled in a violent popular uprising. 2012 and the threat of terror attacks have turned out to be as lethal to the ailing industry sector.

Despite a rich cultural heritage stretching millennia and breathtaking scenery, Yemen is its own worst enemy, as the new coalition government is struggling to re-establish order over the land, with over lapping conflicts, the growing threat of sectarianism, tribal dissidents and Islamic militants.

The Yemen Hotel Union reported last month at its annual meeting that it had lost $1.8 million in 2011, stressing that all indicators so far were negative, offering no silver-lining.

“Last year’s conflict affected the hotel industry in Yemen badly. Some development plans have been achieved, but slowly. I hope everything gets better soon,” said Alwan Al-Shaibani, chairman of the YHU.

He added, “Many hotels shut down because of last year’s conflict. But if tourists start to visit Yemen again, these hotels will reopen. All we need in Yemen is security and stability so that tourists feel safe enough to come here.”

As a results explained al-Shaibani, many tourism workers were laid off or suffered a salary suspension as businessmen are trying to figure out a way-out of the crisis.

Several economists warned that unless Yemen’s government was to take drastic measures towards restoring order across its provinces, tourism will continue to deteriorate, setting back the county decades in terms of potential growth.

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Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

New Delhi: A young Australian woman was date-raped by an Indian male, in what is being referred to as a ‘Facebook rape case’ in this part of the world.

The Indian police are on the lookout for one Sammy Sidhana, who had established contact with the 22-year old Australian woman on Facebook months ago, before spiking her drink and raping her Saturday in a hotel room in the tourist hub of Kullu, in the northern Indian Himachal district.

Sidhana’s home in Chandigarh, in the Punjab state, was raided by the police, but the accused is still at large, police said.

“The incident happened on Saturday, when she felt giddy after a party she had attended with Sidhana. When she woke up in the morning she discovered that she was naked and had been raped,” police said, adding that Sidhana had met her two days ago at a local festival.

The Australian victim had landed in India had met Sidhana for the first time after being in touch with each other on Facebook for several months.

Plane crashed near Nepal's Mount Annapurna on Monday morning.

KATHMANDU: At least 15 people have been killed in a plane crash in the northwestern region of Nepal on Monday morning, government officials confirmed to Bikyamasr.com.

The Nepal Army said the plane belonging to Agni Air crashed in the early morning after it slammed into the side of a mountain near Mount Annapurna close to Jomsom.

Six people were reported to have survived the crash.

Ramindra Chettri, Nepal Army spokesperson, told China’s Xinhua news agency that 15 bodies have been recovered and six people who were rescued are undergoing treatment at hospital in Pokhara.

“A Nepal Army MI-17 helicopter has flown to the crash site to bring the bodies to the capital,” Chettri said.

He added that there were three crew members and 18 foreign passengers including 16 Indians on board.

The Jomsom Airport, about 200 kilometers northwest of the capital Kathmandu, is a gateway to a popular tourist and trekking destination along with pilgrimage for the Hindus.

Site-seeing flights in the country are known to not be the safest, with accidents occurring on a more than regular basis in the country, as tourists want to get a closer look at the Himalayas.

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A typical Goa beach.

Goa (INDIA): Goa’s beaches may have it all, the sun, the surf , booze, dope and the babes, but a government appointed women’s body has demanded that the state’s popular beaches should have changing rooms and bathrooms for women.

In her communication to tourism minister Dilip Parulekar Goa State Commission for Women (GSCW) chairperson Ezilda Sapeco has that it was inexplicable that beaches in Goa which attracted millions of tourists every year, had no changing facilities for women.

“Goa is a popular tourist destination, yet thebeaches have no changing room or toilets for women. Due to this, they are forced to book a hotel room,” GSCW chairperson Ezilda Sapeco has said in her communication to Parulekar.

Goa one of India’s most sought after beach tourism destinations sees nearly 2.6 million tourists annually, who flock to its beaches and nightlife in and around the coastal hubs of the state like Calangute, Baga, Arambol, Anjuna, Palolem, etc.

However, the state is woefully ill prepared as far as infrastructure for entertaining the 2.6 million tourists, which is virtually double the population of the state.

Tourists on beaches are forced to either book hotel rooms for changing into or out of swimwear or have to do the same behind the cover of a tree or vegetation nearby.

Seeing Hands Nepal gives opportunities to the blind.

POKHARA, Nepal: The employees at Seeing Hands Nepal can’t witness the towering snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas that mark the skyline in Pokhara, the city on the cusp of the Annapurna Himalaya range. Nor can they see the smaller mountains that encircle the country’s second largest lake, only a short walk from the stone pathway that marks the entrance to where they work.

