La Liga giants defeated 4–3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals after 3–2 loss at Camp NouLa Liga giants defeated 4–3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals after 3–2 loss at Camp Nou Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez was left to rue his team’s “many mistakes” after the Catalan giants were stunned by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday. Entering the second leg at Camp Nou having secured a 1–1 draw in Frankfurt last week, Barca were widely expected to complete the job at home and book their place in the last four. But Frankfurt, inspired by a travelling support of around 20,000 fans, outplayed the hosts, with Filip Kostic scoring twice, the first an early penalty, either side of a stunning long-range strike by Rafael Santos Borre. Sergio Busquets pulled one back for Barcelona in the 91st minute and then Memphis Depay scored a penalty in the 11th minute of injury time as the hosts attempted a late comeback. But it was too little too late as Frankfurt sealed a momentous 4–3 aggregate win and will now face West Ham after the Premier League side cruised past Lyon. “This is a very big disappointment, a real shame because we wanted to win this competition but we have to congratulate Eintracht, they deserved to advance to the semis and we didn’t do well,” Xavi said. “We didn’t play like we have recently, that is why we’re out. “We tried, but our problem was the football. We had possession but we didn’t take advantage of it, our mistake. It was a fateful night. We made many mistakes, their second goal comes from a turnover, the penalty was an error, and in the third goal we are pressing one side of the pitch and allow them to move to the other. It was something we talked about and cannot happen. We have to be self-critical, we didn’t do well and that’s why we’re out.” Given Barcelona’s recent excellent form, it made the shock of defeat and poor performance all the more surprising. Barca entered the game on a 15-match unbeaten run, including an emphatic 4–0 victory at arch rivals Real Madrid, and have surged to second in La Liga. Barcelona player ratings v Eintracht Frankfurt Xavi has called on his players to shrug off the defeat and turn their focus to league duties as Barcelona aim to keep alive their slim title hopes. More likely, the Catalans will look to solidify their top four hopes until the end of the season. “Now we have to recover the players and continue to compete. We play Cadiz on Monday, the league is what’s left and we have to keep going,” he said. “We cannot move away from the path we were on, we have to believe in what we’re doing. “We have played great games, but losses are also part of football. If this is a failure, and I don’t want to use that word, we will learn more from our mistakes. This loss must make us believe in our ideas more, it’s a matter of time and patience.” Xavi also said that he would be speaking to the club about how Frankfurt were allowed to have so many supporters inside the Camp Nou. “Obviously it didn’t help us,” he said. “It was like a final, the fans evenly divided. The club is checking what happened but it was an error on our part.” Unsurprisingly, Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner was full of praise for his players, saying: “What we have experienced today no money can buy. These emotions will last forever.” To Know More:https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/04/15/xavi-rues-barcelonas-many-mistakes-in-shock-europa-league-exit-to-eintracht-frankfurt/
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Binance founder Changpeng Zhao tops the list with a net worth of $65bn, according to ‘Forbes’Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive of cryptocurrency trading platform Binance, is the world’s richest crypto billionaire with a net worth of $65 billion, according to Forbes’ 2022 World Billionaires List. Mr Zhao, also known as “CZ”, owns an estimated 70 per cent of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, which this week received in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market to operate as a broker-dealer in virtual assets in the UAE capital. Last month, Binance also secured a virtual asset licence to operate in Dubai after the emirate outlined clear regulations to govern emerging technology sectors such as cryptocurrencies in an effort to safeguard investors. The Forbes list, which used stock prices and exchange rates from March 11 to calculate the personal fortunes of the world’s richest people, features a record 19 billionaires who made their money from cryptocurrency and blockchain technology — seven more than in 2021. “It’s been a wild 12 months for the world of cryptocurrencies, from the Elon Musk-fuelled ascent of Dogecoin, to Web3 innovations and non-fungible tokens [NFTs], to the wild swings in Bitcoin and other crypto tokens,” Forbes said. “Amid all the action, there’s also no shortage of money to be made in the $2 trillion crypto economy.” Last November, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $68,000, then crashed in January to settle just above $35,000. Today, the digital token is trading in the $41,280 range. Last week, Forbes declared Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, the world’s richest person, with a net worth of $219bn. However, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Covid-19 pandemic and volatile stock markets have taken a toll on the combined wealth of the world’s richest people, which slipped 3 per cent to $12.7 trillion over the past year, from a record $13.1tn in 2021. In total, there are 2,668 billionaires in the world, down from an all-time high of 2,755 last year. Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and chief executive of global cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was ranked as the second-wealthiest crypto billionaire with a personal fortune of $24bn, followed by Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong with a net worth of $6.6bn. In March, FTX received a virtual asset licence to set up regulated trading and clearing services in Dubai. Gary Wang, also a co-founder of FTX who was crowned the world’s richest billionaire aged under 30 by Forbes, ranked fourth with a net worth of $5.9bn, while Ripple’s Chris Larson rounded out the top five with a fortune of $4.3bn. Newcomers to the list include Nikil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau, co-founders of Web3 infrastructure company Alchemy, each with a net worth of $2.4bn, and Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, co-founders of NFT marketplace OpenSea, who are worth $2.2bn, Forbes said. Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/2022/04/14/who-are-the-worlds-richest-cryptocurrency-billionaires/ Tesla’s billionaire chief executive offered to buy 100 per cent of the microblogging site for about $43bnSaudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a stake in Twitter through his Kingdom Holding Company, rejected Elon Musk’s offer to buy 100 per cent of the microblogging platform for about $43 billion.
“I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk [$54.20] comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects,” Prince Alwaleed said on Twitter. “Being one of the largest and long-term shareholders of Twitter, Kingdom Holding Company and I reject this offer.” Kingdom Holding originally invested $300 million in Twitter for about 3 per cent in December 2011. When the company based in San Francisco went public in November 2013, the value of the company’s shares in Twitter soared to $600m. In October 2015, Prince Alwaleed and his company raised their ownership in Twitter to about 5.2 per cent, bringing the market value of their ownership to more than 3.75 billion riyals ($1bn). Mr Musk, the billionaire co-founder and chief executive of electric vehicle maker Tesla, on Thursday proposed an offer price of $54.20 a share to buy Twitter in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The amount represents a 38 per cent premium on the closing price of Twitter’s stock on April 1, the last trading day before his investment of 9.2 per cent in the company was publicly announced, he said. As Twitter’s single largest shareholder after his acquisition of about 73.5 million shares valued at about $3bn, Mr Musk was offered a seat on its board, but he declined the offer this week. “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” he said on Thursday. “However, since making my investment I now realise the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company. “My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.” Twitter said it would “carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action”. UN peace envoy Hans Grundberg on Thursday said a ceasefire between Yemen’s warring forces was largely holding, but that outbreaks of violence in the central Marib region could drag the country back into war and turmoil. Addressing the UN Security Council, Mr Grundberg said the two-month Ramadan truce that began this month offered “light at the end of the tunnel” for a nation ravaged by seven years of chaos and bloodshed. The Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa, west coast ports and much of northern Yemen, have stopped launching cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting on behalf of the internationally recognised government has halted its air-strike campaign, the Swedish diplomat told the council. “Thus far, the agreement is broadly holding,” said Mr Grundberg. “But it is still fragile and temporary. We need to work collectively and intensively in these coming weeks to ensure it does not unravel.” Breaches have been reported around the central city of Marib, where Yemen’s government has accused the Houthis of attacking their positions. The rebels had tried for more than a year to capture the energy-rich region from government forces, but their efforts were dashed in recent months due to growing coalition support to pro-government Yemeni forces. The breaches were “concerning and must be addressed urgently”, Mr Grundberg added. At the same meeting, UAE diplomat Mohamed Abushahab praised Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, Yemen’s former president in exile, for last week transferring his powers to a leadership council, which is made up of the main groups lined up against the Houthis. The deputy UAE ambassador welcomed Riyadh’s call “for the presidential leadership council to begin negotiations with Houthis under the auspices of the UN to reach a comprehensive and lasting political solution” to Yemen’s dragged-out conflict. The UN’s top humanitarian Martin Griffiths said the truce had allowed for the arrival of much-needed fuel ships to the rebel-held west coast Hodeidah port, and progress on reopening roads in Taez and Sanaa airport to commercial flights. The flights will route from Sanaa to Amman and Cairo, offering many Yemenis their first opportunity in six years to travel abroad for medical treatment, access to foreign embassies and other services unavailable at home. “Hostilities have dropped sharply across the country. Civilian casualties have fallen to their lowest level in months,” said Mr Griffiths. “We’re seeing the kinds of changes that could … pave the way to a brighter future.” The two-month truce implemented on April 2 was the first nationwide ceasefire in six years in Yemen’s civil war that erupted in 2014, when Houthis seized Sanaa and pushed Mr Hadi’s government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition joined the war in early 2015 to counter the Iran-backed rebels. Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2022/04/14/marib-truce-breaches-could-plunge-yemen-back-into-war-says-un-envoy/ The vehicle veered off the road on Al Batinah motorwayThree female students were killed and seven others injured in a bus crash in northern Oman on Wednesday, Royal Oman Police said.
A bus veered across a lane on Al Batinah road near Saham, forcing a police car and a lorry off the road. The cause of the accident has not been released. The injuries range from serious to minor, the police service said. The Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority responded to the crash, posting a photograph of a mangled vehicle surrounded by rescuers on Twitter. In 2021, 9.6 per cent of all deaths in Oman were due to road traffic accidents, the sultanate’s National Centre for Statistics and Information data shows. The ROP traffic division has repeatedly issued tips on spotting fatigue over Ramadan, warning drivers it can be a danger to themselves and others on the road. It has also warned drivers not to drive at excessive speed. Mohammad Raees, like his father, keeps alive tradition of waking Muslims of India’s capital for suhoorAs the clock reaches 2.45am, Mohammad Raees embarks on a 90-minute dash through the alleyways of the walled city of Old Delhi, yelling “Hoshiyar” or “be alert” to waken Muslims who observe Ramadan to eat before fasting begins at sunrise.
He goes to every household, climbing steep staircases, bellowing the names of the residents of Matia Mahal area near Jama Masjid, a 17th-century mosque in the heart of the capital. “I remember all their names by heart. There must be 400 families, and I make sure that no one is left out,” he told The National. Mr Raees, 45, is one of the last remaining sehriwallahs, or town criers, in old Delhi, which is home to nearly a quarter of a million Muslims. Sehriwallahs were traditionally given the job of waking residents for sehri, the Urdu word for suhoor, the early morning meal taken before fasting begins. They were once an essential part of Muslim neighbourhoods, with their torches and lanterns, singing religious songs and beating drums to wake the faithful in times before clocks became common. Almost every locality had its own criers, who were chosen by the local mosques or had volunteered for the task. Many sehriwallahs would migrate from villages for the month-long tradition. Alarm clocks, smartphones and other modern inventions have made that tradition obsolete. Mr Raees, who has two daughters, succeeded his father as a sehriwallah. “After my father’s death, the imam at the mosque gave me his stick and asked me to fulfil the duty. Since that day, I have been doing my work religiously,” he said. Although many in the market community with its restaurants serving Mughal and Middle-Eastern-inspired delicacies remain awake for dawn, Mr Raees’s role seems critical to ensuring no one sleeps through the time for sehri. “Whether it is rain or winter or blistering heat, I don’t take a day off. I am devoted to my duties. This is my legacy, and I have to take it forward,” said Mr Raees, a resident of Minto road area near Old Delhi. Wearing worn-out leather sandals, his early morning journey journey takes him along about two kilometres of uneven paths blocked with parked motorcycles and dark, narrow lanes. At times, he may keep knocking on a door of a family home with his wooden stick until he gets a response, to ensure they have their meal in time. Children can be heard from windows, demanding he say their names. There could be up to six people in a family but, despite his rush, Mr Raees fulfils their request. “I don’t feel tired at all even though I fast the whole day. I always feel energetic doing this. It has become my habit.” “In fact, I enjoy it because people eagerly wait for me. Even small kids, they ask me to take their names,” he said. For the rest of the year, Mr Raees works at a bangle shop and makes about 8,000 rupees ($105) a month. Readmore:https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/04/15/ramadan-brings-one-of-delhis-last-sehri-criers-to-the-streets/ Private credit demand is extremely apparent and necessary for the growth, of Shyam Maheshwari SSG4/12/2022 As India’s pandemic battered businesses and economy emerge into a still uncertain next normal, there is an increasing focus on private credit as a fuel to drive business expansion and sustainable long-term growth. This along with traditional lenders such as banks especially PSU banks which have done Yeoman service for the country during the difficulties of 2020 will be facing greater pressure in 2021 and beyond.
