At the heart of Paytm's slide lies the abject failure of its Super App strategy, notes Indrajit Gupta.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said although his outfit does not agree with the demand of anti-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into allegations against the Adani group, it will not go against their stand for the sake of Opposition unity.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has overtaken Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani to become the richest Indian in the world with a net worth of $84.3 billion, according to Forbes Real-time billionaire list for 2023. Ambani overtook Adani after the Reliance Industries chairman's assets went up 0.19 per cent with an increase of wealth by $64 million while Gautam Adani's assets went down by 4.62 per cent with the industrialist's weath pegged at $84.1 billion according to the real time tracker of Forbes of 5 pm EST on Tuesday. Adani who figured among the top three billionaires in the world has dropped in the ranking to number 10 just below Mukesh Ambani.
Seven out of the 10 listed firms of Adani group have received show cause notices from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for alleged violation of related party transactions and non-compliance with listing regulations, the companies said in their regulatory filings to the stock exchanges. While group's flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd, renewable energy firm Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) and city gas distributor Adani Total Gas Ltd said Sebi sent notices of their parent or holding company controlled by conglomerate's chairman Gautam Adani, ports company Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, Adani Power, electricity transmission firm Adani Energy Solutions, and commodities firm Adani Wilmar said they have received Sebi notices.
The mystery surrounding the alleged fund diversion from Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) by founders Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka has thickened with speculations of an amount multiple times higher than that cited by the ex-parte interim order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) dated June 12, 2023. While Zee shares witnessed a fresh selloff on Wednesday, news reports of accounting fraud left investors guessing about the hole in the media broadcaster's books. An order by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2023 had clearly hinted that Sebi's investigation had found a deeper rout.
Several depositors were duped in the Rs 460.91-crore alleged fraud engineered by Shivraj Puri, a Global Wealth Manager of the bank working at its branch in Gurgaon.
Shailesh Shah, 48, of California pleaded guilty before US District Judge Richard Stearns to two counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud.
US short seller Hindenburg Research has rejected Adani Group's charge that its report was an attack on India, saying a "fraud" cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignored response to key allegations. Commenting on the 413-page response Adani Group released late on Sunday evening in response to its report, Hindenburg said it believed India was a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future and it was Adani Group which was holding it back through "systematic loot". Hindenburg stood by its last week's report that said its two-year investigation found Adani Group "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades".
Mid-cap information technology (IT) stocks dominate the list of companies that are trading significantly above their 200-DMA
With Sebi telling the Supreme Court that it was not investigating the Adani group since 2016, the Congress on Monday cited a Union minister's reply in the Lok Sabha to challenge the claim and asked whether Parliament was misled or the market regulator was "fast asleep" as investors were "duped".
Sources said that the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has come across quite a few cases where GDR route could have been used for round-tripping of funds in the name of capital-raising activities of listed companies from abroad.
The SEBI and the RBI will look into it. Let their reports come in, BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani said.
Adani group firms Ambuja Cement Ltd and ACC Ltd on Thursday said no shares of the companies have been pledged by the promoters, who have only provided a "non-disposal undertaking". In a joint statement to stock exchanges, Ambuja Cement Ltd and ACC Ltd termed as "misleading" reports of pledging of shares by the promoters as part of financing their acquisition. "Consequently, there are market rumours that amid market volatility, there is a requirement to meet the top-up triggers where in there is selling pressure," the statement said.
The Congress-led opposition stepped up its attack on Friday against the government over the Adani row and demanded that there should be a thorough investigation into what they alleged was a 'mega scam' as it involved public money.
Embattled Adani Group on Monday said it has put on hold major equipment procurement and site construction activities for the Rs 34,900 crore petrochemical project at Mundra in Gujarat as the project has not yet tied up finances. The group's flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Mundra Petrochem Ltd in 2021 for setting up a greenfield coal-to-PVC plant at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) land in the Kutch district of Gujarat. Asked by stock exchanges to comment on a PTI report on Sunday that the group has suspended work on the project, AEL said, "The financial closure of the Green PVC project of Mundra Petrochemicals Limited ( MPL) is pending with the financial institutions and it is in their active consideration."
There seems to be no respite for Adani Group companies from the market carnage. All 10 stocks belonging to the conglomerate came under a fresh bout of intense selling pressure on Wednesday as the group's debt levels and repayment capabilities continued to plague investors. Analysts said investors are also concerned about whether the group will be able to maintain its pace of growth, given the current turmoil that has wiped out over Rs 12 trillion in market capitalisation (m-cap) since the start of the year.
