Business schools turn to Islamic finance - University World News

As unemployment levels remain high in the West, finance students are being encouraged to gain expertise in Islamic banking so that they will be able to work in the Gulf states and in the wider Islamic world.

Universities are also exposing students to other non-conventional and ethical finance models that include eco-finance and micro-finance.

While universities in the United Kingdom and France have offered Islamic finance programmes for some years because of their large Muslim populations, Spain is also increasingly looking into these programmes.

The Instituto de Empressa (IE) business school in Madrid has been offering Islamic finance programmes for five years and partnered with Saudi Arabia's King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) to launch the Saudi-Spanish Center for Islamic Economics and Finance (SCIEF) earlier this month.

Speaking at the event, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al Madani, head of the Islamic Development Bank, said the financial crisis had raised people's concerns beyond profit margins into where their money is invested. Al Madani was acting rector of KAU from 1967 to 1972 and was Saudi Arabia's deputy minister of education in the 1970s.

Business schools needed to respond accordingly and Spain was in a good position to do this considering the country's Arabic heritage, he said.

"You look around and find that Islamic institutions are in the hundreds. Amounts of the assets are in the billions. The system proved that it can support economic systems and respond to big demand from people in different parts of the world."

Professor Ignacio de la Torre, IE's academic director of the masters in finance programmes, said at the SCIEF launch that there is already US$1 trillion of Islamic money, and that it is growing at 20% with US$200 million of additional Islamic money coming in every year.

"When you travel to the Gulf, where 50% of banking has been Islamised, there are not enough people with skills and understanding of Islamic finance," he said.

He added that, from a career perspective, students would be wise to have knowledge of this area because those who work in conventional finance will sooner or later be faced with Islamic finance.

Due to the increasing focus on Islamic finance globally, the subject is now mandatory for masters in finance students, said Dr Celia de Anca, director of the Centre for Diversity at IE business school.

"We've been teaching it as an elective for five years and now it is mandatory because we realise the world of finance is changing so much that students and future financial managers should know more about what's going on," she said.

Students were showing an interest in sustainability in finance, ethics in finance and ecological finance and the school is looking into developing specialisations in alternative finance, De Anca said.

A number of UK universities have a strong tradition in Middle East studies and more recently in Islamic finance. At Durham University, Islamic finance programmes have been offered for more than 25 years, Durham Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance Director Dr Mehmet Asutay said at the Madrid launch.

The university has the largest PhD programme in Islamic finance as well as masters degrees in arts and in science in the field.

"In addition to Muslims coming from all over the world to the centre, we have English German, Italian and Spanish students," he said.

The field is not without its challenges. Professor Simon Archer of the Henley University of Reading's International Capital Market Association said the area was relatively new and "there is not a wealth of excellent textbooks".

Archer added: "Research literature is sparse and spread over a number of different journals and not tremendously accessible."

In addition, there were "opportunistic" universities in the UK that have responded to the need for programmes with varying levels of quality.

Printable version
Email to a friend
Comment on this article

Disclaimer: All reader responses posted on this site are those of the reader ONLY and NOT those of University World News or Higher Education Web Publishing, their associated trademarks, websites and services. University World News or Higher Education Web Publishing does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify or agree with any comments, opinions or statements or other content provided by readers.

Source: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111216131700252

adam levine vs fashion show 2011 victoria secret fashion show beverly hills hotel beverly hills hotel rajon rondo tori spelling

`New Hollywood' producer Bert Schneider dies at 78 (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? "Five Easy Pieces" producer Bert Schneider, credited for inspiring a "New Hollywood" band of independent filmmakers, has died in Los Angeles at 78.

With producer-director Bob Rafelson, Schneider also created the Monkees pop band.

Daughter Audrey Simon tells the Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/ugzokk) that Schneider died on Monday of natural causes at Olympia Medical Center.

Schneider produced 11 movies from 1969 to 1981, including "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Picture Show." Those movies about rootlessness and discontent became symbols of a new era that helped filmmakers break out of the studio system.

