Muslims shouldn’t live in India; they must go to Pak or Bangla: BJP MP

Newsroom, Apr 30: Beleaguered billionaire B R Shetty, who went into hiding after after a multi-billion fraud at UAE-based NMC Health came to light, has now put the blame on his companies employees.

The former chairman of the Abu Dhabi headquartered hospital operator said, investigations he commissioned found following things:

1. The fraudulent creation and operating of bank accounts in my name including many fraudulent transfers that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of.

2. The fraudulent creation of loans, personal guarantees, cheques and bank transfers in my name, and using my forged signature, that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of.

3. The creation and set-up of companies in my name that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of, and that were seemingly created with the express intention to commit or conceal fraud.

4. The fraudulent creation of powers of attorney, and the misuse of existing powers of attorney, again in my name, that I that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of.

5. The creation and provision to me of false and misleading financial statements and information regarding the performance of some of my private companies and investments by members of my own management team.

6. The payments of expenses using my private companies and personal bank accounts, I believe to hide the true financials of the public companies."

This is the first time Dr. Shetty, who is reportedly hiding in India for the last couple of months, issued a statement based on investigations he commissioned privately. He had brought in a consultancy to conduct it after initial revelations came to light that NMC Health had not been fully transparent with its finances.

Dr. Shetty had stepped down as executive chairman after the then Board of Directors barred him from attending any meetings. “I intend to work tirelessly to clear my name and assist any authorities in getting to the truth and help them ensure that misappropriated or missing funds are returned by the perpetrators to their rightful owners,” said Dr. Shetty.

This month, ADCB, which has the highest exposure among UAE banks to NMC Health, brought charges against five former officials, including ex-board of directors, with Abu Dhabi prosecution. The former CEOs of NMC Health and Finablr are also currently not in the UAE.

Bengaluru, Mar 18: BJP MLC Lahar Singh Siroya on Wednesday wrote a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, urging him to allow half-an-hour daily discussion in the State Assembly and Council to take stock and review preparation of the government to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"Since the entire world including India is facing an emergency-like situation, it is appropriate for lawmakers to discuss the matter in the legislature. I would like to request you to allow the matter to be discussed every day in the upper house," said Siroya in his letter to the Chief Minister.

He said discussion and suggestions on the issue can help the government to improve the surveillance activities.

He said members of the Assembly can bring realistic information from their districts and present the same before the House.

Stressing that Bengaluru is a global hub of software and electronic industries, Siroya said: "We need to step up surveillance on the improvement of the international community. So, we have to discuss in detail and devise a robust strategy to contain the spread of the disease."

He asserted there is a possibility of people using social media to mislead public.

"lf the government discusses and debates the issue besides making announcements if any, there will be no scope for social media to mislead the public. Media is doing a good job in educating people. So, I would like to request you to involve the media and select NGOs to sensitise people and bring in the preventive mechanism of self-quarantine more effectively," he said.

Two more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka on Wednesday, taking the tally of infected persons in the state to 13, Health Minister B Sriramulu said.

A total of 147 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India so far, as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The deadly virus has claimed three lives in the country, the first one was reported from Karnataka.

Jan 30: The death toll rose to 170 in the new virus outbreak in China on Thursday as foreign evacuees from the worst-hit region begin returning home under close observation and world health officials expressed “great concern” that the disease is starting to spread between people outside of China.

Thursday’s figures cover the previous 24 hours and represent an increase of 38 deaths and 1,737 cases for a total of 7,711. Of the new deaths, 37 were in the epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei province and one in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The news comes as the 195 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, the Hubei province city of 11 million where the outbreak originated, are undergoing three days of testing and monitoring at a Southern California military base to make sure they do not show signs of the virus.

A group of 210 Japanese evacuees from Wuhan landed Thursday at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on a second government chartered flight, according to the foreign ministry. Reports said nine of those aboard the flight showed signs of cough and fever. Three of the 206 Japanese who returned on Wednesday tested positive for the new coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during a parliamentary session. Two of them showed no symptoms of the disease.

France, New Zealand, Australia and other countries are also pulling out their citizens or making plans to do so.

The World Health Organization emergencies chief said the few cases of human-to-human spread of the virus outside China — in Japan, Germany, Canada and Vietnam — were of “great concern” and were part of the reason the U.N. health agency’s director-general was reconvening a committee of experts on Thursday to assess whether the outbreak should be declared a global emergency.

The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak.

Dr. Michael Ryan spoke at a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday after returning from a trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior government leaders. He said China was taking “extraordinary measures in the face of an extraordinary challenge” posed by the outbreak.

To date, about 99% of the cases are in China. Ryan estimated the death rate of the new virus at 2%, but said the figure was very preliminary. With fluctuating numbers of cases and deaths, scientists are only able to produce a rough estimate of the fatality rate and it’s likely many milder cases of the virus are being missed.

In comparison, the SARS virus killed about 10% of people who caught it. The new virus is from the coronavirus family, which includes those that can cause the common cold as well as more serious illnesses such as SARS and MERS.

Scientists say there are many questions to be answered about the new virus, including just how easily it spreads and how severe it is.

In a report published Wednesday, Chinese researchers suggested that person-to-person spread among close contacts occurred as early as mid-December.

“Considerable efforts” will be needed to control the spread if this ratio holds up elsewhere, researchers wrote in the report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

More than half of the cases in which symptoms began before Jan. 1 were tied to a seafood market, but only 8% of cases after that have been, researchers found. They reported the average incubation period was five days.