China auto industry growing 30% per year: Can the auto show increase it?

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
The exhibition of auto parts in China will be held on June 8 and continue till June 10. Auto Components Shanghai 2006 will be held in Jiading Automobile Town over 12000 square meters. More than two hundred auto parts manufacturers both domestic and foreign will be participating in this exhibition. I am quoting from the press release:
As a grand event of China's auto parts industry, nearly 200 manufacturers from 10 countries and regions will attend, including over 40% foreign companies, and the exhibition space will reach 12,000 m2.
This exhibition is sponsored by CCPIT Shanghai Branch and SAE-China and undertaken by Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. affiliated to Shanghai World Expo (Group) Co Ltd. and the German IMAG-International Trade Fair and Exhibition Co. Ltd.
Chinese Auto Industry for the last few years has been growing at a rapid pace. At an average the industry grew by 30% per year. Alongside the auto parts industry had its fair share of growth. According to the press release in 2005 the number of auto parts producers reached 5000 and production was amounted to RMB440 billion and it is increasing. Seeing the potential of the industry many world famous autoparts producers came to China. At present 70% of the 100 top auto parts producers have their business in China. In addition, Chinese auto parts producing companies are exporting their products abroad. Last year, these companies exported 19.7 billion dollar of autoparts.
Eight exhibition groups are participating in this exhibition: China auto electronic and electric appliance exhibition group, Shanghai auto parts exhibition group, Zhejiang auto parts exhibition group, Japanese exhibition group, German exhibition group and Taiwan exhibition group.
Exhibitions and shows are a great way to attract visitors and potential investors and buyers inside the country. The Auto Component Show 2006 is the biggest show ever held. I believe and hope that this show will take China a step further towards their goal.

Related articles:
Auto Components Shanghai 2006 Moves to Jiading Automobile Town in June for First the Time

GIMME FIVE !!!!

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Korea, Asia’s Third largest economy, in 2005 acquired fifth position in automobile production. Automobile industry is a very competitive one and Korea is the home of some famous car making companies like-- Hyundai, Daewoo. Hyundai is the world’s 7th largest car producing company. Automobile is one of the major export items of Korea and in 2005 it produced 3.7 million cars out of which, 2.6 million have been exported. The first second third and fourth places were taken by USA, Japan, Germany, and China. To celebrate this success on Tuesday a ceremony took place at the Grand Inter Continental in Seoul. In that ceremony Korea’s Commerce Minister, Chung Sye-kyun said “We will seek to overcome the current challenges of the business environment and become a winning global player through endless efforts to improve our automobile productivity, which will call for trimming costs."
This huge success has made Korean car makers very ambitious and now they are planning produce 7.6 million cars by 2015. Congratulations to Korean Automakers!!! they have done a great job.

Related articles:
Korea ranks world's No. 5 in auto output

' Warcraft' raising a war in China

Written by: Biplob Kishor Deb
Chinese people are becoming crazy about pc gaming. For your convenience, here I should give an information that, at present, there are about 200,000 people are enjoying online gaming in China. The most recent evidence of such increasing popularity of gaming among the Chinese is the World of Warcraft game that became an instant hit in the Chinese market just after its launching in China one year back.

The present game fans of World Warcraft in China are more than 4.3 million which is more than the half of its total users world wide. So, the developer of this game, Blizzard became astonished seeing the rapid growth of its users in China and they said that they have more than six million users over the world. But recently some problems were found between Blizzard and the operator of this game in China, The 9 Limited. Blizzard refused The 9 Limited to give permission to update with its upcoming “Burning Crusade” expansion. On the other hand, The 9 Limited threatened Blizzard that they would operate another game “Guild War,” which is the competitor of World of Warcraft. The 9 Limited is now getting its 99 percent revenue from the World of Warcraft. To solve this problem both companies have started discussion but they have not figured out any possible solution. Here, it is also noteworthy that the revenue of the last quarter of The 9 Limited was less than its previous one because of having some technical problem with its database. The 9 Limited said that, “Of the 4.3 million registered player accounts in China, on average 300,000 are playing at any one time and during peak hours there are up to 610,000 playing simultaneously.”

Well, Chinese people are heading towards the gaming world and that is why, the gaming companies will also be heading towards the Chinese people.

What do you think about it?

Source:
China's millions flock to World of Warcraft
Global Gaming league (GGL) going for China (another article published in Asianbiz on China gaming)

Joint venture between Pugeot and Bank of China

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Peugeot Citroen Automobile Corporation and Bank of China will launch a joint venture auto financing project. The name of the project will be Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto Finance Company Limited. According to the report published in Forbes the total capital of this project is 500 million Chinese yuan. This venture won the approval of China Banking Regulatory Commission in August 2005. The major shareholders in this joint venture are Bank of China (50%), Banque PSA Finance (25%), and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Company Limited (25%). An official of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Auto Finance Company Limited said that the company would start its operation from July.

Related articles:
PSA Peugeot Citroen China auto financing JV to start operations in July

Thai people are heeding towards gambling on the craze of World cup

Written by: Biplob Kishore Deb
Football is the only sport that has great appeal over the world. Let me give one example, more than 850,000 people in Bangkok will bet in the coming World Cup. The news is based on a survey of the Assumption University ABAC. The university conducted a survey on 1,584 people in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.

According to the survey, about 850,173 football fans, who are above 13, will participate in gambling in Bangkok on the occasion of upcoming world cup. These people will gamble around $56.3 million. Can you imagine that the people of a country like Thailand, who did not qualify in the World cup since this tournament started in 1930 and not even established themselves as a big power in the world football, are going to spend such a big amount in gambling ahead of world cup football? It seems that people are getting the football fever.

