New Role
Starting today I am the Wealth Reporter for Bloomberg News India
I will be tracking India's billionaires and multi-millionaires, their businesses and interests, investment and wealth firms, money trails. personal finance as well as inequality
If you have any
Journo’s make mistakes, you can be fooled by sources and biases lead to assumptions. The Meta reports had too many holes, so this was inevitable. The Wire is an important independent news org, they require our support. This is a lesson for all of us
In a strongly-worded editorial this week, the Lancet said that India’s health care record under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deteriorated and the government’s lack of credible data is hindering policy making
@logic
and
@digitaldutta
have been warning about this: India’s digital payments infrastructure can be used as a kill switch for anyone the state Doesn’t like.
@MorningContext
peered through company filings in Mauritius. We found that 13 Mauritian funds invested in Adani Enterprises’ Rs 20,000 crore. Of these, six funds have common directors with links to the Adani group
For Journalists In light of
#PegasusProject
Here are some tools to use to protect yourself
Start with a strong anti-virus software
McAfee, Norton(or whatever firm you are comfortable with. Buy a total protect package to be installed on multiple devices ie laptops, phone
Super chuffed that I am now a Writer with the
@MorningContext
. I will be covering the Banking & Lending industry, the wider Fnancial Services space and Fintechs.
Extremely Grateful that I am a part of incredible team of fantastic journalists
Extremely glad to welcome Advait
@advait_px
to the team
@MorningContext
. With his addition, we now have some serious talent covering the financial services industry in India. There's
@artijourno
+
@jaysh88
and now Advait.
Life Insurance Corporation of India issues a statement on Adani Group Exposure.
Total investment till date is Ra 36,474 crore and market value at Rs 56,142 crore. Adani Group exposure represents 0.975% of LIC’s total assets under management
Pine Labs is now valued at $3 billion, having recently raised funds from domestic and foreign institutional investors, apart from venture capital firms.
How has a card machine operator grown into a software powerhouse? What are its plans going forward?
An unknown user claims to have leaked a database from a major private bank in India, including personal details such as names, ages, ph nos., emails, gender, addresses, etc. The authenticity of the data has yet to be verified.
#India
#databreach
#DarkWeb
#DeepWeb
#cyberrisk
They say never connect to public WiFi cause you never know.....scammers and hackers are lurking.
They never tell you DPI-Non-Profit-Volunteer-Only-Benevolent-Mandatory-But-Voluntary Inc. is also hoovering your personal data.
Thread 🧵
In just a few years, the Adani Group has built a serious manufacturing base in the defence industry encompassing drones, electronics, radars and arms.
A peculiar securitisation deal has come onto the market. Byju's has packaged and sold some Rs 1,000 crore worth of receivables (course fees to be paid) to investors since March 2020.
@akm1410
and I unpack these deals and why Byju's is offloading the risk
ICICI Bank is not the same entity it was three years ago. Under Sandeep Bakhshi the bank has undergone massive changes and could very well be called a supersized Neobank.
The Modi government added more billionaires during its tenure than previously. But beyond well known names like Ambani and Adani are dozens of silent, hidden billionaires who have seen their businesses and personal wealth balloon in the last decade.
Our deep dive into India’s prolific data-broking industry. For less than Rs 5,000, you can buy millions and millions of sensitive customer data. If you can think of the target group, you could find a database on sale via the open web.
US-based short seller Hindenburg Research published a long report on the Adani Group accusing the Gautam Adani led conglomerate of stock manipulation, accounting irregularities and misappropriation of funds.
Here are the top 3 takeaways
Adani Group acquired NDTV for $100 million and has launched 3 channels in the last year. But…
“A standoff grew within NDTV... Several reporters said the new managers micromanaged coverage, dropped sensitive stories and instead opted for soft features.”
The discourse about Byju’s is and has always been entirely about money. From how much it raises, how much it spends to buy out the competition to its financial results, everything is about $ ₹. Who gives a **** about education outcomes, labour practices, leeching of parents
The Indian government is looking to buy new spyware software. A clutch of firms are in the race to win the £120 million contract.
Earlier, the Supreme Court committee submitted an inconclusive report on the Pegasus malware
Best book I’ve read on understanding modern propaganda machines
The PM-EAC paper is wrapped as academic analysis but is intended to fuel existing folklore and fallacies. The shoddy media analysis is a part of the subterfuge, not an externality
After a spate of suicides in late 2020, RBI and the police took action against Illegitimate and predatory loan apps. Google and the fintech industry also made some changes.
