Bloomberg India is planning to provide nearly $6.6 billion in loans to state power utilities as a slump in electricity demand squeezes liquidity while dues to generators pile up, according to people with knowledge of the development. The loans, via state-run Power Finance Corp. Ltd. and its unit REC Ltd., will help the utilities, known as discoms, clear debts to ...

Bloomberg The number of people going hungry around the world could double in just a few months as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on food supplies and hurts incomes. That’s according to a group of major food companies, industry bodies and academics, which warned that those suffering from chronic hunger may surge from about 800 million amid mounting food-supply risks. ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Four agriculture technology (AgTech) pioneers will build new facilities in Abu Dhabi dedicated to developing next generation agriculture in arid and desert agriculture. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has partnered individually with AeroFarms, Madar Farms, RNZ and Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI). The partnership will establish new R&D and production facilities in the emirate, turning sand ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Financial services group (PraxisIFM) announced on Thursday that it secured an ADGM ‘Venture Capital Fund Manager’ licence for venture firm, Hambro Perks. The licence was attained via the setting up of the structure, incorporation and application to the FSRA and Registration Authority in ADGM. Commenting on the announcement, Sam Shields, Head of Fund Marketing at PraxisIFM, ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) issued Circular No. 5 of 2020 regulating facilities’ work at Abu Dhabi’s fish markets, to ensure the health and safety of consumers. The circular translates ADAFSA’s continuing efforts to follow precautionary measures, to help achieve high levels of health and safety for the society in cooperation with ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched a webpage, on its website, to appeal to the private sector to support its fight against coronavirus and contribute to The Community Solidarity Fund against Covid-19. The new webpage, which was developed shortly after the launch of the initiative, contains all the information regarding how private sector can ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) and its subsidiaries announced the completion of more than 1.1 million digital transactions during the first quarter of this year, which represents 84% of its total transactions for the period. The three municipalities under the department’s umbrella achieved more than 223,000 digital transactions (93% of their total transactions) during Q1 ...

Bloomberg The US and China should work together to show “honest leadership” or risk transforming the pandemic into a bigger crisis, the head of the World Health Organization said in unusually stern comments on the two superpowers. At the height of the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union still came together to fight and eradicate smallpox, Director-General Tedros ...

Bloomberg Medical device makers and scientists around the world are waiving their intellectual property rights to encourage companies to restore depleted stockpiles of emergency equipment and develop new tests and treatments for the Covid-19 pandemic. But it might not be enough. Some researchers and lawmakers are calling on President Donald Trump to follow the lead of Germany in restricting patent ...

Bloomberg Iraqi intelligence chief Mustafa Al-Kadhimi was picked to form a government, as the country sought to end months of damaging political deadlock with the slump in oil prices and coronavirus outbreak adding to a list of urgent challenges. President Barham Salih turned to Al-Kadhimi after major Shiite parties blocked his previous choice for prime minister — former Najaf governor ...