According to Shyam Maheshwari, the Indian credit market has been dominated by banks and non-bank financial companies for a long period. It started with primarily dominance of PSU banks and then the private sector banks. Still, the credit to GDP ratio is relatively modest and low for the stage of growth of the country. As the economy develops credit intensity, it would probably increase initially and the need for credit is very much out there. The challenges the banks and non-banks as it is rightly pointed out may not be able to fulfil that requirement and that’s where the private credit demand is extremely apparent and necessary for the growth, says Shyam Maheshwari SSG Capital management. As NPS will challenge their bottom lines, NBFC’S too have been facing their share of challenges with the past 2 years as it is well known. Given the lending support that Indian businesses need to hold their own against for domestic and international competition including export markets as well as they need to innovate and expand the fast unique technological and customer landscape. Shyam Maheshwari details the role of private credit as the key factor is the fastest growing alternative asset class in the world and has been for the last 4 to 5 years evolved. In the 2009 global financial crisis, lots of debt capital has been flowing through asset managers rather than banks. Today over a trillion dollars in size, bank lending is shrinking on account of all the increased regulations. The ability of independent asset managers to up this share advocated by banks is the trend globally. Post IFS crisis and the continued bank NPA crisis, credit in India has become a huge need for growing companies as well as troubled companies. NBFCS over getting that space and alternative asset managers are entering that. Private credit as an asset class is still scaling up in a relatively small basin of India. India is about a 3 trillion taller economy and growing at a 6 to 7 percentage rate is critical for the market and is huge growth potential. The presence of credit bureaus in India as compared to other markets will enhance the use of anti-fingerprint credit. Also, there’s a large opportunity to invest with 25 to 100 billion dollars over the next 4 to 5 years and potentially grow to be larger than the private equity industry, explains Shyam Maheshwari. The fact that they have some 290 billion dollars of dry powder or private credit available highlights an opportunity for the Indian economy in the catalyst for opening up endless possibilities for Indian businesses as in navigating the next turbulent next normal. Sri Lanka will temporarily suspend foreign debt payments to avoid a hard default, the central bank governor said on Tuesday, with its limited foreign reserves required for imports of essential items such as fuel.
"It has come to a point that making debt payments are challenging and impossible. The best action that can be taken is to restructure debt and avoid a hard default," Governor P Nandalal Weerasinghe said.Sri Lanka is due to start talks with the International Monetary Fund on a loan programme next week, with the country suffering from prolonged power cuts alongside shortages of food and medicines. The island nation's foreign reserves stood at a paltry $1.93 billion at the end of March, with foreign debt payments of around $4bn due this year, including a $1bn international sovereign bond maturing in July. The governor said the action was being taken in good faith, emphasising that the country of 22 million people had never defaulted on its debt payments. "This will be on a temporary basis until we come to an agreement with creditors and with the support of a programme with the IMF," said Mr Weerasinghe, who took office last week amid growing public unrest triggered by the economic crisis. "We need to focus on essential imports and not have to worry about servicing external debt," he said. JP Morgan analysts estimate Sri Lanka's gross debt servicing would amount to $7bn in 2022 and a current account deficit of around $3bn. Shares of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority surged almost 23 per cent as the utility company made its debut on the Dubai Financial Market on Tuesday.
