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Sharjah / WAM The Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), has launched the “Consumer Empowerment Index” to measure consumers’ knowledge about a number of policies, initiatives and standards of the product and the market. The Index has been released to reveal wrong practices committed by consumers when purchasing, as well as to facilitate the procedure of claiming consumers’ rights. The Department ...

CAIRO / Reuters Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, has procured 3 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers since the harvest began in mid-April, the Supply Ministry said in a statement on Monday. The local procurement season runs until July and the ministry has said it is targeting between 3.5 million and 4 million tonnes of local wheat this ...

Bloomberg Oil & Natural Gas Corp.’s quarterly profits missed estimates for a gain as lower gas revenues and a jump in royalty payments outweighed the boost from higher crude prices. Net income at India’s biggest oil and gas producer fell 6.1 percent to 43.4 billion rupees ($673.6 million) in the three months ended March, the company said in a statement. ...

Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd. is assuring shareholders that it’s exploring numerous options for its contentious US shale unit amid pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp. to carry out a wider review of petroleum operations. In a series of meetings in Australia last week, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie stressed to shareholders that the biggest mining company is open to ...

Bloomberg Noble Group Ltd. is seeking a strategic investor to drag the beleaguered commodities trader out of what it calls an “incredibly difficult environment.” The company’s market value has shriveled by more than $1 billion this year as the Hong Kong-based firm reported a first quarter loss, S&P Global Ratings flagged a risk of default and Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut ...

Bloomberg Japan’s jobless rate remained at the lowest in more than two decades last month, and retail sales rose from March, climbing for a fourth month. Highlights of Data Retail sales rose 1.4 percent from March, and were up 3.2 percent compared to April last year. The unemployment rate for April was 2.8 percent, the same as the forecast. Household ...

Bloomberg Adani Enterprises Ltd., controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, said its Australian unit has reached an agreement on royalty payments with the Queensland government, ensuring the $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project moves forward. Shares surged. The agreement with the state government “meets Adani’s expectations and requirements,” the company said in a statement, without providing details of the accord. The ...

Bloomberg The southwest monsoon that waters about half of India’s farmland arrived in the country slightly ahead of its normal schedule, giving a boost to farmers planting rice to soybeans crops in coming weeks. Monsoon rain has reached the southern state of Kerala, K. J. Ramesh, chief of India Meteorological Department, said by phone. The June-September rainy period typically starts ...

Bloomberg Akzo Nobel NV’s court victory against activist shareholder Elliott Management Corp. has strengthened the Dutch paintmaker’s hand in resisting a takeover approach from suitor PPG Industries Inc. and put pressure on the US rival to take its offer directly to investors. The Commercial Court of the Netherlands ruled late on Monday that Akzo Nobel is under no obligation to ...

Bloomberg Denmark’s center-right government raised its forecast for economic growth this year and predicted it will borrow less via bond markets as the public deficit shrinks. The minority coalition of Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen expects gross domestic product to expand 1.7 percent this year, faster than the 1.5 percent it forecast just last month, according to Economy Ministry documents ...