Growth Prompts Name Change to ‘Remington Capital’

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Growth Prompts Name Change to ‘Remington Capital’
New name reflects Remington’s growing reputation as the world’s best access to commercial capital

PR Newswire

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 20

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 20 /PRNewswire/ — “Remington has outgrown its old name. So we changed it to Remington Capital,” Remington Chairman Andy Bogdanoff explained when announcing the company’s new corporate name and logo.

“Remington has grown substantially over the years,” Bogdanoff said. “Along the way, we earned an international reputation for being the best access to commercial capital. We chose the name ‘Remington Capital’ because it better reflects that reputation.”

Founded by Bogdanoff in 1993, Remington has grown from a national financial services company into an international commercial real estate investment banking firm. Over the years, Remington has arranged more than $5 billion in financing transactions for thousands of commercial real estate and corporate clients, including almost a billion dollars in capital approvals received during 2008-2009.

“In addition to Remington’s unmatched financing expertise and top-notch advisory services,” Bogdanoff said, “what really distinguishes Remington Capital from others is Remington’s access to a global network of some 600 public and private sources of capital ready to commit billions of dollars to finance, refinance and recapitalize commercial projects in the U.S. and abroad.”

“The name ‘Remington Capital’ will also serve the company well as we extend Remington’s presence outside the U.S.,” Bogdanoff said. Specializing in international projects of $5 million or more, Remington has already secured financing for projects in Costa Rica, Canada, and Mexico, where we opened an office in Sonora. More recently, Remington opened an office in Australia and has begun exploring the impressive growth opportunities in India and other countries.

Optimistic about the future, Remington recently occupied new and more spacious corporate offices in Scottsdale, expanded its facilities in Denver, and added a number of highly experienced loan officers, financing experts, and specialists to the company’s Capital Markets Group.

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U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 15

July 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following is the daily “Profile America” feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

THURSDAY, JULY 15: WATER GARDENS

Profile America — Thursday, July 15th. Many homeowners have discovered the pleasure of having a garden pond in their backyard. That’s why this is National Water Gardening Month, featuring home tours, seminars, and festivities at garden centers around the nation. While the installation of a pond is hard work, the peaceful sounds of a fountain or waterfall, and the colorful water lilies and other plants are a source of lasting beauty and enjoyment. Many ponds are stocked with either Koi or goldfish, which can survive through the winter even in colder climates. Ten percent of U.S. households have a water feature as part of their gardens and they spend close to a billion dollars a year on their hobby. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 1205

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for “Multimedia Gallery” by the “Newsroom” button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 15

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following is the daily “Profile America” feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

THURSDAY, JULY 15: WATER GARDENS

Profile America — Thursday, July 15th. Many homeowners have discovered the pleasure of having a garden pond in their backyard. That’s why this is National Water Gardening Month, featuring home tours, seminars, and festivities at garden centers around the nation. While the installation of a pond is hard work, the peaceful sounds of a fountain or waterfall, and the colorful water lilies and other plants are a source of lasting beauty and enjoyment. Many ponds are stocked with either Koi or goldfish, which can survive through the winter even in colder climates. Ten percent of U.S. households have a water feature as part of their gardens and they spend close to a billion dollars a year on their hobby. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 1205

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for “Multimedia Gallery” by the “Newsroom” button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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Greece Gets Cut Down

June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There was little impact when Moody’s downgraded Greece’s credit rating to junk status, reports Reuters. Despite any progress Greece began, the risks of the bailout package and “doubts over the country’s ability to exit a severe debt crisis” were enough for Moody’s to make the steep cut. In the aftermath of the announcement, the euro dropped, but other markets were largely unchanged. Greece’s future economic growth will affect its credit ratings, but Moody’s “saw a low probability of Greece restructuring its debt.” While Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece to junk status in April, Fitch has the country at BBB-minus and has “no immediate plans to follow suit and cut Greece’s debt to junk.”

While news broke of Greece’s downgrade, the Financial Times reported that China was considering investments worth several billion dollars. China is eyeing a variety of projects that concern shipping, logistics, and airport projects. However, there’s no guarantee that things will work out, since a previous deal with China “collapsed when Athens refused to sell a stake in National Bank of Greece.” The troubled nation is hoping other countries will also invest for the sake of economic growth.

