The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi campus. Getty
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi campus. Getty
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi campus. Getty
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi campus. Getty

What is the elite Indian technological institute coming to Abu Dhabi?


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A leading Indian technological education and research institution is to establish a campus in Abu Dhabi next year.

State news agency Wam on Saturday said the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge and the Indian Ministry of Education signed a deal to open the first international outpost of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi in Abu Dhabi in January.

The IIT-Delhi is one of 23 such institutes in India renowned for producing talented engineers, entrepreneurs and innovators. The IIT has often been referred to as the MIT and Harvard of India.

First reported in 2022 and again by the Indian envoy to the UAE this February, a deal was signed during the visit of Indian president, Narendra Modi, to the UAE and it will be called IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi.

Sara Musallam, Minister of State for Early Education, chairwoman of the Federal Agency of Early Education and chairwoman of Adek, said the move represented a crucial step in Abu Dhabi’s efforts to build a world-class education system.

"We anticipate that the IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi partnership will support our transition towards fostering an environment that nurtures innovation and accelerates high-level research,” Ms Musallam said.

President Sheikh Mohamed and Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi witness Sara Musallam, Minister of State for Early Education, chairwoman of the Federal Agency of Early Education and chairwoman of Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge and Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT-Delhi sign a deal to being an outpost of the campus to Abu Dhabi. Presidential Court
President Sheikh Mohamed and Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi witness Sara Musallam, Minister of State for Early Education, chairwoman of the Federal Agency of Early Education and chairwoman of Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge and Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT-Delhi sign a deal to being an outpost of the campus to Abu Dhabi. Presidential Court

Dharmendra Pradhan, Indian Minister for Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, hailed the deal as a major development that will strengthen the long-standing bilateral ties between the UAE and India, and further enrich the UAE’s higher education landscape.

“An exemplar of new India’s innovation and expertise, the IIT Delhi campus in UAE will be an edifice of friendship," he said.

So what is the significance of the deal and what can be expected from the campus?

What is India’s Institute of Technology?

The prestigious Institute of Technology is renowned for producing top graduates in engineering and science.

There are 23 in India and alumni of the institute include Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive, and Narayana Murthy, founder of software giant Infosys.

They are known for a rigorous curriculum with an acceptance rate of only about 1.7 per cent. More than 900,000 students vied for about 16,600 places last year.

The IIT Delhi, one of the oldest and most respected, is to establish the Abu Dhabi branch.

IIT-Delhi recently ranked among the world’s top 50 institutions for engineering and technology. It also scored a top 30 rank for global employability in the 2022 QS World University Rankings.

It also said IIT-Delhi has been a front line contributor to India's research and development in sectors ranging from defence, healthcare and rural development, to transportation, IT and software.

It comes as IIT branches have been seeking to establish a presence abroad. Earlier this month, Indian media reported that IIT-Madras announced it was to establish an outpost in Zanzibar, Tanzania, which was the first IIT foreign campus.

When will the Abu Dhabi campus open?

IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi is set to launch its academic programme in January, encompassing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes - including PhDs - covering a diverse range of subjects related to sustainable energy and climate studies, as well as computing, artificial intelligence and data sciences.

It is also envisaged the campus will feature research centres.

A location for the campus has not been disclosed yet but it was reported in February that a working group is already examining the best location.

What will IIT-Delhi Abu Dhabi bring to the capital?

The campus aims to complement the academic, research and innovation landscape in Abu Dhabi through collaboration with key third-level education entities, Wam reported.

These include Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence; Khalifa University; New York University Abu Dhabi; Technology Innovation Institute at Masdar; and tech centre Hub71 to offer complimentary programmes, conduct cutting-edge research, and advance the local start-up ecosystem.

"Advancing Abu Dhabi's technology and engineering higher education landscape, our strategic focus lies in cultivating home-grown [science, technology, engineering and maths] STEM talent and empowering future Emirati graduates to create a global impact,” said Ms Musallam.

“This strategic memorandum of understanding will attract high-calibre faculty, researchers and student talent and is a major stepping stone in paving the way for exponential growth and development.”

The deal reflected the shared vision of both nations to prioritise educational excellence, innovation, knowledge exchange, and investments in human capital as the foundations for future prosperity and enablers of long-term economic growth and sustainable development, Wam reported.

What else was signed during the visit of the Indian prime minister?

The UAE and India signed agreements for establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions and co-operation for interlinking their payment and messaging systems

Talks also centred on co-operation ahead of the UAE's hosting of Cop28 and boosting bilateral co-operation in key areas including trade, energy, defence and food security.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:

- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools

- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say

- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance

- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs

- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills

- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month

- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

England squads for Test and T20 series against New Zealand

Test squad: Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes

T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince

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RACE SCHEDULE

All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm

Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm

Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm

Polarised public

31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all

Source: YouGov

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor

Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000

Engine 3.5L V6

Transmission 10-speed automatic

Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

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The struggle is on for active managers

David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.

The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.

Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.

Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.

Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.

At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn. 

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The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

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Updated: July 16, 2023, 9:19 AM