A day after Adani Group's shares took a beating as Hindenburg Research made damaging allegations against it, the group on Thursday said it is examining legal options to take "punitive action" against the US activist investor for its "reckless" attempt to sabotage a share-sale at the conglomerate's flagship firm. "The maliciously mischievous, unresearched report published by Hindenburg Research on January 24, 2023 has adversely affected the Adani Group, our shareholders and investors. "The volatility in Indian stock markets created by the report is of great concern and has led to unwanted anguish for Indian citizens," the group's lead head Jatin Jalundhwala said in a statement.
What was the fraud? Why did Sebi drag its feet on the order? What options does RIL have now? Samie Modak explains these and more.
On Wednesday, the employees of Satyam lost close to Rs 221 crore (Rs 2.21 billion) after investors dumped the stock. At the end of the September quarter, Satyam employees were holding 5.9 million employee stock options. The unfortunate drubbing of the Satyam stock has raised serious questions about the attractiveness of the stocks held by the employees, which may be affected by any 'uncalled for' action by the company.
'Investors should not commit fresh money to these stocks right now, unless they can hold for the next three to four years.'
Culver Max Entertainment, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), has terminated merger agreements with Zee Entertainment, which could have otherwise created a USD 10 billion media enterprise in the country.
Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia has alleged that former minister of state for home Amit Shah had allegedly received a bribe of Rs 2.5 crore from stock market scamster Ketan Parekh to help him in a bank fraud case.
German prosecutors launched an investigation on Monday into fraud allegations against former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn.
But the 30-share Sensex rose by 141.52 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 34,297.47. The broader NSE Nifty gained 44.60- points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 10,545.50 after touching a high of 10,618.10.
George Soros, who is in the eye of the storm over his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, is an Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist, and activist whose success as an investor made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. He is also known as a powerful and influential supporter of liberal social causes. In a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, the billionaire philanthropist said he believes the turmoil at Gautam Adani's business empire may weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hold on the government, a statement which was strongly contested by the BJP as an attack on Indian democracy.
Banking stocks led by SBI, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank and Yes Bank fell as much as 2.77 per cent.
Price Waterhouse, an Indian arm of the global consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose partners got embroiled in the Satyam accounting fraud, failed to get a reprieve from the stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchanges Board of India.
The coming years could be exciting for Bandhan Bank, IDBI Bank, IDFC First Bank, Federal Bank, and CSB Bank.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has made a fresh attempt at settling a regulatory investigation into the misuse of Trading Access Point (TAP) software at the bourse. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rejected a similar application in 2022. "NSE and its employees have filed a consolidated settlement application dated May 4, 2023, with Sebi.
A small Ahmedabad-based chartered accountancy firm, whose appointment was questioned by a US short seller in its scathing report against the conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani, has resigned due to "pre-occupation", Adani Total Gas Ltd said. Hindenburg Research in its January 24 report that levelled allegations of fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering against the Adani group, had also raised the issue of the size and capability of the firms auditing the conglomerate. Adani group has repeatedly denied all allegations.
Adani Group on Monday said that the promoters will pre-pay $1,114 million for the release of pledged shares of its firms ahead of the maturity in September 2024. These shares belong to Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, a statement said. "This is in continuation of promoters' assurance to pre-pay all share-backed financing," it said.
Market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, on Monday said one person named Jignesh Shah was found involved in price manipulation in stock markets and has imposed a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh (Rs 250,000) on him.
Parliament remained paralysed for the sixth day in a row on Monday due to protests from rival sides.
The BSE Sensex zoomed 318 points to end at 33,351.57, while the broader Nifty spurted 88 points to 10,242.65.
Referring to Supreme Court's order against Sahara group as a benchmark for cases of unauthorized raising of money from public, Sebi has barred seven persons and one company from the markets for ten years for their involvement in the estimated Rs 1,500 crore 'StockGuru' fraud.
Banking stocks led by Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI came under heavy selling pressure
In 1937, a hydrogen-powered German airship flying into New Jersey caught fire and crashed, killing 35 passengers on board. It was sort of a man-made disaster as some 100 people were loaded on to a balloon filled with the most flammable material in the universe. The airship was named Hindenburg. Eight decades later, in 2017, a graduate of international business management from the University of Connecticut founded a "forensic financial research" firm to specialise in spotting wrongdoings and frauds, or what it calls man-made disasters, at companies around the globe and take market bets against them.
The most marked development of the year was the Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) Satyam financial scam, disclosed by the founder B Ramalinga Raju, forcing the government to redraft rules for corporate governance and auditing standards.
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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) unveiled new proposals, broadening the scope of who can be held liable for insider trading violations.
IBM, HP and HCL, have evinced interest in Sebi's proposal to upgrade toolsused for detecting frauds.