In the wake of last week’s hack into AT&T (T) that accessed the e-mails of more than 1,000 iPad owners, the Wall Street Journal looks into the security flaws of mobile devices. Last year, there were 16 more security flaws in the operating systems of smartphones than in 2008, although “there’s little evidence malicious hackers have exploited such holes on a significant scale.” Even applications on mobile devices are increasingly vulnerable. The mobile version of Safari had five holes in 2008, but that number shot up in 2009 to 22. Despite companies moving quickly to plug holes, it took Apple (AAPL) three months to fix one it discovered. Steve Jobs better be careful, because the larger his company grows, the more hackers seem interested in it.

Starbucks (SBUX) is encouraging its patrons to loiter. The coffee giant announced that it will now be offering free Wi-Fi, courtesy of AT&T, and there’s no time limit, reports the New York Times. Currently Starbucks offers two hours free for those who bought a Starbucks card. For noncardholders or cardholders who want to use more than two hours, it costs $3.99 for a two-hour session. Starbucks had very little choice in the matter: McDonald’s (MCD) started offering free Internet access earlier in the year, and other specialty coffee shops also let customers use Wi-Fi free. Despite the new change, the company “does not expect that the free access and content will make people linger longer.” The free Wi-Fi also gives customers access to free articles, music, and videos as well as free access to some paid sites.

As of right now, Research in Motion (RIMM) has only one touchscreen phone—the BlackBerry Storm—but if rumors are correct, that could change soon, according to the Wall Street Journal. RIM will be shipping a new phone using a new operating system by the end of September, and that new phone is supposedly “a touch-screen smartphone with a slide-out keyboard.” Although RIM “sells more smartphones globally than any company besides Nokia (NOK),” it’s losing shares of North America to Apple and Google (GOOG). To combat this issue, RIM’s new phone shares a lot of qualities with the iPhone, such as “letting users swipe through screens and expand images with their fingers.”

Finally, video game publishers are gravitating away from the low-quality video games based on movies that are slapped together and thrown out into the market in time for the movie’s theatrical release, reports the Los Angeles Times. Next year, there are expected to be only eight movie-based video games, as opposed to this year’s 11. Of this year’s games, the large majority of them are based on children’s movies. Older gamers want higher quality games, which can take three years to make. Not seeing any profitability in video games adapted from movies, “several major game publishers have nearly abandoned Hollywood-inspired games.”

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Work on gas pipeline to start soon as Pak, Iran complete all formalities

June 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Jun.4 (ANI): Pakistan and Iran have finalised all formalities regarding the gas pipeline, and the ground work on the project would start soon following a survey, Pakistan Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Syed Naveed Qamar Shah has said.

Responding to a question in the National Assembly regarding the progress made on the much publicised pipeline project, Shah said once completed, Pakistan would receive 750 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from Iran, The Daily Times reports.

Shah also informed the house that the project would be of great help to address the massive power shortage in the country, as 5,000 megawatts of electricity is likely to be produced utilising the gas from the pipeline, which has been termed the ‘peace pipeline.’

Out of the total 7.6 billion dollars which would be incurred on the project, Pakistan expects to spend 1.65 billion dollars.

Earlier, the said pipeline was to be extended to India also, but it backed out of the project, as Pakistan refused to forego its demand for a hefty gas transit fee.

The IPI project was conceived in 1995 and after almost 13 years India finally decided to quit the project in 2008. (ANI)

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Google launches ‘smart’ TV

May 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 21 (ANI): Google has launched ”smart” TV, a service that integrates Internet and television.

The company has collaborated with Sony Corp., Intel Corp. and Logitech International to turn televisions into giant monitors for Internet browsing so it can make more money selling ads.

It generated nearly 24 billion dollars in revenue last year, mostly from Internet ads displayed on computer screens.

Google’s advertisements for regular television programming fetched them meager returns.

“I think this is going to be the biggest improvement to television since colour,” The Telegraph quoted Intel CEO Paul Otellini as saying.

At the demo session, the company showed how one can conduct searches for online videos and other content through a drop box displayed at the top corner of the TV screen.

Viewers can also check the thumbnail views of a game score and can make search requests by speaking into a remote that runs on Google”s Android operating system.

