Archives for July 2024

 Months after former Maharashtra minister Ravindra Waikar switched over to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, the Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing has filed a closure report in a case against him for alleged irregularities in the construction of a luxury hotel here, an official said on Saturday.

Waikar is currently the MP from Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency. He defeated the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar by a thin margin of 48 votes as per the results declared last month.

Once a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, Waikar joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in March this year. He was a former standing committee chairman of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a four time corporator and MLA from Jogeshwari for four terms. He was Minister of State for Housing, Higher and Technical Education between 2014 and 2019.

As per the FIR registered against Waikar, he had entered into a contract with the BMC after getting permission to run a sports facility at a plot in Jogeshwari. The permission was granted when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power. In early 2023, a notice was issued to him for using the plot of land reserved for a public garden to construct a hotel.

A Crime Branch official said, “The EOW filed a closure report in a court on Thursday in the case registered against Waikar, his wife Manisha and his four close associates. The reason mentioned for closure of the case is incomplete information and misunderstanding.”

As per the C-summary report, the complaint filed on behalf of the BMC was based on “incomplete information and misunderstanding”. The C-summary report is filed in cases where the FIR is found to be based on a mistake of fact.

Waikar, his wife Manisha, business partners Aasoo Nehlanai, Raj Lalchandani and Prithpal Bindra, and architect Arun Dubey had been booked on the charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy on the complaint filed by BMC sub-engineer Santosh Mandavkar. The case was initially registered at the Azad Maidan police station and the investigation was later transferred to the EOW.

In the wake of the EOW filing the closure report, the opposition targeted the Shinde-led government.

Congress leader Sachin Sawant alleged that the closure of the case against Waikar is another example of political blackmail going on in the state for the last 10 years.

“The chronology of the BJP washing machine is that party leader Kirit Somaiya will level allegations, file a complaint. The probe agencies will then scare the concerned person and his family with raids and investigation. The person will have to join the BJP or its ally and then he will get a clean chit,” he claimed.

Sawant also accused the ruling BJP of taking the state’s politics to a low level.

“In the Lok Sabha polls, people have cleansed the politics to some extent, but the work is still incomplete. The cleanliness drive of the Maharashtra politics will be complete in the assembly polls,” Sawant said.\

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, “Waikar ran away and left us after getting scared of the probe agencies. Now he has got a clean chit. What else can you expect? BJP should accept that it filed false cases to scare the opponents.”

“NCP leader Praful Patel’s properties that were attached were released. Even I was arrested over a false case. Why there is a case against me…Just because I am not switching sides,” he claimed.

 A 27-year-old man died on Saturday after collapsing during the police recruitment drive in Pune, an official said.

The drive is currently underway at the police ground in the city’s Shivajinagar area, the official added.

“Tushar Baban Bhalke from Sangamner in Ahmednagar collapsed during the mandatory run, which is part of the physical tests of the recruitment drive. He was rushed to a hospital where he died. Prima facie, it seems he suffered a heart attack. Further probe is underway,” the official added.

New Delhi: Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani visited former Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence, 10 Janpath, on Thursday. Ambani personally invited Gandhi to the wedding of his son, Anant Ambani, and Radhika Merchant, set for July 12

The wedding festivities are meticulously planned following traditional Hindu Vedic customs. The main ceremonies will commence on Friday, July 12, with the auspicious Shubh Vivah.

Celebrations will continue on Saturday, July 13, with Shubh Aashirwad, and conclude on Sunday, July 14, with Mangal Utsav, the wedding reception.

Radhika Merchant, daughter of Encore Healthcare CEO Viren Merchant and entrepreneur Shaila Merchant, will join the Ambani family, marking the union of two prominent industrialist families.

The Ambani family began the wedding celebrations with a philanthropic ‘Samuh Vivah,’ a mass wedding for over 50 underprivileged couples from Palghar. The ceremony took place at Reliance Corporate Park and was attended by nearly 800 guests, including family members of the couples, local social workers, and community representatives.

Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, emphasized the traditional fervor and service to humanity. She expressed her happiness at the event, saying, “I feel extremely happy seeing the newlywed couples here… I give my blessing to all these couples. The ‘Shubh-lagna’ ceremonies of Anant and Radhika begin today with today’s mass wedding event.”

