India's billionaires hunker down in safety bubbles amid covid horror

News Network
April 29, 2021

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Some of India’s richest people are forming bubbles with their families and staff, while others are leaving for homes outside of major cities as a virus resurgence overwhelms the country’s medical system and spurs other nations to shut out Indian travellers.

“I’ve been indoors with my family and our staff, that’s my story,” said Kris Gopalakrishnan, one of the billionaire-cofounders of IT giant Infosys Ltd. who now runs a Bengaluru-based venture to support startups. The group are shunning outside contact and only eating home-cooked meals, he said.

Another Infosys co-founder, Nandan Nilekani said in a text message that he was also holed up in his home in the Indian tech capital, as a second, more lethal wave of coronavirus cases sweeps the nation of 1.3 billion people. The return of the virus spurred many wealthy families to flee India, some on private jets, before countries from Australia to the UK started to ban flights from what is now the coronavirus epicentre of the world. Others are hunkering down, running vast empires from their homes and helping provide essential aid like oxygen supplies and protective equipment.

Byju Raveendran, the billionaire founder of India’s most valuable startup, online-education provider Byju’s, is confined with his extended family in a series of houses in Bangalore’s HSR Layout neighborhood -- popularly referred to as Unicorn Row given it’s home to a bevy of startups valued at more than $1 billion.

The family’s personal staff are also sequestered with them, Raveendran said. “The support systems are strong and outside contact has been minimal.”

Ambani, Adani

India’s two richest people have moved to homes in less-populated parts of the country, as the virus hits the capital New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai particularly hard.

Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s wealthiest man, has shifted from Mumbai with his family to Jamnagar -- a township in the state of Gujarat that’s home to Reliance Industries Ltd.’s massive twin oil refinery complex -- according to people familiar with their movements who didn’t want to be named discussing private matters.

Billionaire Gautam Adani, the second-richest person in India, is with his son Karan Adani and other close family members at their home on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, a person familiar said.

Representatives for the Reliance and Adani groups declined to comment.

India is reporting record numbers of new cases every day, pushing medical facilities and crematoriums to the breaking point. People have been pleading on social media for everything from oxygen cylinders to food for the elderly in quarantine, and while parts of the country have gone back into lockdown, there are concerns another nationwide order could be disastrous for the poor and the wider economy.

Diverting Oxygen

International companies are joining local firms and tycoons in providing aid to India.

Ambani’s Reliance Industries is diverting oxygen for medical use from its oil refining complex, while the Reliance Foundation, the group’s philanthropic arm, is also setting up a 1,000-bed Covid-19 care facility there that will provide free treatment to patients. A local media report said Ambani has flown to Jamnagar to speed up relief efforts.

The Adani Group, which operates India’s largest port terminal, has been securing oxygen supplies from Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Dubai, according to a statement Tuesday.

CEO Fund

Startup titan Raveendran has been finding ways to help Byju’s 11,000 workers, many of whom he says are “struggling.” A CEO Fund has been established to meet the hospital expenses of staff and Raveendran says he has been coordinating efforts to corral beds, oxygen concentrators and medicines.

Billionaire Sunil Vachani, founder and chairman of smartphone maker Dixon Technologies India Ltd., is sheltering in his Delhi home with family. They’re following a “no outside contact” protocol, while communicating with colleagues virtually, he said.

Vachani is also is also overseeing a command center set up by Dixon to link up employees with doctors and source medication. Dixon set up a factory line to manufacture RT-PCR machines last year to bolster India’s Covid testing efforts and is now looking to scale that up, plus import oxygen concentrators that will land in a few days.

“When people phone you from ambulances outside hospital gates, it’s distressing and you do your best to help,” Gopalakrishnan said by phone on Tuesday. “At the back of your mind, there’s also guilt whether you’re taking away the hospital bed from someone who needs it more.” 

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News Network
November 21,2024

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After the US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani with bribery and fraud, Congress reiterated its call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the transactions of the Adani group, and hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging an "internal nexus" between him and "his favourite businessman."

