Cricket in two African countries has benefitted from English generosity in the past month. The MCC has handed over a full set of nets and an artificial playing surface to the Sierra Leone Cricket Association. The equipment is going to be used in schools before being moved to the country’s indoor cricket academy, which is the process of being built. Cricket is believed to be the fastest growing sport in Sierra Leone and recently secured a sponsor – telecommunications company Limeline. They have also had former South African Test batsman…
Written on December 8, 2011 | Posted in
Cricket,
Sports,
Telecom,
UN,
US,
ad,
africa,
cia,
uth |
Leave a comment
iPad 2 has finally hit the Apple stores across the globe. Being a Pakistani blogger, i wonder as to when the Apple iPad 2 will reach Pakistani market? I think from our experience of iPad 1, it will not take much longer to reach the Pakistani stores. It will take a maximum of two weeks
Written on March 12, 2011 | Posted in
Apple iPad 2,
News,
Pakistan,
Politics,
Price of iPad 2,
Tablet,
Telecom,
ad,
apple,
iPad,
iPad 2 vs Motorola Zoom,
iPad vs iPad,
ipad2,
technology |
Leave a comment
NEW YORK: Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu remained the world’’s richest person, but Asia is where today’’s big money is flowing, Forbes magazine said in its 2011 list of the world’’s billionaires. Slim, who is almost unknown to the general public outside Mexico, weighed in at a staggering $74 billion of net wealth thanks to his telecoms empire. Already the top dog last year, he increased his fortune by $20.5 billion dollars. In a now familiar second place was Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $56 billion. The relatively lowly ranking reflected his enormous philanthropic give-aways over the year, Forbes said. Next up was US investment guru Warren Buffett and Bernard Arnault from the luxury goods group LVMH with $50 billion and $41 billion respectively. But outside this cozy billionaires” club, a tidal wave of money is flowing across Asia, which helped lift the total world population of billionaires to a record 1,210 from 1,011 last year. The United States still leads with just over 33 percent of the world’’s mega-rich, but that is down from about half a decade ago. Surging forward is the Asia-Pacific region, which overtook Europe for the first time. “The global economy is recovering, but it’’s not spread all across the board,” said Steve Forbes, editor in chief of the business magazine. “The list reflects the extraordinary changes taking place in the global economy.” The billionaire surge saw an increase in China from 69 to 115, Hong Kong from 25 to 36, India from 49 to 55 and across Asia-Pacific as a whole from 234 to 332. There are “literally millions of people around the world who have the opportunity to be creative,” Forbes said. European gains, led by Russia’’s commodities barons, were largely due to Asian appetite for raw materials, or, in the case of LVMH, luxury goods. “China really set the tone this year,” said Forbes senior editor Luisa Kroll. “Asia for the first time has more billionaires than Europe.” Kroll said the dynamics behind Asian success were booming stock markets and business-friendly governments. “It is much easier to get rich today if you go live in Shanghai. If I were 22 years old and an entrepreneur and maybe could speak Mandarin… I”d high-tail it there,” she said. With much of the world still feeling the aftershocks of a deep recession, the annual ritual of the billionaires list can at first seem out of touch with reality. But Forbes editors said most of the names on the list were themselves people who had made good after overcoming difficulties and failures. “These are people, contrary to the Hollywood myth… these are very scrappy individuals, very focused individuals,” Forbes said. Kroll said people who become billionaires need luck and determination, but also a little extra. “They are unique people. Sometimes I think they”re a little offbeat,” she said. Herewith the top 25 richest billionaires, with country of citizenship and main company or other source of wealth, according to Forbes magazine’’s 2011 list: 1. Carlos Slim Helu. Mexico. Telecom. $74 billion. 2. Bill Gates. United States. Microsoft. $56 billion. 3. Warren Buffett. United States. Berkshire Hathaway. $50 billion. 4. Bernard Arnault. France. LVMH. $41 billion. 