Dubai is once again proving to be the choicest destination for Saudis this summer, with hotels in the city showing 35 percent occupancy by them during the Eid Al-Fitr holidays, Al-Riyadh daily reported. The more than one-third occupancy of rooms by Saudis during the holidays complements the statistics revealed by Dubai tourism authorities that more than 2 million Saudis visited the city during the past six months, […]
Chinese students have a new favorite summer destination: Harvard University. So many students and their families are visiting Boston-area schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University that Hainan Airlines Co. started direct flights to Boston from Beijing in June and increased the number from four to seven a week in July and August. Tufts gets so many requests from large organized groups that […]
The World Trade Organization failed on Thursday to reach a deal to standardise customs rules, which would have been the first global trade reform in two decades but was blocked by India’s demands for concessions on agricultural stockpiling. “We have not been able to find a solution that would allow us to bridge that gap,” WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo told trade diplomats in Geneva just two hours […]
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 […]
ABU DHABI // Workers say a lack of proper rest areas on building sites leads them to take risks to escape the heat in their midday breaks. Last week an Asian worker was run over by a paving lorry as he napped on a site in Ras Al Khaimah. He was sleeping in front of the parked vehicle when the operator started it up and ran over […]
A Toyota Prius modified to be a Google self-driving car Photo: EPA Driverless cars have been knocking around for decades. Newsweek magazine carried a wonderful advert featuring a self-driven bubble-top back in 1956. The occupants, a wholesome all-American family of mom, pop, boy and girl, were shown playing a board game around a table while their car followed a central painted line down the highway, with the tag […]
Video | Behind the Escalations in Gaza A look at why Israel and Hamas have repeatedly chosen to intensify the violence at every stage of the continuing conflict. By JODI RUDOREN July 30, 2014 JERUSALEM — After years in which Israel’s prevailing approach to the Gaza Strip was a simple “quiet for quiet” demand, there is growing momentum around a new formula, “reconstruction for demilitarization.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu […]
NEW DELHI: Gautam Adani plans to acquire power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 mw, but he will avoid aggressive bids to ensure good returns, a source close to the tycoon said a day after Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group outbid him to buy 1,800 mw hydro power capacity from Jaypee Group.
Gautam Adani is directly involved in evaluating offers and negotiations, something he left to company executives in the past, the source said. The company is in talks with several power sector players, including GMR, Lanco, Indiabulls, Avantha Power and Athena, the source said.
Another person in the Adani Group said there are many sellers in the market, offering projects with a combined capacity of nearly 50,000 mw.
 
The European Commission has already said it will investigate the new policy statement from the Prime Minister to see if it complies with European law Photo: REUTERS The Prime Minister has scored a brilliant summer hit with the headline writers. “EU migrant benefit curbs fast-tracked”; “Government announces limits on EU migrants’ benefits access”; “New rules on migrant benefits to be announced as UK makes system more robust against […]
DUBAI // One of the UAE’s most well-known designers, Lamya Abedin, wants to make the abaya an essential fixture in every woman’s wardrobe – not just in the Arab world, but around the globe. The founder of the couture line the Queen of Spades already sells her clothes in South Africa, her first venture outside the GCC. The popularity of her designs comes from the abaya doubling […]
DUBAI // Cinemas, restaurants and shops were packed as thousands escaped the scorching heat and enjoyed the first day of Eid Al Fitr in Dubai and Abu Dhabi malls. Dubai Mall welcomed crowds as many people who had spent the past month fasting for Ramadan made the most of the end of the holy month. Although most of those enjoying a public holiday were residents, the high […]
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 […]
When 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
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
United Arab Emirates, June 2014 – GL Events exhibitions, the organizer of Piscine Middle East exhibition has confirmed the attendance of 2 800 visitors during the second edition of Piscine Middle East held in Abu Dhabi from the 22-24th of April. Most part of these visitors was architects, developers and key buyers specialized in pool and spa industry. The event hosted visitors from 50 different countries. 88% […]
The tropical inspired collaboration of Sarah’s Bag, The Odd Piece & Nasiba Hafiz An evening of glamour, style and summer whimsy awaited Dubai’s fashion and design crowd last night at Tropique C’est Chic with Sarah’s Bag teaming up with Nasiba Hafiz and The Odd Piece to present a special collection of clothes, handbags, accessories and statement pieces for the home. Sarah’s Bag, the luxury handcrafted social entrepreneurship […]
ABU DHABI // Residents will have more relief from the recent sweltering heat this weekend, with Thursday’s cooler conditions forecast to continue. The weather bureau says the drop of up to 7°C in many parts of the country is set to continue on Friday and Saturday as the north-westerly Shamal wind makes a welcome return, with cloudy, windy and hazy conditions. “It will be slightly hazy on […]
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 […]
Inside a nondescript office building in central London, a roomful of men and women sit at computer screens and talk over Skype with people in faraway places. Sharp-edged Cantonese fills the air, and a flat-screen TV emits a continuous din. It’s the chanting, singing Midlands crowd at Birmingham, England’s Villa Park Stadium: Liverpool at Aston Villa. The match has just kicked off. The name of the company, […]
The new Palestinian government, scheduled to be sworn in on Monday at 1 p.m. (6 a.m. Eastern time) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, will be led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and is to consist of 16 other ministers, some handling more than one portfolio. Three ministers are to be from the Gaza Strip following a reconciliation pact signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization, dominated […]
Now that Egypt has held its elections, many in and outside the country will be turning to the new president to see how he plans to pull the domestic economy back from the brink. The economic challenges former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi faces in many ways resemble those of Citadel Capital, one of Egypt’s foremost investment firms which itself is in the middle of a […]
SHARJAH // A bus transporting workers to their accommodation tipped over, killing one and injuring 12. Police said a faulty tyre caused the light bus to swerve and then roll over on Maliha Road. One Asian man died and all the other passengers, of Arab and Asian nationalities, suffered minor to severe injuries, reported The National’s Arabic sister paper, Al Ittihad, on Thursday. Police patrols, police ambulances […]
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former general who toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, is on course for a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election, early provisional results suggested. But a lower-than-expected turnout figure has raised questions about the credibility of a man idolised by his supporters as a hero who can deliver political and economic stability. Sisi won 93.3 percent of votes cast, government sources said on Thursday, with most ballots counted […]
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former Egyptian army chief, is on course for a sweeping victory in the country’s presidential election, early provisional results suggested. Sisi won 96.2 percent of about 21 million votes cast, state television reported early on Thursday, with the ballots from 312 of 352 counting stations tallied. Hamdeen Sabahi, the only other candidate, received 3.8 percent of the votes counted. Voter turnout was low, at 44.4 percent, despite the government […]