The pool also found that about 83% of the 850,173 football fans will be involved in gambling just for getting some extra enjoyment while watching the matches. On the other hand, rest of the fans will do this just for sharpening their analytical skills. Here, it is noteworthy that according to the ABAC survey, about 63.8 percent people in Bangkok will watch live matches and it will decrease productivity, but this problem may not be so severe because all of the world cup matches will be held at night in Bangkok as well as in the other South Asian countries due to time difference.

So, now could you understand why football is a universal sport?
I am sure, you could.
Source:
Survey finds 850,000 Bangkok football fans gambling on World Cup

WE WANT MORE!!!!

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
I do not know whether to be sad or happy with this news. Last Aprill, China’s amount of oil consumed was higher than that of the month of April in 2004. For the past few days I have written two posts about China’s present oil scenario- China raises its oil price, and China’s present Oil scenario. This post is a kind of update on the China’s present condition regarding its oil. I am quoting from the report:
China's apparent demand for oil climbed 10.8 percent in April from a year earlier, the strongest rise since 2004, after an increase in state-set fuel prices encouraged refiners to boost supplies to the domestic market.
The world's second-largest oil consumer used 6.69 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, calculations based on official data showed, despite a fall in crude imports as refiners shunned soaring global markets.

According to the report increase in the sales of cars in April has contributed behind this rise. China recently has raised its oil price due to price rise in the world market. However, price sensitive users like taxi drivers, fishermen, farmers did not hurt for this because of China government’s protective policy. According to Jeff Brown, analyst, International Energy Agency, due to the price rise of oil there will be increasing supply in the domestic market of China.

Related articles:
UPDATE 4-China April oil demand growth strongest since 2004

World Cup Blog: The place to be

The 18th world cup football is going to be held from 9June in Germany. Ahead of this biggest occasion of sports, fans become crazy and most of them started something all about world cup. On this occasion fans frequently go through some websites for taking information regarding their favorite teams and players with pictures and some other background news of world cup like statistics, records, player profile etc.


Considering such a huge interests of football fans over the world, a blog named “World Cup Blog” has been launched where football fans have access to go through some important and informative articles on various latest aspects of upcoming world cup like team analysis, player analysis etc. Fans can through their comment on each article and share their views and opinion. They can also easily find articles on the basis of their favorite teams with separate links. So fans can get article based on different category. Every article has relevant picture that makes the article more attractive to its readers. They can also find the name of top 5 teams in terms of getting highest posts. Moreover what is more important is that most of the articles get a huge number of comments and here lies the success of this blog.

The article I liked most is titled “What are your world cup superstitions.” Here, writer Bob Kellett, the managing editor of World cup blog, shows some interesting superstitious ideas of world footballer that they are used to do. I give my heartiest thanks to Mr. Bob for his excellent and informative article.

I think football fans and journalists can find this blog a window of information and latest news.

So, dear readers, pay a visit to this blog and who knows, you may find something more interesting in this blog that I did not find.

Source:
World Cup Blog
(by Biplob Kishore Deb)

Paeonia

In the beginning, blogging appeared to me like maintaining a diary on the net. There is nothing special about it. You write your thoughts and ideas and that is it. Now, I must say that my idea about blogs has changed. In previous months, I have come across many great blogs and known great bloggers. I have no doubt that blog and blogging is a serious business. Until now, I have come across one or two personal blogs. Recently, I have come across another personal blog of a Finnish woman: Paeonia.
Looking at the title of the blog, Paeonia, I thought that it may be a Finnish word. Then I looked for definition in Google and I found out that Paeonia is the Genus of a flower plant family. Then I looked at the title again and I noticed that in the background there is a hazy picture of green leaves. It appeared to me that, the author is a lover of nature and greenery (I am not sure about it). Below the title, an interesting statement: I, a hardy lady, botanize in both academic and civic flora. Well, the side picture ensures me that the writer is a lady (and definitely a beautiful one I would say); however, after going through her CV I have no doubt that she is definitely a hardy lady!!!!!
Susanne Sperring lives in Finland. She studied in Åbo Akademi University Turku, Finland. She did her B.A in Romance Philology and M.A in Sociology. She has a diversified career- a waitress, journalist, trainee, and many other activities. She is a highly energetic woman. At present she is a Laboratory Assistant in the iDTV Lab, at Media City of Åbo Akademi University. She is doing her PhD in the same University. Among her other qualities: she is ambidextrous, a booklover and a serious reader (after getting a literature scholarship she has bought many books and on the side bar you will also find small review of the books she is reading lately).
Paeonia contains small posts on various subjects of Susanne’s interest; television, internet TV, iTV conferences, interesting news and events happened or will happen to the author, ranging from 100-200 words. Honestly, I like this style because the writer describes her thoughts and ideas in simple sentences without using many examples or long introductions. Among recent posts, I enjoyed: Happiness formula, News Flashes, 2 years anniversary, Rocking International Women's Day, and Vasaloppet race timing. Among her old posts I really liked fate uncovered, hooray again!, Mystery of dialects, Runeberg's Day, and lastly Organizational blogs are more conversational than web sites.
Recently, Sussanne joined a conference on internet television in Athens and she uploaded the paper she read in the conference. Unfortunately, I could not read it because it was written in Finnish but those of you who know Finnish can see the paper from this link:
http://mediacity.abo.fi/idtvlab/documents/Sperring_Strandvall_Atiner_06.pdf.
Wish you readers a happy visit!!!
Useful links:
http://www.vasa.abo.fi/mediacity/home/index.php?lang=2&link=21&subID=232
(In case, if you fail to see the paper you can also get it through this link)

China getting 1.5 billion dollar loan from World Bank for infrustructural development

World Bank has decided to lend China 1.5 billion dollars to develop its infrastructure and overcome its challenges. The loan will be given in small amounts starting from 2006 and ending in 2010. The majority portion of the loan will be used in projects aimed at reducing poverty in rural China. In addition, the loans will be used to deal with issues such as, rapid industrialization, environmental problems, resource management, growing inequality between village and city population and so on. I am quoting from the report:
About 70 per cent of the proposed projects using the loans through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be in China's poorer inland provinces, the bank's China office said in a statement on its newly-endorsed strategy for the country for five years.
According to the strategy approved last week by the World Bank, the bank will help China integrate itself into the world economy, address poverty and inequality, manage resource scarcities and environmental challenges during 2006 and 2010, the statement said.
It will also help China strengthen the financial sector, and improve public and market institutions.

