Secretary of State John Kerry in Sydney, Australia, on Monday. By MICHAEL R. GORDON August 11, 2014 SYDNEY, Australia — Secretary of State John Kerry warned Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq on Monday not to interfere with the process of picking a new Iraqi leader, cautioning pointedly that a power grab would lead to a cutoff of international support. “There should be no use of force,” Mr. Kerry […]
Is the debt fog over Dubai finally clearing or returning? Zuma Press Investment conglomerate Dubai World may resort to a familiar, but in recent times rarely used, legal mechanism set up at the height of the emirate’s financial crisis to obtain the backing from its creditors to postpone a crucial debt repayment deadline. The state-owned firm and advisor Blackstone are currently discussing with an increasing number of […]
By KAREEM FAHIM August 11, 2014 CAIRO — Security officials have refused to allow two senior staff members from the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch to enter Egypt, where the two were due to release the findings of the group’s yearlong investigation into mass killings of protesters carried out by Egyptian government forces last summer. The group’s executive director, Kenneth Roth, and the director of the Middle […]
Luxembourg will start meeting investors in the next two months to drum up support for a debut sale of shariah compliant bonds as sukuk sales surge worldwide. The country, which has an AAA credit rating at Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, is planning to become the second non-Muslim nation to issue a sovereign Islamic bond after the U.K. raised 200 million pounds ($335 […]
U.S. Actions in Iraq Fueled Rise of a Rebel An image of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, taken from a video of a sermon he gave in July in Mosul. By TIM ARANGO and ERIC SCHMITT August 10, 2014 BAGHDAD — When American forces raided a home near Falluja during the turbulent 2004 offensive against the Iraqi Sunni insurgency, they got the hard-core militants they had been looking for. They also picked up […]
Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics, the world’s largest maker of ceramic tiles, plans to focus on core products and exit such businesses as construction, Chief Executive Officer Abdallah Massaad said. “We will continue to reduce our non-core businesses,” Massaad said in a phone interview. “Some we will shut down and others we will sell to concentrate on core businesses, which grew 22 percent in the U.A.E. in the […]
By Jeff Miller: In the past week there has been a dramatic change for the worse in everything we have been tracking in our “Ugly” section. Risks that are generally described with the euphemism of “geopolitical” have become expanded military actions – Ukraine, Gaza, and Iraq. With no sign of an early resolution, the crises deserve additional thought. I expect financial media to ask: How will the […]
A container ship in the Suez Canal near Ismailia port city, northeast of Cairo. Reuters The Suez Canal–one of the world’s vital trading routes–is set for the first major expansion in its 145-year history. Egypt’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar plan, which could nearly double the waterway’s capacity to 97 passing ships a day by 2023, has been largely welcomed by shipping industry executives and economists, albeit with some skepticism. […]
Mumbai: After witnessing decline in profit for six consecutive quarters, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, reported 3.3 per cent net profit growth to Rs 3,349 crore for the quarter ended June, compared to Rs 3,241 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI, said: “Pressure (on asset quality) appears to be subsiding. But we need to see a pick-up in the economy to see appreciable changes in asset quality.” Net interest income grew 15 per cent to Rs 13,252 crore and fee income growth was 11 per cent to Rs 2,837 crore, though there was a fall in treasury income. The profitability got a boost of Rs 6,000 crore from sale of stressed assets to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) during the q
NEW DELHI: State-run oil refiner-marketer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has drawn up plans to ramp up the capacity of its refinery at Numaligarh in Assam’s Golaghat district from three million tonnes per annum to nine million tonnes at an investment of Rs 16,600 crore.
The project includes laying a 1,350-km pipeline to bring in crude from a port on the east coast. While the refinery expansion would cost about Rs 8,800 crore, the remaining investment is expected to go into laying the pipeline and other assorted facilities.
Company sources said the project would mark the single-largest investment in Assam and boost economic activities in the north-east as well as unlock potential for exporting fuels to India&
New Delhi: With co-development and co-production of defence products in mind, India and the US on Friday agreed to take the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative forward.
The decision was taken at the delegation-level talks between defence minister Arun Jaitley and US secretary of defence Chuck Hagel, who is on a three-day visit to the country.
In the meeting, both sides took note of the progress made over the years in deepening defence ties. Both the sides reaffirmed their desire to further enhance bilateral defence cooperation, especially in technology and discussed ways for strengthening this partnership.
