Italy-based Same Deutz-Fahr Group (SDF), a manufacturer of tractor and agriculture machinery, is planning to invest around Euro 38 million (Rs 250 crore) in its facility at Ranipet in Tamil Nadu, India.
Of this, it would raise around Euro 15 million from the International Finance Corporation.
SDF’s strategy is to make India as the engine manufacturing centre for all its manufacturing facilities in the group, align company’s production with European emission standards, and growth in the domestic as well as export markets that cover neighbouring countries Turkey and east Africa, the document stated. Same India’s facility, which is in a well-developed industrial area close to Ranipet and Vellore towns, approximately 120 km from Chennai, has been in operation for the past 10 years.
For more: Italian tractor maker to invest 38 mn euro in TN
3/18/12
Britain: David Cameron's 'best of British' gift to Barack Obama was made... in China
It was the gift that was supposed to showcase the best of British to Barack Obama.
But the Mirror revealed that the ping-pong table presented to the US President by David Cameron was actually made in China. And to make matters worse, Samantha Cameron gave Michelle Obama a silk scarf that, despite showcasing British fashion, was in fact made in Italy. The blue Victoriana scarf, which costs £289 in Harrods, was designed by Glaswegian Jonathan Saunders, but the label states “Made in Italy”.
The Prime Minister handed over the top-of-the-range £600 table amid great fanfare during his visit to Washington last week.
By contrast, the Obamas gave the Camerons one of the few products still made in the US, a top-of-the-range barbecue which boasts that “every part is American-made”. The Braten 1000 Series grill, worth £2,000, was handmade by Engelbrecht Grills and Cookers of Paxton, Illinois.
Note EU-Digest: maybe UK PM David Cameron was indirectly trying to tell Mr. Obama about something he could not have openly said in public, like: "since the US and Britain are flooded by Chinese made products maybe we should be awarding local companies instead, who bring their production back from abroad to the home shores ? "
For more: David Cameron's 'best of British' gift to Barack Obama was made... in China. - Mirror Online
But the Mirror revealed that the ping-pong table presented to the US President by David Cameron was actually made in China. And to make matters worse, Samantha Cameron gave Michelle Obama a silk scarf that, despite showcasing British fashion, was in fact made in Italy. The blue Victoriana scarf, which costs £289 in Harrods, was designed by Glaswegian Jonathan Saunders, but the label states “Made in Italy”.
The Prime Minister handed over the top-of-the-range £600 table amid great fanfare during his visit to Washington last week.
By contrast, the Obamas gave the Camerons one of the few products still made in the US, a top-of-the-range barbecue which boasts that “every part is American-made”. The Braten 1000 Series grill, worth £2,000, was handmade by Engelbrecht Grills and Cookers of Paxton, Illinois.
Note EU-Digest: maybe UK PM David Cameron was indirectly trying to tell Mr. Obama about something he could not have openly said in public, like: "since the US and Britain are flooded by Chinese made products maybe we should be awarding local companies instead, who bring their production back from abroad to the home shores ? "
For more: David Cameron's 'best of British' gift to Barack Obama was made... in China. - Mirror Online
Slovenia Calls for Bids for 25% Stake in Steelmaker SIJ - by Boris Cerni
Slovenia invited bids for a 25 percent stake in Slovenska Industrija Jekla d.d., the country’s biggest steelmaker, which is majority owned by Russia’s OAO Koks (KOKS).
The offer to purchase 246,655 shares in the Slovenian company is valid until March 30, the country’s agency for managing state assets said in an e-mailed statement today.
The majority of Slovenska Industrija Jekla was bought in 2007 by Koks, a Kemerovo, Russia-based producer of raw materials for steel making.
For more: Slovenia Calls for Bids for 25% Stake in Steelmaker SIJ - Bloomberg
The offer to purchase 246,655 shares in the Slovenian company is valid until March 30, the country’s agency for managing state assets said in an e-mailed statement today.
The majority of Slovenska Industrija Jekla was bought in 2007 by Koks, a Kemerovo, Russia-based producer of raw materials for steel making.
For more: Slovenia Calls for Bids for 25% Stake in Steelmaker SIJ - Bloomberg
Norway police regret slow response to Utoya massacre in July - by Bjoern H. Amland
Norwegian police admitted for the first time Thursday that they could have responded faster to a youth camp shooting massacre that left 69 people dead in July.
