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  • PNB fraud case | Nirav Modi’s 5-day extradition trial begins in U.K.

    A handful of legal representatives were present in the court room, as previously agreed, with witnesses set to give their evidence via videolink.

    Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, fighting extradition to India on charges over the nearly USD 2 billion PNB fraud and money-laundering case, appeared via videolink before a U.K. court on the first day of his 5-day extradition trial on Monday, taking place in a part-remote setting due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

    The 49-year-old jeweller, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year, joined the proceedings via the court’s common viewing platform (CVP) at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London dressed formally in a white shirt and black blazer.

    The hearing got off to a delayed start as officials sorted out technical difficulties of connecting the court room to the prison.

    Given the social-distancing norms being followed by prisons and courts, district Judge Samuel Goozee had conceded that Modi can follow the proceedings via videolink rather than the norm of being produced in person.

    “It is important that if you have any difficulty with the audio or visual of the proceedings at any time, to let us know immediately, Judge Goozee told Modi, so that he can follow the court proceedings in an open way as per the law.

    A handful of legal representatives were present in the court room, as previously agreed, with witnesses set to give their evidence via videolink.

    The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), appearing on behalf of the Indian authorities, began by laying out the basis of the Indian government’s case. CPS barrister Helen Malcolm appeared via videolink to tell the court that Modi acquired eye watering amounts of money fraudulently from Punjab National Bank (PNB).

    There is really nothing very complicated about this case. It covers three aspects – the fraud, then laundering of that fraud money and the rotation of goods around the Modi empire, she said.

    The 5-day hearing which started on Monday relates to the Indian government’s extradition request certified by the U.K. government last year.

    The case has been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and relates to a large-scale fraud upon an Indian PSU through the fraudulent obtaining of letters of understanding (LoUs) and the laundering of the proceeds of that fraud.

    Two additional charges of “causing the disappearance of evidence” and intimidating witnesses or criminal intimidation to cause death were added on by the CBI and certified earlier this year.

    CPS barrister Nick Hearn, the co-counsel in the case, told the court at the last hearing in April, held via tele-conference, that the government of India’s representatives would be following the proceedings and giving instructions via the court’s online common viewing platform, given the COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

    We have received comprehensive responses in writing from the government of India, which would reduce the likely length of cross-examinations, said Mr. Hearn.

    It was also confirmed that the diamond merchant would not be giving evidence in the case, but his legal team plans to produce around six witnesses, including a jewellery expert as well as judicial and prisons experts.

    Most of the legal cases in the U.K. have incorporated videolink and telephonic options where possible amid the social-distancing norms in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

    Modi had made a fifth attempt at bail in the High Court last month, which was rejected as the judge ruled that he continued to pose a flight risk. The jeweller was arrested on March 19, 2019, on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on charges of fraud and money-laundering brought by the Indian government.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Coronavirus and oil crash: Saudi Arabia is battling double crises

    The Kingdom decides to take a slew of austerity measures, including raising value-added tax and cutting a cost of living allowance for government employees.

    Saudi Arabia, which under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been trying to diversify its economy away from oil and expand its regional influence through aggressive foreign policy posturing, has run into trouble with the economy hit by the double crises of the coronavirus pandemic and the oil price crash.

    The Kingdom, 87% of whose budget revenues come from the petroleum sector, has already announced some “painful” economic decisions and signalled a rare readiness to scale back its regional operations to lift itself out of the “worst crisis in decades”.

    On May 11, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the Kingdom decided to take a slew of austerity measures, including raising value-added tax (VAT) and cutting a cost of living allowance for government employees. The allowance, which was introduced in 2018 to help workers tide over the effects of austerity measures taken during the last oil crash, will be suspended as of June 1, and the VAT, which was also rolled out in 2018, will be increased to 15% from 5% as of July 1, SPA reported, citing a statement of the Ministry of Finance.

    Last month, the Kingdom announced a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen after five years of war in the clearest signal that Riyadh seeks to depart from its expensive military intervention in the neighbouring country parts of which are controlled by Shia Houthis rebels.

    Worst crisis in decades

    Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan had warned earlier that the government was considering painful measures to deal with the crisis. “The Kingdom hasn’t witnessed a crisis of this severity over the past decades,” he told the state broadcaster Al-Arabia on May 3.