Although the concept may be baffling to customers at first, it has immense potential to take the market by storm by making Internet TV simpler and more appealing.

Sony will manufacture the TVs, while Intel will provide the microprocessors. Google will develop the software, including Android and the company”s Chrome Web browser. Logitech will supply a special remote control and wireless keyboard. (ANI)

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Pak, US decide to resolve visa row

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): Both Pakistan and United States have reportedly agreed to resolve all issues concerning the delay in issuing visas to each other’s diplomats.

According to sources, senior officials of both countries met each other at the Foreign Office here last week to resolve the visa row as soon as possible.

During the meeting both sides decided that no delay would be made in issuing visas from now, The News quoted sources privy to the meeting, as saying.

The United States had told Pakistan to put in place a uniform visa mechanism so that its diplomats and embassy staff stationed in Islamabad do not face any difficulty in carrying out their work in the country.

Delay in issuing visas to US officials has affected the relationship between the two countries.

Angered over Islamabad’s stubborn attitude over the issue, the Obama Administration had linked the reimbursement of funds under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) with issuance of visas to US auditors and other officials.

Pakistan has so far received 700 million dollars of the 2.6 billion dollars claimed under the CSF over the last two years, and is claiming another 1.2 billion dollars under the aid.

Pakistan has long been demanding an early release of the funds, however, the White House had made it clear that it would release the remaining amount only after being assured of positive use of the financial package.

The US also linked the delay in the disbursement of funds to Pakistan’s denial to grant visas to American auditors.

Arm-twisting Pakistan over the delay in issuing visas to its auditors, the United States had told Islamabad that the remaining payment under the CSF would only be released after the American officials get their visas. (ANI)

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YouTube marks 5th b’day with 2 billion hits everyday

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 18 (ANI): It has been 5 years since the inception of YouTube, the video sharing website, and it is still going strong – with an astounding 2 billion hits per day.

According to Google – its owner – that”s nearly double the number of people who tune into the US”s three prime time TV stations combined.

Just seven months ago it clocked up to one billion downloads a day.

“I see this great growth opportunity in the online video market and we are positioning ourselves to be a leader,” BBC News quoted co-founder Chad Hurley as saying.

“We are a stage and we give everyone in the world an opportunity to participate and that is being a video platform for creating a solution for people to not only upload and distribute their videos on a global basis but to find and share videos.”

While he is ecstatic about the achievement, he insists that they have a longer way to go.

“Two billion video streams is a large number but on average people are only spending 15 minutes a day on the site compared to five hours a day watching TV.

“I don”t think we could have ever planned or imagined we would get to the scale or the size we are today. We were mostly trying to create a video solution for ourselves based on our own frustrations. We are proud of what we have achieved so far but we have a lot of work ahead,” said Hurley.

Google bought the site near the end of 2006 for 1.65 billion dollars – a sparse looking page on which the first video ever was posted by co-founder Jawed Karim.

And from thereon began a trend – with people posting everything from cat videos to political videos to “how to” videos to entertainment.

“We wanted to create a level playing field that gave everyone that ability to be seen and heard,” said Hurley.

“Maybe early on people only recognised us or explained YouTube by placing it in a box but there are so many people on our site and we receive so much content over a 24 hour period, it can”t be about one thing,” said Hurley.

YouTube made a mark with several other videos – that of a wounded girl dying in front of a crowd during the Iranian election protests, a YouTube interview with President Barack Obama, Ronaldinho”s Nike advert and singer Susan Boyle”s performance on Britain”s Got Talent competition on TV.

“YouTube really is a phenomenon and is very much part of popular culture,” said Catharine P Taylor, media blogger at news website BNET.com.

“It really is a game changer because it gives everybody a platform to broadcast from. There are many examples where an average citizen has become a big hit on YouTube and that is something that would have been impossible to contemplate five, six years ago.”

The slogan for YouTube is “Broadcast Yourself” which Hurley said was a play on “be yourself and also captured in my mind the essence of the site which was to let people express themselves.”

YouTube started has had temporary glitches over copyright issues ever since it was started. But the owners have ensured that it is pulled out as soon as possible to avoid getting into any legal tangles.

“They have made a lot of progress about weeding out illegal content,” said Allen Weiner senior vice president of research at Gartner.

