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World’s most expensive RV sold in Dubai

|By TAP Staff| The world’s most expensive recreational vehicle (RV) was recently sold in Dubai. The 40-foot-long EleMMent Palazzo from Austrian company Marchi Mobile changed hands for around $3 million, luxury and performance automotive website Motor Authority reported. The EleMMent Palazzo looks like an alien spacecraft, or perhaps two different vehicles fused together by some mishap involving tampering with the spacetime continuum. At least it’s covered in […]

Apple Inc.: When Should You Take Profits?

By Vikas Shukla Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock has rallied more than 44% over the last 12 months. Despite its strong performance, Bernstein Research senior analyst A.M. Sacconaghi believes that the stock remains relatively inexpensive. Its EV/FCF multiple is just 9x, in line with Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) and Lexmark International Inc (NYSE:LXK), which are currently facing questions about secular outlook for their businesses. Apple stock worth $121 […]

MINISTRY WORKING ON SWEETENING BANKRUPTCY PILL FOR SICK UNITS

NEW DELHI: The government is working on developing a bankruptcy framework to offer easier exit routes to sick companies while helping revive those with viable options, said Kalraj Mishra, the new minister for micro small & medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Another issue the ministry is dealing with is availability of land for industrial units. It is asking states to create land pools by listing out all unused land available with them.

“Entrepreneur bankruptcy framework will be developed to enable easy exit of sick units,” Mishra told ET. “It has been a major demand of the MSME sector for a very long time. The details will be worked out soon.”

SMEs employ close to 40 per cen

GOVT OPEN TO MINOR CHANGES IN INSURANCE BILL

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the government was open to accommodating minor modifications to the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, so that it could be passed in the current session of Parliament. He also said calling a joint session of Parliament was a real option if the Bill was defeated in one of the Houses. After an all-party meeting failed to break the deadlock on the issue between the government and Opposition, Jaitley on Monday reached out to the Congress. But the Congress continued to insist the Bill be sent to a select committee of Parliament, as it now was much changed from the one the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had tabled in the Rajya Sabha. The party added it would be willing to support the legisl

INDIA EYES $40-BILLION PIPELINE FROM RUSSIA TO IMPORT GAS

NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at ensuring India’s energy security, the Narendra Modi-led government plans to import huge volumes of natural gas from Russia. The Centre is working out the contours of a $40-billion (Rs 2.4 lakh-crore) mega onland pipeline project carrying gas from Russia to India, in one of India’s biggest energy projects till date.

Top government officials told HT that the move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Brazil on the sidelines of the Brics summit.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) along with the ministry of petroleum and natural gas are preparing a blueprint to examine the feasibility of this new project, they added.

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U.S.-Israel Ties Strained Over Diplomacy on Gaza

Video | Cease-Fires of the Gaza-Israel Conflict With the Israeli Army now moving into defensive positions, a historical look at how the fighting could end. By MARK LANDLER August 4, 2014 WASHINGTON — When the State Department condemned Israel’s strike on a United Nations school in Gaza on Sunday, saying it was “appalled” by this “disgraceful” act, it gave full vent to what has been weeks of mounting American […]

Op-Ed Contributor: Atef Abu Saif: Life and Death in the Gaza Strip

Op-Ed Contributor Eight Days in Gaza: A Wartime Diary By ATEF ABU SAIF August 4, 2014 Sunday, July 27 For the last two hours we’ve heard nothing but sonic booms and the sound of rockets and mortars. Shells have fallen on our street a few hundred yards from my father-in-law’s house, where my wife and I, and our five kids, are staying, and on the street behind us. My wife, […]

INTERNATIONAL NORMS MAY BE ADOPTED TO REJIG FDI POLICY

The government is proposing a major overhaul of its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy as part of the Narendra Modi-led administration’s plan to woo overseas investors and improve ease of doing business in India, which ranks at a lowly 134 out of 189 global economies in this respect, according to the World Bank.

The government is looking to adopt the international practice of linking policy with industrial codes to ensure foreign investors won’t have to wade through complicated press notes or circulars to decipher the policy for a sector.

