News

Bloomberg India’s basmati rice exports may drop to a three-year low this year as the European Union tightens a fungicide rule and local prices strengthen. Exports may decline as much as 5 percent to 3.79 million metric tons in the year than began on April 1 from a year earlier, said Vijay Setia, president of All India Rice Exporters Association. ...

Bloomberg Huochebang and Yunmanman, the two biggest apps for Uber-like truck services in China, are in talks to merge, people familiar with the matter said. Wang Gang, a backer of Yunmanman and an angel investor in ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, is the top candidate to become chief executive officer if the companies merge, the people said, asking not to be ...

Bloomberg For jewellers in the world’s second-largest gold market, business is yet to recover from the slump that followed India’s decision to ban high-value currency notes a year ago. Ask Bachhraj Bamalwa, who has spent four decades in the industry. As PM Narendra Modi prepared to address the nation last November to announce demonetisation, Bamalwa was busy wrapping up a ...

Bloomberg If time is money, big M&A is getting a lot costlier in the European Union thanks to a tactic increasingly deployed by the bloc’s merger watchdogs in Brussels. Bayer AG’s bid for Monsanto Co is just one of a growing number of deals stalled by regulators stopping the clock more than once during strictly timetabled in-depth investigations to demand ...

Bloomberg Two of Greece’s biggest projects—together valued at about $12.8 billion— have stalled on bureaucratic and legal wranglings, raising questions about the country’s ability to draw investments it desperately needs for an economic recovery. Lamda Development, which is managing the Hellinikon site, the biggest real estate investment in country, said that Greece’s efforts to go back on terms already agreed ...

Bloomberg The UK government plans to create an independent environmental standards watchdog for England after Brexit, according to Environment Secretary Michael Gove. A consultation on the powers and scope of the body will be started early next year, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said. With policies set out in full only in the EU treaties, environmental decisions ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc., seeking a breakthrough product to succeed the iPhone, aims to have technology ready for an augmented-reality headset in 2019 and could ship a product as early as 2020. Unlike the current generation of virtual reality headsets that use a smartphone as the engine and screen, Apple’s device will have its own display and run on a new ...

DUBAI / WAM Jafza, one of the world’s largest free zones, and a subsidiary of global trade enabler DP World has seen 7 percent growth in the number of oil and gas companies during 2016. DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, said “Jafza’s prime location as a gateway to the Middle East, Africa and South Asia ...

Dubai / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced the recruitment of five robots as staff, as part of its continuous quest to envision and make the future through the development of mechanisms that enrich the experience of customers and contribute to the provision of seven-star quality services at its Customer Happiness Centres. This is a pioneering government initiative ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, the eighth edition of SIAL Middle East will host more than 22,000 industry professionals and 900 exhibitors this year. Running from December 12-14 at the Abu ...