Amazon pauses construction on 2nd headquarters in Virginia

Fri, March 3, 2023


NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is pausing construction of its second headquarters in Virginia following the biggest round of layoffs in the company’s history and its shifting plans around remote work.

The Seattle-based company is delaying the beginning of construction of PenPlace, the second phase of its headquarters development in northern Virginia, Amazon’s real estate chief John Schoettler said in a statement. He said the company has already hired more than 8,000 employees and will welcome them to the Met Park campus, the first phase of development, when it opens this June.

“We’re always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees, and since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we’ve decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit,” Schoettler said.

He also emphasized the company remains “committed to Arlington” and the local region, which Amazon picked — along with New York City — to be the site of its new headquarters, known as HQ2, several years ago. More than 230 municipalities had initially competed to house the projects. New York won the competition by promising nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and grants, among other benefits, but opposition from local politicians, labor leaders and progressive activists led Amazon to scrap its plans there.

In February 2021, Amazon said it would build an eye-catching, 350-foot Helix tower to anchor the second phase of its redevelopment plans in Arlington. The new office towers were expected to welcome more than 25,000 workers when complete. Amazon spokesperson Zach Goldsztejn said those plans haven't changed and the construction pause is not a result — or indicative of — the company's latest job cuts, which affected 18,000 corporate employees.

The layoffs were part of a broader cost-cutting move to trim down Amazon's growing workforce amid more sluggish sales and fears of a potential recession. Meta, Salesforce and other tech companies — many of which had gone on hiring binges in the past few years — have also been doing the same.

Amid the job cuts, Amazon has urged its employees to come back to the office. Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company would require corporate employees to return to the office at least three days a week, a shift from from the prior policy that allowed leaders to make the call on how their teams worked. The change, which will be effective on May 1, has ignited some pushback from employees who say they prefer to work remotely.

Goldsztejn said the company is expecting to move forward with what he called pre-construction work on the construction in Virginia later this year, including applying for permits. He said final timing for the second phase of the project is still being determined.

When Virginia won the competition to land HQ2, it did so less with direct incentives, and more with promises to invest in the regional workforce, particularly a graduate campus of Virginia Tech that is under construction just a couple of miles from Amazon’s under-construction campus in Crystal City.

Still, there were significant direct incentives. The state promised $22,000 for each new Amazon job on the condition that the average worker salary for those new jobs is $150,000, annually. Those incentives were about $550 million for 25,000 projected jobs.

Arlington County also promised Amazon a cut of its hotel-tax revenue on the theory that hotel occupancies would increase significantly once Amazon builds out its campus. That incentive, projected initially at about $23 million, is dependent on how many square feet of office space Amazon occupies in the county.

Suzanne Clark, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, said state officials are not concerned about Amazon filling its commitments. The total of 8,000 workers now employed at the new headquarters is already running about 3,000 ahead of what was expected at this point, she said.

She said no incentive money has been paid out yet to Amazon. The company is scheduled to submit its first application for payment on April 1, which will be based on the job creation from 2019 through 2022. Amazon would then receive its first grant payment on or after July 1, 2026.

In a statement, Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, who represents the district, called on the company to “promptly update leaders and stakeholders about any new major changes in this project, which remains very important to the capital region.”

Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said during a news briefing Friday that Amazon hasn't earned any of the performance-based incentives and it has not received any funds from the county. He said it’s unclear how long the delay might be, but it's “not really disappointing” since officials there had initially projected the buildout to be completed by 2035. Amazon had previously said it planned to complete the project by 2025.

“Amazon is still very much committed — as we understand it — to certainly fulfilling all of their plans and obligations within the window that was envisioned when they struck the deal to come here,” Dorsey said.

Dorsey shared the company notified him about the pause in advance of releasing the information to the public. He said Amazon didn't provide a reason for the delay, but it wasn’t challenging to guess it was tied to the economic uncertainty in the county.

“They are really trying to take a pause and think about this consciously. And make decisions that not only make sense in light of current conditions but expected future conditions.”

___

Barakat reported from Falls Church, Virginia.

Haleluya Hadero And Matthew Barakat, The Associated Press

SNC-Lavalin launches strategic review, tries to put cash-draining contracts behind it

Fri, March 3, 2023



MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is eyeing an asset selloff as the company continues to pivot away from cash-draining fixed-price construction contracts and sharpen its game as a pure-play engineering firm.

