Sports
Three American students detained at Migori hotel over unpaid bill
Three American medical students are being detained at a hotel in Migori town over unpaid bills. The trio, two women and a man have been staying at the Gilly … Continue reading
Rare blue diamond to be auctioned in Hong Kong
Rare blue diamond to be auctioned in Hong Kong (AFP) / 19 August 2013 A rare round blue diamond will go under the hammer in Hong Kong in October, with auctioneers hoping the sale will fetch a record-breaking $19 million despite fears over the slowing Chinese economy. Auction house Sotheby’s expect the 7.59-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, which is about the size of a shirt button, to set a new record for price-per-carat. Quek Chin Yeow, Sotheby Asia’s deputy chairman, said Hong Kong was the natural venue to sell the gem, known as “The Premier Blue”, with collectors expected to fly in from all over the world. “While there is a slowdown (in Chinese economy), the number of top-level collectors are still there,” he told AFP. “We have been selling very well in Hong Kong.” Hong Kong has become a centre for jewellery auctions thanks to growing wealth in China and other parts of the region, as well as the region’s increasing taste for art. But there are fears for the future of the Chinese economy, the world’s second largest, where growth fell to 7.8 percent in 2012 — its slowest pace in 13 years. Blue diamonds seldom hit the market and have been coveted by royals and celebrities for centuries, while a round cut is rarely used in coloured stones because of the high wastage. The most famous example of a blue diamond is the “Hope Diamond”, which was bought by King Louis XIV of France in the 17 th Century. The term “fancy” is used to describe a diamond of intense colour, while a gem’s saturation grading ranges from light to vivid for coloured diamonds. The Premier Blue will go up for auction on October 7. Quek said the owner wanted to remain anonymous. In April, a rare 5.3-carat fancy deep-blue diamond was sold for £6.2 million ($9.5 million) at a London auction, then setting a record for price-per-carat at $1.8 million. Continue reading
Indian economic gloom ‘overplayed’: World Bank
Indian economic gloom ‘overplayed’: World Bank (AFP) / 19 August 2013 The World Bank’s chief economist said Monday the gloom surrounding India’s economy had been “overplayed” and the country was not in danger of a full-blown crisis. “Growth may not have bottomed out. We have further to go (down), but the situation is not as bad as is being captured by the mood and captured in the headlines,” Kaushik Basu told an audience in New Delhi. Basu, who was an advisor in the Indian finance ministry until September, said the situation was different from 1991, when India had to seek a bail-out from the International Monetary Fund in what is considered a national humiliation. “India is nowhere near the 1991 crisis. The gloom is being overplayed,” he added. His comments came as India’s rupee hit a new low of 62.70 to the dollar and shares slipped another 2.11 percent Monday on growing fears about the economy and the government’s ability to deal with the situation. On Wednesday, in the latest in a series of measures to prop up the rupee, India’s central bank spooked investors when it tightened controls on the amount of money Indian firms and individuals can send abroad. The move has been criticised as a disturbing throwback to the days before India unleashed its economic liberalisation drive in the early 1990s when Indians’ access to foreign exchange was strictly limited. Continue reading
