bhubaneswar l friday l february 03, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l jeypore EDITION 10 lakh govt jobs vacant across 78 ministries, depts “Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process,” Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in the Rajya Sabha Rozgar Melas to help job creation “Rozgar Mela events are being held across the country and new appointees are being inducted into various central ministries, departments, central public sector undertaking and autonomous bodies, among others,” the minister said in his written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, quoting data on vacancies from the annual Report of Department of Expenditure ■ 2,535 Railways has highest vacancies ■ Railways has the highest number of vacancies at 2.93 lakh, followed by defence (civilian) at 2.64 lakh and home affairs (1.43 lakh) Singh added that a National Recruitment Agency has been constituted and has done a detailed study of recruitment systems at the Centre as well as states in order to adopt best practices Vacancies in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Adani group under glare of banking, market regulators Exposure of banks and trading transactions in the listed space under scanner; shares of flagship firm’s under surveillance; govt isn’t too worried as of now Oppn stalls Parliament, demands JPC or top court-monitored probe SAC H I N K UMAR @ Mumbai A day after Adani group was forced to withdraw its `20,000-crore follow-on public offering (FPO) of its flagship firm Adani Enterprises, banking and stockmarket regulators took note of allegations of irregularities against the conglomerate, while the National Stock Exchange (NSE) put group firms’ shares under surveillance. On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India directed banks to provide details of their loans to Adani firms, the collateral used for these loans and any other indirect exposure. “The central bank wants to measure the total exposure of banks to the Adani group and if there is any risk to the banking sector,” said a senior official with a public-sector bank. One of RBI’s main concerns is that the firms take loans by pledging their shares, which pose risk to the lenders as a sharp fall in stock price could lower the value of shares. In all, the listed firms of the Adani group have lost as much as `8.76 lakh crore in market capitalisation in just six trading sessions. The finance ministry has not sounded any alarm yet on concerns related to group. A source in the North Block said that as long as the exposure of financial institutions is not high, the government will not be too worried about the Adani saga. Exposure of public-sector entities such as LIC and SBI is not high and the ministry does not comment on the performance of private entities, the source added. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is also looking into the allegations of irregularities levelled by Hindenburg Research against Adani group. The regulator is scanning all the transactions done by the group companies in the listed space. It is also checking whether the group failed to make any relevant disclosure required as per the regulations. Meanwhile, the NSE on Thursday placed Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Ambuja Cements under the Additional Surveillance Mechanism (ASM) framework, which will require 100% margin to trade in their shares. The ASM framework aims to protect retail investors from the sharp swings in the shares. The move is also expected P10 to reduce speculation and short selling.  PREET H A NA I R @ New Delhi For me, the interest of my investors is paramount and everything is secondary. Hence to insulate the investors from potential losses, we have withdrawn the FPO Gautam Adani Value dips Citigroup said it has stopped accepting Adani group securities as collateral for giving out margin loans. Earlier, Credit Suisse assigned zero lending value to bonds issued by Adani firms BoJo’s bro quits firm Ex-British PM Boris Johnson’s brother Lord Jo Johnson quit as director of Elara Capital, one of the bookrunners of the scrapped Adani share sale BOTH Houses of Parliament on Thursday witnessed noisy scenes as the Opposition stalled proceedings demanding a Joint Parliament Committee (JPC) or a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into allegations of fraud and stock manipulation by Adani group. As soon as the session began, Opposition parties led by Congress raised slogans and demanded a discussion into the exposure of LIC and SBI to the Adani Group. Though several members gave adjournment notices under Rule 267, the presiding officers of both the Houses declined to accept the demand saying it was not in order. Both the Houses were adjourned later. Addressing a joint press conference by Opposition parties, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said there should be day-to-day reporting of the findings of the probe into investments by LIC, public sector banks and financial institutions, in which crores of Indians have put their life-time savings. Earlier in the day leaders of several op, position parties including the Congress, DMK, TMC, SP, JD(U), Shiv Sena, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, IUML, NC, AAP and Kerala Congress had met in the Parliament complex to chalk out a joint strategy to corner the government on the Adani row. Echoing Kharge’s demand, SP Leader Ram Gopal Yadav said people are worried about their hard-earned savings in LIC and SBI. Voicing similar concerns, DMK MP Kanimozhi said: “We trust LIC and public banks because we believe that the government stands behind it. Today people feel cheated.” Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said Opposition parties are together in demanding a probe on the Adani expose. Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena said: “It should be discussed widely why Adani was forced to withdraw its FPO. Odisha govt asks NHAI Kejriwal figures in to ready ToR for bridge 2nd ED chargesheet in excise scam over Chilika lagoon AM I T MU K H ER J EE @ New Delhi Hemant Kumar Rout @ Bhubaneswar IN a surprising move, the Odisha government has asked the NHAI to prepare terms of reference (ToR) for construction of a bridge over Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, which was once objected by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). In a recent meeting chaired by chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, the NHAI was asked to move the proposal for approval of ToR for the bridge from Satapada to Gopalpur over Chilika as part of the coastal highway under Bharatmala Pariyojana. “Prior to the submission of the proposal, if required, the NHAI can make arrangements for a field visit of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the MoEF&CC,” said the meeting. Wetland land cannot be used for non-wetland use. As per Clause 4 of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, conversion for non wetland uses including en- Flamingos at Chilika lake | Express croachment of any kind is prohibited. In 2021, a four-km long scaffold initially proposed in the ToR by NHAI was dropped after the EAC disapproved it following objections from ecologists and conversationalists. The proposed longest extension after the Mahanadi span was envisaged as an observatory point to watch Chilika’s resplendence, it was struck off from the project after EAC objection. Environmentalists fear the ‘insensitive’ move would bring disaster for the eco-sensitive Chilika lagoon, home to rare Irrawaddy dolphins, several threatened species of plants and animals and the largest wintering ground for migratory birds.  Continued on P5 Revealing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s involvement in the excise scam for the first time, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in its second chargesheet claimed the CM had asked accused Sameer Mahendru to work with his close confidant Vijay Nair while formulating the new liquor policy . The chargesheet filed before a Special ED Court said Kejriwal had in a video call Fiction, to Mahendru, the managing says CM director of Indo Spirit, said Rejecting the Nair was his (CM’s) boy . “These facts are relevant allegations to mention so as to establish against him, the abetment of his (Kejri- Chief Minister wal) actions in relation to Arvind Kejriwal the Excise policy scam by said the second the political leaders of AAP ,” chargesheet was a complete the chargesheet said. “Vijay Nair who orches- fiction. He trated this entire scam is not claimed the an ordinary worker of the Central AAP but a close associate of government is CM Arvind Kejriwal and misusing ED with was closely interacting with a malafide Dy CM for the Excise Policy intention to topple his related matters,” it added. “Nair, on behalf of lead- government ers of AAP has received kickbacks to the tune of `100 crore from the South Group, whose prominent persons are M S Reddy Raghav, Magunta, Sharath Reddy and , Continued on P5 M Kavitha,” it alleged.