SKorea recovers gas:

SEOUL: South Korea said on Sunday it has successfully recovered samples of natural gas hydrate, a potential future energy source, from the floor of the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The samples were collected last week at a depth of 135-km in the sea northeast of Pohang. South Korea is the fifth country to recover natural gas hydrate samples, following the US, Japan, India and China. Gas hydrate, also known as ‘combustible ice’, is found in seabeds or tundras. It has the potential to be converted into liquid natural gas and hence used as an energy source. — AFP

Emaar eyes India:

DUBAI: Emaar MGF, the joint venture between the Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Delhi-based MGF, has committed $12 billion investment in India for residential and commercial projects and drawn up plans for what it claims will be the country’s largest mall. The joint venture is also planning to bring the haute couture Armani Hotel to India and has firmed up residential and commercial projects in cities spanning Manali in the north to Kochi in the south. For the record, The Dubai Mall will house 1,276 stores with four levels of retail space. — HNS

Iran’s war on poverty:

TEHRAN: Iran’s last post-revolution prime minister has broken years of silence to warn that poverty is threatening the basis of the Islamic republic. Mir Hossein Moussavi, seen as close to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, served in the now-defunct post of prime minister from 1981 to 1989, but has largely stayed out of politics ever since. In a speech quoted by most of the reformist newspapers, he complained the country was becoming immune to pictures of impoverished minors and statistics which he said showed that 20 per cent of Tehran children were homeless. — AFP