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RURAL INDIA NOT HAPPY WITH MODI RULE

GUJARAT RESULT IS A RUDE JOLT TO BJP

By Arun Srivastava

There is one common element in the peoples’ mandates of Bihar and Gujarat. In Bihar elections were for the assembly while in Gujarat it was electing the peoples’ representatives for the local bodies and municipalities. The common element in both the elections was the rural people decisively rejected Narendra Modi and his government. After its battering in Bihar, BJP’s loss in rural local bodies in Gujarat comes a year after Narendra Modi, who ruled the state for 12 years, shifted to Delhi.

The rural Gujarat rejecting Modi is most glaring as he had been systematically boasting for launching the Gujarat model of growth. In Bihar elections Modi initially had juxtaposed his model to Nitish’s Bihar model and claimed that it was inclusive and superior. Intriguingly the rural poor of Gujarat outright r

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 […]

RUSSIA-FRANCE ALLIANCE AGAINST ISIS IS A POSITIVE MOVE

TURKEY’S LINKS WITH TERROR FUNDS EXPOSED

By Arun Srivastava

French President François Hollande entering into an alliance with the Russian President Vladimir Putin with the objective to build a global military coalition to defeat Islamic State following the Paris attacks has unnerved the USA.  This is yet another major setback for the USA. The two leaders agreeing to share intelligence information and cooperate on selecting targets in the fight against ISIS has turned the Obama administration scared of losing its authority and policy of hegemony.

The French president has won public approval and international backing for his handling of the crisis so far. His poll ratings are up by eight points to 33%. Foreign leaders have lined up to express solidarity. For the USA coming together of the leaders does not augur well. So far France has been close to the USA. Fr

Oil in danger of repeating 90s rout

OPEC has seemingly dropped any attempt at trying to fulfill its founding mission and manage the global oil market. For Saudi Arabia’s Ali al-Naimi, the most powerful and longest-serving of the group’s oil ministers, it may have seemed like history was repeating itself. There are several striking parallels between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ current situation and the period from 1997 to 1999, when the group lost […]

Opec’s clout brought to naught

|By Arabian Post Staff| Opec’s ability to control the oil market suffered its worst debacle when the organization failed to agree on a ceiling for production. This meant that Saudi Arabia prevailed over other members to continue the policy of excess production as to force non-OPEC players, such as the US and Russia, out of the market by making their output uneconomical. “Lots of people said that […]

Limitless debt deal faces trouble

|By Arabian Post Staff| The AED 1.9 billion debt restructuring deal by Dubai government-owned entity Limitless has run into trouble following resistance by some of the creditors, Reuters reported quoting three banking sources. The company needs complete creditor approval in order to push through any deal. The delay in completing the deal is causing uncertainty, particularly in view of the weakness in the UAE property market, the […]

Over 5500 Twitter account of #ISIS knocked down

Kevin Collier/dailydot/Hacktivists operating under the Anonymous banner say they’ve gotten more than 5,000 Twitter accounts affiliated with the Islamic State knocked off the site since Friday. We report that more than 5500 Twitter account of #ISIS are now #down! #OpParis #Anonymous #ExpectUs — #OpParis (@opparisofficial) November 17, 2015 Anonymous’s anti-ISIS campaign is part of a broad attempt to make using the Internet harder for members of the terrorist group […]

Debt-hit business owners start fleeing

|By Arabian Staff| Loan defaults and business owners fleeing the country leaving behind huge debts are becoming a routine affair in Dubai and other parts of the UAE, observers point out. According to EmiratesNBD, an increasing number of SME owners are being forced to flee and somewhat draws a parallel with the situation in the aftermath of the 2009 financial crisis. The problems of a slowing economy […]

Post-Paris Attacks, IBM Launches First Responder App Contest

In the wake of the ISIS terror attacks in Paris, many technology companies are looking ahead and preparing for the worst. Disaster recovery is a new focus for some, while others have had their eye on the target for much longer. IBM, for example, announced a contest today that gives developers access to its cloud to encourage disaster response-related app development. Just days after Friday evening’s attacks […]

Paris terror: New focus for G20

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, the most deadly violence to strike France since World War Two, world leaders are convening on Sunday and Monday for the G20 summit in Turkey. The meeting, whose agenda now includes the attacks and their aftermath, will also focus on the migrant crisis in the Middle East and Europe, and could thus become one of the most important G20 summits since […]

What do Arabs dream about most?

