Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysuru to be handed over to private firms; state govt to call tenders
Bengaluru: Lalitha Mahal Palace, the five-star heritage hotel in Mysuru, will be handed over to private operators, with the Cabinet of ministers in Karnataka clearing the proposal to invite tenders for the palace during a meeting on Thursday.
The iconic structure, constructed in 1921, was run as a heritage hotel from 1974 to 2018 by the Ashok Group for the Indian Tourism Development Corporation before it was handed over to the state government in 2018. Currently, it is in the charge of the government enterprise Jungle Lodges and Resorts, however, as the state government was finding the maintenance of the heritage hotel a burden, the Cabinet has decided to hand over the reins to a private firm, reports The Indian Express.
Karnataka Law Minister HK Patil, when asked about the issue, confirmed that the works of maintenance, management, repairs and modernization of the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel in Mysuru will be handed over from the Jungle Lodges and Resorts to private companies. Tenders will be called to appoint a hotel operator, the minister added, on Thursday.
“The Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, nevertheless, will be preserved as a heritage property, regardless of modernization. The government was finding it difficult maintain five-star hotels, which requires a high investment of Rs 40-50 crore, especially due to low occupancy and decided to hand over the responsibility to private companies,” Patil explained.
The minister, however, clarified, “Jungle Lodges and Resorts is not running at a loss but is also not making profits. The facilities it provides at the hotel, including the number of rooms, are limited.”
Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel was built by the Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV as a place of residence for the British Governor General of India. It is modelled on the St Paul’s Cathedral in London and the second largest palace in Mysore after the Maharajah’s palace.
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Gujarat ATS nabs labourer for providing information on Coast Guard ships to Pak agent
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Friday arrested a labourer for allegedly sharing sensitive information regarding the movement of Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships with a Pakistani agent, said a police official.
Dipesh Gohel, who worked as a welder-cum-labourer at Okha jetty in the coastal Devbhumi Dwarka district, shared sensitive information about ICG ships coming to the jetty with a Pakistan-based woman for a payment of Rs 200 per day, said Superintendent of Police (ATS) K Siddharth.
He has been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the government under sections 61 and 147 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the SP told reporters.
The ATS had been keeping a close watch on Gohel after receiving a tip-off that the labourer was in touch with an agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI or an Army officer. Technical surveillance mounted after the tip-off established that phone calls and messages to Gohel emanated from Pakistan, he said.
"For the past three years, Gohel has been employed by a contractor who repairs Coast Guard vessels at Okha jetty. Gohel came in contact with a woman named Sahima on Facebook nearly seven months ago. The woman then started talking to him on WhatsApp," informed Siddharth.
The woman, who told Gohel that she works for the Pakistan Navy, offered to pay Rs 200 per day if he shares names and numbers of Coast Guard ships arriving at the jetty and their movement, said the police officer.
"Despite knowing that it was illegal, Gohel agreed and started sharing such sensitive information," said the SP.
Since Gohel does not have a bank account of his own, he gave account details of three of his friends. They all received Rs 42,000 in total through UPI during the last seven months from the woman. Gohel used to take cash from his friends against those deposits, said the IPS officer.
