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Nirupama Rao discusses India, Nepal ties in Kathmandu

September 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kathmandu, Sep 15 (ANI): Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met Nepal Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala and discussed various bilateral issues including greater sharing of vital information between the two countries.

According to Nepalnews, both the leaders also discussed electricity import from India, signing of extradition treaty and the agreements reached during Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s visit to India last month.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Koirala said that the discussion basically revolved around building greater cooperation between India and Nepal, Constitution drafting and the peace process.

“India was keen on providing more assistance to help develop Nepal’s poor infrastructures, building transmission lines for the import of electricity from India, signing of the new extradition treaty and address other trade issues,” Koirala added.

Earlier Nirupama Rao met her Nepalis counterpart Gyan Chandra Acharya and discussed joint strategy for implementation of the 34-point agreement signed between the two countries last month.

During the meeting, she assured substantial amount of Indian investment in Nepal if peace is established in the country.

She also called on former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala at his residence and suggested that Koirala has a great role to play in the days ahead to end the political impasse in Nepal.

She also met CPN UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and extended an invitation to visit India on behalf of the government of India. During her meeting she advised Khanal to seek a practical solution on rehabilitation and integration of former Maoist combatants.

Nirupama Rao also met Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, Chief of Army Staff Chatra Mansingh Gurung and Maoist leader Babu Ram Bhattrai New Delhi is sending a high-level official to Nepal at a time when the constitution-drafting and peace process has been stalled due to differences among major political parties.

This is Nirupama Rao’s first visit to Nepal after being appointed Foreign Secretary on July 31.

She will also visit Pashupatinath temple and offer her prayers later today. (ANI)

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Cyber security and laws, a draw among youth in Hyderabad

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Hyderabad, Sep 13 (ANI): An increasing number of students are drawn to learn cyber security as they foresee a bright future in this upcoming field.

With information technology (IT) gaining popularity the security of data compiled, stored and transmitted is of utmost import.

According to a study, the requirement of employees to prevent cyber crimes in India is higher in India than other countries.

Therefore many students in the ‘Cyberabad,’ another name for Hyderabad, have started opting cyber security as a course to be a professional in the field.

Presently, cyber security has good prospect in the job market.

“E-commerce has made a very huge impact in every country’s economy. So whenever you use Internet, you need security. It is a very booming and open market that is going to be coming in few days,” said Vikram, a student of cyber security.

The IT world is today faced with problems like spams, viruses and worms. Besides cyber terrorism and cyber warfare are the latest trends of nuisance, reportedly increasing at a rapid pace. It is felt that a proper cyber infrastructure is needed to combat all these problems.

Certainly, Zaki Qureshi, a software professional, has come forth to ensure Cyber Security by teaching various aspects to prevent cyber crime.

Qureshi, 38, IT expert feels that the government must take a pro-active role in ensuing foolproof cyber security.

“The government should take a serious initiative on awareness, training technology transfer and then we can call it as security development. I mean to say, you have to have a proper infrastructure in place. For all these, it takes a long time. It’s not a one-day or a two-day initiative. It will probably take half a decade,” said Zaki Qureshi, a software professional and an expert in cyber security.

Cyber security is very important to protect the IT services in corporate establishments, government organisations as well as the ones used by the general public.

Unfortunately, cyber security in India is yet to pick up among the IT users, said Qureshi. By, Jyoti. N (ANI)

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Hyderabad students learn intricacies of cyber security

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Hyderabad, Sep. 13 (ANI): Aiming to prevent cyber crimes in the country, students in Hyderabad are learning and mastering the intricacies of cyber security.

In the fast developing countries where information technology (IT) has reached the apex, the security of data compiled, stored and transmitted is of utmost import.

According to analysts, the requirement of employees for preventing cyber crimes in India is higher as compared to other countries.

In the times when cyber terrorism and cyber warfare have tried to cripple infrastructure of various nations, a proper cyber mechanism is the need of the hour.

“The government has to take serious initiative on awareness, training technology transfer and then we can call it as security development. I mean to say, you have to have a proper infrastructure in place. For all these, it takes long time. It’s not a one-day or a two-day initiative. It takes probably half a decade,” said Zaki Qureshi, a software professional and an expert in cyber security.

Cyber security is very important to protect the IT services in corporate establishments, government organisations as well as the ones used by the general public.