But nothing concrete was implemented. And so, these apps are back in full force
More than 2 weeks after
@HindenburgRes
published its report on the Adani Group, the conglomerate has hired US law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Inside the Adani Groups’ takeover of NDTV
“An exodus of star anchors. Fawning coverage of India’s political leaders. Newsroom censoring of reporters who ask the government tough questions on the economy, public policy and conflict.
+
Inside the Adani Group
Bloomberg's Anto Antony sat down with the Adani Group's founder and its four successors. While the infrastructure conglomerate continues to grow and invest in new projects, Gautam Adani says he’ll shift control to his scions in
Where is Ankhi Das now ?
The former Facebook India head of public policy had a controversial tenure at the social media giant. But now has discreetly got back to work.
@Harveen_A
finds out
From fake enrolments, leaks and identity theft to now fraud on the Aadhaar Payments system,
#Aadhaar
is rife with problems.
The world's largest biometric identity system is a singe point failure in terms of privacy and data security of ordinary people
The government loves foreign donors, as long as money flows to political parties and NGOs furthering their agenda. But those tackling human rights and environmental issues are persona non grata
The attack on NGOs continues
By
@DeshmaneAkshay
and
@sahaprd
As I told someone recently, any counter argument is not allowed. Leave alone opposing ideas. You cannot counter the states’ argument, you lick boots and vomit the same line. More power to
@shreya_jai
A global anti-money laundering body is poised to examine whether India’s government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is misusing local laws to crack down on non-profit organizations, like Amnesty International and policy think tanks.
@sudhiranjansen
Jignesh Shah's 63 Moons is making a play in the crypto asset space, with content platforms. The platforms will be launched tomorrow and is being run by Tickerplant (newswire)
@imFmoharkan
,
@akxnksha
and I do a deep dive into 63 Moons and its new venture
The company says has an order book of Rs 8000 crore, of which Rs 3500 crore came in the last fiscal. Impressive for a company that had little footing in the industry a few years ago.
Its drones and arms divisions are presently in the running for new defence contracts
A day after securing investors for its Rs 20,000 crore FPO, Adani Group stocks get hammered
Adani Enterprises 28% lower at Rs 2128, down by 44.7% over the last month
Adani Power 19.7% lower at Rs 492, down by 39.5% over the last month
The majority of this country wont qualify to pay an inheritance/wealth tax, but with the right messaging they oppose any form of it.
And the less than 900 individuals to whom it should apply can continue their party
Hindenburg Research says it would welcome a lawsuit by Adani Group. The firms’ report ends with 88 questions to the Adani Group which so far has not been addressed.
Vinod Rai was appointed on the board IDFC Ltd in 2015 as the financial conglomerate began to restructure its operations. Yet, he was booted out by shareholders last month.
@imFmoharkan
delves into what happened and why
A tense legal battle is underway between the Tata and Adani groups for a Rs 7,000 crore underground electricity transmission cable in the heart of Maharashtra.
Here's all that has happened.
BJP workers outside the party’s headquarters in New Delhi remain confident and upbeat about a victory in India’s 2024 General Elections
They tell
@business
that once sworn in the Modi government will plan big structural reforms
"A nationwide crackdown by the Goods and Services Tax authorities uncovered tax evasion to the tune of ₹30,000 crore, allegedly carried out via stolen identities including as many as 18,000 Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar cards"
India's government is expected to start buying HPV vaccine shots in bulk by the end of this year
If successful, a single-dose HPV vaccine from Serum Institute will extend supplies and cut the cost of the government’s plan to vaccinate about 68 million
The other thing going for the Adani Group is its partnership(s) with the Defence Research and Development Organization
Adani Defence holds DRDO development/production contracts for laser guided bombs, anti-aircraft weapons, UAV guided missiles and a counter drone system
“Only advised to exercise normal prudence” sums up what Govt thinks about privacy and data security. PIB Bengaluru office acts in public interest. PIB Delhi acts on whose interest ?
With the government expected to place Rs 4.5 lakh crore worth of defence contracts over the coming years for indigenous manufacturing, the Adani Group looks well placed to grab a chunk of these contracts.
Will Defence become Adani's next big moneymaker?
Within the private defence industry Larsen & Toubro, the Mahindra Group, Tata Advanced Systems, Ashok Leyland and Bharat Forge are among the biggest contractors.
Adani's penchant for acquisitions has propelled the company up ranks of the private defence industry in India.
Credit and Buy-Now-Pay-Later could be the next big feature on UPI
Fintechs are pushing for it since UPI is quicker and cheaper compared to the current lending infrastructure
Can NPCI navigate around a minefield of risks to enable credit on UPI?
Star Health is going to be the first standalone health insurance company to list on the exchanges in the coming days. It's bound to be the third largest IPO' this year, yet it's DRHP has largely escaped public attention.