5. Larry Ellison. United States. Oracle. $39.5 billion. 6. Lakshmi Mittal. India. Steel. $31.1 billion. 7. Amancio Ortega. Spain. Zara. $31 billion. 8. Eike Batista. Brazil. Mining, oil. $30 billion. 9. Mukesh Ambani. India. Oil and gas. $27 billion. 10. Christy Walton and family. United States. Wal-Mart. $26.5 billion. 11. Li Ka-shing. Hong Kong. Diversified. $26 billion. 12. Karl Albrecht. Germany. Aldi. $25.5 billion. 13. Stefan Persson. Sweden. HM. $24.5 billion. 14. Vladimir Lisin. Russia. Steel. $24 billion. 15. Liliane Bettencourt. France. L”Oreal. $23.5 billion. 16. Sheldon Adelson. United States. Casinos, hotels. $23.3 billion. 17. David Thomson and family. Canada. Media. $23 billion. 18. Charles Koch. United States. Manufacturing, energy. $22 billion. 18. David Koch. United States. Manufacturing, energy. $22 billion. 20. Jim Walton. United States. Walmart. $21.3 billion. 21. Alice Walton. United States. Walmart. $21.2 billion. 22. S. Robson Walton. United States. Walmart $21 billion. 23. Kwok Thomas and Raymond and family. Hong Kong. Real estate. $20 billion. 24. Sergey Brin. United States. Google. $19.8 billion. 25. Larry Page. United States. Google. $19.8 billion. (AFP)
Written on March 10, 2011 | Posted in
2011,
Asia-Pacific,
Bill Gates,
Canada,
Economy,
Google,
Hong Kong,
ISI,
International,
Offbeat,
Real Estate,
Telecom,
UK,
UN,
US,
War,
ad,
ads,
aid,
ban,
china,
europe,
france,
india,
live,
media |
Leave a comment
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed on Wednesday to stay in office to press ahead with reforms, denying a series of massive corruption scandals had made him a lame duck leader. Allegations the government may have lost up to $39 billion in revenues after firms were awarded telecoms deals at rock-bottom prices in return for kickbacks have caused months of parliamentary paralysis, rocked the ruling coalition, and rattled India’’s markets. “Whatever some people may say, that we are a lame duck government, that I am a lame duck prime minister, we take our job very seriously,” an often frail-looking Singh, 78, said in a rare media roundtable with TV editors to improve his worsening image. “We are here to govern, and to govern effectively. Tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward.” That Singh was forced to deny talk of resignation underscored both the gravity of the scandals and how Singh’’s decision-making has been paralyzed in his second term despite winning re-election in 2009 with an increased majority. The last parliamentary session was halted by opposition protests demanding a probe into the telecoms scam, effectively stopping any reform bills such as one to make land acquisition easier for both industry and farmers. “I never felt like resigning because I have a job to do … I will stay the course,” Singh said in comments broadcast live. Foreign investors have pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from the Indian stock market since the start of the year, while foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen for three consecutive years, from 2.9 percent of GDP in 2008/09 to around 1.8 percent of GDP in 2010/11. Some of this is connected with the global economic slowdown, but regulatory uncertainty may also be a factor. “This sort of atmosphere is not good. It saps our own self-confidence. It also spoils the image of India,” Singh said over the corruption scams, but he denied they had impacted FDI. For more than an hour, editors peppered Singh with questions about why he had failed to act on corruption cases and why probes had taken so long. On each question, Singh, looking defensive and rattled, denied wrongdoing, and often referred to a prepared written statement. The next general election is still three years away and Singh has opportunities to regain the initiative, whether through spending on social welfare programs or doing better than expected in state elections. In Wednesday’’s broadcast, Singh at times gave the impression of indecision, such when he replied when asked why he did not act quickly over problems in the allocation of telecom licenses between 2007 and 2008. “Although complaints were coming in, although complaints were coming from all sides, some from companies not benefiting (from the telecoms spectrum allocation) … I was not in a position to make up my mind that anything seriously was wrong,” Singh said.
