News Snippets

New Zealand trying to save the kiwi

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/27/asia/kiwi.php
In the thousand or so years since humans discovered the remote islands that make up New Zealand, three out of four of the indigenous bird species have been driven to extinction, and until recently, it looked like the national icon - the kiwi - was headed the same way. But a project is under way that offers some hope of pulling the beady-eyed, flightless bird back from the brink.

Hugh Robertson, who runs the Kiwi Recovery Program of New Zealand's Department of Conservation, estimates that there were as many as five million kiwis when European settlers arrived in 1840 and that the population now stands at 75,000.

"It's because of people and introduced predators - ferrets, stoats, weasels, dogs, cats," said Jeremy Maguire, manager of the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, just outside the town of Christchurch. "They are a species in decline, and if it continues at the current rate, they will become extinct."

Thousands sought over child porn

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7159331.stm

German prosecutors are investigating 12,000 suspected members of a child sex abuse network on the internet - the biggest in the country's history.

A senior public prosecutor said the suspects were accused of downloading or possessing illegal images of children.

The investigation, which has been going on for several months, also points to suspects in about 70 other countries.

An internet provider in Berlin is said to have helped by alerting the inquiry to a huge amount of internet traffic.

"The material was analysed. Then we called for search warrants," said Peter Vogt, head of the central office tackling child internet sex abuse. He was speaking to German radio station Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR).

The suspects include 300 under investigation in the eastern German state of Sachsen-Anhalt.

BMW laying off thousands of workers

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/21/business/bmw.php
BMW, facing rising costs and resurgent competition from rivals like Mercedes, plans to dismiss several thousand workers, its first significant layoff in at least a decade, the company said Friday.

The cuts, which will fall mainly in Germany, are part of a sweeping campaign to restore profits at Bayerische Motoren Werke, which has hit an uncharacteristic rough patch after years of being the most successful German carmaker.

The company declined to confirm a report on the Internet edition of Der Spiegel that 8,000 jobs would be eliminated. A spokesman, Bill McAndrews, said BMW would not disclose numbers until early next year.

Layoffs have become common at German carmakers in the past few years, with Mercedes, Volkswagen and the Opel unit of General Motors all cutting thousands of workers. But BMW has had the opposite problem, trying to churn out more cars without bloating its payroll.

A large number of those affected will be employees with temporary contracts, McAndrews said. BMW will also offer voluntary buyouts and negotiate more flexible working hours with its unions. Layoffs are unlikely in the United States, where BMW is increasing production.

"This will be done with a BMW approach," McAndrews said. "It will be socially acceptable."

Supermarkets admit milk price fix

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7132108.stm

Supermarket firms Sainsbury's and Asda have admitted that they were part of a dairy price-fixing group that earned about £270m extra from shoppers.

The supermarkets, along with a number of dairy firms, have agreed to pay fines totalling some £116m after an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) probe.

Cases against Tesco and Morrisons will continue after no deal was struck.

The OFT said that in-store prices went up after the collusion, but the amount received by farmers did not increase.

However, the firms insist that the farm gate price paid for milk did rise and that they were not ripping off customers.

The OFT said the collusion saw customers being charged 3 pence extra for a pint of milk, 15p extra per quarter-pound of butter and 15p per half-pound of cheese, the watchdog said.

India seeks World Bank rupee loan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7133184.stm

The Maharashtra state government is seeking a loan worth some $3.5bn but is concerned about the fluctuations in the value of the dollar.

If approved, it would be the first time the World Bank has agreed to a such a loan in rupees.

Cancer studies 'wasted millions'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/7098882.stm

Charity is mostly well intentioned but easy availability of money to those receiving charity may result in less than efficient use of the same. On November 20, BBC reported that millions of pounds of charity donations and taxpayers' money have been wasted on worthless cancer studies.

Thousands of studies have been invalidated as some scientists not carrying out simple and inexpensive checks to ensure they are working with the right forms of human tumour cells.

Earlier this year eminent cancer specialists from the UK and USA wrote to the US health secretary urging tough action to end this waste of time, effort and money. As per the report, the US authorities observed that there appeared to be "abundant evidence" that many studies and publications had been compromised.

While this is specific to cancer research, it may raise questions on the efficacy of charity based research for other medical ailments as well.

News Snippets - 20071130

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/July/07_odag_507.html
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9816583-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Fact Sheet: President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force Marks Five Years of Ensuring Corporate Integrity

President Bush created the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force on July 9, 2002 to restore public and investor confidence in America’s corporations following a wave of major corporate scandals. Since its inception, the Task Force has compiled a strong record of combating corporate fraud and punishing those who violate the trust of employees and investors.
In the last five years, the task force has yielded remarkable results with 1,236 total corporate fraud convictions to date, including:

• 214 chief executive officers and presidents;
• 53 chief financial officers;
• 23 corporate counsels or attorneys; and
• 129 vice presidents.

Additionally, the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section has obtained more than one billion dollars in fraud-related forfeitures and has distributed that money to the victims of corporate fraud.

The list of companies include Adelphia, Cendant, Comverse, Computer Associates, Dynegy, Enron, Enterasys, Homestore, Imclone, Impath, Monster, Network Associates, Prudential Securities, Qwest, Refco, and WorldCom.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7080143.stm

US payout awarded over pesticide

A US jury has awarded a total of $3.3m (£1.58m) to six workers who claim they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua.

