Iran plans to launch three domestically designed satellites in six months, a high-ranking Iranian aerospace official told the country’s English-language Press TV on Thursday. Deputy head of Iran Space Agency (ISA), Hamid Fazeli, said that three satellites – Tadbir, Nahid and Sharif Sat – will be delivered to orbit before the current Iranian calendar year ends on March 20, 2014.
Updated 6 Years ago

KIEV, October 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has hit back at Ukraine after the Ukrainian prime minister threatened to stop all natural gas imports from Russia within the next few years unless the current gas contract is reviewed. On Thursday, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told RIA Novosti and Rossiya 24 TV channel that “Ukraine may stop buying gas altogether at that price,” warning Russia that “that is not an empty threat.”
Updated 6 Years ago

China's economic growth should exceed 7.5 percent this year, deputy central bank governor Yi Gang was quoted by Xinhua as saying, the latest expression of confidence from Beijing that the world's No. 2 economy is steadying. Yi was quoted as saying on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meeting that growth could hit 7.6 percent, and that the government had the nation's shadow banking system and its debt problems under control.
Updated 6 Years ago

Asked to describe the brand Maserati, most people would use words like Italian, expensive and exotic. They’d be right, mostly. The best-selling Maserati in the U.S. is the four-door Quattroporte, an Italian-made sedan that is reasonably fast and, in the case of the car I tested, plenty pricey at $159,600. The overall character, however, was more stately than sexy, buttoned-down rather than exotic.
Updated 6 Years ago

In its 2013 Global Wealth Report, Credit Suisse asserts that Russia's transition to capitalism failed the country's people, creating an economy with the world's highest level of wealth inequality. According to the report, 110 Russian billionaires command 35 percent of the nation's wealth, while worldwide, billionaires account for 1 to 2 percent of total household wealth.
Updated 6 Years ago

Bende Export-Import Limited, a subsidiary of Slok Group, says Nigerian charcoal is in high demand among EU countries because they are of good quality, easy to light and can burn for a long time. Benjamin Kalu, MD/CEO, Bende Export Limited, who disclosed this during a round table discussion organised by the company for exporters in the country, said EU countries like Belgium, Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, etc are biggest buyers of Nigerian charcoal.
Updated 6 Years ago

Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, has announced plans to sell off its 97-kilometer, 150,000 barrels of oil per day Nembe Creek Trunk Line in the Niger Delta region. The company, along with its joint venture partner, is also planning to sell off four more oil blocks — Oil licenses 18, 24, 25 and 29.
Updated 6 Years ago

The country has recorded N6.849tn worth of electronic fund transfers between January and September this year. A document obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System showed that NIBBS Instant Pay recorded an average volume of 1.13 million transactions so far, with a monthly transaction value of N761bn.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has said over 50 per cent of electricity consumers in Nigeria are still not metered by the electricity distribution companies. Nebo described the development as a challenge to the power sector. He spoke at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Power while receiving a Brazilian delegation led by Vice-Minister of Development, Industry and International Trade, Ricardo Shaefer.
Updated 6 Years ago

Skye Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and First City Monument Bank Plc, have provided a $100 million refinancing facility for MainOne Company Nigeria Limited to drive the growth plans of the company. MainOne Cable Company Limited provides wholesale broadband and wholesale bandwidth telecommunications services and land cables to telecom operators and Internet service.
Updated 6 Years ago