Rights of shareholders under Saudi company law

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The thesis examines the efficacy of the provisions of Saudi Company Law 1965 in terms of protecting the rights of minority shareholders in joint stock companies (JSCs). The aim is to assess the effectiveness of the current form of SCL 1965 in this regard and to suggest a reform scheme. This research finds that SCL 1965 does not adequately provide minority shareholders with all the rights that they should enjoy. Accordingly, minority shareholders are often subject to the controlling influence of majority shareholders, who are generally in charge of the company’s management. As a result, minority shareholders either do not exercise or do not enjoy certain rights, and they therefore forfeit their natural and intended role under this law, which is to oversee and control the activities of the board of the company, and in so doing to defend their interests. Despite the Saudi government intentions to conduct a range of reforms, particularly in the field of trade, SCL 1965 has not been modified to any significant degree; it is still not sufficiently effective, and does not address many important points relating to shareholders’ rights in listed companies. Therefore, there are important decisions that need to be made on the part of the Saudi legislature in terms of improving the investment environment in KSA, including improving the level of protection for investors in JSCs; these decisions will help to attract more investors into the Saudi financial market. This thesis suggests ways in which to improve the level of protection for minority shareholders in Saudi listed companies against any encroachment on their interests within the company. In this respect, it suggests recasting the provisions relating to minority shareholders, especially SCL 1965.Scholarship awarded by the Saudi Arabia

Critical Evaluation of Minority Shareholdersa Rights in General Shareholders Meeting under the Saudi Company Law No.1965

Generally listed companies are controlled by two main organs the board of directors and general meeting GM 1 The GM is considered the supreme authority of the company its powers stem from the company law and from the constitution of the company therefore resolutions of the GM should be compatible with the provisions of company law CL and constitution of the company otherwise the resolutions shall be subject to being deemed null and void The same applies to the board of directors which is considered similar to the executive power of the state and has specific terms of reference thus GM cannot interfere in the work of the board of directors and vice versa In this vein these two organs depend entirely on each other working together to achieve the same objectives and therefore balance must be struck between them Such balance is indicated in the definition of corporate governance by the Cadbury Committee Corporate Governance is the system by which companies are run At the centre of the system is the board of directors whose actions are subject to law regulations and the shareholders in a GM The shareholders in turn are responsible for appointing the directors and the auditors and it is to them that the board reports on its stewardship at the AG

الصناعة السورية ومساهمتها في التنمية الاقتصادية

يهدف هذا البحث بالتعريف بواقع القطاع الصناعي السوري وتحليل مساهمته في الاقتصاد الوطني حيث  تعتبر الصناعة  بأقسامها المتنوعة من الركائز الاقتصادية الأساسية التي تسهم بإحداث تغيرات نوعية في عملية التنمية الاقتصادية  والاجتماعية  فالتصنيع هو جوهر التنمية الاقتصادية لأنه يرتقي بالهياكل الإنتاجية  ويسهم في نمو الإنتاج والتصدير ويعتبر المصدر الأهم لتوفير فرص العمل . أن قطاع الصناعات السورية بمختلف أقسامها من القطاعات الهامة التي تسهم بتحقيق قدر كبير من التنمية اعتماداً على تعزيز مفهوم الاستقلالية الاقتصادية للدولة باستغنائها عن الاستيراد إضافة إلى توفير السلع للسكان. من خلال دراسة  مساهمة القطاع الصناعي السوري في تكوين الإنتاج المحلي الإجمالي.و مساهمة القطاع الصناعي السوري في تكوين الناتج المحلي الإجمالي.و مساهمة القطاع الصناعي في تشغيل اليد العاملة.و مساهمة القطاع الصناعي في التصدير. وبالتالي الوصول إلى مجموعة من النتائج التي تبين واقع القطاع الصناعي ومساهمته في الاقتصاد الوطني إلى جانب تقديم مجموعة من المقترحات التي من الممكن أن تساهم في تذليل الأسباب المؤدية لانخفاض أدائه بالشكل الذي يمكنه من تحقيق الأهداف المرجوة منه

Hill- Piper diagram for drinking water quality in Ingessana area - Blue Nile State, Sudan.

