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Ardi

Middle East employment freeze looms as economic confidence plummets among the world's hirers

UAE. The latest Global Economic Conditions Survey from ACCA and IMA, released today, found that more half of firms are either cutting or freezing employment, while only 14% are increasing investment in staff. Responding to the findings, Faye Chua, ACCA head of business focus said: “Take North America out of the equation and the economic picture painted by this survey isn’t a pretty one. Emerging markets are […]

U.S. drops New York fight with Apple after gaining access to iPhone

Details are pictured on the backside of an Apple Iphone 6 on a table in a restaurant in Hanau, Germany, April 10, 2016. Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach NEW YORK The U.S. Justice Department on Friday dropped its effort to force Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to help unlock an iPhone in a drug case in New York after someone provided authorities the passcode to access the device. In a letter filed […]

Italian firm brings concrete-eaters to revolutionize demolitions

|By Arabian Post Staff| The introduction of a new technique, using excavators that could virtually be called concrete-eaters, is set to revolutionize the way high rise structures are demolished in the UAE. The new method reduces the time required to bring down a high rise structure to a matter of days, instead of months and years required by conventional methods. The shorter time frames would mean much quicker […]

What’s Turning iPhones into Useless Bricks?

iPhone owners who use third-party repair services are finding their devices can suddenly become useless “bricks” after they update the iOS operating system. Apple confirmed yesterday that the disabling “Error 53” occurs because the company wants to prevent Touch ID-related security problems that could be introduced by unauthorized repairs. Reports about the iPhone-killing Error 53 have circulated at least since the spring, when The Daily Dot’s Mike […]

Apple ordered to pay $625 million in patent dispute with VirnetX

An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar NEW YORK Apple Inc (AAPL.O) must pay VirnetX Holding Corp (VHC.A) more than $625 million for using the patent licensing company’s Internet security technology without permission in its FaceTime and iMessage features, a federal jury in Texas said on Wednesday. […]

Salesforce Enhances Lightning CRM Platform

CRM giant Salesforce is adding some lightning to its customer success platform. The latest iteration of Salesforce Lightning aims to raise the bar on customer relationship management by with a platform that taps cloud, mobile, social, IoT (Internet of Things) technologies and data science. Salesforce launched Lightning in 2015 as a multi-tenant, next-generation metadata platform that enterprise workers can use on any device. It quickly gained traction, […]

NADIR IN UDF POLITICS: OOMMEN CHANDY’S RELIEF ONLY TEMPORARY

SMOULDERING CONGRESS EMBERS MAY LEAP TO FLAME ANY TIME

By P. Sreekumaran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has survived a scare. Thus reads the headline in a prominent English daily. But has he really weathered the political storm?

Significant straws in the wind proclaim, loud and clear, that he has not. True, he has managed to secure short-term legal relief. But the price, both in political and electoral terms, the Congress and the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government may be called upon to pay will be prohibitively high. That is for sure.

As for the UDF politics, it is stinking to the high heavens. It cannot get any worse than this. The only question is: how long can a thoroughly discredited Government brazen it out?

The legal relief for Chandy and Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed has

Apple Buys Education Analytics Startup

Perhaps taking aim at the well-entrenched presence of other tech giants in the education market, Apple confirmed Thursday that it has acquired LearnSprout, a San Francisco-based startup that specializes in education analytics and used for tracking the performance of students. The purchase of LearnSprout should give Apple some ammunition as it tries to challenge the existence of Microsoft’s software programs and Google’s Chromebook in the classroom. Apple […]

New Chrome for iOS Is Now Faster and More Stable

Thanks to Apple’s introduction of the WKWebView rendering engine beginning with the iOS 8 version of its mobile operating system, Google said it has been able to update its Chrome Web browser so it can perform far better on iPhones and iPads. Rolling out today, version 48 of Google Chrome for iOS is faster, more responsive and far more stable than previous generations of the browser, according […]

EY predicts six major investment opportunities for GCC health care market by 2025

UAE.  To coincide with the annual Arab Health Exhibition & Congress this week, six major investment opportunities in the GCC’s health care market in 2016 have been predicted by EY as being areas of high demand and growth in the region. According to the EY ‘Investment Big Bets – Healthcare and Life Sciences in the GCC’ report launched today, specialized centers of excellence (CoEs), home health care […]

Millennials and their employers: Can this relationship be saved?

