June 6, 2025: Best photos from around the world
A Shikarawala near parked Shikaras at Dal Lake as Kashmir continues to sees low footfall of tourists, in Srinagar
Credit: PTI Photo
A Saraiki woman shapes and arranges bricks in Shujabad, Pakistan
Credit: Reuters Photo
Pigeons sit in the shade on a wall during a hot summer day, in Mumbai
Credit: PTI Photo
Igatpuri tunnel on the Samruddhi Mahamarg on the day of the inauguration of its final 76-km-long stretch, at Igatpuri in Nashik district, Maharashtra
Credit: PTI Photo
Priests perform 'Ganga Aarti' during Ganga Dussehra celebration at Dashashwamedh Ghat, in Varanasi
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
IRCTC to serve Kashmiri vegetarian cuisine on Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The IRCTC has decided to serve Kashmiri vegetarian cuisine to passengers travelling on the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train from the second week of July."We are working out a plan to serve local cuisine on the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train and it is expected to start from the second week of July," Anand Kumar Jha, Additional General Manager, IRCTC, told PTI."Popular local cuisine, such as ambal kaddu, babru, Jammu paratha in breakfast and paneer chaman , Kashmiri dum aloo and Jammu rajma in lunch, will be served to those who wish to try the flavour of local food during their Katra-Srinagar train ride," an Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) official Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train on June 6, connecting Srinagar with the country's rail Indian Railways started its commercial operations from the next day and the IRCTC treated passengers with its usual menu."A decision has been taken to promote local cuisine on premier trains and we have worked out a special plan for the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat. We spoke to all top food outlets and hotels, such as Nathu's, Holiday Inn, JW Marriott and ITC among others, and selected the most popular local dishes," the official said."Ambal kaddu, also known as kaddu ka ambal, is a popular Dogra cuisine prepared from pumpkin. It is sweet and sour and is often cooked at wedding functions. Another breakfast item, babru, is like a stuffed puri, a favourite in the hilly areas," he official said lunch items, such as paneer chaman and Kashmiri dum aloo, are served in other parts of the country as well. However, these will be prepared keeping in mind the local spices and flavours to let the travellers get a feel of the city they are to the IRCTC, other breakfast and lunch items, such as upma, poha, vegetarian cutlet etc., will also be available as an option for those passengers who do not wish to try local IRCTC said it has already initiated the process to provide an option for local food on premier trains, such as Vande Bharat and Rajdhani Express."We have recently introduced south Indian food, such as steamed matta rice, banana kalan etc., on the Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani. A similar exercise has been initiated on the Nagpur-Secunderabad Vande Bharat train, where while starting from Nagpur, a popular dish of the city will be offered to the passengers and while returning from Secunderabad, they can relish Hyderabadi cuisine," the official said. PTI
Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Air India Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram flight suffers bird-hit, return leg cancelled
Air India was forced to cancel its scheduled flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on Sunday due to a suspected bird hit on its inbound journey from the national capital. Air India had to call off its scheduled flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi.(Reuters) Air India Flight AI 2455 from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on Sunday was cancelled. The cancellation was triggered after Air India flight AI2454 from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram reported a suspected bird hit upon landing. An Air India spokesperson said, "Air India regrets to inform that flight AI2455, from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi, on 22 June 2025, is cancelled due to extended engineering checks after a suspected bird hit was detected after the aircraft landed safely in Thiruvananthapuram. The inconvenience caused to our passengers due to this unforeseen disruption is sincerely regretted, and every effort is being made to minimise it, including providing accommodation to passengers. Refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling are also being offered to guests who opt for it. Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to Delhi. At Air India, the safety of our passengers and crew remains our top priority." Air India and Air India Express together operate more than 1,100 flights a day, flying over 150,000 passengers. "Air India has voluntarily undertaken enhanced pre-flight safety checks and temporary reduction of services to uphold its commitment to safe operations. This will improve stability and will minimise last-minute inconvenience to passengers," the Airline said in its statement. "However, despite all efforts, due to extraneous factors such as air traffic congestion, inclement weather in some parts of the country and other unforeseen operational issues, certain flights get delayed or cancelled. We notify passengers ahead of time to reduce inconvenience in case of planned delays or cancellations, but sometimes, certain challenges lead to last-minute disruptions," the statement added. Earlier, on June 20, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson reassured the public and employees that the airline's fleet -- particularly its Boeing 787 aircraft remains safe to operate following comprehensive checks, and that the carrier is exercising maximum caution in the wake of the AI171 tragedy.
