The Gulf states have become the most stable and influential force in the Arab world, with the decline of the Egyptian role, the spread of turmoil and chaos in Syria and Iraq and Algeria’s retreat on itself after the “black decade” of the 1990s. Because of political stability and increasing oil revenues, the Gulf states have accumulated financial wealth that has strengthened their political, economic and media influence in […]
A man wrote the names of the dead during funerals at a cemetery in Gaza. By ISABEL KERSHNER and FARES AKRAM July 28, 2014 JERUSALEM — Hostilities in Gaza declined sharply on Monday as both Israel and Hamas entered into an informal hiatus for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But several rockets and mortars were fired into Israel on Monday. A Palestinian man and […]
By MATT APUZZO July 27, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has gone to court to protect the files of an influential anti-Iran advocacy group, saying they likely contain information the government does not want disclosed. The highly unusual move by the Justice Department raises questions about the connections between the American government and the group, United Against Nuclear Iran, a hard-line voice seeking to prevent Iran from obtaining […]
Large sections of Gaza, including Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood, have been destroyed in the current 20-day battle with Israel. By JODI RUDOREN and BEN HUBBARD July 27, 2014 JERUSALEM — Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that dominates the Gaza Strip, has more to boast about in its current 20-day battle against Israel than ever before. Forty-three Israeli soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting. Gunmen infiltrated Israel through tunnels five times. Rockets […]
New Delhi: GAIL (India), under a petroleum ministry directive, has decided to buy a third of the LNG ships it plans to acquire to ferry the fuel from the US to India, from Indian shipbuilders. Considering that the PSU, whose massive LNG imports from the US would start in 2017, has lined up investments to the tune of $7.6 billion for hiring the required specialised vessels, the move would give a big boost to the Indian shipbuilding industry.
Domestic players such as L&T and Pipavav are among the obvious beneficiaries of the decision, which is in line with the Modi government’s thrust on the domestic manufacturing sector. Although some analysts are doubtful about the feasibility of Indian ship makers meeting such huge demand g
New Delhi: The NDA government has deferred its decision on the procurement of 16 multi-role helicopters for the Indian Navy as one of the two companies in the race for the deal is linked with Finmeccannica– the parent organisation of the scam-tainted firm AgustaWestalnd.
The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley put off its decision on the procurement of the helicopters for the Navy from vendors including American Sikorsky and European NH Industries, which has Finmeccannica as one of its partners, highly-placed sources said.
Finmeccannica is the parent firm of AgustaWestland firm, whose Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the IAF has been scrapped by the
The United States faces an awkward rival in its first attempts in 40 years to export crude oil – Iran. Iran, whose economy has been throttled by Western sanctions that have halved its crude shipments, is now selling higher quality and cheaper oil to China that leaves little room for the U.S. crude to enter the world’s top energy consumer. While buyers in Japan and South Korea […]
|By TAP Staff| The Saudi decision to open up the stock market to foreigners could eventually lead to the Middle East North Africa region becoming as large as 5.2 percent of MSCI emerging markets benchmark. The significance of the Saudi entry to the region’s profile is brought out by the fact that even after UAE and Qatar’s upgrade to emerging market status over a month ago, the […]
|By TAP Staff| Dubai is behind UK’s Heathrow International airport by only fewer than 3,000 passengers daily to become the world’s biggest airport for international traffic. Considering that this number is equivalent to just 12 flights, Dubai can be expected to overtake Heathrow any time in future. “It can be expected Dubai will power ahead, having earned the right to the title of world’s leading airport,” said […]
Slide Show | Surveying the Damage in Gaza Families returned to their homes during a 12-hour cease-fire on Saturday. By BEN HUBBARD July 26, 2014 BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — Families across the Gaza Strip emerged from shelters and returned to their homes during a 12-hour cease-fire on Saturday to survey the damage to their neighborhoods, collect belongings and help dig bodies from the rubble. As the cease-fire expired […]
Slide Show | Two Baghdad Neighborhoods, a World Apart The two neighborhoods, Sunni Adhamiya and Shiute Kadhimiya, once inextricably joined in the imagination of Baghdad residents, are drifting further apart. By ALISSA J. RUBIN July 26, 2014 BAGHDAD — Al Imams Bridge spans the Tigris River between two of the oldest communities in Baghdad — one Sunni, the other Shiite — and on Ramadan evenings it can seem as if […]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has so far not agreed to a broader cease-fire plan. By JODI RUDOREN July 26, 2014 JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is stuck between mounting international outcry over civilian casualties from his assault on the Gaza Strip and intensifying calls at home to finish the job he started. Several of his top ministers are pushing for a full takeover of […]
The extra cost from rerouting hundreds of airliners around Ukrainian airspace, shut down following the downing of a Malaysian Air flight last week, is set to translate into higher ticket prices for passengers. “If you lengthen routes, you use more fuel so it is more costly,” Air France-KLM Group (AF) Chief Executive Officer Alexandre de Juniac said in Paris today. “At the end of the day, we […]
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a Bill to raise the foreign investment ceiling in private insurance companies from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, but inserted a provision that the management and control of these companies must be with Indians. This cap will be composite — both foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment. Experts said this meant voting rights of foreign investors would not be capped at 26 per cent but they cannot have contractual agreements for control of insurance companies. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs this morning gave its approval to changes in the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which will now be taken up in the current session of Parliament. “The Cabinet has cleared raising the for
MUMBAI: The state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) plan to revive branded petrol such as IndianOil’s XtraPremium and Bharat Petroleum’s Speed, backed by aggressive marketing, to make the most of a significant excise duty cut announced in the budget.