According to World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, to increase the economic strength of China is very important for the world economy. China, at present, has a population of 1.3 billion. It has world’s third largest economy and the fourth largest trading nation. Although Communist, the country reformed its strategies and observed a rapid growth since 1978. China today has acquired the top position in manufacturing.
Despite these advancements it is considered as a developing country because of its poverty. The people of rural China are very poor and according to the World Bank their daily income is less than one dollar per day. Yet, China’s private sector is increasing at a rapid pace and only few cities of China is getting all the facilities. If such inequality remains then it would create serious problem. Hence, World Bank has decided to help China smooth its problems and integrate the country into Global business.

Related Articles:
WB offers $1.5 bn loans annually to China
World Bank offers loans up to USD 1.5 bn annually to China
China to join India as largest WB borrowers

China’s present Oil scenario

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Industrialization in China is growing at a rapid pace and the consumption of oil is increasing along with it. Chinese Oil experts are worried that such huge demand would risk China’s industrialization.

Zhu Jianjun, Director, Department of Development Research, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), in an Energy forum said that by 2020 China’s oil consumption would rise to 500 million tons. Last year, the amount was 320 million tons and by 2010 it would become 380 million tons. The Energy forum was recently held in Beijing. In the forum Zhu said that he was not worried about the oil shortage rather with the uneven distribution of oil in the world market, which is creating huge risk. Zhu expected that by 2010 China’s oil import would increase by 190 million tons constituting 50% of the annual oil consumption. It would become 60% by 2010.

On the contrary, China’s domestic oil production will observe a steady increase from 2006 to 2010. The total output is expected to be around 185 to 195 million tons. According to Pan Derun, Deputy Chairman, China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, since1984 China has discovered oil reserves containing 800-900 million tons per year. At present there are 576 oilfields in the country.

No doubt that oil is the main source of energy in the present day world and the demand of oil is increasing day by day. I think from now China should focus on alternative power resources because oil may be very important but its price is increasing and it is causing serious pollution. This is the time to do research on alternative source of energy.



Useful Links:
http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/business/userobject1ai2058681.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/27/content_4609449.htm
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/05/26/afx2775116.html

Yaro Starak’s Blogging Mantras

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Are you a new blogger in the block? Are you serious about writing blogs? Do you want to attract fair amount of readers to read your posts and increase you traffic? Well, to know about all these things you should visit the Blog Traffic School.COM. This blog is written by Yaro Starak. Formerly, a web designer in the University of Queensland, Yaro started blogging in 2004. In 2005 he started Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, which did not have many readers. Yaro then decided to become a serious blogger and set a goal to attract at least 500 readers to his blog in which he became successful. He is now running several internet businesses from his home. His blog traffic school contains strategies for building up a successful blog and tips on 'how to increase blog traffic?'.
I went through two of his blogs-- blog traffic school and Entrepreneurs journey. Blog Traffic School is all about building up a successful blog. I am really new in blogging and honestly, I enjoyed going through all the articles of the blog trafficking school. The article I liked most is The Original Top 10 Blog Traffic Tips. This article is very very helpful for new bloggers, especially, those who are serious about blogging. They will get many good tips about “how to attract readers?” from this article. How To “Announce” A Blog describes strategies that will help you boost your blog at its primary stage. Blogger or TypePad or WordPress? talks about different blogging websites and Word Press, a software, used for publishing your writings in the blog. I did not know about this software much so I searched Google and I found an article about Word Press in Wikipedia. Those who are interested to know about word press can visit the article from this link. Another noticeable feature of this blog is you can receive news letters containing different tips and tricks about blog.
Entrepreneurs-Journey is a blog dedicated to those engaged in internet related business. This blog contains many insightful articles related to web business. I really enjoyed the latest article Why Yahoo!, MSN & Ask.com Will Fail In The Pay-Per-Click Game. It contains the pros and cons of the popular search engines’ pay per click service. As I was going through the first article I came across a hyperlinked phrase “80/20 rule”. I clicked on the hyperlink and the article What Is The 80/20 Rule And Why It Will Change Your Life appeared. It is really a nice article. Yaro talks about his personal motto- which he believes. Google’s Plan For World Domination is an article about how Google will be more successful with its present line of Advertising and Payment service- its advantages and disadvantages.
Yaro also offers a course on blogging. You can know about the course from this article- How Much Will Blog Traffic School Cost? I find Yaro’s blogs very insightful and I like his posts because he talks about his personal experiences which gives his posts a different touch and makes them more unique and good to read. You can visit the two blogs from these two links:
Entrepreneurs Journey
Blog Traffic King
Please, comment in my post after you visit the blog. If you find any other useful information please write to me.


Useful Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress

Prisoners will enjoy World Cup Football 2006, Germany- staying in Bangladeshi prisons

(by Bipob Kishore Deb)
Dear readers, after reading the title, please do not think that Bangladesh government is going to launch any quiz competition for the prisoners so that they can go to Germany ahead of the upcoming world cup because government has no idea to let any prisoners be free from the prison before their punishment is over. So, how they will go to Germany?

