VICTIMS OF SLAVERY

have suffered this, please contact us, and we will provide help/ counselling. We assure you of confidentiality in our response,” the High Commission tweeted.

Five people — Mathew Issac, 32, Jinu Cherian, 30, Eldhose Cherian, 25, Eldhose Kuriachan, 25, and Jacob Liju, 47 — are suspected of recruiting and exploiting vulnerable Indian students working in care homes across North Wales and have been handed a Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order (STRO).

All five, originally from Kerala, were arrested by GLAA between December 2021 and May 2022 and while investigations remain ongoing, there have been no criminal charges brought against them at this stage.

Colleagues at the care homes where the Indian students were working reported that they looked “tired” and were “smelling”, and they saw them eating leftovers.

ing investors and facilitating a stable development of the securities market so that the controversy such as the one that hit the Adani Group does not result in a massive drain on the capital market and losses for individuals in future.

“The point that really bothers us, is how do we protect the interest of the Indian investors? The petitions have alleged this to be a result of short selling (by Hindenburg founder Nathan Anderson and his associates). If this was happening in small scale, nobody bothers. But if the total loss of Indian investors goes up to several lakhs of crores, how do we ensure we have a robust mechanism in place going in future?” the bench asked the SG.

To be sure, the decline in the market value of shares by lakhs of crores does not always mean investors have actually lost that much money. The losses are a function of the price at which the investors bought the shares and also corresponds to the extent of heir holding. In the case of the Adani Group’s listed companies, their low free-float (proportion in the hands of public investors) means this was likely low.

“We have indicated to SG our concern with regard to ensuring that regulatory mechanism within the country is duly strengthened so that Indian investors are protected against sudden volatility which has been witnessed in recent two weeks... The response can contain existing regulatory framework, the relevant causal factors, the need for putting into place robust mechanism to protect investors,” the court said in its order.

Hindenburg’s report, released on January 24, claimed “brazen accounting fraud” and “stock manipulation” by the Gautam Adani-led group. Though Adani Enterprises rejected the report as “unresearched” and “maliciously mischievous”, the Hindenburg report triggered a massive rout of

Adani stocks and market value, with the flagship firm losing over $120bn in days, forcing the cancellation of a $2.5 billion FPO after it had scraped through.

During the hearing, the bench observed that it was mindful about “treading with caution” in a matter like this because “stock markets work on sentiments” and the court could only have a limited role of facilitating a dialogue so that a “better mechanism” to protect the investors could be evolved.

“Can we contemplate having an expert committee, possibly from banking, investment area, headed by a wise guiding force in form of a retired judge? We are just thinking out aloud... It’s a new world and capital inflows are seamless. It can happen again... this broad body can think of modification of statutory of regulatory provisions which ultimately government can take a call on,” the bench said.

Mehta, on his part, said that Sebi has been “on top of the matter” and has been looking into it from all angles of statutory and regulatory regime. He assured the court that all possible measures are being contemplated, lamenting that the trigger, the Hindenburg report, was outside the territorial jurisdiction of the country.

The bench, in its order, clarified that its observation shall not be a reflection on the discharge of statutory function by Sebi or any other statutory authority, and observed that the exercise proposed to be undertaken by the court may also look at a “wider role” for the market regulator given the fact that the stock markets have changed significantly over the years.

“India today is not how it used to be in 1990s and stock market is also not the place only for the rich. But today, the stock market is also for the wide area of middle class... you can come back and let us know what will help the process along,” it told Mehta while fixing the next hearing on Monday.

The court was hearing the PILs filed separately by advocates Visha Tiwari and ML Sharma related to the American shortseller Hindenburg Research’s report.

Tiwari’s plea focused on the “monumental loss to investors” and claimed the Hindenberg report needs to be investigated to ascertain if a calculated attempt was made to tarnish the country’s image and impact its economy. The lawyer demanded a courtmonitored probe.

Sharma, on the other hand, questioned Sebi’s failure to suspend trading of Adani Group shares soon after the report came out and demanded a criminal prosecution of the short sellers.

The fallout of the Hidenburg report has since triggered a massive row, with the Opposition targeting the ruling BJP over alleged links between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his government, and the Adani Group.

The government has distanced itself, pointing to regulatory bodies capable of taking required action. Last week Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman referred to SBI and LIC statements that said their exposures were “well within limits”.

ADANI CRASH

MODI AT U.P. SUMMIT

ascending course of India’s economy that has not only shown resilience but also rapid recovery in the face of the pandemic,” Modi said.

“India, in real terms, has started moving on the path of speed and scale. As the basic needs of a very large segment have been met, they are thinking ahead of the next step. This is the biggest reason for trust and faith in India,” the PM added.

The state’s chief minister Yogi Adityanath said UP will play the role of a growth engine for India, imbibing Modi’s vision of “reform, perform, transform”. He added that the summit had witnessed the signing of 18,645 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) involving investment proposals of about ₹32.92 lakh crore in the state.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel and deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak were in attendance at the summit, along with captains of the industry such as Kumar Mangalam Birla, Mukesh Ambani, and N Chandrasekharan.

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra also met chief minister Yogi Adityanath before the summit.

In his 28-minute speech, the PM said India showed resilience and recovery during the pandemic due to the growing selfconfidence of the people. He referred to large allocations for infrastructure and opportunities for investors in health, education and social infrastructure sectors in the Union Budget and said India had taken the path of green growth.

“What exactly happened that in this moment of global crisis, India not only showed resilience but also recovered quickly? The biggest reason is the rising faith of Indians in themselves, and self-confidence,” he said.

“A huge change is being seen in the thinking and aspirations of Indian society and the youth of India. Every citizen of the country wants to tread the path of development and wishes to witness a Viksit Bharat (developed India) in the times to come,” he added.

The PM said social aspirations have become a driving force for the government which is providing impetus to development.

“Don’t forget, you are in a state with a population of 25 crore (250 million). Uttar Pradesh has more potential than many other countries. Aspirations of people are pushing governments for development. An aspirational society is waiting for you in Uttar Pradesh, just like in India. Uttar Pradesh has got the benefits of the work done in the country on the development of social, physical and digital infrastructure,” he said. Modi argued that UP was once associated with poor law and order and the unwanted tag of being a Bimaru state. “Uttar Pradesh, despite having potential, had certain things associated with it. People used to say it is difficult to bring about development in UP, it’s difficult to bring about an improvement in law and order… But in five to six years, Uttar Pradesh has established a new identity. UP is known for good governance, better law and order situation, peace and stability,” said Modi. He said UP’s initiatives were showing results and new opportunities for wealth creators were being developed. “Today, UP has become a source of hope and inspiration,” he added.

Modi also spoke about the rapid strides in the areas of education and skill development in the state. Adityanath said that investments will create 9.2 million job opportunities in the state. Inviting investors to take part in the development of Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister said the state government had made the state’s environment conducive to industrial development by ensuring better law and order and bringing 25 sectoral policies, providing ease of business.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh said any investment was considered a waste in UP in the past but the state had now become the best destination for investment. “Under the leadership of the chief minister (Yogi Adityanath), Uttar Pradesh has lived up to its initials ‘UP’. Now, UP means health up, UP means education up, UP means skill up, UP means infrastructure up, UP means development up, and UP means return on investment up.”

While home minister Amit Shah did not attend the inaugural session of the summit, speaking at a session later he said appropriate care should be taken of MSMEs.

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