Security to be beefed up in Goa ahead of IFFI, tourist season
Panaji: In view of the terror strikes in Paris, security cover will be stepped up across Goa as the coastal state is set to host the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the tourist season gets underway, luring visitors from all over the world. Besides beefing up security at the IFFI venue, intelligence gathering would be enhanced and the state’s Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) kept on high alert, Inspector General of Police Sunil Garg said. “The terror strike in Paris is a lesson for all of us. We are deploying 527 additional policemen in view of the tourist season and IFFI,” Garg said. “We are having a meeting with all police officers above the rank of Police Inspector, where they will be sensitised about preventing and handling such situations,” he added. Goa draws over half-a-million foreign tourists during the tourist season and is seen as a safe destination with visitors from Russia, Israel and Britain coming in large numbers. (PTI)
Cabinet nod to protocol for amending India-Kuwait DTAA
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday gave its approval for the protocol amending the agreement between India and Kuwait for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. The Protocol provides for internationally accepted standards for effective exchange of information on tax matters, including bank information and information without domestic tax interest. It also provides that information received from Kuwait in respect to a resident of India can be shared with other law enforcement agencies with authorisation of the competent authority of Kuwait and vice-versa. India and Kuwait signed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) signed in 2006 for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, through the Protocol. (UNI)
Three-day conference on tribal and folk art from November 21
Coimbatore: About 70 scholars and intellectuals from across India will showcase their research in art at the 24th session of the Indian Art History Congress from November 21, as part of World Heritage Week. The three-day event is jointly organised by the local chapter of INTACH, Kumaraguru College of Technology and IAHC. The theme of the Congress is ‘Dimensions of Tribal and Folk Art of India, Past and Present,’ with academic sessions spreading over seven different topics, a release issued here today by the college said. Former RBI Governor C Rangarajan will be the chief guest and will release IAHC publications, while president of ‘Dastkari Haat Samity’ Jaya Jaitley will inaugurate the Congress, it said. (PTI)
Mob kills police officer in Bihar
Patna: A police official who was badly beaten by a mob succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday in Bihar’s Vaishali district, police said. Ajit Kumar was attacked when he and his colleagues intervened during a clash between two communities over the killing of two people in a road accident earlier in the day. The clash took place in Lalganj when a mob set ablaze the house of the driver-and-owner of an auto-rickshaw after Rajendra Choudhary, 65, and his granddaughter died in a road accident on Tuesday, a police officer said. Ajit Kumar and his colleagues tried to control the situation, firing repeatedly in the air in a bid to disperse the mob. But the villagers stoned the police and chased the policemen away. Ajit Kumar was caught by the mob and thrashed. He was admitted in a serious condition at the Patna Medical College and Hospital where he died, a police official said. In view of the tense situation, additional security forces have been deployed in Lalganj. Taking a serious view of the incident, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed police officials to act against the police officer’s killers. (IANS)
e-Tourist Visa draws hordes
of foreign visitors to India
Mumbai: The e-Tourist Visa scheme notched a phenomenal growth of 1987.9 percent in terms of tourist arrivals in October 2015 when 56,477 tourists landed in India compared to just 2,705 in the same month last year, an official said here on Wednesday. Similarly, between January-October 2015 a total of 258,182 tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa compared to 21,995 in the same period in 2014, registering a growth of 1073.8 percent, virtually spelling a goldmine for the country’s tourism industry. This robust growth is attributed mainly to introduction of e-Tourist Visas to 113 countries as compared to earlier when only 12 countries were covered under it. In terms of arrivals in October 2015, the maximum share was grabbed by New Delhi airport with 50.93 percent of all tourists landing there, followed by Mumbai airport (20.54 percent). Bengaluru stood next (5.90 percent), Chennai (5.61 percent), Goa (4.39 percent), Kochi (3.71 percent), Hyderabad (2.29 percent), Kolkata (2.23 percent), Amritsar (1.54 percent) and Trivandrum (1.26 percent), according to the official. (PTI)