“They are serious about it. Their future depends on it.” (ANI)

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India’s role very important in Afghanistan: German Envoy

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ATTN: ANI Item being re-issued with amendments in para 13 and 14.

New Delhi, May 10 (ANI): Germany has hailed India’s role in capacity building, and development in infrastructure and education sectors in war torn Afghanistan.

German Ambassador to India Thomas Matussek said: “I think this is the right approach, and not every country in Afghanistan should contribute with military means.”

“I think the civilian help is much more important. Other countries, including Germany, have to make sure that we create a secure environment, but in the long run it is much more important that the Afghans are in the position to handle their own fate and they could only do it with the active cooperation of the neighbors and India has a very important role to play,” the German envoy told ANI.

India is investing more than a billion dollars in small and large-scale projects, including dams, schools and power grids in Afghanistan.

According to recent surveys conducted by independent international organizations, a majority of Afghans are impressed by Indian efforts in rebuilding their country.

But a team of Indian medical workers and doctors was recently attacked in Kabul and Indian mission also came under terrorist attacks twice which were reportedly orchestrated by Pakistan based terror outfits.

Pakistani terrorist groups are specifically targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan and have openly expressed their annoyance over Indian presence.

Ambassador Matussek also welcomed the recent dialogue between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers at Thimphu.

“We welcome every contact and every talk which contribute to good prosperous relationship between these two countries who share such a wonderful but also sometimes very traumatic common history. I think if India and Pakistan solve their issues and if it comes to lessening of tensions, the whole world will profit from it,” he said.

Refusing to comment on the recent decision taken by a Mumbai court on Ajmal

Kasab, the German envoy said: “I think it is very good and positive that people are brought to justice, every country has their own judicial system. You know we are against death penalty but this is where we stand we believe, we don’t interfere or comment on other countries especially the friendly countries.”

Ever since the Mumbai attacks, India and Germany have stepped up cooperation in the field of counter terrorism, which includes training of security experts and exchanging notes on strategies.

Speaking on the future scope of defense cooperation between the two countries, Ambassador Matussek said that Germany can offer best multi role aircrafts and is ready to forgo End User Monitoring Agreement, which is the pre condition for defense deals imposed by many countries, including the United States.

“We have number of projects for instance if you talk about multi role aircraft for the future. We have Eurofighter Typhoon, which is the best aircraft you can get in the market,” he said.

The envoy said that Germany just don’t want to sell the planes but intends to sell the first batch, develop second and third batch here in partnership and technology transfer to the degree that no other competitor will offer.

He also said that technology supplied to India would not be shared with Pakistan and China. Germany has also proposed a MoU on counter terrorism, which is under review. (ANI)

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il”s luxury trains

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 7 (ANI): North Korean leader Kim Jong-il enjoys traveling in style, and according to the Christian Science Monitor (CSM), has six armoured luxury trains to move around in, especially when he is heading towards close ally China.

His armored train is decked out with conference rooms, an audience chamber, bedrooms, satellite phone connections, and flat screen TVs.

Some 20 railway stations in North Korea have been built specifically for his six trains, which all together have about 90 carriages, according to a November report in South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo.

In addition, he reportedly has four billion dollars saved away in European banks.

An alternative reason for his preference for trains could be his deference to tradition — his father always traveled by train, too. (ANI)

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Scantily clad single mums call for help in Melbourne

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 6 (ANI): Single mothers have taken to Melbourne”s Central Business District clad in negligees, pyjamas and dressing gowns to draw attention to their plight in the midst of “mothers” day shopping madness”.

The mothers” day themed “breakfast in bed” protest aimed to draw attention to the rate of poverty among single mother families in Australia, reports news.com.au.

Council of Single Mothers and their Children project worker Kerry Davies called on the Federal Government to take responsibility for collecting more than a billion dollars in unpaid child support owed to children in single parent families.

She urged the State Government to cap the cost of private rent and boost the amount of subsidized housing. (ANI)

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US should end discrimination towards Pak to ink civil nuke deal: Qureshi

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 4 (ANI): Reiterating the country’s long standing demand, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the United States must end its ‘discriminatory’ behaviour and enter into a civil nuclear deal to help it address the massive energy crisis prevailing in the country.

