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Two individuals, one from the United Arab Emirates and the other from Taiwan, who used a Bermuda fund to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group companies, are associates of Vinod Adani, brother of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani.
This, the FT said, is the first time “potentially controversial owners of Adani stock” who remained hidden from regulators and the public, have been identified since the US-based short selling firm Hindenburg Research published a report on January 24 accusing Adani Group companies of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud” over the course of decades.
The relationship of these two men — Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the United Arab Emirates and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan —with Vinod Adani holds significance since he is part of the ‘promoter group’.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) requires that the shareholding of the ‘promoter group’ in listed companies should not exceed 75 per cent, or in other words, at least 25 per cent of the equity of a company should be compulsorily held by the public.
If the two men were to be treated as proxies for Vinod Adani and hence part of the promoter group, it would have meant Adani companies repeatedly breached the rules designed to prevent artificial inflation of share prices, the FT report indicated.
Govt calls special session of Parliament later this month, keeps all guessing (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Economy)
In a surprise announcement, the government said a special session of Parliament was being convened from September 18 to September 22. It gave no reason for calling the session which would have five sittings.
While sources said the agenda for the session is not clear yet, there is speculation in the BJP and official circles that the Modi government could go for a big-ticket move like initiating the process for ushering in simultaneous elections in the country or the Women’s Reservation Bill.
While a section in the government pointed to the electoral advantages of the two possibilities, others ruled these out as an agenda for a special session, especially at a time when the Opposition is uniting and is unlikely to cooperate with the government to push through a major legislation.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi tweeted the government’s decision: “Special Session of Parliament (13th Session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st Session of Rajya Sabha) is being called from 18th to 22nd September, having 5 sittings. Amid Amrit Kaal, looking forward to having fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament.”
Services give fillip to growth, GDP up 7.8% in April-June (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rose to a four-quarter high of 7.8 per cent in April-June, mainly due to a pickup in agriculture and services especially financial, real estate and professional services and contact-intensive services of trade, hotel and transportation, data released by the National Statistical Office.
Manufacturing and construction sectors, however, recorded slower-than-expected growth rates.
Capital formation, a proxy for investments, and private consumption expenditure, an indicator of consumption demand, posted growth rates of 8 per cent and 6 per cent in Q1 FY24, respectively.
These had recorded higher growth rates of 20.4 per cent and 19.8 per cent, respectively, in the corresponding period a year ago.
As a share of GDP, private consumption expenditure dropped to 57.3 per cent of GDP in April-June from 58.3 per cent in the year-ago period.
Surprisingly, there was a contraction of 0.7 per cent in government expenditure in the first quarter this year — its share in GDP also decreased to 10.1 per cent of GDP from 11 per cent; exports also recorded a contraction of 7.7 per cent, while imports increased by 10 per cent.
China yet to confirm if Xi will attend G20 meeting, Premier Li an option (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
With Beijing yet to confirm if Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to India for the G20 Summit, New Delhi is preparing to host Chinese Premier Li Qiang in case the former is unable to attend the meet on September 9-10.
If Li comes, it will be his first visit to India as the Chinese Premier.
Xi last came to India in October 2019, when he went to Mamallapuram for the informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The uncertainty in Xi’s schedule is being factored in for all the events in New Delhi, including the protocol extended to the visiting leaders of G20 countries.
But his absence also puts a question mark on the joint communique, which needs consensus on all issues, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The conflict has polarised the G20 grouping, with G7 on one side and Russia-China on the other side, and consensus has been elusive at the ministerial meetings leading to the summit.
Quoting unnamed officials in India and China, Xi was likely to skip the summit. But there was no confirmation of the report from the Indian government.
Govt & Politics
Article 370 was political compromise amid competing views: Salve in SC (Page no. 8)
Senior advocate Harish Salve told the Supreme Court that Article 370 was a “political compromise” arrived at the time of accession and integration of Jammu and Kashmir into India, given the situation and the fact that there were more than one view on the subject.
This was a matter with…competing points of view. So this was the compromise which was incorporated in the Constitution, which is hearing petitions challenging changes made to Article 370.
He told the bench that this was the “workable arrangement. They said alright, ultimately we will decide and we will keep to ourselves the power to dis-apply this Article. But if this works, phase by phase…why not? And it did work to a large extent.”
Salve, who appeared for some safai karamcharis, said Article 370 was a provision “made for a phased transfer of power”, although J&K’s accession to India was “absolute and irreversible”.
Express Network
Driest August but near normal rainfall likely in September says IMD (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
While this was the driest August since 1901, from when rainfall records are available, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) that rainfall is likely to be near normal in September, with a revival of monsoon conditions likely from Saturday.