SNC will undertake a "strategic review to optimize our portfolio of businesses," CEO Ian Edwards told analysts on an earnings call Friday.

He highlighted Linxon, a joint venture with Hitachi Energy that focuses on electrical substations.

"The first thing we need to do with the Linxon business is get it back to profitability, which we believe we can. And the second is to review all options. I mean, nothing's off the table," Edwards said.

He pointed to the company's capital segment, whose holdings include a seven per cent stake in the 407 toll road near Toronto.

As it disposes of its fixed-price contracts and improves free cash flow, "perhaps the importance of the 407 becomes less," Edwards said.

"I wouldn't say it's in the review immediately, but there will be a time when it's in the review."

The engineering firm reported a $54.4-million loss from continuing operations for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $15.3 million in the last three months of 2021.

Edwards said the company's challenges with so-called lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) projects were largely behind it.

Under his stewardship since June 2019, SNC-Lavalin has shifted its focus to engineering and consulting services and away lump-sum projects — fixed-price contracts under which companies must pay for any cost overruns themselves. It also sold off its flagging oil and gas businesses by August 2021.

However, the company faced tough questions during the call with financial analysts whether that cash drain was truly in the rear-view mirror, with one pointing to the interminable Eglinton light rail line in Toronto that has been under construction since 2011.

"You've been 90, 95 per cent complete ... for three or four quarters now and suffered writedowns along the way. So what's changed such that we're going to see that backlog actually go to zero and this thing finally be put to bed?" Canaccord Genuity analyst Yuri Lynk asked.

Edwards said that with construction work virtually done, the associated problems — supply chain disruption, cost overruns due to inflation, labour disruption — are also in the past. Remaining work falls under "professional services" — systems testing, driver training, safety permits, regulatory approvals — and should involve fewer snarls, he said.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Ottawa's Trillium Line and the greater Montreal area’s REM light-rail network extension — work on the latter is three-quarters' complete, SNC said — are the three major fixed-price contracts that bore the bulk of the company's $150.2-million loss in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in its LSTK segment last quarter.

The company also faces fresh accusations from the union representing its engineers, which says the firm was surveilling employee emails.

The Society of Professional Engineers and Associates says that emails between union members and union staff prompted an automatic "out of office" reply from an SNC manager who had not been included in the correspondence.

"In other words, it appears that private emails between union members and SPEA staff were being automatically forwarded to (SNC) Labour Relations. This was only discovered because of the 'out of office' feature," the union stated in a filing to the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

The accusation comes as part of a pair of unfair labour practice complaints to the board, which are are ongoing.

SNC-Lavalin did not immediately respond to questions about the complaints.

SNC's engineering segment churned out sturdy numbers, boosting its backlog 24 per cent year from the year before to a quarterly record of $4.66 billion. The segment accounted for 65 per cent of the company's $1.90-billion revenue. The total marked a drop from $1.94 billion in the same three months the year before.

Edwards said he sees potential in the massive funding injection from the U.S. government via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

“We see a lot of it flowing through the transport side. We're seeing some of it now flow through the energy transition side. And we're also seeing quite a bit of it flow into what I would call water and environmental programs — not just water quality but flood defense, remediation, drainage.”

He said SNC needs to expand its presence from “only a handful of states” to establish beachheads across many more.

Edwards also noted renewed enthusiasm for nuclear energy in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered a full-blown energy crisis last year.

“The resurgence of nuclear new-build power as a genuine green power and an alternative to other forms of green power is becoming a real realization to governments,” he said, calling the shift “dramatic.”

He highlighted fresh possibilities for SNC, citing a design-build deal signed in January for a small modular reactor at Ontario’s Darlington nuclear plant.

“Clearly the industry is about to take off and launch into a pretty fabulous opportunity, particularly for SNC-Lavalin.”

On an adjusted basis, SNC's professional services and project management operations posted a loss of 19 cents per diluted share in its fourth quarter compared with a loss of 15 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The figure was 187 per cent below analyst expectations of 22 cents per diluted share in adjusted earnings, according to financial markets firm Refinitiv.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SNC)

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

American Airlines, flight attendants union seek mediation in contract negotiations

Fri, March 3, 2023

An American Airlines flight attendant looks out the window prior to take off from La Guardia airport as she sits in a jump seat in New York

CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Airlines and its flight attendants union on Friday jointly applied for federal mediation in contract negotiations.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents over 23,000 American flight attendants, said the decision to seek mediation is intended to move contract negotiations forward.