Stressing on indigenisation of the defence industries, Jaitley said, “The develop
‘The disease took away my future and my children lost the mother they had had,’ says Elaine Reynolds Photo: JOHN LAWRENCE When Stephanie Reynolds hunches over her smartphone, she looks like any self-absorbed twentysomething, whiling away a carefree moment or two socialising online. In fact, the 24-year-old is using social media for a reason very close to her heart: she has launched a Facebook page to find her […]
Etihad Airways PJSC signed a 1.76 billion-euro ($2.4 billion) deal to purchase 49 percent of Alitalia SpA, giving the Gulf company access to one of Europe’s biggest travel markets and providing a lifeline to Italy’s unprofitable former flag-carrier. Etihad will invest 560 million euros in Alitalia, while existing core investors have approved a 300 million-euro capital increase and Italian financial institutions will supply the same amount in […]
The European Union, a net sugar importer, could emerge as a major exporter of white sugar to the Middle East and Africa after production quotas are lifted in 2017, eroding the market share of northern hemisphere refineries. The EU is expected to end sugar production quotas – currently at some 14 million tonnes per year – as part of reforms to create a freer sugar market. Analysts […]
Hong Kong, Indonesia and Pakistan are banking on pent-up investor demand as they look to raise up to a combined US$3.5bn in the fast-growing Islamic bond market. The three sovereign sukuk issues, including a planned US$1bn debut from Triple A rated Hong Kong, are set to launch before the end of September. Few Asian issuers have targeted the global sukuk market in the past, and the glut […]
NEW DELHI: Contrary to popular perception, India has little to worry about its product-specific support to agriculture exceeding the limits prescribed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a recent study has revealed.
This implies that New Delhi’s aggressive stance at the world body, seeking leeway from the cap on public stockholding for food security or even a total waiver from the restriction citing the resource-poor status of its farmers, lacked rationale.
The country’s product-specific subsidy for rice stood at minus 2.87% and that for wheat at minus 10.22% of the respective production values in 2010-11 when calculated on a fully inflation-adjusted basis, according to a joint paper by Icrier exper
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank has relaxed norms for refinancing of infrastructure loans which banks want to be tagged as standard assets. From April 2015, the moment a loan is restructured, banks will have to classify them as bad loan. RBI had made an exception to the rule by allowing banks to classify infrastructure loans as standard assets if half of the outstanding loans are refinanced by a new set of lenders in the form of take-out financing. On Thursday, the central bank relaxed this norm by allowing standard tag if 25 per cent of the outstanding is met through take-out financing. Also, an infrastructure loan that is refinanced can be tagged as standard asset provided promoters are willing to invest more equity in the project. But the standard tag will be a
NEW DELHI: Germany is the global leader in energy efficiency while ageing power plants and inefficient ways of electricity generation and industrial practices put India at number 11 in the latest energy efficiency ranking of the world’s 16 largest economies.
The United States, having second highest per capita energy consumption in the world, comes at the 13th position — behind countries such as China, France, Japan, UK, Canada and Australia among others.
Besides the US, four other countries — South Korea, Russia, Brazil and Mexico — are below India in terms of indulging in inefficient ways of energy consumption.
Per-capital energy consumption of all these countries is, however, much
MUMBAI: As states governments add layers of taxes on fuel, disparity in petrol and diesel prices across the country has reached as high as 35%, spawning a new mafia that profits by sourcing cheap and selling high
Ever wondered why you have to shell more if you refill at a petrol pump in Thane, just a few kilometers away from your regular fuel station in Navi Mumbai. Or why the fuel costs less outside city limits.
Well, if you thought differential of a few bucks across suburbs was too high, here’s a shocker: it is way too high, as much as almost 35%, when compared among states, and is widening with every price increase.
This is because some state governments are adding multitude of taxes an
New Delhi: Global defence equipment majors such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin could set up manufacturing units in India and bring in foreign direct investment (FDI) exceeding 49 per cent, provided the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) is Indian.
As the objective was to let only serious players enter the market, the defence FDI policy approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday categorically stated investee companies should be self-sufficient in product designing and have maintenance and life cycle support facilities for the products they manufactured here, said a senior department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) official.
The Union Cabinet had approved an increase in the composite foreign investme
Energy companies are taking their controversial fracking operations from the land to the sea — to deep waters off the U.S., South American and African coasts. Cracking rocks underground to allow oil and gas to flow more freely into wells has grown into one of the most lucrative industry practices of the past century. The technique is also widely condemned as a source of groundwater contamination. The […]
Dubai government-owned property developer Meraas Holding is considering selling shares to the public as the regional real-estate market continues its rapid recovery from the financial crisis, according to three people familiar with the matter. The real-estate company, which has close links to Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, recently sent a request for proposals to banks who have until September to reply, said one of […]
Saudi Arabia has advised the kingdom’s citizens and residents to avoid all travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea until further notice due to the Ebola outbreak. The warning issued late Wednesday by the Ministry of Health comes after a Saudi man, who recently visited Sierra Leone and was suspected of having the virus, died earlier in the day when his heart stopped and attempts to resuscitate him […]
NEW DELHI: The government will bring a Bill, amending the Central Electricity Act, in winter session of Parliament to improve the tariff policy and regulations in the power sector. The power ministry is working out different tariff structure for different times of the day for easy availability of power for maximum hours in electricity deficit areas. It will soon consult states over the issue as the tariff matter comes under the states’ domain.
Besides, the government has decided to promote domestic power companies to help increase solar power generation in the country. Announcing these decisions in Rajya Sabha, power minister Piyush Goyal said the government will allow only 100% indigenous domestic companies to participate in the
