India’s Adani wins top court relief on further probe over Hindenburg report
Indian agency was probing the group after Hindenburg Research last year alleged the improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation. India’s Supreme Court says the Adani Group does not need to face more investigations beyond the current scrutiny of the market regulator, a major relief for the conglomerate hit hard by a United States-based shortseller’s allegations of wrongdoing. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been probing the Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, after Hindenburg Research in January 2023 alleged the improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation by the group. The Adani Group denied the allegations, but Hindenburg’s report still chopped $150bn off its stock market value. Though some investor confidence returned in recent months as Adani won the backing of bankers and investors, the Hindenburg report and the regulatory scrutiny have weighed on the group’s business dealings and reputation. The Supreme Court, which was ruling on cases brought by public interest litigants seeking a special investigation team to probe the matter, on Wednesday said “the facts of this case do not warrant” such a change, even though the court had the powers to transfer the investigation. The verdict signals there will not be increased regulatory or legal risk on the Adani Group beyond the current SEBI investigation. Reflecting that view, shares of various Adani Group companies rose, with Adani Energy Solutions up 9.1 percent, Adani Total Gas surging 7.1 percent, Adani Green Energy jumping 5.5 percent and the flagship business Adani Enterprises rising 2.6 percent, Reuters news agency reported. The top court, which was overseeing the SEBI probe, also said there was no need for it to order any changes in the country’s disclosure rules for offshore funds. Hindenburg had alleged Adani’s offshore shareholders were used to violate certain SEBI rules, even though the company maintained it complies with all laws. After the Supreme Court ruling, Gautam Adani said on X, formerly Twitter, that the court’s judgement shows truth has prevailed and the group’s “contribution to India’s growth story will continue”. “Post this verdict global investors will have more confidence in investing in the shares of the company,” said Deven Choksey, managing director of KRChoksey Shares and Securities Pvt Ltd, a broker. The regulator had previously informed the Supreme Court that it would take appropriate action based on the outcome of its investigations. The court on Wednesday gave SEBI three months to complete its investigations. The Supreme Court also said it does not need to intervene in the current regulations governing offshore investors of Indian companies. SEBI tightened those regulations in June by making disclosures more stringent to bring clarity to opaque corporate structures. Under India’s law, every company needs to have 25 percent of its shares held by public shareholders to avoid price manipulation, but Hindenburg alleged that some of Adani’s offshore shareholders were used to violate this rule. Adani has said it complies with all laws. “The procedure followed in arriving at the current shape of the regulations does not suffer from irregularity,” the court said on Wednesday, while backing SEBI’s regulatory position on foreign portfolio disclosures. Adblock test (Why?)
Massive fire breaks out at flyover in Ludhiana after oil tanker hits divider, video surfaces
Massive fire breaks out at flyover in Ludhiana after oil tanker hits divider, video surfaces
Texan Bitcoin miners profit by using less electricity; advocates say all Texans should get the same chance
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms made headlines over the summer for making millions by selling pre-purchased power back to the grid. The news highlighted how the grid can benefit businesses more than consumers.
Texans receiving federal food assistance caught in crosshairs of congressional funding fight
Over 227,000 Texans could get turned away from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children next year unless Congress allocates more money for the program, advocates and the White House warns. But partisan divisions are obscuring the path forward on government funding.