The current round of negotiations started in January 2020 but was paused at the height of the pandemic. Talks resumed in June 2021.

While the two sides have met regularly over the past few months, APFA said they still have "substantive" disagreements over many "important" issues, without elaborating.

American Airlines said it welcomed the assistance from the National Mediation Board (NMB) to "maintain the positive momentum" in the negotiations.

The NMB is a government agency that is entrusted with maintaining an uninterrupted flow of commerce in the airline and railway industries through representation, mediation and arbitration services.

It is expected to assign a mediator who will set the timing and location of the negotiations. The mediator, however, cannot compel either party to agree to contract terms.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

Canada environment minister 'deeply concerned' about Imperial Oil tailings leak

Fri, March 3, 2023 
By Nia Williams

(Reuters) -Canada's environment minister on Friday said he was "deeply concerned" about a leak of toxic tailings water from Imperial Oil's Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta that has been going on for months.

Federal environment minister Steven Guilbeault's comments came a day after the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, a local Indigenous community downstream from the Kearl site, accused Imperial and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) of failing to protect the public.

Industrial wastewater containing toxins including arsenic and dissolved iron has been seeping from tailings ponds at the 240,000 barrel-per-day Kearl oil sands site since at least May last year.

In early February, Imperial reported a separate leak of more than 5,000 cubic metres of tailings water from one of its holding ponds, prompting the AER to issue an environmental protection order.

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said they were not informed about the leaks until after the spill last month.

"We need to see a clear remediation plan from the company and to better understand the apparent failures of communication for the notification of this spill," Guilbeault said in a statement, adding his first thoughts were for the health and well-being of affected Indigenous communities.

Guilbeault said federal enforcement officers will carry out an independent assessment to determine next steps under Canada's Fisheries Act.

The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has advised people not to eat any wild meat harvested downstream of the Kearl site after May 2022.

Chief Adam said they were concerned Imperial may not have adequate procedures or infrastructure to contain its tailings and called for a full investigation.

"This does not appear to be a simple accident, but a systemic failure of Imperial's tailing ponds," he said in a statement. "Both Imperial and the AER failed to give notice or take action to keep the public and Indigenous communities safe."

Calgary-based Imperial, which is majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp, said the issues seem to be related to gaps within the seepage interception system.

Jamie Long, Imperial's vice-president of oil sands mining, said the AER recently approved a series of plans to implement additional measures ahead of spring snowmelt, and the company is putting in place additional monitoring and pumping wells.

Imperial will also take steps to improve its communications with Indigenous communities, Long said.

"It was always our intent to share our findings when we had more definitively determined the cause and planned actions," he added.

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by David Gregorio)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Lawyers for ex-Fox execs attack star witness as FIFA corruption trial closes

Jack Queen
Fri, March 3, 2023 a

 A long exposure shows FIFA's logo near its headquarters in Zurich

By Jack Queen

(Reuters) - Lawyers for two former 21st Century Fox executives accused of bribing South American soccer officials assailed the credibility of the government’s star witness on Friday, as their seven-week trial draws to a close.

Carlos Martinez and Hernan Lopez are charged with wire and securities fraud conspiracy for allegedly scheming to pay tens of millions of dollars in bribes to secure lucrative broadcasting rights for international soccer tournaments. Cooperating witness Alejandro Burzaco testified that his former business partners knew about and approved the bribes.

A lawyer for Martinez told jurors in Brooklyn federal court on Friday that Burzaco ran the scheme in secret and falsely accused his client in hopes of getting a lighter sentence as part of his deal with prosecutors.

“Cooperation agreements aren’t magic wands,” lawyer Steven McCool said. “They don’t turn liars into truth-tellers.”

A lawyer for Burzaco, who has yet to be sentenced, said in a statement that his client has been "truthful and consistent" and that it was "absurd" to suggest he was lying in his "highly corroborated" testimony.

The case is part of a sweeping corruption probe of global soccer and its governing body, FIFA. The investigation has led to scores convictions since U.S. and international authorities made their first arrests in 2015.

During her closing rebuttal, prosecutor Kaitlin Farrell said Burzaco’s testimony was “devastating” but disputed his centrality to the case, describing him as a guide through the corrupt world of international soccer.

