NEW DELHI: Nearly all future power transmission projects in the country will be available to the private sector if the government accepts the recommendation of a high-level panel — a move that would gradually undermine public-sector Power Grid Corporation’s dominance in the sector and bring competition to this crucial segment. The current practice of giving Power Grid projects on a nomination basis would end and it […]
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the September 30 deadline for announcing new gas prices, the government has set up a four-member committee of secretaries (CoS) to review the gas-pricing formula. The panel will hold its first meeting with stakeholders on Monday. “A CoS has been formed with secretaries of the power ministry, fertiliser ministry and expenditure department as members. Petroleum ministry’s additional secretary Rajive Kumar will be […]
India aims to sign the contract for the world’s biggest order of fighter jets in about two decades with Dassault Aviation SA (AM) by the end of the year, two Indian air force officials familiar with the matter said today. Negotiations on technology transfer and maintenance for 126 Rafale aircraft have been completed, the officials said in New Delhi, asking not to be identified as the […]
Most of the rest of the world is horrified that so much British ice cream is made up of vegetable fat and air Photo: REX FEATURES The Ice Cream War was one of Scotland’s most notorious criminal cases. It involved two rival Glasgow families using ice cream vans to sell drugs and stolen goods in the Eighties. The vicious turf war culminated in arson and murder. Now, a […]
Saudi Arabia set out draft proposals on foreign-shareholder limits as one of the world’s most restricted stock markets prepares to open its doors for the first time to investors outside the region. The Capital Market Authority may cap foreign ownership of a single stock to 49 percent, it said in plans posted on the Riyadh-based regulator’s website today. It may also set a 5 percent limit for […]
Switzerland’s Bank Sarasin mis-sold $200 million of investment products to Kuwait’s prominent Khorafi family, a court at Dubai’s financial centre found on Thursday in a ruling that could set a precedent for similar disputes in the region. The Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) Court of First Instance ordered Sarasin to pay compensation in what may be one of the biggest awards in the 10-year history of the […]
|By TAP Staff| Emirates is likely to launch a flight service to Dubai from Indore by the end of this year, Indian television channel NDTV reported, quoting a Madhya Pradesh minister. “We want Emirates to launch a flight from Indore and are giving full support to the airline, which is also keen to connect the city to Dubai by air,” Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration and Development Minister, […]
If you wanted to make a quick buck in property, Dubai would have been the place to do it in the last couple of years. And the desert of superlatives is still going strong despite a partial slowdown. According to CBRE Group , apartment prices increased by a more modest 3.2 percent in the second quarter of 2014, bringing gains over the last year to 21 percent. […]
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India proposes to cut banks’ group exposure limit by as much as 15 percentage points to reduce the systemic risk posed by lending too much to any single business house. This means that credit to any particular group will have to be restricted to 25% of a bank’s capital, down from 40% now. It’s not clear whether such a move will have […]
KOLKATA: Scanty rainfall over the past three days has led to a burgeoning power deficit and a sharp rise in spot prices of electricity in the country. The shortfall of power widened to 11,000 Mw from between 4,000 Mw and 6,000 Mw earlier, while prices at the spot market surged to as much as Rs 7.80 per unit during the peak evening period from Rs 3-4 […]
Mumbai: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is plannig at replacing the controversial production sharing contracts (PSCs) with a revenue-sharing regime or production-linked contracts. In a bid to attract more private and foreign players into the country’s exploration business, the ministry on Thursday floated a model revenue sharing contract (MRSC) on its website seeking comments from the industry on the same till September 10. The […]
NEW DELHI: After basing its most potent Sukhoi-30MKI fighters at Tezpur and Chabua, India has now begun deploying six Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) squadrons in the northeast to deter Chinese jets, helicopters and drones against any misadventure in the region. Defence ministry sources on Thursday said IAF has started getting deliveries of the six Akash missile squadrons, which can “neutralize” multiple targets at 25-km interception range […]
