Myanmar charges Reuters reporters with illegally obtaining state secrets
Yangon, July 9 : A Myanmar court on Monday charged two Reuters reporters with breaching a colonial-era law and illegally obtaining state secrets, according to the news agency.
The court approved the plea of the prosecutors to press charges against journalists Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who pleaded not guilty, reports Efe news.
Speaking outside the court in Yangon to members of the media, Wa Lone said: "We just (do) investigative reporting about violation of human rights and corruption in Rakhine state, according to our journalism ethic. We will continue this and face the court. We write from the all different angles. If the police perpetrated injustice, we have to investigated and write."
Dozens of people were outside the court including foreign embassy representatives and the wives of the two journalists.
The court had dismissed the reporters' pleas and the pair could be sentenced to up to 14 years in jail under the Official Secrets Act.
The decision comes after a witness testified during a preliminary hearing that the two journalists were trapped by security forces, who promised the journalists access to confidential documents about a controversial army offensive in the Rakhine state.
The two reporters were working on an investigative article on the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in Rakhine.
The killings were part of a military operation Myanmar launched last year against the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in Myanmar, following a series of attacks by Rohingya rebels on government posts in the region.
The offensive has led to the exodus of 700,000 Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they have been living in overcrowded camps.
According to Doctors Without Borders, at least 6,700 Rohingyas were killed during the offensive.
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Adani touts financial strength, shows can grow without external debt
New Delhi (PTI): Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday touted its financial and credit details of its portfolio companies to investors, showcasing its robust profits and cash flows that can sustain growth without reliance on external debt.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate, which has been hit by an indictment in a US court against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives for allegedly bribing Indian official to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to the investors highlighted its consistently expanding profits and cash flows, which over a period have led to lowering dependence on debt for its growth ambitions.
Equity now accounts for almost two third of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the last six months, the group has invested close to Rs 75,227 crore, against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.
A note was also shared with the investors, along with presentations.
Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani Portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani Portfolio companies had a cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding".
This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.
GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT
In the past, the group has announced plans to invest over Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next ten years.
The Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the last twelve months and is growing over 30 per cent for the past five years. On the basis of this, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next ten years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.
Further, at the portfolio level, there is very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.
Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the last twelve months, which it said is highly stable and hence predictable due to its infrastructure projects, which grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.
Also, existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in 3 years.
Gross assets/investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore, against total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. Asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.
Average cost of borrowing at 8.2 per cent, lowest in the last 5 years, due to upgrade in ratings across group companies, it said.
Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks was Rs 94,400 crore. This stood against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which was parked with Indian banks.
Borrowings from global banks were 27 per cent of total debt.
