Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

The <keyword id="6354977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="Orion">Supreme Court</keyword> is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its order on a batch of PILs on the recent <keyword id="6367820" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="adani-group" source="Orion">Adani Group</keyword> shares crash triggered by the <keyword id="9916845" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="hindenburg-research" source="Orion">Hindenburg Research</keyword>'s fraud allegations. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala is likely to deliver its verdict over setting up of a panel of domain experts for strengthening existing regulatory measures for stock markets. While reserving its order, the top court on February 17 had refused to accept in a sealed cover the Centre's suggestion on a proposed panel of experts. Observing that it wanted full transparency for protection of investors, the top court had also ruled out the possibility of any sitting judge overseeing the functioning of the proposed panel. Stressing that statutory bodies like market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (<keyword id="35210" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SEBI" source="Orion">SEBI</keyword>) are fully equipped and are on job, the central government had expressed apprehension that any unintentional message to the investors that regulatory bodies in India needed monitoring by a panel may have some adverse impact on the flow of money into the country. The Centre had told the bench that it wanted to provide details such as names and the scope of the panel's mandate in a sealed cover . Stock market regulator SEBI, in its note filed in the top court, had indicated it is not in favour of banning short-selling or sale of borrowed shares, and said it is investigating allegations made by a tiny short-seller against the <keyword id="76451" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="Adani" source="Orion">Adani</keyword> Group as well as its share price movements. Till now, four PILs have been filed in the top court on the issue by lawyers M L Sharma, Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and Mukesh Kumar, who claims to be a social activist. Tiwari, in his PIL, sought a direction to the Centre to constitute a committee monitored by a retired apex court judge to inquire into the Hindenburg Research report which has made a slew of allegations against the business conglomerate led by industrialist Gautam Adani. Another PIL filed by advocate M L Sharma sought prosecution of short-seller Nathan Anderson of the US-based Hindenburg Research and his associates in India and the US for allegedly exploiting innocent investors and the "artificial crashing" of the Adani Group's stock value in the market. Congress leader Thakur, in his plea, has sought an investigation under the supervision of a sitting apex court judge against the Adani Group of companies in light of the allegations. The fourth PIL seeks a probe by multiple central government agencies under the supervision of a panel or a former apex court judge against the Adani Group following allegations of fraud and share price manipulation. "Direct appropriate audit (transactional and forensic audits), inquiry and investigation by appropriate agencies such as Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO); Registrar of Companies (RoC); Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI); ED (Directorate of Enforcement) on money-laundering aspect; I-T (Income-Tax Department on aspects of offshore transactions and tax-havens involved and DRI( Department of Revenue Intelligence), " the fourth plea said. Besides seeking a direction to the Centre and its agencies to render cooperation in the probe, the PIL has sought a direction to appoint a retired judge of the apex court or a committee to oversee and monitor the inquiry and investigation . Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate. The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

