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Asia-Pacific
Channel NewsAsia

Indonesia says gas export cuts to Singapore within contractual limits, pledges to honour obligations

The cuts fall within the minimum contractual limits of around 91 to 92 per cent of exports, says Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition Bahlil Lahadalia. Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition Bahlil Lahadalia. (File photo: Facebook/Bahlil Lahadalia) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. Kiki Siregar 26 Oct 2026 07:17PM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST JAKARTA: Indonesia's gas export cuts to Singapore are within contractual limits, said the country’s Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition Bahlil Lahadalia on Monday (Oct 26). The export cut, which Indonesia said it was implementing to divert more supplies to domestic electricity needs, started last Saturday and involves 31 million standard cubic feet of gas a day, comprising 15 million from Natuna and 16 million from Sumatra. Bahlil said at a press conference that the cuts fall within the minimum contractual limits of around 91 to 92 per cent of exports. “We have only reduced it by about 8 per cent. We would only be in breach of contract if we were to cut by 10 per cent,” said Bahlil, who is also minister of energy and mineral resources. “This situation arose partly due to maintenance requirements, but also because of domestic demand. And that is just for the gas — not even accounting for the LNG (liquefied natural gas) we supply,” he added. CNA has contacted Singapore's Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry for comment. CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Related: Singapore expects all parties to honour commercial gas contracts, says PM Wong after Indonesia cut exports Indonesia reduces gas exports to Singapore in order to 'safeguard reliability' of domestic supplies ‘Keep calm and carry on’: Indonesia gas cut unlikely to hit Singapore electricity prices, says Tan See Leng Bahlil’s remarks on Monday came after Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore expects all parties that have signed commercial contracts for gas supplies to honour their commitments. “The gas supplies are covered by commercial contracts. We expect all parties to honour their commitments, and Singapore’s gas importer will take the necessary steps to protect its rights and interests under these contracts,” said the prime minister on Sunday. Singapore has been readying itself for such risks, and has invested in LNG terminals to import natural gas from different countries, without having to rely on pipelines, providing more options to manage any disruptions to supply, he said. Singapore must look beyond natural gas to cleaner sources of power that can provide reliable electricity around the clock, added the prime minister. That is why local authorities are studying the potential of nuclear energy.

Indonesia says gas export cuts to Singapore within contractual limits, pledges to honour obligations
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Former minister Maliki Osman, Revolut chairman join Asia Gulf Holdings advisory board

Dr Maliki Osman retired from politics in May 2025 after serving as a Member of Parliament for 24 years. The appointments, announced on Oct 26, will see Maliki advise the investment group on geopolitical developments, government relations and regional cooperation. Meanwhile, Gilbert will focus on global investment strategy, asset management and investment opportunities across Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Maliki retired from politics in May 2025 after serving as a Member of Parliament for 24 years. His previous appointments included minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, second minister for foreign affairs, second minister for education and senior minister of state for defence. Since leaving politics, Maliki has taken up several appointments, including senior adviser for Asean and flagship programmes at Nanyang Technological University. “Economic and institutional ties between Asia and the Gulf are deepening at a time of considerable change in the global order,” Maliki said. “Greater dialogue between governments, investors and businesses can help both regions identify common interests and build stronger long-term relationships,” he added. Gilbert, meanwhile, brings more than three decades of experience in global asset management and investment. He co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983 and led the business for 34 years as it expanded internationally. “Asia and the Middle East are becoming increasingly important to global investors. Both regions have substantial pools of capital, entrepreneurial activity and long-term investment opportunities,” he said. AGH’s global advisory board is chaired by Amy Lee, co-founder and chairman of Singapore-based investment group Whampoa Group. The veteran lawyer was previously a senior partner at the Lee & Lee law firm, which was co-founded by her father Lee Kim Yew. She was also Singapore chief executive of international law firm Hogan Lovells. The board’s vice-chairman is Randal Quarles, a former US Federal Reserve vice-chair for supervision.

