Srinagar: Heralding major reforms in the Union Territory, the Ladakh government on Thursday announced deregulation of the hospitality sector, freeing it from archaic rules and bureaucratic interference. Lieutenant Governor V.K.Registration validity of tour operators has been increased from one year to five years, eliminating the need for renewal every year. Tour and travel operators engaged in adventure and mountaineering activities earlier had to register separately as ‘Adventure Tour Operator’ and ‘Mountaineering Tour Operator’ at an additional registration fee of Rs 3,000. It has been abolished.A unified category has been introduced under the nomenclature ‘Travel Agent’, which will authorize the registered entity to carry out all the activities permitted under the Tourist Registration Act.The number of documents required for registration of tour operators has been significantly reduced. The new framework also removes the requirement of character certificate, a certain bank balance and educational qualification to run a tour and travel agency.The current process of homestay registration involves many procedural requirements and documentation, which often act as a barrier to local participation. The new framework reduces the number of documents required, makes the process simpler and more accessible, encourages community-based tourism and creates livelihood opportunities for local residents.The LG said the reforms, guided by PM Modi’s principle of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’, will create a safe environment for tourists, expand the tourism industry and significantly contribute to strengthening the local economy.

New Delhi: India is finalizing its hub-and-spoke policy to fly passengers between smaller cities and the rest of the world through cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The move comes amid massive orders for wide-body aircraft from Air India and IndiGo; The era of Indian hub airports is coming which is getting ready to shift from domestic-to-international and vice versa; And the largest hubs for international travel to and from India in the Gulf such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha face uncertainty over resuming operations before February 28. Union Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Thursday visited Delhi’s IGI airport – India’s busiest airport – to fine-tune the policy and start its implementation in the right manner and was visited by Secretary Sameer Sinha.Sinha is tackling the biggest problem for international as well as domestic travelers – they have to collect their luggage at the port of arrival in India; Clear customs and then check-in again for domestic connecting flights. “The baggage of both inbound and outbound international passengers will be transferred seamlessly through airside operations at the hub airport, eliminating the need for passenger intervention,” the aviation ministry says about the changes under the new hub-and-spoke policy.On the other hand, passengers flying out of India, such as from Lucknow to Delhi to London, can check-in their bags in Lucknow only if both their flights are on the same airline or code share partner carrier of the alliance. Operating Procedure for Domestic to International Transfers: “Under the hub-and-spoke model, passengers arriving from various smaller cities will be consolidated in a coordinated manner and routed through major hub airports like Delhi for onward international connections. At spoke (smaller origin) airports, passengers will be issued two separate boarding passes, clearly marked with ‘D’ (domestic) and ‘I’ (international) indicators,” the aviation ministry said in a statement.It added, “Customs and immigration formalities for outbound passengers will be completed at the first point of exit from the country, which will be Spokane Airport, and passengers on such outbound journeys will not have access to customs declaration facilities during transit.”Operating Procedure for International to Domestic Transfer: “For incoming passengers, customs and immigration processes will take place at the last point of entry into the country, which will again be the spoke airport…. The baggage of both inbound and outbound international passengers will be transferred seamlessly through airside operations at the hub airport, eliminating the need for passenger intervention. “To maintain operational efficiency and regulatory clarity, combination flights will not be allowed, and separate aircraft will be deployed for domestic and international segments of hub-and-spoke operations,” it said.Naidu said India aims to enable seamless connectivity between Tier-II and Tier-III airports and international destinations. “While passengers will benefit from reduced travel time, there will also be optimum utilization of the already developed infrastructure across the country,” he said.The hub and spoke strategy aims to transform India from a source market for traffic to a “global transit hub” to feed foreign airlines and hubs, allowing Indian airports to capture a larger share of the transfer traffic that is currently routed through foreign hubs.Naidu said: “Currently, about 35% of international passengers traveling from India transit through overseas hubs such as Dubai, London and Singapore. We aim to reverse this trend by developing globally competitive Indian hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai.”“For example, Delhi airport stands at a capacity of over 10 crore passengers annually, handles about 50% of the total passenger traffic in the northern region and manages about 50,000 daily transfers, thereby positioning itself as a natural hub airport,” the minister said.The implementation of this hub-and-spoke model will help airlines deploy their aircraft more efficiently for international operations, while contributing to reducing congestion at major airports by decentralizing customs and immigration processes to spoke locations, Naidu said.

