In brief, what are the fundamental differences between mainstream banking and Islamic banking?
Conventional banking is the business of selling a quantity of present money for a larger quantity of future money; the difference being Reba, or interest. Islamic banking provides finance not in cash, but in the form of partnership or equity finance, or in the form of sale finance (the bank purchases commodities including assets and sells them or leases them to customers), or through an investment agency contract.
What is a sukuk?
Sukuks are Sharia-compliant financial instruments that give their holder a common undivided share in a group of assets. Net income would be distributed over sukuk holders proportionately. Sukuk should not be confused with bonds, as bonds represent titles to fixed amounts of cash payable in the future. Bonds are debt instruments, while sukuks are investment instruments. A bond issuer defaults when he fails to pay debt instalments. A sukuk issuer sells assets to sukuk holders, which removes the possibilities of default. If the assets are leased to some concern that fails to pay the rent on a certain date, sukuk holders can take hold of their assets, lease them or sell them as they may wish.
What is the growth potential of Islamic banks worldwide? What is fuelling this growth?
It is difficult to estimate the growth potential of Islamic banking all over the world, as aggregated data is not available. The Emirates Islamic Bank Economic Report (October 2010 edition) estimates the assets of Islamic banks in the Gulf to have reached US$226 billion (Dh830bn) at the end of 2009. Their average rate of growth during 2000-2009 is about 27 per cent per annum, compared with 14 per cent per annum for conventional banks. The assets of Islamic banks in the Gulf are expected to exceed $1.2 trillion by the year 2020.
Can non-Muslims join Islamic banks?
Islamic banking is a banking concept that provides value- added products and services to all customers regardless of their belief. Many of the customers of Islamic banks are non-Muslims and they enjoy the services provided, such as credit cards and home finance. Are there any financial products exclusive to Islamic banks? Islamic bank products include all banking products except for interest-based loans. Loans are the only product of conventional finance and it is exclusively theirs. All products of Islamic finance are their exclusive domain.
Dr Mabid Ali Al Jarhi is a financial expert and head of training at Emirates Islamic Bank.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.