Gas dispute: NTPC moves SC against Bombay HC order

New Delhi, September 05: State-run power PSU NTPC on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court judgement that allowed it to amend its petition on the gas dispute.

A ministerial group had approved USD 4.2 per mmBtu as the value of gas from RIL’s KG-D6 fields, but before that the company had won a contract to supply 12 million cubic metres of gas per day to NTPC’s Kawas and Gandhar projects with a bid of USD 2.34 per mmBtu in 2004.

Suzuki to build factory in India: Nikkei

Tokyo, September 05: Suzuki Motor plans to spend about 30 billion yen ($322.6 million)to build a factory in India around 2011, boosting its production capacity in the country by 30 percent, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

Suzuki’s Indian unit, Maruti Suzuki controls about half of the country’s market share. Maruti Suzuki Chairman R.C. Bhargava said earlier this week its management was considering whether to expand production capacity, adding it would be known soon.

Maruti to partly shift car production from Gurgaon to Manesar

New Delhi, September 05: The country’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday said it would shift some of its car production from its Gurgaon plant to the new facility at Manesar in a phased manner.

“The Gurgaon plant will be gradually changed to a base for engine assembly and machining, while automobile assembly will be integrated at Manesar plant,” the company said in a statement.

It, however did not specify production of which of the models would be shifted from the plant.

Much of DPJ’s targeted money of extra budget already released

Tokyo, September 05: Nearly 70 per cent of fund resources under the fiscal 2009 extra budget, being targeted by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to finance some of its key policies, have already been implemented, government officials has said.

The DPJ is hoping to squeeze money to realize its election pledges by modifying the 14 trillion yen supplementary budget, crafted earlier this year by Prime Minister Taro Aso’s administration, once it forms a government in mid-September.

RBI model to provide banking services in remote areas

Agartala, September 05: The Reserve Bank of India has adopted a business correspondence model, acting as an agent of a commercial bank, to provide banking services to the people of remote areas where there is no banking outlet.

The model would be ideal for North Eastern states like Tripura, a state full of terrains and scattered population, said Usha Thorat, RBI deputy governor here in a seminar.

Fast-track court to settle Satyam case soon: Khurshid

Kolkata, August 05: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has approved setting up a fast track court to settle the multi-crore accounting fraud in Satyam Computers, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said here Saturday.

“The Andhra Pradesh High Court has agreed to our appeal and has already given an in-principal approval to set up a fast track court for the settlement of the Satyam fraud issue. We’re now awaiting the final notification,” Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

‘Tackling wider air pollution to speed climate action’

Geneva, September 05: Countries could speed up their action against climate change if they tackled air pollution as well as carbon dioxide emissions, the UN Environment Programme said on Friday.

UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said there is strong evidence that the world’s climate is changing faster than initially expected, adding to the urgency for concrete measures against global warming.

“It is… becoming clear that the world must also deploy all available means to combat climate change,” Steiner said.

Cosmic collision in our neighbourhood changed galaxies

Toronto, September 05: Andromeda and Triangulum, the two galaxies closest to our own, collided two to three billion years ago, changing the galactic structure, according to evidence unearthed by astronomers.

The collision appears to have plucked millions of stars from the Triangulum disk to form a faint stream visible in the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS) data, says Larry Widrow, professor of physics and Astronomy at Queen’s University.

Painkillers can cause addiction in 3 days

London, September 05: Popular painkillers, which are routinely used to ease headaches, back problems and period pain, can cause addiction in just three days, the UK Government’s drug watchdog has warned.

The drugs, which contain codeine and include brand names such as Nurofen Plus and Solpadeine Plus, are taken by millions of people. However, official figures have shown that tens of thousands of people have become dependent on the drugs, many accidentally, with women most at risk of developing an addiction.

Lebanon’s first ‘artificial heart’ implant success

Beirut, September 05: A medical team in Lebanon has successfully performed the first “artificial heart” implant in Lebanon on a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.

A team of doctors at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) oversaw the six-hour operation last Friday and deemed it successful after the patient survived the first critical 72 hours, an AUBMC press release said.

“The operation was a huge success as it was this patient’s last chance at life,” said surgeon Pierre Sfeir, who conducted the operation.

Baby with ‘external heart’ recovers after surgery

New Delhi, September 05: A 10-day-old baby born with a heart on the outside of his body is recovering in an Indian hospital after undergoing surgery to create space for the organ, reports said Friday.

The unnamed boy from the eastern Indian state of Bihar had a complete thoracic ectopia cordis, a rare condition when a child is born with the heart in an abnormal position, the reports said.

Nortel to sell its enterprise business Friday

Toronto, September 05: Toronto-based Nortel, which is selling its businesses to pay off its creditors, will auction its second biggest division next Friday.

The enterprise unit that makes network equipment will be auctioned under court supervision.

US-based Avaya Inc. is one of the bidders with an offer of $475 million.

Friday was the last day to place bids.

The 124-year-old Canadian icon has been operating under bankruptcy protection since January after suffering losses of $5 billion last year.

Need to regulate financial market: Pranab

Washington, September 05: India has said when there is a need to regulate the financial market; the same should not be used to devise any kind of protectionism.

“We shall have to strike a balance. First of all, I would like to… in the name of the financial regulation and to regulate the markets and as I started off, I mentioned protectionism need not come. Yes, there is a need of regulating the financial market,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in an interview to CNN.