Written on February 16, 2011 | Posted in
2009,
2010,
2011,
ISI,
International,
News,
Social,
Telecom,
UN,
US,
War,
ad,
aid,
cia,
corruption,
elections,
india,
industry,
live,
media,
scam,
scandal,
scandals,
social welfare,
tests |
Leave a comment
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan will hold today hearing of petitions filed in connection with National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL) scam case and leasing out of the Reco Diq gold and copper mines to a foreign company case, Geo News Tuesday reported. Earlier on Monday, the SC was told that leasing out of the Reko Diq gold and copper mines in Balochistan to a foreign company was the biggest case of bad governance and irresponsibility. A four-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and comprising Justice Muhammad Sair Ali, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, will continue hearing a case against the leasing of Reko Diq gold and copper mines in Balochistan worth over $260 billion to a foreign exploration and mining company by the federal government in violation of law. Raza Kazim, the counsel for one of the petitioners, while concluding his arguments, told the court that Reko Diq case was bigger than the Pakistan Steel Mills and eight times bigger than the Indian Telecom case, wherein the Indian Supreme Court had stayed the licence in the case. Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday recalled that even the Indian IT minister quit after the court gave its judgment. At one point, Justice Ramday observed that as per the initial agreement made with the foreign company, it was held that the company will give instructions to the Balochistan government. “It is very painful how the provincial government surrendered in such a manner,” he said, adding: “The fault is on our side, if we do not honour ourselves then the foreign company is right in ruling us. We have given this right to the foreign company, and it is shameful to read the privileges that we have given in it (agreement).”
Written on February 1, 2011 | Posted in
2011,
Balochistan,
ISI,
News,
Pakistan,
Politics,
Telecom,
UN,
US,
ad,
aid,
ban,
call,
cia,
india,
islam,
islamabad,
scam |
Leave a comment
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is reportedly planning to stop all Blackberry services to foreign missions in the …
ISLAMABAD – Telecoms operator Etisalat is in takeover talks with internet provider Nayatel, one of Pakistan's fastest-growing companies.”They want to totally buy us out,” Nayatel chairm
BRUSSELS: The European Commission on Monday said it was investigating whether a Hungarian “crisis” tax upsetting major European firms was in compliance with rules set by the bloc — currently chaired by Budapest. The Commission, which has been asked by 13 leading European firms to sanction Hungary over the tax, launched an inquiry on the matter on December 20, its spokesman Olivier Bailly said. “As soon as we”ve reached conclusions, which is far from being the case … we will take a decision,” the Commission spokesman added. Hungary on October 18 passed additional taxes on the telecommunications, energy and retail sectors for a three-year period as a way of helping replenish state coffers and bring down the public deficit. The taxes, which represent a levy on a company’’s annual revenues, are expected to raise 582 million euros (797 million dollars) each year. But in a five-page letter sent on December 15 to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the heads of 13 European firms accused Hungary, which on January 1 took over the EU rotating presidency, of imposing exceptional taxes. Among them were energy groups including Germany’’s RWE and E.on, Czech firm CEZ and Austria’’s OMV, as well as Dutch financial groups ING and Aegon, French insurance giant AXA and Germany’’s Deutsche Telekom. Bailly said the Commission on October 22 had sent a letter to the Hungarian authorities “to ask for more information on this new tax law.” Budapest sent a response on December 17. “We are now looking into the complaint (from the 13 firms) … and the Hungarian government’’s reply,” he added. “We don”t have problems with budgetary and fiscal decisions taken by member states in order to consolidate and balance their budgets,” he said. But he added that there were “principles of equality regarding tax within community rules according to which it is not possible to tax operators of one sector more heavily than others.” The 13 firms urged the Commission to put pressure on Hungary to reverse its decision to impose “unjust financial millstones” which cost Deutsche Telekom about 100 million euros (134 million dollars) in extra taxes last year at its Hungarian subsidiary Magyar Telekom. Germany’’s Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle has also slammed the tax, telling the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in an interview appearing Monday: “Taxes that predominantly affect foreign companies are fundamentally a problem for the internal European market.” He said he had raised the issue with Budapest and that it would be on the agenda for a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Tamas Fellegi later this month.