The same must be a part of the national policy. Unfortunately, cyber security in India is yet to pick up among the IT users, noted Zaki Qureshi. (ANI)

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Rajasthan Government demands lion’s share in Cairn project

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Barmer (Rajasthan), Aug.29 (ANI): The Government of Rajasthan on Saturday demanded a lion’s share of the value added tax (VAT) that would be generated from the extraction of crude oil from the Mangala Processing Terminal ( MPT) here.

According to sources, the issue will be settled later when state government representatives meet the officials of this Cairns Energy India-ONGCjoint venture.

ONGC Chairman R.S. Sharma said that it would take at least four years to meet this demand of the Rajasthan Government, which was made by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Sharma said that the approach of the state government would determine the way forward on the issue of revenue sharing.

Officials attached with the joint venture said they are leaving no stone unturned in doing their bit for the local people.

The media contingent accompanying the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on the inaugural visit to the project site were shown the entrepreneural centre where various social projects for local people are showcased.

Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir emphasised the point that the maximum number of labourers are locals, and added that out of the 700 contractors, a majority are local people.

Inaugurating the project, Dr. Singh said the present venture is an indication that foreign investment in the country will grow and that the Indian Government will honestly provide all facilities to attract foreign investment.

He also congratulated the technical personnel for successfully finding oil reserves.

It maybe recalled that the Dutch firm Shell had abandoned the search for oil in this desert area. cairn india then stepped in, and after four years of continuous labour, was able to discover oil. arlier, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora described the activation of the Mangala Processing Terminal ( MPT) as a historic achievement, as the crude oil production from this block will meet about 20 percent of the nation’s current crude oil production.

He said this will enable the country to save seven percent of the crude oil import bill and reduce import dependence.

Deora also emphasised the need for stabilising crude oil prices for ensuring the sustained economic growth of the country, Deora said the MPT find is a significant step towards achieving this goal.

Cairn has invested about Rs.10000 crores in the area.

The total investment in this project will be more than Rs. 20000 crores. The government will get Rs. 46000 crores as profit petroleum revenue over the life of the project and will provide job opportunities for more than 6000 people.

According to company sources, the supply terminal to the Mangala field, the second largest oil discovery in the country in two decades, will be a giant step towards curtailing the country’s oil import bill.

With an initial 30,000 barrels capacity per day (bpd), Cairn India plans to add another 1,00,000 bpd over the next 18 months.

Mangala oil field officials are confident of reaching the target of producing 1,75,000 bpd in the next 20 months.

The project would contribute more than 20 per cent of India’s domestic crude oil production by 2011, the company sources said. By Pankaj Chaudhary (ANI)

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Manmohan Singh to inaugurate Mangala oil field in Rajasthan today

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Barmer (Rajasthan), Aug 29 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate a terminal for the supply of crude oil at Cairn India’s Mangala oilfield in Barmer, Rajasthan on Saturday.

With an initial 30,000 barrels capacity per day (bpd), Cairn India plans to add another 1,00,000 bpd over the next 18 months.

Mangala oil field officials are confident of reaching the target of producing 1,75,000 bpd in the next 20 months.

The project would contribute more than 20 per cent of India’s domestic crude oil production by 2011, the company sources said.

The Prime Minister is also scheduled to visit a National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) camp to review labourers’ work, and a woman self-help groups at Ramsar village, near Barmer, and ‘Harit Rajasthan’, a green plantation project being undertaken massively by the State Government to revive the water table in the state. (ANI)

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Dayanidhi Maran to lead joint trade delegation to Japan

July 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, July 16 (ANI): Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran will lead the joint trade delegation of textiles sector to Japan on July 20.

The seventeen-member delegation comprises the representatives of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Promotion Council (SRTEPC), the Knitwear Technology Mission, and leading textiles manufacturers and exporters from Tirupur and Coimbatore textiles clusters.

During his visit, Maran will inaugurate the Indian Pavilion at the Japan International Fashion Fair (JIFF), known as Mega Apparel and Textile Show, at Tokyo, Japan on July 22.

The Fair will run till July 24, and 44 Indian textiles and clothing exporters have booked 50 stalls. The AEPC along with the SRTEPC and the TEXPROCIL are participating in the Fair.

With a view to diversify the textiles and clothing exports and reduce dependence on USA and EU 27, the Government is promoting exports to South East Asia under its ‘Look East Policy’.

An important component of this policy is to attract of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Japan is one of the biggest consumers of textiles and clothing, but India has very negligible market share of 1.12 per cent in Japanese import basket.