“This is a document case that has a narrator,” Farrell said.

Over the seven-week trial, jurors saw heaps of emails, contracts and business records that prosecutors say reveal a years-long scheme to bribe top officials at CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing body.

The defense argued that none of the documents directly implicated Martinez or Lopez and said Burzaco’s stories of meetings where the three men discussed the bribes were fiction.

“Burzaco had nothing to gain and everything to lose by bringing Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez in (on the scheme),” said David Sarratt, an attorney for Lopez.

Full Play Group SA, a co-defendant in the case, is also accused of bribing soccer officials. The Argentina-based sports marketing company’s lawyers have argued bribery is an entrenched part of doing business in South America and therefore not fraudulent activity.

Jurors are set to begin deliberating on Monday.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Civil rights audit at Google proposes better tackling of hate speech, misinformation

In recent years, human rights groups like Amnesty International have accused big tech firms such as Google of not prioritising rights issues. ― AFP pic

Saturday, 04 Mar 2023 

WASHINGTON, March 4 ― Google yesterday released an audit that examined how its policies and services impacted civil rights, and recommended the tech giant take steps to tackle misinformation and hate speech, following pressure by advocates to hold such a review.

The disclosure by the company came after the Washington Post reported earlier yesterday that Google tapped an outside law firm to conduct a civil rights review. Law firm WilmerHale was tasked with carrying out the assessment.

The review released yesterday recommended that Google, especially YouTube, review its hate speech and harassment policies to address issues such as intentional misgendering or deadnaming of individuals and “adapt to changing norms regarding protected groups.”

The review also said that to better tackle misinformation related to elections, the company should ensure that employees with language fluency are more involved in enforcement actions instead of relying on translation.

Google should also consider developing additional metrics to track the speed and efficiency with which it removes ads on election-related misinformation, including imposing higher penalties and permanent suspension in the case of repeat offenders, the review added.

“We are committed to constantly improving, and that includes efforts to strengthen our approaches to civil and human rights. To help guide us, we conducted and released a voluntary civil rights audit of our policies, practices, and products,” Chanelle Hardy, head of civil rights at Google, said in an emailed statement on Friday.

In recent years, human rights groups like Amnesty International have accused big tech firms such as Google of not prioritising rights issues.

“The companies' surveillance-based business model is inherently incompatible with the right to privacy and poses a threat to a range of other rights including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of thought, and the right to equality and non-discrimination,” Amnesty International had said in a 2019 report on Google and Facebook.

 ― Reuters

Google taps law firm to conduct civil rights review - Washington Post

Fri, March 3, 2023 

A Google LLC logo is seen at the Google offices in the Chelsea section of New York City

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google has tapped an outside law firm to review how its services and policies impact civil rights and racial equity, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The civil rights audit has been months in the making and is set to examine how the company's diversity and inclusion policies and approach to content moderation may affect marginalized communities, including at its subsidiary YouTube, the newspaper said. The company has hired WilmerHale, a prominent law firm, to carry out the assessment, the report added.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Ismail Shakil)

U.S. details $6 bln in pledges for climate, ocean investments


March 03, 2023 — 03:18 pm EST

Written by Milagro Vallecillos and Brendan O'Boyle for Reuters ->

PANAMA CITY, March 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Friday gave details on $6 billion in funding commitments around the world to protect oceans and fight climate change.

The amount was first announced Thursday by Washington's climate envoy John Kerry at an oceans conference in Panama and encompasses 77 different commitments, the U.S. State Department said in a press release on Friday.

The total includes some $3 billion in climate resilience and climate research commitments that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last year, according to the State Department.

The commitments also include more than $665 million for sustainable fisheries and more than $200 million tackling marine pollution.


"The climate crisis and the ocean crisis are one and the same. We cannot fully address one without the other," Kerry said Thursday at the "Our Ocean 2023" conference, which brought together private and public sector representatives from over 190 countries.

Of the 77 commitments, 30 are directed at climate change, amounting to about $5 billion of the total.

Some of the pledges still require authorization by the U.S. Congress.

Washington's announcement comes alongside the European Union's announcement Thursday of commitments worth 816.5 million euros ($867.45 million).

(Reporting by Milagro Vallecillos in Panama City and Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

India's top court orders probe of Adani business group

Thu, March 2, 2023 


NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Thursday ordered an expert committee to investigate any regulatory failures related to the country's second-largest conglomerate, the Adani Group.

