Fire breaks out in Madurai Meenakshi temple, 40 shops gutted

Agencies

February 3, 2018

Madurai, Feb 3: A major fire broke out inside the premises of famous Meenakshi temple here in which at least 40 shops were gutted, police said. However no one was injured, they said.

Temple authorities ruled out any sabotage and said electrical short circuit in one of the shops selling pooja articles caused the fire late last night. The blaze did not cause any damage to the sculptures inside the temple though many of it was covered in soot, police said Fortunately all the sculptures in the 1000-pillared hall were saved by the timely intervention of the temple officials, workers and the fire and rescue service personnel.

A team of fire extinguishers battled past midnight to put out the fire and bring the situation under control. Poojas would be held as per schedule, and cleaning up of the eastern side of the temple would be done in three days, officials said.

Meanwhile, devotees were allowed to offer worship in the temple this morning. District Collector Veera Raghava Rao, who was at the temple told reporters that there was no need for panic, and devotees could offer worship as usual. About 300 police personnel have been deployed in and around the temple for security.

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Adani Group in Crisis: $30 Billion Wiped Out after US Bribery and Fraud Charges Emerge

News Network

November 21,2024

Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

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