Well, they will be in Germany virtually, not physically during the world cup as Bangladesh government is going to make a chance of watching world cup matches live on Bangladesh television (National television of Bangladesh) for the 71,000 prisoners of 66 prisons in Bangladesh for the first time considering the immense popularity of football in the country. Here, it is noteworthy that not only in Bangladesh, football has a great attraction in other South Asian countries too. In this regard, I read an article titled “World cup football 2006 fever and South Asia” written by Razib Ahmed where writer pointed out the huge popularity of football although no South Asian country has ever qualified in World Cup Football.

Inspector general of prisoners in Bangladesh, Brigadier General Zakir Hossain said, “The country's prisoners can watch the World Cup football for the first time as all the prisons now have televisions after we introduced them in 2003.”

The example of Bangladesh can be followed in other countries too and hopefully in the coming days the appeal of football can be used to motivate people not to break the law and go to prison.

What do you think about this idea?

Source:
Bangladesh inmates to enjoy World Cup for the first time

Visual radio

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Visual Radio is a blog about online radio. The blog writer is interested about blogs, visual radio, micro movies, and digital documents digital storytelling. However, the blog also contains posts on other topics. As I was going through I found a post on China (The Rise of China), which is very well written and informative. One of the main problems of the blog is that the writer does not post regularly. I think the people who are interested about topics such as, I pod, online radio, online audio and Video on demand will find lots of information in this blog. The intended audiences are Europeans since the writer lives in a European country. The blog contains a good number of articles about online audio, video. The article Online video, narrowcasting, podcasting focuses on how things like Video on demand (VOD), pod casting are quickly becoming popular and attracting lots of people and giving them a chance to represent their ideas in the net. Another Article How Many Blogs? Is about the rising number of blogs and how it is taking over the internet and also attracting various business organizations and media organizations. All the posts are pretty well written except one problem - the long period break between each post. You can visit the blog through this link. If you find anything or know anything about the writer or the blog please feel free to write here.

Nissan: no plans to shift to Eastern Europe

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Nissan Motor Corporation, Japan’s top automobile producer, has decided to stay in England. Now days, there is a growing trend among automobile manufacturers in Europe to shift their factories in Eastern Europe because of cheap labor and growing car market. Companies like KIA, Toyota, and Hyundai are making plans to shift their plants in Czech Republic, Prague, and Slovakia. However, Nissan Motor Corporation’s Senior Vice-President, Colin Dodge assured that Nissan would not move its headquarter from Sunderland, in northeast England. Collin said this on Monday in an Interview with Reuters. He also said that it is easy to make some short term gains from the shifting of manufacturing plants to another country but Nissan has been supplying cars in England for the last twenty years and it has now became one of the biggest car producers (4.1 million cars, one fifth of the total car production) in England and one of England’s biggest employers. He also mentioned that if such trend continues among automobile producers then it will seriously hamper the supply of automobiles in Western Europe.
According to the Reuters report, KIA, an affiliate of Hyundai and one of the fastest growing automobile companies in Europe has decided to build a plant in Slovakia and produce 300,000 mid sized cars by 2009. Hyundai also decided to build another plant in the Czech Republic.
Dodge said that Europe has the toughest automobile market in the world. There are many world class manufacturers who produce good quality products but he is optimistic that Nissan would steer clear the obstacles and would remain very competitive in the coming years.

Related Articles:
CORRECTED-Nissan says no plans to quit UK for Eastern Europe
Nissan to stay in UK

Here comes Toyota Camry Made in China

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Toyota’s first production of Camry in China has made its debut on Tuesday. Hundreds of government and company officials were present to celebrate the moment. This new car is produced in Toyota’s new manufacturing plant in China. Toyota Camry has already ranked top selling car in America. According to the report published in the Mainichi Daily.com the new Made-in-China Toyota Camry will cost 197,800-269,800 Yuan which is far below than the price of an imported Camry (340,000 Yuan). Toyota officials are expecting that this new price will increase the sales. Toyota Motor Corporation is comparatively a late comer in the Chinese auto market. In 2005 it sold 179,000 vehicles in China. Compared to the Japanese automakers General Motor Corporation is doing well in China. Last year, it outpaced Volkswagen. Another major challenge for Japanese automakers is the remaining political tension between the two countries that took a serious turn last year. After all this, Japanese automakers are very optimistic about selling their products and invested heavily in China. The new Chinese plant of Toyota is worth 3.8 billion Yuan. The plant contains all the latest technologies of auto manufacturing.

Related Articles:
Toyota rolls out first made-in-China Camry in bid to catch up with rivals

Indian automakers setting up plants in Abroad

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Indian automakers are now moving their operations outside the country. Due to the recent economic boom and easy to pay car loans the country’s automobile industry is observing an increase in car sales. Now the automobile producers are establishing manufacturing plants outside India. They are taking the tax cuts and other economic benefits offered by those countries. According to the report published in Sify.com Indian companies are setting up their plants in Indonesia, South Africa.

This month Tata Motors Limited and Marcopolo, a Brazilian bus making company has set up a joint venture under which, Tata Motor at its bus making plant in Africa will produce buses. Tata will also assemble pick up trucks in Thailand with a local firm.
Mahindra & Mahindra is looking forward to assemble pick up trucks in Malaysia. TVS Motor is also planning to set up a plant in Indonesia. Bajaj is also setting up its plant in Indonesia.
The prospering domestic market has made Indian automakers take bold steps and try new markets. However, economists and auto analysts mentioned that such move involves huge risks and the automakers should not move their attention from domestic market.
Related articles:
Auto makers look abroad for branding

China raises its oil price

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
China has raised its oil price due to the raise of oil price in the world market. This is the second time in the last two months that China has raised its oil price. According to the report published in Bloomberg.com Chinese government raised the price of gasoline by 10.6 percent, diesel by 12.3 percent and jet fuel by 10.3 percent. However, the price of oil in China is far below than other countries; 4.20 yuan or 52 U.S. cents and 42 euro cents per liter, or about US$2.10 a gallon. China after USA and Japan in the world is the third largest oil consumer. Until 1990 China depended on oil raised from its domestic wells. The demand of oil increased followed by its economic boom especially, in the manufacturing sector. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said that China’s main planning agency, State Development and Reform Commission, had imposed the hike because the present price of oil in China is far below than that of the International market. For this reason, Chinese oil refinery can not make much profit by selling refined oil. The raise was necessary in order to keep the flow of the oil supply. The Commission asked local governments to adopt subsidy policies after this rise and take necessary steps to protect the taxi drivers. It also asked the two National oil suppliers China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) to keep supplying oil as per the demand. This is the second major price adjustment in China since 2003.