Read
@AshwinM_
debut piece
Delloite Haskins & Sells, auditor for Adani Ports and SEZ, issued a qualified opinion on the port company's finances stating insufficient disclosures over transactions with certain entities and a lack of independent review.
We
@MorningContext
wrote about LICs’ investments in Adani Group stocks last year. As of Nov 2022, the market value of Adani investments stood at Rs 78,000 crore and accounted for 9.4% of LICs equity book and 1.9% of its policyholder book.
A federal money laundering investigation has led to a public spat between the founders of WazirX and Binance . For the government, this episode substantiates everything they do not like about cryptos.
@Harveen_A
and I explain
@MorningContext
Documents show that the ultimate beneficial owner of Amubja Cements and ACC is Vinod Adani, the older brother of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani.
@nihargokhale
and I write about the ownership structure of the two companies acquired by Adani last year.
Whether it’s Modi’s terminal or MMS’, Praful Patel or Scindia/Sinha/Puri is irrelevant
Airport Authority of India is responsible since it signed the concession agreement with GMR and it directly runs Jabalpur
Safety audit reports? Inspections? Indian Building Code?
Policybazaar has it's sights on the next phase of growth.
The company wants to shift from a pure insurance marketplace to building a network of retail stores. This shift isn't going to be an easy journey for the fintech that is going public soon
On Wednesday, Adani Enterprises called off it’s Rs 20,000 crore equity fund raise despite the participation from global funds and family offices.
Why was the FPO called off?
What happens now ?
With
@imFmoharkan
@MorningContext
Your subscription payments are going to fail once again
Between a regulator that is insistent on a swift transition and an unprepared payments industry, thousands of businesses are staring at millions of dollars in failed transactions and lost revenue.
MobiKwik wants to list on the stock exchanges. But something has spooked investors about fintechs with complicated business models.
@akm1410
and I report that at least two investors are pulling their commitments to MobiKwiks IPO
Interesting tidbit
CAG says Future Gaming got contracts for conducting lotteries, without a tender process
CBI and ED both start investigations and by Dec 2021, they attach Rs 277+ crore in assets over PMLA charges
He goes onto to keep buying electoral bonds through to 2024
Lottery king Santiago splurged on all parties
Of the Rs 1,368 crore bonds purchased, , over Rs 540 crore to AITC, Rs 509 crore to DMK, Rs 159 crore to YSR Congress, Rs 100 crore to BJP and various others
The shock of the pandemic is still playing out across the economy, and now inflation is rising.
Healthcare bills are eating savings, food has become more expensive and the spike in fuel prices has led to a chain reaction across value chains
With financial system liquidity reaching historical highs last year, the Adani Group and its various entities started to raise funds through bonds at extremely favourable rates.
@tsurendar
and I delve deep into the debt strategy
@MorningContext
Adani Group’s debt grew by 40% to over Rs 2.2 lakh crore at the end of 2021-22. Much of higher borrowings is to fuel the expansion plans in renewable energy, roads, airports and other new infrastructure. My story today on
@MorningContext
the
Dubais’ Seclink Corporation was going to be awarded the rights to redevelop Dharavi. But then political winds shifted.
Now the slum redevelopment contract has gone to the Adani Group and it’s real estate arm.
@MorningContext
The CoWIN server was probably not breached, more likely Third party apps and hospital servers
Reporters covering this, ask:
1) Which private company developed CoWIN? Which govt entity bought it ?
2) Who developed the security standard for the vaccine certificates?
Please welcome
@MahimaKapoor12
to the
@MorningContext
team
Mahima will work closely with
@Harveen_A
, the editor of our Internet vertical, to tell better stories and build on our coverage of large tech companies.
This week
@MorningContext
will host
@anandkbajaj
, CEO of PayNearby. We will be discussing fintech, payments and financial inclusion in a post pandemic world.
This event is open to free and paying subscribers. Sign up on our website:
"Keeping potentially malicious foreign actors out of its domestic capital markets is very much in India’s national interest. If institutions of the government can’t or won’t uphold it, parliament must step in."
By
@andymukherjee70
@business
Fintech Weekly
#11
by
@MorningContext
The never-ending problem of fake finance apps run by Chinese nationals leads me to conclude that there is institutional support.
Is this a massive Fi-Op run with state blessing?
A RBI circular sent out last week sent many fintechs in the Buy Now Pay Later space for a tailspin. Some of them have halted their pay later services, while others are looking to quickly pivot to a new model.
@AshwinM_
and I write about the fallout
Sensitive Customer Data on Sale for Cheap!!!
@MorningContext
purchased three databases from online vendors and received 57.8 million customer records all for just Rs 4,500.
A thread on the data broking industry 🧵