    When Saudi officials announced the Kingdom’s budget in December 2019, crude oil prices were over $60 a barrel. To balance its budget this year, Saudi Arabia requires oil prices to be around $76 a barrel, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, crashed by 50% in March. Brent crude price was at $26.31 on May 11 afternoon in London.

    Amid the deteriorating situation, the Saudi government dipped its hands into the foreign reserves for meeting expenditures. The Kingdom saw a record $24 billion drop monthly drop in its reserves in March to $479 million. It is also raising billions in debt from the bond market.

    Impact of virus

    The coronavirus pandemic has aggravated the crisis with most economic activities suspended under a curfew. In March, the Kingdom shut down shops, malls, restaurants, cafes and other public places. All pilgrimages, including the annual Haj to Mecca, which hasn’t been interrupted since Napoleon’s 1798 attack of Egypt, were stopped.

    Despite these actions, the virus continued to spread across the country. As of May 11 evening, the Kingdom has reported over 39,000 coronavirus infections and 246 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre. On top of it, it has also aggravated that economic woes. The IMF now forecasts the country’s GDP will fall 2.3% this year.

    “The situation in Saudi Arabia has been deteriorating well before the pandemic. Economic pressures were already building up on the Kingdom. Coupled with this, we have the war against Yemen. On top of this, while the Crown Prince has projected himself as the fountainhead of liberalism, in actual fact, he’s emerged as a very authoritarian and harsh ruler, who can be extremely impulsive in decision making,” said Talmiz Ahmad, India’s former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, adding that the oil crash and the pandemic made the situation worse.

    Unwinnable oil war

    “The recent oil problem is almost entirely self-inflicted. Instead of engaging with Russia to discuss how they could consider new policies with regard to the OPEC-plus partnership, the Crown Prince very impulsively rejected Russia and started a completely unwinnable oil war, which has wounded not just Saudi Arabia, but also a very large number of countries in the region who are dependent on their oil revenues,” Mr. Ahmad told The Hindu.

    Early March, Saudi Arabia decided to ram up oil production and offered discounts to buyers in a bid to win market share after it failed to reach an agreement with Russia on output cuts. The subsequent supply glut pulled down the prices. By the time the Saudis, Russians, and other major major oil producers agreed to cut output by 9.7 million barrels a day on April 13, it was too late. Daily demand had already fallen by more 20 million barrels a day as global economic activity came to a grinding half amid virus lockdowns.

    Saudi officials agree that they are facing a history-changing crisis. “I do not think the world or the Kingdom will go back to the way things were before coronavirus,” Finance Minister Al-Jadaan said earlier this month. Besides the austerity measures already announced, the Kingdom will also defer some of the big-ticket projects initiated by the Crown Prince, which includes an expansion of the Mecca Mosque and building sports stadia and a $500 billion mega city in the deserts.

    “Oil prices are unlikely to swing back to the pre-crisis levels any time soon as the world economy remains in doldrums. So the Kingdom has to look for fresh policy decisions,” said Mr. Ahmad. He added that his prognosis of the condition of the Kingdom is “negative”. But MBS could undertake a slew of radical domestic and foreign policy measures to reboot the country. “Domestically, the Kingdom has to cut expenditure, train its youth for new jobs, build a more accountable and responsive political order which the Crown Prince has promised and there has to be a healing touch in the royal family… The royal family can legitimately rule the nation only if it’s a united family,” he said.

    “With regard to the foreign policy, the first step should be the engagement with Iran.” Mr. Ahmad added that if Saudi Arabia and Iran start engaging each other a host of conflicts in the region, from Yemen to Syria and Iraq, could be addressed.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • 19 sailors killed as Iran missile strikes own ship

    The friendly incident happened during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman

    AP

    An Iranian missile fired during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman struck a support vessel near its target, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15, Iran’s state media reported on Monday, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S.

    The statement significantly raised the death toll in Sunday’s incident from what was reported just hours earlier, when Iran’s state media said at least one sailor was killed.

    The Konarak, a Hendijan-class support ship, which was taking part in the exercise, was too close to a target during an exercise on Sunday when the incident happened, the reports said. The vessel had been putting targets out for other ships to target. The media said the missile struck the vessel accidentally.

    The friendly fire incident happened near the port of Jask, some 1,270 km southeast of Tehran, in the Gulf of Oman, state TV said.

    A local hospital admitted 12 sailors and treated another three with slight wounds, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

    Iranian media said the Konarak had been overhauled in 2018 and was able to launch sea and anti-ship missiles. The Dutch-made, 47-meter vessel was in service since 1988 and had capacity of 40 tonnes. It usually carries a crew of 20 sailors.

    Iran regularly holds exercises in the region, which is closed to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which monitors the region, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Iranian media rarely report on mishaps during its exercises, signaling the severity of the incident. This incident also comes amid months of heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and imposed crushing sanctions on the country.

  • J&K internet restrictions: SC sets up special panel

    Govt orders snipping Internet speed to 2G were meant to operate for only a limited time, it says

    The Jammu and Kashmir government’s orders do not reveal any reason for making mobile 4G Internet inaccessible across the Union Territory (UT), the Supreme Court said in an order on Monday.

    Besides, the government orders snipping the Internet speed to 2G were meant to operate for only a limited time.

    “Although the present orders indicate that they have been passed for a limited period of time, they do not provide any reasons to reflect that all the districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir require the imposition of such restrictions. At the same time, we do recognise that the Union Territory has been plagued with militancy, which is required to be taken into consideration,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice N.V. Ramana observed in the 19-page order.

    The order was based on petitions filed separately by media professionals, school associations and private citizens claiming that lack of access to high-speed Internet in J&K had crippled medical efforts to contain the COVID-19 contagion and pulled the rug under online education and businesses. The government, on the other hand, maintained that high-speed Internet was a facilitator of terrorism in the UT.

    On Monday, the apex court appointed a special committee led by the Union Home Secretary to “immediately” determine the necessity of continuing the restrictions in J&K.

    The court directed the panel to examine the “appropriateness” of the petitioners; suggestion to limit the Net restrictions to areas where it was necessary and allow faster Internet (3G or 4G) on a trial basis in certain geographical areas and advise the J&K government on it.

    Anuradha Bhasin judgment

    The court took a leaf from its Anuradha Bhasin judgment of January 2020, which dealt with the months’ long curfew imposed in J&K following the abrogation of Article 370, to quote that restrictions should not be disproportionate to the “emergent situation”.

    “The degree of restriction and the scope of the same, both territorially and temporally, must stand in relation to what is actually necessary to combat an emergent situation,” the court reminded the Centre and the J&K government.

    The Bench pointed out how in the Anuradha Bhasin case, it had directed orders restricting Net access under Rule 2(2) of the Telecom Suspension Rules to be placed before a review committee. It highlighted that the Rules mandated adequate safeguards to ensure that the restrictions were “narrowly tailored”.

    Nevertheless, the court did not discount the Centre’s reasons for the restrictions, which included “continuous infiltration, foreign influence, violent extremism and issues of national integrity prevalent in J&K”. These were indeed serious issues. But hardships faced by citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic also raised serious concerns, it said.

    In such a sensitive case, the court had to “reasonably and defensibly” balance national security concerns and the rights of the citizens.

    It said the government orders on Internet restrictions concerned both the UT and the nation as a whole. Hence, the review committee would require officers drawn from both the Union and the State services.

    “We are of the view that since the issues involved affect the State, and the nation, the Review Committee which consists of only State level officers, may not be in a position to satisfactorily address all the issues raised. We, therefore, find it appropriate to constitute a Special Committee comprising of the following Secretaries at national, as well as State, level to look into the prevailing circumstances and immediately determine the necessity of the continuation of the restrictions in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the court observed.

    The other members of the committee are the Secretary of the Department of Communications and the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Anti-CAA protest: Eight parties condemn arrests of activists, students in letter to President

    The world is experiencing fear and uncertainty and the government’s priority must be to single mindedly focus in effectively dealing with this pandemic, the leaders say

    In a joint letter to President Ramnath Kovind, eight political parties have condemned the recent arrests of activists and students in connection with the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) movement at a time when the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The letter has been signed by Sitaram Yechury, CPI (M) general secretary, D. Raja, CPI general secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(ML) general secretary, Debabrata Biswas, AIFB general secretary, Manoj Bhattacharya, RSP general secretary, Sharad Yadav, LJD general secretary, Manoj Jha, RJD MP, and Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP and VCK president.

