Supporters stage protest demanding cabinet berths for Roshan Baig, Reddy

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."

Jan 6: A Thane resident lost a little over Rs 1 lakh in an online fraud involving popular payment gateways, police said on Saturday. The complainant, a resident of Patlipada, wanted to sell his furniture and posted an ad on Facebook on December 21, an official said.

On December 24, he received a call from one Rajendra Sharma who offered to buy the furniture and wanted to transfer the amount through payment gateways — Paytm and Google Pay, he said.

However, instead of the money getting credited to his account, the complainant found that Rs 1.01 lakh were debited from him during three transactions on two payment gateways, the official said.

The complainant realised that he had been cheated when the accused assured that he would return the money and asked him for another account number, he added.

An offense has been registered against the unidentified accused under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act and further investigations are underway, he said.

Bengaluru, Mar 25: In what is suspected to be the second COVID-19 death in Karnataka, a 70-year-old woman from Gouribidanuru, who was under house quarantine for the last one week has died at Rajiv Gandhi Hospital for Chest Diseases.

The woman, who had recently returned from the Mecca pilgrimage developed fever on Tuesday afternoon. She was rushed to hospital, where she died on Wednesday morning.

Health and Family Welfare officials said that the throat swab sample of the woman had been sent to the laboratory for testing and the result was expected to come by afternoon.

Since last week, at least three cases of COVID-19 positive had been reported in Gouribidanuru in Chikkaballpura district, about 80 kms from Bengaluru.

Most of the suspects and confirmed cases had returned from Makkah pilgrimage. Even the deceased woman was one of them and had been advised house quarantine.

On Tuesday morning, she developed fever and was shifted to Gouribidanur hospital and later to Chikkaballapura hospital. By evening, she was moved to Rajiv Gandhi hospital, where she died on Wednesday morning.

The Chikkaballapura district administration has proclaimed prohibitory orders in the locality. They have also taken the woman's family members for testing.