SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Altaf Shah
As the popular saying goes, “and it collapsed, like a house of cards” and we have witnessed the skyfall of the world’s 3rd richest person.
A multimillion-dollar business conglomerate, having businesses across the world, a number of companies, very very well connected to the top leaders of the world, controlling the media but came down heavily with a small report, published by a non-entity who is sitting in another country, what a tragedy.
So far 8.8 lakh crores just wiped off in maybe a week. We do not discuss here the business ethics used by Adani, nor do we consider Hindenburg as a friend, but definitely it is a matter of concern as to how volatile our markets are, that a research report by somebody can cause huge impact on the business house and also create panic in the entire world.
The impact is such that the richest person of the country and the 3rd richest person in the world is now under ASM (by the NSE and the BSE), which means anyone putting money in these stocks have to pay 100% upfront or advance whereas earlier people could pay the next day.
To make matters worse, Credit Suisse has stopped accepting bonds of Adani companies as collateral for loans.
Naturally, the money lost does not belong to Adani but it belongs to big investors like the public sector banks for e.g SBI, PNB, BOB, Canara bank but the biggest investor is the LIC of India with an investment of almost 36,470 crores.
Just to put it on record that Gautam Adani’s wealth grew 13 times in the last 3 years, yes it includes the peak covid period, which speaks of the crony capitalism we live in, no matter how much we deny it.
So, what lessons do we take from this entire episode?
Few very basic questions we should be asking is that
1) Approach a nationalized bank for a housing loan and you will realize how miserable it is to get a housing loan sanctioned, (inspite of home loans being the safest). Then how do these entities get huge loans inspite of having fudged accounts? Is the scrutiny only for the middle-class people?
2) The Indian Media is a big letdown. The media which is supposed to be vigilant and act as a watchdog is equally responsible for this fiasco. When the media should be asking questions to every single person involved, our media is busy discussing Rahul Gandhi’s t-shirt and the movie Pathan and all other non-issues. It is not a secret that the Indian Media is highly biased.
3) Where are our investigative agencies: the ED, the IT department, the SEBI or many Indian investigative agencies, if there is a lapse then why are they not responsible, are they only for the opposition or for those who ask questions to the ruling government, definitely this image is being built.
4) Lastly, our youth get inspired by the riches and glamor world, it is time for us to speak to our kids, that it is not a lot of money which can bring you a lot of happiness.
And yet again the entire episode confirms that no matter how strong and how powerful you are, God almighty has his own way of showing all of us that ultimately he is the boss.
