chennai l friday l february 03, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 42 l late city 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 Railways has highest vacancies “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 ■ ■ 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 2,535 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 firms under surveillance; govt isn’t too worried as of now Oppn stalls Parliament, demands JPC or top court-monitored probe SACHIN K U M AR @ 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. RBI’s prime concerns is that the firms take loans by pledging their shares, which poses risk to the lenders as a sharp fall in the stock price could lower the value of the pledged 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 Union 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 to reduce speculation and short selling.  P16 P REETHA NAIR @ New Delhi The fundamentals of our company are strong... balance sheet is healthy and assets, robust. Our EBITDA levels and cash flows have been very strong. We have an impeccable track record of fulfilling debt obligations Gautam Adani Collateral damage Citigroup said it has stopped accepting Adani group’s securities as collateral for giving out margin loans. Earlier, Credit Suisse assigned zero lending value to its bonds 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 opposition 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.” express read Spectator gored by bull at jallikattu in Tiruchy district, succumbs to injuries Tiruchy: A 54-year-old spectator at the jallikattu at Pothamettupatti in the district was gored to death by a participating bull on Thursday. Murugan P, who was near the arena during the event, was hit by a bull released from the vaadi vaasal. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Tiruchy city after failing to respond to treatment, police said | P2 Legendary Telugu filmmaker K Vishwanath dies in Hyderabad Free on Bail, finally Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan with his wife Raihana and son Muzammil after his release on bail from the Lucknow jail on Thursday. He was arrested 28 months ago while travelling to Hathras in UP where a Dalit woman died allegedly after being raped. “I am out after a lot of fight. I am happy,” he said | PTI | P12 Hyderabad: Legendary filmmaker, Kala Tapasvi K Viswanath, who had conjured an irreplaceable spot for himself in Telugu cinema, passed away on Thursday night in a private hospital in Hyderabad where he was undergoing treatment for age-related ailments. He was 92 | P7 WITH THIS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 42 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) NH blocked for 4 hrs at K’giri over bull run S i vag u r u S @ Krishnagiri TRAFFIC on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway came to a standstill for nearly four hours near Gopachandram in Shoolagiri taluk of Krishnagiri on Thursday morning after a thousand people staged a road blockade that devolved into stone-pelting and rioting over a delay in granting permission for a bull run event in the district. Over a thousand people from Anekkal and Malur in Karnataka, Kuppam in Andhra as well as from Shoolagiri and Hosur had thronged to Gopachandram village on Thursday morning to attend the Erudhu Vidum Vizha scheduled for 10am. Although the state gov- ernment had granted permission for the event on Wednesday, per mission from the district administration was still awaited. Angered, the crowd embarked on a road blockade around 7.30am, bringing traffic on the KrishnagiriBengaluru stretch to a halt. Although the district granted permission for the event at 9 am, the crowd was in no mood to disperse. Over 300 police personnel from Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem and Namakkal were deployed to bring the crowd under control. However, with the crowd resorting to stone-pelting even after being warned, police had to use water cannons and tear gas to end the riot. As many as 10 police personnel, including Krishnagiri SP Saroj Kumar Thakur, were injured and 20 vehicles, including 12 government buses, were damaged in the violence. Shoolagiri police registered a case and started inquiries. Video footage of the violence is being analysed to identify the culprits.  P7 The ChennaiBengaluru national highway was blocked by an irate crowd, protesting the delay in granting permission for a bull run event on Thursday | Express Kejri figures in second ED chargesheet in excise scam Fiction, says CM Rejecting the allegations against him, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the second chargesheet was a complete fiction. He claimed the Central government is misusing ED with a malafide intention to topple his government 17 named as accused The second chargesheet runs into more than 13,000 pages. In all, 17 accused have been named in the two chargesheets. The court issued summons to the accused in both chargesheets, directing them to appear on February 23 A M IT M U K HER J EE @ New Delhi 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 to Mahendru, the managing director of Indo Spirit, said Nair was his (CM’s) boy . “These facts are relevant to mention so as to establish the abetment of his (Kejriwal) actions in relation to the Excise policy scam by the political leaders of AAP,” the chargesheet said. “Vijay Nair who orchestrated this entire scam is not an ordinary worker of the AAP but a close associate of CM Arvind Kejriwal and was closely interacting with Dy CM for the Excise Policy related matters,” it added. “Nair, on behalf of leaders 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 M Kavitha,” it alleged. The chargesheet went on to claim that part of the `100 crore was used in AAP’s Goa poll campaign in 2022. “Cash payments to the tune of `70 lakh were made to volunteers who were part of the survey teams,” it alleged. “In order to create a continuous payment of kickback to Nair, an unheard margin of 12% was provided to private wholesalers contrary to the recommendations of the Expert Committee headed by Excise Commissioner Ravi Dhawan,” the ED said. In the second chargesheet, the ED named 12 accused, including five — Sharath C Reddy, Binoy Babu, Nair, Boinpally and Amit Arora — who are already in judicial custody Seven private entities, pri. marily into liquor trade, have also been mentioned as accused — Trident Chemphar, Sri Avantika Contractors (I), Organomix Ecosystems, Pernod Ricard India, KSJM Spirits, Buddy Retail (TI) and Popular Spirits. Yet to record EPS as interim general secy: ECI T M u r u ga n a n d h a m @ Chennai THE Election Commission of India on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it has not taken on record the appointment of Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) as interim general secretary of the AIADMK in the general council held on July 11, 2022 due to pending litigation. In its submission, it added that the Returning Officer of the Erode East by-election, a statutory officer, would take a decision about acceptance of nominations by exercising due diligence. The ECI affidavit has caused ripples in both the EPS and O Panneerselvam (OPS) factions. While functionaries of the OPS faction were elated that the ECI’s submission “favoured” Panneerselvam, the functionaries of the EPS faction contended the ECI had said nothing new and that, going by the facts, the SC would decide in their favour on Friday . The ECI informed the SC it has not taken on record the bylaws dated July 11, 2022, as they are under challenge, including the manner and process in which the amendments were passed in the meeting, in a number of litigations and counter litigations.  P7