To further these objectives, during his stay in Tokyo, Maran will address a business meeting hosted by the Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee (JIBC) and will use this platform to solicit investment in Indian textiles sector, where 100 per cent FDI is permissible.

The Indian Government is conscious of the fact that textiles industry needs modernization and there is huge scope for Japanese investment to upgrade spinning, weaving, processing and garmenting facilities.

The Government is making serious efforts to attract investment in this important segment of national economy. This interaction is part of series of interactions, which Maran has conceptualized as part of Government efforts to modernize Indian textiles industry and explore new markets for Indian textiles and clothing exports.

In addition, Maran will meeting Takeo Yamaoka, Chairman , JUKI Corporation , the largest sewing machine manufacturer and Akira Onishi, Chairman , Kirloskar Toyota, the leading Japanese textiles machinery manufacturer. (ANI)

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Now, Oz mining giant Rio Tinto accused of bribing executives of 16 Chinese steel mills

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Beijing, July 15 (ANI): The staff of Australian miner Rio Tinto bribed executives from all 16 Chinese steel mills participating in this year’s iron ore price talks, an industry insider has disclosed.

“Rio Tinto got to know the key executives of the 16 steel mills, who have sensitive industry information, when the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) brought them to the bargaining table,” China Daily quoted a senior manager at a large steel company, as saying.

“And then Rio Tinto bribed them (to get access to industry data), which has become an unwritten industry practice. If companies didn’t accept, they would have cut supplies and so the whole steel industry has been bribed,” he added.

The shocking revelation comes amid reports that the Chinese Government is planning to cancel 20 iron ore import licenses to regulate the chaotic ore import business, and investigate an alleged business espionage linked to the world’s second-largest iron ore miner, Rio Tinto.

“It is very likely for CISA to cancel about 20 iron ore import licenses held by steel makers and trading companies, with a focus on trading companies,” a source said.

Executives from five leading domestic steel makers and officials from the industry association are under investigation following last week’s detention of four employees of Rio Tinto’s China operation, including Australian-origin Stern Hu.

Another industry insider said: “There are about 1,200 steel mills in China. Most small- and medium-sized mills without import licenses have to buy ore from big ones with licenses.

“Therefore, some big mills don’t care about the ore prices because they could transfer the increasing cost to small- and medium-sized ones. Meanwhile, those small- and medium-sized steel mills are forced to sign contracts with global miners privately,” he added.

And, Hu Kai, an analyst with Umetal, a steel consulting firm, said: “Because of their own interest and intense competition among various steel makers in China, it’s unlikely for them to present a united front when bargaining with overseas ore providers.” (ANI)

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New South Wales to bid for ‘boom boom’ Afridi

June 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, June 23 (ANI): New South Wales is planning to target Pakistani batsman Shahid Afridi as its foreign import for next season’s domestic Twenty20 competition.

NSW will approach Afridi to join their team with the intention of qualifying him for the lucrative Champions League Twenty20 tournament in 2010, but he could also be used in the Sheffield Shield.

Afridi, 29, guided Pakistan to their first major cricket title in 17 years, when they defeated Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 final at Lord’s on Sunday.

Afridi smashed an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, his second consecutive half-century, to confirm his reputation as a big-match performer.

A Cricket NSW official said Afridi would bring experience and significant ability to the Blues, and the big-hitting star would also be considered for first-class and one-day games, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“He is clearly one of the world’s best Twenty20 players, but also he would be a valuable addition to our dressing room, our young players would learn a lot from him. We would certainly consider if he could be used for other formats,” the official said.

If the deal takes place, Afridi would become one of the highest-profile players to join an Australian side.

Afridi would heighten interest in the Big Bash if he played. Regarded as the world’s most attacking batsman, he scored 129 runs in his final three innings at the World Cup with a strike rate of 148.27 and was the force behind Pakistan’s victory. (ANI)

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Govt. to act ruthlessly against malpractices in defence contracts: Antony

May 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 27 (ANI): In the toughest ever message yet to be issued by a Defence Minister to stem corruption in armed forces procurements, A K Antony today said the Government “would not hesitate to ruthlessly cancel contracts,” if malpractices are found in any acquisition.

Antony asked organisations such as the CII and the FICCI, etc to help the government to maintain transparency and integrity in defence contracts, and added that the government would not tolerate “wheeling dealing or corruption.”

