Last week the virtual currency reached record levels of close to US$20,000 before plunging back down to about $16,000. /Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Last week the virtual currency reached record levels of close to US$20,000 before plunging back down to about $16,000. /Dado Ruvic / Reuters

Demand for bitcoin grows in India



Interest in bitcoin is growing in India despite a series of warnings from the central bank that the digital currency is a risky and unregulated investment.

Although the cryptocurrency is reputed for its volatility, it has gained appeal along with other virtual currencies following India's demonetisation move in November last year.

Last week the virtual currency reached record levels of close to US$20,000 amid a buying frenzy, before dipping back to around $16,000.

“Bitcoin has seen a dream run in the last year,” said Vikram Pandya, the director of the fintech programme at SP Jain School of Management. “Like other countries, many people from India are attracted towards it with expectations of getting high returns in a quick time.”

Since the start of October, bitcoin has more than tripled in price and soared about 15 fold so far this. Its rapid rise has drawn in millions of new investors, which is boosting demand further. Its surge last week came as speculators feared missing out on what is expected to be a watershed for the cryptocurrency on Sunday, when one of the world's largest regulated exchanges begins futures trading of the digital currency.

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Read more:

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“Unlike earlier times, rather than putting or investing their money in bank fixed deposits, saving policies, mutual funds and gold, they are becoming more aware about investing in bitcoin,” said Shivam Thakral, the cofounder and chief executive of BuyUcoin, a New Delhi-based platform for trading cryptocurrencies, including bictoin.

Bitcoin is now accepted by a growing number of retailers and other businesses in the country, such as restaurants, as cash liquidity has reduced following demonetisation, resulting in businesses moving towards alternative payment platforms.

Although the Indian government is trying to push Indians to move towards digital transactions to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on cash - which is hard to track and can facilitate black money flows - it has not yet thrown its weight behind virtual currencies such as bitcoin.

Arun Jaitley, India’s finance minister recently said the government did not recognise virtual currencies as ”legal tender”. He earlier highlighted there are no regulations governing these currencies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank, on Tuesday issued its third warning to members of the public about the risks of investing in bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

"In the wake of significant spurt in the valuation of many virtual currencies and rapid growth in initial coin offerings, RBI reiterates the concerns," RBI said in a statement.

It highlighted that it had not given "any licence or authorisation to any entity or company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any virtual currency".

RBI said that dealing with virtual currencies came with "potential economic, financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks”.

Mr Pandya said: “In India there is no specific legal framework to govern the cryptoexchanges and hence currently they are self-regulated. No one is entirely sure how bitcoin will continue to spread to the larger financial world."

Mr Thakral said that RBI is worried over the lack of control they have over virtual currencies, as well as being “genuinely concerned about people who have less knowledge about investment in crypt-currencies which is an unregulated market”.

“With the widespread prevalence of cryptocurrencies like bitcoins and many others, central authorities like RBI are in a fix since they have no control on the generation and usage of such currencies directly,” he added. “Since this technology is not in the control of central authorities, there are many Ponzi schemes prevalent in the market in the name of bitcoin. It has hence made it hard for the government to track and or stop them.”

A number of companies in India now tap into the interest in bitcoin. One of these is Unocoin, headquartered in Bangalore, which describes itself as India’s first entrant into the industry, operating the largest bitcoin-Indian rupee trading platform in the country. The start-up launched in 2013 and enables its more than 150,000 customers to buy, sell, store, use and accept bitcoin. In September 2016, the company raised $1.5 million in investment from a consortium of investors, and it has outlined ambitions to expand globally.

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The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder

Transmission: CVT auto

Power: 181bhp

Torque: 244Nm

Price: Dh122,900 

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Rankings

ATP: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,955 pts; 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,320; 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6,475 ( 1); 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 5,060 ( 1); 6. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4,845 ( 1); 6. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,600 (-3); 7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,110 ( 2); 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,960; 9. John Isner (USA) 3,155 ( 1); 10. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,140 (-3)

WTA: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7,030 pts ( 3); 2. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6,290 ( 4); 3. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,582 (-2); 4. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,307 ( 1); 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,100 ( 3); 6. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,965 (-4); 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,940; 8. Kiki Bertens (NED) 4,430 ( 1); 9. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3,566 (-6); 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,485 ( 1)

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

New Zealand T20 squad

New Zealand T20 squad: Tim Southee (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young 

Brief scores:

Day 2

England: 277 & 19-0

West Indies: 154

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others

Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.

As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.

Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.

“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”

Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.

“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”

Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.

ANALYSTS’ TOP PICKS OF SAUDI BANKS IN 2019

Analyst: Aqib Mehboob of Saudi Fransi Capital

Top pick: National Commercial Bank

Reason: It will be at the forefront of project financing for government-led projects

 

Analyst: Shabbir Malik of EFG-Hermes

Top pick: Al Rajhi Bank

Reason: Defensive balance sheet, well positioned in retail segment and positively geared for rising rates

 

Analyst: Chiradeep Ghosh of Sico Bank

Top pick: Arab National Bank

Reason: Attractive valuation and good growth potential in terms of both balance sheet and dividends

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

Company%20Profile
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Race 3

Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888


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