Adani-Hindenburg row: SC to pronounce order on panel of experts on Thursday

One of the <keyword id="6355791" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PIL" source="Orion">PIL</keyword> petitioners has moved the <keyword id="6354977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court" source="Orion">Supreme Court</keyword> opposing SEBI's plea seeking a six-month extension to complete the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group and lapses in regulatory disclosure, saying the market regulator has already got sufficient time to inspect, examine, collect and seize relevant documents. The <keyword id="6355630" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Securities-and-Exchange-Board-of-India" source="Orion">Securities and Exchange Board of India</keyword> (SEBI) recently moved an application in the top court seeking six more months for ascertaining possible violations related to misrepresentation of financials, circumvention of regulations and/or fraudulent nature of transactions, and completing the exercise. The top court had on March 2 asked SEBI to probe the matter within two months and also set up a panel to look into the protection of Indian investors after a damning report by a US short seller wiped out more than USD 140 billion of the conglomerate's market value. PIL petitioner and lawyer Vishal Tiwari Tuesday filed an application before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud opposing the SEBI's plea, saying it will prolong the probe and cause inordinate delay. “That the Application filed by the respondent (SEBI) may prolong the matter and cause inordinate delay. The ...delay may allow the various corporate entities which are under the umbrella of investigation to manipulate the important data and figures and may cause tampering of evidence present in different shapes and modes,” Tiwari said in his reply. He said SEBI, even before the court ordered a probe, stated it had already begun the investigation and was enquiring into the situation emerging after the Hindenburg report. “When SEBI is already in action prior to the order passed by this court of investigation then it should have got the records and data which are required in the present investigation of several corporate entities and of Adani group,” Tiwari's reply said. The reply said SEBI has not stated in its plea as to who it has appointed to investigate the issue. “The reasons given in the application by SEBI for the extension time of six months are not acceptable because SEBI has already got sufficient time to inspect, examine, collect and cease (sic) the relevant documents, data, information, accounts statements etc. SEBI is trying to make the investigation process endless and delay will grant benefit to the wrong-doer companies and promoters,” it said. If SEBI does not take effective steps expeditiously without delay, then the investors' investments will remain in danger and the wrong-doers will manage to “manipulate or protect themselves by wrong means”, it said, insisting the market regulator should not be given more time for probe. In respect of the investigation related to 12 suspicious transactions, the SEBI has said these are complex and have many sub-transactions. A rigorous investigation of these transactions would require collation of data from various sources along with detailed analysis including verification of submissions made by the companies, it has said. The apex court, while directing the setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge Justice A M Sapre for the assessment of the extant regulatory framework and for making recommendations to strengthen the process, had said it was appropriate to constitute such a panel of experts in order to protect Indian investors against the volatility of the kind which has been witnessed in the recent past. The court-appointed Justice Sapre panel is to be provided assistance by the Centre and other statutory agencies including the SEBI chairperson. The Centre had agreed to the apex court's proposal to set up the committee to go into regulatory regimes. Four PILs have been filed in the top court so far on the issue by lawyers M L Sharma and Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and Mukesh Kumar, who claims to be a social activist. Adani Group's stocks had taken a terrible hit on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including those of fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate. The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies and asserted it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/here-are-the-industries-with-the-highest-labour-market-churn/slidelist/99957941.cms">New jobs for old: Media, govt, tech sectors see highest labour market churn</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/godrej-properties-q4-profit-up-58-to-412-cr/articleshow/99959036.cms">Godrej Properties Q4 profit up 58% to ₹412 cr</a>

Adani-Hindenburg row: PIL petitioner moves SC, opposes Sebi plea for extension of time to complete probe

