Finally, Mangaluru Airport provides a prayer-room for air passengers

New Delhi, Jul 25: Nearly a year after Cafe Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha's death, the probe committee appointed by the Board of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL) has given a virtual clean chit to private equity investors and the Income Tax Department who were named in his last letter.
The investigation report noted that Siddhartha may have felt "aversive behavioural stimulus" due to persistent reminders from the PE investors and other lenders.

"However, such reminders and follow-ups by the PE investors and lenders are not something which are beyond normal industry practices and we believe that PE investors were acting as per accepted legal and business norms," said that report.

It further said that the investigators were not provided with any documentary evidence to show any "advertent or inadvertent harassment" from the Income Tax Department.

It however, said that the financial records suggest a serious liquidity crunch which may have arisen due to the attachment of Mindtree shares by the IT Department.

Further, the probe revealed that MACEL, a private firm of Siddhartha, owes Rs 2,693 crore to Coffee Day Enterprises, which the report says, "needs to be addressed".

The Cafe Coffee Day founder's body was fished out of the Netravathi river in Karnataka by a group of fishermen on July 31 last year, a day after he went missing.

His last note raised several questions about the role of investors, and tax officials.

He had written: "Tremendous pressure from other lenders lead to me succumbing to the situation. There was a lot of harassment from the previous DG Income Tax in the form of attaching our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking possession of our Coffee Day shares, although the revised returns have been filed by us. This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch."

The massive shock to the industry and the country also led the government to assure that tax officials would not harass businessmen and the situation would improve.

Bengaluru, Jul 22: Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar on Wednesday urged Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to waive all property taxes in urban local and rural panchayats for a period of one year as citizens are bearing a huge financial brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking to Twitter, Shivakumar wrote, "Citizens are bearing a huge financial brunt of the Corona Pandemic. It's imperative on the government to ease the financial burden on citizens. I urge CM B.S. Yediyurappa to waive all property taxes, in urban local bodies and rural panchayats, for a period of one year on humanitarian grounds."
In yet another demand, Shivakumar on Tuesday said the state government should give details of the amount it spent on migrants and labourers during the coronavirus crisis if it is transparent.

"The image of Karnataka has come to a very rotten position. We all know that Karnataka has failed in sorting out the problem. Let them (the state government) tell what has been the amount spent on the labour, migrants and food kits on the health department. We want an account (of the expenditure) if they are so transparent," Shivakumar said.

He said the state government should have approached the hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients and if any private hospital refused, a message should have been given that the government would take it over.

He also accused the state government of corruption.

Bengaluru, Mar 27: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday said it has created nine quarantine facilities of 200-300 personnel capacity each at its nodal bases across the country to combat the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
"To monitor the prevailing situation and provide immediate response and assistance as required, a 24x7 crisis management cell has been set up at the IAF Headquarters and various Command Headquarters," stated an IAF press release.
IAF aircraft are continuing to fly in medical supplies and doctors to Leh and fly out blood samples for COVID-19 testing to Chandigarh and Delhi, the release noted.
"Command Hospital Air Force Bangalore (CHAFB) has been designated as the first laboratory in the IAF to undertake COVID-19 testing, which will greatly enhance the region's ability to carry out quick testing of suspected cases and allow prompt and timely intervention where required," it mentioned.
All measures and directives issued by the government towards containing the spread of COVID-19 have been strictly enforced across all IAF stations, the release stated.
"The Indian Air Force continues to take measures to provide all possible assistance to civil administration across the country in containing the spread of COVID-19. The IAF has created nine quarantine facilities of 200-300 personnel capacity each at nodal IAF bases across the country," the release noted.