    It is a time when the world is experiencing fear and uncertainty and the government’s priority must be to single mindedly focus in effectively dealing with this pandemic and the problems that have spawned from it, like the lakhs of starving migrant workers trudging back home, the letter says.

    The arrests of women activists in Delhi under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were on “manufactured charges”. On April 10, M.Phil student Safoora Zargar was arrested for her association with anti-CAA protests. In addition, scores of students are being called for interrogation by the Special Branch and intimidated, the letter says.

    Similary, the letter points out that the victims in the violence perpetrated in Jawaharlal Nehru University are being targeted while there has not been a single arrest of those outsiders who unleashed this violence against students and teachers. “It is also shocking to note that certain communities are being targeted while the perpetrators of communally charged violence, established in various video recordings, including prominent leaders of the ruling party, are moving around scot-free.” In case of the riots in northeast Delhi, the eight leaders accused the police of making one-sided arrests of young Muslim men and interrogating only members of the minority community, creating a sense of insecurity among them.

    With a highly infectious disease such as the COVID-19, the government should have followed the example of other countries in releasing prisoners, but yet even the physically disabled and people with known serious medical conditions like Dr. G N. Saibaba and others are not being allowed to seek competent medical treatment. In Kashmir, the continuing detention of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and many others are condemnable, the letter says. The vindictive approach of the government in continuing the detention of RJD chief Lalu Prasad in spite of his ill health and the stringent conditions of his imprisonment is condemnable, the letter adds.

    “The arrests of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon case even while continuing the detention of activists Sudha Bharadwaj and others without any evidence is another shocking example of how civil liberties are being trampled,” the letter says.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Fear in Iran as infections rising anew

    Tehran: While many residents in Iran’s capital are taking advantage of loosened COVID-19 controls, some worry about a new spike in infections in what remains the Middle East’s deadliest virus epicenter. “The line of fools,” muttered shopkeeper Manouchehr, peering disdainfully at a queue of customers outside a foreign currency dealer in the Sadeghieh district of western Tehran. Many in the long line stood close to one another and did not wear masks.

    A traffic policeman told AFP such queues have appeared regularly ever since the money changers re-opened. People rarely observe basic anti-contagion protocols, he complained. The government began paring back coronavirus controls outside Tehran on April 11, arguing that the economy – already sagging under punitive US sanctions – needed to get back to bare bones operations. It allowed small businesses to reopen in the capital a week later, before permitting malls to welcome customers on April 21 and barbers on Wednesday.

    At 802, declared daily infections in Iran on May 2 reached their lowest level since early March. But this critical daily number has since begun resurging, breaching 1,500 on Saturday to take the country’s total number of confirmed infections beyond 106,000. The capital’s streets, bazaars and malls are now bustling after being nearly deserted for weeks after the bulk of control measures were imposed in March.

    Milad, a shopkeeper in a mall, was conflicted about the easing of movement restrictions. “All these customers coming in will endanger our lives – us who are forced to come” to work, he said. The mall gets very busy in the evenings, noted the 22-year-old, who did not have any protective equipment. The COVID-19 respiratory disease has killed nearly 6,600 people in Iran since the first two fatalities were reported in the city of Qom on February 19, according to authorities.

    Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi has called Tehran the country’s “Achilles heel” in the fight against the virus. The city’s eight million residents are densely packed together and it is a magnet for hundreds of thousands of workers from other provinces. The government moved to ease restrictions even as Tehran remained at red on its color graded risk model – white denoting low risk, yellow medium and red high risk. Schools, universities, cinemas and stadiums remain closed to contain the spread of the virus.

    “People being careful made infections drop, but as soon as the disease was deemed less of a concern, we saw cases grow,” said Masoud Mardani, an infectious disease expert at the health ministry. The rise is “partly due to the reopening (of businesses) and people going out shopping,” he told the semi-official ISNA news agency, while also citing an increase in travel in Tehran province. Health officials have vowed to re-impose stringent measures if the number of cases continues to climb.

    But many Iranians remain adamant that they have to work to avoid financial ruin. “Life costs money,” said Hamed. “People have to go to work since this virus has been with us for about three months now.” The 22-year-old was among those out on the streets without a mask, deeming such protection “largely ineffective”. He had travelled over 150 km from Qom to Tehran for banking business for the private firm that employs him. It is a trip he has to undertake every few days and says he cannot refuse for fear of losing his job.

    A few streets away, pedestrians were shopping for fresh vegetables and dried fruit – mostly women or older men, but this time, mainly in masks. “I think maybe only half the people follow health protocols” across the capital as a whole, said Zahra, a 30-year-old accountant. “Either people don’t care or don’t have the patience” to wear a mask, she said.

    Mohammad, a former building contractor, complained that masks were expensive and in short supply. A disposable surgical mask can cost from 49,000 rials (30 US cents, using the unofficial rate) to 10 or 15 times that amount for the better quality durable coverings. “They should have given them to people for free,” said the mask-less 58-year-old. But Mohammad’s biggest gripe was overcrowding on buses, where red crosses marked on half of the seats to maintain social distancing are routinely ignored. He said he was outraged to see a bus with “40 people on it” during his morning commute and urged authorities to increase services. – AFP

  • Obama slams Trump handling of pandemic

    Washington: Former president Barack Obama has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling it an “absolute chaotic disaster”. In a leaked web call Friday night with former members of his administration, Obama also said the Justice Department’s decision to drop charges against Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in the Russia probe, endangers the rule of law in the US.

    In the audio, first obtained by Yahoo News, Obama urges former staffers to join him in rallying behind Joe Biden as he prepares to take on Trump in the November presidential election. The United States by far leads the world in the number of coronavirus infections, at nearly 1.3 million, and deaths, with more than 77,000.

    Trump has been criticized as essentially abdicating any leadership role in guiding the country through one of its worst crises in a century, leaving states on their own to grapple with the pandemic and even bid against each other to obtain critical medical equipment on the open market or abroad. Critics say Trump, after first downplaying the threat posed by the virus, squandered precious time in February as the pathogen spread in America and his administration did little to stock up on testing kits and other medical gear or to develop a cohesive national strategy.

    With an eye to re-election, the president has also been blasted as putting his own political interests before human life by aggressively pushing states to reopen their devastated economies without a clear blueprint for how to do it safely. “What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy – that has become a stronger impulse in American life,” Obama told his former staffers.

    “It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty,” Obama said. “It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset – of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ – when that mindset is operationalized in our government,” he said.

    Obama said that the dropping of charges against Flynn was ominous. “That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic – not just institutional norms – but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk,” he said. Obama endorsed Biden’s candidacy last month and has said he would be deeply involved in his campaign against Trump. He told the Obama Alumni Association: “I am hoping that all of you feel the same sense of urgency that I do.”

    White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Trump’s response to the coronavirus “has been unprecedented” and has saved American lives. She harked back to the Ukraine inquiry launched by Democrats in the US House of Representatives last year that led to House passage of articles of impeachment against Trump. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump early this year.

    “While Democrats were pursuing a sham witch hunt against President Trump, President Trump was shutting down travel from China. While Democrats encouraged mass gatherings, President Trump was deploying PPE, ventilators, and testing across the country,” she said.

    – Agencies

  • No need for testing after home isolation period is over, say Health Ministry’s revised guidelines

    The Health Ministry has issued revised guidelines for home isolation of very mild/pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases, stating the isolation for patients will end after 17 days of the onset of symptoms (or date of sampling, for pre-symptomatic cases) and if there is no fever for 10 days.

    “There is no need for testing after the home isolation period is over,” notes the Ministry in its latest guideline. The caregiver and all close contacts of such cases should take hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis as per protocol and as prescribed by the treating medical officer.

  • Coronavirus Crisis: World’s Second Oldest Airline Driven To Bankruptcy

    Avianca Holdings’ bankruptcy filing highlights the challenges for airlines that cannot count on state rescues or on such rescues coming fast enough.

    Avianca Holdings, Latin America’s second largest airline, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, after failing to meet a bond payment deadline, while its pleas for coronavirus aid from Colombia’s government have so far been unsuccessful.

    If it fails to come out of bankruptcy, Bogota-based Avianca would be one of the first major carriers worldwide to go under as a result of the pandemic, which has crippled world travel.

    Avianca has not flown a regularly scheduled passenger flight since late March and most of its 20,000 employees have gone without pay through the crisis.

    “Avianca is facing the most challenging crisis in our 100-year history,” Avianca chief executive Anko van der Werff said in a news release.