Letter From Europe Britons, including Anglican clergy members worried about the plight of beleaguered Iraqi Christians, accuse Prime Minister David Cameron of incoherence. By ALAN COWELL August 21, 2014 LONDON — For a century and more, Iraq has been the graveyard of Western dreams, often literally, from the defeat of British colonial forces in the First Battle of Kut in 1916 to the bloodshed that flowed from the American-led […]
Here’s one of the usual everyday life frustrations if you live in Saudi Arabia: You want to eat cereal. You open the fridge and realize you’re out of milk. You get dressed, get in your car and drive to the supermarket. Then the moment your reach the supermarket, they close for prayer. The kingdom is the only Muslim country in the world where all businesses must be […]
People watched as rescue workers searched for victims under the rubble of a house in Rafah that witnesses said was destroyed on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike that killed three senior Hamas military commanders. By JODI RUDOREN and FARES AKRAM August 21, 2014 JERUSALEM — Israeli airstrikes killed three senior commanders of the armed wing of Hamas early Thursday in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, Israeli and Palestinian officials […]
MUMBAI: The finance ministry will back lenders in changing management of companies that wilfully default, tweak the rules of appointment of public sector bank chiefs, and make sure that bankers are not victimised. “A bona fide decision can also go wrong…we can’t penalise a person for that. He has to be protected. Otherwise, no one will take decisions. So, we will protect the person where there […]
Two moves by the government will significantly impact India’s banking segment— a decision to amend the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002, during the Winter Session of Parliament to allow banks to take charge of companies that wilfully default on loan repayment and second, a plan to put in place a holding company structure for public sector banks. The […]
NEW DELHI: With short-term or day-ahead buying catching on in power trading, entities dealing in these have asked the government to unclog the transmission constraints and look at reforming the process, in accordance with the Electricity Act. In the past five years, there has been a 26 per cent fall in power rates in the day-ahead market and sales volume has grown 90 per cent. […]
NEW DELHI: State-owned refiner BPCL has sought a Rs 8,800-crore capital subsidy grant from the central government to expand its Numaligarh refinery in Assam, from the current capacity of 3 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to 9 mtpa. This is in the wake of Modi presenting a comprehensive vision for the overall development of the Northeast. The expansion of the refinery, owned 61.65% by BPCL, would […]
New Delhi: In an extempore address on his first visit to the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw up four out-of-the-box suggestions to rejuvenate the functioning of India’s best-funded technology research organisation. Lauding DRDO’s successes, Modi linked its technologists to the sages of ancient India, who isolated themselves from the world to produce intellectual masterpieces. Urging close contact […]
James Foley described himself as ‘a war protester’ who retrained as a journalist (EPA) • Latest developments following beheading of James Foley ‘I had made the gruelling journey by car, but Jim Foley, ever resourceful, arrived by Chinook helicopter. The destination was Sirte, the Libyan city where, in October 2011, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his troops were making a last stand. Foley had caught a lift with […]
People walk near The Gate building at the financial and business district Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) in Dubai. Reuters Dubai’s financial hub is growing up. Since it was established a decade ago, the Dubai International Financial Centre has become the number one choice in the Middle East for many of the world’s leading banks, law firms, asset managers and insurers from where to conduct their regional […]
Topaz website For proof that a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats look no further than Dubai’s Topaz Energy and Marine. In the dark days following the global recession it scrapped a planned $500 million London IPO in 2011 that valued the company between $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion. Since then regional economies and capital markets have recovered strongly. Fast forward to Wednesday and Standard Chartered Private […]
BANGALORE: India, not US, will be the launch-pad for Amazon’s plan to deliver packages using drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, according to two people aware of the development. The US-based e-tailer will debut its drone delivery service with trials in Mumbai and Bangalore, cities where it has warehouses, the sources said on condition of anonymity…. This content is for Monthly, Annual, Free Trial and Basic members only. […]