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the indictment of Gautam Adani and others by the US Securities and Exchange Commission validates his party’s call for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation.

The Congress has been pushing for the probe since January 2023, raising concerns over alleged irregularities involving Adani and his business dealings, said Ramesh.

Ramesh referred to the party’s “Hum Adani ke Hain” series, where 100 questions were raised about the alleged scams and the links between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani.
He noted that the questions remain unanswered, reiterating the need for accountability in the matter.

The US prosecutors have charged Adani with deceiving investors by concealing information about his firm's solar energy project in India, which allegedly involved bribery.

Adani has been charged with securities fraud and conspiracy, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday. The case focusses on an agreement between Adani Green Energy Ltd. and another organisation to supply 12 gigawatts of solar power to the Indian government.

'BETRAYAL OF INDIAN INVESTORS'

Congress leader Pawan Khera described the allegations against Gautam Adani and his conglomerate as a “betrayal of Indian investors.”

Taking to X, Khera outlined the US charges, including claims that Adani’s group bribed Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure contracts. Citing media reports, he also pointed out that Gautam Adani personally met a government official to advance the scheme.

Khera referred to a March 2024 incident where the Adani Group allegedly misled the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, calling it a “grave violation of investor trust.”

He further highlighted a March 2023 FBI raid on the premises of Sagar Adani, Gautam Adani’s nephew, where electronic devices were seized as part of the investigation.

'SEBI NOT ABLE TO PROVE ANY CHARGES AGAINST ADANI'

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi criticised central probe agencies following US charges against Gautam Adani and others in an alleged bribery case linked to solar energy contracts.

Chaturvedi raised concerns about corporate governance and regulatory oversight in the country. “They talk about corporate governance, responsibility, and accountability. The industrialists should be asked to follow the rules and regulations, but even the agencies were defending him. The SEBI has not yet been able to prove charges against him,” she said, pointing to what she viewed as failures in ensuring accountability.

'BROUGHT DISREPUTE TO INDIA'

On US charges against Gautam Adani, AAP leader Sanjay Singh called for a probe against the industrialist. He said that the probe should be conducted by an investigation agency under the Supreme Court.

"Adani Group has brought disrepute to India. This is a very serious matter. The PM of India should come forward and answer this. All the pending matters against Adani should be probed by an investigation agency under Supreme Court monitoring, and all the corruption done by him, within and outside the country, should come out before the country and action should be taken against him," he said.

BJP DFENDS

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya responded sharply to the Opposition’s criticism regarding allegations involving Adani Green Energy and US-based Azure Power. He pointed out that the charges in the indictment are only allegations and emphasised, “The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”

Malviya argued that the crux of the case concerns agreements to supply 12 GW of power to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), contingent on SECI securing power purchase agreements with state electricity distribution companies (SDCs).

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News Network
November 21,2024

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant over war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest”, it confirmed in a statement Thursday.

It is the first instance in the court's 22-year history it has issued arrest warrants for Western-allied senior officials.

In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said it has rejected appeals by Israel challenging its jurisdiction. 

The chamber said it has decided to release the arrest warrants because "conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing", referring to Israel's ongoing onslaught on Gaza.

Netanyahu and Gallant, it said, “each bear criminal responsibility” for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” as well as “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”

All 124 states that signed the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in the Hague. 

The court relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects. The Netherlands' foreign minister quickly said his country was prepared to enforce the warrants while 93 nations earlier reiterated their support for the ICC.

Triestino Mariniello, a lawyer representing Palestinian victims at the ICC, called the warrants "a historic decision".

He noted that the court had endured "pressure and threats of sanctions" from the US government, but acted nonetheless.

As expected, the Tel Aviv regime rejected the rulings, with its security minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling the warrants “anti-Semitic through and through.”

The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required.

Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court. 

Israel unleashed its bloody Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023. So far, it has killed at least 43,985 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 104,092 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel faces an ongoing South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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