“We are determined that we need procurements, (but) we cannot compromise on transparency. At times, we have found certain manipulations, malpractices; we cannot ignore that so we ruthlessly cancelled certain major ticket items.”

“In the future also if there are any malpractices we will not be lenient, we will take the harsh lane,” Antony further said.

The government cancelled at least two defence deals during Antony’s previous tenure as Defence Minister, including the Eurocopter light utility helicopter deal owing to some malpractices.

Signifying the government’s assurance in rooting out corruption and to give a strong warning to private contractors, Antony added, ” They should not try to bribe our people. We will not be lenient. We will take strong action.”

The Defence Minister was speaking at Defcom India 2009 seminar themed on “Informatics for Defence Transformation and Technology Development in the Information Age”.

The seminar saw participation of over 400 delegates and 100 plus companies.

Antony said the Government has consciously taken a decision to minimise the country’s dependence on import of defence systems and platforms, and agreed that more products should be sourced on the basis of “buy and make” rather than ‘buy’ category alone.

He lamented that nearly 70 percent of defence weapons and systems are still being imported and only 30 percent are being indigenously produced.

Antony said the turbulence in our immediate neighbourhood puts the political stability in our country in an even better perspective.

He said the need to modernise our defence forces to preserve our territorial integrity in the face of asymmetric and unconventional means of warfare couldn’t be overemphasised.

Antony called for a synergy of efforts of the armed forces, the industry, the academia and research and development establishments to transform our defence forces to a network centric force.

The transformation of defence forces is a continuous process, and the overall aim should be to bring about sustained competitive advantages in warfare, Antony said.

Referring to the new challenges before the Armed Forces, both in terms of the concepts involved and the material needed, Antony said it is neither possible nor feasible to have equipment and systems on stand-by for all conceivable variants of modern military conflicts. By Praful Kumar Singh (ANI)

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Awareness campaign against swine flu near India-Myanmar border

May 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kamjong (Manipur), May 7 (ANI): Veterinary doctors and other authorities have geared up to combat swine flu outbreak by launching awareness campaign among residents and by organising massive vaccination for pigs in villages near India-Myanmar border in Manipur.

Doctors recently organized an awareness campaign in Awongtang Kamjong border village of Ukhrul District, around 120 kilometers away from Imphal.

As preventive measures, department workers and officials have started awareness programme in border areas such as Kamjong and Poi in Ukhrul district, by visiting and conducting public meetings with the representatives of different civil organizations of the Kamjong Village.

Doctors are highlighting the probable threats of transmitting the disease from the livestock animals that are illegally imported from Myanmar to the village.

“Especially here people of this place are doing business of livestock trade especially pig or avian’s and other livestock. As this place is important place for transportation of animals from international border area, so we like to give message to people for taking precautionary measures of the dreaded disease of swine flu,” said Dr. K. Gopal Singh, a disease specialists.

Authorities are also appealing other civil bodies and church representatives to check and prevent any kind of import of livestocks from Myanmar, as the State Government has already banned such imports of livestocks.

Residents involved in the livestock trade are happy with the awareness progaramme as they believe it would really help in dealing with deadly disease to great extent.

“The Veterinary Department has already announced the disease as deadly and dangerous disease. We are grateful and happy that the efforts taken by the department to educate and make us aware of the disease,” said S. D Lowin Singh, a resident.

Although the Central Government has only issued an advisory to all states in the remote northeastern region and not sounded any particular directives, the State Government has initiated preventive measures against swine fever. (ANI)

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Jordan bans meat imports from countries reporting swine flu cases

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Amman – Jordan on Monday banned the import of all types of meat, including pork, from countries with reported cases of swine flu including the United States and Mexico, a senior official announced. The government also set up a technical committee and tasked it with formulating precautionary measures to avert the outbreak of the epidemic in the country, Nasser Hawamdeh, Assistant Secretary General at the Agricultural Ministry, said.

“Despite the limited number of families who raise swine in Jordan, the ministry’s vets will intensify their visits to these farms to conduct the required tests on pigs and provide us with reports,” he said.

The ministry would also ask hunters to provide samples of pigs they hunt near the Jordanian-Israeli border, he added. The area, according to Hawamdeh, is known to be home to wild pigs.