Related Articles:
China Raises Fuel Prices Again But Remains Below World Levels
China raises fuel prices by 10 per cent
China raises fuel prices
China's Gasoline, Diesel Price Gains Won't Stem Refining Losses
China's Fuel Price Gains Won't End Refining Losses (Update1)
China raises gasoline, diesel prices

BBC Blog: The Door to FIFA World Cup Football 2006

The world cup football is knocking at the door and BBC opened the door making an outstanding and informative blog for the football fans throughout the world. Through this blog football fans can have an access to be in touch with the World cup football. BBC news staffs are sending recent news on world cup staying in Germany. So, every news item is like a new drop of water from the sky during the rain and readers enjoy the article on recent news much. Every article gets a lot of comments and thus it has become a very highly interactive place for the football fans.

Now, let me be first to give thanks to Roger Mosey, the director of BBC sport, for launching such a blog that provides instant news of world cup to the readers. The blog publishes article on various topics including the news of teams, fans, host nation Germany and many more. Moreover, another thing that made me feel very happy is that readers can through some questions and BBC blog officials give answers to these questions later on.

Among the all articles, one article titled "Ominous words" written by the editor of the blog, Alex Rickett, attracted me much where the writer focuses on the places where the world cup teams are practicing and he also predicts that England would perform well even if they do not get Wayne Rooney. I should give thanks to Mr. Alex for his well-thought article.

Besides, there are some interesting links of world cup diaries of some star players like Michael Owen, David Beckham, Ronaldinho etc.
where they talk about their views, thought, opinion, goals regarding the world cup. So, I find this article very interesting and informative. Readers can know about the pre-tournament views and thought of their favorite players.

At last, I would like to say that irrespective of football fans, blog writer and journalists can go through this blog. Have you visited the blog? Not yet, then why are you getting late?

BBC blog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldcup/

Betting and World Cup Football 2006

(by Biplob Kishore Deb)
English fans are eagerly waiting for the 25 May to know about the Rooney's injury because his injured leg will be scanned on the day and his fate will be decided. Moreover, fans are also expecting to see some magic from the 17 year-old Theo Walcott, a surprise inclusion in the squad. Yes Fans are eagerly waiting for them but bookies are even more eagerly waiting for them because the participation of players like Rooney and Walcott will attract more people to participate into betting or gambling.

Well, betting is a common phenomenon in the English society but these days it is becoming very important ahead of world cup. There are different kinds of bets on different matters including "Golden Boot" winner, the number of corner kicks in a game, which hair style will be chosen by the England captain David Beckham in Germany etc. Besides these subjects, sometimes people bet on some very interesting topics. For exmaple, a 32 year-old warehouse manager, Mr. Harvey bet with bookmakers William Hill placing £20 on a funny thing that on July 9, his wife, Diana, will give birth their first child and England will win the world cup. The company allotted him an odd of 150/1, interesting isn’t it?

Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, a senior gambling adviser to the government, told Reuters, "Britain is the world centre for bookmaking, and the world's biggest betting exchanges are based in Britain; that's where most of the money on the World Cup will be spent."

Betting is an every day part of British society but the craze for bet has been started since government excluded vat on the gambler and bookmaker companies. This exclusion of vat and using online bet made a boom in the annual revenue of the industry which has a market size of just 15 billion dollar in 2002 and now it has become 100 billion dollar industry.

Now, people can also bet staying at home through telephone and interactive television. So, betting becomes easier than it was before. In the past, people could bet only before the match but now people have access to bet throughout the match because of online technology.


However, this chance of betting throughout the match, sometimes decreases the probability of a match to be fair. Last year in Germany, a referee Robert Hoyzer was accused of fixing matches in 2 million euro (1.4 million pounds). FIFA launched a new company to detect the suspicious betting pattern.

In this regard, Vaughn Williums said that, "The game is more transaprent than ever before. Everything you do now is monitored. They know where you bet, how much you bet. Before, when it was just in a shop, it could never be controlled. (Cheating) was there before, you just didn't know about it."

What is your view about it?

Source:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=765662006

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=RP2225397J&news_headline=footie_fans_daddy_of_all_world_cup_bets

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003680262

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2006-05-23T130230Z_01_L23310617_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SOCCER-WORLD-BETTING.xml
http://www.southasiabiz.com/world_cup_football_2006/

TEAM UNICEF and FIFA to play for children and peace

We all dream that superstars from different countries could play in one team instead of fighting with each other. Well that is going to come true soon.
Dear readers, what are you thinking? No, I am not making any story or I am not daydreaming and for sure, I am not joking with you. Believe me; a team titled "Team UNICEF" will play in the next world cup where 15 players from 15 different countries will play within a team. However, they will not play in the field rather they will play for the well being of children of the world and for the promotion of peace.

FIFA and UNICEF, have jointly launched a campaign with the slogan of "Unite for children, unite for peace." The goal of this campaign is to promote football as a tool of helping the children. We all, love football and if something is done in the name of football the children will love it and the adults too.