Sales of branded petrol, which contain additives that enhance automobile’s performance, had plummeted in recent years as they became Rs 7-10 per litre more expensive than the regular fuel, forcing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) to pull out such products from most outlets. But with finance minister Arun Jaitley announcing a cut in central excise duty on branded petrol to Rs
HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) are among the banks set to profit after the Riyadh-based Capital Market Authority announced plans this week to open Saudi Arabia’s bourse to foreign investors. The CMA said on July 22 that it would open up the oil-producing kingdom’s $531 billion stock market to foreigners next year. That may attract inflows of about $35 billion to the […]
Office rents in Dubai’s central business district surged 25 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier amid strong economic growth and rising business confidence, according to CBRE Group Inc. Prime CBD rents, which account for 20 percent of the overall market, rose to 1,884 dirhams ($513) per square meter a year, CBRE said in a report today. Rents in secondary locations climbed 24 percent. “The […]
NEW DELHI: Consumers of Tata’s ultra mega power project (UMPP) and Adani’s power plant at Mundra in Gujarat might not see a major escalation in their procurement price after the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) gave its nod to include compensatory rate in the final rate of sale of power.
The beneficiary utilities in Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharashtra are already buying power for Rs 3.61 to Rs 3.7 a unit, according to the annual revenue requirement reports submitted to state regulators.
The levelised tarifforiginally offered by Tata’s imported coal-based UMPP is much lower at Rs 2.26, but after the compensatory tariff of 52 paise, it would work out to Rs 2.8. Power from
NEW DELHI: The government plans to tweak the system of calculating fuel subsidies to make ONGC’s public offer more attractive for investors. It plans to make subsidy sharing more predictable and transparent so that analysts can properly assess the ONGC’s earnings outlook.
Currently they are unable to assess the amount and the timing of the huge subsidy payout. This diminishes the interest of top institutions in the stock.
The oil ministry may soon approach the Cabinet to overhaul the fuel pricing system to incorporate some of the observations of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, which recently submitted a report on the matter.
The pricing system has a direct impact on O
DUBAI // Camels will not be sacrificed during this year’s Haj in Mecca in an attempt to stop the spread of the Mers coronavirus. Dr Ulrich Wernery, scientific director at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in Dubai, said he was part of a team that recommended the measures to the Saudi Arabian ministry of health. A genetic link between the Mers found in humans and a […]
The Middle East will take a bigger share of gold demand as buyers from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates diversify investments and Dubai nears offering a contract for immediate delivery bullion. MKS (Switzerland) SA, a Geneva-based bullion trader and refiner, expanded into Dubai three years ago and employs 25 people there, with the gold trade an “important market,” said Frederic Panizzutti, chief executive […]
Saudi Arabia plans to open its stock market, the Arab world’s biggest, to direct investment by foreign financial institutions in the first half of next year, the market regulator said on Tuesday. The opening of the Saudi market, capitalized at about $530 billion, is one of the most keenly awaited economic reforms in the largest oil exporting nation. The bourse would be one of the world’s last […]
GAZA — Israel and Hamas militants have agreed to a United Nations request for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza on Thursday. The truce will last five hours to give Palestinian civilians a chance to restock supplies, repair damaged buildings, and get medical care. But Israel warns it will react if militants fire rockets during the truce. Palestinian officials say the death toll since Israel began its offensive […]
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a combative inaugural speech that Ukraine would not give up Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from it in March. “Crimea was, is, and will be Ukrainian,” Poroshenko said in an emotional address after his swearing-in on Saturday. He was greeted with a standing ovation. He stressed the unity of Ukraine, which is fighting a pro-Russian separatist uprising in the east, and said it […]