They are blind. But through a UK-based charity, Seeing Hands has been able to foment development of the often disenfranchised blind community in Nepal.

They deliver world-class massages to the millions of tourists who attempt to traverse the top of the world. After a trek in the Annapurna Range, relaxing muscles and recuperating are on order, and the masseuses at Seeing Hands deliver unparalleled quality, through their hands, which are the eyes of the workers.

“Without the support of my family, I wouldn’t be here at all,” said Ramzi Paudel, one of the Pokhara branch’s veterans. From a farming family of 13 children in the southern city of Lumbini, Paudel recently earned his Bachelor’s degree, speaks quality English and is preparing to begin his Master’s program at the local university in Pokhara.

In many ways, Paudel is one of the lucky ones in a country where the blind community is largely dependent on others for work, with limited to no opportunities for education or work in the country.

“The blind in Nepal stay at home and do nothing, get some education and become teachers, or try to do things on their own, but it is hard,” he said.

The charity, Seeing Hands, began in 2006, saw the demand for assistance and according to their website, “was set up to provide training and employment opportunities for young blind Nepalis as massage therapists.”

With some 7 million international tourists coming to the small country at the foothills of the Himalayas, massage therapy was a natural choice. Here in Pokhara, the facility of 8 therapists offers remedial sports therapy and Swedish-style relaxation massage.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” said one British patron after receiving a sports massage from one of the therapists. “After trekking the mountains, it was much needed.”

Paudel and the other therapists, all blind, use their hands to empower their lives. It isn’t an easy endeavor, however, with all therapists who are accepted into the program required to complete 100 hours of Braille training as well as 100 hours of therapeutic massage coursework, which earns them a certificate that meets the international standards set by the Institute of Sports and Remedial Massage in London (ISRM).

Without Seeing Hands and the ability to give back, Paudel says for many of the therapists who have come to work and earn a degree, life would be much different.

“Here we have become very self-sufficient. We can take the bus on our own and are earning an income now that we can send back to our families to support them some,” Paudel says, his bright smile showing hope in a country that has long struggled with political dissension, violence and a poverty level toward the lowest globally.

Although Seeing Hands may not be a massive endeavor, it has already trained dozens of blind people in Nepal, who have gone on to teach and train others, with the experience that independence can be achieved.

“Blind people in Nepal need vocational opportunities that economically and socially empower them, enabling them to generate their own incomes and lead dignified, independent lives,” Seeing Hands says.

And the therapists get that, earning 35 percent of all revenue from their massages, with the remaining funds going to trainings, infrastructure and development of facilities to better assist the blind community across the country.

Lalumaya Bhuzel, a 23-year-old female masseuse in Pokhara, hopes to continue her education while with Seeing Hands. Like Paudel, she comes from a large farming family in central Nepal, and through the Seeing Hands initiative, has been able to complete her Bachelor degree and hopes to become a teacher after finishing a Master’s degree.

“I’m very lucky,” she said of being a therapist at Seeing Hands. “Blind people have a very difficult life in Nepal, and they struggle to have good jobs, or work of any kind.”

The NGO has given Bhuzel the opportunity to have dreams and hopes for a future that largely was impossible less than a decade ago for blind people. She says that before Seeing Hands, teaching, playing music or being radio jockeys were the only professions readily available for the blind community.

And with over 6 million tourists visiting Nepal annually, the majority of whom take to trekking in the Himalayas, there is also room for expansion, both Seeing Hands therapists believe. And tourists agree.

“Why would I go somewhere else when I can get a world-class massage by people who need the work and empowerment,” said Norwegian climber Tor following a massage by Lalu.

“She was amazing and I don’t think I have had a better massage anywhere else in the world,” he added.

In it is in the early stages, the administrators at Seeing Hands in Pokhara are hopeful that as the media takes note and as tourists continue to flock to the mountains lining the northern border areas, the future is one full of optimism for the blind community.

“The workers here are very committed and this is important, because without their effort and their skills, this whole project would not be able to continue to grow and expand,” said the Seeing Hands organizer in Pokhara.

Empowering the disenfranchised community through work is an important step toward enabling further opportunities for the community, and one that Paudel and Bhuzel believe has been instrumental in their desire to help others.

“I think it has shown me that blind people are not really handicapped, and that we can be part of Nepali society here,” said Paudel.

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Mt. Kailash in Western Tibet is a holy pilgrimage site.

KATHMANDU: Two Singapore nationals reportedly died as a result of altitude sickness near Tibet’s holy Mt. Kailash, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs reported.

