Jo Johnson, the brother of former UK prime minister @BorisJohnson, has resigned from the board of Elara Capital—a London-based investment firm 99% of whose holdings are Adani stocks.
About time @JoJohnsonUK revealed more on how he ended up at a company linked to Ketan Parekh.
Boris Johnson visited Adani headquarters in April 2022.
Jo Johnson joined Elara in June 2022.
The timing could just be a coincidence. But what kind of background checks did Jo Johnson—a former India correspondent of ‘Financial Times—do before lending his name to the firm?
@FT reports that when Jo Johnson joined Elara last June, the firm intended to tap his expertise on investing in technology and education.
In his statement, Jo Johnson says he hoped to make a contribution to UK-India trade and investment ties.
OK, but…
Was Jo Johnson aware of Elara’s deep ties with the Adani Group at the time of his joining?
Was he aware that Elara had amassed $4.2 billion from three Adani stocks?
Was he aware that before Adani, Elara was linked to 2 companies whose founders were probed for money-laundering?
Was Jo Johnson aware of Elara CEO Raj Bhatt’s record of deals with Dharmesh Doshi, an Indian fugitive accused to stock manipulation with Ketan Parekh?
Was he aware that among the stocks the duo fixed was Adani Exports, now called Adani Enterprises? @HindenburgRes#KetanParekh
@JoJohnsonUK’s resignation is designed to make it seem all very normal—as if it has nothing to do with the @HindenburgRes report on Adani Group, or a possible political blowback.
Did a Standard & Poor’s report in September 2022, which showed that the Adani Group’s gross debts had increased by 42% in just one year, also miss @JoJohnsonUK’s trained editorial eye?
Adani bought the Roys’ stake in @ndtv by buying up Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL), from two shareholders: Nextwave Televentures and Eminent Networks, for Rs 114 crore.
This gave him 29%.
3️⃣ VCPL, Nextwave and Eminent share the same 4th floor address in Gurgaon.
The common director in all three companies with the same director identification number (00548276) is a Anil Kumar Jain.
Is he an Ambani man or a front? Jain sits on more than boards.
Does India’s “most gifted businessman” @gautam_adani have a sense of humour? He has acquired 99.5% of the 29% stake of @ndtv founders Prannoy and Radhika Roy through a subsidiary called “Vishvapradhan”. Hopefully not a portmanteau of Vishwaguru and Pradhan Sevak.
Adani Media Networks Ltd CEO @sanjaypugalia is quoted as saying “AMNL seeks to empower Indian citizens, consumers and those interested in India, with information and knowledge” by acquiring #NDTV.
As a media watcher who reads ‘Manufacturing Consent’ every night, do you think?
“This is a baseless rumour. Radhika and Prannoy Roy are not in discussions, nor have been, with any entity for a change in ownership or a divestment of their stake in NDTV”
@ndtv clarification to BSE. So, has Adani made the open offer after a deal with Mukesh Ambani?
2️⃣ When Uber was trying to “get Delhi back live” after the Dec 2014 rape ban, an Uber general manager in Asia wrote that “he planned to set up meetings for co-founder Trevor Kalanick “with prime minister @narendramodi and cabinet officials”. @washingtonpost@PMOIndia#UberFiles
3️⃣ Sivakumar Sundaram, the chairman of the executive committee of Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd, denies Times Group facilitated Uber “with any form of political access”.
But the @EconomicTimes editor’s email to Kalanick suggests much.
Times Group actively courted Uber after it was banned; urged its founder Travis Kalanick to present his “insights [to] set the agenda for policy formulation” at ET summit, in Jan 2015. Two months later, Uber invested Rs 150 crore in @TimesInternet.
“When nation is being divided, between Hindus and Muslims by forces of political opportunism, and our unity is being destroyed, a powerful voice is needed”
‘Anandabazar Patrika’ marks its 100th anniversary with a reality check from a real icon, Prof Amartya Sen. @MyAnandaBazar
2️⃣ Either because ABP did not want to, or because @PMOIndia did not bite, there is no @narendramodi at the centenary fete to bloviate on the role of free media in a democracy.
In craven media houses, Modi is default option despite his advertised contempt for it. @MyAnandaBazar
3️⃣ ABP, as ‘Anandabazar Patrika’ is known, was first published as a 4-page eveninger on 12 March 1912 (cover price 2 paise).
It was named after Anandamoyee, the sister of Amritamoyee whose name adorned ‘Amrita Bazar Patrika’.
As it was Holi, the first issue of ABP had red ink.