Meenakshi Shantigodu elected Dakshina Kannada ZP chief, Kasturi Panja deputy

Mangaluru, Mar 21: Southern Railway has cancelled some more trains in view of poor patronage due to restrictions in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Train No.16565 Yesvantpur-Mangaluru Central Weekly Express has been cancelled on March 22 and March 29.

Train No.16566 Mangaluru Central-Yesvantpur Weekly Express will not run on March 23 and March 30.

Train No.10215 Madgaon-Ernakulam Weekly Superfast Express will not be operated on March 22 and March 29.

Train No. 10216 Ernakulam-Madgaon Weekly Superfast Express will not run on March 23 and March 30.

Train No.16355 Kochuveli-Mangaluru Junction Antyodaya Express, scheduled to leave Kochuveli on March 21, 26 and on March 28 stands cancelled.

Train No.16356 Mangaluru Junction-Kochuveli Antyodaya Express, scheduled to leave Mangaluru Junction on March 22, 27 and March 29 will not be operated, a Southern Railway release said.

Hubballi–KSR Bengaluru–Hubballi Janashatabdi (Daily) Express (12079/12080), Mysuru–Yelahanka–Mysuru Malgudi (Daily Express)

(16023/16024), Yeshwantpur–Pandharpur–Yeshwantpur (Weekly) Express (16541/16542), Mysuru–KSR Bengaluru–Mysuru Rajyarani Express

(16557/16558), Shivamogga–Yeshwantpur –Shivamogga Express Special (06539/06540), Mysuru–Renigunta–Mysuru Weekly Express

(11065/11066), Mysuru–Sainagar Shirdi–Mysuru Weekly Express (16217/16218), Yeshwantpur–Mangaluru–Yeshwantpur Weekly Express (16565/16566), and Belagavi–Mysuru Vishwamanava (Daily) Express (17326).

Mysuru–Belagavi Vishwamanava (Daily) Express (17325) has been cancelled till April 1.

The services of Train No.16023/16024 Mysuru-Yelahanka-Mysuru Malgudi Express has been cancelled from March 20 to March 31.

Similarly, Train No.16557/16558 Mysuru-KSR Bengaluru-Mysuru Rajya Rani Express will not ply from March 20 to March 31, according to a railway release.

Train No. 17325 Belagavi-Mysuru Vishwamanava Express will not operate from March 21 to April 1 and the corresponding service of Train No.17326 from Mysuru to Belagavi will remain cancelled from March 20 to March 31.

The authorities have also cancelled the service of Train No.11065 Mysuru to Renigunta weekly express which was to operate on March 20 and March 27 and the corresponding service from Renigunta to Mysuru on March 21 and March 28.

Likewise, Train No.16217 Mysuru to Sainagar Shirdi weekly express will not operate on March 23 and March 30 and the journey in the return direction of Train No.16218 Sainagar Shirdi to Mysuru weekly express on March 24 and March 31 stands cancelled.

The railway authorities have cancelled the Hubballi-KSR Bengaluru-Hubballi Janshatabdi superfast express from March 20 to March 31 and the services of Train No.06539/06540 Yasvantpur- Shivamogga Town-Yasvantpur express for March 20, 24, 25, 26, 27 and March 31 stands cancelled.

The other trains cancelled for a limited period include Train No.16541 Yasvantpur to Pandharpur weekly express for its journey commencing on March 19 and 26 and the return journey on March 20 and 27.

Abu Dhabi-based NMC Healthcare has reportedly received bids to sell its distribution unit and will soon be selling it to different parties.

The development comes over three months after NMC Healthcare’s founder and then-chairman B R Shetty stepped down amid allegations of massive fraud. 

The company, which recently laid off hundreds of workers, is offloading stake in the subsidiary as it is considered non-core and requires substantially high working capital to run the operations. In addition, this stake sale will help the company pay off some of its debt

"There are parties who have strong interest in the distribution business. NMC will be offloading the unit soon and that also to different parties," a source said.

"The company is in the process of exploring options for NMC Trading, the group's distribution business, which it has determined to be non-core and requiring substantial levels of working capital. The process should not materially adversely impact distributors' activities, nor NMC Trading's customers," an NMC Healthcare spokeswoman said.

The UK-court has appointed Alvarez & Marsal as administrator to oversee the operations of the debt-ridden hospital operator. The healthcare firm has been caught in a whirlpool of $6.6 billion debt while its senior former high management team is under investigation for financial irregularities.

The UAE Central Bank has direct local banks to freeze all bank accounts of NMC founder BR Shetty and his family members as well as accounts of those companies where he has a stake. The Central Bank move is subsequent to a criminal complaint filed by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, which has the largest exposure to NMC Healthcare, amounting Dh3 billion.

As the company faces financial difficulties, Reuters reported that NMC Health delayed May staff salaries and now expects to complete making payments by the first week of June.

The spokeswoman said: "The company has been in regular dialogue with its creditor constituencies through various creditor committees, including the direct bank lenders to its NMC Trading businesses."

Lucknow, Apr 13: Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are now worried that the intense communal profiling of the Corona patients by the official agencies could lead to lynching incidents once the lockdown is lifted.

Muslim scholar and former SP spokesman, Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, on Monday said, "The manner in which the government agencies are identifying persons belonging to Tablighi Jamaat in the list of Covid-19 patients is now translating into intense communal profiling which has been prohibited by the World Health Organization and the central government. A very small percentage of Muslims subscribe to the Tablighi Jamaat ideology but the impression going around is that the Muslim community, in general, is spreading coronavirus."

He said that there was a strong possibility of Muslims, in general, being attacked after the lockdown is lifted.

"This is exactly what happened on the cow slaughter issue. Even a small rumour led to people being lynched by mobs across the country. Corona is a pandemic and should be treated like one. We should fight against the virus together instead of creating a communal divide. Every day, the government spokesman lays down the number of Corona positive cases and then goes on to say how many of them are from Tablighi Jamaat," he explained.

Amir Haider, a social activist and also a veteran Congress leader, echoed similar sentiments when he said, "We strongly condemn the Tablighi Jamaat for ignoring the protocols and holding the congregation but why is the state government repeatedly harping on the religious angle. Shia and Sunni clerics are repeatedly asking the people to adhere to government guidelines and follow safety protocols.

He said that efforts to create a communal divide on the corona issue could have dangerous ramification after the lockdown is lifted."

A retired IAS officer, who did not wish to be named, said, that people have already started objecting to taking home deliveries from Muslim employees.

"My neighbours refused to take delivery of groceries from a Muslim boy. This is just the beginning of the narrative that is being drilled into the minds. We must check this before it explodes into something very dangerous," he said.