Ahmedabad: The Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Ahmedabad was reportedly vandalised by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) members on Monday night. According to Congress party spokesperson Hemang Raval, individuals associated with the BJP, Bajrang Dal, and VHP threw stones at the Congress office to protest against Rahul Gandhi’s recent comments about Hindus in Parliament. A police complaint has been lodged regarding the incident.

Rahul Gandhi’s maiden speech as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha criticized the central government on various issues, including the treatment of minorities, the NEET controversy, and the Agnipath scheme. His comments, which included allegations against PM Narendra Modi, the BJP, and the RSS, drew strong objections from the Treasury benches.

During the debate on the motion of thanks on President Draupadi Murmu’s address, Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of promoting violence and hatred. This led to a vehement rebuttal from BJP leaders, including PM Modi, who condemned Gandhi’s remarks as a serious allegation against the entire Hindu community. Home Minister Amit Shah demanded an apology from Gandhi.

BJP leaders accused the Congress MP of “speaking lies, misleading the House, and terming the entire Hindu community violent.” Portions of Gandhi’s remarks targeting the BJP’s treatment of minorities, industrialists Adani and Ambani, and aspects of the Agniveer Scheme were expunged from the official records of the Lok Sabha proceedings.

Following Gandhi’s speech, both BJP and Congress held press conferences to criticize each other’s positions.

 India’s markets regulator SEBI has slapped Hindenburg Research with a show cause notice for alleged “unfair trade practices” in its 2023 broadside against the Adani Group – a move that the US firm termed as ‘nonsense’ and an attempt to ‘silence and intimidate’ those exposing corruption.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the June 26 show cause notice charged Hindenburg of “deliberately sensationalising and distorting certain facts” in the damning January 2023 report on the Adani group as well as working with a New York hedge fund to make its bet.

Hindenburg, which published the notice on its website, said it made just USD 4.1 million from its declared positions on Adani stocks and criticised the regulator for not focusing its investigation into the January 2023 report “providing evidence” of the conglomerate creating “a vast network of offshore shell entities” and moving billions of dollars “surreptitiously” into and out of Adani public and private entities.

It said while SEBI was seeking to claim jurisdiction over a US-based investor, the regulator’s notice “conspicuously failed to name the party that has an actual tie to India: Kotak Bank,” which created and oversaw the offshore fund structure used by Hindenburg’s investor partner to bet against Adani. The regulator “masked the “Kotak” name with the acronym “KMIL”,” it added.

KMIL refers to Kotak Mahindra Investments Ltd, the asset management company.

While KMIL stated that Hindenburg was “never” its client, SEBI’s show cause notice said that Hindenburg’s client Kingdon Capital Management had invested in KMIL’s K-India Opportunities Fund, which created positions in Adani Enterprises Ltd prior to the report release and “a total profit of Rs 183.24 crore (USD 22.25 million)” thereafter.

Hindenburg had shared its report with Kingdon Capital prior to the release, that led to a rout in Adani group stock, wiping out over USD 150 billion in market value of the 10 listed entities at their lowest point.

Adani has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrong doing and most of its stocks have recouped losses since.

“KMIL and KIOF unequivocally state that Hindenburg has never been a client of the firm nor has it ever been an investor in the Fund,” a KMIL spokesperson said. “The Fund was never aware that Hindenburg was a partner of any of its investors. KMIL has also received a confirmation and declaration from the Fund’s investor that its investments were made as a principal and not on behalf of any other person.”

Hindenburg said the SEBI’s notice “is nonsense, concocted to serve a pre-ordained purpose: an attempt to silence and intimidate those who expose corruption and fraud perpetrated by the most powerful individuals in India.”

A show-cause notice is often a precursor to formal legal action that may include imposing financial penalties and barring participation in the Indian capital market.

SEBI has given Hindenburg 21 days to respond to its allegations.

In its 46-page notice, SEBI alleged a relationship between Hindenburg and Kingdon began in the autumn of 2022, months before the damning report was released. Kingdon created positions in Adani stocks to benefit from their decline when the report was released.