Nandigram: People show their inked fingers after casting their vote in Nandigram in East Medinipur district during the first phase of West Bengal Assembly elections. (PTI Photo/Manavendra Vashishtha Love)

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu and West Bengal recorded bumper turnout on Thursday, the highest ever since independence in both the states, as polling ended at 6 pm, the Election Commission (ECI) said.Voting ended at 6 pm According to the latest ECI data, West Bengal recorded 91.91% voting in the first two phases, while Tamil Nadu recorded 84.80% voting.According to ANI, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, “Highest voting percentage in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since independence – ECI salutes every voter.”Many districts in West Bengal recorded over 90% voting, including South Dinajpur (94.85%), followed by Cooch Behar (94.54%), Birbhum (93.70%), Jalpaiguri (93.23%) and Murshidabad (92.93%).Tamil Nadu also saw strong participation, with Karur leading with 92.48%, followed by Salem (90.42%), Dharmapuri (90.02%), Erode (89.97%) and Namakkal (89.63%).It is noteworthy that in West Bengal, women voting reached a record 92.69%, while the voting percentage of men was 90.92%. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, 85.76% women voted, while men’s participation stood at 83.57%.Voting began at 7 am amid tight security for all 234 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu and 152 out of 294 seats in West Bengal. Voting for the remaining 142 seats of West Bengal will be held on April 29.Counting of votes in both the states is to take place on May 4.In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have been in power since 2011, with the chief minister now seeking a fourth consecutive term. The BJP is the main challenger in 2021 after its best-ever performance in the state.In Tamil Nadu, the DMK, which heads the secular progressive alliance, is in power. Its main rival is the National Democratic Alliance, led by DMK’s arch rival AIADMK in the state.Voting in the 2021 assembly elections was 85.2% in West Bengal and 76.6% in Tamil Nadu.

Mallikarjun Kharge (Image/ANI)

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Made a scathing attack on the Prime Minister on Thursday Narendra Modi over the US President donald trumpControversial ‘hellhole’ comment in the context of India. He questioned the government’s silence and asked whether PM Modi is ‘scared’.Referring to the controversy in his post on X, Kharge wrote, “Modi ji’s dear friend “Namaste Trump” has shared a note abusing India and using extremely derogatory words. Modi ji is completely silent on these ridiculous statements.” Quoting the Ministry of External Affairs’ brief response, he wrote, “The MEA spokesperson said ‘I’ll leave it at this. Narendra Modi ji, what are you scared of?’The Congress leader further highlighted the contribution of Indians to the United States and asked why the government was not raising the issue at the highest level. “Indians have played a vital role in America’s success. What’s stopping us from taking this up at the highest levels of the US government?” He said.Stepping up his attack, Kharge linked the issue to broader India-US relations, referring to trade tensions, earlier diplomatic exchanges and tariff disputes. He alleged that the government has failed to protect India’s interests on many points.“From designing the adversarial India-US trade agreement to Mr Trump’s earlier claims of mediating to prevent war during Operation Sindoor, to smiling at Mr Trump when he said ‘BRICS is dead’ and to the US imposing 50% tariffs on India – at every step Modi ji has mortgaged India’s interests!” He has written.He urged the PM to respond despite the ongoing election campaign and said he hoped PM Modi would find time to address the ‘threat and anger of 140 crore Indians’.The comments come after the US President re-shared an anti-immigration post on his platform Truth Social, in which India and China were referred to in derogatory terms.“A child here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the whole family over from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet. You don’t have to go very far to see this. English is not spoken here anymore. There is almost no loyalty to this country among the immigrant class coming in today, which wasn’t always the case,” the statement said.The statement further alleged systemic bias in the employment and immigration systems. “You must be from India or China because almost all the internal mechanisms are operated by Indians and Chinese.” The Post also claimed that the integration seen in previous waves of European immigration is “long overdue”, arguing that the United States has moved from a “melting pot” to “cash in the pot”.External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing that the government had taken note of the reports, but declined to provide further details. “We have seen some reports. I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

CM MK Stalin and Rahul Gandhi (R) (file photo)

New Delhi: Elections in India are fought through ideas and manifesto promises as well as through images presented to the public. Where in the 2026 assembly elections Congress depends on its allies in states like Tamil Nadu, Rahul GandhiHis approach to coalition politics raises questions about whether the grand old party is doing enough to show unity on the ground.At the root of this suspicion lies a simple but powerful political tool: the joint rally. In a highly visible election campaign, a common platform is not merely symbolic; This is strategic. It signals unity to voters, clarity to workers and credibility of the alliance. On the contrary, its absence creates room for speculation, which is often used by the opposition to create doubt in the minds of voters.

Distances are visible in strong alliance!