Former minister Maliki Osman, Revolut chairman join Asia Gulf Holdings advisory board
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Trump floats idea of Venezuela becoming ‘51st state’

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that Venezuela could become the 51st US state, citing growing oil cooperation between the two countries. Addressing supporters at a midterm election rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trump stated, “I want to thank Venezuela, where our relationship has become very, very good, a great one.” During his address, the US leader announced the arrival of the first 1 million barrels of free Venezuelan oil secured under an agreement between Washington and Caracas. Emphasising the economic and geopolitical significance of the shipment, he noted, “This historic win gives us control over a massive part of the world’s oil supply.” He further detailed the domestic processing of the energy imports, adding, “It will be refined here in Texas, including right here in Corpus Christi.” Highlighting economic shifts in the South American nation, Trump pointed out that foreign investments were driving employment opportunities locally. Expanding on the deepening bilateral ties and energy exchanges, he remarked, “We’re bringing out a lot of oil for ourselves, a lot. It will become a prosperous country, and who knows? Maybe someday soon it will become a prosperous 51st state. That’s possible.” Reiterating the prospective political arrangement during his speech, the US president outlined an alternative governance structure for the nation, “Let’s make it. Let’s make it the 51st state. And instead of a president, we’ll have an election for a governor. How about that? You know, they have a lot of oil.” Building on these remarks, the American leader had previously floated similar proposals regarding foreign territories. Earlier this year, Trump mentioned that he was “seriously considering” bringing the South American nation into the Union as a state, echoing past remarks he had made concerning Canada. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Trump floats idea of Venezuela becoming ‘51st state’
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Hang Seng investment arm to merge with HSBC’s asset business, sources say

The proposed merger would mark the first business-line integration between the two banks. HONG KONG – HSBC will merge Hang Seng Bank’s asset management unit into its fund business, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Oct 26, after the London-based bank took the Hong Kong lender private in a US$13.6 billion (S$17.4 billion) deal. The planned deal will have HSBC Asset Management, which manages investment assets of about US$876 billion, absorb Hang Seng Investment Management, which has US$50 billion in assets, the two people said. Both people declined to be named as the plan is not yet public. HSBC and Hang Seng did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The proposed merger would mark the first business-line integration between the two banks, despite HSBC’s earlier pledge to maintain two independent brands. In October 2025, HSBC launched a take-private bid for Hang Seng, which faced mounting bad loans due to its heavy exposure to Hong Kong and mainland Chinese property markets. Previously, HSBC owned 63% of Hang Seng. HSBC, which makes the bulk of its profits in Asia, has appointed cross-bank leaders to oversee several corporate functions that it has in common with Hang Seng. Hang Seng runs the Tracker Fund, Hong Kong’s largest exchange-traded fund that tracks the benchmark Hang Seng Index, a prominent product in the city’s Mandatory Provident Fund pension programme. REUTERS

Hang Seng investment arm to merge with HSBC’s asset business, sources say
Europe
BBC Business

Civil servant who juggled five jobs says he was 'surprised' to be charged with fraud

Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Civil servant Kashim Chowdhury is accused of fraududlently earning more than £284,000 by juggling multiple public sector jobs. A civil servant accused of fraudulently juggling multiple government jobs says he was ''surprised'' to have been charged with fraud. Kashim Chowdhury told the jury at Southwark Crown Court he had not been dishonest in failing to tell his employers he had other government jobs. "At that time I was just on auto pilot, I was like a robot, I was not thinking clearly," he said. Chowdhury, 55, from east London, is accused of nine counts of fraud. He denies acting dishonestly or intending to make a dishonest gain. Between 2020 and 2023 Chowdhury had eight overlapping public sector jobs. He was contractually obliged to work full time and was paid a full-time salary by each organisation. He is accused of fraudulently earning more than £284,000. In March 2023 Chowdhury began working for the Home Office despite being under contract to work full time at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Department for Business and Trade and the Food Standards Agency. The court was told he started the Home Office job while on sick leave from three of his other jobs. Prosecuting barrister Lucy Organ asked him: "If you were really sick for work, how were you able to start your work at the Home Office?" Chowdhury said: "I did not want this job at the Home Office, I was told there would be adequate support and I could work whatever hours I wanted to work." Organ also asked why he did not submit a sick note to the Home Office "You were using these sick notes to be able to cope. It was all too much wasn't it?" In May 2023, Chowdhury was contracted to work 183 hours a week, more than the number of hours in seven days.