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6530507" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="tesla-energy">Tesla Energy</keyword> charges customers tens of thousands of dollars for solar roofs.</li><li>Recently <keyword id="107096" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tesla">Tesla</keyword> <keyword id="6357014" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="energy">Energy</keyword> jacked up prices on individual contracts, which shot up by as much as $75,000.</li><li>Insider spoke with 14 Tesla Energy Solar Roof and solar panel customers, many of whom said they were ghosted or sent in circles by <keyword id="169305" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="customer-service">customer service</keyword>.</li></ul>When Matthew Amans signed a contract with Tesla Energy in June, he expected the company to install a sleek Solar Roof that would make his house in California more green.He didn't expect Tesla to bump up the price from $70,000 to $145,000 before the roof was up and ignore his calls to customer service.Amans, a radiology professor at the University of California, San Francisco, was one of many Tesla Energy customers to receive an unexpected email from the company in April <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-is-putting-up-prices-on-solar-roof-tiles-2021-4">jacking up the price of their contracts</a> ahead of installation. The closest thing to an explanation came from Tesla CEO <keyword id="6355315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk">Elon Musk</keyword> during the company's first-quarter earnings call, when he said the company had made <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-solar-roof-price-mistakes-calculating-cost-2021-4">"significant mistakes"</a> calculating the cost of the roofs.James Mauroff, of New Jersey, managed to get his Solar Roof installed ahead of the sudden mid-April price hike. But when his new roof leaked, ruining his wife's closet, he faced what he described as "nonexistent" customer support."Getting a quote is rather efficient. From then on things rapidly progress downhill," Mauroff said. Insider spoke to 14 Tesla Energy customers who either have Solar Roofs or solar panels installed by Tesla. Nine of them described disappointing customer service.They said they were left in the dark for weeks on end, ghosted by their dedicated "project advisors," or sent in dizzying circles around Tesla's online and phone complaint systems, sometimes leading to long delays when their roofs didn't work properly.Tesla did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.<h2>Customers were told price hikes of up to $75,000 were a 'business decision'</h2>To get a Solar Roof, potential customers must put down a deposit of $100. Tesla then drafts a quote based on the complexity of their roof, partly by using Google Maps and drone photography. It then asks the customer to sign off on the design, sign a contract for the project, and agree on how to pay for their roof.Over the weekend of April 9 to 10, Solar Roof customers who had signed contracts but not yet begun installation received alarming emails from Tesla, telling them the company had "increased the price of Solar Roof and have added adjustments for individual roof complexity." Amans had the price of his contract raised from $71,662.06 to more than $145,000. This new price was corroborated by a screenshot Amans shared with Insider. He said he received no satisfactory explanation as to why the price had risen so dramatically but that he received a call from a Tesla representative on April 14.Amans said the representative apologized, and when Amans pressed on why the price had shot up just three weeks after signing his most recent contract, the rep repeated that "it was a business decision," Amans said. <div type="image" title="A Tesla Solar roof with a Powerwall battery." height="2850" width="3800" msid="82827601" hostid="261"></div>Amans said that even before the price hike, communication with Tesla's customer service was frustrating."When I had my site visit for example, the evaluator told me to remove some shelving from the inside of my garage for the Powerwalls," Amans said, referring to the company's battery unit, which it now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-will-only-sell-solar-panels-with-powerwall-2021-4">installs with every solar energy product</a> following an April announcement."A week later I got an email informing me to remove a tree from outside of my garage to make room for the Powerwalls. When I asked why they were planning to put them outside, instead of inside like we had discussed, there was no answer," Amans said.Another customer, who asked to remain anonymous, said that between agreeing their contract in January and Tesla hiking the price in April, they'd been assigned three "project managers," one of whom never replied to an email and another who regularly took a week to two weeks to reply.They had the price of their project raised by $30,000 - as corroborated by documents viewed by Insider - and opted to cancel the contract. The customer said they sent Tesla two emails in the week following the price hike, but received no immediate response. A week later, they received a text from a Tesla rep they'd never spoken to before.The text said: "Please let me know if you have any further questions on your project and how you would like to proceed."While the customer was trying to cancel the project, contractors nearly showed up at their house to carry out some of the work for their unwanted Solar Roof. "They called me the day of the work, and I told them to hold off while I worked through this issue with Tesla," the customer said."I've never, ever experienced customer service this bad," they said. The customer said they did eventually