Rob McKenzie
Our monthly biz quiz spans shopping malls, sports cars, skyscrapers and Shepherd’s Bush. Take the test to refresh your memory, and test your recall, on the big and the small from April’s business and economics events.
1. What is the name, announced on April 2, of the bank created by the merger of First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi?
a) Abu Dhabi First Bank
b) First Bank of Abu Dhabi
c) First Abu Dhabi Bank
d) National First Gulf Bank
2. The food group Jab, which agreed to buy the US restaurant chain Panera Bread for $7.5 billion, owns all but which one of the following brands:
a) Caribou Coffee
b) Cinnabon
c) Einstein Bros bagels
d) Krispy Kreme
3. Fill in the blank, five letters: An Italian court halted work to remove _____ trees standing in the path of a pipeline that will bring central Asian gas into Europe, in a move that could further delay the $40 billion project.
4. A survey by the developers of Al Maryah Central, a new mall in the works for Abu Dhabi, said that what percentage of Abu Dhabi residents go outside the city to shop at least once a week (correct if within five percentage points).
5. Twitter said that it was dropping its default egg avatar for users, and replacing it with what as the new default?
Answers:
1. c
2. b
3. Olive
4. 30 per cent
5. A generic head-and-shoulders silhouette
6. Match the metropolis with its rank in the Knight Frank index of skyscraper rents in 21 cities.
a) Dubai
b) Hong Kong
c) New York
d) Seoul
1) first
2) second
3) 18th
4) 21st
7. Norway said it was planning to build the world's first ______ for ships. The answer is six letters, and 1,700 metres, long.
8. As of April 6 the French businessman, pictured at left, who runs the LVMH luxury group had risen onto Bloomberg's list of the 10 richest people alive. What is his name (clue: initials BA)?
9. And who leapt ahead of Warren Buffett to become the second-richest man on Earth, from Arabia to the Amazon?
10. Three Austrian brothers reworked a limited-edition Porsche racing car used in Steve McQueen's 1971 film Le Mans to run on electricity. How much were they planning to sell the EVEX 910e for?
a) €1 million
b) €750,000
c) €1.5m
Answers:
6. a3, b1, c2, d4
7. tunnel
8. Bernard Arnault
9. Jeff Bezos
10. a
11. Britain's Reckitt Benckiser was thinking of selling, for $3 billion or so, its division that makes which popular brand of North American mustard (clue: starts with an F)?
12. As John Everington noted in a mid-month gadget review, the battery on the new HTC U Ultra mobile has a capacity of 3,000 mAh. What does that abbreviation stand for (give yourself the point if you get even one right).
13. A developer whose chief executive loves London was planning to replicate its Shepherd's Bush district in what GCC capital?
14. Long before United Airlines was dragging bloodied passengers off airplanes, a legendary adman's agency in 1965 coined its then-clever, now-ironic slogan, "Come fly the friendly skies of United." Name that adman (clue: initials LB).
15. Asia's biggest retailer, Fast Retailing, on April 13 said that it had more than doubled its first-half profit. What is its flagship brand (clue: there's a q in it)?
Answers:
11. French’s (fyi, the picture at left is a mustard field)
12. milliamp hours, which measure current over time.
13. Muscat
14. Leo Burnett
15. Uniqlo
16. The Shanghai Motor Show opened to the public on April 21 – how many cars were sold in China last year?
a) 2.8 billion
b) 280 million
c) 28m
17. Harry Huskey, who in 1956 designed the Bendix G-15, sometimes described as the first personal computer, died in April. Within 50 kilos, how much did the G-15 weigh?
18. Uber reported its net loss for 2016, which was ...
a) US$28 million
b) $280m
c) $2.8 billion
19. Morgan Stanley reported first-quarter net income available to common shareholders of US$1.84 billion. In percentage terms, what was the rise on the same period last year?
a) 47 per cent
b) 74 per cent
c) 7.4 per cent
20. Germany reported its trade surplus for 2016, which was ...
a) €252 billion
b) €25.2bn
c) €2.52bn
Answers:
16. c
17. 450 kilograms
18. c
19. b
20. a
Scoring scale
16-20 correct: Steve McQueen level
11-15: Krisky Kreme level
6-10: Uber level
1-5: United Airlines level
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BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE
Director: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano
Rating: 3.5/5
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
THE SPECS
Engine: AMG-enhanced 3.0L inline-6 turbo with EQ Boost and electric auxiliary compressor
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 429hp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh360,200 (starting)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
"We've got a big jar of mixed seeds in our kitchen," Theasby explains. "That's what you use to make a bolognese or pie or salad: just grab a handful of seeds and sprinkle them over the top. It's a really good way to make sure you're getting your omegas."
Umami flavours
"I could say soya sauce, but I'll say all umami-makers and have them in the same batch," says Firth. He suggests having items such as Marmite, balsamic vinegar and other general, dark, umami-tasting products in your cupboard "to make your bolognese a little bit more 'umptious'".
Onions and garlic
"If you've got them, you can cook basically anything from that base," says Theasby. "These ingredients are so prevalent in every world cuisine and if you've got them in your cupboard, then you know you've got the foundation of a really nice meal."
Your grain of choice
Whether rice, quinoa, pasta or buckwheat, Firth advises always having a stock of your favourite grains in the cupboard. "That you, you have an instant meal and all you have to do is just chuck a bit of veg in."
The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)