Articles written by K Raveendran

Putin’s Gambit In Demanding Rouble Payments Takes Issues Beyond Pricing

By K Raveendran The currency stand-off in the global gas market, triggered by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s announcement that Russian gas will henceforth have to be paid in roubles instead of dollar and euro is keeping the market on tenterhooks. It has upset the calculations of all important stake holders, including India, which has been […]

The post Putin’s Gambit In Demanding Rouble Payments Takes Issues Beyond Pricing first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 30

‘Synchronised’ Fraud By Government And Oil Companies Is Back

By K Raveendran As predicted, the ’synchronised’ fraud by the Modi government and the petroleum marketing companies has resumed even before the state assemblies which went to poll in the recent round have been officially constituted. The open market policy, which has been kept in ‘suspended animation’ has come alive and the results are already […]

The post ‘Synchronised’ Fraud By Government And Oil Companies Is Back first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 23

Ukraine Aftermath To Hit Vulnerable Populations Around The World

By K Raveendran The massive humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is engaging the attention of all concerned. The pain and suffering caused by the war to innocent people, manifesting in some three million seeking refuge in Ukraine’s European neighbour states provide unbearable visuals. But away from public gaze, vulnerable sections even far […]

The post Ukraine Aftermath To Hit Vulnerable Populations Around The World first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 19

Coal Prices Set To Double Under Impact Of Russia’s Ukraine War

By K Raveendran The impact of Russia’s Ukraine war on the energy sector, particularly oil and gas, as well as commodities, has been too dramatic to be missed by anyone, including consumers in the remotest part of the world. But what is causing new concern is how the war is pushing coal prices to unprecedented […]

The post Coal Prices Set To Double Under Impact Of Russia’s Ukraine War first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 16

How ‘Z’ Has Come To Acquire An Evil Meaning Similar To Nazi Swastika

By K Raveendran The ‘Z’ marking seen on Russian battle tanks and other military equipment as a coding for the Ukraine invasion is fast acquiring an evil meaning, similar to the evil that the Nazi symbol of Swastika denotes. In India, Swastika connotes exactly the opposite, as the Hindu symbol of auspiciousness. But for most […]

The post How ‘Z’ Has Come To Acquire An Evil Meaning Similar To Nazi Swastika first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 12

Narendra Modi Flourishes On Indian People’s Short Memory

By K Raveendran Forgetfulness is bliss. Of all faculties, the ability to forget is the basis of human progress, whether for an individual, institution, or a nation. It is the fountainhead of forgiveness, perhaps the greatest of all virtues. And Indians are particularly endowed with it, whether it is due to their obsession with spirituality, […]

The post Narendra Modi Flourishes On Indian People’s Short Memory first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 09

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Oil Prices Refuse To Be Tamed By Emergency Releases By IEA Members

By K Raveendran Making one of the worst fears come true, Brent crude, the benchmark oil price, has hit an intimidating $110 a barrel as the Russian invasion of Ukraine is showing no signs of a possible resolution. This is the highest price for oil in more than seven years, which by itself should send […]

The post Oil Prices Refuse To Be Tamed By Emergency Releases By IEA Members first appeared on IPA Newspack.

March 02

Gold Shines Again As Safe Haven As Ukraine War Intensifies

By K Raveendran The Russian invasion of Ukraine has provided yet another instance of gold proving its safe haven value. As Russian forces entered Ukraine and pressed towards Kiev, gold price surged to an intra-day high of US$1,974 per ounce on Thursday, corresponding to Rs 52,797 per 10 grams on India’s MCX. Hectic buying was […]

The post Gold Shines Again As Safe Haven As Ukraine War Intensifies first appeared on IPA Newspack.

February 27

Energy Is A Strategic Weapon In Russia’s War Against Ukraine

By K Raveendran With the Russian invasion of Ukraine already playing out, it is clear that the war between US and allies on one side and Russia on the other would be fought not just at the military and economic levels, as already manifested by the western sanctions, but with another strategic weapon as well: […]

The post Energy Is A Strategic Weapon In Russia’s War Against Ukraine first appeared on IPA Newspack.

February 24

Ukraine Tensions Bring Coal A New Lease Of Life In Energy Mix

By K Raveendran Tensions over Ukraine have combined with record-high gas prices to raise questions about the long-term security of gas imports through Russian-operated pipelines, giving coal a new place of importance in the energy mix. European countries have been gradually decommissioning coal infrastructure over recent years, as the power market moves towards a greener, […]

The post Ukraine Tensions Bring Coal A New Lease Of Life In Energy Mix first appeared on IPA Newspack.

February 24

Crypto won’t be kept away for long

K Raveendran Big financial institutions recognize the superiority of blockchain technology, but are intimidated by the prospects of bitcoin replacing them, so they will try to censor, control and manipulate it before ultimately they will be forced to accommodate it on public demand, says Grigory Rybalchenko, founder and CEO of Emirex, an exchange and a marketplace for digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Gregory will be among the top […]

October 09

Banking & Finance, Investigation

Airports, travel bodies clash over charges

K Raveendran There is a certain confrontation developing between Airports Council International, the umbrella boy of airports, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regarding what the association considers as high airport charges. At the just concluded annual general meeting of IATA, the apex body for the promotion of air travel, warned that plans to increase charges by airports and air navigation service providers (ANSPs) will stall […]

October 05

Universal currency of the underworld

By K Raveendran The ongoing investigations into the sensational case of gold smuggling through the diplomatic channel provide a live example of the nexus between gold, drugs, dirty money and havala. All preliminary findings point to a ‘standard operating procedure’ followed across the world by the underworld, as highlighted in what has been called the FinCEN files, just published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). […]