The two, a 66-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman had been part of a 10-member Singapore tour group of Buddhist devotees.

They were visiting Mount Kailash, a 6,638 meter-tall mountain considered sacred by Buddhists and Hindus.

Eyewitnesses reported that during the wait for rescue on Monday, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the woman. The Chinese trekker who reported the incident, also received oxygen.

The man had reportedly died earlier.

Tour guides in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu told Bikyamasr.com that while death from altitude sickness is rare, “if the sherpas or guides are not aware of everyone’s health, it can result.”

In a statement e-mailed to the media, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said it had dispatched an officer from its embassy in Beijing to Lhasa on Tuesday to provide assistance to the affected Singaporeans.

“We are working closely with the local authorities to facilitate the return of the remaining eight members of the tour group to Singapore,” said an MFA spokesman.

“We extend our condolences to the families of the two Singaporeans who died and have been in contact with their next- of-kin in Singapore.”

Located in the western region of Tibet, the popular mountain is visited by thousands of pilgrims each year.

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Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan, acting as a Goa police inspector in his film Singham.

Goa (INDIA): Fake policemen robbing tourists and women has emerged as a major challenge for the police in India’s most popular beach tourism destination, Goa.

When Ravikumar Prajapati (48) from Karnataka, was suddenly accosted by three authoritative sounding ‘plain-clothed’ policemen in March this year and asked to accompany them to the nearest police station for carrying $ 60,000 cash, he did not question their genuineness.

Returning home after conducting a business transaction in Goa, Prajapati thought that he would be let off after establishing the source of the money, only to find that he was thrown out of the ‘police’ car and his money robbed.

Police now believe, Prajapati is just one of the dozens of victims of a ‘fake police’ gang which essentially comprises of con-men from Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa, who habitually poach on tourists and women.

“They target women who wear gold ornaments and tourists. Invariably they pose as policemen showing fake identity cards and rob their victims,” deputy inspector general of police Ravinder Yadav told Bikyamasr.com.

While Prajapati was robbed and outsmarted by three cons, in November last year, a local resident Ratnabai Polyekar from Sangolda, 10 kms from the capital Panaji, was gypped with a smoothly executed old school ‘sleight of the hand’ trick.

“I was standing outside my house in the morning when two young persons came to me and said that there were robbers about and I should not be wearing gold on me. They gave me a piece of paper in which I was told to keep the gold,” Ratnabai said in her police statement.

When she unwrapped the same piece of paper on reaching home, she found a few pebbles and glass bangles, instead of a gold chain and her gold bangles.

Yadav said that the gang, none of whose members have been caught yet, operate in Goa as well as neighboring Maharashtra and Karnataka, where cases with a similar modus operandi have been reported.

While nearly a dozen cases have been reported to the police in Goa over the last two years, officials fear that they may be several instances where victims may have not come forward to register the offence.

Drunk tourists in Goa are one of the most sought after ‘target audience’ for this gang, which is fast being known as the ‘Iranian gang’, because of the presence of a few Pathans and long naturalized Baluchi tribesmen, in addition to the more indigenous comrades.

In 2009, four drunk unsuspecting tourists from Maharashtra were robbed off their cards, $ 900 in cash by the fake police, indicating that the gang may have been at work even four years ago.

The police have now issued an advisory asking people at large to keep the police, the fake ones i.e. at an arm’s length.

“They should not interact with any person who poses as police personnel, specially, if the said person is in civil clothes. There are no directives issued by the police regarding banning of wearing of gold ornaments by members of public, in public places,” the advisory states.

The snow-clad Kashmir valley

NEW DELHI: The cold turf of the Indian conflict-ridden state of Kashmir finally appears to be thawing.

The picturesque Nagin valley, a stone’s throw away from the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in the conflict-ridden Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been thrown open to tourists, after more than two decades signifying a drastic reduction in terrorism in the state and is yet another step in a series of boosts, that Kashmir tourism has seen in recent times.

The Nagin valley, which is blessed with pine slopes and snow capped mountains on either side, was closed for tourists as well as locals in 1990, following an eruption of armed insurgent militancy in the region. It is just five kilometers from the LoC, a line that divides Pakistan Occupied and Administered Kashmir and India.

The valley was thrown open by the Kashmir tourism department, which says it wants to promote the valley as an ‘eco-tourism destination.’

The Nagin valley is located around 10 kilometers away from the Gulmarg town, which is a ski resort and till date was the last point accessible to tourists visiting the state for the views of the Himalayas.

“The valley will offer new and untouched terrain to the tourist and best camping site for trekkers,” Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigzan Jora said addressing the opening ceremony.

