by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
K.J. Alphons
By Gaurav Sharma,
Beijing : Incidents of lynching have hurt India’s image, Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons, who is in China to draw in more tourists, has admitted.
The minister, however, said that the ban on beef has not affected tourism in the country and sought to debunk a survey showing India as the most unsafe country for women in the world.
“Well, it (lynching) shouldn’t happen. Simple. And, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has called them criminals. And, he told the states you have to take action because law and order is a state subject,” Alphons said on Tuesday interacting with Indian journalsits.
Asked if incidents of lynching have affected tourism in India, the Minister said: “Well, not on a big time basis…not really. But anything happening like that is bad for the reputation of the country. We won’t say it’s good for the reputation of the country.”
Has the ban on beef kept foreign tourists away from India, Alphons said that was not the case. “Not really… you see there are states like Kerala, Goa and the Northeast… these are all beef eating states.”
“These are all big tourism destinations… So people would go wherever they are comfortable
“I think we need to respect the sentiment of the people anywhere… that’s so fundamental.”
India has witnessed incidents of lynching over cow slaughter and beef eating in the country. The majority of Hindus in the country consider the animal as sacred.
Alphons is visiting China to attract Chinese tourists who currently generate some 21 per cent of tourism receipts in destinations in the world. He opened a road show in Beijing on Tuesday and will visit Shanghai and Wuhan.
Despite swelling number of outbound Chinese tourists, Indian receives only a very small fraction of them.
“Last year, 144 million Chinese were abroad, but only 300,000 came to India,” the minister said.
He said India plans to get at least 14 million Chinese tourists in the next three years.
Asked about women’s safety, an issue which is among the prime concerns among Chinese to visit India, Alphons said it was “a perception battle”.
He tore apart a recent survey by Thomson Reuters which said India is the most unsafe country for women.
“Thomson Reuters put out a story saying it’s (India) unsafe. We asked them how? They say they interviewed 540 people or something out which 43 from India.”
“You can’t ask the 43 so-called knowledgeable people of India whether India is safe or not because most of these so-called feminists would be anti-government … it is the politics of it,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Interviews
Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons
By Sarwar Kashani,
New Delhi : International travel advisories against India are “hugely biased” and “uncalled for” because crime and violent incidents in the country are only “few and far between”, says Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons.
In an interview with IANS at his office, the minister asserted India was a “perfectly safe” tourist destination for foreigners and the government was making efforts to get negative advisories against the country removed.
“Most of these advisories are hugely biased. I don’t want to use the word racially biased. Like the advisory for Assam is still on Level 2. Why? Such advisories are completely uncalled for,” he said.
Alphons said the External Affairs Ministry had been taking up the issue with various countries and of course Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s global diplomacy was the “best message” that painted India as a safe place.
“You know incidents are deplorable but they are so few and far between. The issue is that the (foreign) media is hugely biased (against India).”
The remarks came against the backdrop of the US and other western countries repeatedly asking their citizens to exercise caution in their travels India due to reported incidents of crime and violence.
The US in January reviewed its advisories placing India on Level 2 and suggesting increased caution. Canada also issued its updated travel advisory on March 21 asking citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution in India due to a continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times”.
The UK in its February 21, 2018, dated advisory suggested a high degree of caution as “terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in India” and asked the British to “be vigilant” in the wake of “an increased threat to places visited by British nationals such as religious sites, markets, festival venues and beaches”.
Alphons sad India has established itself as “a perfect destination, a perfectly safe destination” and despite these advisories the country hosted 10.2 million foreign tourists in 2017, which is an increase of 15.8 per cent from the previous year.
The receipts of these foreign tourists was $27 billion – an increase of 20.2 per cent in terms of revenue.
“So, I say with a firm belief that these advisories are completely uncalled for.”
(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at sarwar.k@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Corporate, Corporate finance, Economy, Finance, Markets, Networking, News, Online Marketing, Politics, Technology
New Delhi : Emphasising a dramatic increase in digital transactions in the country, Minister of State for Electronics and IT K. J. Alphons on Tuesday said the transactions are expected to touch 1,800 crore in the current fiscal from 1,162 crore transactions recorded between April and November.
“Digital payments transactions have increased dramatically. Like this year, up to November, we had 1,162 crore digital transactions, which is a huge record, and we hope to reach about 1,800 crore of transactions this year,” the minister said at the launch of digital payment security awareness campaign organised by Data Security Council of India (DSCI).
“Even on the BHIM application for payment of money, in August we had only 1.16 crore transactions. Now that is gone up to 10.5 crore transactions in November which is an increase of like 6-7 times,” he said.
Alphons pointed out that digital payment system is reaching out to the villages but it needs to reach more people.
“The entire objective is very simple — India has to grow and the fruits of development must reach the last person out there.
“We have Aadhaar for 1.2 biliion people of India. We have now linked it to the bank accounts and the benefits which people are supposed to get are going directly to people,” he added.