UAE. Businesses must adjust how they nurture loyalty among Millennials or risk losing a large percentage of their workforces, according to Deloitte’s fifth annual  Millennial Survey. Forty-four percent of Millennials say, if given the choice, they expect to leave their current employers in the next two years. That figure increases to 66 percent when the time frame is extended to 2020. The findings were revealed through a […]

HINDU RIGHT DROVE ROHITH VEMULA TO SUICIDE

FATAL ANTI-DALIT BIAS OF MODI’S MINISTERS

By Amulya Ganguli

In a voice choked with (feigned?) emotion, Narendra Modi told the Ambedkar University convocation last Friday that Rohith Vemula was forced to take his own life. But he did not specify who forced the Dalit student although the prime minister knew that the “culprits” were in his cabinet. Moreover, they are likely to continue in their posts despite their guilt – unless they are booked for the abetment of suicide.

The two “guilty” ministers, however, must be wondering what they did wrong. After all, when labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya shot off a letter to the “high school girl” – SmritiIrani has studied only up to Class XII – in the human resource development ministry, complaining about how Hyderabad University has become a “den of casteism, extremism and anti-national politics”

Employment law : New fines applicable in Saudi Arabia

SAUDI ARABIA. Since August 2011 the Ministry of Labour in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has focused on promoting employment for KSA nationals and updating labour legislation to produce a more dynamic labour market. Recently these measures culminated in the amendment of the KSA Labour Law (Labour Law) with the amendments coming into effect on 18 October 2015 and the introduction of new fines to support […]

Crude target price achieved

|By Matein Khalid| I had called for Brent crude to fall to $30 in successive columns since the November 2014 OPEC conclave in Vienna, when Saudi Arabia abandoned its traditional role as the “swing producer” the central bank of black gold. The world oil markets now face a supply shock, a demand shock, epic volatility and the loss of the “swing producer”. The world is running out […]

Abraaj buys Indian hospital chain

|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai-headquartered private equity investment group Abraaj announced another investment in India to buy a majority stake in Quality CARE India Ltd, which runs CARE Hospitals from global PE firm Advent International. CARE, which operates a multi-specialty chain of 16 hospitals across nine cities, plans to expand in “underpenetrated” regions of India, as well as enter other markets where Abraaj operates, the Dubai firm […]

Etihad replaces Jet Airways on two key US routes

|By Arabian Post Staff| Etihad Airways will replace the leased Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for its daily flight to and from San Francisco with its own Boeing 777-200LRs from April 25, 2016. The daily EY101 flight from Abu Dhabi to New York’s JFK airport and the return EY100 service will also see leased Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft replaced by Etihad Airways Boeing 777-300ERs from June […]

WGC draft on gold standard for Islamic finance

|By Arabian Post Staff| The World Gold Council is exploring the creation of a Shariah Standard on Gold, which will provide guidance from the Shariah perspective on the usage of gold in financial and investment transactions for Islamic financial institutions and participants. The Standard also aims to increase transparency and harmonisation regarding the use of gold in various market practices. A draft of the Standard has been […]

Christmas without mum

Our father died six years ago, and this year our mother died. As the eldest child, I became responsible overnight for my brother and sister. I’ve never not looked forward to this time of year. The fact that I get to eat my bodyweight in food without feeling an ounce of guilt plays a big part in my high spirits during the lead-up to Christmas. The lights, […]

Exclusive – U.S. Justice Dept probes data breach at Uber: sources

The logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street is seen in this file photo illustration taken in Madrid on December 10, 2014. Reuters/Sergio Perez/Files SAN FRANCISCO The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation of a May 2014 data breach at ride service Uber [UBER.UL], including an examination of whether any employees at competitor […]

American Muslims struggle with their identities

Mirvette Judeh began covering her hijab with a hoodie two weeks ago while in the car with her two young children. Someone might want to hurt their mother, she explained to them, because the head scarf easily identifies her as Muslim. “Now I have to have these conversations with my kids,” said Judeh, 39, who lives in southern California. “That’s what breaks my heart — to tell […]

TRINAMOOL CONFIDENT OF WINNING SOUTH BENGAL

RURAL DEVELOPMENT MAY CLINCH 2016 POLL FOR MAMATA

By Ashis Biswas

As the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and opposition parties gear up for the next round of West Bengal Assembly elections, their campaign themes have been established.

The TMC is contesting on a ‘development’ slogan, while the twin pillars of the opposition’s campaign will be ‘lawlessness and economic stagnation’, broadly speaking.