First on Fox: Haley more than doubles her fundraising with a $24 million haul the past three months
EXCLUSIVE – Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential campaign says they brought in $24 million during the October-December fourth quarter of fundraising, in another sign of the Republican presidential candidate’s momentum in recent months. The haul, shared first with Fox News on Wednesday, is more than double the $11 million raised in the third quarter and more than triple the $7.3 million brought in during the second quarter by the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in former President Donald Trump’s administration. With less than two weeks to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses kick off the 2024 GOP presidential nominating calendar, the Haley campaign touted that they had $14.5 million cash on hand in their coffers as of the beginning of the new year. Haley’s team, showcasing their grassroots appeal, noted that it has received contributions in the past three months across their three campaign committees from 180,000 donors, including 83,900 new contributors, which they said were “nearly the same number of unique donors in all the previous quarters combined.” HALEY’S MOMENTUM IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE APPEARS TO BE PAYING OFF And they touted that $16.25 million of the fourth quarter fundraising haul came from digital and mail grassroots efforts. “This is a two-person race between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump,” Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney emphasized in a statement. And Ankney claimed that “Nikki is the only Trump alternative with the voter support, the operation, and the resources to go the distance. Our momentum continues to build as we head into 2024.” GOP NOMINATION RACE: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES FOR DONALD TRUMP Haley’s campaign didn’t provide a breakdown of money raised for the Republican primaries versus fundraising for the general election. Haley has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates. She leapfrogged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the Republican nominating calendar. She also aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where the latest polls suggest she is pulling even with DeSantis for a distant second place behind Trump, who remains the far and away front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House bid. HALEY AND DESANTIS TURN UP THE VOLUME ON EACH OTHER Haley appears to be the first of the major Republican presidential contenders to showcase their fourth quarter figures. The candidates have until Jan. 15 to file their fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission. Trump hauled in a whopping $45.5 million during the third quarter across his multiple fundraising committees, with over $37.5 million in his campaign coffers as of the end of September. DeSantis brought in $15 million in the third quarter, down from his $20 million haul the previous three months. Haley has run a frugal campaign since declaring her candidacy in February of last year. But in recent weeks she’s added campaign staff and along with an aligned super PAC has launched a major ad blitz in both Iowa and New Hampshire. “First of all the accountant in me saved cash this whole time through, and it’s just that we’re spending it smart and right now it’s go time,” Haley said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of a town hall in Rye, New Hampshire. Haley emphasized that “we’re less than two weeks out from Iowa, three weeks from New Hampshire, and we’re hitting it hard. We’re getting our message out. We’re shaking every hand, we’re answering every question. We’re rallying and the momentum on the ground is real. We feel it. It’s strong. People want something different. They’re ready.” But Haley hit a road bump last week, with an unforced gaffe as she neglected to mention slavery when answering a question at a town hall in New Hampshire on the causes of the Civil War. Haley’s comments, and her clean-up attempts over the next two days, stirred controversy as they grabbed plenty of national attention. Haley once again acknowledged in her Fox News interview that “I should have said slavery right off the bat. I was overthinking it…and I should have stated the obvious and we tried to clear that up.” “I think we’re moving on,” she added. “But nobody on the ground is talking about it.” And pointing to the media, she said “you guys have enjoyed talking about it, but nobody else is talking about it.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
YS Sharmila set to join Congress: Who is she and will her decision spell trouble for Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Reddy?
The 49-year-old politician is the daughter of the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, former CM of Andhra Pradesh (undivided), and the sister of current Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Work of making ‘Tughlaqi laws’ should stop: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi reacts to truck drivers’ protest
The Congress on Tuesday had come out in support of truckers’ protest against the new law on stricter punishment in hit-and-run cases, saying the misuse of the legislation can lead to an ”extortionist network” and ”organised corruption”.
UN official in Gaza condemns Israeli attack that killed a baby in hospital
NewsFeed “No child in the world should be killed, let alone one sheltering under the emblem of a humanitarian organisation,” says Gemma Connell, the Gaza team leader from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She has condemned an Israeli attack on Khan Younis which killed five people, including a newborn baby, who were sheltering at the El Amal City Hospital run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Published On 3 Jan 20243 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Maine Democrat who barred Trump from ballot said voter ID laws ‘rooted in White supremacy’