Written on January 3, 2011 | Posted in
2011,
Economy,
IPL,
ISI,
Interview,
News,
Telecom,
UN,
US,
ad,
ads,
aid,
budget,
cia,
europe,
urdu,
uth |
Leave a comment
WASHINGTON: US diplomats have on several occasions intervened to convince foreign governments to buy aircraft from Boeing rather than its European rival Airbus, newly released diplomatic cables show. The cables, obtained by the New York Times from the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, document several incidents in which diplomats were involved in haggling over the billion-dollar deals seen as key to US economic growth. One cable describes Saudi King Abdullah responding favorably to a personal request from then-president George W. Bush in 2006 that he buy as many as 43 Boeing jets for Saudi Arabian Airlines and another 13 for the royal fleet. But the king “wanted to have all the technology that his friend, President Bush, had on Air Force One,” the cable said. Once the king’’s own plane was outfitted with the world’’s most advanced telecommunications and defense equipment, “”God willing,” he will make a decision that will ”please you very much,”” the cable said. In November, state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines said it had signed a contract for 12 new Boeing 777-300ER jets worth some 3.3 billion dollars. The State Department confirmed to the Times that it had authorized an “upgrade” to the king’’s plane but declined to provide further details on security grounds. In another incident, Bangladesh’’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina demanded landing rights for its national carrier at New York’’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as a condition for a Boeing deal. “If there is no New York route, what is the point of buying Boeing,” she was quoted as saying in a November 2009 cable. The deal went through, but so far Biman Bangladesh Airlines has not been given the landing rights, the Times said. The Times said such practices have continued despite decades-old agreements between US and European leaders to keep politics out of airline deals. But State Department officials interviewed by the newspaper defended their involvement, saying such high-value exports were crucial to US President Barack Obama’’s efforts to pull the country out of its economic slump. “That is the reality of the 21st century; governments are playing a greater role in supporting their companies, and we need to do the same thing,” Robert Hormats, under secretary of state for economic affairs, told the Times. Airbus may receive similar aid: other US cables cited by the Times describe the Bush administration and French President Nicolas Sarkozy’’s government scrambling to win a jet deal from oil-rich Bahrain in 2007. In the end, US diplomats convinced Bahrain to buy from Boeing after linking the signing of the deal to an upcoming visit by Bush in January 2008, the first-ever by a sitting US president, the Times said. Washington has been infuriated by WikiLeaks and launched its own criminal investigation into the disclosure of the documents. WikiLeaks has argued that its release of documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the inner workings of US diplomacy exposes US military abuses on the battlefield and “contradictions between the US’’s public persona and what it says behind closed doors.” On Sunday, Republican Representative Darrell Issa blamed US Attorney General Eric Holder for failing to bring criminal charges against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Issa, who takes over as the chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform committee, said that “the world is laughing at this paper tiger we”ve become.” He said legislation would be swiftly taken up by his committee, “so the diplomats can do their job with confidence and people can talk to our government with confidence.” Assange is on bail in Britain fighting a bid by Sweden to extradite him over allegations of sexual assault made by two women. His strict bail conditions include reporting to police daily and wearing an electronic tag.
Written on January 3, 2011 | Posted in
2009,
IPL,
ISI,
International,
Interview,
News,
Politics,
Telecom,
UN,
US,
War,
Web,
ad,
afghan,
afghanistan,
aid,
aircraft,
ban,
bangladesh,
cia,
defense,
europe,
export,
fair,
military,
police,
technology,
uth,
wikileaks,
women |
Leave a comment
CAYENNE: A European Ariane rocket successfully launched on Wednesday from French Guiana after an earlier attempt to get into orbit was postponed for 24 hours because of strong winds at high altitudes. Space officials said the Ariane-5 rocket blasted-off at 6.27 p.m. (2127 GMT) from the European Space Agency’’s launch site in Kourou, French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America. High altitude winds can cause debris from the rocket to fall on populated areas. The Hispasat 1E satellite for Spanish telecoms operator Hispasat and Koresat 6 for South Korea’’s Korea Telecom were subsequently deployed by the rocket. Hispasat will provide capacity for the Spanish operator’’s new initiatives which include direct-to-home television, digital terrestrial television and data services throughout Europe, North Africa and the Americas. The satellite was built by U.S. manufacturer Space Systems/Loral. “Hispasat 1E allows our company to expand its capacity and coverage over Europe, America and Africa,” Petra Mateo, Hispasat chairman said after the launch. Koreasat 6 will provide telecommunications services throughout Korea and neighboring Asian countries. It was jointly built by Orbital Sciences Corp. and Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture company owned by France’’s Thales, SA and Italy’’s Finmeccanica. Wednesday’’s launch was the 41st consecutive successful launch of the Ariane rocket series.
Written on December 30, 2010 | Posted in
2010,
America,
ISI,
News,
Politics,
Telecom,
US,
ad,
ads,
africa,
aid,
cia,
europe,
france,
korea,
urdu,
uth |
Leave a comment