The best part of a trip to Nagin is said to be the journey to there, as the mountainous road is completely shrouded in a cloud cover and visibility decreases to a few feet and when it lifts one beholds the Himalayas in all their glory. The mountains change their color with the intensity of sunlight.

“We have been working on the development of this valley as eco-tourism destination. After finishing all the modalities, Central Ministry of Tourism provided us financial assistance under a centrally sponsored scheme for accomplishment of the project designed to promote Botpathri as a new tourist destination,” Jora said.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has huge tourism potential, which is not achieved on account of the fear of terror acts that were once often known to disrupt the peace of the region. However, off late there has been a prolonged lull giving the state a chance at peace.

Both India and Pakistan stake claim over the state and have gone to three wars on the issue.

Airtel logo.

NAIROBI: The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), Kenya’s telecommunications regulator had earlier announced the cut on termination rates (amount of money an operator pays rivals if its subscribers call another network) from Ksh2.21 to Ksh1.44 a minute.

This has stirred up a lot of issues, one of them being telecom operators like Bharti Airtel stating not to slice its tariffs in line with the planned reduction of mobile termination rates (MTR) in July.

Shivan Bhargava, Managing Director at Bharti Airtel Kenya explained that they fully support CCK on that move but they are not in the position to further reduce their tariffs.

“We are fully behind CCK move to continue with the MTR glide path but will not lower our tariffs at this moment as we will use the cost savings to upgrade our network.”

Francis Wangusi, Acting Director, CCK suggested that MTR was the solution improvised to help boost competition among telecom companies by reducing rates.

“We introduced the MTR to enhance competition. There are some operators who fear competition and do not want us to continue with the current glide path and that is the reason they are asking for another study.”

Madhur Taneja, MD of Essar Kenya earlier supported the move by CCK and commented that they hope for a decrease in terminal rates that will translate to lower calling rates.

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Air India

New Delhi: The United States government has fined national carrier ‘Air India’ to the tune for $ 80,000 for violation of its new airline consumer rules related to operational transparency.

The already beleaguered Air India, which has already suffered a loss of over $ 10 billion in the fiscal ending 2011, has been accused of “failing to post customer service, tarmac delay contingency plans” on its website and inform its passengers about the optional fees in case of such contingencies.

“Our new airline consumer rules help ensure that passengers are fully informed about airline services and fees and what to expect if their flight is delayed on the tarmac,” United States government’s Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said.

The new plans which were enforced from May this year, has made it mandatory for foreign airlines flying to US airports to inform the authorities about its customer service plans and the contingency methods in place to handle delays on the tarmac, which run into hours due to operational difficulties.

In its bid to ensure transparency vis a vis fare structure and other charges which includes baggage fees as well as other optional fares, the US government has made it mandatory for domestic as well as foreign carriers to mention the same on the airlines’ websites.

The Northern Indian state of Haryana

New Delhi: In a shocking incident, which cynically mocks at the punch-line of India Tourism’s advertising campaign ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guest is equal to God), a French national, who was beaten up in a crowded train and thrown on a railway platform in the norther India some days back, succumbed to death at a hospital on Thursday.

What has further confounded the mysterious circumstances in which Frank Wilfred, 23, was found beaten on the platform of Karnal railway station, in the northern Indian state of Haryana, was that all his identification papers and other travel documents were found on a railway department ticket checker, who has been arrested.

Wilfred was traveling on board the Sachkand express which originates in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra which runs up to Amritsar the capital of the Punjab when he was allegedly beaten up by passengers traveling on the train on Sunday.

Police said that Wilfred was later thrown on a platform at Karnal, where he remained without medication for a while, before he was shifted to hospital and had been in a state of coma until he passed out earlier today.

Speaking to reporters V Kamraj, a senior Railway Police official said that an investigation was being conducted into Wilfred’s death.

Manoj Kumar, the ticket checker, on whom Wilfred’s documents were found has been arrested by the police and has been remanded to two days in police custody. Kumar, who maintains that he is innocent, has however failed to satisfactorily explain to the police how he came to possess the dead Frenchman’s documents.

The developments were announced during a meeting of senior tourism officials on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market 2012 (ATM-2010).

A Protocol of Cooperation between Egypt and Dubai for the joint destination marketing and promotion is also on the table.

The Egyptian Tourism Minister, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, called on Khalid A bin Sulayem, Director General of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) at the Dubai Stand in the ATM-2012.

Abdel Nour has a word of praise for Dubai tourism’s success story and its emergence on the world map as a leading business and leisure tourism destination.