“Discussions are on. There is merit in seeding the industrial codes with the FDI policy,” said a government official aware of the deliberations. The mov

CENTRE PLANS CHANGES IN ATOMIC ENERGY LAW FOR NPCIL VENTURES TO TAKE OFF

NEW DELHI: The Centre is looking to move amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to enable the licensing of three joint ventures proposed by state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd — with NTPC Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation and National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) — to set up new atomic power projects in the country.

Amid concerns over India’s nuclear liability provisions holding up the deployment of imported Light Water Reactor-based projects in collaboration with global vendors, the proposal by NPCIL to strike joint ventures with cash-rich PSUs is being seen as an alternative strategy to tide over the paucity of funds and ramp up execution capability for new projects using the indigenous pressurised heavy water react

BP & NIKO CANNOT BE PARTY TO ARBITRATION

NEW DELHI: Stung by Reliance Industries’ alleged bid to “influence” the foreign third arbitrator appointed by the Supreme Court in the KG-D6 block case, the government is set to approach the court with a plea that the relevant arbitration be done strictly within the country sans a foreign umpire.

Armed with a law ministry opinion conveyed to it recently, the petroleum ministry will also take the firm stand that RIL’s foreign partners, BP and Niko, should not be made a party to the arbitration, which was initiated by the Indian company, sources familiar with the matter told FE.

The government’s move would escalate the conflict between it and RIL over the alleged suppression of gas production at the once-pro

North Africa Could Surpass Growth in The Gulf, Capital Economics Says

Challenges such as large current account and fiscal deficits remain, but three years after the Arab Spring uprisings, the tide is turning in favour of the economies of North Africa, says London-based Capital Economics. A gradual return to political stability in Egypt and Tunisia should support activity there, while exports are likely to pick up on the back of the modest recovery in the global economy, its […]

Gaza Fighting Intensifies as Cease-Fire Falls Apart

By JODI RUDOREN and ISABEL KERSHNER August 1, 2014 JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants sprang from the ground and confronted Israeli soldiers Friday morning, as they have repeatedly in recent days. This time, Israeli officials said, one exploded a suicide belt while another unleashed machine-gun fire. This time, two Israeli soldiers were killed and the militants apparently escaped with a third. The attack, at the start of what was supposed to be […]

Obama Casts Doubt on Chances of Gaza Cease-Fire

Video | Obama on Failed Cease-Fire in Gaza The president called for the release of an Israeli solider captured just moments after a cease-fire was reached in the Gaza conflict. By PETER BAKER August 1, 2014 WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday demanded that Hamas release a captured Israeli soldier unconditionally and expressed pessimism that another cease-fire could be reached because of the deep reserves of mistrust between the […]

French maverick takes disruptive drive to US

To get from the owner of a sex-chat service to one of France’s richest men, Xavier Niel has made a few bold gambles. His latest move, a $15 billion cash bid for control of T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), is his most audacious yet. Niel’s Iliad SA said yesterday it offered $33 a share for almost 57 percent of T-Mobile, a wireless provider five times larger than the […]

STAKE DILUTION IN GOVT BANKS TO START IN NOVEMBER: SANDHU

New Delhi: The government is likely to start selling its stake in public sector banks (PSBs) in November. It is also expected State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender, will tap the markets this year. Financial Services Secretary G S Sandhu on Thursday said the government would seek a Cabinet nod for stake dilution in PSBs, adding the sale would be in tranches, based on banks’ requirement of funds. “It will be a combination of follow-on public offer (FPO) and, in some cases, it will be through qualified institutional placement. It may start around Diwali, most likely November,” he told reporters after a meeting with the heads of PSBs and other financial institutions. Asked whether large banks such as SBI and Punjab National Bank (PNB) would op

US WANTS TO LINK POWER PACTS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT

NEW DELHI: A visiting US team has told Indian negotiators it would link pacts on the power sector to the agreement the two countries draw on climate change and one would not happen without the other.

This message was conveyed by the US team to India in a meeting held with the power ministry on Wednesday. Power Minister Piyush Goyal and other ministry officials attended the meeting.