        This study, aims to assess the effect of mineralization on drinking water quality and its visages in Ingessana area, which is located in the southwestern part of the Blue Nile State (Sudan). Forty drinking water samples from various sources in the study area were collected during four seasons, and then analyzed, using atomic absorption spectrometer, Flame photometer, UV spectrophotometer and conventional titration methods. Different computer software's were used to interpret data as Aquachem. The results showed that calcium, and magnesium, were the main predominant cations in the samples, while bicarbonate and chloride were the dominant anions in wet and dry seasons. Calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate are due to the presence of marble, calcite CaCO3, dolomite CaCO3, Mg (CO3), aragonite, gabbros, and schist in under saturated state. Calcium chloride and bicarbonate indicate the presence of dolomite, aragonite, halite (NaCl), magnsite, gypsum and carbonate rocks as an interfere layers in the study area. These minerals occur in the fractured zone in study area. The Hill-Piper result shows that, all groundwater visages in wet seasons are normal earth alkaline and alkaline with prevailing bicarbonate, while in dry season is earth alkaline with increased portion of alkalis in water and the processes that control these visages are ion exchange and simple dissolution or mixing processes. Comparing the results with (WHO) standard, calcium, magnesium and lead are of higher levels than (WHO) drinking water standard. This may be due to mineralization in the study area. There is an impossibility to determine the effect of these augment on native's health, because most of them are medicated by traditional medicines.  As a final result most of drinking water in the area of study needs treatment before use .                                                                                                                                       &nbsp

Defining the Rhizobium leguminosarum Species Complex

Bacteria currently included in Rhizobium leguminosarum are too diverse to be considered a single species, so we can refer to this as a species complex (the Rlc). We have found 429 publicly available genome sequences that fall within the Rlc and these show that the Rlc is a distinct entity, well separated from other species in the genus. Its sister taxon is R. anhuiense. We constructed a phylogeny based on concatenated sequences of 120 universal (core) genes, and calculated pairwise average nucleotide identity (ANI) between all genomes. From these analyses, we concluded that the Rlc includes 18 distinct genospecies, plus 7 unique strains that are not placed in these genospecies. Each genospecies is separated by a distinct gap in ANI values, usually at approximately 96% ANI, implying that it is a ‘natural’ unit. Five of the genospecies include the type strains of named species: R. laguerreae, R. sophorae, R. ruizarguesonis, “R. indicum” and R. leguminosarum itself. The 16S ribosomal RNA sequence is remarkably diverse within the Rlc, but does not distinguish the genospecies. Partial sequences of housekeeping genes, which have frequently been used to characterize isolate collections, can mostly be assigned unambiguously to a genospecies, but alleles within a genospecies do not always form a clade, so single genes are not a reliable guide to the true phylogeny of the strains. We conclude that access to a large number of genome sequences is a powerful tool for characterizing the diversity of bacteria, and that taxonomic conclusions should be based on all available genome sequences, not just those of type strains

Defining the Rhizobium leguminosarum Species Complex

Bacteria currently included in Rhizobium leguminosarum are too diverse to be considered a single species, so we can refer to this as a species complex (the Rlc). We have found 429 publicly available genome sequences that fall within the Rlc and these show that the Rlc is a distinct entity, well separated from other species in the genus. Its sister taxon is R. anhuiense. We constructed a phylogeny based on concatenated sequences of 120 universal (core) genes, and calculated pairwise average nucleotide identity (ANI) between all genomes. From these analyses, we concluded that the Rlc includes 18 distinct genospecies, plus 7 unique strains that are not placed in these genospecies. Each genospecies is separated by a distinct gap in ANI values, usually at approximately 96% ANI, implying that it is a ‘natural’ unit. Five of the genospecies include the type strains of named species: R. laguerreae, R. sophorae, R. ruizarguesonis, “R. indicum” and R. leguminosarum itself. The 16S ribosomal RNA sequence is remarkably diverse within the Rlc, but does not distinguish the genospecies. Partial sequences of housekeeping genes, which have frequently been used to characterize isolate collections, can mostly be assigned unambiguously to a genospecies, but alleles within a genospecies do not always form a clade, so single genes are not a reliable guide to the true phylogeny of the strains. We conclude that access to a large number of genome sequences is a powerful tool for characterizing the diversity of bacteria, and that taxonomic conclusions should be based on all available genome sequences, not just those of type strains

