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Beijing / AFP Global carmakers gathered in Beijing on Monday to show off their wares as competition intensifies and growth slows in the world’s biggest auto market, with the key SUV and new energy vehicle sectors the focus of attention. The flamboyant show, which alternates between the capital and commercial hub Shanghai, came after auto sales in China grew just ...

  Beijing / Bloomberg China plans to spend as much as $11 billion on a second airport in the southwestern city of Chengdu to help meet growing demand for air travel in the world’s second-biggest economy. The proposed facility will have three runways, one of them as long as 4,000 meters, according to a statement posted on the website of ...

  Mumbai / Bloomberg Reliance Industries Ltd., which reported the highest quarterly profit in more than eight years on Friday, fell to the lowest in more than a month on concerns over cost-overruns and delays in projects. The shares declined as much as 2.6 percent to 1,012.30 rupees, the lowest since mid-March, and traded at 1,015 rupees as of 2:31 ...

  Bangkok / AFP Tobacco giant Philip Morris on Monday pleaded not guilty to dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in import tax to Thailand, a crime carrying a massive fine of up to $2.27 billion. Thai prosecutors accuse the local unit of the company, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands, of evading some 20 billion baht ($568 million) ...

  Singapore / Bloomberg Singapore’s consumer prices fell for a 17th consecutive month in March, the longest period of decline on record, reflecting the impact of lower oil costs and a weakening economy. Consumer prices dropped 1 percent from a year earlier as transport and housing costs fell further, the statistics agency said in a statement on Monday. That compares ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The National Health Insurance Company-Daman, announced its achievement of 19 per cent Emiratisation within the company. According to the figures presented to the Federal National Council by Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, currently 883 UAE nationals are employed in the insurance sector in the UAE, which constitutes 11 percent of the sector’s ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business SERMO, the first global network of communications agencies specialising in lifestyle and luxury, has published its Digital Influencer Index. Following last year’s Blogger Index, the report updates the network partners’ intelligence on working with digital influencers and identifies the most influential bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers and other social stars in the luxury and lifestyle space. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business INJAZ UAE, a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JAW), and Honeywell have signed a three-year agreement to support the skills development of Emirati students through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) focused work-readiness training programs. Honeywell will provide volunteer mentoring to science and engineering students through an annual series of STEM themed Innovation Day Camps. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Capitalising on the upward growth rate of fashion e-commerce, Souq.com, the number one online retail and marketplace platform in the Middle East, has announced remarkable expansion across its fashion portfolio. Forty new fashion brands and a phenomenal 198,000 new products have been added to the assortment making the market leader Souq.com, a one-stop-shop for widely ...

  Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS Takaful Emarat (“the Company”), the DFM-listed, Shariah-compliant life and health insurer, recently held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 21, 2016, during which shareholders voted for a proposed cash dividend of AED8 million , equating to 5.33 percent of its paid-up capital. The Company’s first ever dividend payout, proposed by the board of directors, ...