Daily Briefing: Pandora probe confirms Adani link to BVI shell firms; latest on Article 370 hearings in SC; and more

The two offshore shell companies registered in British Virgin Islands (BVI), named by Financial Times as vehicles that invested in Adani stocks, are linked to the Adani Group, according to records of offshore corporate service provider Trident Trust accessed by The Indian Express as part of the Pandora Papers investigation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

According to Financial Times, based on documents accessed by Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Network, a global journalists’ network, the two individuals behind these firms were associates of Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani: United Arab Emirates national Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli and Taiwan national Chang Chung-Ling.

Corporate records, accessed by The Indian Express, reveal the web of networks through which office-bearers and employees of Adani companies controlled these two BVI shell companies.

⚡ Only in Express

In the latest edition of the Express series titled ‘At the Steering Wheel: The Road Ahead’, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla writes on the Parliament’s role in a functioning democracy: “In the seven decades of its existence, the Parliament of India has successfully created an elegant symphony of democracy, that rises above the occasional discordant notes.”

🏏 Express at Asia Cup: With KL Rahul, who is recovering from a groin niggle ruled out of group stages of the Asia Cup, India’s team management’s latest experiment would be to make Ishan Kishan bat in the middle-order. 

Though Sanju Samson has travelled with the team as a reserve for Rahul, with the chances of him finding a spot in the World Cup squad – set to be announced on September 5 — looking bleak, the team management is planning to try Kishan in at No 4 or 5. Find out why, with Venkata Krishna B!

📰 From the Front Page

In a surprise announcement on Thursday, the government said a special session of Parliament was being convened from September 18 to September 22. It gave no reason for calling the session which would have five sittings.

While sources said the agenda for the session is not clear yet, there is speculation in the BJP and official circles that the Modi government could go for a big-ticket move like initiating the process for ushering in simultaneous elections in the country or the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Meanwhile, the move set off speculation in the Opposition camp with some leaders wondering whether this was a trial balloon on advancing Lok Sabha elections due in April-May next year. Find out how the government’s announcement impacted the third INDIA-bloc meeting in Mumbai.

🇨🇳 With Beijing yet to confirm if Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to India for the G20 Summit on September 9-10, New Delhi is preparing to host Chinese Premier Li Qiang in case the former is unable to attend. How is India factoring in Xi’s potential absence? How will it affect the joint communique? Read our report to find out.

The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that it is “ready for elections any time now” in Jammu and Kashmir, but it cannot give an exact time frame for grant of statehood to the Union Territory. Catch up with the latest updates from the Article 370 hearings in the Supreme Court here.

👩‍💻 Must read

High implant costs, procuring medicines that are out of hospital’s stock, and running special tests are a few of the glaring gaps that have emerged following a review of implementation of the government’s flagship Ayushman Bharat health scheme by AIIMS-Delhi administration.

As Aditya-L1, India’s first spacecraft meant to study the Sun, gets ready for a launch this Saturday, a group of scientists at Pune’s Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics are nervously waiting for the culmination of their decade-long work. 

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa took a call last week to expand the BRICS grouping from five countries to 1 thus inviting Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to become full members from January 1, 2024. Is the bigger BRICS better too? Read our explainer to find out

⌛And finally

For the next five years, Indian cricket will have a new home on the Viacom 18 network. The media conglomerate, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has won BCCI’s linear and digital rights in an e-auction and the latest deal puts the value of each international match during the cycle at Rs 67.75 crore, up from Rs 60 crore that Star India had paid BCCI in the previous cycle.

🤫 Delhi confidential: On Raksha Bandhan, President Droupadi Murmu had invited children from one of India’s most primitive and vulnerable tribes — the Van Raji tribe from Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh, mostly settled in villages of Kumaon Himalayas, many of them still cave-dwellers. The group of schoolchildren had come from Doon Sanskriti School in Dehradun, an exclusive school for tribal children.

🎧 In the latest episode of 3 Things podcast, we discuss the Dalit professor’s assault at the Banaras Hindu University, India’s mission to the Sun, and the reservations for the OBC community in Gujarat’s local governance.

Until next time,

Arushi Bhaskar and Anamni Gupta