Schneider also produced the Oscar-winning 1974 anti-Vietnam War documentary "Hearts and Minds."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_en_mo/us_obit_bert_schneider

lady liberty the rum diary addams family in time statue of liberty gold rush alaska gold rush alaska

GOP's Gingrich scrambles in Iowa for caucuses

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes his way to speak to a group of students, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, at the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes his way to speak to a group of students, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, at the University of Iowa College of Public Health in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has little choice but to rely on momentum to carry him to victory in the Iowa caucuses.

He has a skeleton campaign organization in a state where successful caucus candidates typically have had well-built machines aimed at turning out supporters. To build a stronger operation with less than three weeks until the leadoff 2012 contest, he has to scramble.

The former House speaker is hoping the typical rules don't apply to him, in a campaign that already has been far from typical.

"You're not going to have a successful campaign in the caucuses on organization alone," said John Stineman, an uncommitted Iowa Republican who ran Steve Forbes' 2000 caucus campaign. "You have to have some heat. Newt's getting hot at the right time. It's a matter of whether he can sustain the heat."

Getting a winning share of support from caucus goers in 1,774 precinct-level party meetings across the state on a cold, early January night requires some level of coordination, such as nailing down supporters in each of Iowa's 99 counties.

Gingrich, whose mass staff departures in June stunted his Iowa campaign, is trying to cobble together his Iowa team using emerging social media methods and time-tested grass-roots work.

He has only nine staffers in Iowa, fewer than most of his rivals. He opened his campaign office just two weeks ago, while others have had state headquarters for months. And while Gingrich's fundraising has picked up, he hasn't had the vast sums former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have had at their disposal.

But just as his late rise in Iowa has had more to do with his performance in the national debates than campaigning in the state, his Iowa organization is benefiting from the notice he's sparked nationally.

Gingrich has argued that his message, timing and the Internet can help him close the organizational gap.

His full-frontal attack on President Barack Obama has been what some GOP activists in Iowa say is the confrontational approach they've been looking for in a potential challenger to the well-funded incumbent.

Gingrich, who has asked his supporters to remain positive as he faces attacks, is on the air in Iowa with a positive spot. Time is running out for effective advertising messages to stick, with candidates unlikely to air attack ads over the holidays.

He rolled out a new TV ad on Thursday that chides his rivals for going negative.

"These are challenging and important times for America. We want and deserve solutions," Gingrich says. "Others seem to be more focused on attacks rather than moving the country forward. That's up to them."

"I believe bold ideas and new solutions will unleash America's creative spirit," Gingrich adds.

Gingrich's message attacking Obama and pledging a positive campaign versus his GOP rivals has helped bring potential supporters to his website. It has netted supporters around the country who have made, on average, 1,200 telephone calls per night to Iowa Republicans in the past week, Gingrich deputy Iowa director Katie Koberg said.

Through the same site, a dozen supporters from out of state have traveled to Iowa to log days helping the campaign, Koberg said.

It's a far cry from Texas Rep. Ron Paul's campaign, with its statewide supporter network that includes niche groups such as students and doctors.

Although Romney has campaigned in Iowa less often than he did four years ago, his team has kept after supporters of his 2008 campaign, a massive $10 million effort that earned him second place.

That year, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the caucuses with a threadbare staff. He was the overwhelming favorite of evangelical Christian conservatives, who functioned as an influential network but were not necessarily organized by the Huckabee campaign.

Gingrich is not the unanimous favorite of evangelicals, but he has the momentum Huckabee did.

"You can't confuse organization with paid staff," said Tim Albrecht, who was Romney's 2008 Iowa campaign spokesman but is uncommitted this year. "Gingrich has a Huckabee quality to him ? late getting in place but with a ready audience, those longtime caucus veterans who don't need any hand-holding to get them to caucus."

Given the fluidity demonstrated in Iowa polls, Gingrich could benefit from late-deciding caucus goers. And he has picked up a number of key GOP activists. The campaign rolled out a list of them from across the state and different segments of the party late Wednesday, aimed at portraying Gingrich as a unifying candidate.

They include former Iowa Republican Party Chairman Ray Hoffmann and Dean Kleckner, former president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Kleckner had been a top Iowa backer of Herman Cain before the Georgia businessman quit the race Dec. 3.

Another key pickup known for his organizational heft is Darryl Kearny, a former finance director of the Iowa Republican Party and now the key finance official for Polk County, Iowa's most populous.