Presenting the results of an internal evaluation, police officials said the response was slowed down by flaws in communication systems and other mishaps, including the breakdown of an overloaded boat that was carrying a SWAT team to the scene of the shooting on Utoya island.
Investigators say the confessed shooter, Anders Behring Breivik, set off a bomb in downtown Oslo, killing eight people, before he drove to a lake outside the capital and took a small ferry to summer retreat for the governing Labor Party's youth wing on Utoya. He was arrested 1 hour and 20 minutes later, according to the indictment presented last week.
For more: Norway police regret slow response to Utoya massacre in July - Winnipeg Free Press
Presenting the results of an internal evaluation, police officials said the response was slowed down by flaws in communication systems and other mishaps, including the breakdown of an overloaded boat that was carrying a SWAT team to the scene of the shooting on Utoya island.
Investigators say the confessed shooter, Anders Behring Breivik, set off a bomb in downtown Oslo, killing eight people, before he drove to a lake outside the capital and took a small ferry to summer retreat for the governing Labor Party's youth wing on Utoya. He was arrested 1 hour and 20 minutes later, according to the indictment presented last week.
For more: Norway police regret slow response to Utoya massacre in July - Winnipeg Free Press
The Netherlands: Art -Tefaf: going Dutch has never felt better - by Gareth Harris
Where in the world can you see long and good-humohibitionred queues waiting to get into an art fair at three o’clock on a weekday afternoon?” asked the correspondent in our assessment of the European Fine Art Fair (Tefaf) in Maastricht 11 years ago.
This undisputed grande dame of art fairs has proudly polishing her silver this month to mark her jubilee (16-25 March). Twenty-four years ago Tefaf Maastricht, now in its 25th edition, launched in the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) with 89 participating dealers, the majority of them Dutch. Most of the 17,672 visitors to the fair in 1988 traveled at most a few hundred kilometres. “Sunday was Belgian housewife day when they would come in and criticize all the frames,” says Peter Fairbanks, president of the San Francisco-based Montgomery Gallery, which has participated in all but three fairs since 1988.
This month, more than 270 international dealers will bring their most important inventory to Maastricht situated at the southernmost end of the Netherlands, close to the Belgian and German borders. “All the dealers save their best things for Maastricht” has become an art market truism. The queues, peopled with collectors from the US, Asia and across Europe, are just as long; indeed, fair organisers have struggled with the volume, raising ticket prices in 2007 after 84,020 visitors pressed their way down the aisles in 2006. The fair appears to have outpaced its rivals such as the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris, maintaining a lead when other fairs, including London’s Grosvenor House and the Haughton International Asian Art Fair in New York, have fallen by the wayside.
Crucially, trade specialists still see Tefaf as a market bellwether. “It is universally accepted as the master of its art and the focal point of traditional market activities,” says James Goodwin, the head of the art market course at Maastricht University. Richard Green of the eponymous London gallery, which deals in Old Masters, is one of the fair’s most fervent supporters. “It goes from strength to strength because it shows high quality paintings, fresh to the market and correctly priced,” he says. The stakes are high, with a substantial number of exhibitors making at least 30% of their annual turnover at Maastricht, but a post-crash “flight to quality” benefits certain sections such as Old Masters and modern blue-chip works.
For more: Tefaf: going Dutch has never felt better - The Art Newspaper
This undisputed grande dame of art fairs has proudly polishing her silver this month to mark her jubilee (16-25 March). Twenty-four years ago Tefaf Maastricht, now in its 25th edition, launched in the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) with 89 participating dealers, the majority of them Dutch. Most of the 17,672 visitors to the fair in 1988 traveled at most a few hundred kilometres. “Sunday was Belgian housewife day when they would come in and criticize all the frames,” says Peter Fairbanks, president of the San Francisco-based Montgomery Gallery, which has participated in all but three fairs since 1988.
This month, more than 270 international dealers will bring their most important inventory to Maastricht situated at the southernmost end of the Netherlands, close to the Belgian and German borders. “All the dealers save their best things for Maastricht” has become an art market truism. The queues, peopled with collectors from the US, Asia and across Europe, are just as long; indeed, fair organisers have struggled with the volume, raising ticket prices in 2007 after 84,020 visitors pressed their way down the aisles in 2006. The fair appears to have outpaced its rivals such as the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris, maintaining a lead when other fairs, including London’s Grosvenor House and the Haughton International Asian Art Fair in New York, have fallen by the wayside.