The US team, headed by Todd Stern, the US special envoy on climate change, also called on Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar in its bid to stitch an agreement on various climate change issues.

Sources said the meeting with the environment ministry focused on areas where the two countries

PETROL GETS CHEAPER BY RS 1.09 PER LITRE, DIESEL PRICES UP BY 56 PAISE

NEW DELHI: Petrol became cheaper by Rs 1.09 per litre in Delhi from Friday after state oil companies slashed the price of the fuel for the first time since mid-April because benchmark gasoline rates in the international market dropped.

Companies, however, raised the price of diesel by 56 paise in Delhi, helping to reduce the gap between pump and market rates by about Rs 1.50 per litre and increasing the prospects of deregulating the fuel soon.

If the trend continues, diesel pricing could be freed from state control in three months, government and industry officials said. Prices of diesel sold to bulk consumers such as the railways and state transport companies at market rates have been reduced, IOCsaid in a statement.

INDIA GAVE BEFITTING REPLY TO PAKISTAN AFTER BEHEADING INCIDENT: GEN BIKRAM SINGH

NEW DELHI: Outgoing Army chief General Bikram Singh on Thursday said that India has given a befitting reply to Pakistan after the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops in 2013 along the Line of Control (LoC) even as he did not rule out the possibility of skirmishes on the western front in future.

Talking to reporters before demitting office, he admitted that face-offs between Indian and Chinese army soldiers take place while patrolling their ‘claimed areas’ along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they are dealt with in accordance with the existing mechanisms.

Asked if India had given a befitting reply after the January 8, 2013 beheading incident, he said, “It has been done. Please

Cease-Fire in Gaza Conflict Takes Effect as Talks Are Set

Family members mourned on Thursday in Tel Aviv at the grave of Staff Sgt. Guy Algranati, 20, who was killed on Wednesday. By MICHAEL R. GORDON and MARK LANDLER July 31, 2014 NEW DELHI — A 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza conflict negotiated by the United States and the United Nations took effect Friday morning, a diplomatic bolt-from-the-blue that will suspend the bloody 24-day military campaign and set the stage for […]

Tensions Escalate Between Israel and a Second Party in Gaza: The United Nations

By SOMINI SENGUPTA July 31, 2014 UNITED NATIONS — In the midst of Israel’s battle with militants in Gaza over the past three weeks, skirmishes opened on a second front in recent days: Its strikes on United Nations facilities and the steep civilian casualties brought a barrage of rebukes and warnings from senior United Nations officials around the world, reaching a fever pitch just before the announcement of a […]

Crowd-pleasing Ramadan and Eid Festival draws to a close

ABU DHABI // Fragrances of oud wafted through the air as Syrian baklava wrapped in packets was bought by eager customers. Traditional, embroidered Arab dresses were being sold alongside off-shoulder embellished gowns and silver jewellery. A motley mix of items, clothing and toys was on sale at the Ramadan and Eid Festival at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec). Thousands of visitors have flocked to the indoor […]

Funds bullish on Saudi, bearish on UAE

Middle East funds are heavily bullish towards Saudi Arabian stocks after news the market will open to direct foreign investment, while they are bearish on the United Arab Emirates because of concern about high valuations. The latest Reuters survey of 15 leading investment managers,conducted over the past 10 days, showed two-thirds expected to raise their equity allocations to Saudi Arabia in the next three months, up from […]

Damac to list shares on Dubai bourse

Dubai luxury property developer DAMAC is offering investors the option of converting its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), listed on the London bourse, into ordinary shares that would be listed on Dubai’s main stock market. Investors would get around 23.08 shares per GDR. They have until Sept. 2 to decide on the offer, the developer said in a statement to the London bourse on Wednesday. No new shares […]

Health experts say Ebola virus poses little risk to UAE

ABU DHABI // The Ebola virus that has killed hundreds in West Africa poses little risk to the UAE, experts have said. The odds are low that an Ebola infection could reach the country and lead to an outbreak, said Dr Salwan Ibrahim, Middle East medical director for International SOS in Dubai. “The Ebola virus is a potentially severe illness and the outbreak in West Africa has […]