During a meeting with US Congressman Howard Burman, Qureshi said Washington must help Islamabad to resurrect the sluggish economy and issues like the huge electricity and water crises, The Dawn reports.

Qureshi told Burman that the counter-terrorism efforts would not achieve the desired results unless the US provides monetary assistance it has pledged under the Kerry-Lugar Bill and Coalition Support Fund (CSF)

Meanwhile, the US has released the final instalment of 467 million dollars under the CSF as reimbursement for Pakistan for the cost incurred during the counterinsurgency operation in 2009.

The CSF was established by the United States in 2001 to support 27 nations, including Pakistan, for some of the costs they incurred in anti-terror operations. Since 2001, Washington has reimbursed approximately 7.2 billion to various countries.

In addition to the CSF, Pakistan has received a total of four billion dollars in civilian and security assistance from the US over the last three years. (ANI)

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India, China’s voting power increased in World Bank’s IBRD

April 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr 26 (ANI): The voting power of developing countries will be increased in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) by 3.13 percentage points to 47.19 percent after the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to do so in their Spring Meetings.

This represents a total shift of 4.59 percent to developing and transition countries since 2008, the World Bank/IMF joint Development Committee said in a communiqui issued after its meeting in Washington on Sunday, Xinhua reports.

The move marks “important strides of increasing the voice and influence of developing countries at the World Bank Group. The endorsement of the shift in voting power is crucial for the bank’s legitimacy,” World Bank President Robert Zoellick told reporters.

As a result of the shift, China’s voting power has now increased to 4.42 percent from 2.77 percent, the third biggest after the United States and Japan.

Brazil’s voting power has risen from 2.06 percent to 2.24 percent, and India from 2.77 to 2.91.

The latest realignment includes a selective capital of 27.8 billion U.S. dollars with paid-in capital of 1.6 billion dollars.

The committee also approved a capital increase of 86.2 billion dollars for the IBRD, including 58.4 billion dollars in general capital increase and 27.8 billion dollars in selective capital increase. (ANI)

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India, China’s voting power increased in World Bank’s IBRD

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr 26 (ANI): The voting power of developing countries will be increased in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) by 3.13 percentage points to 47.19 percent after the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to do so in their Spring Meetings.

This represents a total shift of 4.59 percent to developing and transition countries since 2008, the World Bank/IMF joint Development Committee said in a communiqué issued after its meeting in Washington on Sunday, Xinhua reports.

The move marks “important strides of increasing the voice and influence of developing countries at the World Bank Group. The endorsement of the shift in voting power is crucial for the bank’s legitimacy,” World Bank President Robert Zoellick told reporters.

As a result of the shift, China’s voting power has now increased to 4.42 percent from 2.77 percent, the third biggest after the United States and Japan.

Brazil’s voting power has risen from 2.06 percent to 2.24 percent, and India from 2.77 to 2.91.

The latest realignment includes a selective capital of 27.8 billion U.S. dollars with paid-in capital of 1.6 billion dollars.

The committee also approved a capital increase of 86.2 billion dollars for the IBRD, including 58.4 billion dollars in general capital increase and 27.8 billion dollars in selective capital increase. (ANI)

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Pak to approach World Bank to resolve Kishanganga Dam dispute with India

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Apr 26(NI): Pakistan Government has reportedly decided to approach the World Bank to resolve the Kishanganga Dam dispute with India as soon as possible.

Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah said the government has decided to contact the World Bank, as no positive result had emerged despite several rounds of talks with India, The Daily Times reports.

The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), inked between India and Pakistan in 1960, provides appointment of a neutral expert by the World Bank as a last option to resolve water related issues between both the countries.

Pakistan has been blaming India for an unsporting attitude during bilateral talks, which were initiated to resolve the impending water dispute.

Pakistan has been opposing the construction of the Kishanganga hydropower project on Ganga River in Kashmir, which is called Neelum upon entering Pakistan. Pakistan has said that the diversion of the waters of the Neelum is not allowed under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, and it will face a 27 per cent water deficit, when the project gets completed.

The reduced water flow in the Neelum would not yield the required results of the proposed 1.6 billion dollars Neelum-Jehlum hydropower project that has been designed to generate 969 MW of electricity.