At first sight, the TMC’s claim of having improved the state’s economy may look suspect, if not downright dubious, to most observers. However, initial impressions may be deceptive. After 54 months of its tenure, the ruling TMC has consolidated its position in rural Bengal. Especially in the highly populated South Bengal districts, which account for most of the 294 seats in the Assembly, the TMC is confident of doing better than its op

Zuma protests: Indian family in the eye of storm

As South Africans endure their deepest economic crisis since 2009, it’s not just President Jacob Zuma they blame. There’s a family whose name is increasingly the target of protest: the Guptas. As tens of thousands marched in October in South Africa’s biggest wave of nationwide anti-government protests since the African National Congress came to power, one poster, broadcast on the nation’s television channels, captured the public anger: […]

Transworld Group, Japanese firm form joint venture

|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai headquartered global conglomerate Transworld Group and Yokohama-based Suzue Corporation of Japan announced the formation of a joint venture for exploring business opportunities in logistics in the Indian Sub-continent, Middle East and Japan. A Memorandum of Understanding in this respect was signed by Ramesh S. Ramakrishnan, Chairman and Ritesh S. Ramakrishnan, Director – Strategy and Business Planning of Transworld Group, and Takahiro Suzue […]

Twitter Warns Some Users of Possible Government Hacking

Coldhak, a Canadian non-profit, is among the Twitter users recently warned by the microblogging service that their accounts might be targeted for hacking by “state-sponsored actors.” Coldhak on Friday posted a tweet with the text of the warning from Twitter. The e-mail warning said hackers “possibly associated with a government” might be trying to gain information about Twitter users’ e-mail addresses, IP addresses and/or phone numbers. This […]

Trump unfazed by widespread criticism

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said his call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. sparked a useful discussion about radicalism within that community, and he’s not daunted by polls showing most Americans oppose the idea. “I didn’t do this for polls so I don’t even care what the polls say,” Trump said in an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union With Jake Tapper.” “My polls […]

MAKING INDIAN INVESTMENT CLIMATE MORE BUSINESS-FRIENDLY

BUREAUCRATS HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR MINDSETS

By Subrata Majumder

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to take India within top 50 in the World Bank‘s Ease of Doing Business in three years from the current rank of 130 out of 189 countries. Morgan Stanley Vice – Chairman Tom Nides reposed confidence in Modi’s leadership in fast-forwarding the economy. Arguing on Make in India, he said that Mr Modi was not for short term decision for instant gratification. Over the decades, Indian bureaucracy became the main tool to formulate the economic policies, no matter whether they were economists, scientists or statisticians or not.

Caught in the ambivalence of personal loyalty to ministers and Prevention of Corruption Act, passing the buck and shying away from decision making were the common practices of Indian bureaucrats. Clogged into huge paper works and multiple

Trump Tower website has outage after Anonymous' anti-Trump rant

NEW YORK The website for Trump Towers, Donald Trump’s glitzy signature skyscraper in Manhattan, went offline for at least an hour on Friday after activist hacking group Anonymous denounced the real-estate mogul and Republican presidential front-runner for his anti-Muslim comments. The website for the 68-story Trump Towers (trumptowerny.com), often used for his presidential campaign, was down after a tweet from an account associated with the anonymous hacking […]

An open letter to Thomas Friedman

|By Dr Alaa Alghamdi| Dear Mr. Friedman, While I would like nothing better than to thank you for your concern for our youth and our country, as expressed in your Nov. 25 piece in the New York Times, I find I cannot in good conscience do so. You made certain observations during your stay in Riyadh, observations which no doubt may sound fresh and even enlightened to […]

KERALA POLITICS IN TURMOIL OVER NEW PARTY

CONFUSION PREVAILS IN BOTH BJP AND LEFT

By P. Sreekumaran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Will the formation of a political party by the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SDNDP), the powerful organization of the dominant Ezhava community, catalyse the emergence of a third front in the State?

Political pundits are sharply divided on the issue. While there is one school which believes that the new party, christened Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), will speed up the emergence of the third front, there is another stream of thought which thinks otherwise.

The latter is of the firm view that the Hindus themselves are a divided lot. In support of their argument, they point to the ambivalence of the BJP itself. It is of great significance, they aver, that the BJP and the Hindu Aikya Vedi stayed away from the function which marked the launch of the BDJS.

‘Rehab’ of terrorists: Beyond the rhetoric

|By Alaa Alghamdi| The controversy raging in the world media over the Mohammed bin Nayef Centre/ Care Centre for the rehabilitation of jihadi terrorists brings up basic questions regarding justice and the right course of action. It is perhaps not surprising that such polarization has occurred regarding opinions on this (by all accounts, successful) program. To accept its efficacy and its ethics involves nothing less than a […]