Health authorities meanwhile distributed a circular to hospitals and primary health centres detailing the symptoms of swine influenza.(dpa)

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Gas recipient countries debate security of energy deliveries

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sofia – Natural gas importing countries in Europe, meeting on Friday in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, called for greater energy “security” in reaction to the Russian gas crisis four months ago.

Energy security does not stop at national borders, nor does it stopat the European Union border, said EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the start of the two-day summit.

Barroso spoke of a need for “security and solidarity” in order to prevent crises such as that of the winter of 2008/2009 when financial disputes between gas producer Russia with Ukraine led to the halt of much needed energy.

“A crisis such as the gas delivery stop must not happen again,” Barroso said.

The summit is being attended by presidents or high-ranking representatives from 30 countries in Europe, the Middle East, the Black Sea region, and the Caucasus as well as the United States, most of whom import natural gas or have pipelines passing through their territory.

The goal of the summit is to find ways to secure deliveries of gas to Europe. Host country Bulgaria was hard hit by the gas crisis in January, as it is completely dependent on Russian natural gas.

Barroso expressed the hope that there would be a clause guaranteeing stable deliveries of energy in a new agreement between the EU and Russia.

He added that the EU was also encouraging Ukraine to take part in efforts for increased energy security.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cancelled his appearance at the summit at the last moment, due to a row with Bulgaria over the South Stream pipeline, and sent Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko in his state.

According to media reports, Bulgaria has refused to allow Russia to use its national pipeline for the “South Stream” project. (dpa)

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Duty on import of white sugar to be reduced

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Apr 20 (ANI): India will remove a 60 per cent import duty on up to one million tons of white sugar for the next four months, a top government official said.

The government also decided to drop a requirement that raw sugar only be imported for re-export.

Three state-run trading firms and a farmers’ cooperative — the State Trading Corp of India Ltd, the MMTC, the PEC and the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) — would be allowed to import up to one million tons of white sugar tax-free.

“We have allowed our central agencies that is the SEC, the MMTC, the PEC and the NAFARD to import 10 lakhs of white sugar. Now these agencies will be importing sugar. They will not be subjected to any release mechanism or levy obligation. They will be free of this. They will be free to sell it at the domestic market. Now the imported sugar, that will come to India after it is processed, we will be giving them the fast releases so that the working capital of sugar mills is not held up,” said R P Bhagria, Chief Director (Sugar) in the Ministry of Agriculture.

The official also said that all the ships carrying the imports would be given priority for berthing at the ports.

“All the ships carrying the imported sugar will be given the priority that there will be no delay at all at ports. Now, the things will immediately get off loaded and transported to the sugar factories,” added Bhagria.

The decision comes two months after the world’s biggest consumer of the sweetener-waived tariffs on raw sugar imports, a response to a smaller-than-expected domestic crop.

The measures, which could boost global prices in a market already in a steep deficit, required formal approval from the Election Commission, which guards against populist moves meant to win votes.

The domestic crop is expected to fall to 14.2 million tons in 2008-09, down 8.4 per cent from previous estimates.

This is well short of output of 26.5 million tons last year and also of estimated consumption of 23.5 million. (ANI)

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: Agriculture, ANI, approval, Apr, capital, cent, chief director, commission, Consumer, consumption, Cooperative, Cooperative Marketing, corp, crop, decision, deficit, delay, duty, Election, Farmers Cooperative, federation, Formal Approval, Global Prices, Government, import, Import duty, India, india ltd, lakhs, levy, ltd, market, marketing, marketing federation, mechanism, ministry, Ministry Of Agriculture, MMTC, NAFARD, NAFED, national, National Agriculture, New Delhi, obligation, official, output, PEC, priority, R P Bhagria, raw sugar, release, Release Mechanism, requirement, response, SEC, state, sugar, Sugar Factories, sugar imports, Sugar Mills, Sugar Tax, trading, white sugar, world, year

SNAPSHOT – Financial Crisis – 0630 GMT

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

NEWS

– UBS (UBSN.VX) will post a Q1 loss and cut 8,700 more
jobs, says chief executive

– China’s annual GDP growth slips to record low in Q1, but
quarter-on quarter increase may point to a recovery

– Infosys issues downbeat forecast in dollar earnings for
2009/10

– Intel beats earnings forecasts, says thinks Q1 computer
sales hit bottom, but no Q2 revenue outlook sent shares down
4.6 percent after-hours

– Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) is preparing to lay off several
hundred workers – source