He said several destinations can benefit from its recipe of success and could be part of Dubai’s continuing journey of success through exchange of expertise and mutual cooperation.

Both sides highlighted the historically strong relations between Egypt and the UAE in general and Dubai in particular and strongly agreed for enhancing bilateral relations and joint cooperation, especially in tourism domain.

Speaking after the meeting, Abdel Nour said that he had extended invitation to Bin Sulayem to visit the Arab Republic of Egypt for a meeting in Sharm El Sheikh where the terms of agreement for joint destination marketing in places like China and Australia will be agreed upon.

He stated this agreement will enhance bilateral relations, and also, facilitate the enhanced air-connectivity between Dubai and Egypt.

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Yellow and black cabbies lined up for passengers in Goa.

Goa (INDIA): India’s most sought after beach tourist destination, Goa, could just be compelled to wage a war of sorts on its rogue cabbies.

Concerned by decades of rogue taxi operations, who have been fleecing the millions of tourists, as well the indigenous population by functioning without meters and charging passengers by “will and instinct”, the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) is now lobbying with the newly elected chief minister Manohar Parrikar to bring order the rogue cabbies to book.

“For years now taxi operators have gotten away with murder. Sometimes, for even the smallest of distances with Panaji, they charge more than Rs 300, which is almost unreal,” GCCI president Manguirish Pai Raikar told Bikyamasr.com.

Raikar said that the new Manohar Parrikar led government had been petitioned by the taxi operators to sort out some of their internal issues and that this was the best time for the government to bring order and sanity to taxi fares.

“The government has to insist on meters. This is a tourist place, but that does not mean you fleece them like this? Taxi drivers are supposed to be the brand ambassadors of Goa, but they are the ones who virtually put the tourists off the moment they land in Goa,” Raikar said.

Raikar’s concern is put in perspective by the ordeal of Jayesh Patel, a medical representative who came to Goa from Mumbai on a holiday and alighted at the Dabolim international airport, located 30 kms from Panaji

“The taxi charged me Rs 650 ($ 13)! From the airport to Panaji. I checked the standard fare and it was Rs 422 ($ 8.44) only. Then from Panaji to Calangute beach which is around 20 kms I was asked to pay Rs 800 ($ 16) because it was around 9 pm,” Patel said.

In 2011, the Goa government started tinkering with the idea of fitting cabs with global positioning system (GPS) devices and electronic meters.

“We are working in coordination with the transport department to install GPS transmitters and electronic meters to make sure that the tourists have an enjoyable experience here while traveling,” tourism director Swapnil Naik had promised in July last year. But the innovation simply did not take off.

A sensitization drive starring one of Goa’s best known theater actors Prince Jacob trying to instill the ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guest is like God) values in the cab operators also appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

Raikar said that the GCCI was willing to work on sensitization programs as well as lobbying with the Goa government for subsidizing the meters to be fitted on the cabs.

“The current lawlessness as far as taxi fares are concerned has to change, if Goa is to retain its name as a top and safe tourism destination. We have to work at standardizing the fares and insist on functioning cab meters,” Raikar said.

Goa receives 2.6 million tourists annually out of which half a million are foreigners.

Speaking to reporters at the State Secretariat chief minister Parrikar said that the menace of garbage, which has been plaguing Goa, in absence of a comprehensive garbage treatment and clearance mechanism, would be however completely under control by next year.

“By September you won’t see garbage on the beaches,” Parrikar told Bikyamasr.com.

“By the 20th of May garbage and construction debris will be being picked up by the PWD (public works department) from national highways and the other roads. Goa has to look clean to the tourists who come here,” Parrikar said, adding that several sites would be identified where the construction debris would be dumped.

Ugly tell-tale signs of Goa’s construction and real estate boom story can be seen strewn all across the small beach state, especially its roads, in form of heaps of construction-related debris. Trucks are used to surreptitiously dump along the roads, waste of demolished homes and commercial structures, which make way for new ones, reducing the areas in close proximity of the state’s road network to repulsive mini hillocks of brick, stone and mortar debris

Although, illegal, the inability of successive governments to identify zones for accumulation of such debris, had only added to the problem of disposal of non-biodegradable waste in India’s most well known beach tourism destination.

The absence of an effective mechanism to treat biodegradable waste in Goa had also reduced open areas, in its infra-structurally over-burdened coastal areas and towns to virtual garbage pits.

Parrikar now claims, within one year, a comprehensive mechanism would be put in place by the government. “We are working on setting up a comprehensive program for treating mixed garbage,” Parrikar said.

Over 2.6 million tourists visit Goa annually, out of which nearly half a million are foreigners from Europe.