Arab countries’ political, social and economic realities affect their nationals’ dreams. We spend a third of our lives sleeping. What if we can unlock the mystery of what happens in our subconscious minds when we’re asleep? Are our dreams connected to one another? Does our local environment influence what we dream? What if we had a tool that can analyze hundreds of thousands of people’s dreams to […]

Third quarter gold demand up 8%

|By TAP Staff| Total gold demand in Q3 2015 stood at 1,121 tonnes , an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year, according to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends report. Q3 2015 consisted of two distinct halves. In the first part, a number of factors, including ETF outflows, contributed to a price dip which buoyed consumer demand around the world. A shift […]

ME business confidence at lowest level

|By TAP Staff| Business confidence in the Middle East is at its lowest ebb for more than five years, according to the latest global survey of accountants. The Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) carried out jointly by ACCA (The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants) for the third quarter of 2015 suggests that the renewed fall in oil prices is likely […]

Premonitions of a global financial crash

|By Matein Khalid| I was in a pensive-philosophic mood last week as I decompressed from a trip to a hauntingly beautiful post Soviet country in the Caucasus, the land that produced Koba from Gori and Prince Pyotr Bagration, the fallen hero of Tsar Alexander’s imperial guard at Borodino. Yet Georgia gave me time and perspective to think about the financial firestorms on Wall Street, Marounuchi, the Gulf […]

ABN Amro admits Dubai fine ahead of IPO

|By TAP Staff| Dutch bank ABN Amro said it has paid fines to regulators in the Netherlands and Dubai over “serious shortcomings” in vetting clients and managing risk at its private banking operations. The statement comes a week ahead of the bank’s proposed IPO. The Dubai investigation had put a shadow over the bank, which naturally had a bearing on the forthcoming IPO. ABN said on Wednesday […]

Saudi finances and the oil crash

|By Matein Khalid| Saudi Arabia has fascinated me since I first met Hani AZ Yamani as a teenage student all those years ago at Wharton. Hani’s father was Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, legendary Saudi Oil Minister (1962-86) under Kings Faisal, Khalid and Fahd. Sheikh Yamani managed the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks, survived a terrorist assault in Vienna by Carlos the Jackal, midwifed the birth of Saudi […]

America’s fading footprint in the Middle East

| By Yaroslav Trofimov| Despised by some, admired by others, the U.S. has been the Middle East’s principal power for decades, providing its allies with guidance and protection. Now, however, with Russia and Iran thrusting themselves boldly into the region’s affairs, that special role seems to be melting away. As seasoned politicians and diplomats survey the mayhem, they struggle to recall a moment when America counted for […]

Value ideas amid Asian carnage

|By Matein Khalid| 2015 has been a horror story for emerging markets and Asian shares have not escaped the fallout from the 40% plunge in Shanghai/Shenzhen since June. Yet financial markets discount the future while UAE investors invariably extrapolate the recent past. So even while I resurrect the ghosts of 1998 when Suharto’s regime fell amid anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta, South Korea was forced to accept a […]

ISIS Destroys Triumphal Arches in Palmyra, Syria

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Another landmark structure in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra has been deliberately destroyed by Islamic State militants, according to local antigovernment activists and Syrian officials. The building involved this time was a set of triumphal arches, erected in the second century. Since seizing Palmyra from government forces in May, Islamic State fighters have destroyed some of the most beautiful and historically significant monuments in […]

EU's Schulz says Volkswagen scandal a “heavy blow” for German economy

A Volkswagen logo adorns a sign outside a dealership for the German automaker located in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon, Australia, October 3, 2015. Reuters/David Gray BERLIN The head of the European Parliament told a group of German regional newspapers that the emissions scandal at Volkswagen (VW) would hit the German economy hard but Europe’s biggest carmaker was likely to survive the crisis. Germany’s finance and economy […]

Dubai and London: How yields lead investment opportunities

UAE. In times of economic uncertainty, cold-hearted international investors seek more diversification of their property portfolios; as London provides opportunity for property capital appreciation with prices continuously on the rise in the last five years, reasonable prices and growing yields in Dubai market make an equally attractive income generating opportunity. Mutual InterestFor Middle Eastern investors, London has always been regarded as a strong investment complementary to their […]

Saudi Arabia Arrests 2 People Accused of Plotting Attacks

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi security forces arrested a Syrian man accused of plotting attacks and his Filipino accomplice in a raid on an illegal explosives factory in Riyadh, the Interior Ministry said Saturday, according to the state news agency SPA. The ministry said the two people arrested in Wednesday’s raid belonged to a “deviant group” — a term used by Saudi authorities to refer to Al […]

Russia Strikes in ISIS Territory in Syria but Ignores Western Demands

MOSCOW — Russia widened its bombings in Syria on Friday, striking Islamic State territory for the first time, but showed no hint of heeding Western demands to avoid attacks on fighters pushing to oust Syria’s weakened, Kremlin-backed president. The Defense Ministry said its warplanes had bombed seven targets in overnight raids including a command post and training camp near Raqqa, the northeast Syrian city that the Islamic […]

Russia Carries Out Airstrikes in Syria for 2nd Day

Middle East A vehicle at a base controlled by rebel fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham insurgent group that activists said was targeted by Russian airstrikes near Idlib, Syria, on Thursday. By ANNE BARNARD and ANDREW E. KRAMER October 1, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday that once again — contrary to Moscow’s assertions — appeared […]