manage to find the correct link for canceling the project.Jay Fortin said he had the cost of his Solar Roof bumped up from $62,000 to $91,000. Before Fortin signed the contract in January, Tesla was extremely communicative and helpful, he said. "They had impressed me. But then after we signed the contract - changed like overnight," he said."You're out in the dark, and it's like pulling teeth to get information," he said, giving an example of a Tesla rep who said the company couldn't help him figure out whether the roof qualified for state incentives. Of four prospective Solar Roof customers who said they had been hit with price hikes, all said they were offered free Powerwall batteries - which Amans said in an email was like a "$5k price cut off of the $76k price hike" - if they decided to proceed with their projects.The offer was made through an "automated note" rather than a customer-service rep, the anonymous customer who had their price hiked by $30,000 said.<h2>Leaky roofs, wrangling with local utilities, and customer-service brick walls</h2>Customers who had their Solar Roofs installed ahead of the price hike have also run into problems with Tesla's customer service.After signing up for a roof in October, the software engineer Vladimir Vukicevic was frequently met with weekslong radio silence from various departments at Tesla as well as his dedicated "project advisor," he said. At one point, he got through to a different project advisor who told him staff were overworked, Vukicevic said.He had his Solar Roof was installed at the end of February. Vukicevic said the crew left some holes that he had to patch himself but that he was fairly happy with the work. He then spent three months trying to get Tesla to submit the correct documentation to his local utility and was unable to turn the roof on during that time, he said. Vukicevic said he would routinely email Tesla and receive no response. After contacting the utility, he was informed Tesla had filled in paperwork incorrectly, meaning he was unable to move the issue without Tesla's help."It's extremely frustrating. These are simple things, mistakes made out of carelessness or overwork. I can understand those, but the lack of any communication is infuriating for a $60,000 product," Vukicevic said.The issue was eventually resolved, he said.Similarly, a customer who asked to be identified only as Harry said his installation went well but that Tesla failed to complete the administrative steps to get the system up and running. Mauroff, the computer scientist living in New Jersey, had a Tesla Solar Roof installed in October, but work was ongoing for months because the roof developed multiple leaks after installation, he said. Mauroff is in negotiations with Tesla over whether he or the company should pay $2,000 to repair his house's gutters, which he said were damaged during the installation.Mauroff found it extremely difficult to get Tesla representatives to respond to his messages, he said. At one point he resorted to finding an email alias for CEO Elon Musk, though he got no response, he said.On May 5, Tesla sent an employee from its local Solar Roof installation office to visit Mauroff, he said. "He did not know why he was sent - only that his boss was told by someone in corporate to find out what's going on. The local installation office had no idea there were any issues," Mauroff said. The employee wasn't able to help, though he said he would try to chase a previous complaint of Mauroff's about damage to his house, Mauroff said.Mauroff said, based on his interactions with the company, he thinks the problem is a lack of communication. "They haven't integrated their salesforce with their operations people, with any post-sales people," Mauroff said. He and Tesla still haven't agreed on payment for the gutters, and Mauroff has filed complaints to both the <keyword id="6357019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="solar-energy">Solar Energy</keyword> Industries Association and the Better Business Bureau.Phillip Anderson looked into getting a Solar Roof but eventually decided against it. Anderson said he got very little response from his assigned representative when he tried to push back on the design Tesla had submitted for approval. "I was pretty upset after I saw the system they put together only provided 21% energy offset while a typical solar-panel system provides 75%-80% energy offset," he said.Anderson asked for a consultation to discuss why the offset was so much lower than expected but received only generic emails in response asking him to approve the design, he said. It was only after he publicly complained on Twitter that a Tesla representative called him to apologize and address his concerns, he said.It's unclear to what degree Tesla keeps an eye on social media for unhappy customers, but in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-job-hiring-customer-service-specialist-help-twitter-elon-musk-2021-1">January it advertised a job for a "Sales and Customer Support"</a> role in Tesla Energy with a description that said candidates would have to "address social media escalations directed at the CEO with critical thinking."In the end, Anderson did not sign off on a Solar Roof, as the most Tesla could promise was a 27% energy offset.While Insider spoke to many customers infuriated by Tesla Energy's customer service, their experience wasn't universal.For example, Lawrence Husick, an intellectual-property lawyer based in Pennsylvania, had a Solar Roof installed in January after signing a contract with Tesla in August. He said he found customer service to be of the "highest quality," describing staff as "highly responsive and dedicated." <h2>Longtime customers said there's been a notable dip in customer service since Tesla acquired its energy division from