Crucially, trade specialists still see Tefaf as a market bellwether. “It is universally accepted as the master of its art and the focal point of traditional market activities,” says James Goodwin, the head of the art market course at Maastricht University. Richard Green of the eponymous London gallery, which deals in Old Masters, is one of the fair’s most fervent supporters. “It goes from strength to strength because it shows high quality paintings, fresh to the market and correctly priced,” he says. The stakes are high, with a substantial number of exhibitors making at least 30% of their annual turnover at Maastricht, but a post-crash “flight to quality” benefits certain sections such as Old Masters and modern blue-chip works.
For more: Tefaf: going Dutch has never felt better - The Art Newspaper
3/17/12
The Netherlands: Diederik Samson elected new Dutch Labor Party leader
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| Diederik Samson |
The 40-year-old MP has been a parliamentarian since 2003. He succeeds Job Cohen, who stepped down following continuous criticism of his weak and often unappreciated bi-partisan leadership.
Immediately following his election win Mr. Samson announced he would be on the attack against what he saw as “foolish and sometimes outright indecent cabinet policies" of the present Dutch Government headed by conservative Mark Rutte, supported by the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim PVV party of Geert Wilders.
Following his win Mr Samson was officially crowned the leader of the Labor Party today during a festive party congress in Rotterdam.
The other candidates in the labor party leadership race, Nebahat Albayrak ( a Dutch citizen from Turkish descent), Ronald Plasterk, Martijn van Dam and Lutz Jacobi all said they would back Samson’s leadership.
In his acceptance speech in Rotterdam today Samson told party members "Labor will only support the Rutte government in its European policy if it adopts a more pro-European stance". Samson said,“Europe should once again become a project of hope and also a social project, that goes well beyond markets and money”.
The Rutte minority government could face some stormy weather ahead. In the past it had always relied on Labor and other opposition parties for support when it came to their European policy, rather than on that of its official ally, the Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, which sees Europe as a source of unwelcome immigrants and costly commitments.
EU-Digest
Goldman Sachs becomes a lightning rod for anti-bank sentiment in Europe
Joining a growing chorus of criticism, one of Europe’s largest asset managers lashed out at Goldman Sachs Group Inc for not communicating quickly enough with clients after ex-banker Greg Smith publicly condemned the way the bank treats clients.
APG, a Dutch investment adviser that runs 300 billion euros ($ 290 billion) of assets for more than 4.5 million people in the Netherlands, said it was surprised it took the Wall Street bank more than a day to offer APG any reassurance on points raised in Greg Smith’s resignation letter.
“We would have expected that a company that faces such a big media backlash over something so core to their business such as client trust would have instantly reached out to those clients to say something,” APG spokesman Harmen Geers told Reuters.
For more: Business Newswires : euronews : the latest international news as video on demand
European Commission hits back at Prudential Insurance over threat to leave - by David Sandham
The European Commission said it had issued the statement in response to news stories that said the Prudential insurance company was considering leaving London because of the future Solvency II rules.
'The Commission fundamentally disagrees with statements made by some insurance companies that Solvency II leaves them with no choice but to leave the EU,' the statement said.
The Prudential's chief executive Tidjane Thiam had attacked the Solvency II rules earlier this week, saying: "We love London, we're a British company and we've been here for 160 years. It's not a debate about London but about the things that are happening in Brussels. Without Solvency II we wouldn't be having this debate.'
The European Commission vigorously defended its position. 'Solvency II – which the industry campaigned for in the first place – will improve the international competitiveness of insurers, not undermine it,' it claimed. 'The financial crisis demonstrated only too clearly how important good risk management and sound governance are. This is true for all financial actors, and not just banks. And this is not time for complacency in the financial sector.'
Note EU-Digest: maybe Prudential should get out of the EU and give up a market of close to half a billion people. This is the EU and Prudential will have to follow the rules of the land. It's as simple as that.