Genetic diversity of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and their effects on the growth of maize plants under greenhouse conditions

Engineering of plant rhizosphere with beneficial plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria offers a great promise for sustainable crop productivity. In this context, 49 rhizospheric/endophytic bacterial isolates were purified using N-free medium, screened in vitro for PGP characteristics and evaluated for their beneficial effects on the early growth of maize (Zea mays L.). The biodiversity of isolated bacteria was analyzed by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) using four restriction enzymes. Out of the 49 isolates, 7 produced high levels (32.1–82.8 μg mL−1) of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA); 11 had potential phosphate solubilizing abilities (101–163 μg mL−1), while significant acetylene reduction activities (100–1800 nmole C2H4 mg−1 protein h−1) were observed in 12 isolates. Five ribogroups (A-E) were identified using ARDRA. The 16S rRNA-sequence analysis of bacterial representatives from different ribogroups revealed that, 89% of isolates belonged to phylum Proteobacteria, while 11% of them were assigned into phylum Bacteroidetes. Phylum Proteobacteria included Achromobacter, Agrobacterium, Bordetella, Cupriavidus, Ochrobactrum, Pseudoxanthomonas and Stenotrophomonas genera. While, phylum Bacteroidetes was represented by Chryseobacterium and Flavobacterium genera. Under greenhouse conditions, all the selected isolates significantly increased shoot and root fresh and dry biomass of maize plants, compared to the non-inoculated control. Inoculation with Chryseobacterium sp. NGB-29 and Flavobacterium sp. NGB-31 showed the highest beneficial effects on plant growth parameters that were tentatively associated with the high efficiency of these isolates to fix nitrogen and produce high amounts of IAA. The study indicates the potential use of these isolates for production of maize biofertilizers under field conditions. Keywords: Isolation, PGPR, Zea mays, Diversity, IAA, N2- fixation, P- solubilization, Plant inoculation, Plant biomass productio

Chemical analyses, antibacterial activity and genetic diversity assessment of some Egyptian Citrus spp. cultivars

Citrus species are among the most important fruit trees in the world and are considered as a major export product of Egypt.  Forty-eight Citrus L. accessions representing six citrus groups (orange, mandarin, lemon, sour orange, grape fruit and pummelo) were collected. Chemical proprieties including pH, total acidity, total soluble solids and ascorbic acid of different fruit juices were determined. Eight accessions representing different citrus groups were screened for their antibacterial activity against five pathogenic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus spp. and Bacillus pumilus). Lemon and lime accessions exhibited the highest antibacterial activity compared to the standard antibiotics (ampicillin and streptomycin). However, grapefruit and pummelo accessions showed no inhibitory effect. Inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers were used to study the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among citrus accessions. The highest level of polymorphism (71%) was detected amongst lemon and lime accessions, whereas, the lowest percentage of polymorphism (18%) was identified within the sour orange group. The phylogenetic tree separated the varieties into discrete clusters according to their respective citrus group. Citrus groups were initially divided into two main clusters at 0.18 level of similarity. Lemon, lime, mandarin and sour orange were grouped in the first cluster, while sweet orange, grapefruit and pummelo were nested in the second cluster.Keywords: Citrus, genetic diversity, ISSR markers, chemical analyses, antibacterial.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol 13(26) 2626-263

Political violence in Egypt, 1967-1992

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN014129 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo