An experienced train driver, who earned accolades for his services in the past, spent nine days in a mental hospital and underwent a special checkup to prove his mental fitness because he had threatened to commit suicide to highlight his grievances.

After Shyam Singh was declared fit in the special checkup, the Agra Rail Division has now asked him to go for a refresher course before getting back to driving.

Agra Railway Division PRO Prashasti Srivastava said the medical examination was required to find out if he was mentally sound to drive trains. “We need to take every single measure to ensure safe train operations. A loco pilot, who carries thousands of passengers, must have an attentive and sound mind.” Mr Srivastava also denied any discrimination or revengeful behaviour by the department towards Mr Singh in any manner.

Mr Singh, 48, who joined the railways as an assistant loco pilot in 1996, has been fighting a legal battle against alleged injustice and highhandedness of his seniors for the past one year.

Mr Singh’s plight started in October 2022 when he received a notice for committing minor violations while driving. In his reply, he not only denied all allegations but also accused his seniors of victimizing him due to personal enmity.

When Mr Singh felt that he was being treated unfairly and not heard properly by his seniors, he applied for voluntary retirement from service (VRS) on December 23, 2022.

However, after his well-wishers and sympathizers advised him not to go for VRS and instead fight back, he opted to withdraw the VRS application, which the department refused and relieved him of his services on February 10, 2023.

Mr Singh challenged it in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Allahabad and got a stay order.

“Though the CAT restored his services, the department turned vindictive and put him in junior positions. They knew that he was an experienced mail and express train driver, still he was asked to work as an assistant driver in freight trains against the railway norms,” Sanjay Pandhi, working president of the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), said. The IRLRO is providing legal assistance to Mr Singh to fight this case.

Mr Pandhi added, “Singh has been awarded multiple times…for his hard work and quick response to avert accidents.” Meanwhile, Singh wrote several times to his department to put him back to mail and express trains but it was turned down. Out of frustration and to draw the attention of his seniors towards his plight, one day, he wrote on a crew complaint book that he wanted to commit suicide to get rid of his humiliation.

The department used it against him and issued a direction for a mental fitness test and a special brain test to find out if he was mentally sound to drive trains.

When Mr Singh questioned that under which rule he was being subjected to such a test, the department justified it in writing saying that it was important to find out his mental fitness as he drives passenger trains which carry thousands of people and hence it is important for the safety of rail operations.

“Instead of holding a counselling session and trying to understand his grievances, the department sent him to a mental hospital to frustrate him further. This is really pathetic and I request that the Railway Board should intervene in such matters and help employees get justice,” Mr Pandhi added.

Mr Singh spent nine days in a mental hospital only to get a fitness certificate. Even after the hospital declared him medically fit, the department got another test – Non-contrast Computed Tomography (NCCT) of Head – done which showed him normal.

“Now to victimize him further, the railways has asked him to go for a refresher course. Loco pilots are sent for refresher course after three years of driving and Singh’s refresher course is due in July 2024 but the department wants to send him just because of its revengeful behaviour,” Mr Pandhi said.

Divisional PRO Mr Srivastava said that as winters are approaching and loco pilots will encounter foggy weather, every loco pilot will have to undertake a refresher’s course to ensure safe train operations.

“The department has treated Singh’s case with care and compassion. All allegations of injustice or highhandedness are incorrect. We are doing everything possible to bring him back to his job ensuring safety in railways.”

Lenders to Byju’s, once one of India’s hottest tech startups, properly cited a default on a $1.2 billion loan when taking over control of a unit of the education-technology provider, a Delaware judge concluded.

The lenders – which include Redwood Investments LLC and Silver Point Capital LP – were within their contractual rights to replace a relative of company founder Byju Raveendran on the board of Byju’s Alpha, a special-purpose company formed for financing purposes, with their nominee, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn ruled. 

Zurn rejected a complaint by Byju’s that Timothy Pohl, tapped by lenders to oversee the special-purpose entity, was improperly authorized to take the reins. Pohl was “effectively seated” as the sole director of Byju’s Alpha because of the defaults, the judge said in a 41-page ruling. 

Lenders have been pushing hard for the repayment of the $1.2 billion loan amid the company’s mounting distress after a pandemic-era boom in online learning fizzled out. Byju’s had been working to sell assets and deal with the loan issue when government investigators searched company offices this year. The lender fight also has prompted some investors to write down their stakes in one of the world’s largest ed-tech companies. 

A lawyer for the lenders said earlier this year that Byju’s Alpha was intended to serve as a holding company to protect their rights in the case. The lenders weren’t seeking to take over the entire ed-tech company, Brock Czeschin, a lawyer for Red Tree and Silver Lake, said in a May court hearing.  

Bengaluru, India-based Byju’s didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The closely held company had said the lenders’ default arguments are bogus. 

“We are pleased the Delaware Chancery Court agrees that Byju’s has repeatedly defaulted on its loan obligations,” a spokesperson for the lender group said in a statement. “The lenders reserve all rights available to them.”

The loan terms allowed lenders to take control of pledged Bjyu’s Alpha shares if a default triggered that right, Zurn said in her Nov. 2 ruling. When a company unit failed to get the Indian government’s backing as a loan guarantor, the lenders filed a notice of default in March, according to a transcript of the judge’s announcement of her decision. 

Pohl removed all of the company’s officers and took over as CEO after he was was appointed as sole director of Byju’s Alpha, according to the transcript. The suit over the loan was filed by Glas Trust Co., which serves as trustee for the lenders. The trust turned to Pohl to oversee Byju’s Alpha on behalf of the creditors. 

Byju’s complained that the ex-lawyer, whose received at least $375,000 for his role as the firm’s supreme leader, was reaping excessive fees. Zurn rejected that argument, saying Pohl’s $75,000-per-month pay was authorized by a “status-quo” order she entered in the case to protect Byju’s Alpha. 

The case is Glas Trust Company v. Ravindran, 2023-0488, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s fortunes have faced a substantial blow as the company’s shares stumbled following an analyst downgrade and disappointing quarterly reports from smaller electric vehicle rivals.

Tesla’s stock price took a nosedive on Thursday, falling 5.5% to $210, after HSBC analyst Michael Tyndall initiated coverage of the stock with a sell rating and a target price of $133. Tyndall’s downgrade is the latest sign that investors are becoming more cautious about Tesla’s stock, which has been volatile in recent months.

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The sell rating comes at a time when Tesla is facing a number of challenges, including increasing competition from rivals, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions. The company is also facing scrutiny from regulators around the world over its self-driving technology and safety concerns.

According to Forbes Magazine, some other electric vehicle stocks are sliding, like American electric car maker stocks Rivian (shares down 10% on Thursday) and Lucid (down 5%) after the pair each reported earnings, which disappointed investors Tuesday, with each company on track to burn through billions of dollars in cash this year.

As per the Forbes valuation, Mr Musk, who owns about 13% of Tesla shares, lost $8.7 billion Thursday, a more than $7 billion larger decline than that of any other billionaire, according to Forbes’ calculations. Musk remains the wealthiest person on earth with an estimated net worth of $223.7 billion, though that remains about $100 billion below his peak fortune of $320 billion achieved in November 2021, when Tesla was valued at over $1.2 trillion.