The investigation was prompted by allegations made by U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research in a report that accused Adani companies of engaging in market manipulation and other fraudulent practices.

Shares in the group's flagship, Adani Enterprises, and other affiliated companies have lost tens of billions of dollars in market value since Hindenburg issued its report.

The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing, defending itself against the allegations in a 413 page rebuttal. In a tweet Thursday, it welcomed the court order.

"It will bring finality in a time-bound manner. Truth will prevail,” the company said.

The expert committee will submit its findings to the Supreme Court within two months, said Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala.

The top court also directed the government-run Securities and Exchange Board of India to investigate whether there had been a violation of rules or manipulation of stock prices by the Adani Group.

The court acted on petitions filed by some activists and lawyers.

Apart from investigating allegations against Adani, the expert committee is to suggest measures to improve regulatory oversight and protections for investors.

Adani Enterprises canceled a share offering meant to raise $2.5 billion last month after Hindenburg issued its report and its share price plummeted.

Opposition lawmakers blocked parliamentary proceedings last month demanding a probe into the business dealings of coal tycoon Gautam Adani, who is said to enjoy close ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

___

This article corrects the word used in the company's tweet to “Truth” from “Trust.”

Ashok Sharma, The Associated Press

As Adani Group saga casts a shadow over Modi and India’s economy, will both emerge unscathed?

Questions have been raised about India’s regulatory standards and levels of corporate governance following the Adani Group’s stock wipeout

Modi’s opponents will seek to use the episode to hurt his electoral chances, analysts say – but the implications reach far beyond politics


Biman Mukherji
Published 4 Mar, 2023

The Adani affair raises broader questions about regulatory standards in India’s markets and could hurt Prime Minister Narendra Modi electorally. Photo: Reuters

Gautam Adani’s fall from grace as Asia’s richest man was swift and sharp. Since short-seller Hindenburg’s price-rigging allegations in late January, shares of the billionaire’s conglomerate have halved in price and seven of the group’s listed firms have lost US$140 billion in market value.

The Adani Group’s stock wipeout hit some of India’s biggest ports, airports and power stations, raising broader questions about regulatory standards in Indian markets and casting a shadow over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reign ahead of crucial state elections.

Rahul Gandhi, a leading figure in the main opposition Congress party, has accused Modi’s government of advancing the Adani Group’s business interests – a charge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denies
While the accusation has not as yet triggered a public backlash against the government, India’s Supreme Court on Thursday set up a six-member panel to investigate allegations against the Adani Group, including the exposure of and risk to public money through public-sector undertakings. Opposition leaders have demanded a parliamentary probe as well.

Activists from the youth wing of India’s Congress party hold placards and shout slogans as they protest outside the regional headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India in New Delhi last month. Photo: AFP


The stock wipeout hurt the middle class, too. Shares in the country’s largest insurer – the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which holds around 4 per cent of flagship company Adani Enterprises – took a beating in the aftermath. About one-quarter of India’s population have investments and policies with LIC.
Analysts say the BJP is likely to be hard-pressed over the issue in state elections this year, three of which were held this week. Defeat could mar the ruling party’s prospects in next year’s general election, where it seeks a historic third mandate.

“It has been only a month since the [Hindenburg] report came out and … more and more people will be talking about the very fact that the shares have fallen so much,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of the book Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.

“There is a very strong possibility that this will have a negative fallout on the BJP. At the moment, it has not caught the public eye, but there is a history of corporate scams having a negative impact on the ruling establishment,” he said.

Adani Group seeks to reassure Hong Kong investors after short-seller allegations
28 Feb 2023


Still, “the opposition has a lot of work to do” to make the issue relatable to voters, Mukhopadhyay said. “They have to take it up in a language which is understood by people.”

Yet the Adani affair is likely to invite scrutiny of regulators’ earnestness in protecting small investors, especially from the millions of India’s young people who have flocked to invest in stock markets over the past decade rather than keep their savings in banks.

Modi’s popularity tested

The episode could prove to be the opposition’s strongest weapon against Modi’s government if capitalised upon, analysts say.

“Even before the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group came out, our surveys in the last couple of years show that people believe that the government has been more pro-business rather than [pro-]the common man,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, founder of research firm C-Voter.

