As border closure hits medicine supply, three activists in Mangaluru turn Good Samaritans for Kerala patients

Apr 12: The board and management of troubled NMC Healthcare should be held accountable for the financial irregularities, said Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, chairman of the UAE Banks Federation.

"Banks have dealt with the exposure professionally and they lent to a company which was listed on FTSE-100 index with world-class regulator and the world's largest audit firm doing their audit. Even if they present their balance sheet today, people will still lend to them. This is a world-class fraud and the management and board members should be held accountable. We should have a different track to handle this company. It is not a normal track that we can go," Al Ghurair said during a virtual press conference on Sunday.

It is estimated that the more than 80 local, regional and international banks have exposure to healthcare firm. The UAE bourses had asked all the listed companies in the UAE to announce their exposure. The UAE banks last week announced nearly Dh10 billion exposure to NMC Healthcare, which is owned by the billionaire BR Shetty.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has the highest exposure to NMC at Dh3 billion. Dubai Islamic Bank and its subsidiary Noor Bank announced Dh2 billion exposure while Emirates NBD and its Shariah-compliant unit Emirates Islamic Bank revealed Dh747.34 million exposure. Ajman Bank has Dh151.8 million while Al Salam Bank pegged its exposure at Dh161.5 million. All these lenders revealed their exposure for the first time on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank said it had extended Dh1.07 billion in financing to NMC Healthcare, and an additional Dh113.67 million exposure to Islamic bonds issued by NMC.National Bank of Fujairah pegged its exposure to NMC at Dh289.1 million, while Sharjah-based United Arab Bank said its exposure was Dh135.3 million.

NMC recently revised its debt position to $6.6 billion, well above earlier estimates.

London's High Court last week placed hospital operator NMC Health into administration, on the application of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

"I know leading bank in UAE have already legal guardian of the company so now management cannot hide anything. The new team will manage and discover what happened," said Al Ghurair.

Udupi, Jan 14: The Udupi district police on Tuesday arrested two suspected terrorists at the Indrali railway station in Udupi.

The two, who had reportedly arrived from Kerala at around 6 ap.m., were standing at the Indrali railway station platform.

Suspicious of their behaviour, the police took them to custody and subjected them to interrogation.

According to reports the duo had involved in the murder of Tamil Nadu police Special Sub-Inspector Wilson.

However, top cop of the district has refused to comment regarding the arrest of the youths.

Bengaluru, Feb 25: Opteamix LLC (Opteamix), a digital technology firm, announced today that they have been awarded as a 'Dream Company to Work For' by the World HRD Congress.

Opteamix was ranked 11th in this category which had companies from multiple industries across the globe vying for the title.

In addition to the Dream Company ranking, Opteamix was also recognized for its innovative HR practices and Corporate Social Responsibility practices. The event took place at Taj Land's End in Mumbai on February 16.

Opteamix presented their concept 'Happiness at Work - When Culture drives Performance' that elaborated upon the methodology behind the enhancement of employee happiness.

"We have taken a holistic approach to help our people stay happy at work. While we knew that EQ and IQ were critical to the growth of people, we also believed that it is the Spiritual Quotient (SQ) which our in-house NGO - Right To Live caters to, that helps our people experience next-level career growth," said Varsha Dubey, Lead - Happiness and Learning Activator, while explaining the theory behind the happiness at work during the 30-min presentation before delegates from 65 countries.

"We have empowered our people by equipping them with the right set of tools to help them excel in their performance based on OKR (Objectives and Key Results), CFR (Communication, Feedback, and Review) and Competency Mapping. The optimum blend of these performance management tools has resulted in making a significant impact on the careers of our people and therefore, happy people and 100 per cent innovation and efficiency at work," added Shalu Priya - Director, People Experience.

Now in its 28th year, the World HRD Congress presents awards to organizations that promote innovative human resources practices. The award categories include leadership, talent management, employer branding, training and development, employee engagement, and more.

In the recent past, Opteamix had been recognized for its commitment to employee excellence with numerous awards and recognitions including 'Dream Companies to Work for' in 2017 and 2018.

World HRD Congress is billed as South Asia's largest HR event, featuring an eminent panel on international and local speakers from across public and private sectors.

The conference serves as a platform for the HR fraternity to deliberate on the insights, initiatives and implications of people management practices. The theme this year 'Happiness at work', recognized individuals and companies for their exceptional people management practices.

"We strongly believe in creating a culture of happiness at Opteamix. To us, happiness is as important as revenue and profits. The culture of happiness has been the Opteamix way of life since inception, which has led us to achieve our ultimate goals - higher career growth for all members and richer customer experience," said Raghurama Kote - Founder and COO of Opteamix, on being asked what a happy organization meant to him.