For more: European Commission hits back at the Pru over threat to leave - New Model Adviser®
'The Commission fundamentally disagrees with statements made by some insurance companies that Solvency II leaves them with no choice but to leave the EU,' the statement said.
The Prudential's chief executive Tidjane Thiam had attacked the Solvency II rules earlier this week, saying: "We love London, we're a British company and we've been here for 160 years. It's not a debate about London but about the things that are happening in Brussels. Without Solvency II we wouldn't be having this debate.'
The European Commission vigorously defended its position. 'Solvency II – which the industry campaigned for in the first place – will improve the international competitiveness of insurers, not undermine it,' it claimed. 'The financial crisis demonstrated only too clearly how important good risk management and sound governance are. This is true for all financial actors, and not just banks. And this is not time for complacency in the financial sector.'
Note EU-Digest: maybe Prudential should get out of the EU and give up a market of close to half a billion people. This is the EU and Prudential will have to follow the rules of the land. It's as simple as that.
For more: European Commission hits back at the Pru over threat to leave - New Model Adviser®
3/16/12
Which Electric Car Makes Most 'Cents'?
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| Electric Fiat 500 |
Because all the vehicles just named are more expensive than their non-electric counterparts, the value proposition becomes harder to grasp. The higher up-front cost has to be outweighed by savings on maintenance and fuel. It's been shown that electric cars are cheaper to fuel, both because electricity is a less expensive fuel than gasoline, and because electric cars are far more efficient with their energy than gasoline. But does that add up to making total cost of ownership less expensive? The answer to that depends on which way the price of gasoline goes.
In the meantime Coda Automotive's marketing team lists these five sales points as their big win over the other electric cars: Best in class driving range, Best in class range-per-dollar, Fast and easy recharging, Dependable range, and Superior battery technology.
For more: Which Electric Car Makes Most 'Cents'?: #evworld
Sarkozy, Socialists’ Hollande lead cast as presidential race shapes up in France
What’s likely to be a cacophonous list of French presidential candidates was being finalized Friday, but the race is really about two men with starkly different visions for the future of France.
Nicolas Sarkozy wants to make it a leaner, more competitive economy and keep a lid on immigration. Francois Hollande wants to tax the rich more, protect workers and make the country a kinder place — and become the first leftist to win the presidency in a generation.
French voters have six weeks to make up their minds before the balloting begins.
For more: Sarkozy, Socialists’ Hollande lead cast as presidential race shapes up in France - The Washington Post
Nicolas Sarkozy wants to make it a leaner, more competitive economy and keep a lid on immigration. Francois Hollande wants to tax the rich more, protect workers and make the country a kinder place — and become the first leftist to win the presidency in a generation.
French voters have six weeks to make up their minds before the balloting begins.
For more: Sarkozy, Socialists’ Hollande lead cast as presidential race shapes up in France - The Washington Post
Outer Space: Why Asteroid Panic Is On the Rise
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is making headlines this week, despite the fact that the "incoming" space rock, as it has been described, definitely won't hit Earth.
The 150-foot-wide space rock will pass within 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometers) of us next February. That's nearer than the orbits of some geosynchronous satellites, and the closest shave of a mid-size asteroid ever predicted before the actual flyby has occurred. But even so, NASA assures the world that there is no chance of asteroid 2012 DA14 hitting Earth next year. Zero, zip, zilch
Why, then, all the terror about this unthreatening space rock? And why the recent doom and gloom about another space rock, the big asteroid 2011 AG5, a football-field-size rock that NASA says will almost certainly not collide with the planet in 2040? Don Yeomans, head of the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, blames the upsurge in asteroid panic on two main factors
For more: Why Asteroid Panic Is On the Rise | Asteroid 2012 DA14 & 2011 AG5 | Space.com
The 150-foot-wide space rock will pass within 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometers) of us next February. That's nearer than the orbits of some geosynchronous satellites, and the closest shave of a mid-size asteroid ever predicted before the actual flyby has occurred. But even so, NASA assures the world that there is no chance of asteroid 2012 DA14 hitting Earth next year. Zero, zip, zilch
Why, then, all the terror about this unthreatening space rock? And why the recent doom and gloom about another space rock, the big asteroid 2011 AG5, a football-field-size rock that NASA says will almost certainly not collide with the planet in 2040? Don Yeomans, head of the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, blames the upsurge in asteroid panic on two main factors
For more: Why Asteroid Panic Is On the Rise | Asteroid 2012 DA14 & 2011 AG5 | Space.com
Syria unrest: Turkish nationals urged to return home
Turkey has urged its citizens to leave Syria, saying developments there have led to "serious security risks".