SolarCity </h2>Tesla's solar-energy division was created in 2016 when the company acquired a solar-panel company called SolarCity - headed up by Elon Musk's cousin Lyndon Rive - for <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/21/13698314/tesla-completes-acquisition-solarcity-elon-musk">$2.6 billion</a>.It inherited customers who already had solar panels put up by SolarCity, some of whom told Insider that customer care has since deteriorated. One SolarCity customer, who asked to remain anonymous, said they'd noticed "a significant drop in customer service and tech support" since the acquisition."Prior to the acquisition by Tesla, should I have a need to contact them with a question or concern, which was rarely, I was able to reach them quickly via phone," they said. They added that in the few instances where there was a problem, SolarCity got in touch within 48 hours."Once Tesla acquired SC in 2016, the service change was noticeable almost immediately. Their billing system seemed unprepared for the transition, and errors began to appear in bills. I had to contact them more frequently, but they did not seem to have adequate personnel, and it took longer to get responses," they said. A 2016 regulatory filing showed SolarCity <a href="https://fortune.com/2016/08/17/solarcity-layoffs/">cut down on staff</a> to reduce costs ahead of the acquisition.<a href="https://fortune.com/2016/08/17/solarcity-layoffs/"></a>Technical problems started to fly under the radar, they said. SolarCity had actively notified them when there was a problem - but once Tesla took over, system outages went unnoticed until the customer used their web app, they said.<div type="image" title="Elon Musk Powerwall" height="1080" width="1440" msid="82827604" hostid="261"></div>Rowland Mayor, who had SolarCity panels installed in 2015, also said that SolarCity had been proactive about malfunctions. "For instance, one time when our dog went behind the couch to get her toy and unplugged the module that sent data about the production to them. They called after less than 24 hours of losing the signal," he said.This February, however, he logged on to the Tesla app and discovered the panels were showing no production. He called Tesla Energy's scheduling line 20 times in a month to arrange for someone to come out and fix his system, he said. In May, Mayor finally got through to a representative who told him the company would send someone out to service the panels in June. According to Mayor, the rep said the company had recently hired a "large contingent" to improve its customer service.Doug Ball, 68, had his system installed in 2014 on his home in Arizona. He said he'd never run into any problems with Tesla's customer service but that after Tesla acquired SolarCity, it got rid of a useful feature that let customers see historical energy usage."You could get your usage data by day, month, year, lifetime. It was great for monitoring the performance of the system. Now all you can get on a phone app, not on the website, is an hourly generation for a single day. You can change the day, but that's it. No way to get a yearly summary, at least not from Tesla," he said.Cathy Pelletier, in Maryland, who bought solar panels from SolarCity in 2014, said her only interaction with Tesla's customer service for technical problems was in 2019 - and it was outstanding. But last summer, she said, she got into a game of "telephone tag" after querying why her credit check unexpectedly contained a "loan" of more than $10,000.Multiple SolarCity customers said they saw sudden loans appear on their credit checks. At least three customers have filed lawsuits against Tesla, saying the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2-more-tesla-solar-customers-file-lawsuit-alleging-unauthorized-loans-2020-12">loans tanked their credit ratings</a>.Insider also spoke with a homeowner who had inherited SolarCity panels when they bought a new house, meaning they had to agree to take on the lease for a solar system installed by the previous owner. The homeowner asked to remain anonymous.Originally the customer had inquired about selling the panels back to Tesla, rather than assuming the lease."Tesla Energy refused to give me a quote and said there was only a two- to three-month window each year during which they would offer an appraisal and possible sale. I couldn't wait months to close on the house, so I had to assume the loan or lose the property," they said. The homeowner then tried to contact Tesla about setting up a Tesla Energy account and getting a technician out to repair a part of the system that appeared to be broken."I sent more than a dozen emails and made dozens of calls, often waiting on hold for hours. Many times I would wait on hold for hours only to get disconnected," they said. The problem was eventually resolved, but it took six months for Tesla to respond and to send the homeowner their first bill, they said.With April's price hikes, Tesla Energy is under more public scrutiny than it's ever been. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-solar-roof-cost-lawsuit-second-suit-class-action-2021-5">Amans filed a class-action lawsuit against the company on May 14</a>, saying the Solar Roof price hike was a "textbook bait-and-switch scheme." The suit accused the company of using the price hike to plug holes in profit losses from the SolarCity acquisition. The lawsuit aims to force Tesla to honor its original contract with Amans, along with any other stakeholders who might join the class.Christopher Dore of Edelson PC, the law firm representing Amans in the suit, said that so far more than three dozen plaintiffs have joined.Do you work at Tesla Energy? Want to talk? Contact this reporter at ihamilton@insider.com or iahamilton@protonmail.com using a non-work email address.