The Maine official who moved to disqualify former President Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot last week has previously said that voter ID laws are “rooted in White supremacy.” Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows made the claim while giving testimony to the legislature in April 2021, expressing her opposition to proposed state laws that would require voters to show photo identification to cast a ballot. “Passing these bills would mean putting into statute discriminatory practices rooted in White supremacy,” Bellows said during her testimony. “Today, voter ID laws are the new means of voter suppression.” BIDEN CONTINUES BLEEDING SUPPORT FROM KEY VOTER GROUPS AS DEMS SOUND ALARM OVER 2024: POLL “These bills would not only negatively impact people of color but also the elderly, transient, people with disabilities, students and low-income communities. In order to make our democracy as representative as possible, we cannot enact practices that would shut out certain members of society,” she added. Bellows’ opposition to the proposed laws, which did not pass, came as Democrats in a number of states opposed largely Republican-led efforts to pass laws aimed at ensuring election integrity in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, most notably in Georgia, where some dubbed a similar bill “Jim Crow 2.0.” It also surfaced last week that Bellows, who represented Maine’s 14th District in the state Senate for roughly four years and has served as the secretary of state since 2021, previously referred to the Electoral College as a “relic of white supremacy.” MAINE GOP STATE LAWMAKER MOVES TO IMPEACH STATE SECRETARY OVER TRUMP BALLOT REMOVAL Shortly after taking office, Bellows penned an op-ed for a progressive platform known as the Democracy Docket. In her piece titled “Voting Rights for Our Neighbors Matter As Much as Our Own,” she touted her efforts to make “voting more accessible” and said she sought the position of secretary of state because she “was truly frightened for our democracy” after the 2020 presidential election. She took aim at the Electoral College in her column, calling it “the relic of white supremacy” that prevents voters from being represented fairly. In her ruling to disqualify Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, Bellows cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that bars people who have “engaged in insurrection” from running for elected office without two-thirds congressional approval. HOUSE DEMOCRAT FROM MAINE RIPS STATE’S DECISION TO TAKE TRUMP OFF BALLOT The clause was originally meant to bar former Confederate soldiers and officers from holding positions in the U.S. government or military. It was also referenced by Colorado’s highest court in a 4-3 ruling last month to bar Trump from that state’s primary ballot, a decision challenged by the Colorado GOP, setting up a battle before the U.S. Supreme Court. Fox News Digital has reached out to Bellows’ office for comment.
Gov. Haley’s South Carolina partnered with CCP-linked group to send 20 students to Beijing summer camp
FIRST ON FOX: During former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s tenure as South Carolina governor, the state partnered with a group led by the Chinese communist government to send more than a dozen students to a Beijing summer camp. “The South Carolina Department of Education is pleased to partner with the Beijing International Education Exchange (BIEE),” a March 2015 memorandum on the state’s education department website reads. “The international division of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission is delighted to announce that invitations will be extended to 20 secondary school students from across South Carolina to attend the 5th Beijing International Student Summer Camp this year.” “On behalf of BIEE, we invite all high schools in South Carolina to recommend 20 secondary students, between the ages of 14 to 18, to participate in the program. The camp will take place from July 14 – 23, 2015 in Beijing.” GOP DEBATE: DESANTIS AND HALEY CLASH ON LURING CHINESE COMPANIES TO THEIR STATES, BUT WHAT’S TRUE? A review found that the Beijing Municipal Education Commission is under the “the centralized leadership of the Education Committee of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China” and “implements the guidelines, policies, decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee,” according to the government of Beijing. When the CCP’s National Party Congress is out of session, the “Central Committee carries out the resolutions of the National Party Congress, leads all the work of the CPC, and represents the CPC to the rest of the world,” according to a Chinese embassy’s website. The memorandum describes the trip as an “amazing opportunity” for the students and that the cost of “accommodations, meals, local transportation, tuition, and local activities in China” is “fully covered by BIEE.” The trip cost the 20 students, who were accompanied by two chaperons, a total of $2,200 each to pay for their airfare and international visa. Haley’s relationship with China during her time as governor of the Palmetto State has been an issue her Republican opponents have highlighted, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said in October that Haley “rolled out the red carpet” for the CCP. DeSantis also called out Haley during a GOP presidential debate for working to recruit a Chinese-owned company to South Carolina while she was governor and giving a warm speech about the company while standing next to a Chinese flag. CHINA TELLS TAIWAN TO VOTE ON ‘RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY’ IN ELECTION THAT COULD DETERMINE CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS When serving as governor of South Carolina in 2014, Haley said she considered China “a friend” and that she appreciated the “strong relationship” between South Carolina and China. In a letter sent to then-Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai on Dec. 30, 2014, Haley thanked a Chinese diplomat for congratulating her on her reelection and said she was “grateful” for China’s “contributions on the economic front.” Haley told Fox News Digital in November that China won’t “threaten or intimidate” American businesses if she is elected to the White House in 2024. Fox News Digital reached out to the Haley campaign for comment, but did not receive a response. A spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Education told Fox News Digital that the summer camp program “expired several years ago.” Haley is currently polling at 16.1% in Iowa with about two weeks before the Iowa Caucus, which puts her in third place behind former President Trump at 51.3% and DeSantis at 18.6%. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.