Adani speaks for 1st time since turmoil as stock fall continues

Keeping public interest in mind, we want a thorough probe into the Adani issue either by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) or a Supreme Court-monitored panel. There should also be dayto-day reporting of the investigation on the issue.

—Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress President

Pm Modi Holds Meeting With Union Ministers

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Union Ministers to discuss government strategy in Parliament on Thursday. Among the ministers who were present at the meeting include Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Anurag Thakur, Nirmala Sitharaman, Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal, Nitin Gadkari and Kiren Rijiju.

First India Bureau New Delhi/Mumbai:

Embattled billionaire Gautam Adani on Thursday spoke publicly for the first time since his ports-to-energy conglomerate publicly battled a short seller’s accusation of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, saying the abrupt move to withdraw a fully-subscribed share sale at his flagship firm was due to market volatility. Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) closed at ` 1,564.70 on the BSE on Thursday, less than half the price at which shares were offered to investors in the follow-on public offer (FPO) that closed on January 31.

‘After a fully subscribed follow-on public offering (of Adani Enterprises Ltd), Wednesday’s decision of its withdrawal would have surprised many,” he said.

JOHNSON, BROTHER OF UK EX-PM, RESIGNS AS DIRECTOR OF ADANI LINKED COMPANY

J o Johnson, the former Conservative minister and brother of former UK PM Boris Johnson, has resigned as a director of a London-based firm with ties to the embattled Adani Group. Johnson joined Elara Capital, a self-styled “leading investment bank” for Indian companies looking to raise money overseas, in June last year.

RBI

Exposure

T he RBI has sought details about lenders’ exposures to the Adani Group, banking sources said, a day after the conglomerate withdrew the on public offer (FPO) of its flag ship firm Adani Enterprises amid the steep fall in its stock prices.

The fundamentals of our company are strong. Our balance sheet is healthy and assets, robust. Our EBITDA levels and cash flows have been very strong and we have an impeccable track record of fulfilling our debt obligations. We will continue to focus on long term value creation and growth will be managed by internal accruals.

—Gautam Adani, Chairman Adani Group

Kappan walks out of jail after 2 years, says false allegations against me

BJP to fight Meghalaya polls under “M-Power”

Jammu: A government school teacher-turned Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was arrested for allegedly carrying out multiple blasts, including one in a bus carrying Vaishno Devi pilgrims, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh said on Thursday.

The arrest of Arif, a resident of Reasi dis-

3

trict, follows investigations in the recent twin blast case at Narwal in Jammu. An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted inside a perfume bottle was recovered from his possession, Singh told reporters here.

The Jammu and Kashmir police chief said this was the first time that such type of bomb was recovered in the Union Territory.

Chaibasa: As many as three CRPF jawans were injured after Naxals triggered an IED blast in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa area on Thursday, said a police officer.

IN A FIRST, “PERFUME IED” RECOVERED FROM LeT TERRORIST...

In a first, Jammu Police recovered a perfume improvised explosive device (IED) from a terrorist associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba who was involved in the twin blasts that took place in Narwal on January 21.

GAUGING THE POLITICAL ‘FEVER’

First India Bureau Lucknow: Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, 43, was released from Lucknow jail on Thursday morning, 28 months after he was arrested by UP police under UAPA while on his way to cover Hathras gang rape case in Oct 2020. He was granted bail in the PMLA case by the High Court on December 23 and documentation for his release was completed on Wednesday.

SC HAD GRANTED

HIM BAIL EARLIER

On September 9, 2022, SC granted bail to Kappan but he was not released as ED case under PMLA was pending.

Party will contest all 60 Meghalaya seats, 20 seats in Nagaland

Journalist Siddique Kappan with his wife, son as he was released from Lucknow jail on Thursday.

My release is a “halfbaked justice” and “justice delayed”. Those who were arrested with me and falsely framed in the case are still in jail. Only I have come out and also the driver who was with me. How can we say justice is served just because of my release? I will continue the fight for it.

—Siddique Kappan

New Delhi (FIB): BJP will contest on all 60 seats of Meghalaya Assembly and fight Nagaland elections in an alliance with State’s ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, contesting on 20 of 60 seats. BJP secretary and its NE co-incharge Rituraj Sinha said on Thursday that party will fight the Meghalaya polls under campaign tagline of “MPower” (Modi power), asserting that people of State have trust in PM Modi. They believe Modi is only person who can ensure a corruption-free govt. P5