Ghosted by Tesla: Customers say Tesla's ultrasleek, expensive Solar Roofs and panels come with nightmare customer service, often leaving them with unanswered calls and emails for months on end

The Supreme Court-appointed Justice <keyword id="2803450" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lodha-Committee">Lodha committee</keyword>'s verdict to suspend two leading teams in the Indian Premier League stable—Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which won the title twice under MS Dhoni, and <keyword id="13802" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajasthan-Royals">Rajasthan Royals</keyword> (RR)—for two years each, has brought the pompous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=IPL">IPL extravaganza</a> to a sudden pause. While the verdict has raised serious questions about the future of players who have been part of the two teams, it has shed light on the ugliness lying beneath the exuberance and jubilation—real or faked—of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Robotic-Cheer-Girls-Roll-Into-Real-World/articleshow/45297155.cms">cheerleaders</a> that have become the hallmark of <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> or any sport event in the country for that matter where huge money changes hands. 
 
IPL’s downturn started when its founding chief <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Lalit+Modi+">Lalit Modi</a> became the target of serious allegations of misconduct, indiscipline, misappropriation and financial irregularities effectively translating into looting IPL coffers and was eventually banished from the country in 2010. A large chunk of cricket enthusiasts thought Modi’s banishment would bring in fresh air into the way IPL was organised. But unfortunately they were wrong and matters only worsened in the following years. 
 Three Rajasthan Royals players were arrested in 2012; charges of betting and corruption were levied against <keyword id="18641" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Raj-Kundra">Raj Kundra</keyword>, then co-owner of Royals, and <keyword id="1682587" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gurunath-Meiyappan">Gurunath Meiyappan</keyword>, then official of <keyword id="13886" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chennai-Super-Kings">Chennai Super Kings</keyword> and son-in-law of N Srinivasan, who headed <keyword id="6354756" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="BCCI">BCCI</keyword>. It was alleged that leveraging his status as Srinivasan’s son-in-law Meiyappan took leeway to bet on games and pass on team information to bookies. 
 
On the surface of it, the alleged misdoings of Kundra and Meiyappan have led to the suspension of the whole teams for two years irrespective of whether players actually involved in murky deals to rake in moolah in addition to the millions of dollars that top players bagged for agreeing to play for their respective teams. 
 
While the suspension of the two teams looks damaging to the future of IPL, earnest cricket enthusiasts hope that the episode will tell apart the chaff from the grain. Another worry is whether IPL—which started as an eight-team format—will be reduced to six teams with the absence of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. However, with huge money and stake being involved and advertisers and broadcasters batting for retaining the eight-team template, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=BCCI">BCCI</a> is unlikely to reduce the format to six teams. While it is difficult for RR and CSK to challenge the verdict of a SC-appointed panel, BCCI has three options in front of it—call in for new teams, ask for a complete overhaul of ownership of the suspended teams and bring in the old franchises—Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala which has already expressed the desire to return to the fold. 
 
However, the cricket body is likely to find it tough to reinstate the implicated teams, if it desires so. On the other hand, the verdict in the right direction in terms of ensuring what can be called ‘poetic justice’—that is, corrupt players and teams should have no chance to play IPL or any other sporting event for that matter. Therefore, the verdict should be welcomed wholeheartedly. 
 
However, one questions remains—is merely suspending involved teams temporarily enough, considering the huge loads of money involved and the disrespect that a game like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cricket">cricket</a>—which has been a saving grace for sports enthusiasts in the country as the India continues to lag way behind peers in almost all other sport event. There are those who believe that a harsher punishment, involving life ban for players, officials and teams, would have been much more effective as a deterrent that will remind possibly wrongdoers before trying to earn disrespect for themselves, teams and the country by turning sports into a number game to bloat bank accounts.