He said much of the negative impact on Modi’s government had been mitigated by a popular budget, unveiled last month, which offered a slew of tax breaks – including raising the level after which income tax is payable from 500,000 rupees to 700,000 rupees (from US$6,060 to US$8,490).

“Effectively, the government has bought some insurance for itself,” Deshmukh said.

Conventional wisdom says this kind of thing should be working against the ruling par
Meanwhile, the approval rating of his main rival, the Congress’ Gandhi, has improved to 15 per cent from a low of 9 per cent in September last year, bolstered by his United India March a 3,500km cross-country trek to challenge the Hindu nationalist BJP.

But Gandhi’s gain in popularity had come at the expense of other leading figures, including his mother Sonia, rather than eaten into Modi’s share, Deshmukh said.

Narendra Modi speaks at a global investors summit in Lucknow last month. The Indian prime minister’s popularity has appeared resilient amid the Adani Group affair. Photo: AP

“Conventional wisdom says this kind of thing [the Adani crisis] should be working against the ruling party, but Modi has been a gravity defier in popularity ratings. Somewhere down the line, public anger and their vote are not going in the same direction,” he said.

“It is not resulting in an anti-incumbency sentiment probably because personal trust in Modi has superseded everything else.”

Gandhi’s march may have salvaged some of his own party’s plummeting fortunes, but it failed to unite opposition leaders to challenge Modi. Only nine of 23 “like-minded parties” invited by Congress turned up to join an event marking the end of the march in Kashmir at the end of January.

A challenge for regulators

How India deals with the allegations against the Adani Group will have implications far more significant than politics alone, analysts say, as Modi tries to woo foreign investors to advance his goal of growing the country into a US

“The Adani crisis comes at a time when businesses are looking at diversifying their supply chains into India, and [it] could affect how foreign investors see the country,” said Bernard Aw, chief APAC economist at Coface, a global credit insurer.

“An official investigation into the allegations is important to restore investor confidence,” he said. “The forming of a joint parliamentary committee to investigate could also help.”

Opposition leaders have made little progress so far in their demands for a parliamentary probe.

India’s Adani hits back at Hindenburg report, says it made all disclosures
30 Jan 2023


The Adani Group issued a detailed rebuttal of the Hindenburg report, which it called a “calculated attack on India”, but analysts say it would be foolish for policymakers to let themselves be swayed by emotions as the matter needs to be investigated by a regulator.

Hindenburg Research is a short seller – meaning it thrives on selling stocks and buying them back cheaper later – and its charges are likely to have been financially motivated, analysts say.

It has attacked other companies in the past but the Adani Group’s staggering market loss was without precedent globally, said Salvatore Cantale, a finance professor at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“I think the Indian regulators should take stock of this and say, ‘hey, is there anything we can do with this? [Is there] any merit in this case?’,” he said.

The Adani Group’s assets range from power infrastructure to ports and airports, and represent about 6 per cent of India’s existing renewable energy capacity. Photo: Reuters


India’s economy, already the fifth largest globally, is projected by the International Monetary Fund to remain the fastest-growing major economy in the world this year. But its corporate governance lagged behind its rising economic power, Cantale said.


“It’s an important moment for India to step up corporate governance … It means not only better returns, but also … better protection of minority shareholders and more accountability for its board of directors and executive directors,” he said.


India’s market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has said that it is looking into the Hindenburg allegations, while the Reserve Bank of India has tried to allay concerns about retail banks’ exposure to Adani stocks.

But analysts say Indian regulators need to move swiftly and be transparent.

“The clearer the regulator is about the action it will take [then] the more will investors – and more so foreign investors – have trust.”

Wider economic effects

Foreign investors have pulled their money out of Indian markets in recent weeks, partly because of concerns about the Adani issue and Indian shares being overvalued, with the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange index declining by close to 7 per cent since December.

Since the start of the year, no company has launched an initial public offering, in contrast to the 17 that did in November and December. “We were expecting that activity to continue into this year,” said Pranav Haldea, managing director of Prime Database, a capital-market data provider.

To shore up the economy, create more jobs and boost investments in energy, roads and other infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised the government’s capital expenditure by 33 per cent to 10 trillion rupees (US$121 billion) in the budget for the next financial year starting from April 1.

