Middle East fund managers expect to put money back into Gulf stock markets in coming months once the shock of the plunge in oil prices fades, the latest Reuters survey of regional asset managers shows. The slide of Brent crude to $70 a barrel last week,from around $115 in June, has shifted the outlook for the oil-exporting Gulf economies. This has caused Gulf equities to underperform after […]
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has said EU migrants should only be able to claim out-of-work benefits after three months By Raziye Akkoc 8:55AM GMT 27 Nov 2014 Follow The Deputy Prime Minister has waded into the argument about EU migrants on benefits by giving his support for “ensuring that EU jobseekers cannot claim out-of-work benefits from day one”. Nick Clegg, in an op-ed for the […]
In its bid for the wearables market, Sony Corp. is developing a watch made out of electronic paper for release as soon as next year, reported Bloomberg. Although not yet officially announced, the move is considered a trial of the company’s new venture-style approach to creating products. The face and wrist band of the watch will be made from a patented material that lets the surface area […]
Iran may propose that OPEC cut its output target by as much as 1 million barrels a day to halt the slide in crude prices when the country’s oil minister consults with his Saudi counterpart before the group gathers this week. Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi will talk on the sidelines of the meeting in Vienna of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting […]
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 […]
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 […]
New Delhi: India has signed a euro 13 million deal with Airbus Defence and Space for the delivery of a dedicated facility in the country for the maintenance and repair its submarine fleet periscopes. The project is due to be completed in September 2016. “When a product is serviced, a lot of time is lost during the transport between different facilities. Once maintenance work can be […]
NEW DELHI: The government will soon relax the rules so that road developers can sell their completed or stuck project, which will free them up to invest in other road projects that have found few takers in recent years. The current rules say developers have to hold at least 26 per cent stake in highway projects, tying them to projects executed by them. The road ministry […]
Mumbai: The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday cleared big-bang market reforms, including a move to replace the two-decade-old insider-trading rules with the new prohibition of insider trading (PIT) regulations, and amending the existing delisting regulations. Additionally, Sebi approved new reforms in consent mechanism under which it will give entities found violating securities laws the option of settling the matter before the […]
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 […]
Bad debts in China are well underestimated because authorities persist in propping up weak companies and bailing out local investors, according to DAC Management LLC. The Chicago-based asset management and advisory firm, which focuses on distressed credit and special situations in China, says the worst is yet to come, and that means lots of opportunities for the world’s biggest distressed debt traders. Nonperforming loans at Chinese banks […]
By Ashok B Sharma If South Asia plans to consolidate and further integrate itself, it needs to learn much from the experiences of South-East Asian countries that are moving towards an ASEAN Economic Community hopefully by 2015. About 80 per cent of the spadework have been done for the process of integration, only 20 per cent of the efforts are needed. The ASEAN group was of course […]
By Ashis Biswas While prospects for improving Indo-Bangladesh relations have brightened following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussion with his Bangladeshi counterpart Ms Hasina Wazed on pending issues, working out the Teesta river water sharing arrangement may take some time. A strong indication to this effect was available in a section of Bangladeshi media recently. In an interview to a Dhaka-based website, former Indian High […]
NEW DELHI: Bids in the February 2015 spectrum auction are likely to skyrocket as the department of telecommunications (DoT) plans to auction just 800/900/1800 MHz spectrum bands, and not the vital 2100 MHz band spectrum that telcos were hoping for. Auctions for spectrum in the 2100 MHz band will take place only in May, and with no certainty about how much 2100 MHz spectrum would be available […]
Kolkata: The fear of bad loans and limited lending opportunities to top companies have prompted several banks to shift focus towards the retail (individual loans) and small & medium enterprises segments. India Inc’s reluctance to borrow money is keeping bankers worried. While lenders were able to stem fresh impairment in their credit quality in the July-September period, low demand for corporate loans has decelerated the growth in […]
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 […]
NEW DELHI: With global energy firms refusing to participate in the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline, India may propose getting a Chinese company to lead a consortium that will build the USD 10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. French giant Total SA had initially envisaged interest in leading a consortium of national oil companies of the four nations in the TAPI project, but backed off after […]
By Nantoo Banerjee Given the size of the country’s domestic market of goods and services, the prime minister’s vision of manufacturing in India is no doubt a very practical idea not only from the point of view of the scale of local consumption but also the opportunity it holds for the export of surplus production. No country can sustain an import-led economy forever. However, its success will […]
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 […]
By Praful Bidwai All those who expected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver on his election-campaign promise of cleaning up Indian politics of money power and crime, making a break with short-term caste-and-community calculations, and placing merit above personal loyalty, would be sorely disappointed at his cabinet reshuffle, including the induction of 21 new ministers. The composition of his team also reflects a great paucity […]
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 decision […]
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 […]
By Harihar Swarup This was, perhaps, the worst beginning for Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra. His government would have easily won the trust vote with the NCP first deciding to abstain in voting, but, later, agreeing to vote with the government. Then whose idea it was to pass the motion through voice vote and cast a doubt on the legitimacy of first-ever BJP government in the state? […]
By Garga Chatterjee If you have not watched the YouTube video Enna Da Rascalas: South of India, you should. It is a crisp catchy-tune video made by a talented group of artists calling themselves the Culture Machine and Stray Factory. It has gone ‘viral’, logging more than 1.2 million hits in 7 days. It humorously aims to inform people about the different peoples of ‘South of […]
