Kochi: The central government has approved the introduction of visa-on-arrival (VoA) service at Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports, a minister said yesterday.
“The new facility will allow citizens of 11 countries — Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia — to obtain tourist visas upon arrival in Kerala,” Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar said.
He added that the preparations are on to implement the scheme at the two airports. The minister hoped the new facility would encourage more tourists from these countries to travel to Kerala.
The decision to introduce the visa-on-arrival service at five airports in the country, including Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, was taken at the third meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Tourism, subject to approval from the ministry of home affairs.
NIA hunts for terror suspect
Patna: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has searched four districts of Bihar for Tahseen Akhtar, allegedly a member of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) involved in terrorist strikes in the country, police said yesterday.
“NIA teams have conducted raids in Samastipur, Darbhanga, Munger and Madhubani districts in the last 24 hours in search of Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, accused of several terrorist attacks,” an officer at the Bihar Police headquarters here said. Tahseen Akhtar, considered to be close to Yasin Bhatkal, the man who founded Indian Mujahideen, hails from a village in Samastipur, about 100km from here.
IANS