Meanwhile, the Adani Group was facing questions about its reduced ability to raise capital and refinance debt in the short term due to the recent “adverse developments”, said Abhishek Tyagi, vice-president at Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s ratings recently changed its outlook on four Adani companies to negative from stable in the wake of the stocks slide.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raised the government’s capital expenditure by 33 per cent to shore up the economy. Photo: Reuters

The group has told creditors that it secured a US$3 billion loan from a sovereign wealth fund that could be increased to US$5 billion, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The management also said that it expected to prepay or repay share-backed loans worth between US$690 million and US$790 million by the end of March, according to the report.

US boutique investment firm GQG Partners Inc has bought shares worth US$1.87 billion in four Adani Group companies, marking the first major investment in the Indian conglomerate since a short seller’s critical report sparked a stock rout.

Ten Adani Group stocks closed higher on Wednesday for the first time since the Hindenburg report’s release in late January, but bearish sentiment in global markets means it is too early to say whether they are out of the woods yet, traders say.

The Adani Group’s share-market volatility has also created uncertainty around India’s clean-energy ambitions.

Two years ago, Modi vowed that half the nation’s energy needs would come from renewable sources by 2030, an important step to reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2070. Subsequently, Adani unveiled plans to spend US$70 billion on green investments, such as making electric batteries and solar panels, and producing green hydrogen.

Adani Group woes threaten Modi’s dream of a self-reliant India
16 Feb 2023



“The Adani Group is unlikely to be able to access any material amount of new capital to complete the proposed green-investment pipeline beyond the existing new facilities already financed and under development,” said Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance.

The group’s assets represented about 6 per cent of India’s existing renewable-energy capacity, he said, adding that other companies such as NTPC, Tata Renewables, Greenko and Renew Power could also help India decarbonise.

The government’s recent boost to capital expenditure could help support its green push, analysts say, but it will also rely on strong private partners.

“I expect the government’s commitment to infrastructure will continue,” said Biswajit Dhar, an independent economist. “But the big question is whether they will be able to replace the Adanis if their stocks really sour.”




Biman Mukherji
 has more than two decades of reporting and editing experience in Asia, focusing on Indian and Asia business.

Taiwan's TSMC to recruit 6,000 engineers in 2023

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, will recruit more than 6,000 new staff in 2023, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

The hiring drive comes despite a global downturn in the chip industry.

According to TSMC, the company will seek young engineers with associates, bachelor's, masters's or doctorate degrees in electrical engineering or software-related fields, in cities all across Taiwan.

The average overall salary of a new engineer with a master's degree is T$2 million ($65,578.07), the company added.

A decline in demand for electronics and high inventory levels following a shortage of some chips have led to a downturn for the semiconductor industry.

Since late 2022, a number of chip companies around the world have reined in investments.

Intel Corp recently announced that it would cut payments to mid-level staff and executives from 5% to 25%.

TSMC's dominance in making some of the most advanced chips for high-end customers such as Apple Inc has shielded it from downturn.

The company slightly reduced its annual capital expenditure for 2023 and predicts a first-quarter revenue drop, but has said it expects demand to pick up by the second half of this year.

($1 = 30.4980 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei, writing by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Same-Sex Laws Must Meet Needs Of Natural Justice

The real issue is ‘acceptance’. In a society like India, where same-sex relationships are looked down upon, forcing acceptance from the government or the judiciary is of little consequence.

A male couple looking forward to a better and hopeful future together. Artwork by Balbir Krishan

Gajanan Khergamker

UPDATED: 04 MAR 2023 8:50 AM

The Supreme Court (SC) has transferred to itself several petitions pending in various high courts seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage as there was broad consensus among the petitioners to shift the cases to the Apex court for an authoritative ruling on whether the marriages could be brought within the ambit of the Special Marriage Act of 1954. This is considered the most obvious sequel to the 2018 Constitution Bench judgement in the Navtej Johar case in which Section 377 was read down by the SC. 

Batches of petitions filed in the Delhi, Kerala and Gujarat High Courts include one filed by Supriyo Chakraborty and Abhay Dang saying the non-recognition of same-sex marriage amounted to discrimination that struck at the root of dignity and self-fulfilment of LGBTQI+ couples.

Another filed by Utkarsh Saxena and Ananya Kotia challenges the mandatory requirement to issue public notice and objection to marriage contemplated under the Special Marriage Act and the Foreign Marriage Act, which they maintain, expose same-sex couples to the risks of ostracism, persecution, and violence. 