The workers accused Dole and Standard Fruit Co and Dow Chemical Co of concealing the dangers posed by the pesticide, used in the 1970s.

The harmful effects of Nemagon, banned in the US in 1977, include birth defects, damage to the liver and kidneys, and sterility in male workers.

The case is the first of five lawsuits involving at least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama, who claim they were left sterile after being exposed to the pesticide.

Other growers and manufacturers are named as defendants.

Legal experts say the case is significant as it raises the issue of whether multinational companies should be held accountable in their home countries or in the countries where they employ workers.

Shares of Alibaba.com Climb on First Day of Trading

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/shares-of-alibabacom-climb-on-first-day-of-trading/index.html?ex=1352091600&en=408c899cd43d5645&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Shares of Alibaba.com, one of China’s biggest Internet companies, soared in early trading on Tuesday in China’s latest hot initial public stock offering.

The public offering is expected to raise nearly $2 billion in Hong Kong, making its debut offering as large as Google’s 2004 I.P.O. in the United States. Alibaba is now valued at $21.5 billion, close to the market value of Yahoo, making it the most highly valued Chinese Internet company and one of the richest in the world.

Alibaba.com, a business-to-business Web site that connects entrepreneurs in China with buyers worldwide, is one of the best-known Web sites in the world’s fastest-growing Internet market.

China has more than 170 million Internet users, second only to the United States.

Chrysler to cut up to 12,000 jobs

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/01/business/NA-FIN-COM-US-Chrysler-Job-Cuts.php?WT.mc_id=atomfrontpage
Chrysler LLC said Thursday it plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs, or up to 15 percent of its workforce, as part of an effort to slash costs and match slowing demand for some vehicles.

The automaker will cut 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs through 2008. The company already had begun cutting 1,100 temporary workers Wednesday. It will eliminate shifts at five North American assembly plants and cut four vehicle models from its lineup.

The cuts come in addition to the 13,000 layoffs Chrysler announced in February as part of a massive restructuring plan. Those cuts included 11,000 production jobs and 2,000 salaried jobs. The new round of cuts was expected to involve buyouts or early retirement packages similar to those made in February.

Chrysler officials said falling demand for vehicles in the U.S. market made the cuts necessary. Chrysler's sales were down 3 percent in the first nine months of this year, according to Autodata Corp., and the company said it expects sluggish sales to continue in 2008.

Wait, Don’t Eat That: Candy Scandal Stuns Japan

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/world/asia/31japan.html?ex=1351483200&en=cea45f17c5b5a783&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
It was supposed to be a celebratory year for Akafuku, a confectioner that had been selling bean-jam sweets here since 1707. On its 300th anniversary, its top-selling sweets were still indispensable gifts to bring back home or to the office after a trip to Ise Shrine here, Japan’s holiest religious site.

Instead, Akafuku has become the latest Japanese food company to be exposed for lying about the contents of its products, tampering with expiration-date labels and recycling ingredients. For only the second time in its history, Akafuku, which was forced to halt production during World War II because of a sugar scarcity, has suspended operations, this time indefinitely.

Security Pro Admits to Hijacking pcs for Profit
Washington Post - 6 hours ago
A Los Angeles security professional has admitted to infecting more than a quarter million computers with malicious software and installing spyware that was used to steal personal data and serve victims with online advertisements.

China Raises Key Banking Benchmark
TheStreet.com - 4 hours ago
By Daniel M. Harrison In a move aimed at cooling China's rapidly expanding lending and capital markets growth, China's central bank Saturday said it would raise the reserve ratio requirement for banks by half a percentage point, to 13.5%.

Former President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has started his own newsletter. Considering the fact that he has a huge fan following in the IT workers’ community and school children it is surely going to touch a chord with this population.

Pravda - A tabloid class apart

So one though that Indian tabloids like TOI are the leaders when it comes to pulp fiction style of news reporting. The readers of Indian tabloids could consider subscription to Pravda to get more juicy pulp.

Here are some of the news headlines appearing on the front page.

Oprah Winfrey finds herself amid sex scandal at her South African school

Russian woman gives birth to her son at age 79

Trial of man charged with killing his Russian-born estranged wife postponed

Blind boy sees light again after baptism in Russia

A-380 superjumbo jet offers double beds, privacy and champagne but bans sex onboard

Thirteen terribly weird facts about women]

CIA feared alien invasion more than Soviet nuclear attack

Saturn rings still remain mysterious for modern scientists

Any life on Mars came from Earth

Scientists examine psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich work on sexual energy

Thirty-seven men arrested in Malaysia during a gay party

Paris Hilton prefers beauty contest in Tokyo to Rwanda charity trip

Woman injures man in attempt to commit suicide in Tokyo

Men who drive black cars with teddy bears and stereos inside are irresistible for women

Al-Qaeda prepares to blast USA on Christmas Eve

Pravda was the official newspaper of communist party of Russia from 1918 onwards. It was shut down by Yeltsin in 1991. Whether the website http://english.pravda.ru/ is of the same paper is difficult to ascertain.

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.”