Some more snippets

IMF members should pay part of their quotas to stanch losses - S&P

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has proposed that the 185 members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pay a portion of their quotas to boost the IMF's capitalisation level and earnings power.

Tata Consultancy gets $1.2bln Nielsen contract

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services exporter, said on Thursday it had signed a $1.2 billion contract with Nielsen Co, sending its shares up nearly 5 percent.

Home Spray Use – A Leading Cause Of Asthma

Los Angles: A recent study has brought out that making use of spray cleaners as little as once a week increased the asthma risk by nearly over 50 percent.

Simple blood test could predict Alzheimer's risk

Researchers have developed a simple blood test that may be able to predict whether mild lapses of memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.

Brazil declares dengue epidemic

Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao has formally declared a dengue epidemic. By September, the government had recorded 480000 cases of dengue fever, a 50 percent increase from the same period last year.

BSNL to offer new services

RECENTLY, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) awarded Nokia Siemens Network a contract for deploying Broadband access across 7000 Indian villages in India.

Crude Oil Breaches $90 a Barrel on Dollar Drop Against Euro

Crude oil breached $90 a barrel in New York for the first time as the dollar traded near a record low against the euro, enhancing the appeal of commodities as an investment.

US panel weighs cough, cold medicines for kids

A US advisory panel will recommend on Friday if over-the-counter cough and cold medicines should still be sold for children up to age 12 amid complaints the drugs can be dangerous and do not work.

Police asked to probe ITV phone-in "robbery"

LONDON - Politicians have called for the police to investigate ITV over its premium-rate phone-ins after a report revealed that viewers had spent millions of pounds on competitions they had no chance of winning.

Trusts raided public health cash in panic over funding

NHS trusts across England syphoned off almost £100m from government funds intended to combat obesity, alcohol abuse and sexually transmitted infections as a panic measure to escape financial crisis, public health chiefs revealed.

Time to Buy a PlayStation 3?

It's officially official: the recently announced $400 40GB PlayStation 3 slips onto shelves in the United States on November 2, while the 80GB model drops $100 to $500, giving Sony a much needed one-two sales punch this coming holiday season.

Invest India Incomes and Savings Survey 2007

Ref: http://www.iimsdataworks.com/

With a sample of over one million households, the 'Invest India Incomes and Savings Survey 2007' is the most comprehensive study ever of individual financial behavior, preferences and outlook.

Price: Rs. Rs.185,000 / US$ 4750 per copy

Profiles and portfolios of indias 321 million paid workforce

4.2m Indians invest

Individual earnings up 30% since 2004-5

Women 12% of paid work force

Indian earners saved 30% of their income in 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7057512.stm

Bush asks Congress for war funds
US troops in Afghanistan
Some of the money is needed to repair equipment already in use
US President George W Bush has asked Congress for an extra $46bn (£23bn) to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and finance other national security needs.

It brings the overall amount of war funds the president requested for the next budget year to nearly $200bn.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/science/25cnd-watson.html?_r=1&ex=1351051200&en=dfc9fdcebb4c22e2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Dr. Watson, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for describing the double-helix structure of DNA, and later headed the American government’s part in the international Human Genome Project, was quoted in The Times of London last week as suggesting that, overall, people of African descent are not as intelligent as people of European descent. In the ensuing uproar, he issued a statement apologizing “unreservedly” for the comments, adding “there is no scientific basis for such a belief.”