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inNEW DELHI: Rebutting the department of industrial policy and promotion’s (DIPP) contention that import surges due to bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) harmed India’s manufacturing sector, the commerce department, part of the ministry to which the DIPP belongs, has said India needs to persist with the strategy of embracing such pacts to integrate itself more seamlessly to the world trade order.

 

In a letter to DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant, who has been vocal against FTAs and comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPAs), Rajeev Kher, his counterpart in the commerce department, said that instead of attacking (past) FTAs without any factual basis, it is better for the government to look ahead and use such partnerships for

egNEW DELHI: The subsidy burden for distribution utilities of 16 states is estimated at Rs 72,000 crore, 17% higher than the previous financial year, due to higher costs and cheaper tariff for the farm sector, said ICRA in a recent note. The note states that state electricity regulators in 16 out of the 29 states have issued tariff orders for the current fiscal so far, attributing the delay partly to the recently-held Lok Sabha elections.

 

The rating agency noted that subsidy dependence for utilities in Maharashtra is likely to increase sharply by about 55% on a year-on-year basis in FY15 as a result of tariff subsidy of 20% announced by the state government, and also for Jammu & Kashmir where the subsidy burden is projected to rise

ogMUMBAI: 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

defWhen Finance Minister Arun Jaitley kept the FDI cap in defence at 49 per cent, he said: “Our assessment of the market is that the 49 per cent FDI limit in the sector would be a significant step in establishing domestic defence market. The public opinion and Parliament’s opinion in India is ready to accept the proposal that I have made.”

 

Mr. Jaitley was also in consonance with the policy sentiment that has evolved within the government over many years. As far back as in 2004, key economists argued before the Planning Commission that 100 per cent FDI in high technology would enable India to reduce or limit its technology imports; in 2008, the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council constituted by former Prime Minister Ma

egNEW 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

ogNEW 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

DEFRussian-Indian international naval drills Indra-2014 ended in Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok. “Russian and Indian naval sailors fulfilled all tasks completely,” head of the press service of the Russian Pacific Fleet Captain First Rank Roman Martov told Itar-Tass on Sunday.

 

At the final meeting aboard the guards missile-carrying cruiser Varyag Assistant Commander of the Pacific Fleet Rear Admiral Andrey Ryabukhin noted that interoperability and trust between two fleets reached a very high level.

 

For his part, Commander of the Indian Eastern Fleet Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain said at this meeting that naval sailors had acquired a very good experience and were on the way back home with the posit

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The Emirates Red Crescent has signed an agreement with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to provide Dh150 million for future reconstruction projects in Gaza. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and president of ERC, reiterated the UAE’s commitment to standing up for the Palestinian people, and to supporting humanitarian causes. He explained that […]

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 […]

 Western advisers are drawing up plans for reshaping the Egyptian economy, sources said, with the apparent blessing of president-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who so far has spoken only vaguely in public about reviving the state’s finances. The driving force behind the consulting project is the United Arab Emirates, which along with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since Sisi removed […]

Call it a perfect market storm of wealth creation. Since the start of 2013, the Dubai stock market has registered a near 200% gain to become the best performing financial market in the world. The Gulf emirate’s securing of the World Expo in 2020 is likely one factor behind this success as is the wider UAE’s reputation as a safe-haven in a region riddled with uncertainty. Oil […]

Two car bombings against members of an ethnic minority in northern Iraq and militant attacks on Iraqi soldiers and police officers killed at least 27 people on Friday, Iraqi officials said. The bombings struck in Tahrawa, a village inhabited by families from the Shabak ethnic group, killing seven people. The village is near Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. Police officials also said that 43 people were […]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s president-elect Petro Poroshenko have discussed a ceasefire and other possible steps to de-escalate the crisis between their countries in a brief meeting in France, French officials said. The meeting hosted by French President Francois Hollande, before D-Day celebrations on Friday, took place as clashes continued in eastern Ukraine near a border crossing with Russia, killing at least 15 pro-Russian separatists overnight.   Putin and […]

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The fevered struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran for regional dominance has for years aggravated nearly every conflict across the Middle East as the two nations armed, funded and encouraged each other’s adversaries. So it has come as a surprise to many here that even with the region still in tumult, there have been signs that both powers are looking to temper their destructive […]

JERUSALEM — An unusual survey of Iranian public opinion indicates that 40 percent of Iranians would be willing to give up any ability to produce nuclear weapons in the future in return for the full removal of sanctions. Nearly 40 percent of those asked agreed that Iran should recognize Israel if Israel reached a peace accord with the Palestinians and withdrew from the contested territories. Such delicate […]

A view of southwestern Syria in late April, from an Israeli lookout post in the Golan Heights. Israel has placed soldiers in the Golan to stand guard against any Syrian attack. Nicholas Casey/The Wall Street Journal GOLAN HEIGHTS—Each morning after sunrise, soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces stand on a hill and look into their binoculars over two parallel fences topped in barbed wire that stretch out […]

Suspected al-Qaida militants have attacked a military checkpoint in southern Yemen, killing at least 14 soldiers. Yemeni security officials say other soldiers were wounded in the attack, which took place on Thursday near a village in Shabwa province. Yemen is the stronghold of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the terror group’s most active branches. An army spokesman said Thursday that at least 500 al-Qaida militants […]

Acknowledging that Syria will miss the June 30 deadline for eliminating its chemical weapons, the top United Nations official overseeing the arsenal’s eradication said Wednesday it was “very, very critical” for Syria to export the final shipment, which is packed and ready to go but is trapped in an area contested by insurgents in the civil war. The official, Sigrid Kaag, said she would be traveling to […]

SHARJAH // Hindus and Sikhs in the emirate can complete the last rites for the dead at Sharjah’s first crematorium, which was finally opened this week. The crematorium is the fourth in the country and has become operational after a hold-up of more than a year owing to documentation, clearance permissions and delay in the electricity connection provided to the site. “People have been approaching us for […]

|By TAP Staff|Aldar Properties  announced it has repaid a US$1.25 billion bond that matured at the end of May 2014 as the company pushes ahead with a strategy to deleverage, reduce its cost of borrowing and build a strong platform for growth. The bond that matured in May 2014 carried an annual interest cost of 10.75% and it was repaid using cash and by drawing down on […]

Election officials began counting votes in Syria’s presidential election early on Wednesday as polls closed in government-held areas. State-run media reported that voting closed at midnight and that officials began the process of checking the number of votes against lists of registered voters to ensure the numbers matched. Syrians on Tuesday voted in their first election in nearly 50 years, which the incumbent Bashar al-Assad is widely […]

WASHINGTON — Did the search for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl cost the lives of American soldiers? Since last weekend’s prisoner exchange in which Afghan insurgents turned over Sergeant Bergdahl after five years of captivity, a number of the men who served with him have called him a deserter. Some have gone further, blaming him for the deaths of six to eight soldiers. That second claim is hardening into […]

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