Why Lodha panel verdict is not too ominous for
IPL

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Goran TomasevicAfghan men harvest opium in a poppy field in a village in Golestan district of Farah province, May 5, 2009.</div></div></div><ul><li>Afghanistan's opium cultivation and production both hit record levels in 2017, despite an increase in opium eradication by the government.</li><li>The Taliban has also expanded its role in narcotics, drawing a larger portion of its revenue the drug trade.</li><li>Without drugs, the war in Afghanistan "would have been long over," the Afghan president has said.</li></ul> Afghanistan's area under opium-poppy cultivation has increased 63% since 2016, rising to 810,505 acres, while its potential opium production increased 87% to an estimated 9,000 tons - both records for the country despite years of anti-narcotics efforts.Despite eradication rising 111% to cover 1,853 acres, the number of poppy-free provinces declined to 10 from 13 in 2016. The average opium yield also rose 15%, to just over 24 pounds an acre. The spike in production was driven by both a greater area under cultivation and larger yields.There was no single reason behind the increases, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime."The multiple drivers are complex and geographically diverse, as many elements continue to influence farmers' decisions regarding opium poppy cultivation," the UNODC said in <a href="http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2017/November/afghan-opium-production-jumps-to-record-level--up-87-per-cent_-survey.html?ref=fs1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">its annual report</a> on Afghanistan's opium production, released Wednesday.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/ParwizAn Afghan man works on a poppy field in Jalalabad province, May 1, 2014.</div></div></div>Among the main factors driving the increase are corruption, lack of government control and security, and challenges to the rule of <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword>, like political instability. Local issues, like a lack of job opportunities, low-quality education, and limited access to markets and financial services, also help push farmers toward opium cultivation.The Afghan government has shifted its focus to combating anti-government elements in densely populated areas at the expense of rural areas, which may have also allowed cultivation to increase, according to the UNODC.The agency also notes that greater availability of labor as well as more readily available technology - like fertilizer and solar panels to power irrigation pumps - could have made opium cultivation more viable for many farmers.<h2>A 'big drug factory'</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">UNODCMuch of Afghanistan saw strong increases in opium-poppy cultivation in 2017</div></div></div>The UNODC recorded strong increases in all of Afghanistan's major poppy cultivating provinces. Helmand alone saw a 79% increase and accounted for just under of half the country's total increase. About 60% of Afghanistan's opium cultivation takes place in the southern region, and all the provinces there saw significant increases.Opium produced in Afghanistan is typically exported in its raw form, or as heroin or morphine. It is consumed domestically in either raw or refined forms, and sometimes gets seized, stored, or lost. It is difficult to estimate how much of the opium crop is converted into heroin, depending on factors like the technique used to produce it or the purity of the heroin being made.Based on seizures of opium, morphine, and heroin in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, and using a 50% to 70% purity range for heroin exports, the UNODC estimated that Afghanistan produced 320 tons to 530 tons of export-quality heroin in 2017.That calculation indicated that 47% to 55% of all opium produced in Afghanistan is made into heroin for export, according to the agency - though the effect the significant increase in opium production this year has on that ration will only become apparent in the future.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">UNODCEvery region in Afghanistan saw an increase in opium-poppy production in 2017.</div></div></div>In 2017, the average farm-gate price of opium - meaning its price when it leaves the farm - decreased everywhere in Afghanistan, except the southern region. The prices were in large part decreased because of the increased supply on the market.Overall, the farm-gate value of opium production in Afghanistan is estimated to have increased by 58%, reaching $1.39 billion. Farmers in Helmand, which produced 44% of the country's opium, are thought to have earned 42% of the country's farm-gate value for opium - some $584 million. That dollar amount was a 77% increase over 2016.Helmand, home to an estimated 80% of Afghanistan's opium poppies, is a "big drug factory," a Western official <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-from-poppy-to-heroin-taliban-move-into-afghan-drug-production-2017-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told AFP</a> earlier this year. "Helmand is all about drugs, poppy and Taliban"<h2>Drugs vs. peace</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Parwiz Parwiz/REUTERSAn Afghan policeman destroys poppies during a campaign against narcotics in Kunar province, April 29, 2014.</div></div></div>The Taliban <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-control-of-heroin-drug-production-trafficking-in-afghanistan-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has expanded</a> its territorial control in Afghanistan in recent years, and the group has also gotten involved in every stage of the country's drug trade. In addition to heroin processing, the Taliban also draws revenue from taxing and providing security to drug producers and smugglers in the region.Heroin and morphine are easier to smuggler, and those two products are many times more valuable than raw opium. The lucrative nature of the drug trade is tempting for Afghan farmers with few other opportunities, and the Taliban's growing role and larger share of profits is likely to make elements of the group less disposed to negotiations with the central government.Without drugs, the war in Afghanistan "would have been long over," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said. A senior Afghan official <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/world/asia/opium-heroin-afghanistan-taliban.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told The New York Times</a> in October that, "If an illiterate local Taliban commander in Helmand makes a million dollars a month now, what does he gain in time of peace?"A very small portion of the heroin seized in the US is sourced to Afghanistan. However, the country <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-control-of-heroin-drug-production-trafficking-in-afghanistan-2017-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">supplies a significant amount</a> of the heroin recovered in Europe and Canada. Afghanistan's prolific production also affects its neighbors - drug addiction has exploded in Iran, with opium making up two-thirds of consumption. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-virtual-heroin-cave-could-help-addicts-kick-the-habit-2016-6">This 'heroin cave' could help addicts kick the habit</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "SC panel on farm laws" and got 5 results

Adani-Hindenburg row: SC to pronounce order on panel of experts on Thursday

PTI

Adani-Hindenburg row: PIL petitioner moves SC, opposes Sebi plea for extension of time to complete probe

PTI

Ghosted by Tesla: Customers say Tesla's ultrasleek, expensive Solar Roofs and panels come with nightmare customer service, often leaving them with unanswered calls and emails for months on end

Isobel Asher Hamilton,Anna Co…

Why Lodha panel verdict is not too ominous for IPL

Preetam Kaushik

Opium production has set another record in Afghanistan - here's where it increased the most

Christopher Woody

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides