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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Former Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani is new director of Prime Ministers Museum and Library
Former Air India chief Ashwani Lohani, an Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME) officer of the 1980 batch, has been appointed as the director of the Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) in New Delhi, months after the tenure of former power secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai came to an end. In the interim, Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, was officiating in the role. In an order dated June 4, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Lohani's appointment for a tenure of three years. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. Besides serving as the Air India chairman and managing director twice, Lohani has also served as the chairman of the Railway Board of Indian Railways after being appointed to the post in 2017. After retiring from government service, he joined the GMR Group, where he served as chief executive officer. Earlier, in 2001, he joined the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) as chairman and managing director. In 2004, he became the commissioner and managing director of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC), a position he held for almost six years, spanning three different terms. He is credited with turning around the ITDC and MPSTDC during those stints. The Centre recently reconstituted the society and executive council of PMML, with several new names being added. The executive council, which previously had 29 members, has now been expanded to 34 members. While Nripendra Mishra, former principal secretary to the prime minister, was reappointed for a five-year term as the chairperson of the organisation, prominent new members included former Union minister Smriti Irani, NITI Aayog former vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar, retired Army General Syed Ata Hasnain, renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and Vasudev Kamath from Sanskar Bharati, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Culture. Some of the other new members include Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and educationist Chamu Krishna Shastry, archaeologist K K Mohammad, who was part of the Babri Masjid excavation team in 1976, and B R Mani, the former head of the National Museum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the president of the PMML society, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is the vice president. As the director, Lohani will also become a member of the seven-member executive council of the organisation, headed by chairman Nripendra Misra. Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
PM chairs meeting on tourism hit by Pahalgam attack
In a first meeting addressing the concerns of the tourism sector in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, PM Narendra Modi Tuesday took stock of the situation and discussed ways to bring back tourists to the Valley. According to sources, the meeting also focussed on coming up with new ways to promote tourism across the country, including for domestic as well as international visitors. The meeting was attended by Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Shekhawat, Tourism Secretary V Vidyavathi, Additional Secretary Suman Billa, and senior PMO officials including Principal Secretaries to the PM, P K Mishra and Shakikanta Das. 'Attended the review meeting chaired by honourable PM @narendramodi to assess the progress in the tourism sector,' Shekhawat said on X after the hour-long meeting in the afternoon. 'His visionary leadership is the guiding force for all our efforts in making Bharat a top global tourist destination,' he added. The Pahalgam attack has hit the tourism potential in the Valley immensely, with stakeholders in the industry raising concerns that not only is this holiday season a washout, but the adverse sentiment may affect the industry in the years to come. However, as per sources, the Centre is mulling steps to boost confidence in the security situation in other parts of the country, and focus on tourism revival in the months to come. In the wake of the terror attack, several countries — including the US and the UK — had issued advisories to their citizens to refrain from visiting the state, further denting the sentiment among international visitors. The meeting comes just ahead of the Amarnath Yatra scheduled to start from July 3 this year. The tourism sector had seen a massive turnaround after the security situation in the Valley improved following the abrogation of Article 370. As per the Ministry of Tourism figures, tourist arrivals had climbed from 34 lakh in 2020 to a record 2.36 crore in 2024, including 65,000 foreign tourists. The 2025 season opened strong too, with 8.14 lakh visitors to Srinagar's Tulip Garden in 26 days. Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