– South Korea cuts 2009 export and import targets

– Thailand may expand stimulus package and increase
borrowing to boost confidence and deal with economic costs of
turmoil

MARKETS

– Asia stocks pulls back from six-month highs; MSCI index
of shares ex-Japan down 1.1 percent, Nikkei sheds 0.8 percent

– European futures point to a lower opening, weighed by
losses on Wall Street and in Asia

– Yen and the U.S. dollar gain as optimism about recovery
ebbs

– Oil hovers above $49 a barrel

QUOTES

“The realities of a still anemic housing market, extremely
weak and arguably worsening labor market conditions, and higher
credit costs have once again translated into the appalling
reality of consumers cutting back. ” – Lindsey Piegza, economic
analyst at FTN Financial in New York.

“What happens over the next few years, at least, is highly
uncertain. ” – Luci Ellis, the head of the Reserve Bank of
Australia’s Financial Stability Department. “Confidence in the
financial system remains fragile.”

DIARY

(all times GMT)

WEDNESDAY, April 15

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve releases Beige Book survey of
U.S. economic conditions

(World Desk, Singapore +1 202 898 8482)

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UPDATE 1-KEPCO operating loss expanding on fuel costs -govt

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) – State-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS) posted an estimated 1.2 trillion won ($909.4 million) operating loss in the first two months of the year due to high fuel costs, Seoul’s energy ministry said on Wednesday.

The power monopoly has suffered a double whammy since last year with prices of imported feedstocks such as coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fuel oil jumping to record highs in July. Prices have nearly halved since the peak, but the local won currency has dropped more than 40 percent against the dollar since last year, making imports still expensive for KEPCO.

“KEPCO’s profit loss is expanding (1.2 trillion won in January and February) as fuel costs increase without an adjustment in power costs,” the ministry said.

“There is more pressure (now) to increase the electricity rates.”

South Korea held off raising tariff hikes for nearly two years to ease inflation pressures before raising electricity rates by a modest 4.5 percent on average in November.

KEPCO says it needs at least a 20 percent price increase in 2009 to cover its fuel costs. Seoul’s Energy Minister Lee Youn-ho also said last month that a price hike would be necessary as soon as economy recovers.

South Korea’s consumption of commercial electricity in March fell by the slowest annual pace of 2.8 percent in five months, a fresh indication of recovery in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, [ID:nSEV000685]

In 2008, KEPCO posted a bigger-than-expected net loss of 2.95 trillion won. The power supplier said import costs for coal rose 87.7 percent compared to year ago in March and liquefied natural gas (LNG) costs grew 37.2 percent.

Shares in KEPCO lost 3.1 percent as of 0234 GMT, underperforming the wider market’s 0.82 percent fall.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

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S.Korea’s IBK selling 5-year dollar bonds-sources

April 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) – Industrial Bank of Korea (024110.KS) is selling benchmark five-year dollar bonds, or typically meaning of at least $500 million, two sources familiar with the sale said on Wednesday.

IBK aimed to price the deal, which could raise as much as $1 billion, at around mid-500 basis points over midswaps, said one of the sources. No official guidance has been released, and the deal is expected to price by Thursday morning in New York hours.

The debt will not carry a government guarantee since IBK, which specialises in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, is already majority owned by South Korea, the two sources said.

Both sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to talk publicly about the sale.

Barclays Capital, Citigroup (C.N), Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley will be the lead managers for the sale, the source said.

IBK follows on the footsteps of the South Korean government, which last week raised $3 billion in a two-tranche dollar bond deal, while others including Hana Bank and steelmaker POSCO (005490.KS) have also recently sold debt.

South Korea’s two other government-owned lenders, Korea Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea, have already raised $2 billion each in overseas markets early this year.

South Korean issuers are expected to continue tapping global markets, driven by the need for dollars in a country that has about $194 billion in foreign debt falling due this year, compared with just over $200 billion in foreign reserves.

Banks in South Korea averted a cash crunch after the government made billions of dollars available to the sector and took other steps such as guaranteeing some types of overseas borrowing, although lenders are still encouraged to find their own foreign funding sources.

However, concerns about profitability remain. IBK’s profit last year declined 36 percent to 764.4 billion won ($579.3 million) from 2007.