Saxena and Kotia, who have been living together for 14 years, said such provisions act as a deterrent to already vulnerable same-sex couples, who are forced to publicise their relationship and risk ostracism, persecution, and violence.

Sections 5-9 of the Special Marriage Act require a notice period of 30 days to be provided to the Marriage Officer of the District in which one of the parties has resided. “Any person” is vested with the authority during such notice period to object to the solemnisation of the marriage.

Foreign Marriage Act’s Sections 5-10 also set out an identical “notice and objections” regime.

The petitioners contend these provisions impose undue burdens upon parties’ right to intimate decision-making and constitute a disproportionate invasion of citizens’ right to privacy.

The plea further seeks to make the provisions of the Special Marriage Act and Foreign Marriage Act gender-neutral and apply to all relationships.

A few pivotal issues that are sought to be addressed through the Supreme Court include, firstly, whether same-sex marriages can be brought under the Special Marriage Act; secondly, whether 'issues of notices’ and 'objections' present a 'disproportionate' invasion of a citizen's privacy and thirdly, whether the provisions of Special Marriage Act and Foreign Marriage Act can be made gender-neutral to apply to all.

Broadly speaking, unless the Supreme Court addresses issues pertinent and with far-reaching repercussions to the community, the processes of litigation will be shrouded with short-sighted analysis and attempts for short-term validation that fail the test of time. Like was the case with Section 377 fought tooth and nail only to be, and rightly too, read down by the Supreme Court and not ‘struck down’ as widely (mis)understood. If then, the issues pertinent to the stakeholders, such as marriage, adoption, guardianship, etc., were brought before the court, they could be addressed back in 2018.

However, again the matters before the Court will have it, interpreting the law and not making law. So, for one, the Special Marriage Act was, on the face of it, created to facilitate marriages between men and women of different religions who could not get married in accordance with their 'Personal' laws. To stretch it to beyond the legislator's intended meaning, would be to amend the definitions as laid down by the legislators and 'make law,' which the Supreme Court seem less likely to attempt. 

Now, to render the entire Special Marriage Act unconstitutional as an alternative, and getting the Apex court to do so instead of a first preference may not work. The 'issue in contention' before the Supreme Court must be to analyse the Constitutionality of the law and not of an ‘issue as an option’. There is already an inbuilt Presumption of Constitutionality associated with the legislation laid down. Courts usually examine the viability and do not declare the law unconstitutional.

Secondly, the need for a 'notice' and a provision for 'objection' is derived from the realm of natural justice and an extension of 'justice, equity and good conscience.' In cricket, the batter must be in position and ready to face the ball before the bowler releases the ball; failing this, it is called a 'no-ball' by the umpire, even if it lands up toppling the bales. A notice, usually, even precedes an arrest to provide the accused an opportunity to defend himself. Why does even the court issue a notice to the parties in question before passing an order or a judgement?

To do away with the procedures of notice and objections, as laid down in law to help protect the rights of an 'existing partner' unaware of the 'new alliance' and quash attempts to change equations and create liabilities, is wrong. It does a disservice to the very institution of marriage, even to same-sex individuals. Now, as for the issue of privacy being affected adversely following the compliance with notice and objection, aren't the same-sex individuals seeking to publicise their own alliance by registering it with the State? 

The real issue is ‘acceptance’. In a society like India, where same-sex relationships are looked down upon, forcing acceptance from the government or the judiciary is of little consequence. Social acceptance requires reform and not amendment in legislation. Without a doubt, there is a need for it and a long-pending one too at that.

And finally, comes the new-found need for gender-neutral marriage laws and gender-neutral laws on adoption, guardianship, divorce, alimony etc. The laws on all things reaching out to varied genders and sexualities and affecting them directly or obliquely need to change; and, that includes 'all' laws. Not just those related to same-sex marriage or stakeholders of same-sex alliances. 

Because that would be like striking down Section 377 which stayed and rightly so. The Section, perceived as being an archaic homophobic law is, paradoxically, the only one available in the Indian Penal Code to provide penal action against same-sex offenders! 

Section 375 even with its expansions through an amendment to include aggravated offences against minor girls, aggravated punishments and expansion in the definition of 'penetration,' is restricted to rape offences by males against females only.

(The author is based out of Mumbai. He is the Founder of think tank DraftCraft International, the Founding Editor of the news portal The Draft, the Founding Solicitor of The Chamber Practice, and Producer at DraftCraft Films)