Mint
8 hours ago
- Mint
How tourism battles back in Kashmir: Signs of revival two months after Pahalgam terror attack
Parvez Ahmad has been ferrying tourists on his shikara (boat) across Srinagar's picturesque Dal Lake for over two decades. As is his summer routine, he waits for tourists at one of the lake's ghats. 'Hethin hasa yin (tourists have started coming) finally,' Ahmad smiles as he invites a group of tourists from Punjab to hop aboard his boat. 'But not as many as there were before the attack,' he says on June 22, exactly two months after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in Baisaran Valley, about 100 km from Dal Lake. The April 22 attack in Baisaran valley of Pahalgam came at a time when the Valley was witnessing a tourism boom with a footfall that many estimated was at a fifteen-year high. The attack triggered widespread cancellations by tourists, affecting advance bookings. According to Jammu and Kashmir's Department of Tourism, the number of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in 2024 was approximately 35 lakh, a rise from 27 lakh in 2023 and 26 lakh in 2022. About 5 lakh tourists visited the region in the first three months of 2025. However, news agency PTI reported on April 23, citing Delhi-based travel agencies, that up to 90 per cent of travel bookings to the hilly state have been cancelled owing to safety concerns. Two months after the attack, tourism in Kashmir is finding its feet again, albeit slowly. "It is definitely showing signs of recovery by say 15 to 20 per cent so far. You can see yourself at Boulevard, Lal Chowk, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, and other places,' Adil Khan, General Secretary, Skal International and former president of Kashmir Hotel and Restaurants Association, told local reporters in Srinagar. Khan is right. Boulevard Road, with Dal Lake glistening on one side, is once again dotted with tourists. After a few km drive from this road stand the famed Mughal Gardens – Nishat and Shalimar – both of which saw a fair share of tourists on Sunday. At Shalimar Bagh, most visitors were locals, though a fair number of tourists from outside the Valley had also made their way in. At Shalimar Bagh, most visitors were locals, though a fair number of tourists from outside the Valley had also made their way in. A family from Rajasthan asked a group of local women if they could hold and play with their infant — the women smiled and agreed. Tourism is not the mainstay, but one of the contributors to Jammu and Kashmir's economy. Never before have so many tourists been killed in a single attack in Kashmir's violent past. Tourism stakeholders like Shikara-owner Parvez said that numbers started increasing after the new train link, which for the first time connected Srinagar with the rest of India. On June 6, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the train services from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) railway station in Jammu's Katra to Srinagar, Kashmir. 'We boarded a train from Katra and got to Srinagar in three hours,' said Vijay Anand from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, after a jet ski ride with his group on Dal Lake. Tourists waiting for a jet ski ride on Dal Lake in Srinagar. The new train has been in such demand that, according to travel agents, all seats are booked until the end of July. Others credited the re-opening of most of the parks and tourist destinations that had been closed after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack have also been reopened in a phased manner. The Jammu and Kashmir government shut 48 out of 87 tourist destinations across Kashmir Valley in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday that Pahalgam hill station in South Kashmir was 'bustling with activity' with tourists from various parts of the country competing for space with local picnickers. Abdullah shared pictures of the crowded roads of the famed hill station in rainy weather on June 22. 'Today I came back to Pahalgam, which was bustling with activity. Tourists from various parts of the country competed for space with local picnickers who were enjoying the cool climate & rainy weather,' Abdullah said in a post on X. Hoteliers in Pahalgam, however, said tourists visiting the hill station are mostly locals. 