BJP offered me Rs 50-cr plus ministerial berth or Rs 100-cr: Sringeri MLA

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, Mar 5: The Karnataka government has constituted a competent authority for I Monetary Advisory (IMA) cases under the KPIDFE (Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments) Act, 2004, which is required to call claims from erstwhile depositors of the IMA group of entities under the provisions of the Act, said Harsh Gupta, Special Officer and Competent Authority for IMA cases.

In order to ensure transparency and to avoid harassment to the claimants, an online application software has been developed for accepting claims from the depositors, Gupta stated.

"The claim application can be filed from any of Banglore-1, Karnataka-1 and Seva-Sindhu Kendras of the state government in person or through online. The required documents can be submitted using e-attestation along with claims or at a later date, but prior to the claim settlement. The details of authorities for e-attestation will be informed later," the official stated.

The claimants will have to provide Aadhaar authentication based identification or identification by the designated officer based on alternate documents; current mobile number and address among others.

The details of the draft claim filing process has been put for public feedback on website 'imaclaims.karnataka.gov.in'. The depositors can give their feedback on the website, WhatsApp number or email, Gupta stated.

Based on feedback received from the depositors, the claim process and the claim application software will be finalised, the official said and further informed that the start date for acceptance of claims will be informed through wide publicity at a later date.

"There will be a total time period of 30 days for submission of the claims from the start date of acceptance of claims," Gupta said.

An SIT was investigating the multi-crore IMA Jewels case, where the firm had allegedly cheated a large number of investors after promising them impressive returns on their deposits. The SIT has already arrested several government officials and questioned others including politicians in the matter.

The prime accused and Managing Director of IMA Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who had fled the country after several complaints were registered against him in connection with the scam, has also been arrested.

The state government had constituted an SIT to probe the scam when it first came to light in June earlier this year when more than 4,000 investors trooped outside the showroom after an audio clip purportedly recorded by Khan went viral.