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NO THREAT FROM DHAKA-MOSCOW NUCLEAR BONHOMIE

ENERGY-HUNGRY BANGLADESH SAW DECADES-LONG WAIT

By Ashis Biswas

KOLKATA: Diplomacy may have won the day for Russia more than financial/technological reasons, in bagging the order to build two nuclear power generating stations in Bangladesh by 2022-23.

This would enable Bangladesh to become the third country in South Asia to generate nuke power, after India and Pakistan. However, Sri Lanka could join the list soon according to present indications.

A proposal to build nuclear power plants in East Pakistan had been put forward as early as 1961 and approved in 1963, according to open source information. Therefore, neither Awami League (AL) leader Sheikh Hasina, nor Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, can be rightfully accused of harbouring illusions of grandeur in going nuclear. Bangladesh has pledged to observe non-proliferati

NAIAS Photo Gallery

The North American International Auto Show concluded in Detroit, Michigan today. As of Thursday, over 515,000 people had attended, including President Barack Obama. Thursday’s tally represented an increase of 7,000 when compared to the same period a year ago. During opening weekend, over 208,000 people came through the Cobo Center in downtown, Detroit. Over 700 vehicles were on display at NAIAS while 57 debuted during Press Preview. […]

Davos jittery over Trump, oil, China

As the chattering chieftains of the global economy gather this week in Davos, Switzerland, they’re facing the darkest outlook since the financial crisis tipped the world into recession seven years ago. The Chinese slowdown and accompanying slide in the yuan are imperiling already sluggish international growth, oil is trading at its lowest level in more than a decade, stocks have suffered their worst January ever, and the […]

Saudi may have ‘sin’ tax, VAT

|By Arabian Post Staff| Decreasing Saudi Arabia’s reliance on oil revenues could include the introduction of VAT and so-called sin taxes, observers say. Other issues under consideration include the partial privatization of selected state assets – including Saudi Aramco – and better utilization of state-owned real estate. The Kingdom has been successfully diversifying its economy over the past decade, with non-oil revenues increasing by 29 percent this […]

Iran: From pariah state to regional power

Iran’s release from sanctions testifies to its new relationship with the United States as it moves from pariah state to regional power, a status that could come at the cost of Saudi Arabia, Washington’s chief Arab ally. Enemies and allies alike must adjust to Iran becoming an uninhibited power broker in the Middle East after its nuclear deal with world powers and Saturday’s lifting of sanctions that […]

‘Made in China’ global equities crash

|By Matein Khalid| This was the ghastliest week for global risk assets since September 2011. Not even 290,000 new US jobs in December could negate the raw fear on Wall Street generated by the 10% fall in Shanghai, a yuan depreciation, market meltdowns of 6 – 7% in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Mumbai and New York. Four months ago, I had published a KT article titled “History’s […]

Greed and glory in emerging markets equities

|By Matein Khalid| Emerging markets were an entirely predictable horror story once again in 2015. The oil/mining bust, currency meltdowns, China’s hard landing, sovereign credit downgrades, banking system crises, corruption scandals and geopolitical crises from Ukraine to Syria, the Black Sea to the South China Sea devastated investor wealth in emerging markets.   India’s Sensex and Nifty were down 9% while the rupee has depreciated to 66 […]

iPhone 7 Rumors Suggest Radical Design Changes on Tap

It’s almost 2016, which must mean another iPhone is on the way. Not only will we be getting a new iPhone, but one with significant changes over previous models, if we are to believe the rumors. The release date may still be nine months away, but that shouldn’t stop us from parsing through the rumor mill. Reports are leaking out from Cupertino that Apple is considering a […]

New BMW Series 7: The future of luxury

|By Hannah Elliott| Want to see the future? Drive a BMW 7-Series sedan. It’s the car Bimmer uses as a medium for unleashing its newest and best technological offerings on the rest of the world. IDrive made its debut here, as did ABS and the active body control systems that monitor the movement of the car in relation to the road. Now those are de rigueur on all BMW […]

Rare evacuation of Syria towns as deadly blasts hit Homs

Gulfnews.com A convoy of ambulances carrying more than 125 fighters from the besieged rebel-held Syrian town of Zabadani arrive at the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, December 28, 2015. Beirut: A rare UN-backed deal between Syria’s warring sides saw hundreds of fighters and civilians evacuate three towns on Monday, as bomb blasts in the regime-held city of Homs killed at least 14 people. President Bashar […]

Banks find support in US ‘de-risk’ move

|Arabian Post Special|The UAE Central Bank is solidly backing the UAE banks in dealing with the ‘de-risking’ policies imposed by US banks on the UAE banks. The central bank is seized of the problems faced by the UAE banks in this regard. The new U.S. regulations have imposed extra burdens and costs on banks in the United States, which is forcing these banks to cut their international […]

Oscar hopefuls of 2016: Can you handle it?