In Tamil Nadu, where the Congress is fighting the elections under a long-standing alliance DMK Under the leadership of MK Stalin, the lack of this alliance is clearly visible.In the last elections, Rahul Gandhi and Stalin shared the stage, exuded cordiality and strengthened the alliance through visible coordination. This time that visual continuity was missing.Despite the high election stakes, both the leaders were not seen together in any joint rally. The absence sparked both political comment and opposition attacks.See complete coverage of 2026 assembly electionsTOI local editor Arun Ram calls it a clear missed opportunity: “DMK and Congress have failed to bring these two leaders together… I think if they had come together for at least a public rally, they would have given a strong message that the alliance is strong enough.”

Explanations from DMK circles, that aligning the schedules would have disrupted Stalin’s campaign by dozens of stops, have done little to offset the perception costs.This cost becomes more acute when compared with the presence of Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, who recently shared the stage with Stalin during a road show in Chennai. For viewers and voters, the scenes were telling: a leader with limited electoral stake in Tamil Nadu coming forward to signal unity, while the key face of the Congress remained absent from the joint platform.

perception takes risks

The difference in optics in Tamil Nadu is not evident alone. This comes against the backdrop of internal tensions within the alliance.A section of the state Congress leadership had earlier raised the issue of power-sharing by pushing the idea of ​​a coalition arrangement – ​​which the DMK has strongly opposed. While the central leadership moved to address these demands, the political signal had already been sent.In such a situation, ‘missing’ Rahul Gandhi has other meanings. In this case, the joint rally could have at least served as a visible assurance that differences, real or perceived, would not affect the alliance in the state.Arun Ram highlights this dynamic: “..given this background we have seen a section of Congress leaders demanding a share in power… There were rumors of some tension at least between Rahul Gandhi and MK Stalin.”The absence of a common platform allowed those rumors to gain momentum. Rival parties such as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the BJP increasingly escalated these perceptions, causing the alliance to become strained rather than cohesive.

BJP leader K Annamalai said, “Rahul Gandhi does not want to campaign with MK Stalin.” He wants to campaign separately. MK Stalin does not want to campaign with Rahul Gandhi; He wants to run a different campaign. In the last elections, the relationship between Rahul and Stalin was seen as one of deep personal cordiality. From giving sweets to calling each other “elder and younger brothers”, the plan was designed to instill a sense of unity among grassroots workers.However, this time, the frame was surprisingly blank, as both the leaders were working on parallel tracks during the election campaign.

‘MIA’ Rahul Gandhi

What we saw in Tamil Nadu during this assembly election is nothing new. A similar pattern of limited joint campaigning by Rahul Gandhi was seen in key states.Congress alliance in Bihar is led by RJD Tejashwi Yadav Questions have also been faced regarding coordination.Tejashwi’s high-frequency campaign, which often included multiple rallies a day, was not matched by Rahul Gandhi’s consistent joint presence. In the run-up to the 2025 elections, reports of a “postponed” joint Vote Rights Yatra with Tejashwi emerged, further lending credence to the idea that the two leaders struggled to coordinate their presence even when the stake was survival.The alliance with the National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir is equally fraught with visible gaps. With the 2024 elections and subsequent changes in local administration over the next two years, the chemistry between Omar Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi has fluctuated wildly.

Contradictions within the Indian faction

Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to join the 2026 assembly campaign for Stalin and Mamata has also highlighted differences in the way coalition politics is conducted within the broader opposition.Leaders like Arvind Kejriwal have adopted a more proactive approach – campaigning in states, sharing platforms with regional allies, and strengthening the broader anti-BJP narrative even in areas where his party has limited direct stakes.

This approach is visible not only in Tamil Nadu but also in West Bengal, where Kejriwal is expected to campaign at the invitation of Mamata Banerjee.At the grassroots level, the alliance functions through coordination between workers of different parties. This coordination largely depends on leadership signals.

The price of not seeing each other

Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Congress has been successful in forming alliances that are both strategic and necessary on paper. But elections are not fought only on paper.They are fought on platforms, in images and through moments that signal unity to voters and confidence to workers.A single joint rally in Tamil Nadu could have strengthened the perception of a united alliance.Instead, his absence has repeatedly raised a question: Is the coalition as united on the ground as it is on paper?Tamil Nadu already went to polls in a single phase on Thursday, with over 84% turnout breaking all previous records. On May 4, when the results will be declared, the effectiveness of the Congress-DMK alliance will finally be judged not just by the optics, but by the electoral results on the ground.It remains to be seen whether the perceived difference in coordination between Rahul Gandhi and MK Stalin translates into votes.