The Fog of Grand Announcements Has Settled. What’s Left Of The Budget?; Finally, Siddique Kappan Walks Free
The Fog of Grand Announcements Has Settled. What’s Left Of The Budget?; Finally, Siddique Kappan Walks Free
Budget regresses social security 20 years, Mehbooba says J&K administration weaponising anti-encroachment, Madras HC for gender-neutral toilets, Uma Bharti to convert liquor shops into cow shelters
A newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas | Contributors: MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, Sushant Singh and Tanweer Alam | Editor: Pratik Kanjilal
Snapshot of the day
February 2, 2022
Pratik Kanjilal
Gautam Adani’s beleaguered empire is spiralling into crisis as short-seller Hindenburg Research’s fraud allegations worsen volatility in the overstretched conglomerate’s securities. Bonds of the Indian billionaire’s flagship firm plunged to distressed levels in US trading, and the company abruptly withdrew its record domestic stock offering after the Adani Group suffered a $92 billion market crash. Banks either want more collateral for loans, or are scrutinising debt. Citigroup Inc.’s wealth arm has also joined Credit Suisse Group AG in refusing securities of the Adani’s Group as collateral for margin loans as banks scrutinise the Indian tycoon’s finances. Forbes reports that the Adani Group likely bought into its own FPO sale through two companies associated with it. India’s market regulator is examining, not the charges in the Hindenburg report, but “a recent crash in shares of Adani Group and looking into any possible irregularities in a share sale by its flagship company,” reports Reuters.
Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore moved an adjournment notice this morning to suspend the regular business of the House in order to discuss the Adani crisis, and to learn from the finance minister of steps taken to protect public money in his companies via LIC and SBI’s investments.
M Rajshekhar has a journalistic history of the Adani group. Their FPO is history, for now. In a dramatic statement last night, Gautam Adani invoked morality: “Today, the market has been unprecedented, our stock price has fluctuated over the course of the day. Given these extraordinary circumstances, Cos board felt that going ahead with the issue will not be morally correct. Board has decided not to go ahead with the FPO.” The money will be returned to the subscribers. Adani put up a brave front: “Our balance sheet is very healthy with strong cash flows and secure assets, and we have an impeccable track record of servicing our debt. This decision will not have any impact on our existing operations and future plans.” Even NDTV, now in Adani’s hands, filed a story on this sudden withdrawal.
India’s manufacturing sector activity moderated in January amid a slower increase in total sales. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from December’s recent high of 57.8 to 55.4 in January.
After failed attempts by the Modi government to have him invited for his first state visit under President Biden, the PM has been invited to the US this summer. The invitation has been accepted in principle and officials on both sides are now working on mutually convenient dates, PTI reports.
“The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought to the fore certain key facts such as the impact of asymmetric warfare, the potential of information warfare, digital resilience, weaponisation of economic mechanisms, communication redundancy, space-based systems and many more, all driven by possession of technology prowess,” Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said at Pune yesterday. Security is based on the technological edge over the adversary, he said. “No country is willing to share the latest, state-of-the-art technologies, it hence implies that the security of the nation can neither be outsourced nor be dependent on the largesse of others. Self-sufficiency in critical technologies and investment in R&D is a strategic imperative that can no longer be ignored,” General Pande said.
Siddique Kappan is free, months after he secured bail. The Kerala journalist said: “I have come out of jail after 28 months. I want to thank the media for supporting me. False allegations were put against me.” A sessions court in Lucknow yesterday signed bail orders to Kappan in connection with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). On December 23, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Kappan. The jailed journalist had moved it after being denied bail by a Lucknow sessions court on October 31, 2022, in the PMLA case, because of which the journalist remained in prison despite securing bail from the Supreme Court (SC) in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) case in September 2022.
A PIL has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking a complete ban on the BBC operating in India. Filed through advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, the petition also seeks directions to the NIA to initiate investigation against the “anti-India and anti-Indian Government reporting/documentary films/short films including its employee journalist in India”. As per the plea, filed by Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta and one Beerendra Kumar Singh, the cause of action arose when BBC released and aired the controversial documentary film regarding the 2002 Godhra riots. The petition alleges that the BBC has an agenda, and is hampering peace and national integrity prevailing in India. As Apar Gupta noted, “In petitions such as these, it may also be of benefit to refer to original sources of inspiration, such as primetime debates on Republic and Times Now.”
The UK government yesterday defended the independence of the BBC, and the relationship the UK has with India, after supporters of PM Modi and his government in India and the UK raised strong objections to the BBC documentary. “You’ll appreciate the BBC is independent in its output. And we would stress that we continue to regard India as an incredibly important international partner,” a spokesperson for UK PM Rishi Sunak told the foreign press.
Uma Bharti has sought to link growing crimes against women in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh to drinking. She threatens to convert liquor shops into cow shelters. Ending her four-day stay at a temple in Bhopal on Tuesday, Bharti announced the launch of ‘Madhushala Me Gaushala’ (‘cow shelters in place of liquor outlets’) programme in support of her demand for a “controlled” liquor policy in the state. On Saturday afternoon, the former MP CM reached a temple located near a liquor shop in Ayodhya Nagar trisection of Bhopal and announced that she would stay there till January 31, awaiting the announcement of a new liquor policy. She ended her stay on Tuesday because the liquor policy is delayed.
Tigress T-1, the first big cat shifted to Madhya Pradesh’s Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) under a reintroduction project almost 14 years ago, and who had given birth to 13 cubs in her lifetime, has died, an official said. She was the first tigress to be brought here from the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, also in Madhya Pradesh, in March 2009, under the Panna Tiger Reintroduction Project. “A patrolling team spotted the carcass of a big cat on Tuesday evening in the Madla range. An inactive radio collar, which was worn by T-1 in 2017, was found near the carcass,” PTR's field director Brijendra Jha said. T-1 died of natural causes.
Usman Khawaja’s long wait for a visa is finally over and the Australian batter will fly to India. Late yesterday, the 36-year-old got his delayed Indian visa. The Indian High Commissioner is making a virtue of giving it to him. The visa application of Khawaja, who was born in Pakistan and moved to Australia at the age of three, was forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. Obviously, they were sent to Delhi because of his origins in Pakistan. Khawaja had previously visited India and had visa problems then.
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