Dewa was trading 17 per cent higher at Dh2.90 at 10.14am UAE time on Tuesday after the stock rose as high as Dh3.05 per share. The company has market value of about $39 billion and is the largest on the exchange.. The listing of the Dubai utility is the biggest in Europe and the Middle East since Saudi Aramco’s debut in 2019. Dewa raised Dh22.41bn ($6.1bn) from its initial public offering earlier this month. A total of nine billion ordinary shares, representing 18 per cent of Dewa’s issued share capital, were offered at Dh2.48 a share. This includes commitments from cornerstone and strategic investors amounting to approximately Dh13.8bn. The offering garnered strong interest from local and international investors and was 37 times oversubscribed (excluding cornerstone and strategic investors) with total demand amounting to Dh315bn, Dewa said in a statement an April 6 statement. The company increased the size of its listing twice this year, from 3.25 billion to 8.5 billion, and finally to nine billion shares, due to robust demand. Dewa has outweighed Emirates NBD, Dubai's largest bank, which before its listing had 23.63 per cent weight on DFM General Index with a market capitalisation of Dh92.85bn. On Tuesday, Dewa said its 2021 profit surged almost 75 per cent to about Dh7bn as demand for electricity rose in the emirate and economy continues to recover strongly from the pandemic driven slowdown. “The year 2021 witnessed strong demand growth for electricity of over 10 per cent, which is reflected in our excellent performance,” Dewa said in a statement to the DFM. “We view this as return to normal situation in Dubai after Covid.” Dubai's population is expected to grow to 5.8 million by 2040, from 3.5 million currently and energy demand last year was nearly triple the company's estimates. “Firstly, their sales and profits are unlikely to be directly affected by the Ukraine conflict. Second, most have solid balance sheets with little to no debt, making them defensive as inflation rises.
“These companies outperformed during the recent correction and are leading the recovery,” Mr Allison says. Optimistic investors should consider buying a low-cost exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the S&P 500, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, Mr Jones suggests. “This could be an interesting investment to take advantage of any further recovery in stock markets,” he says. The S&P still looks expensive, trading around 36 times earnings, but war in Europe makes the US appear as a safe haven right now. “Just don’t expect a calm, smooth ride,” Mr Jones says. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF are alternative options for tracking the index. Chinese tech stocks Chinese technology stocks such as Tencent and Alibaba were popular among western investors but took a beating last year after President Xi Jinping clamped down on the country’s technology billionaires. Global losses ran into the trillions of dollars, with Tencent’s market capitalisation falling by a staggering $500 billion. The “tech-lash” eased in March after Vice Premier Liu He called on regulators to adopt a “standardised, transparent and predictable” approach towards overseeing the nation’s big internet services companies. Now could be a good time to jump back into China technology, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial in Dubai. “Beijing is actively attempting to change course by pledging policies to boost financial markets and stimulate economic growth in a co-ordinated move to boost China tech stocks following the sell-off.” China has indicated it could hand US regulators full access to auditing reports for about 200 companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Mr Valecha says, which would allow Chinese businesses to remain listed in the US. Mr Valecha cites another reason to be bullish on Chinese technology stocks. While the US Federal Reserve is tightening monetary policy by tapering bond purchases and increasing interest rates, China is cutting lending rates. Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/money/2022/04/12/three-ways-to-invest-10000-in-the-next-three-months/ |
MichaelMichael is Professor of Political Science and Head of Department. His research is on public administration and administrative reform, core executives, the role of civil servants in a transformed state, Archives
May 2024
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