In this regard, UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said, "whether they are playing on busy streets, in crowded refugee camps or amidst the chaos of conflict, children find joy through sport. But sport is more than just a game -- it is also one of the best ways for children to learn teamwork, tolerance and the value of play." He also added, "UNICEF and FIFA share a common commitment to transforming young athletes into upstanding citizens."

The activities of this campaign include public service announcement (PSA) on UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham and other 14 menbers of the TEAM UNICEF, a website, 11 case studies of children throughout the world with video profile of some children who have benefited from Football.

FIFA president Seep Blatter said that "FIFA is pleased to be working with UNICEF to carry the message that sport - and particularly football - is a peace-building exercise and the core of childhood, and one that can contribute to making the world a better place,"

Often, we hear about the lavish life style of and record breaking salaries of football players. So, naturally, this news is welcome break for us.
What do you think about it?

Source:
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=May&x=200605221204001xeneerg0.4379846&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003656776
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/other_sports/14622205.htm
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/NEWS/605210346/1004/EDUCATION05

Siemens signs up to provide GSM-R network in China

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Siemens communication group has made an agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Railways. According to the report published in Marketwatch.com “The contract is worth a double-digit million euro sum.” Siemen will provide GSM- R network on 115 kilometer long railway from Beijing to Tianjin.

GSM---Global System for Mobile Communication, a widely used digital mobile phone standard and R- stands for Railway. The system integrates voice and data communication in the rail line system. The project is expected to finish by the beginning of August 2008. This is a pilot project taken in order to start the high standard passenger train between Tianjin and Beijing. The track is designed for high speed trains (350 kilometer per hour). China is now looking forward to improve its existing railway communications and build up efficient railway transport. I am quoting from the report published in Wireless developer network.
GSM-R technology from Siemens provides the Chinese railway operator with the efficient and future-proof solutions it needs, preparing the way for a new era in rail transport. This project is the first time that Siemens Communications has offered a complete package for the Chinese rail sector. It includes signaling and dispatching technology, power supply, overhead lines, system integration and complete project management. Construction of the route is one of the key projects for the 2008 Olympic Games in China.
The order is the second major GSM-R project for Siemens Communications in China. Siemens entered the Chinese market with GSM-R when the Jinan-Qingdao line was equipped with communications technology for railways. These two projects are consolidating Siemens' position as the world market leader in GSM-R networks.
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Siemens makes agreement with Chinese telecommunication companies

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Today, Siemens Communication Unit announced that it has made a deal with the China Mobile Communications Corporation and China United Communications Corporation to provide second generation mobile network equipment and maintenance service. The deal was worth a total of 174 million US dollar. I am quoting from the report published in Marketwatch.com
BEIJING (MarketWatch) -- Siemens AG's (SI) communications unit said Monday it will supply CNY1.4 billion ($174.42 million) worth of second-generation mobile network equipment and maintenance services to China's two mobile-phone operators this year.
The deal with China Mobile Communications Corp. (MCC.YY) is worth CNY900 million, while that with China United Communications Corp. is worth CNY500 million, said Charles Wang, head of marketing at Siemens Communications Group in China.
The equipment, including base stations, is based on the Global System for Mobile Communications standard, or GSM, he said.
China Mobile Communications, the larger of China's two mobile phone operators by subscribers, is the parent company of China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHL).
China United Communications is the parent company of China Unicom Ltd. (CHU) and China United Telecommunications Co. (600050.SH).
Siemens also signed several contracts with different Chinese organizations. It signed a deal to provide technical cooperation to China’s Ministry of Railways.

Chongqing Haifu Technology, a medical equipment producer, based in Chongging city, has also signed an agreement with Siemens.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was visiting Beijjing when these deals were made. The Chancellor will leave Beijing on Tuesday.

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Toyota and FAW Group Corporation jointly set up new dying plant in China

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Toyota Motor Corporation and China FAW Group Corporation have jointly set up a new plant to produce stamping dies for Toyota vehicles. According to the report of Inverstors.com--
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC; TSE:7203) announced today that Toyota FAW (Tianjin) Dies CO., LTD. (TFTD), its stamping die-production joint venture with China FAW Group Corporation (FAW) in China, can now produce automotive stamping dies (such as for automobile body panels) for six vehicle models a year, up from three. In addition to production for the Chinese market, TMC also said TFTD has started production for export, initiating the first ever export of Toyota automotive stamping dies made outside Japan.
The total cost for setting up the plant was 50 million US dollar. This is the second dying plant of Toyota. The plant uses latest technology to produce car stamping dyes known as “cloning,” which would not only shorten the production time but also enable the production of dies digitally in batches. Along with increasing production and shortening the production cycle the plant will also work with environment friendly and fully recyclable materials to produce stamping dyes for cars. The plant is built in “Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA).” A ceremony was held today to mark the plant’s first day of production. Li Yong, Chairman, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) Administrative Commission; Taminori Yanagisawa, President, TFTD; Qin Huanming, Vice President, FAW; Akio Toyoda, Executive Vice President TMC; Nobuyoshi Hisada, Managing Officer TMC; and a large number of guests from Tianjin government attended the ceremony.

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China sanctions $ 1billion in loan to Nigeria

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
China has sanctioned one billion dollar loan to Nigeria in order to fix the country’s damaged railway tracks. China in earlier days, sent many engineers and doctors on the ground of ‘Revolutionary Third World Unity’ and now business interest is at the forefront of providing financial aid. According to the report published in Fin24.co.za Nigerian Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disclosed about the deal on Sunday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, at a two-day international conference. She said that provision of infrastructure is critical for economic development.

