News18 Afternoon Digest: Covid Slowed Tourism to Southeast Asia, But Party is Picking Up as Curbs Ease; States in Full Swing Before Eid & Other Stories

Covid Slowed Tourism to Southeast Asia. But as Thailand, Malaysia Ease Curbs, Party is Picking Up

The tourism business in Thailand is looking up, as some entry restrictions are due to be lifted from today. On April 25, the Thai government had said that 713,183 international visitors had arrived in the country this year, with more than half of them being tourists, a report by Thaiger said. While it has faced a lag, travel and tourism in Southeast Asia seems to be picking up as the industry targets more revellers to bridge the Covid-19 gap. READ MORE

What the Fork: Sweet Seviyan, Turkish Baklava, Eid Delights You Can’t Miss, Writes Kunal Vijayakar

If you have spent the last month of Ramazan quarrying for food through the heaps and piles of traditional and not so traditional snacks and delicacies available on the streets of some of the older localities of Mumbai, I’m sure by now you’ve had your Iftaar fill. As the paradoxical month of fasting and dare I say nocturnal gluttony comes to a close, I thought as a culmination to this much consuming festival, celebrated not only by the devout but by also the devourers, I’d talk a little bit about Eid-ul-Fitr itself and try and bring the attention back, from the vermillion tandoori on skewers, fluorescent green kababs and chrome yellow malai tikkas, the samosas, seekhs, rolls, bheja, gurda, kiri and kaleji and the smoke, coal and noisy tawas of Mohammed Ali Road and Bohri Mohalla. READ MORE

LIC IPO Next Week: Investors Need To Know These Pitfalls Before Investing

Even as the LIC IPO is all set to hit the market next week, the much-awaited offer has always been in the limelight due to its sheer size and the company’s huge market share in the life insurance segment. Although most analysts have given the ‘subscribe’ rating to the issue, some are also cautioning them about the pitfalls before investing in the IPO. Samco Securities, Religare Broking, Anand Rathi, and Marwadi Financial Services have given the ‘subscribe’ rating to the state-owned insurance behemoth’s IPO. However, there are some caution points that investors need to keep in mind. READ MORE

‘It Rained for Hours’: 18 Indians on Antarctica Expedition Witness A Glimpse of Climate Change

When Delhi-based Rozita Singh caught the first glimpse of Antarctica in March, she felt wonder, awe and dismay, all at once. As a sustainable development professional, she wasn’t completely oblivious to the fast-pacing impacts of climate change on the pristine land, yet, looking at the white sheet of ice spread across the vast sea was enough to disquiet her. “Surreal,” says Singh, who is head of solutions mapping at Accelerator Lab of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as she recalls her first day in the southern-most part of the world. “We often talk about it – warming and its impacts — but to see it happening so soon, and in this far-off ice-bound land with such a fragile ecosystem — was unsettling.” READ MORE

Curfew in Khargone; Security Up in Lucknow, No ‘Jagran’ in Meerut: States in Full Swing Before Eid

The state governments and city administrations across the country have imposed preventive measures ahead of Eid festivities on Tuesday. States including UP, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh have imposed restrictions and appealed for caution ahead of the festival. Meanwhile, the UP government has removed 54,000 loudspeakers in the state as the deadline comes to a close. The country would observe Eid festivities after two years as the previous two years were marred by Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the deadly second wave last year. The festival of Eid-al-Fitr will be celebrated either on May 2 or May 3 depending on the moon sighting. READ MORE

Coal Availability: Payment Dues Revolve Around Power Supply Crisis Amid High Demand

Many states across the country are facing power cuts with some resorting to blackouts for up to 12 hours during the hotter-than-normal summers, due to low coal availability and high demand. The power supply crisis is also being attributed to the non-payment of dues to Coal India Ltd (CIL). Recently, Power Minister R K Singh said power outages were primarily happening because states had not cleared their dues to CIL. Power generation companies (gencos) owe about Rs 12,300 crore to state-owned CIL, whereas gencos are owed over Rs 1.1 lakh crore by power distribution companies (discoms). yet, CIL continues to supply coal to gencos and gencos continue to supply electricity to customers. READ MORE

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