"I realize they have a lot of catching up to do," said Kearny, who has amassed a massive Rolodex in his 30-plus years as an Iowa party activist and campaign operative. "But I'm networking with everyone I know, calling and emailing, trying to pass on the word about Newt."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-15-Gingrich-Skeleton%20Organization/id-e60c132f1da5477a8d5b1aebd167c502

oregon stanford oregon stanford jon huntsman darrell hammond darrell hammond tcu boise state

Video: Lawmakers & Insider Trading

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45570522/

robert schuller guy fawkes day jesse ventura stevie williams steve williams mike wallace mike wallace

Will Mitt Romney???s Lack of Political Experience Hinder Him? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | In the 2008 election, Republicans criticized Barack Obama for his lack of political experience. Democrats turned the tables on Republicans on the experience argument when the GOP nominated Sarah Palin for vice president.

Now Republicans are trying to decide upon their nominee for president. One of their leading candidates is Mitt Romney, who is among the many who labeled Obama as "inexperienced" in his 2010 book. Romney may have been in business for awhile (like George W. Bush), but his political resume is relatively thin.

He served a single term as governor of Massachusetts. Other candidates like Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and even Rick Santorum have many more years in office. Romney keeps touting his business credentials, but that's not the same as political experience. If Romney manages to win the nomination and get by President Obama, will that lack of political experience come back to haunt him?

To test this, I look at a recent CSPAN survey of who the best presidents were, according to a panel of historians. The best presidents include George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman. This survey also rated the worst presidents, which count James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, Warren G. Harding, and William Henry Harrison on that list.

Political experience is measured in years in Congress, as governor and as vice president. Using this data, the following 10 presidents (best and worst) receive the following ranking: Buchanan (20 years), A. Johnson (18 years), Truman (10 years), Pierce (nine years), F. Roosevelt (four years), Harding (six years), T. Roosevelt (three years), Washington and Lincoln (two years each) and Harrison (0 years).

As you can see, those presidents with the worst rankings for competence tended to have more political experience. Presidents who tended to score well on such rankings of effectiveness have very little political experience.

You would think this would benefit Romney. He really doesn't have to have a lot of political experience to be a good president. Yet harping on the experience issue when critiquing his opponent isn't likely to help the one-term Massachusetts governor.

It not only calls attention to his own lack of political experience, but also reminds voters of Obama's record. The president has served seven years in the Illinois legislature, three years in the U.S. Senate and four years as chief executive, dwarfing Romney's political experience. But even though Obama destroys Romney when it comes to political experience, remember that one could say the same thing about James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111203/pl_ac/10586607_will_mitt_romneys_lack_of_political_experience_hinder_him

midnight madness john henry john henry zack greinke zack greinke siri san diego news

Gronkowski's 3 TDs lead Pats over Colts 31-24

/

By HOWARD ULMAN

updated 6:09 p.m. ET Dec. 4, 2011

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Rob Gronkowski scored three more touchdowns. Chances are the New England Patriots are thinking more about the three touchdowns they allowed in the fourth quarter.

Against the winless Colts, no less.

The Patriots needed Deion Branch to recover an onside kick in the final minute to hold off Indianapolis 31-24 on Sunday. Trailing 31-3, the Colts rallied with a touchdown run by Donald Brown and two scoring passes from Dan Orlovsky to Pierre Garcon, the last with 36 seconds to go.

Tom Brady took a knee on the final play to complete the victory.

"We played good for 45 minutes and then didn't do anything offensively," Brady said. "So we'll hear about that."

The Patriots (9-3) have won four straight and are tied for the AFC's best record. Indianapolis (0-12) must beat Baltimore, Tennessee, Houston or Jacksonville to avoid becoming the second NFL team to go 0-16.

"People can say what they want to say about not playing hard, but I think that (comeback) pretty much shut that up right there," Colts tight end Jacob Tamme said.

With two touchdowns passing, both to Gronkowski, Brady overtook Johnny Unitas and tied Warren Moon for sixth place in NFL history with 291 during the regular season. Brady was 29 of 38 for 293 yards.

Gronkowski has 13 touchdown catches, tying San Diego's Antonio Gates in 2004 and San Francisco's Vernon Davis in 2009 for most by a tight end in a regular season. He originally was given another touchdown catch, but that was changed to a lateral on which he ran 2 yards for the 31-3 lead.