'We have seen some improvement in bookings. But the most of the people you see on roads are locals who come on weekends and go back the same day,' said Javed Ahmad, who owns a hotel at the hill station. Last month, Abdullah took it upon himself to lead a campaign for the revival of tourism in the Valley. On May 28, Abdullah chaired a meeting of administrative secretaries and other top officials in Gulmarg health resort as part of his government's efforts to draw tourists back to Kashmir. A day before, he held a symbolic cabinet meeting in Pahalgam, the site of the April 22 terror attack. While the new train service appears to have helped revive Kashmir's tourism, officials told Livemint that the Srinagar airport has also seen an increase in arrivals in the last few weeks. On April 22, the day of the terror attack, 9,235 passengers arrived in 51 flights at Srinagar airport. The number fell to 4,341 passengers on 41 flights on April 25 On May 7, India launched retaliatory strikes on terror camps in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, during which multiple airports near the border, including Srinagar, were shut down. The Srinagar airport which closed on May 7 re-opened for operations on May 13. People outside Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar on June 22. On May 15, as many as 3,387 passengers arrived in 22 flights at Srinagar airport. This included 641 Hajj pilgrims who returned from Saudi Arabia in special flights. In the past week, the airport has also seen an uptick in the number of passengers. About 4000-5000 passengers have been arriving daily. On Sunday, June 22, 4,300 passengers arrived at the airport, almost half of what the airport handled on April 22. Another 4,200 passengers flew out of Srinagar on Sunday. Srinagar Airport Director Javed Anjum told LiveMint that 50 flights operated from the airport on Sunday. 'We used to handle about 19000 passengers daily before Pahalgam attack. This number had come to 2000 passengers post the attack. Yesterday, we handled 8000 passengers, both inbound and outbound," Anjum said. Travel agents with whom LiveMint spoke said the number of people travelling on flights has come down since the Airlines reduced flights and are operating around 50 daily flights to Srinagar compared with over 90 they operated before the attack. 'Since there are less planes operating, the ticket fares have also gone up. As against ₹ 4500 from Delhi to Srinagar the rates today are around ₹ 8000 if you book three days ahead of your journey,' said Soleh, who runs a travel agency in Srinagar. Mushtaq Ahmed Chaya, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Hoteliers Association, said his association sought support for hoteliers in terms of interest waivers on loans for at least six months during a recent meeting with CM Omar Abdullah. "We have also requested for relief on electricity bills and other expenses. The business is badly hit and occupancies are almost zero," he said. Many hotels in Kashmir have been offering discounts to lure tourists. In Gulmarg, a hill station in the north of Srinagar, a four-star hotels that usually charge ₹ 15,000 per night has cut its rates in half. There are 82 hotels in Gulmarg, including the five-star Khyber Resort, a few four-star properties, and the rest are three-star hotels. Last month, representatives from airlines and the hospitality industry asked the government for incentives to revive tourism in Jammu and Kashmir, which suffered badly after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India have requested the government to waive the user development and aviation security fees at the Srinagar airport for a year so that they could offer cheaper tickets to passengers travelling to Kashmir. At present, the airport charges a user development fee of ₹ 1,050 and an aviation security fee of ₹ 200 per traveller. These charges are included in air ticket prices. As more tourists visit Kashmir, things are expected to improve with the beginning of the Amarnath Yatra next month. But as Ahmad says, it is 'not like before, but better than nothing' The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave in Pahalgam commences from July 3. Not like before, but better than nothing. 'The season will be over by July end. We won't be witnessing the pre-April tourism at least this year again. But we are still hoping for things to improve with Amarnath Yatra on the cards," he said.
