By Ashok B Sharma Recent unprovoked firing by Pakistan at the Line of Control and as well as at the international border shows the utter helplessness and desperation on its part. India has suspended the dialogue process as Pakistan opted to talk to Kashmiri separatists which the former said was against the spirit of the Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration. Subsequently, Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing at […]
By S. Sethuraman A global economy, wobbling six years after the financial market crash of 2008, cannot need anything better than a firm commitment of the world’s financiers to build a more robust, sustainable, balanced, job-rich economic order. Global unemployment is at its all-time peak, especially in Europe and large parts of developing world. Finance Ministers of 188 nations met at the 2014 Annual Meetings […]
By Harihar Swarup It is unbelievable but true that there are as many as 3,000 obsolete, redundant or repetitive laws in India. There are over 300 colonial-era enactments in force, which are absolutely redundant. Some of these British-era laws are even derogatory to a particular group and hence remind us of the days of slavery. Have a look at some of the ridiculous laws still […]
German engineering has an outstanding reputation worldwide for quality, technological innovation and reliability, yet in the obsession for perfection, it can miss market opportunities. The German watch industry, for example, with its hundreds of companies, has for long had a fixation for mechanical perfection, but in the process neglected the design aspect and the very quartz technology it had developed on its own. Similarly, Siemens had a […]
SAUDI ARABIA. Jadwa Investment, the Saudi asset manager focused on Sharia’ah compliant mutual and private equity funds, has just issued its Quarterly Global Oil Market Update (Q3 2014). Summary of the report · The combination of accelerating US supply, weaker than expected global demand, stabilization in geopolitics, and an appreciation of the dollar, led to oil prices dropping by 7.3 percent in Q3 2014, to an average of […]
AirAsia is in talks to relaunch flights to the United Arab Emirates from its hubs in Southeast Asia, and has this time chosen Dubai rather than Abu Dhabi for its Western expansion. The low-cost airline’s founder Tony Fernandes was in Dubai Wednesday to talk to officials about flying Airbus Group NV A330 jets into one of the emirate’s two airports, Dubai International or Al Maktoum International. AirAsia […]
Gulf banks are feeling the pinch of rapidly shrinking corporate loan margins, with some predicting a bounce in lending rates as soon as the first half of 2015 as the escalating price war bites into profitability. Lenders are being forced to cut rates and loosen lending terms to secure business as local banks, flush with cash as their balance sheets recover from the global financial crisis, seek […]
By Surojit Mahalanobis It is better late than never. The news that the power minister Piyush Goyal has set up an inter-ministerial panel (IMC) to examine and move forward with effective allocation of the 214 coal blocks, after the Supreme Court’s recent order, is indeed acceptable. What is positive about the move is that the committee (IMC) would comprise engineers of power, steel, and mining sectors as […]
While Microsoft has had retail stores across the U.S. for many years now, it has not had a prestigious address that could compete with rival Apple’s store on New York’s Fifth Avenue. That will soon change. Microsoft said Monday it had signed a lease to open a flagship store at 677 Fifth Avenue. That will put it just blocks away from Apple’s famed location beneath the giant, […]
By Ashok B Sharma The likely face off between Indian and Chinese troops at the line of actual control (LAC) in Ladakh has been averted. Thanks to efforts of the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart Wang Yi at the margins of the UN General Assembly. The Chinese troops have begun withdrawing from Chumar in Ladakh following the flag meeting between two sides. […]
| By Peter Garnry| What is clear post the Alibaba IPO is that the market is presumably mispricing Yahoo. Basically, it does not make sense if we assume markets are rational. Yahoo closed at $40.93 last Friday but based on a sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) analysis the stock should trade closer to $45. The table below outlines the SOTP analysis behind Yahoo’s fair value. The company has $3,408 million […]
By Ben Klayman DETROIT Mon Sep 8, 2014 8:27am IST The General Motors logo is seen outside its headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan August 25, 2009. Credit: Reuters/Jeff Kowalsky/Files DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co will introduce in two years its first car that can communicate with other vehicles to help avoid accidents and ease traffic congestion, Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Sunday. […]
By Wall Street Breakfast: Outstanding Performance Article Rewards We’re excited to announce our latest two Outstanding Performance award winners. Each author receives $2,500. Read more about our Outstanding Performance award winners here. Winner #1: Long idea on TPL (Texas Pacific Land) by Investing 501, published May 30, 2013. Return to date: +148% Winner #2: Short idea on IRG (Ignite Restaurant Group) by Volte-Face Investments, published May 12, […]
TOKYO: India and Japan today decided to “upgrade” and “strengthen” their defence cooperation as they asked officials to launch consultations to promote military equipment collaboration and accelerate discussions on modalities for the sale of Japanese US-2 amphibian aircraft. The decision to firm-up defence ties came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held summit-level talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe here. “The two Prime Ministers […]
