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1:50 AM

What ails Arab economies is older than Covid-19

The International Monetary is predicting the economies in the Arab nations of the Middle East and North Africa will contract by 5.4 per cent in 2020-21 due to the covid-19 pandemic and the collapse in international oil prices. (I’ve left out Lebanon and Libya, because they face exceptional circumstances.) This means the Arab MENA region, despite being among the least affected by the pandemic in terms of confirmed cases and deaths, will suffer disproportionate economic pain.
 

The IMF’s economic outlook for the world shows that economic contraction has been proportionate to the public-health crisis caused by the pandemic in most regions — North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia. The US economy is to contract by 4.3 per cent, the Euro zone, Latin America and India by 8.3 per cent, 8.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent, respectively. Conversely, China is expected to grow by 1.9 per cent, which reflects Beijing’s effective containment of early outbreaks.
 

Now look at Arab MENA region, excluding Israel and Iran. On the public-health front, the Arab nations have done relatively well when compared to many other parts of the world. This is borne out by the data for Covid-19 deaths per million people in the period between December 2019 and October 2020. The ratios for the US, European Union and South American were 673.80, 360.45 and 661.29, respectively. The average for the Arab world was 79.46 per million. For the most populated Arab nations — Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia — the average was even lower, at 62.21 per million.

1:40 AM

HSBC Q3 profit tumbles 35 per cent

HSBC Holdings posted a 35 per cent drop in quarterly profit, better than expected, as higher loan loss provisions on the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic were cushioned by the reining in of expenses. Reported pretax profit for Europe's biggest bank by assets came in at $3.1 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $4.8 billion in the same period a year earlier.

1:17 AM

BP reports net profit at $100 million in Q3 on stronger oil prices

BP on Tuesday reported a third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, its definition of net income, of $100 million, compared with a forecast of a loss of $120 million in a company-provided survey of analysts. 

 

The London-based company said that while fuel demand in Asia, particularly in China, was recovering, global consumption remained weak so far in the fourth quarter.

 

12:33 AM

Social media CEOs to face grilling from Republican senators

Less than a week before Election Day, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are set to face a grilling by Republican senators who accuse the tech giants of anti-conservative bias. Democrats are trying to expand the discussion to include other issues such as the companies' heavy impact on local news.

 

The Senate Commerce Committee has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai to testify for a hearing Wednesday. The executives have agreed to appear remotely after being threatened with subpoenas.

12:29 AM

No death from dengue this year in Delhi, campaign a success: Satyendar Jain

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said no dengue-related death has been reported in the national capital this year and credited the Arvind Kejriwal government's anti-dengue campaign for this.

 

In a tweet in Hindi, he also shared a data sheet prepared by the Directorate General of Health Services, according to which, 489 dengue cases have been recorded this year in Delhi till October 24.

11:04 PM

BJP central leaders step in to resolve differences in Bengal unit

The BJP central leaders in charge of Bengal stepped in and resolved the differences between its state Yuva Morcha president Saumitra Khan and party chief Dilip Ghosh who had dissolved all the district committees of the youth wing last week.

 

According to BJP sources, party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya spoke to Ghosh and Khan and advised them to resolve their differences.

 

"Senior party leaders such as our national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and others who are in charge of the state stepped in and asked both of them to resolve the situation," a state BJP leader said.

10:55 PM

Education Ministry receives President's approval for inquiry against Delhi University VC: Report

10:49 PM

Uber to offer 12,000 free rides to National Association for the Blind in 8 Indian cities

10:38 PM

Top Army, police officials review security arrangements in J&K in view of upcoming panchayat polls

10:36 PM

Land law amendments: Congress accuses BJP of 'deceiving' people of Ladakh

9:59 PM

Govt extends deadline to make payment under Vivad Se Vishwas scheme till March 31

9:57 PM

NDA to win three-fourths majority in Bihar; Nitish to become CM again: Prakash Javadekar

9:37 PM

Omar Abdullah slams Centre over amendments in land laws in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

9:00 PM

India challenged by China's 'reckless aggression' on borders: Rajnath Singh

India is challenged by China's "reckless aggression" on its northern borders, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday at the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.

 

"Excellencies, in the area of defence, we are challenged by reckless aggression on our northern borders," he said in his opening remarks, as per the US State Department read out of the opening statements of all the dignitaries of the dialogue. Welcoming US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, he thanked them for their "personal commitment to the India-US partnership".

 

He thereafter talked about Covid-19 pandemic and how both the countries' economies have suffered losses.

 

India and China are engaged in a six-month-long standoff at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. Both the countries had seven military commander-level meetings, but the border issue remains unresolved. The de-escalation of force at the LAC during winter is highly unlikely and both the countries face the huge challenge of logistics for their troops deployed in the area.

8:41 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India has maximum recovered Covid-19 cases globally