The Jetsons probably had no idea how soon the average American would see robots become a reality. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, a number of devices showed the futuristic concept is here and now. Robotics exhibits at CES grew 25 percent from last year’s show, according to the event’s organizers. “It speaks to the category’s growth and ability to disrupt and transform […]
INTERNATIONA. Oil fell in 2014 by the most since the 2008 global financial crisis as U.S. producers and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ceded no ground in their battle for market share amid a supply glut. The U.S. benchmark ended at a five-year low yesterday, capping a 46 percent drop in 2014, as stockpiles of crude oil and gasoline reached seasonal record highs and as OPEC […]
DUBAI // At Dh22 million and at more than 5km in length, the emirate can now lay claim to the world’s longest handmade gold chain. More than 100 people worked 10-hour days for weeks to make the four million individual segments of the 22-carat gold, 5.52km-long chain that set a new Guinness World Record on Monday. The Dubai Celebration Chain, which weighs in at 256kg, forms the […]
MUMBAI Sat Jan 3, 2015 7:26pm IST A worker displays a Micromax mobile phone inside a store in Kolkata December 4, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri/Files Related Topics Stocks Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone turns 29. Pics MUMBAI (Reuters) – Micromax Informatics, India’s second-largest smartphone maker, plans to raise as much as $500 million through a stock market listing in its financial year beginning in April, […]
Deutsche Bank is open to offers for its London-based gold vault following the closure of its physical precious metals business, three sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. “If the right offer came along, then the bank would sell the London vault,” one source close to the situation said. The German bank shut its physical precious metals trading arm last month as it further reduced its […]
Voters today rejected a referendum requiring the Swiss National Bank hold at least 20 percent of its 520-billion-franc ($540 billion) balance sheet in gold. Had it been approved, it would have led to purchases of at least 1,500 metric tons over five years. With lower oil prices reducing costs for consumers and the U.S. considering raising interest rates, demand is fading for hedges against inflation such as […]
OPEC’s decision to cede no ground to rival producers underscored the price war in the crude market and the challenge to U.S. shale drillers. The 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its output target unchanged even after the steepest slump in oil prices since the global recession, prompting speculation it has abandoned its role as a swing producer. Yesterday’s decision in Vienna propelled futures to the […]
In its bid for the wearables market, Sony Corp. is developing a watch made out of electronic paper for release as soon as next year, reported Bloomberg. Although not yet officially announced, the move is considered a trial of the company’s new venture-style approach to creating products. The face and wrist band of the watch will be made from a patented material that lets the surface area […]
NEW DELHI: The government is working on big-ticket financial package for about 1,30,000-mw thermal and hydro power plants worth over Rs 6,00,000 crore that are hit by severe funds crunch while continuing to face cost and time overruns. Officials said the Department of Financial Services will shortly recommend a series of steps to the Reserve Bank of India. These include lenders providing additional debt to […]
NEW DELHI: With global energy firms refusing to participate in the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline, India may propose getting a Chinese company to lead a consortium that will build the USD 10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. French giant Total SA had initially envisaged interest in leading a consortium of national oil companies of the four nations in the TAPI project, but backed off after […]
By Nantoo Banerjee Given the size of the country’s domestic market of goods and services, the prime minister’s vision of manufacturing in India is no doubt a very practical idea not only from the point of view of the scale of local consumption but also the opportunity it holds for the export of surplus production. No country can sustain an import-led economy forever. However, its success will […]
NEW DELHI: A few weeks before the Reserve Bank of India announces the monetary policy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has made his preferences clear in the raging debate over whether governor Raghuram Rajan should cut interest rates on December 2. “Reduction in the cost of capital will give a good fillip to the Indian economy,” Jaitley said at the Citi Investor Forum, but added that the […]
NEW DELHI: A few weeks before the Reserve Bank of India announces the monetary policy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has made his preferences clear in the raging debate over whether governor Raghuram Rajan should cut interest rates on December 2. “Reduction in the cost of capital will give a good fillip to the Indian economy,” Jaitley said at the Citi Investor Forum, but added that the decision […]
Brisbane: DRIVEN by a strong domestic political agenda of getting black money back home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday managed to get the Group of 20 include a certain clause in the final Leaders’ Communique that will make it difficult for tax havens to give complete tax exemption to companies. This, along with the G-20’s endorsement of a global Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Stunning disclosures by a member of the Bar Owners’ Association against State Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) president, K. M. Mani, has left the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in dire straits. The Government was plunged into a crisis when working president of the Bar Owners’ Association, Biju Ramesh, made the shocking revelation that Mani demanded a bribe of […]
NEW DELHI: HDFC Bank will not be able to raise much money by way of foreign investment even as the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Friday regularised its current overseas investment structure. That is because the board turned down the bank’s plea to not treat the promoter stake as foreign investment. Besides, the bank will also have to deposit a penalty as it was in the […]
NEW DELHI: After cementing trade ties with China, energy-rich Russia is now looking to strengthen its relationship with India by reviving discussions on a hydrocarbon pipeline, in addition to inviting ONGC Videsh (OVL) to invest in oil and gas projects in the Russian Federation. India and Russia have decided to form a joint working group to study laying a ‘hydrocarbon’ pipeline connecting the nations. Preliminary discussions […]
A view of the Dome of the Rock, which along with Al Aqsa Mosque is on the site in Jerusalem known as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and Temple Mount to Jews. By JODI RUDOREN November 6, 2014 JERUSALEM — One cartoon circulating on social networks on Thursday depicted a car as the barrel of an automatic weapon, captioned in Arabic, “Revolt and resist, even by your car.” Another […]
Five years after collapsing, Dubai’s strengthening real-estate industry is getting a vote of confidence from investors in the emirate’s stock market. In September, Dubai’s flagship developer Emaar Properties spun off its malls business in a $1.6 billion initial public offering that enjoyed strong demand from investors. The IPO of Emaar Malls—whose main asset is Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping centers in the world—marked the biggest […]
Video | Aftermath of Attack in Jerusalem A witness and a spokesman for the Israeli police described the scene after a Palestinian man rammed his car into people near a light-rail station in Jerusalem on Wednesday. By ISABEL KERSHNER November 5, 2014 JERUSALEM — Amid heightened tensions over an important holy site, two drivers, in separate incidents, plowed their cars into Israelis on Wednesday, and Jordan recalled its ambassador […]
By Ashok B Sharma One might not have expected the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to be so quick in responding to the hospitality he received in India last month. In fact the G20 summit slated in Brisbane middle of next month has given this opportunity. Abbott is preparing to lay the red carpet for the Indian Prime Minister Narendrabhai Damodardass Modi. Abbott’s special welcome is […]
NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry has asked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan to provide greater flexibility to banks funding stalled infrastructure projects, after concerns were raised by senior bankers that some lending requirements were too ‘stringent’. A department of financial services communication to Rajan sought to de-link the extent of cost overruns as a condition for classifying any project as a restructured asset. […]
Gold traded within 40 cents of a four-year low after the Bank of Japan boosted stimulus and the Federal Reserve ended asset purchases, highlighting divergent central-bank policies and hurting bullion demand as the dollar climbed. Silver retreated to the lowest level since 2010. “One printing press stops and another one cranks up,” Felicity Emmett, senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., wrote in a […]
Mumbai: The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda) has come out with a new product planner rule, by which an insurance company can file only five products for approval in a year. However, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest insurer, might be given a special dispensation by the regulator. In order to reduce the time taken for product approvals, Irda has asked life insurers for […]