It has said that India has almost completed a 22-kilometre long tunnel to divert Kishanganga waters to Wullar Lake in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI)

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Now, a multi-billion dollar LNG contract scam in Pak surfaces

April 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Apr.22 (ANI): In yet another massive scam that could run into billion of dollars, the Pakistan Supreme Court has been told that a French company was awarded two contracts for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) without even participating in the bidding procedure.

During a hearing, Petroleum Ministry’s special secretary G A Sabari told the apex court that the French company, GDF Suez, had neither applied for the short term (five years) 3.5 million tons gas supply nor for the long term (20 years), as required under the bidding laws.

Despite that fact the French company was given both the contracts worth 25 billion dollars in February 2010 in the Economic Coordination Committee presided over by Shaukat Tarin on the recommendation of Petroleum Ministry bosses, The News reports.

The Supreme Court was also told that the that Sui Sounthern Gas Company had also recommended to give the short-term gas supply contract to Shell through a letter dated May 2, 2009, without calling any tenders and bids.

Sabari also told the court that initially 53 companies, which were finally shortlisted to 10, were in the race for the gas supply deal, but ultimately GDF-Suez, which didn’t even feature in the list was awarded the contract. (ANI)

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US to India: Keeping close watch on weapons supplied to Pakistan

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr.19 (ANI): The United States has assured India that it is keeping a close watch on the weapons supplied to Pakistan and, will investigate if there is any ”misuse” of the weapons tramsferred to Islambad.

Addressing reporters in New Delhi, US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, said:”There are allegations of misuse of weapons given to Pakistan for other purposes. We will investigate it, Congress will take the issue seriously.”

The American assurance came just days after Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, where he reportedly expressed concern over the misuse of American weapons by Pakistan.

In the next few months, the United States will be delivering to Pakistan the first lot of hi-tech
eighteen F 16”s, 6C/D Block 50/52 combat aircraft, which is being viewed with worry in New Delhi.

Apart from the F-16s, which are worth 1.43 billion dollars, Washington is also forking out 477
million dollars for almost 60 mid-life update kits for its older fleet of F-16s A/B combat aircraft and financing part of the 115 M-109 self-propelled howitzers.

The US has already given 5,250 TOW anti-armour missiles to Pakistan.

Roemer said: “We cannot hyphenate the India-America relationship to AFPAK and Pakistan. Pakistan is doing something in dealing with the threat of Taliban and, we have told them in no uncertain terms that they need to continue to do more.”

On India”s role in Afghanistan, Roemer said: “India”s role in Afghanistan is very critical. President Obama has personally said this to Prime Minister Singh”.

“India”s role has been a great success, but we also have to look for new roles for India in Afghanistan and, when I go to Afghanistan, I will discuss it with the Indian Ambassador (Jayant Prasad) whether it is education or civil services, we are grateful for it,” he added.

Roemer also told reporters that providing access to David Headley, one of the American scouts used by the Lashkar-e-Toiba to locate places that could be attacked, is a top priority for the United States. (ANI)

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US to India: Keeping close watch on weapons supplied to Pakistan

April 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr.19 (ANI): The United States has assured India that it is keeping a close watch on the weapons supplied to Pakistan and, will investigate if there is any ”misuse” of the weapons tramsferred to Islambad.

Addressing reporters in New Delhi, US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, said:”There are allegations of misuse of weapons given to Pakistan for other purposes. We will investigate it, Congress will take the issue seriously.”

The American assurance came just days after Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, where he reportedly expressed concern over the misuse of American weapons by Pakistan.

In the next few months, the United States will be delivering to Pakistan the first lot of hi-tech
eighteen F 16”s, 6C/D Block 50/52 combat aircraft, which is being viewed with worry in New Delhi.

Apart from the F-16s, which are worth 1.43 billion dollars, Washington is also forking out 477
million dollars for almost 60 mid-life update kits for its older fleet of F-16s A/B combat aircraft and financing part of the 115 M-109 self-propelled howitzers.

The US has already given 5,250 TOW anti-armour missiles to Pakistan.

Roemer said: “We cannot hyphenate the India-America relationship to AFPAK and Pakistan. Pakistan is doing something in dealing with the threat of Taliban and, we have told them in no uncertain terms that they need to continue to do more.”

