The finest rubies are rarer and more valuable than diamonds and for many the icy brilliance of the latter is no match for the colour, warmth and romance of the former. Their prices are on the rise too: the record of just under $275,000 per carat set in 2005 has since risen to over $550,000. The world’s richest source of fine rubies, Burma, is still under an embargo and the market is hungry for gemstones of that quality, particularly if they can be certified ethical.

Zimkhitha Zatu (30), who holds a responsible managerial position in the finance department of South Africa's largest cement manufacturer, believes that women who enter the construction industry should keep an eye out for male counterparts willing to become mentors. “You will be surprised by the number of male employees who are always willing to mentor their female colleagues and help them to make a success of themselves in this hard industry,” says Zatu.

Spam emails can not only be annoying, but can also waste huge amounts of professional time and therefore incur massive costs for businesses.

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The oil field service companies accommodate the wireline services to the exploration and production (E&P) companies of oil and natural gas. There has been a continuous increase in the exploration and production activities of oil and gas in finding new areas of unconventional resources, which has immensely bolstered the growth of the global wireline services market. These wireline services are required by the oil and gas industries for its entire lifecycle which includes exploration, drilling, completion, stimulation, and intervention.

AHRLAC made its debut public flight on August 13. It is the first military fixed wing aircraft to be fully designed, tested and developed in Africa. The aircraft addresses a key industry need by performing the combined tasks that previously required four separately configured planes. It integrates designs from attack helicopters, surveillance platforms and reconnaissance aircraft with ability to carry surveillance, weapons, radar and electronic warfare systems.

The Cecon Pride is a multipurpose offshore construction vessel constructed for the Norwegian oilfield services company Cecon.  Davie’s Chief Executive Officer, Alan Bowen, commented, “This ship is the most complex commercial vessel to have ever been built at a North American shipyard. It’s also the largest vessel built in Canada in over 25 years, since Davie held the previous record.”

“Let’s put it this way, junior miners have had quite the challenging time over the last two years.” Those are the words of John Gravelle, Partner and Global Mining Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), when questioned about what life has been like for the junior mining sector, both in Canada and beyond.

Regrettably, the issue of conflict minerals is not a new one. Even more regrettable is the fact that minerals mined in conditions of armed conflict and human rights abuses continue to find their way to market.

A company best known for its Firefox browser, Mozilla has launched a new low-cost smartphone in India that will retail for 1,999 rupees ($33). The phone is for sale exclusively on India's online shopping site, Snapdeal.