Hindenburg said it made about USD 4.1 million in gross revenue through gains related to Adani shorts from “one investor relationship” as well as USD 31,000 through its own “tiny” short of the group’s US bonds.

It did not name the investor.

After expenses related to its two-year investigation into Adani “we may come out ahead of break-even on our Adani Short,” said Hindenburg.

After the Hindenburg report, the Supreme Court asked SEBI to complete its investigation and set up a separate expert panel to look into regulatory lapses. The panel did not give any adverse report on Adani and the apex court too stated that no other probe other than one being done by SEBI was required.

“After 1.5 years of investigation, SEBI identified zero factual inaccuracies with our Adani research. Instead, the regulator took issue with things like our use of the word ‘scandal’ when describing multiple prior instances of Adani promoters being charged with fraud by Indian regulators, and our quoting of an individual that alleged SEBI is corrupt and works ‘hand in glove’ with conglomerates like Adani to help it skirt regulations,” it said.

The US firm said the show cause notice does resolve some questions: “Did Hindenburg work with dozens of firms to short Adani, making hundreds of millions of dollars? No – We had one investor partner, and net of costs we may barely come out above breakeven on our Adani short.

“Our work on Adani was never justifiable from a financial or personal safety perspective, but it is by far the work we are most proud of,” it said.

Hindenburg said it first received an email from SEBI and later a show cause notice outlining suspected violations of Indian regulations.

“To this day, Adani has still failed to address the allegations in our report, instead providing a response that ignored every key issue we raised and has offered blanket denials of subsequent media allegations,” it said, adding that its January 2023 report had “provided evidence of a vast network of offshore shell entities controlled by (group chairman) Gautam Adani’s brother, Vinod Adani, and close associates.

“We detailed how billions were surreptitiously moved through these entities, into and out of Adani public and private entities, often without related-party disclosures,” it said.

On the SEBI notice, it said, “Much of the notice seemed designed to imply that our legal and disclosed investment stance was something secret or insidious, or to advance novel legal arguments claiming jurisdiction over us. Note that we are a US-based research firm with zero Indian entities, employees, consultants or operations.”

The regulator, it said, claimed that the disclaimers in the report were misleading because the firm was “indirectly participating in the Indian securities market.

“This wasn’t a mystery, virtually everyone on earth knew we were short Adani because we prominently and repeatedly disclosed it,” it said.

“We suspect SEBI’s lack of mention of Kotak or any other Kotak board member may be meant to protect yet another powerful Indian businessman from the prospect of scrutiny, a role SEBI seems to embrace,” Hindenburg said.

 The Rajya Sabha witnessed a war of words on Tuesday when Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar sarcastically said Jairam Ramesh should take the seat of Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, in an effort to discipline the Congress MP.

Kharge, who is also the president of the Congress, retorted by saying the chairman was trying to bring in the “Varna” (caste) system.

The acrimony started when Dhankhar asked Pramod Tiwari of the Congress not to state unverified facts. To this, Ramesh said it would be authenticated.

“The senior leadership (Kharge) is here. I think you (Ramesh) should replace (Kharge)…. You are so intelligent, so gifted, so talented, you should immediately come and take the seat in place of Mr Kharge because, by and large, you are doing his job,” the chairman said.

At this point, Kharge retorted by saying “do not bring in the Varna system…that is why you are calling Ramesh very intelligent … and I am dull”.

An agitated Dhankhar accused Kharge of “twisting” his remark and said he never meant it.

“Never in the history of parliamentary democracy and Rajya Sabha proceedings there has been such a disregard of the chair,” he said.

Kharge added that whatever he is today is because of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and the people of the country.

Later, Tiwari continued his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the president for her address to a joint sitting of Parliament.

Karwar: A crude bomb exploded under a journalist’s car at Gunda near Joida. Nobody was harmed in the explosion.

The car belonged to journalist Sandesh Desai who was on his way to a meeting of Congress MLA R V Deshpande. The crude bomb reportedly exploded under the tyre of the car. No casualties were reported due to the accident.

Police have rushed to the spot and have registered a case in this regard.