Bloomberg India’s central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das has built up support on both sides of the political divide, making his position relatively safe under a new government no matter who wins the election. As an ex-career bureaucrat, Das has worked under administrations led by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress. He’s likely ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The United Arab Emirates, in April, witnessed various events and activities that consolidated the process of transforming “Tolerance” from a societal value to sustainable institutional action, according to clear mechanisms and strategies. The hosting of the conference on ‘Tolerance in the Context of Legislative and Judicial Systems’, the opening of the ‘Tolerance Neighbourhood Pro-ject’ in Umm ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has merged with Union National Bank (UNB) and the combined entity has acquired Al Hilal Bank, legally completing a landmark transaction in the UAE, forming the ADCB Group with effect from on Wednesday. The ADCB Group, serving more than one million customers, has AED423 billion in assets, is the third-largest financial ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced on Wednesday — as part of Abu Dhabi’s block licensing strategy and on behalf of the Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) — the details of the second round of five new geographical oil and gas blocks open for bidding for both conventional and unconventional resources. The successful bidders will ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Amazon and Souq announced the launch of Amazon.ae, a new local shopping experience for customers in the UAE. Amazon.ae features over 30 million products from local and international businesses, including products previously available on Souq and five million products from Amazon US. Customers shopping on Amazon.ae will enjoy the same commitment to great prices as on ...

Bloomberg The White House is ramping up pressure to reach a trade deal with China in the next two weeks, warning that the US is prepared to walk away from the negotiations. “It won’t go on forever,” Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff, said at an event in Los Angeles. “At some point in any negotiation you ...

AL AIN / WAM Al Ain Convention Centre (AACC), the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec), has contributed AED 2.604 billion to the economy of Abu Dhabi in direct and indirect impact between 2014 and 2018, Adnec announced on Wednesday. The leading exhibition and conference venue in the Garden City also hosted 78 events and exhibitions ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Start-ups are at the heart of the new joint France-UAE strategy in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to French Minister of Transport, Elisabeth Borne, who also believes that many French entrepreneurs have found in the UAE “an ideal place to express their creativity and innovation skills.” “Each year, thousands of French entrepreneurs take part ...

SHARJAH / WAM United Arab Bank (UAB), announced its financial results for the three months ending March 31. UAB reported a net profit of AED22 million in Q1 2019 supported by an increase in interest income of six percent and uplift in non-interest income of three percent compared to Q1 2018. The bank has reported three percent lower operating expenses ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Agthia Group on Wednesday reported Q1 2019 net profit of AED40 million and revenue of AED508 million, representing revenue growth of 3.4 percent compared to the same period in 2018. Dhafer Ayed Al Ahbabi, Chairman of Agthia, said, “Our core businesses maintained their growth momentum in the first quarter despite persistent market challenges. We continue to ...