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Furore over Adani’s pitch to revamp Nairobi airport

On 5 December 2023, President of Kenya William Ruto met Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, the Indian government’s opulent guest house for visiting dignitaries. As the meeting between the heads of government and their officials was proceeding, there was a ‘surprise visitor’. It was Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men and an industrialist who is perceived to be close to Modi. A person who was present at the meeting told one of the writers of this...

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বাংলাদেশের রদবদল কি আদানিদের বিদ্যুৎ প্রকল্পের জন্য সুখবর?

দীর্ঘ অস্থিরতা কাটিয়ে রাজনৈতিক পালাবদল ঘটেছে বাংলাদেশে। একটু একটু করে পরিস্থিতি স্বাভাবিক অবস্থায় ফিরিয়ে আনার চেষ্টা চলছে। কিন্তু নোবেলজয়ী মহম্মদ ইউনূস নেতৃত্বাধীন অন্তর্বর্তীকালীন সরকার একাধিক সমস্যার মুখোমুখি হচ্ছে, যার মধ্যে অন্যতম হল বিদ্যুৎ সঙ্কট। সেই আবহে ভারতীয় শিল্পপতি গৌতম আদানির সংস্থার সঙ্গে বিদ্যুৎ চুক্তি পুনর্মূল্যায়ন করে দেখার সিদ্ধান্ত নিল সেদেশের সরকার। বিদ্যুতের বকেয়া নিয়ে টানাপড়েন শুরু হয়েছে এই মুহূর্তে। বকেয়া পরিশোধ না করতে পারলে বিদ্যুৎ পরিষেবা আরও বিঘ্নিত হবে বলে আশঙ্কা করা...

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सरकार की नई पीपीएफ़ नीति एनआरआई और छोटे निवेशकों पर असर डालेगी

पिछले एक दशक से नरेंद्र मोदी सरकार बार-बार हिंदू राष्ट्रवाद पर आधारित एक प्रकार की प्रवासी कूटनीति पर ज़ोर देती रही है जिसने स्पष्ट रूप से उनके अनिवासी भारतीय (एनआरआई) समर्थकों को आकर्षित किया है। दिलचस्प बात यह है कि उनकी सरकार ने अब एनआरआई को दीर्घकालिक लघु बचत और निवेश सार्वजनिक भविष्य निधि (पीपीएफ) योजना का लाभ उठाने से रोक दिया है। जनवरी 1979 से भारत के सभी प्रधान डाकघरों में शुरू की गई पीपीएफ योजना न केवल सावधि जमा (फिक्स्ड डिपोजिट) की तुलना में अपेक्षाकृत अधिक ब्याज दर के कारण लोकप्रिय है

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Govt’s New PPF Policy To Hit NRIs & Small Investors

The PPF scheme – introduced in all head post offices of India with effect from January 1979 – is popular not only because of its relatively higher rate of interest as compared to fixed deposits, but also because the interest earned from it is free from payment of income tax. The Modi government has amended rules whereby PPF accounts held by NRIs will henceforth earn “zero” interest with effect from October 1, 2024. An order to this effect was issued on August 21, 2024, by the financial services...

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सेबी अध्यक्ष को क्यों इस्तीफ़ा दे देना चाहिए

देश के वित्तीय बाज़ारों के नियामक भारतीय प्रतिभूति और विनिमय बोर्ड यानी सेबी के इतिहास में कभी भी इसके अध्यक्ष की विश्वसनीयता पर इतने सवाल नहीं उठाए गए जितना कि मौजूदा अध्यक्ष पर उठाया जा रहा है। हालांकि माधबी पुरी बुच पहली ऐसी महिला हैं जो सिविल सेवक नहीं हैं और निजी क्षेत्र से सेबी की अध्यक्षता करने वाली पहली व्यक्ति हैं जिन्होंने 10 अगस्त को जारी यूएस-आधारित शॉर्ट-सेलर हिंडनबर्ग रिसर्च की दूसरी रिपोर्ट में लगाए गए आरोपों का तुरंत जवाब दिया था लेकिन उसके बाद वे खामोश हैं। जबकि सेबी के सैकड़ों

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Why SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch Should Resign

Mumbai: Never in the history of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the regulator of the country’s financial markets, has its chairperson’s credibility been questioned in such a dramatic manner. Although Madhabi Puri Buch – the first woman, the first person who was not a civil servant and the first person from the private sector to head SEBI – had promptly responded to the allegations made in the second report of the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research released on 10 August, her...

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Adani’s Godda coal-power plant and Bangladesh: rule change on power exports benefits Modi’s ‘crony’

Basic facts and figures Name of coal-power plant: Godda power plant Location: Near the town of Godda, state of Jharkhand, India Adani subsidiary: Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Power Limited Capacity: 1600 MW Countries involved: India, Bangladesh, Australia Exactly a week after ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, left Dhaka on a military aircraft and landed on the outskirts of Delhi on 5 August 2024, the government of India amended guidelines...

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Major creditors cop a severe haircut as Adani Group acquires bankrupt real-estate firm, Radius

In April 2021, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to bankrupt companies, admitted the case of a Mumbai-based real estate company, Radius Estates and Developers Private Limited (henceforth Radius), to adjudication through the insolvency process. More than three years later, Adani Goodhomes, a subsidiary of Adani Infrastructure and Developers, acquired the bankrupt firm in a deal which certain creditors have alleged was...

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Ashwini Vaishnaw: Controversial Rise from Bureaucrat to Modi's Key Man

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Railways has had a rather unusual career trajectory. A former officer of the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who served former Prime Minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee as his personal secretary, Ashwini Vaishnaw quit the civil service to become a corporate captain before joining politics. He is the only first-time member of the Rajya Sabha to hold two important ministerial portfolios, over and above that of the Railways. As a cabinet...

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Indian Railways flip-flops between luxury facilities and mass travel needs

In the Union Budget 2024-25 presented in Parliament on July 23, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi allocated Rs.2.652 trillion (lakh crore) towards capital expenditure in the Railways. The sum is a marginal increase of roughly 2 per cent over the revised estimate for 2023-24. In what can be construed as the government’s neglect of the preferred mode of long-distance travel for the majority of India’s population, the word “railways” figured...

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