Tension in Andhra after hate-mongers kill Muazzin in mosque, burn Quran

Bengaluru, May 6: More than a month after international flights have been barred, Karnataka government is preparing to quarantine all 10,823 of the state''s people poised to return home from overseas amid the Covid pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.

"The state has planned to quarantine all 10,823 passengers coming back to Karnataka. The quarantine guidelines framed as below would be applicable," said Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey in a statement.

According to the Government of India, 10,823 Karnataka residents have been stranded abroad by April 30, comprising 4,408 tourists, 3,074 students, 2,784 migrants and professionals and 557 ship crew.

Out of the 10,823 people, the state government is expecting 6,100 to return early as the government has decided to allow Indians stuck abroad to return.

"All the passengers arriving at points of entry (airports and seaports) will be compulsorily screened for symptoms of Covid-19," said Pandey.

Point of entry screening will include self-reporting form verification, thermal screening, pulse oximeter reading, briefing with instructions, categorisation, stamping for some and downloading of Aarogya Setu, Quarantine Watch and Apthamitra apps.

Arriving passengers are also required to declare existing comorbidities such hypertension, diabetes, asthma or any lung disease, organ transplantations, cancer, tuberculosis and other ailments.

Passengers will be categorised into three groups: Category A (symptomatic on arrival), Category B (asymptomatic with co-morbidity or aged above 60 years) and Category C (rest of asymptomatic passengers).

Depending on the category into which the people fall, their quarantine place and time will be determined.

Category A arrivals will be subjected to institutional quarantine for a fortnight, Category B one week quarantine at a hotel or hostel, followed by another week at home, and Category C home quarantine for a fortnight.

Karnataka government is making elaborate arrangements and logistical means, deploying healthcare, police and several other departments into action to handle the huge influx of Kannadigas and state residents.

Pandey has issued a 21-page elaborate standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines on how to face the international returnees.

Kathmandu, Feb 12: Nepal has suspended the licence of a mountainous resort for three months due to poor security management and managerial weakness at the hotel where eight Indian tourists, including four minors, died of possible asphyxiation, according to media reports.

Kathmandu: Nepal has suspended the licence of a mountainous resort for three months due to poor security management and managerial weakness at the hotel where eight Indian tourists, including four minors, died of possible asphyxiation, according to media reports.

Tragedy struck a group of 15 tourists from Kerala when eight of them died on January 21 due to possible asphyxiation after they fell unconscious probably due to a gas leak from a heater in their room at a mountainous resort in Makwanpur district.

The tourists were airlifted to HAMS hospital here where they were pronounced dead on arrival. Makwanpur police said the victims might have fallen unconscious due to asphyxiation.

The Department of Tourism on Sunday imposed a ban on the operation of Daman-based Everest Panorama Resort for three months based on the report submitted by a probe committee formed to investigate the death of the Indian tourists from Kerala, the Kathmandu Post reported on Tuesday.

The department decided to shut down the resort as the report submitted by a probe committee pointed out poor security management and managerial weakness at the resort for the incident, it said.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had formed the probe committee under Surendra Thapa, the director of the Department of Tourism. After a field inspection, the committee had submitted its report a few days ago, pointing to the shortcomings of the resort.

During the investigation, the committee found the resort had not been following the recommended safety measures and was providing substandard services to its guests, The Himalayan Times reported.

Moreover, the committee discovered that the resort had not fulfilled the criteria set by DoT to be categorised a 'resort', it said.

Mira Acharya, director of DoT was quoted as saying by the report that the resort's operations have been halted as per Section 15 of Tourism Act-1979.

"If the resort owner wishes to resume services after three months of suspension, the resort should be upgraded as per the Hotel, Lodge, Restaurant, Bar and Tourist Guide Rules-1981 and also meet the criteria mentioned in a notice published in the Nepal Gazette under the title 'Hotel Classification and Criteria'," Acharya said.

She added that the resort would also have to undergo the Environment Impact Assessment to get the permission from DoT to resume operation.

Meanwhile, the resort management has said that they will work towards meeting the standards fixed by the department and run the resort efficiently.

"We will work towards meeting the standards fixed by the department and run the resort efficiently. We are saddened by the tragic incident. We will ensure that such incidents don't occur in the future,” said Sudesh Gautam, the operator of the resort was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.

The group, after travelling to Pokhara -- a popular mountainous tourist destination -- was on their way back home and stayed at Everest Panorama Resort in Daman.

Those who were killed were Praveen Krishnan Nair, his wife Saranya Sasi and their three children and Ranjith Kumar Adatholath Punathil, his wife Indu Lakshmi Peethambaran Ragalatha and their son.

Everest Panorama Resort was established 28 years ago in Daman Simbhajyang area, a tourist destination in Bagmati Province. The tourist numbers, according to Thaha Hotel Association, have plunged after the tragic accident of January 27.

Bengaluru, Jul 2: Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that the "RSS needs to be defeated to save the country" and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are "destroying the nation".

Kharge was speaking at a KPCC program where DK Shivakumar took charge as state Congress president.

He said that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister are not ready to take accountability for any issues including China, and are instead blaming Rajiv Gandhi Foundation of getting funds from China.

"Rajiv Gandhi foundation utilized funds for the development of the nation and for the betterment of the downtrodden people," Kharge said.

"Prime Minister Modi and Shah both are destroying the economy of the nation, and their policies and plans are the reason for increasing COVID-19 situation in India," he said.

"Prime Minister and Amit Shah never listen to Opposition parties, instead they plan something and their policies are the reason for MSME losses and job losses in the country," he added.