Thinking he had set the record, Gronkowski held onto the ball as a souvenir instead of spiking it as he usually does. He even accepted congratulations from his teammates.

"I wasn't thinking about whether it was a pass or a lateral," Gronkowski said. "I'll take the rushing touchdown. It's the first of my whole career."

The Patriots entered the game as three-touchdown favorites with the teams, from different divisions, meeting for the ninth straight season.

"Guys played well and did some things well," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said, "but, still, we're measured by wins."

Caldwell gave Orlovsky his first start of the season in place of the ineffective Curtis Painter. Orlovsky, a member of the winless Detroit Lions team in 2008, completed 30 of 37 for 353 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

"We felt confident going into the game that if we stayed patient we could move the ball," Orlovsky said. "We fell short. I wish we had more time on the clock."

Watching from the sideline was Peyton Manning, whose preseason neck surgery forced Caldwell to go with backups.

"We almost had a big win today. It would have been huge for us," Manning said.

The Colts tied the score 3-3 on Adam Vinatieri's 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter. And the Patriots punted on their next series.

Then Brady got the offense rolling as New England scored touchdowns on its next four possessions, taking a 31-3 lead late in the third quarter. Wes Welker caught 11 passes for 114 yards, increasing his NFL-leading total to 93 receptions.

The Colts had a new defensive coordinator, linebackers coach Mike Murphy, after Larry Coyer was fired Tuesday.

The Patriots rarely lose in December, no matter their opponent. They're 38-5 in that month starting in 2001, tops in the NFL. And they're 19-1 at home in December, with wins in their last 18 games, since Gillette Stadium opened in December 2002.

Trailing 3-0, Orlovsky led a 19-play drive lasting 10:19. The Colts had first-and-goal at the 1, but a run for no gain, an incompletion, a false-start penalty and a sack forced them to settle for Vinatieri's field goal.

New England took command by scoring twice in the last three minutes of the first half on Brady's 11-yard pass to Gronkowski and BenJarvus Green-Ellis' 1-yard run for a 17-3 lead.

The Patriots got the ball to start the third quarter and Brady passed on each of the seven plays, completing all of them to drive 77 yards, ending with a 21-yard touchdown to Gronkowski. After a fumble recovery, Gronkowski scored again when he went in motion, took a toss from Brady and ran untouched into the right side of the end zone.

"He is a tough kid and he knows how to run the routes," Colts defensive back Jerraud Powers said. "It also helps when you have one of the greatest quarterbacks."

Gronkowski finished with five catches for 64 yards after entering the game tied for sixth in the NFL with 60 receptions.

The Colts scored in the fourth quarter on Donald Brown's 5-yard run and Orlovsky's passes of 33 and 12 yards to Garcon.

"If we don't play four quarters, we're not going to end up in the situation we want to be in," Welker said.

The Patriots want to win the Super Bowl. The Colts have a more modest goal ? winning just one game.

"I thought Dan was patient," Manning said. "I really thought he did a good job. He gave us a chance there at the end."

And Orlovsky gave Patriots coach Bill Belichick something to harp on when he meets with his players.

"We've obviously got to do a better job of finishing the game," Belichick said. "That was disappointing, but we'll work on that."

Notes: Brady has thrown for 30 touchdowns, becoming the sixth player in NFL history to do that at least three times. ... The Colts outgained the Patriots 437 yards to 366. ... The Patriots clinched a winning record for the 11th straight season.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

More news

Packers still unbeaten, barely

??Aaron Rodgers engineered a last minute drive to set up a 30-yard field goal by Mason Crosby on the final play of regulation and the Green Bay Packers remained undefeated and clinched a playoff berth with a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

Christian Petersen / Getty Images

Cowboys ice their own kicker, lose to Cards

??LaRod Stephens-Howling caught a short pass from Kevin Kolb and zipped 52 yards for a touchdown in overtime to give the Arizona Cardinals a 19-13 victory over Dallas on Sunday, snapping the Cowboys' four-game winning streak.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45543956/ns/sports-nfl/

the muppets percy harvin percy harvin best cyber monday deals best cyber monday deals cyber monday grover norquist

AP source: Search in Fine inquiry targets locker

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) ? Federal authorities have searched a locker in the Syracuse University basketball center in their investigation of former assistant coach Bernie Fine, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the case.