Civil servant who juggled five jobs says he was 'surprised' to be charged with fraud
Asia-Pacific
Channel NewsAsia

India's IT firms face a new dilemma: How to train tomorrow's engineers in the age of AI

India’s biggest IT firms are hiring far fewer fresh graduates, as AI changes the skills employers seek. Industry experts tell CNA this could create a shortage of experienced workers in the future unless companies and universities do more to develop young talent. Indian students take part in a 24-hour hackathon at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies in New Delhi on Oct 27, 2018, developing projects in areas including AI, blockchain and fintech. (Photo: AFP/Xavier Galiana) Shadma Shaikh 27 Oct 2026 06:00AM (Updated: 27 Oct 2026 09:38AM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST NEW DELHI: Arpita Dayama, 22, a final-year engineering student, is preparing for campus recruitment knowing that strong grades from a premier institute like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay may no longer be enough to stand out. Dayama - who hopes to work in product management or analytics - says she is now expected to demonstrate practical skills, from data science projects to work involving agentic artificial intelligence. “You have to show what you have actually worked on, explain it in simple terms and still be able to go into the technical details when they (recruiters) ask questions,” she said. AI is reshaping how young engineers enter India’s technology industry, one of the country’s biggest private-sector job creators, which employs an estimated 5.95 million people in 2026, experts told CNA. CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Arpita Dayama, a final-year engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, poses in front of the institute's emblem on campus. (Photo: Arpita Dayama) “The old model (at Indian IT companies) was to hire graduates in bulk and develop them over time,” said Mansee Singhal, country leader at Marsh Workforce & Rewards, which advises Indian and multinational companies on hiring and talent management. Increasingly, she said, employers want fresh graduates to “arrive with greater technical depth and a better understanding of real business problems from the outset”. For instance, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of India's biggest IT firms, hired more than 110,000 engineering graduates four years ago, according to its annual report. But hiring has since fallen sharply. TCS’s intake in financial year 2026 was less than half its level four years ago, while Infosys recruited about 80 per cent fewer fresh graduates in financial year 2025 than three years earlier, according to company reports. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi on Oct 13, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani said AI was increasingly taking over coding tasks traditionally handled by junior engineers. He said “new skills” would be needed around client needs, business transformation and managing the technology.

India's IT firms face a new dilemma: How to train tomorrow's engineers in the age of AI
Europe
BBC Business

How does the UK state pension compare with other countries?

Image source, 10000 hours Getty ImagesByDharshini DavidDeputy economics editorPublished3 hours agoGetting older is something few of us want to think about. Yet how we fund our later years, and how much we'll get, has been a hot topic. The triple lock formula - state pensions increasing by the greatest of 2.5%, earnings growth, or inflation - means those benefits have risen far faster than the earnings of workers since its introduction in 2011. But as housing costs have also been rising fast, pensioner poverty has actually increased slightly in the last decade. Nevertheless, even if you take those costs into consideration, pensioners are less likely to be in relative poverty - that is, having to get by on less than 60% of the income of the typical household - than families with children or working-age people. And funding the triple lock has already cost the state billions more than initially envisaged. With that cost set to balloon further, the debate over whether that is sustainable, or fair, has raged for a while. Andy Burnham intends to start a new system in a few years, which would see the state pension increase by at least inflation or 2.5%, and remove the automatic annual link with average earnings. It will likely mean less generous increases, although it will keep track with earnings growth over the longer term. But are pensioners being short-changed in other ways? How do we compare with other countries? One way of measuring that is to look at how generous the typical pension is relative to workers' average earnings - the replacement rate. The OECD considers the outlook for those born at the start of the millennium in different countries on average wages, and assumes the pension system as it existed in 2022 is in place. On that basis, looking at the basic state pension, retirement benefits in the UK look low compared with other wealthy countries. And that is even when you consider that our system compels workers to be automatically enrolled in occupational schemes. If you consider both of those, then after tax, UK retirement benefits would be 54.2% of average UK earnings, compared with an average of 63.2% across wealthy countries.