On India”s role in Afghanistan, Roemer said: “India”s role in Afghanistan is very critical. President Obama has personally said this to Prime Minister Singh”.

“India”s role has been a great success, but we also have to look for new roles for India in Afghanistan and, when I go to Afghanistan, I will discuss it with the Indian Ambassador (Jayant Prasad) whether it is education or civil services, we are grateful for it,” he added.

Roemer also told reporters that providing access to David Headley, one of the American scouts used by the Lashkar-e-Toiba to locate places that could be attacked, is a top priority for the United States. (ANI)

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India, Brazil commit to achieve bilateral trade target of 10 billion dollars by 2010

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Brasilia (Brazil), Apr.16 (ANI): India and Brazil on Wednesday said that while they were satisfied with the continued expansion of bilateral trade, they accepted need for undertaking increased efforts to achieve the bilateral trade target of 10 billion US dollars by 2010.

A joint statement issued after a bilateral meeting between visiting Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said both leaders “held detailed discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues and renewed their commitment to strengthen the India-Brazil Strategic Partnership.”

It revealed that both leaders had expressed satisfaction at the intensified and growing cooperation and collaboration between the two countries.

Expressing satisfaction with bilateral trade reaching 5.6 billion dollars in 2009 despite the impact of the international financial crisis, both President Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Singh said that the trade target of USD 10 billion by 2010 could only be achieved if both countries continued to focus on diversification, particularly in value-added sectors.

“In this context, they noted the positive outcome of the Trade Monitoring Mechanism, the second meeting of which was held on 15 March 2010 in São Paulo, and the scheduling of the next meeting in October 2010 in New Delhi. The Leaders reiterated their intent to hold the Second Meeting of the CEO Forum shortly,” the joint statement said.

Both leaders called on business and industry in both countries to utilize the opportunities available in the areas of energy, agriculture, mining, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and construction, among others to further expand bilateral investments.

They welcomed the operation from June 2009 of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between MERCOSUR and India, but expressed a need to “significantly increase the number of tariff lines in the PTA, so that the coverage of the agreement could be expanded to a sizeable level.”

Both President Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Singh also welcomed moves to enhance cooperation in the fields of science and technology, nuclear energy, space and defence for mutual benefit.

However, they noted that cooperation could also be enhanced in areas such as energy,biotechnology, IT, marine science, and nano-technology, as there was significant potential for undertaking such an exercise.

In the context of strengthening bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, including in hydrocarbons and new and renewable energies, both leaders directed the Joint Working Group on energy to convene an early meeting.

Brazil welcomed the interest of Indian oil companies to participate in future ANP bidding processes for exploration of oil in conformity with its national policies in this sector. They reaffirmed their intention to encourage better coordination of their positions on the issue of bio-fuels at multilateral fora.

Satisfaction was also expressed over the level of bilateral cooperation in the defence sector. Both Leaders welcomed the decision to host the First Meeting of the India-Brazil Joint Defence Committee, in India, this year, at mutually convenient dates.

They also reiterated the importance that Brazil and India attach to bilateral electoral cooperation and noted with satisfaction the ongoing dialogue between the Election Commission of India and Electoral Authorities in Brazil.

Satisfaction over the growing cultural exchanges between India and Brazil was also expressed.

Both welcomed the convergence of positions between Brazil and India in multilateral fora and in groups such as IBSA and BRIC, which is reflective of the growing importance of developing countries and of their role in shaping a more balanced international order in a multi-polar world.

They supported the urgent need to strengthen the participation of developing countries in the decision-making processes within the multilateral financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and political bodies, such as the United Nations. (ANI)

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WA could benefit from extra health funds

April 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The WA Health Minister Kim Hames says the State’s hospitals are well placed to benefit from Federal Government moves to cut waiting times at hospital emergency departments.

The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday announced plans to inject half a billion dollars for emergency departments who treat, admit or refer patients within four hours.

WA is currently the only state to have implemented a four hour rule program.

Dr Hames says the proposed funding recognises WA’s innovative approach to health care, but he didn’t comment on whether the funds would be enough to entice him to accept the Prime Minister’s health policy.

Mr Rudd wants the states and territories to approve the health plan when they meet at next week’s COAG meeting.

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