Three men, including two former Syracuse ballboys, have accused Fine of molesting them as minors.

The official confirmed the search at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center happened Wednesday. The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because it's an ongoing investigation, would not say what agents sought or what they recovered from the locker.

The coaches' lockers are on the second floor of the facility; players' lockers are on the first floor.

Court documents show the third search warrant was issued Tuesday and signed by U.S. Magistrate Andrew Baxter.

Fine's office on campus was searched Tuesday morning, and his suburban home was searched last Friday. The U.S. Attorney's office in northern New York, which is leading the investigation, has not said what it sought or found.

Also Thursday, Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor said the school decided to fire Fine upon hearing an audiotape recorded by Bobby Davis, one of Fine's three accusers. ESPN broadcast the 2002 audiotape, recorded by Davis, of a conversation between Davis and a woman ESPN identified as Fine's wife, Laurie, in which she says she knew "everything that went on."

Cantor's comments were in a published response to a USA Today editorial Thursday that calls on Syracuse to release a "full accounting" of what it did and why Fine was kept on the job.

Fine, who was denied the allegations, was fired Sunday.

Federal authorities are not constrained by a statute of limitations should they turn up evidence Fine molested his latest accuser, 23-year-old Zach Tomaselli of Lewiston, Maine. He said he told police that Fine molested him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room after a game. He said Fine touched him "multiple" times in that one incident.

Under federal law in 2002, prosecutions for the sexual or physical abuse or kidnapping of a child under 18 could continue until the victim turned 25. Subsequent amendments changed that to the life of the child or 10 years after the offense, whichever is longer.

Tomaselli, who faces sexual abuse charges in Maine, filed a claim of sex abuse against his father, Fred Tomaselli, in June in New York. Lt. Glenn Miner, a spokesman for the New York State Police, confirmed the investigation was completed in September and no charges were brought against Fred Tomaselli.

Fred Tomaselli has said he thinks his son is lying about being abused by Fine.

As the investigation continues, advocates for sex abuse victims have said Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim should resign or be fired for adamantly defending Fine and verbally disparaging the accusers.

Contacted by The Associated Press by phone Wednesday, Boeheim repeated several times, "I can't talk about anything." He's preparing his fourth-ranked Orange for Friday's home game against No. 10 Florida and is scheduled to do his regular radio show Thursday night.

University trustees have been instructed to refer all questions back to the university but some contacted by The Associated Press offered support for Boeheim and said there was no indication his job was in danger.

"I have not heard anything but complete support for Coach Boeheim," trustee Michael Wohl said. "Coach Boeheim hasn't done anything wrong. At this point, we're completely behind the coach."

University spokesman Kevin Quinn said it's policy to refer all comment to the university during an ongoing investigation, and most of the 70 active trustees contacted by the AP did that.

The university fired Fine on Sunday after Tomaselli went public and ESPN broadcast a 2002 audiotape, obtained and recorded by accuser Bobby Davis, of a conversation between Davis and a woman ESPN identified as Fine's wife, Laurie, in which she says she knew "everything that went on."

Davis first contacted Syracuse police in 2002 regarding Fine, but there was no investigation because the state statute of limitations had passed. In 2005, Davis went to the university, which did its own investigation, but the school said the accusations could not be corroborated.

In her response to USA Today, Cantor wrote that if the tape had surfaced during the school's inquiry Fine would have been fired. And she added that the school would have fired him immediately on Nov. 17, when Davis' allegations became public, had it known about the tape.

Davis, now 39, told ESPN last month that Fine molested him beginning in 1984 and that the sexual contact continued until he was around 27. A ball boy for six years, Davis said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four. Davis' stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, who also was a ball boy, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him while he was in the fifth or sixth grade.

Repeated attempts to reach Davis and Lang have been unsuccessful.

___

Associated Press reporters Michael Virtanen and Mary Esch in Albany, and AP Basketball Writer Jim O'Connell in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-01-Syracuse-Fine%20Investigation/id-c0214df733634ead89ba8edbe538a6b7

adam carolla desean jackson rick neuheisel rick neuheisel festivus festivus a christmas story