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India sees possibility of a new era of cooperation with Japan in high-end defence technology and equipment and noted that progress has been made in parleys on civil nuclear agreement and amphibious aircraft deal between them. “In the field of defence and security, I feel time has come for us to upgrade our relations. I see in the […]
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Japan will include talks on possible joint production of amphibious aircraft and other matters related to strategic and defense ties between the two countries. Modi, who leads a new government here, personally extended his stay in Japan from a planned four days to five, beginning Aug. 30. He will be accompanied by a 20 high-ranking […]
Two weeks, three continents, and 100 meetings. That — and founder Jack Ma celebrating his 50th birthday on the road — is what it will take for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to pull off the largest initial public offering in U.S. history. The Chinese e-commerce company is weighing a plan to start marketing the share sale to investors on Sept. 3, with management traveling across Asia, Europe […]
|By Rashidul Bari| Palestine and Israel, once known as cradle of civilization, have become the hub of cemeteries in modern times. Their conflict has shed untold blood and produced graves as far as the eye can see. The countless tombstones are silent, but the sound of their outcry has carried from Middle-East to here at New York University’s Bobst Library—where I’m writing this article—and from which I’m […]
|TAP Special| In its effort to unearth black money stashed away abroad, India has received data on over 24,000 instances of alleged tax evasion and dubious funds which has been detected in foreign shores in the last financial year, the Economic Times reported. These cases are now under investigation by the taxman even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has set its eye on […]
NEW DELHI: State-run oil refiner-marketer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has drawn up plans to ramp up the capacity of its refinery at Numaligarh in Assam’s Golaghat district from three million tonnes per annum to nine million tonnes at an investment of Rs 16,600 crore.
The project includes laying a 1,350-km pipeline to bring in crude from a port on the east coast. While the refinery expansion would cost about Rs 8,800 crore, the remaining investment is expected to go into laying the pipeline and other assorted facilities.
Company sources said the project would mark the single-largest investment in Assam and boost economic activities in the north-east as well as unlock potential for exporting fuels to India&
New Delhi: With co-development and co-production of defence products in mind, India and the US on Friday agreed to take the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative forward.
The decision was taken at the delegation-level talks between defence minister Arun Jaitley and US secretary of defence Chuck Hagel, who is on a three-day visit to the country.
In the meeting, both sides took note of the progress made over the years in deepening defence ties. Both the sides reaffirmed their desire to further enhance bilateral defence cooperation, especially in technology and discussed ways for strengthening this partnership.
Stressing on indigenisation of the defence industries, Jaitley said, “The develop
NEW DELHI: Germany is the global leader in energy efficiency while ageing power plants and inefficient ways of electricity generation and industrial practices put India at number 11 in the latest energy efficiency ranking of the world’s 16 largest economies.
The United States, having second highest per capita energy consumption in the world, comes at the 13th position — behind countries such as China, France, Japan, UK, Canada and Australia among others.
Besides the US, four other countries — South Korea, Russia, Brazil and Mexico — are below India in terms of indulging in inefficient ways of energy consumption.
Per-capital energy consumption of all these countries is, however, much
New Delhi: Global defence equipment majors such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin could set up manufacturing units in India and bring in foreign direct investment (FDI) exceeding 49 per cent, provided the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) is Indian.
As the objective was to let only serious players enter the market, the defence FDI policy approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday categorically stated investee companies should be self-sufficient in product designing and have maintenance and life cycle support facilities for the products they manufactured here, said a senior department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) official.
The Union Cabinet had approved an increase in the composite foreign investme
MUMBAI: The Adani Group and Indian Oil Corporation are in talks to build a Rs 30,000-crore joint venture refinery at Mundra, which would give Gautam Adani an entry into the oil sector while the state-run company would get land port facilities for the proposed export-focused unit.
The proposed 30-million-tonne refinery at Mundra will make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s native state, Gujarat, a bigger energy hub. It already has refineries of Reliance Industries, Essar Oil and Indian Oil, apart from two LNG terminals and the country’s biggest city-gas distribution network.
Industry sources said Gautam Adani has held initial talks with top executives at IOC and offered around 3,500-4,000 acres of land for th