    While Avianca was already weak before the coronavirus outbreak, its bankruptcy filing highlights the challenges for airlines that cannot count on state rescues or on such rescues coming fast enough. Avianca is still hoping for a government bailout.

    “This isn’t a surprise at all,” said Juan David Ballen, chief economist at Casa de Bolsa brokerage in Bogota. “The company was heavily indebted despite the fact it tried to restructure its debt last year.”

    Avianca, the second oldest continually operating airline in the world after KLM, had $7.3 billion in debts in 2019. The airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York and said it would continue operations while it restructured its debts.

    The Colombian Association of Civil Aviators (ACDAC), a union representing many Avianca employees, said it supported the move.

    Avianca already went through bankruptcy in the early 2000s, from which it was rescued by a Bolivian-born oil businessman, German Efromovich.

    Efromovich grew Avianca aggressively but also saddled the carrier with significant debt until he was ousted from the airline last year in a boardroom coup led by United Airlines Holdings Inc. He still owns a majority stake in the carrier.

    United stands to lose up to $700 million in loans related to Avianca.

    Efromovich told news agency Reuters on Sunday that he disagreed with the decision to file for bankruptcy and that he was not involved in making it.

    LEAD-UP TO BANKRUPTCY

    The management that took over after Efromovich’s ousting was already focused on a cost-cutting reorganization dubbed “Avianca 2021” before this year’s crisis.

    Warnings about its fragile finances abounded. Roberto Kriete, president of Avianca’s board, said last year in a meeting with employees that the airline was “broke.”

    Last month, Avianca’s accounting firm, KPMG, said it had “substantial doubts” about the carrier’s ability to exist a year from now.

    Avianca’s shares closed at 88 cents on Friday in New York, from a high of more than $18 in 2014.

    Most pressingly, Avianca was facing a $65 million bond payment due on Sunday that analysts did not think the airline was in a position to meet. S&P downgraded the airline to CCC- status in the days leading up to that payment.

    Airline executives confirmed in a press call on Sunday night that they had not made the payment.

    Van der Werff had mounted a public relations campaign in recent weeks to secure emergency aid from Colombia’s government, but none had materialized as of Sunday.

    Avianca has no certain date to resume operations, as its main hubs – Colombia, El Salvador and Peru – have all shut down air traffic to fight the coronavirus. The carrier faced backlash after it sold plane tickets for late May only to have to cancel them when Colombia extended its coronavirus lockdown.

    Avianca will also shut down its operations in Peru, which represents 5% of the airline’s revenue, and will lay off hundreds of employees within the next 10 days.

    “In this time, we do not have liquidity to sustain a loss-making operation,” Silvia Mosquera, Avianca’s chief commercial officer, told reporters regarding Avianca Peru.

    Colombia’s Avianca is the third of Efromovich’s airlines to go through bankruptcy or out of business in recent years. Airlines Avianca Brasil and Avianca Argentina ceased to exist last year because of economic troubles in their markets.

    With inputs from NDTV

  • NTA Cautions Against Fake Calls Regarding NEET UG 2020

    National Testing Agency (NTA) has cautioned students about fake and fraudulent calls, SMS and email about NEET UG 2020.

    National Testing Agency (NTA) has cautioned students about fake and fraudulent calls, SMS and email about NEET UG 2020 asking for candidate’s application details including their personal details.

    In a notice available on NTA website, the agency says, “NTA does not ask for any personal details or any other information through calls, SMS or emails. If any such calls or messages/emails are received please do not share any information.”

    The agency will also take strict action against the ‘unscrupulous elements’ seeking confidential information from students.

    NTA has also advised parents and students to only rely on the information available on official NTA website, ‘nta.ac.in’, and official NEET UG website, ‘ntaneet.nic.in’.

    Meanwhile, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced the date for the postponed NEET UG exam. The medical entrance exam which was earlier scheduled to be held on May 3 will now be held on July 26. The exam will be in pen-paper format, like previous year. NTA is yet to announce the date on which NEET UG admit card will be released.

    Apart from NEET UG exam, the agency had to postpone second JEE Main exam for 2020 as well. JEE Main will now be held between July 18 and July 23. NTA had to postpone several entrance exams and push application dates for several other exams in response to the coronavirus crisis.

    With inputs from NDTV