UK's CityFibre secures $3 bln to invest in network, M&A
CityFibre
said on Monday it had agreed 2.26 billion pounds ($3.04 billion) of finance from its shareholders and existing lenders to fund network investment and acquire smaller rivals.
Shareholders Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives , Antin Infrastructure Partners, Mubadala Investment Company and Interogo Holding would provide 500 million pounds in new equity, it said, alongside a 960 million pound expansion of its existing debt facilities.
It said it had also agreed a further 800 million pound loan facility to fund acquisitions as it drives consolidation.
CityFibre, which operates Britain's third largest broadband network after BT and Virgin Media O2 , said the new financing would "supercharge" its next phase of growth.
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First Post
30 minutes ago
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Yunus's Bangladesh has become a Pakistani client state
Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to implement visa-free travel for each other's diplomats and official passport holders—an unprecedented policy shift that marks the most explicit sign yet of Dhaka's growing closeness to Islamabad read more In a move that has raised alarm across Bharat, Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to implement visa-free travel for each other's diplomats and official passport holders. This policy shift marks the most explicit sign yet of Dhaka's growing closeness to Islamabad, following the sudden and opaque ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Framed officially as a gesture of 'Muslim brotherhood' and 'regional solidarity', this development has far deeper—and darker—implications, especially for Bharat. To those familiar with Bangladesh's liberation struggle, the deal reeks of strategic capitulation and ideological drift. After all, this is the same Pakistan whose military committed unspeakable atrocities in 1971, the very trauma that gave birth to Bangladesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The symbolism is unmistakable: Post-Hasina Bangladesh is behaving like a Pakistani client state, seduced back into the orbit of the regime it broke free from five decades ago. And this isn't without precedent. Mujib's Dangerous Playbook What we are witnessing today echoes a disheartening chapter in Bangladesh's formative years. Just two years after leading a bloody struggle for independence, 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman began realigning with Islamabad—a move that stunned Dhaka and Delhi alike. In 1974, Mujib gave a state welcome to Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, offering him more honours than were extended to Bharat's President, VV Giri, who had visited Dhaka only days earlier. President Giri's reception was deliberately subdued—overshadowed by preparations for Bhutto's visit—leaving even Bangladeshis puzzled. This contrast wasn't merely accidental. It was a shift in the ideological direction of the state. Mujib's fiery Bengali nationalism began to give way to pan-Islamic overtones. Post-independence, his speeches, once invoking unity among Bengalis, started leaning heavily on Bangladesh's Muslim identity. The man who had once declared, 'I am a human being first, then a Bengali, and then a Muslim,' had reversed that order—signalling a fundamental redefinition of the country's soul. The Aeroplane That Said It All Nothing illustrated Mujib's post-liberation hypocrisy better than the aircraft controversy surrounding his return from Pakistani captivity. Bharat had fought a brutal war and negotiated his release. It had even arranged its own aircraft to fly him home. Yet Mujib chose a British Royal Air Force (RAF) Comet instead. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The British celebrated it as a diplomatic coup, with Rae Britten, the British deputy high commissioner in Dhaka, terming it a 'considerable prestige'. New Delhi was deeply slighted. The row exposed Mujib's desire to downplay Bharat's foundational role in Bangladesh's freedom—and to elevate the West and Islamic powers as future allies. The disregard didn't stop there. At a strategically important railway bridge inauguration shortly afterward—an infrastructure project executed in record time by Bharat's engineers with liberal assistance from New Delhi—Mujib thanked the British for financial support but made no mention of its neighbouring country. He then left by helicopter, inviting only British High Commissioner Sir Arthur Gold aboard. Subimal Dutt, Bharat's distinguished former foreign secretary and ambassador, was left to travel back in a crowded, non-VIP carriage, without food or official courtesy. Author Manash Ghosh, who was then reporting from Dhaka for The Statesman, writes about Subimal Dutt's plight in Mujib's Blunders, one of the best books to come out in recent times. 'No food or water was served to him during the four-hour return journey. He (Dutt) was seen frequently dozing off and his head falling and resting on the shoulders of his co-passengers, who repeatedly woke him up, and he with folded hands sought their forgiveness. 'I go to bed early, hence the problem,' he had gone on to explain embarrassingly,' Ghosh adds. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mujib's actions were seen as a calculated distancing from Bharat. After all, Subimal Dutt had played a great role in the reconstruction of Bangladesh post-liberation. Today's visa-free agreement with Pakistan carries the same symbolic weight—a statement of ideological realignment. The Return of US-Pakistan Influence Since Sheikh Hasina's ouster, Bangladesh's new administration has moved swiftly to rehabilitate pro-Pakistani forces, many of them linked historically to Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist outfits banned by the previous dispensation. While this is being spun as 'democratic pluralism', it is, in reality, a deliberate erasure of the 1971 war consensus that built Bangladesh as a secular, pluralistic republic. The rollback has been quietly orchestrated by Washington, which had long viewed Hasina as an obstacle to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Her refusal to lease St Martin's Island for a US naval base in the Bay of Bengal infuriated American policymakers. Enter Donald Lu, a US State Department official with a dubious reputation for regime change, and Ambassador Peter Haas, whose fingerprints are all over Dhaka's recent political