Youth dies, another rescued after car plunges into dam waters in Udupi

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: Seven fresh Covid 19 positive cases are reported in 24 hours which includes one death from Kalburgi. Of the 7 cases, Kalburgi and Vijayapura share 3 cases each and one case is from Dakshin Kannada, as per the Tuesday mid day health bulletin issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The deceased has been identified as a 80 year male from Kalburgi. He was bedridden from the past 3 years and was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease since 4 years. Health officials said that he came with the complaint of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and expired on Monday night.

Along with his death, the total death tally now stands at 17 and the total positive cases in the state is 415.

Kalburgi which recorded the first death for Covid 19 in India has so far reported 4 deaths including the above one. The first slot for recording more deaths in the state is now shared by Bangalore urban district and Kalburgi district with each recording 4 deaths each.

Kalburgi district now has 24 active cases.

All the three cases are females, reported from Vijayapura were the primary contacts of a Corona positive patient (P306), who inturn got infected from a patient with history of SARI.

Apart from the deceased male who tested positive, the other cases from Kalburgi is of 29 year old male with influenza like illness and other case is of a 61 year old male whose source of infection is yet to be traced by the health department.

The case from Dakshin Kannada district is from Bantwala region and the positive patient is a 67 year old female with history of SARI. She is getting treated at designated hospital at Dakshin Kannada.

Shivamogga, May 12: Roopa Praveen Rao, an expectant mother and a nurse at a hospital in Shivamogga's Karnataka, has chosen to continue to serve the patients amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Rao who hails from Gajanuru village is nine months pregnant and works at Jayachamarajendra Government Hospital as a nurse.

She travels every day to Thirthahalli taluk to attend to the patients at the hospital.

"The taluk hospital is surrounded by many villages, people need our service. My seniors had asked me to take leave but I want to serve people. I work six hours a day," she told news agency.

She added that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa too called her up and appreciated her dedication and suggested that she should take rest.

Rao is one of the many frontline COVID-19 warriors who have been risking their lives to ensure that everyone stays safe as the country fights the coronavirus.