The foreign ministry said in a statement that some consular services would be halted on 22 March.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that some consular services would be halted on 22 March.
Meanwhile PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested a safe zone along the border, where refugee numbers have risen sharply in recent days.
More than 14,000 Syrian refugees have now crossed into Turkey
For more: BBC News - Syria unrest: Turkish nationals urged to return home
EU suspects telcos working against Apple and Google
Europe's top antitrust watchdog is mulling over an investigation against the European Union's five biggest telecommunication companies for possible anticompetitive collusion against potential competitors including Apple and Google.
The Commission has sent out questionnaires wanting information on meetings between Vodafone, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica could have amounted to collusion. The GSMA, a trade body that represents telecommunications operators, has also been quizzed.
This fact finding is normally the first stage of a formal investigation. The five first met in October 2010 and apparently discussed strategy and standardisation issues.
For more: EU suspects telcos working against Apple and Google
The Commission has sent out questionnaires wanting information on meetings between Vodafone, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica could have amounted to collusion. The GSMA, a trade body that represents telecommunications operators, has also been quizzed.
This fact finding is normally the first stage of a formal investigation. The five first met in October 2010 and apparently discussed strategy and standardisation issues.
For more: EU suspects telcos working against Apple and Google
Dutch PM Rutte ignores EU parliament motion on PVV anti-Polish website
The Dutch news agency ANP reported that Prime minister Mark Rutte continued to distance himself from condemning the Geert Wilders PVV's controversial website on Thursday, despite a large majority vote in the European parliament in favor of a motion branding the website 'discriminatory and malicious'.
In the meantime PVV parliamentarian Hero Brinkman said his party would not provide information to the Government as to who its donors or financial contributors are. Dutch law requires disclosure by every political party of the names of people, corporations, or other entities who have paid more than euro 4500.00 into the party coffers, or risk paying a fine of euro 25.000.00 . Brinkman twittered today the party would present their "annual report" as usual.
EU-Digest
In the meantime PVV parliamentarian Hero Brinkman said his party would not provide information to the Government as to who its donors or financial contributors are. Dutch law requires disclosure by every political party of the names of people, corporations, or other entities who have paid more than euro 4500.00 into the party coffers, or risk paying a fine of euro 25.000.00 . Brinkman twittered today the party would present their "annual report" as usual.
EU-Digest
European Union Parliament votes to maintain its1988 ban on the import of hormone-treated beef and other meat products from the US and Canada
The European parliament in Strasbourg voted on Wednesday to approve a deal that effectively ends a more than two-decades-long trade war with the United States and Canada over the imports of hormone-treated beef.
The new deal allows the European Union to keep its ban imposed in 1988 on the import of hormone-treated beef and other meat products from US and Canada in return for increasing its quota for imports of high-quality North American beef that have not been treated with growth hormones
In a 650 to 11 vote with 11 abstentions, European lawmakers approved the deal which sets the annual EU quota for the import of high-quality North American beef from cattle that have not been treated with growth hormones at 48,00 tons.
Although the new deal has been approved by the Council of EU Ministers for it to come into force, the procedure is considered to be a mere formality as the ministers have already the deal their informal approval. The EU member-nations expected to gain most from the lifting of US sanctions are Italy, Poland, Greece, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, France and Spain.
EU-Digest
The new deal allows the European Union to keep its ban imposed in 1988 on the import of hormone-treated beef and other meat products from US and Canada in return for increasing its quota for imports of high-quality North American beef that have not been treated with growth hormones
In a 650 to 11 vote with 11 abstentions, European lawmakers approved the deal which sets the annual EU quota for the import of high-quality North American beef from cattle that have not been treated with growth hormones at 48,00 tons.
Although the new deal has been approved by the Council of EU Ministers for it to come into force, the procedure is considered to be a mere formality as the ministers have already the deal their informal approval. The EU member-nations expected to gain most from the lifting of US sanctions are Italy, Poland, Greece, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, France and Spain.
EU-Digest
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