Month: July 2020

The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on Thursday decided against privatising the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, owned by the embattled Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), and to run it through a joint venture instead. A meeting of the committee was chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh to review the one-point agenda of the privatisation of Roosevelt Hotel, owned by PIA Investment Limited in the Manhattan borough of New York City. According to a Finance Division statement, the CCoP directed the Privatisation Commission to…

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More than 100 people have tested positive for coronavirus in India after attending the wedding — and then funeral — of the groom, who reportedly tied the knot while ill with the disease. Officials in Bihar state said Wednesday that the 26-year-old groom had symptoms of the deadly virus when he got married on June 15. He died two days later. “So far, 111 people who either attended the wedding or the funeral have tested positive,” said Raj Kishor Chaudhary, chief medical officer in Patna, the state capital. “All others…

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Pakistan International Airlines has been downgraded to a one-star airline by AirlineRatings.com after the recent revelation of 150 fake pilot licenses. The EU has now banned the airline from Europe, losing one-star while AirlineRatings.com has stripped the airline of its three-stars for the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) as well as the one-star for the ICAO country audit. READ: Airbus completes fully automatic flight project AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said, “clearly there needs to be an investigation into possible bribery and falsifying related to the pilot licenses.” “This is deeply…

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When Saudi Arabia caused oil prices to tumble in March the impact on oil producers’ revenues was immediate. But in neighbouring Qatar, which is a leading producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the situation is more complicated. Last year, LNG accounted for $45.3bn (62 percent) of Qatar’s $73.1bn in export revenues. LNG prices are linked to oil and have also plummeted since March, though with one crucial difference. Qatar exports 77 million tonnes (MT) of LNG a year, but it sells just 6 MT of that on the spot markets for immediate delivery.…

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Japan’s Hitachi has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in ABB Power Grids worth up to $7.8 billion, creating a new business aimed at tackling the renewable and distributed energy frontiers of the power industry.  Hitachi ABB Power Grids is the new company formed Wednesday by the close of Hitachi’s acquisition of an 80.1 percent stake in the venerable power grids unit of the Swiss-Swedish engineering giant. ABB will now focus on industrial automation, electric transportation and digital solutions.  “A majority stake in ABB Hitachi Power Grids Inc. instantly makes Hitachi one…

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