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Indian tycoon Adani slams ‘malicious’ Hindenburg report

Indian tycoon Gautam Adani denies fraud accusations against his group, calling them a deliberate attempt to damage its reputation.

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NEW DELHI, INDIA — Indian tycoon Gautam Adani on Tuesday denounced fraud accusations against his group by a US investment firm as a “deliberate attempt” to damage its image, at the first annual general meeting since the scandal.

US short-seller investment company Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group in January of using offshore tax havens to manipulate stock prices.

Before the allegations, Adani was listed by Forbes as Asia’s richest man, but shares in his group firms plummeted in the wake of the report, sending him tumbling down the rankings, with his fortune at one point dropping by more than US$100 billion.

The shares have since recovered some of their losses, but the group’s flagship subsidiary Adani Enterprises remains around 30 per cent below its price level before the report.

Addressing shareholders at the Adani Enterprises annual general meeting, Adani called the document a “combination of targeted misinformation and discredited allegations”.

“This report was a deliberate and malicious attempt aimed at damaging our reputation and generating profits through a short-term drive-down of our stock prices,” the media-shy billionaire said.

He was confident of the group’s governance and disclosure standards after a panel set up by India’s top court found no “regulatory failure”, he added.

Short-sellers seek to profit by offloading shares in the hope that their prices will fall and they can buy them back cheaper, and Hindenburg’s report accused the conglomerate of artificially inflating its market value using related-party transactions conducted through tax havens.

Soon after the report, the group abruptly cancelled a stock sale and refunded investors.

But Adani said Tuesday: “It is worth noting that even during this crisis, not only did we raise several billion from international investors but also that no credit agency in India or abroad cut any of our ratings.”

The group’s income grew 85 per cent in the last financial year, the tycoon added.

Political opponents accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi of abetting Adani’s rapid rise, allowing the billionaire to unfairly win contracts and avoid proper regulatory oversight.

Both men come from the western state of Gujarat, and Adani praised the Indian government on Tuesday, without naming Modi.

There was “little doubt” India would become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, and its second-largest by 2050, he said.

“It is well understood that for any economy to implement policy and lay the foundation of growth, a stable government is critical,” he said.

“We have seen this impact with the implementation of several structural reforms that are critical for strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.”

Opposition lawmakers have demanded a probe into Modi’s links to the tycoon, and public financial institutions’ potential exposure to his firms.

Adani’s statement comes just months after global stock index compiler MSCI dropped two of the conglomerate’s member companies from its India index.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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