Business & Trade Questions & Answers

The BRICS countries, five nations grouped together because of their burgeoning economies. Made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the BRICS countries are grouped together because while they are not yet economic powerhouses, they have the potential to become the world’s most dominant economies in the next few decades. Although not as talked about as India and …

Mauretania can be listed as the world’s first luxury liner. Since the 1830s, passenger liners had been competing for the honour of making the fastest North Atlantic crossing. This honour came to be known as the Blue Riband. In 1907, Cunard introduced the much larger Lusitania and Mauretania, both powered by steam turbines. The Mauretania won the Blue Riband and …

Singapore is said to be the biggest port handling 26.9 million standard boxes, though China now claims that in 2008, Shanghai has overtaken Singapore and expected to handle 30 million TEUs (twenty-feet equivalent units, a measure used in transport). In 2002, it was claimed that Hong Kong in China was the biggest container port.

The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s Mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland. The gold-seekers, called “Forty-niners” (as …

Vibrant Gujarat is a biennial Global Investors’ Summit held by the Government of Gujarat in Gujarat, India. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers; the summit is advertised as a platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of Gujarat. Vibrant Gujarat 2011 Summit was held at Gandhinagar …

The whisper circuit is a rumour mill associated with companies, stock markets and investors, where people trade secrets and gossip about companies. Investors use this knowledge about a company’s fortunes to their advantage. The term is usually used by business journalists.

The history of silk is shrouded in mystery. Some historians say that silk originated in China about 10,000 years ago. In China, however, legend has it that Empress Si Ling Chi of China was the first one to discover silk more than five thousand years ago. The story goes that while sitting under a mulberry tree in her palace garden, …

The term refers to conditions that all countries of the European Union had to adhere to while adopting the Euro as a common currency. To do so, the countries had to show that their economic condition was stable and their fiscal deficit did not exceed 3%. Initially, Poland and some other countries did not join because of their poor growth …

The Swiss Watch & Clock Industry first appeared in Geneva, Switzerland, in the middle of the 16th century. From 1541 onwards, reforms introduced by Jean Calvin led to prosperity of the watch-making industry in Switzerland. The mass production of Swiss watches began in the 20th Century due to industrialization and new technologies. The end of World War I witnessed the …

The Freedom From Oil campaign is working to end America’s oil dependence, reduce oil-related conflicts, and stop global climate change by convincing the auto industry to dramatically improve fuel efficiency and eliminate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. Considering that the American transportation industry alone uses nearly 70% of the oil consumed in the country, making cars and trucks that go farther …