September 24

Columns

My bearish call on Uber IPO was a strategic winner

By Matein Khalid I had published a column in the UK/MENA press arguing that the Uber IPO was “absurdly valued” last week. I was vindicated with a vengeance when Uber priced its IPO at 45, well below the level Saudi Arabia’s uber-sovereign wealth fund PIF invested $3.5 billion in the hose of Travis (now Dara) three years ago. Uber opened on the NYSE with a whimper, not […]

May 14

Al Waleeed’s arrest may be the price for offending Trump

|By K Raveendran| The arrest of wealthy Saudi prince Al Waleed, whose investments ranging from Citibank to Apple to Twitter, making him the most high profile Arab investor on the global stage, may involve more than internal power struggle within the Saudi ruling establishment and the new Crown Prince’s spirited fight against corruption. Al Waleed may have paid a heavy price for his spat with Donald Trump […]

November 06

Making a voyage into Arabian past, Branson is mighty impressed with Saudis

|By K Raveendran| Virgin boss Richard Branson recently went on a voyage to Arabia’s past, which he claims helped him discover an incredibly exciting time in Saudi Arabia’s history. The visit also turned out to be an inspiration for him to announce a major investment in a luxury tourism project aiming to transform a stretch of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast into a hub for high-end holidaymakers. […]

October 03

Amazon bid for souq.com shows Noon’s entry begins to bite

|ARABIAN POST SPECIAL|By K Raveendran| As predicted, Emaar chairman Mohammed Alabbar’s foray into e-commerce has already started creating waves in the regional and global online retailing market. In an apparent move to retain its clout, global e-commerce leader Amazon.com is reportedly in talks to acquire Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com. Amazon is reportedly considering a bid for all of souq.com, which had initially planned to sell a minority stake. […]

November 24

Now watch out for federal tax authority

|By K Raveendran| With the VAT announcement already having been made, the next landmark decision business circles are keenly watching out for is the establishment of the UAE Federal Tax Authority. The new authority or department is expected to be entrusted with the task of implementing and collecting various taxes, including the proposed corporate taxes. In June last year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had outlined in […]

March 01

VAT to further distress retail industry

|By K Raveendran| A clear assessment of the impact of the introduction of value added tax (VAT) in the UAE is not available yet, but it is fairly clear that it will have serious adverse results for the retail industry, which is already suffering a dip in demand. Minister of State for Financial Affairs Obaid Humaid Al Tayer announced the other day after a joint press conference […]

February 25

Turkey’s industry muscle on show at Win Eurasia

|By K Raveendran| Going by the pace at which machinery automation is advancing, the day does not appear to be a long way off when self-working machines carry out complicated and high-skilled operations without manual intervention. The Win Eurasia Metal Working Fair in Istanbul held during 11-14 February provided clear insights into the evolving trends in this area and the rapid strides Turkish machinery manufacturing industry is […]

February 16

Agenda, Economy

Dubai shows its true spirit

|By K Raveendran| Given Dubai’s fame as one of the most happening cities of the world, the international media attention to the New Year-eve fire at the Address Hotel was quite natural. At the same time, it did not escape the attention of the discerning that some sections of the media lost no opportunity to use the unfortunate incident to show things in a rather poor light. […]

January 02

Agenda, Featured

Dubai enters a new phase of development

|By K Raveendran| With the new Public-Private Partnership law having come into being last month, Dubai is set to witness a new phase in its development, as private investments begin to flow into further development of the emirate’s infrastructure. This would mean the private sector directly getting involved in projects like airport expansion, extension of the Dubai Metro and similar infrastructure projects and sharing the risks in […]

December 13

GCC Focus

Dubai-style mall set to enthrall shoppers in Doha

|TAP Special by K Raveendran| Landmark events about the development of a shopping mall generally involve major leasing deals or signing up flagship brands, or the launch of the mall itself. But Qatar’s Tawar Mall, coming up in a prime Doha locality, was the scene of a bit of fanfare this week for none of the above. The mall owners, belonging to the leading Qatari business family […]

October 26

Dubai-style mall set to create shopping thrill in Doha

October 24

High drama on UAE healthcare scene

|TAP Special by K Raveendran| The UAE healthcare sector was the scene of high drama as the Al Noor Hospitals Group, being pursued by leading sectoral player NMC Group to form the country’s biggest private healthcare provider, apparently broke off and announced it has reached an agreement for a merger with South Africa’s Mediclinic International Ltd. Al Noor will also be renamed Mediclinic International. Al Noor said […]

October 14

Dubai real estate down, under pressure

|TAP Special by K Raveendran| The Dubai residential market continues to face downward pressure as rents and sale prices decline. It’s perhaps indicative of a systemic shift that the current phase’s first bankruptcy has just been filed. According to a JLL report citing the REIDIN indexes, the sales index dropped by 8% for the one-year period ending June 2015, with declines in apartment sale prices exceeding that […]

July 29

Attention now shifts to VAT

|TAP Special By K Raveendran| With the fuel subsidies issue having been settled, attention now shifts to the possibilities of introducing value added tax as another option to bolster the UAE’s financial resources. Starting August 1, 2015, special grade petrol across fuel stations in the UAE will cost Dh2.14 per litre, up 24.4 per cent from Dh1.72. The super grade will cost Dh2.25, up 22.9 per cent […]

July 29

Fuel price hike prompted by IMF views

|By K Raveendran| The deregulation of fuel prices in the UAE is no doubt a highly opportunistic move in the sense that the current oil price levels support market-driven pricing. But a major factor that prompted the decision is believed to be the recommendations of IMF. The UAE Ministry of Energy recently announced that domestic gasoline and diesel prices would be deregulated starting from 1 August 2015. […]

July 28