IBK is rated A by Standard and Poor’s and A2 by Moody’s, or the sixth-highest investment-grade rating. The lender is rated one notch above that at A-plus by Fitch, but with a negative outlook. (Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Chris Lewis)

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Extensions add new functions to OpenOffice

April 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kaufbeuren, Germany – The basic version of the free office software suite, OpenOffice, packs in a lot of functionality. Yet for some users it’s just not enough. Fortunately it doesn’t need to be. A variety of extensions, most available for free, can be used to add even more pep to the standard version. This type of modular software construction is familiar to users of web browsers like Firefox and Opera as an effective way to integrate expanded capabilities. As with OpenOffice itself, these are free software add-ons developed by enthusiastic developers from the OpenOffice community.

“The spectrum of extensions ranges from tweaks to small details up to extensive expansions of the core functionality,” says Florian Effenberger, spokesman for the OpenOffice. org project.

The central English-language repository is available at http://extensions.services.openoffice.org and includes roughly 300 extensions. Yet, not all extensions are indexed there. Effenberger presumes that hundreds more of the little utilities are out there as well.

One popular type of extension is document templates. Another is PDF Import Extension, which enables users to edit PDF files. While the basic version of OpenOffice can open files of that kind, it can’t work edits back into the original very effectively. Also, adjusting the size of columns and rows in the Calc spreadsheet software can be tiring. CalcEasyToolbar makes it easier.

Presenter Console is a potentially useful aid for users who frequently create presentations in the OpenOffice module Impress. It provides a preview of the new slide, but only on the speaker’s monitor. Presentations with heavy multimedia content can be put on a diet using Presentation Minimizer. The extension makes presentations easier to open and e-mail.

If the user encounters an unknown term, Wikipedia can frequently provide quick assistance. The OOoWikipedia allows users to query the free encyclopedia from within the software directly. Anyone looking to create a Wikipedia article themselves can benefit from Wiki Publisher: a Wizard helps prepare articles composed in OpenOffice’s word processor Writer for publication on the Web. Along similar lines, the Weblog Publisher makes it easy to compose blog entries.

The extensions are easy to install. One option is to double click the already downloaded extensions with the file ending .”oxt.” The on-screen instructions will make it easy from there. The alternative is to use the Extension Manager’ in OpenOffice under the Extras menu. Extensions can be added, deactivated, or removed there.

Yet not every extension runs with every variant of OpenOffice. The safest bet, according to spokesman Florian Effenberger, is to use the current version, OpenOffice version 3. (Internet: http://extensions.services.openoffice.org, http://oooconv.free.fr/wikipedia/wikipedia_en.html, http://de.openoffice.org/downloads/komponenten.html, www.ooomacros.org, www.office-center-epj.de). (dpa)

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Japan imposes new sanctions against North Korea

April 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Tokyo, April 10 (DPA) Japan Friday imposed stronger restrictions on money transfers to North Korea and extended existing sanctions against its totalitarian neighbour after Pyongyang’s weekend rocket launch.

The existing sanctions, including a ban on North Korean imports and a ban on ferry trips, the only transport link between the two countries, were due to expire Monday but were extended for another year.

The new sanctions are ‘aimed at shedding light on the flow of funds (to North Korea)’, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said.

The new restrictions lower the amount of remittances to North Korea that must be reported to the Japanese government from 30 million yen ($300,000) to 10 million yen.

Japan also lowered the amount of money travellers may carry into North Korea without government approval to 300,000 yen from 1 million yen.

The government of Prime Minister Taro Aso, however, decided against imposing a debated ban on all exports to North Korea.

‘Given the stalled talks on the issue of the abductions, I believe our action is appropriate,’ Nakasone said, referring to kidnappings of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and ’80s, which Japan said remain unresolved.

The decisions on the sanctions came after Pyongyang carried out a launch Sunday that it said was for a communications satellite and was successful. The US and South Korea, however, said the launch was a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile. They said it failed after passing over northern Japan.

The import and ferry ban were imposed after North Korea carried out a series of missile tests in July 2006. Three months later, Pyongyang conducted its first and so far only nuclear test.

Since then, Japan had continuously renewed the sanctions every six months.

Japan and the US are also trying to pass a resolution in the UN Security Council condemning Sunday’s launch but have met resistance from China and Russia, two of the council’s five veto-wielding permanent members.

Aso plans to request China’s support and ask for its understanding for Tokyo’s position when he meets Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday on the sidelines of an Association of South-East Asian Nations meeting in Thailand.

The Japanese government said Friday that Sunday’s rocket launch was ‘related to a ballistic missile project’, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said at a press conference.