The new digital awareness campaign by DSCI and Google will be rolled out in five languages through online and offline channels of nine partner organisations.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons
By Aparajita Gupta,
New Delhi : The Indian government is seeking a dramatic increase in tourist figures, both foreign and domestic, in a way that it helps to earn more revenues and generate employment, new Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons has said.
“The number of foreign tourist arrivals was 8.8 million in 2016. We want to increase it dramatically. We also want to increase the number of domestic tourists, which was around 150 million. The whole idea is that we want to generate revenues and be a huge contributor to the economy,” Alphons, a former bureaucrat, told IANS in an interview.
According to the Tourism Ministry, in 2016 the foreign exchange earned through tourism was Rs 154,146 crore and the sector provides direct and indirect employment to over 40 million people. It is a major contributor to the nation’s GDP.
Speaking at his office in Transport Bhavan, Alphons said: “We don’t want people to just come, see and go. We want them to stay, experience India, shop and spend money.”
“We have a 5,000-year-old civilisation, one of the oldest in the world. What is exceptional in India is that, along with the civilisation, we also have a philosophy. It is not only brick and mortar. It is much, much beyond it. The kind of spiritual and philosophical depth that Indian civilisation has, is unique.”
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expectations from this ministry, Alphons said marketing India well to the world outside is very crucial.
“The entire thing is about marketing India, as we are an amazing, incredible and beautiful country. We just need to tell the world that we are a fantastic destination to visit. We want the whole world to come to India. They should come and feel the country and when they leave, they should say, ‘This was fantastic!'”
Asked about the steps needed to attract more tourists, the minister said better cleanliness and improved infrastructure are key focus areas of the government.
“Infrastructure has to be improved dramatically. Cleanliness has to improve, footpaths must be built, manholes must be covered, drains must be covered, they should not be encroached. It should be a hugely pleasant experience to walk around the cities; only then will foreign tourists go shopping.
“I am interested in generating money, because if we generate money that will create employment. They should walk around, laze around and feel comfortable. And that comfort we should provide. That means we have to improve our infrastructure around tourist destinations dramatically,” the minister said.
Alphons said he was happy with the portfolios he has been given. “It was a huge, pleasant surprise to be given independent charge of such exciting and happening ministries — tourism and information technology (IT). I am extremely happy with my portfolios.”
Alphons, who is scheduled to make a presentation to the Prime Minister, was averse to talking about any issue other than than those concerning his portfolio.
Asked some political questions, Alphons flatly said he was not ready to answer them.
(Aparajita Gupta can be reached at aparajita.g@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Mumbai : Maharashtra’s ruling ally Shiv Sena on Monday launched a sharp attack on the BJP for the runaway inflation and zooming fuel prices and said “Achhe Din” were being “murdered” daily by the government.
The party also took to task new union minister K.J. Alphons — who said recently that “those who can afford high prices of petrol and diesel are not starving” — for making “such highly irresponsible utterances.”
“This Navratna (Jewel) in the cabinet is justifying the steep high prices of fuel because he has never paid for it from his pocket. This is like spitting on the face of the poor who were not humiliated to such an extent even during the Congress rule,” the Sena said.
In strong editorials in the party mouthpieces ‘Saamana’ and ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana’, the Shiv Sena said it was shocking that Alphons even justified how nobody was dying because of the spiralling fuel prices.
“Listen to him! This bureaucrat-turned-minister with no political experience is probably full of the ‘merit’ that the BJP President Amit Shah said the Congress is lacking,” the Sena said.
“Have they forgotten, how – when there was a fuel hike during UPA, all top BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Smiri Irani and Dharmendra Pradhan – jammed the streets protesting with empty gas cylinders?” the Sena asked.
However, now when they have come to power, the poor were being mocked and ridiculed by persons like Alphons who were advocating inflation – and “all this is truly distressing”, the edit said.
“A major reason behind the thousands of farmers’ deaths in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country is due to steep hike in fuel prices. There is the regular ‘shock of load-shedding’, so they have to depend on diesel-run generators for agriculture. Then, they are required to shell out higher prices for transportation of their farm produce to the distant markets.
“Many farmers simply can’t afford to pay all these high costs and hence resort to committing suicide,” the edit said.
The Sena pointed out that the masses were suffering because of the hike in petrol, diesel and gas prices. “‘Achhe Din’ are being killed daily,” it said.
“People have no food to eat, farmers continue to be in crises, inflation and unemployment are adding to peoples’ woes. When questioned about all these, a livid Maharashtra BJP legislator Pasha Patel abused and threatened a journalist last week and said he (the journalist) requires mental treatment,” the Sena said.
It said that from the billions of rupees to be spent on the Bullet Train project, if Rs 30,000-40,000 crore was diverted to tackle inflation, it would be serve everyone better.
“Patel called the journalist ‘mad and needing mental treatment’. Actually, it is those people who are praising the Bullet Train who are lunatics and deserve to be packed off to mental hospitals,” the Sena said.
—IANS