Last week, China Railway Construction Corporation and CITIC group won a tender to build 528 km highway in Algeria. The Chinese consortium beat German, US and Japanese bidders. In January 2005 China made an offer of $2bn loan to Angola for repairing its infrastructure. In January 2006 CNOOC LTD, China’s top offshore oil producing company bought a stake in a Nigerian oil and gas field. It looks like China has become worried about its rising needs for oil due to rapid industrialization and African countries always attracted the world for their minerals and oil reserves.

The report also says that China has decided not to provide loans and monetary aids for improving human rights. Last April, on a visit to Morocco, Nigeria, and Kenya, Chinese President Hu Jintao, in Nigerian Parliament, said that China respected Africa’s “Independent and Sovereignty”. On the other hand, China’s diplomatic approach with Sudan has come under serious criticism from the Western countries. They are saying that China is making the situation worse through putting more emphasis on their economic interest. However, an official of the ruling party of Sudan, visiting China mentioned China as a “Close friend” of Sudan.

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Blogs from Asia: Blogfam- the meeting place for Indonesia bloggers

(By Razib Ahmed)

Before anything, I must admit that I do not know Indonesian language and that is why my review of Blogfam (Blogger Family) is not the best of my writings. Actually, it is not a blog but a forum for Indonesian bloggers living home and abroad. The url is: http://www.blogfam.com/forum/index.php.
If you are interested about Indonesia please visit the forum.

In home page, I found that until today, the forum has 2176 registered users and the users have posted ' a total of 107618 articles within 5884 topics'. The design of the forum is very nice and I liked the layout and color. I browsed the staff page and found that many of the moderators were living outside of Indonesia.

The South East Asian financial crisis of 1997 destroyed the economic backbone of Indonesia and within just few weeks, millions of Indonesian people lost everything and became poor. I still remember those days as I used to write about Asian business in a newspaper in my city.

Indonesia is a great country and I am always fascinated with it because of its cultural similarity with South Asia. To the outside world Indonesia is mainly known as an attractive tourist destination but Indonesia is more than that. Indonesia is rich in natural resources and Indonesia is the only member of OPEC from East Asia.

The members of Blogfam can surely contribute in building a different image of Indonesia in Internet. However, for that they have to write a bit more about English language in net. I hope that Blogfam will have more content in English language in the coming days.

Bosch invests 160 million dollars in Chinese factories

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Last Friday, German Automotive supplying company Bosch has revealed a plan to invest 160 million euros (US$203million) into two of its Chinese plants in Changsha and Suzohu by 2008. Bosch, which is now world’s top automotive parts supplier has all its manufacturing plants situated in China and the present goal of investment is to increase the production capacity of the two plants. The company will invest60 million euros in Changsha, its largest investment in central China. In future Changsha will become the main centre of the companies Engergy and Body System Division. The report published in Automotive Spectator says, “In Changsha, Bosch will be spending roughly 60 million euros between now and 2008, in order to create new facilities for the development and manufacture of products such as starters and alternators. Following the extension work, the site will have doubled in size to more than 210,000 square meters.” On the other hand, the company will invest 100 million euros (US$127) in Suzohu within 2008. As a result of the expansion the company’s workforce will grow from 160 to 2000. The company bosses said that they are actually planning to invest a total of 620 million euros (US$ 787) by the next two years. Until 2005 Bosch invested around 620 million euros (787 million US dollars) in its Chinese plants. The number of its manufacturing facilities has increased from 10 to 20 and last year the company sold products worth 1.2 billion euros in China which is 15% more than its previous year’s sales. Rudolf Colm, Bosch board member said, “Presently China accounts for three percent of our global market. Our target is to increase that to five percent by 2008." He also said that by 2008 China will surpass Japan, becoming the company's largest market in Asia.
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Online Dating Industry: Another BIG BOOM in Chinese Cyber World

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Although I do not know much about dating on the net, I can say that internet has always been very popular among the youths in all the countries of the world for meeting with opposite sex and talking with them. No wonder, that it would become a very profitable business. I found out that China’s online dating industry is expected to grow to 81 million US dollars by 2008. According to the report of iresearch, a firm specialized in online marketing and opinion research, the annual growth rate of the Chinese online dating industry will become 60%. I am quoting from the article:
The report values the online dating market at 37 million yuan (some 4.5 million dollars) for 2004 and 91 million yuan (11.2 million dollars) for 2005 and predicts it will grow to 653 million yuan, 4.8 percent of the entire dating market in China.
In comparison, the US market was 520 million dollars for 2005, and the European market was 110 million dollars, both expanding at double-digit rates, the report said.
The report was released at an international friends-making forum held in Beijing last week. Participants held that online dating will become a more important channel for bachelors to seek spouses as there are more men than women in China's 1.3-billion population.
Baihe, the biggest on line dating website received 11 million dollars in 2005 after attracting 5 million users. The participants in the forum are expecting that internet dating will become a valuable source for the Chinese males to find their soulmates as there are more men than women in China. However, Baihe’s CEO, Tian Fanjiang said that finding a soulmate on the net is not a very easy job, it requires lots of patience and building up a healthy trustful environment.
I would also like to add a little more about the dating websites. As I was browsing the net I found a good article about online dating websites in wikipedia. According to the essay the main problem of these dating websites is that in order to increase the number of users many websites sometimes build up fake profiles of women or men. It reminded me of the movie ‘S1m0ne’ where Al Pacino, a movie producer, creates a computer image of a beautiful woman and made her so famous. There are many people who would become a victim of such fake women or men. So my suggestion to you dear readers, do whatever you do. Just be careful and make sure that the other person is not a fake one.