‘There was no such object as a satellite,’ Kawamura said while referring to reports that no radio waves had been detected from an object launched by North Korea.

‘We have determined that (the launch) is related to North Korea’s ballistic missile programme, which violates the (UN Security Council) resolutions,’ he said.

The resolutions ban North Korea from any ballistic missile activity.

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US slaps tariffs on Canadian lumber

April 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington – The United States on Tuesday slapped import duties on Canadian lumber, the latest twist in a long-running trade dispute between the two neighbours.

US trade representative Ron Kirk said that the US would impose a 10-per-cent customs duty on one of Canada’s key exports until the United States has collected 54.8 million dollars it is owed under the terms of a 2006 trade deal.

The United States claims that Canada improperly calculated export taxes for lumber from four of its provinces at the start of 2007. An arbitration court in London sided with the United States in February, ruling that Canada owed 54.8 million dollars.

A Canadian offer of 36.66 million dollars to settle the dispute was rejected last month by the US.

“We regret that Canada has chosen not to meet its commitments and has made this action necessary,” Kirk said in a statement. dpa

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She wanted to give women edge with education

April 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Paramjit Kaur Gulshan is contesting the ensuing polls from Faridkot (reserved) Lok Sabha seat as Bathinda has been made a general constituency.

PROMISES GALORE: She promised to uplift the status of women in backward areas of Bathinda and Mansa districts through education. Her election agenda also included fight against female foeticide, setting up of an information technology institute and a modern hospital, improvement of economic conditions of farmers, weaker sections and traders and completion of Bathinda refinery to generate employment. Gulshan also promised to provide potable water to the residents, railway overbridges in Bathinda, Mansa, Rampura and Budhlada and revival of closed spinning and sugar mills.

WHAT SHE DELIVERED: Released liberal grants in education sector for infrastructural development from her MPLAD funds. Out of the sanctioned Rs 10 crore in five years, Gulshan released almost 100 per cent MPLAD funds, with only Rs 1 lakh being unutilised. She also released Rs 10.1-lakh MPLAD funds that were carried forward to her from her predecessor. Being member of the Railways Parliamentary Committee, she upgraded Bathinda railway station, was instrumental in starting Bathinda to Dhuri train and got Jammu-Ferozepur train route extended up to Bathinda. She also claimed to have got approval for railway under- and overbridges for Bathinda.Â Â

WHERE SHE FAILED: Information technology institute is nowhere in sight, modern hospital is still a distant dream and there has not been much improvement in the economic conditions of farmers and weaker sections. She did little to revive closed spinning and sugar mills.

ATTENDANCE IN LOK SABHA: Out of total 332 sittings in 15 sessions, Gulshan attended 226, which means her attendance was 68 per cent.

NUMBER OF QUESTION ASKED OR ISSUES TAKEN UP: Asked 21 questions on allocation of funds under the Prime Minister Rozgaar Yojana (PMRY), construction of ROBs, closure of industrial units, admission of SC/ST candidates to IITs and IIMs, filling of reserved quotas seats for SC/ST students, rural development projects, pending application for agricultural import,

subsidy on fertilisers, Bathinda refinery, payment of arrears to employees, funds under welfare schemes and grant for upgrade of urban

infrastructure.

OPINION: “She is an upright and honest person. The two politicians I admire are Paramjit Kaur Gulshan and Manpreet Badal. But at the same time I feel that they should be more expressive in airing their views,” says social activist Jagmohan Kaushal.

“Gulshan has done nothing for Bathinda. Cases of female foeticide are still being reported,” says Dr Vitull Gupta, human rights activist.

Votes secured by top three candidates in 2004 election

Paramjit Kaur Gulshan (SAD): 3,23,394

Kaushalya Chaman Bhaura of (CPI)-Congress alliance:Â 2,60,752

Sarabjeet Singh (SAD-A): 1,13,490

Total votes polled: 7,63,195

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Awareness campaign against swine flu near India-Myanmar border

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Gas recipient countries debate security of energy deliveries

Duty on import of white sugar to be reduced

SNAPSHOT – Financial Crisis – 0630 GMT

UPDATE 1-KEPCO operating loss expanding on fuel costs -govt

S.Korea’s IBK selling 5-year dollar bonds-sources

Extensions add new functions to OpenOffice

Japan imposes new sanctions against North Korea

US slaps tariffs on Canadian lumber

She wanted to give women edge with education

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