This time around, the movies are more than serious — they’re nightmare-inducing Why does Hollywood want to punish us? This year’s Oscar aren’t just heavy — it’s a given that the weightiest dramas pop up in theatres when Academy members are preparing their ballots. But this time around, the movies are more than serious. They’re nightmare-inducing. You’ve got a bear trying to eat a man and slow-motion […]

Macaulay Culkin reprises his ‘Home Alone’ role as a deranged adult

The former child star, who was once the highest-paid child actor ever, is back playing Home Alone’s Kevin McCallister, in a new web seriesEver wondered how Home Alone’s dexterous protagonist Kevin McCallister would end up as an adult? The first episode of the new web series, :DRYVRS, starring Macaulay Culkin, the former child star who played the beloved character in the hit film series, gives a solid […]

American Muslims struggle with their identities

Mirvette Judeh began covering her hijab with a hoodie two weeks ago while in the car with her two young children. Someone might want to hurt their mother, she explained to them, because the head scarf easily identifies her as Muslim. “Now I have to have these conversations with my kids,” said Judeh, 39, who lives in southern California. “That’s what breaks my heart — to tell […]

Apple Opens ‘Secret’ Lab To Develop iPhone Screens

Engineers at a “secret” Apple lab in Taiwan are reportedly working to develop innovative new screen technologies for iPhones and iPads, according to unnamed sources “with knowledge of the facility.” A Bloomberg report today said the lab, which began operating sometime this year, is focused on new ways to make device displays thinner and better. The lab is located in the Longtan District in northern Taiwan and […]

Yahoo Mail Debuts Support for Gmail

Two months after adding support for Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail and AOL Mail to its email app, Yahoo announced today that Gmail has also joined that list. The app can now connect users’ Gmail and Google Apps accounts to Yahoo Mail. Multiple mailbox support for Gmail within Yahoo Mail was launched in both the mobile app for Android and iOS and in a desktop browser version. Gmail is […]

NITISH IS YET TO GALVANISE ADMINISTRATION

LAW AND ORDER, HEALTH ARE FOCUS AREAS

By Arun Srivastava

Performance of government, its outreach and initiatives matters but what is most important is the peoples’ perception of the government. It was perception of the Nitish led mahagathbandhan, of being peoples’ friendly and concerned of their aspirations that people voted it to power. But ironically after assuming power the grand alliance government has not made a serious move to consolidate it and make it the USP of the government.

Importance of the perception could be understood from the rout of the BJP in the assembly election. People perceived that the Prime Minister was following the RSS brief. Though it is too early to say that the Nitish government has not succeeded in coming up to the peoples’ perception within a period of fortnight, notwithstanding the chief minister Nitish Kumar personally has

Opec’s clout brought to naught

|By Arabian Post Staff| Opec’s ability to control the oil market suffered its worst debacle when the organization failed to agree on a ceiling for production. This meant that Saudi Arabia prevailed over other members to continue the policy of excess production as to force non-OPEC players, such as the US and Russia, out of the market by making their output uneconomical. “Lots of people said that […]

Facebook Starts Opening Live Video Streaming to All Users

No longer just for celebrities, Facebook’s Live Video feature is now available for testing by “a small percentage” of U.S. iPhone users, the company said today. Facebook launched its Live streaming feature in August for public figures with large followings on the site. Celebrities who have sent out live broadcasts through the Facebook Mentions app since the launch include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Serena Williams, Martha Stewart […]

Review: Samsung's Gear VR Shows the Promise of VR

Samsung [made] history of a sort by launching the first major consumer-oriented virtual-reality headset. (It comes with an asterisk; prototypes and other not-quite-mass-market versions have been available for a while.) And its Gear VR headset is pretty impressive as first-generation devices go. The biggest surprise after using the new Gear VR for a few days: There’s a lot of stuff to watch and play in the virtual […]

MENA mobile data traffic to grow 16 times in 5 years

|By Arabian Post Staff| The latest appendix to the Ericsson Mobility Report for the Middle East and North East Africa  reveals that mobile data traffic will  experience 16 times growth by 2021. This massive growth will be driven by availability of affordable smartphones, coupled with availability of mobile broadband networks in highly populated countries, increased number of subscribers moving to faster networks and growth of the video […]

Paris terror: New focus for G20

Following the terrorist attacks in Paris, the most deadly violence to strike France since World War Two, world leaders are convening on Sunday and Monday for the G20 summit in Turkey. The meeting, whose agenda now includes the attacks and their aftermath, will also focus on the migrant crisis in the Middle East and Europe, and could thus become one of the most important G20 summits since […]

Over 100 killed in Paris terror attack

Gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium at locations across Paris on Friday, killing at least 120 people in what a shaken President Francois Hollande called an unprecedented terrorist attack. A Paris city hall official said gunmen systematically slaughtered nearly 100 people attending a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall. Anti-terrorist commandos eventually launched an assault on the building, killed the […]

How much did “they” pay you to give up on your dreams?

|By Nitten Nair|I had never watched the movie “Up in the Air” starring George Clooney. Not because I don’t watch his films, but I found reading of the initial synopsis a little depressing. A guy who lives out of a suitcase because he has to fly around the world firing people – not so exciting. Nor did I come across any reviews which strongly stated otherwise. The […]