Gold seen at $1,100 early 2010 on weak dollar

Panaji, September 05: Gold may go as high as USD 1,100 an ounce at least by early next year on the back of a weak dollar, but weak physical off-take from India could cap its upside, a senior analyst from Standard Bank said on Saturday.

“We expect the dollar to weaken against the euro in the next 6-12 months due to high inflation and a rising trade deficit,” said Walter De Wet, head of commodity research at Standard Bank.

“Inflation may rise as central banks have expanded their balance sheet by pumping in so much money into the system.”

WTO says Airbus loans illegal: US lawmakers

Washington, September 05: The World Trade Organization ruled on Friday that European loans for Airbus were illegal subsidies under world trade rules, US lawmakers said, but European sources said Washington did not win a sweeping victory.

The findings, which came in a confidential 1,000-plus page ruling, are the latest chapter in a decades-old battle between US manufacturer Boeing and European rival Airbus for dominance of the global aircraft market, a major source of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

Russia, China, Brazil endorse India’s stand on protectionism

London, September 05: India’s stand that protectionism remains a real threat to the global economy and emerging economies need to guard against tendencies in some developed nations to extend it beyond trade to financial markets and investment has been endorsed by Russia, China and Brazil.

A joint communique issued at the end of the two-hour meeting of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries’ Finance Ministers here last evening asserted that “protectionism remains a real threat to the global economy and should be avoided, both in direct and indirect forms.”

Brown to G-20: Economy at ‘critical juncture’

London, September 05: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Group of 20 leaders to make a strong and clear commitment to continued efforts to boost global growth, saying Saturday that the world economy is at a “critical juncture.”

Addressing finance officials from the G-20 rich and developing countries at the start of their talks here, Brown warned against “complacency or overconfidence” in the face of mounting signs of at least a modest economic upturn.

Obama expands workers’ retirement savings options

Washington, September 05: The government is trying to make it easier for Americans to save for retirement, President Barack Obama said Saturday, as he noted the toll the recession has taken on extra income and savings accounts.

One initiative will allow people to have their federal tax refunds sent as savings bonds. Others are meant to require workers to take action to stay out of an employer-run savings program rather than having to take action to join it.

NATO investigates airstrike on hijacked tankers in Afghanistan

Kunduz, September 05: NATO investigators sought to determine on Saturday if any of the scores of people killed in a US airstrike on two tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban were civilians trying to siphon fuel, while a bomb blast targeted German troops in the same northern Afghan province.

The 10-member investigative team flew over the site on the Kunduz river where a US jet hit the tankers before dawn Friday with two 500-pound (225-kilogram) bombs, triggering a fireball that killed up to 70 people.

Afghanistan postpones latest vote result release

Kabul, September 05: Afghan electoral authorities have cancelled the scheduled release on Saturday of the latest tranche of results from controversial elections that have been overshadowed by fraud allegations.

The next batch of results from polling stations would be released on either Sunday or Monday, a spokeswoman for the Independent Electoral Commission said.

“It is because of a technical problem that we will not be able to make any announcement today,” Marzia Siddiqi said.

Stalled Indo-Pak peace process benefiting terrorists: Gilani

Islamabad, September 05: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday asked India to return to the composite dialogue process, contending that the delay in resuming the stalled peace talks would only benefit terrorists.

“We seek relations (with India) on the basis of equality. It is our resolve not to let our soil to be used for terrorism. Therefore, we want the composite dialogue to be resumed because the terrorists are benefiting from the situation,” Gilani said.

Pak troops kill 55 suspected militants in Khyber

Islamabad, September 05: Pakistani security forces Saturday killed at least 55 militants in two districts of the country’s troubled northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

Paramilitary Frontier Corps troops aided by helicopter gunships destroyed the headquarters of the pro-Taliban fighters in Khyber tribal district and destroyed seven vehicles, a statement said.

The operation in Gogrina and Sanpal areas of Tirrah valley in the district killed at least 35 militants and injured several, the Frontier Corps said.

Swat, Malakand almost cleared of militants: Zardari

Islamabad, September 05: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that militants have been “almost cleared” from the northwest of the country and were on the run, a news agency reported on Saturday.

“Militants are on the run as Swat and Malakand have almost been cleared of them. This huge success in the battle for the integrity of Pakistan has been made possible by the sacrifices of our armed forces and the people,” Zardari said in his message to the country on the eve of Defence Day Sep 6.

Hopes fade for missing after Indonesia quake

Jakarta, September 05: Rescuers in Indonesia continued to search on Saturday as hopes faded for dozens of people missing after a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake, an official said.

The quake, which struck off the south coast of Java on Wednesday, triggered a landslide that buried dozens of people in the village Cikangkareng, 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Jakarta.

“The quake has killed at least 65 people. The search for dozens of victims continues although their chance of survival is slim,” disaster management agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said.

‘Terror’ witness can sue senior Bush official: US court

Washington, September 05: Former US president George W Bush’s top law enforcer John Ashcroft could be sued and held personally responsible for the wrongful detention of a US “terror” witness, a federal court of appeals said.

Placing responsibility on the shoulders of US officials in the Bush administration, and specifically Ashcroft, who was attorney general at the time, the judge at the ninth circuit court of appeals in Boise, Idaho ruled on Friday in favour of Abdullah al-Kidd, an American citizen who brought the complaint.