recalibration. Just as the CIA played a silent role in the events leading to Mujib's assassination in 1975, today's developments bear the mark of Washington-Islamabad collusion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Lessons from Mujib's Fall History offers a chilling warning. Mujib's appeasement of Pakistan and alienation of Bharat didn't save him—they isolated him. And now Mohammed Yunus, the economist-turned-administrator propped up by Western and Pakistani interests, is repeating the same fatal mistakes. Yunus weaponised anti-Bharat rhetoric, aided by the Pakistani ISI and the American deep state, to unseat Hasina. But nearly a year later, his administration is floundering amid economic chaos and rising insecurity. Minorities are being terrorised. And the middle class is losing hope amid a declining economy and rising joblessness. Having nothing to show, Yunus is now resorting to Islamist appeasement: invoking jihadist nostalgia, deepening ties with Islamabad, and empowering religious extremists. But as Mujib's downfall proves, this path leads to disaster. Sooner or later, he too will be consumed by the very fire he has ignited. Conclusion Bangladesh stands at a perilous juncture. It can choose ideological amnesia—forgetting war crimes, surrendering to foreign meddling, and embracing Islamist reactionism. Or, it can choose memory, justice, and sovereignty, rooted in the blood sacrifice of 1971 and anchored by Bharat's principled friendship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The choice now lies with the people of Bangladesh. They must confront the Islamist virus that re-emerges with intermittent regularity. This ideology returned for the first time just a couple of years after independence. And now, half a century later, it once again threatens to devour the republic from within. One hopes this is only a passing cloud. If not, Bangladesh risks walking the path to perdition—abandoning its secular foundations, its democratic promise, and the very spirit of its liberation war. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
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First Post
3 hours ago
- First Post
India-UK FTA: Wait for cheap Scotch whisky may not end the way you think
While the free trade agreement between India and the UK deals with a reduction in the duty on UK-made whisky and gin, the wait for cheap Scotch whisky may not end the way you think. read more While the India-UK Free Trade Agreement intends to halve tariffs on UK-made whisky and gin, the drop will not lead to major price revisions, at least in the short term, experts said. After the signing of the deal, the tariff would eventually drop to 40 per cent in over ten years. Industry executives say price revision may not be significant initially. It is pertinent to note that the agreement still awaits ratification by the parliament of the United Kingdom before the changes to the deal come into effect. Even when they come down, the reduction in prices will be in the range of only 8 to 10 per cent as the share of customs duty to the cumulative retail price of scotch is only around 15-20 per cent, industry officials told The Times of India. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The reduction in the duty on Scotch had been a major ask for the British government while both nations were negotiating the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. Meanwhile, the UK parliament is likely to ratify the deal only by the middle of next year. More from World India-UK trade deal: How traditional Indian brews like Feni and toddy will soon hit UK store shelves There will still be hurdles once the agreement is ratified by the parliament. Once the deal is approved, the customs duty will come down to 75 per cent, and thereafter reduced to 40 per cent over the next decade. Industry experts remain optimistic Top international spirit makers such as Diageo welcomed the move, and even Indian makers who source Scottish spirits for blending in their local brands. 'We laud the Indian and British governments for formalising this historic treaty, which will boost bilateral trade and positively impact the accessibility of premium Scotch whisky in India, reigniting growth and increased choice for Indian consumers,' Praveen Someshwar, MD & CEO of Diageo India, told TOI. However, industry officials say that despite the halving of the import duty, the actual reduction of consumer prices will not be more than 10 per cent. 'The share of customs duty to the overall structure of MRP is hardly 15-20 per cent, depending on the category. The rest comprises state government taxes and distribution margins. So actual consumer prices will come down by only 8-10 per cent,' an official said. With state taxes, production, distribution and marketing costs remaining unchanged, tariff reduction will translate into less than 10 per cent of their cost savings, which may not be passed entirely.
India.com
3 hours ago
- India.com
East India Company, that once looted India for 200 years, is now owned by an Indian; his name is…, business is...
The East India Company was instrumental in the establishment of British dominance in India. It occupied and ruled a large part of the world and the Indian subcontinent for several years. The East India Company was the most powerful arm of the British Empire, which became so large that it was often stated, 'the sun never sets on the British Empire.' But what happened to the East India Company after World War II, when the British Empire crumbled? Who owns the famous trading company now? On December 31, 1600 AD, the East India Company was established as a trading company in England under a special charter from the British Crown, which gave it extraordinary powers and privileges to establish the crown's dominance in other parts of the world, especially in India and East Asia. At first, the East India Company traded with Indian kings and rulers. Over time, it utilized military and political power to consolidate land. Eventually, the Battle of Plassey occurred on June 23, 1757, which led the British to control Bengal. This battle started the Company rule of all of India. As an odd twist of fate, the East India Company – once a ruler of India for nearly 200 years – is now owned by an Indian. Sanjiv Mehta, as British businessman originally born in India, sits at the helm of the company. The East India Company has transformed itself into a luxury goods, gift hampers, luxury tea, coffee and food, premium drinks and homeware retailer.
