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 […]
I recently reached out to my Twitter followers, asking “What can I, as a VOA reporter in Washington, write about that you need/want to know?” The responses were varied and interesting, but one topic dominated: U.S. policy in Syria. Why hasn’t the U.S. done more to help the Syrian people? “There is lot of frustration with the Obama’s administration’s ambiguous, vague and often incoherent strategy regarding dealing […]
Five weeks after launching its OS X Yosemite operating system, Apple has released an updated version: OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 (14C68k). This second beta version comes swiftly on the heels of the first, which was made available Monday but didn’t seem to address some of the issues with Wi-Fi that were plaguing users and developers. Since OS X Yosemite made its debut on Oct. 16, community members […]
Building on its previous work in electronic collaboration forms that include audio and video conferencing, Cisco Systems is now offering ways to manage workers’ day-to-day interactions and tasks. The networking giant this week announced the availability of Project Squared, a service aimed at offering an online gathering place for getting work done. Project Squared is delivered via an app or the Web. It is the latest response […]
To better its customer service, Comcast is pulling out at least some of the stops. One of the initiatives the cable giant is undertaking has to do with the frustration customers experience while waiting around for technicians who may or may not show up exactly during the two-hour window the company offers. And who wants to wait around for two hours, anyway? Comcast CEO Brian Roberts demonstrated […]
By Nantoo Banerjee War is not all about attack. History has shown that tactical retreat as a war strategy had succeeded in winning more wars by entrapping advancing enemy than the show of blind belligerence by a brigade. Unfortunately, the use of tact is not a very strong point of this last Lok Sabha poll defeated Sonia-Rahul led Congress party. Its leaders are speaking in babel of […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An unfortunate upshot of the ongoing bar bribery scam battering the ruling United Democratic Front Government has been the war of words which raged for a while between the CPI and the CPI(M). Instead of cashing in on the acute discomfiture felt by the UDF Government on account of the bar bribery controversy, the CPI and the CPI(M) expended precious energies […]
NEW DELHI: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Thursday approved an outlay of Rs 43,033 crore to fund an ambitious initiative to supply electricity through separate feeders for agricultural and rural domestic consumption, aimed at providing round-the-clock power to village households. In addition, the cabinet also approved spending Rs 32,612 crore on an integrated power development initiative, which involves strengthening sub-transmission and distribution systems, according […]
By Kalyani Shankar Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooing the Indian Diaspora? While Modi’s critics say that he is building up the brand Modi abroad, Modi is clear that with their support he could build a better image for himself. There are about 100 million Indians living abroad and he obviously feels that their power should be harnessed for the growth of India and for his […]
By Nora Chopra The erstwhile commerce minister in the UPA government Anand Sharma is the man to watch. Sharma who is known to be a man without roots is tipped to become the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha if the present leader Ghulam Nabi Azad does not get re elected from any state by February next year. Congress leadership wanted to give Azad the Rajya […]
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: The government will decide on Saturday whether to press ahead with the Rs 13,000 crore mega project for the private sector to supply 56 medium transport aircraft to the IAF despite only a single bidder, the Tata-Airbus consortium, being in the fray. Though the defence acquisitions council (DAC) chaired by Manohar Parrikar will take the final decision, MoD sources on Tuesday said the “emerging […]
New aircraft and fresh routes will help Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates grow profit by no less than eight to ten percent in coming months, its president said on Wednesday. “We will continue to grow at a percentage which is never going to be less than about 8-10 percent, and that’s a conservative figure,” Tim Clark said on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Dubai. Clark warned […]
KOLKATA: State-run NTPC, the country’s biggest power generator and thermal coal consumer, plans to acquire at least 26 per cent stake in coal mines abroad to secure longterm fuel supplies for all its power plants, a senior executive said. This is a shift from the company’s earlier stance of seeking only minority stakes in such mines to ensure fuel for plants that operate only on imported […]
From L.S. Herdenia BHOPAL: Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress are in serious trouble. The reason is mounting discontent over the distribution of tickets for the three-tier urban bodies which will go to polls during the current month and also during December this year. How much serious situation is in both the parties can be appreciated by the headlines in a local English newspaper. 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 […]
By Sankar Ray If all goes well, India and Russia will shortly ink the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India & the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan & Russian Federation. The coming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India next month is supposed to impart a new dimension to the bilateral ties between India and Russian Federation and speedy finalization of the FTA between the two […]
From Pradeep Kapoor LUCKNOW: Mission 2017 to capture power in Uttar Pradesh has prompted a major political move which is to play aggressive dalit card to woo member of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes who constitute more than 22 per cent of the total population. Keeping the next assembly polls in mind, BSP supremo Mayawati also sent two dalits Raja Ra, and Veer Singh to […]
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 […]
NEW DELHI: The Centre is likely to reallocate to state-run firms such — as NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation — as well as state government utilities their captive coal blocks that had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. This leaves only half of the mines for auction to the private sector in the first phase in December. The coal ministry has assured most of the central […]
PANAJI: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is considering the introduction of a new policy on the vexed issue of blacklisting defence equipment suppliers accused of corruption as well as reforming rules for lobbyists to balance the needs of the armed forces with transparency. Speaking to ET in the state capital at the chief minister’s residence, Parrikar said, “One of the ideas the government is thinking about is […]
By Barun Das Gupta KOLKATA: Way back in 1994, the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao formulated India’s ‘Look East’ policy. Its aim was to strengthen economic ties, increase trade and commerce between India and her eastern neighbours and provide greater market access to one another for mutual benefit. Several projects like the 3200 km long India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway were taken up to accelerate the implementation […]
By Nora Chopra The clamour for Priyanka Gandhi in the Congress is growing by the day. .The latest to join the chorus is Hansraj Bhardwaj once known as a retainer of Gandhi family. Bhardwaj has gone public and said that Rahul Gandhi lacks the capability and charisma to attract the masses. He can only address a crowd of fifty students and no more than that. On the […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The covert and not-so-covert attempts to delay the preliminary investigation report by the Vigilance Department into the allegations of bribery against State Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) president, K. M. Mani, have suffered a severe setback with the Kerala High Court directing the department to submit the report within a week. It may be mentioned that the Vigilance Department had […]