The country recorded 162.7 mm of rainfall in August, a deficit of 36 per cent for the month. While normal rainfall for August is pegged at 254.9 mm, the lowest so far (since 1901) was 191.2 mm in 2005.
Low rainfall has meant that the average maximum temperature recorded in August – 32.09 degrees Celsius – was the highest since 1901, a degree above the normal of 31.09 degrees Celsius. The average minimum temperature of 24.7 degrees Celsius in August was the second highest for the month since 1901.
Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Gangetic West Bengal, Kerala, parts of Karnataka, and Maharashtra recorded deficient rainfall in August, while rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand was in the normal range.
Rainfall over the country in September is likely to be normal, between 91 per cent and 109 per cent of the long period average of 167.9 mm.
While normal to above normal rainfall is expected over Northeast India, east India, foothills of the Himalayas, and parts of east-central and south peninsular India, below normal rainfall is likely over the rest of the country, IMD said in its forecast.
Largest indigenously developed N-Plant unit in Gujarat starts ops at full capacity (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The third unit of the indigenously developed 700-megawatt electric (MWe) nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP3) in Gujarat has commenced operations at full capacity.
India achieves another milestone. The largest indigenous 700 MWe Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3 in Gujarat starts operations at full capacity. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers.
This comes a little over three years since the unit achieved its ‘first criticality’ – a technical term that signifies the initiation of a controlled, but sustained nuclear fission reaction – in July 2020. On June 30 this year, the unit had started commercial operations.
In India’s civilian nuclear programme, this is seen as a landmark event, given that KAPP-3 is the country’s first 700 MWe unit and the biggest indigenously developed variant of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR).
The PHWRs, which use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator, constitute the mainstay of India’s nuclear power fleet.
Till now, the biggest reactor of indigenous design was the 540 MWe PHWR, two of which have been deployed in Tarapur, Maharashtra.
Another payload detects Sulphur presence (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) put out samples of data collected from Moon by three more instruments, thus confirming that all the payloads on the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft were healthy and operating as designed.
ISRO released preliminary data from instruments called RAMBHA and ILSA, both installed on the lander module, and another called APXS which is on the rover. It had earlier released data from instruments called ChaSTE and LIBS.
Chandrayaan-3 is carrying seven scientific payloads, four installed on the lander, two on rover, and one on the propulsion module that is going around the Moon in an orbit. ISRO has till now released data from five of these.
It has also mentioned that the instrument onboard the propulsion module — SHAPE or Solar-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth — has been functioning normally.
The seventh instrument, called LASER Retroreflector Array is a set of mirrors that will remain on the Moon for much longer duration.
It does not collect any data on its own but is meant to reflect laser beams fired from Earth. Scientists use these kinds of experiments to accurately measure the distance of Moon from the Earth, for example.
Ideas Page
Managing conflict, cherishing diversity, nurturing oneness (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Parliaments are the supreme expression of the will of sovereign peoples. Members of Parliament in a constitutional democracy such as ours are legally obligated to periodically seek endorsement for their plans and programmes from their constituents through free, fair and open elections.
Parliaments thus constituted by popular will are bestowed with constitutional and moral authority to enact laws, determine political goals, allocate resources, give voice to the common citizens and hold the executive accountable for their acts of omission and commission. It is the people of a nation that are the beating heart of parliamentary democracy.
India is widely regarded as the “mother of democracy”. This recognition is founded on the solid bedrock of our multidimensional historical and cultural legacy that goes back several millennia.
Not only do our ancient texts, sourced from all parts of the country, refer to institutions and political structures that facilitated deliberation and debate, but they also clearly indicate the presence of participative governance, particularly at the village community level.
Large swathes of the country inhabited by people practising tribal culture have exhibited examples of resilient local self-governance.
Undeterred by macro-level political upheavals, the Indian people have held onto the democratic ethos, so deeply ingrained in their common psyche, resolutely.
That parliamentary democracy has strengthened and flourished in independent India is in itself an eloquent testimony to this democratic ethos, so zealously safeguarded by our forefathers.
Viewed in this light, our Parliament integrates effortlessly with a continuum that spans over several thousands of years, as a worthy inheritor of our glorious democratic legacy.
World
After India, now Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan reject China’s latest map (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Governments in the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan joined India in rejecting China's new national map, issuing strongly worded statements accusing Beijing of claiming their territory.
China published a new version of its national map on Monday to correct what Beijing has in the past referred to as “problematic maps” that it claims misrepresent its territorial borders.
India lodged a strong protest with China over its so-called "standard map" laying claim over Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin, and asserted that such steps only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.
The Philippine government on Thursday slammed China’s 2023 edition of its so-called “standard map” that still shows swaths of Philippine features in the West Philippine Sea.
The Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources issued on August 28 a controversial map that includes the nine-dash line, now a 10-dash line, that supposedly shows China’s boundaries in the South China Sea.
Daza said the 2016 Arbitral Award has already invalidated the nine-dashed line and called on China to abide by its obligations under UNCLOS.
Explained
In Gabon coup a recent West African pattern (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Military officers said they had seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation of Gabon , overturning the results of a disputed election that returned the incumbent, President Ali Bongo Ondimba, to a third term in office.
If it succeeds, the coup in Gabon would be the latest in an extraordinary run of military takeovers across a swath of Africa — at least nine in the past three years, including one last month in Niger, where President Mohamed Bazoum was similarly overthrown by the head of his presidential guard.
Bongo, detained inside his residence, issued a video plea for help. But celebrations erupted in the streets outside, as many Gabonese cheered the apparent demise of a family dynasty that has dominated for a half-century.
By evening, the officers announced Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema, head of the elite Republican Guard that is charged with protecting Bongo, as Gabon’s new leader. Gabonese media identified him as a cousin of the ousted leader.
A close ally of France, Bongo won international acclaim in recent years from scientists and conservationists for his stewardship of Gabon’s sweeping forests, which cover nearly 90% of the country. A member of OPEC, Gabon is Africa’s seventh-largest oil producer.
A bigger BRICS. Better too? (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa took a call last week to expand the BRICS grouping from five countries to 11.
The Johannesburg declaration, issued after the summit, said Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had been invited to become full members from January 1, 2024.
To understand the expansion and its implications, one must first understand the origins and evolution of BRICS.
BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing around 41 per cent of the global population, around 24 per cent of the global GDP, and around 16 per cent of global trade.
The acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper, ‘The World Needs Better Economic BRICs’.
On the basis of econometric analyses, the paper projected that the four economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China would be among the world’s largest economies in the next 50 years or so.
As a formal grouping, BRIC started after the meeting of the leaders of Russia, India and China in St. Petersburg on the margins of the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006.
The grouping was formalised during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of the UNGA in New York in 2006.
The first BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. It was decided to include South Africa at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in 2010, and accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya, China, in 2011.
Economy
Key infra sectors grow 8 % in July (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The eight key infrastructure sectors grew at 8 per cent in July as against 4.8 per cent in the same month last year owing to an expansion in the production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Production of steel, cement and electricity also grew in July.
The growth in the core sector, however, was lower compared with June’s 8.3 per cent, Commerce and Industry Ministry data showed.
The output growth of the eight sectors was also lower in April-July of FY24 (6.4 per cent) when compared with the year-ago period (11.5 per cent).
These key sectors — coal, crude, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity — account for 40.27 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
In July, steel output jumped by 13.5 per cent as against 7.5 per cent in the same month last year. Natural gas production increased by 8.9 per cent during the month under review as compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent in July 2022.
Fiscal deficit a third of annual target in Q1 (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India's fiscal deficit for the first four months of this fiscal year through July stood at 6.06 lakh crore rupees, or 33.9% of annual estimates.
The fiscal deficit widened from 20.5% reported in the comparable year-earlier period.
The wider fiscal deficit comes amid mushrooming speculations that the Narendra Modi-led government, which is seeking to return to power for the third term after Lok Sabha elections next year, will soon have to unleash various fiscal measures and particularly so as to rein in galloping inflation rate.
As 40 firms apply, how will PLI scheme for IT hardware pan out this time? (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
As part of its renewed production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware, the Centre has received applications from 38 entities, including the likes of Asus, Dell, HP, and Foxconn, that want to manufacture laptops, personal computers and servers in India.
Apple, however, has opted to skip participation in the scheme. The development comes weeks after the Centre imposed – and then postponed – a licensing requirement on the import of laptops and personal computers, which had set alarm bells ringing at major electronics hardware manufacturers.
The Centre had more than doubled the IT Hardware PLI in May this year to Rs 17,000 crore since it was first cleared in 2021 with an outlay of Rs 7,350 crore.
The first version of the scheme was a laggard with only two companies – Dell and Bhagwati – managing to meet first year (FY22) targets, and the industry calling for a renewed scheme with an increased budgetary outlay.
The average incentive over six years will be about 5 per cent of net incremental sales compared with the 2 per cent over four years offered earlier.
Companies that locally manufacture certain components including memory modules, solid state drives and display panels will also get additional incentives under the restructured scheme.
There will be flexibility in choosing the base year as well. Officials said the total benefits – given the sales projections by companies – could add up to PLI of Rs 22,880 crore.
The IT hardware manufacturing drive also seeks to penalise companies if production lags behind the set thresholds, by deducting as much as 10 per cent from the subsidies.