How does the UK state pension compare with other countries?
Europe
The Guardian

UK government to make unprecedented intervention in setting of water bills

Water firms have been told to focus on early intervention to prevent leaks and sewage spills. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAView image in fullscreenWater firms have been told to focus on early intervention to prevent leaks and sewage spills. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAWater industryUK government to make unprecedented intervention in setting of water billsExclusive: Angela Eagle tells utility bosses next price review ‘must focus on value for money for customers’ Ministers will make an unprecedented intervention in water bills and how companies prioritise investment, directing bosses to bring down costs and stop leaks and sewage overflows. Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has told suppliers in England and Wales she plans to intervene in the next price review – conducted by the water regulator, Ofwat. Sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said Andy Burnham’s 10-year plan, which will follow next week’s budget, would hand the government more robust powers to lower bills and direct local investment. But sources close to Eagle said there also needed to be immediate action as companies began to make decisions before the next price-setting process, expected to conclude in 2029. There has never been government intervention in the five-year review process. It is run by Ofwat, which analyses companies’ business plans and determines how much can be charged to customers in their bills to fund investment and running costs. Eagle has written to regulators and water company chief executives, saying that the process must meet specific government priorities, including offering bill payers much better value for money – though stopping short of demanding bill cuts. The letter to companies and regulators says they must be focused on investment in new technology to save money, and early intervention on leaks and sewage. It also called for far better communication and decision-making power handed to local communities and leaders. The first priority must be affordable bills, the letter says, adding: “Affordability means a laser focus on value for money for customers.” The letter says the public is clear about what the objectives for the industry should be. “They want clean rivers. They want reliable water services. They want to know that their money is being spent wisely, and that bills are kept affordable. And they want confidence that the system is working in their interests.” The letter warns company bosses that it will “not be a business-as-usual price review … it is the beginning of a long-term transition to a different model for the water sector”. View image in fullscreenAngela Eagle, the environment secretary, has written to water companies to demand better value for money for bill payers. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesDefra sources said Eagle intended it to be the first in a series of changes that will be announced in the coming months on the water industry, calling it “one of the clearest symbols of public frustration with Britain’s infrastructure”. A Defra source said the intervention by Eagle was a down payment on bigger changes that would come in the 10-year plan. The source said: “Angela will take a much more bullish approach to telling water companies and regulators what is expected from them. This is the start of a journey to a very different water system and one that delivers for the public.

UK government to make unprecedented intervention in setting of water bills
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

CDSL Q2 results: Net profit jumps 24% to ₹174 cr on strong demand

During the quarter, about 75 lakh new demat accounts were opened with CDSL, while Assets Under Custody crossed ₹89 lakh crore. Central Depository Services has reported that its net profit in the September quarter was up 24 per cent at ₹174 crore against ₹140 crore logged in the same period last year on strong demand. During the quarter, about 75 lakh new demat accounts were opened with CDSL, while Assets Under Custody crossed ₹89 lakh crore. Nehal Vora, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, said despite global macroeconomic volatility, participation in securities market continues to demonstrate resilience. CDSL’s demat account base grew by about 17 per cent year-on-year as of Q2-end on back of sustained growth in market participation. This has driven the depository to further strengthen operations and value proposition, he said. As a Securities Market Partner in SEBI’s Project Jagrook, we remain committed to promoting informed and responsible investing. CDSL’s focus continues to be on building trusted infrastructure and empowering every investor, he said. Geetha Gangadharan has joined CDSL’s Governing Board as a Non-Independent Director in August. Farokh Patel was elevated to Chief Regulatory Officer and Compliance Officer and Kinjal Shah was appointed as Chief Technology Officer in September. CDSL made further investments in India International Bullion Holding IFSC to support IT infrastructure development, among others. CDSL also made a strategic investment in Open Network for Digital Commerce, an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Centrico Insurance Repository, a subsidiary of CDSL, entered into a Software Development Partnership Agreement with Shoveltech Solutions, which operates in the health-tech domain. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

CDSL Q2 results: Net profit jumps 24% to ₹174 cr on strong demand