Abu Dhabi sets up new Islamic bank
2007 - Al Hilal Bank, a new Islamic bank, is being set up by the Abu Dhabi government with authorised capital of Dh4 billion. Al Hilal Bank will join more than 50 local, regional and international banks operating in the UAE. “The founders’ committee of the Al Hilal Bank, a public joint stock company under incorporation and to be fully-owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi,” the statement said. “It also reflected the keenness of Their Highnesses in strengthening the financial and banking institutions and also their role in the comprehensive economic development witnessed by the UAE,” the statement said. The founders committee said that the bank would cater to the project-related requirements and provide credit facilities to the private sector.
March 5
1798 - French forces occupy Bern, Switzerland.
1946 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his famous ‘Iron Curtain’ speech at Westminster College in the US.
1953 - Soviet dictator Josef Stalin dies at the age of 73 after nearly three decades in power.
1959 - Iran and the US sign economic and military treaty.
1960 - President Sukarno suspends Indonesia’s parliament.
1966 - A British airliner hits Japan’s Mount Fuji, killing all 124 aboard.
1976 - Mohammad Mossadegh, deposed Prime Minister of Iran, dies.
1970 - Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect.
1982 - Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus.
1989 - Mark James wins the first Karl Litten Overseas Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club.
1993 - A Fokker 100 passenger plane hurtles to the ground and explodes shortly after taking off from Skopje, Macedonia.
1997 - Representatives of North Korea and South Korea meet for the first time in 25 years.
1999 - Willie Supple becomes the first rider in UAE racing history to break the 60-win barrier in a single season.
2000 - UAE signs contract with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of 80 F-16 aircraft.
2001 - A stampede breaks out during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Mina, Saudi Arabia, killing 35 people.
2002 - The Children’s City at the Dubai Creekside Park is inaugurated.
2005 - A team of US and Ethiopian scientists discovers the fossilised remains of what they believe is humankind’s first walking ancestor nearly four million years ago.
2012 - Pakistan successfully test-fires the nuclear-capable Hatf-2 missile.
