Poojary holds Siddu govt responsible for SC's adverse directive

The government of India today said it will begin evacuating its nationals stuck abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic from May 7 in a phased manner. This facility would be made available on payment basis. 

A Standard Operating Protocol has been put in place and the travel would be arranged by aircraft as well as naval ships and will be available on a payment-basis, the government said.

"Medical screening of passengers would be done before taking the flight. Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel. During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the protocols, such as the health protocols, issued by the ministry of health and the ministry of civil aviation," it said in a statement.

Specifying the protocols upon entry in India, the government said the returning Indians would be medically screened and will have to be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the respective state government.

Bengaluru, Mar 30: Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL) has received the first tranche of Rs 2,000 crore following disinvestment of Global Village Techparks to repay debts following the death of its founder V G Siddhartha.
In August last year, CDEL executed definitive agreements with entities belonging to Blackstone Group and Salarpuria Sattva Group for investment in GV Techparks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of group company Tanglin Development Ltd (TDL), at an enterprise value of Rs 2,700 crore.
The balance amount is expected to be received after the receipt of few statutory approvals, CDEL said in a statement.
"Out of the money received in first tranche, the company has paid off its debts in full including principal and interest amounting to Rs 1,644 crore to the lenders despite difficult economic conditions," it said.
Post this payment, the consolidated debt of the company and its subsidiaries stands at Rs 3,200 crore as on March 27. This includes debt of Rs 1,400 crore of its subsidiary Sical Logistics Ltd where disinvestment process is in progress.
"The company and subsidiaries have repaid around Rs 4,000 crore to the lenders since the beginning of this financial year," CDEL said.
"With the continuous support of stakeholders of the company, the current management is working to ensure better liquidity and operational efficiency. The company is confident of the future ahead despite various challenges," it added.
The company has been in rough waters after its founder V G Siddhartha took his own life as debt strains began to emerge in his company. Since his death in July last year, CDEL has been trying to divest its assets to pare debts.
On July 30, 2019, CDEL informed stock exchanges about Siddhartha's disappearance. In a letter that was purportedly written by him, the Cafe Coffee Day founder said: "I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares."

Bengaluru, June 23: A head constable from Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) committed suicide on board a bus after testing positive for COVID-19 in the city.

As per sources, the 50-year-old head constable had tested positive for coronavirus last evening and today he was being taken to a hospital in KSRP bus.

It is learned that he hanged himself to death inside the bus as there was no one else.