Related Links:
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Generation of Star Wars

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Do not worry readers. I am not going to write about films. Those of you who have been regularly reading asianbiz have noticed that I write review on other blogs. Until now I have written two reviews-- Facture Express: Blog with a different Touch and Blogs from Asia- The fun Sunday School Blog. Today, I am going to write about another blog entitled Generation of Star Wars. This blog is not related to my subject but I find this blog pretty interesting. This blog is about movies and games. The writer of the blog John Hood, lives in England. John did his BA in Media production from The Media School of Bournemouth University. Generation of Star Wars comes with a good number of news about movies, computer games, gaming consoles and latest music (Western Music). Among his latest posts I enjoyed reading Planet Play station – a review on Sony’s latest third generation gaming console Play Station 3 (I think John is a big fan of Sony’s gaming consoles). The article contains every details of PS3. I hope those who love gaming will enjoy reading the article. I also enjoyed reading Nothing Compares 2 U—an article that talks about the dynamic quality of the web world and the story of how John hood started this blog and has been continuing it for two years. On May 11th Generation Star Wars celebrated its second anniversary (CONGRATULATIONS John!!!! AND WISH YOU A GREAT SUCCESS!). I found it really interesting that John Hood started this blog being suggested by his friend Tom (I WISH HIM GOOD LUCK TOO BECAUSE WITHOUT HIM WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE ALL THESE NICE POSTS). Another great feature of this blog is that readers can download and listen to the audio version of each of the articles. I really liked this feature. Those of you who want to visit the blog can use this link. I hope you would enjoy visiting the blog and please after visiting if you find anything new which I have not mentioned please write in your comments.

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A quiz competition for the orphans using the World Cup Football

(by Biplob Kishore Deb)
Yesterday, I read an article on the Nepalese children in which Razib Ahmed talked about the 2 million children of Nepal who are suffering hunger. I was sad after I read the report. Now, World Cup Football 2006 is coming and these children will have nothing to celebrate. Well, children are suffering in many countries except Nepal.

On the other hand, a report written by Ben Pindar made me very happy which says that the official charity of the FIFA world cup has organized a quiz competition based on world cup matches hoping to raise a £1 million to spend for the orphans throughout the world.

This fundraising has been taken by the SOS children's village who are working for the orphans around the world. About 59000 orphans at 440 children's villages are living under the care of SOS children's village. A website addressed 'www.sosfootball.org' has been created for this competition.

A participant has to log on with a fee of £3 and all the money coming through this quiz competition will be added to the charity. Participants have to decide the winning team of every world cup matches. The highest scorer will be given great prize by SOS.

The founder of XOR limited, Jhon Sullivan expects that the £3 fee will not be a problem for the participants.

This is really a positive step towards the humanity and this kind of program can be taken by other countries and NGOS where children as well as adult people are struggling with poverty.

Source:http://www.communitynewswire.press.net/article.jsp?id=383203

World Cup Football makes a boom in the TV industry in England

England's young star Theo Walcot has bought a luxurious car for his girl friend after being selected inthe England world cup squad. If you indicate it as the extreeme joy of Walcot then what would you say after hearing the information that 20% of adult poluation in UK are planning to buy a new television, DVD player, set-top box or another gadget for World Cup 2006?

Yes, people of England are now eagerly waiting to see another 1966 (in 1966 England won the world cup for the first time and last time until now) in Germany. On the occasion of world cup, the English are spending a lot in buying new TV sets and other audio visual equipments and their budget is nearly £1 billion.

Similar craze for buying television can be seen in South Korea too and Razib Ahmed covered this topic in this blog earlier this week.
So, no doubt, England companies have already made a victory before the world cup. Isn't it?

To know more, please visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4993274.stm
http://www.southasiabiz.com/2006/05/world_cup_football_2006_fever.html
(Biplob Kishore Deb)

More news on China’s culture product export Fair

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
I was browsing Google for China news and I saw this after publishing my first post on Chinese cultural products import. According to this report, China has opened up 921 cultural projects amounted to 8.75 billion US dollar. I am quoting from the report published in China view
The projects cover seven fields, such as publishing, movie and TV, entertainment, industrial arts and cultural tourism, involving20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
They are listed in a handbook for investing in the cultural sector, the first of its kind in China, which was issued by the Ministry of Culture at an ongoing international cultural expo held in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

The four day export exhibition (Wenbonhui) started on last Thursday. The main problem with such projects is that many of the projects do not attract any investment.

The cultural even which is according to an official was a 4 in event said, "an exhibition for cultural development ... a promotion event for creative products and projects, an international procurement event for Chinese cultural products and an exchange event for the application of new technologies in the cultural industry." It is supported by the government but run by the private sector.”

However, the funny thing is China is not targeting America, or European countries. The main guests were the culture ministers from Cuba, Serbia, Cambodia and several African states and the Guest of Honor was the chairman of Taiwan’s new party.

Different Chinese and foreign websites reported on this export exhibition. It seems that China like America is becoming interested to promote their product in other countries.


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China planning to export its Cultural products

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
If you ask any third world educated citizen to name a developed country in the world, there is 90% chance that the name of The United States of America will come up first. USA with its books, television channels and movies are dominating around the world. I think there is no other country so successful in creating such a successful image, an popularize their cultural products world wide At present, China has the largest population and a flourishing economy and the top manufacturer in the world. Now it is thinking of building up its own image like USA.
Recently, Chinese media organizations and government jointly organized ‘Wenbonhui,’ The Second China Shenzhen International Cultural Industry Fair, at Special Economic Zone of Shenzen (SEZ), in Guangdong. Representatives foreign and domestic from both official and print media appeared in this show. The main idea of the show was to export the Chinese cultural products in abroad and building up a brand image of China. I am quoting from Chris Gill’s article-
“The main problem for Chinese companies wanting to produce global creative brands, according to Liu Binjie, Deputy Director of GAPP, is "you need to spend money if you want to create a global brand."
China has decided to export Chinese national cultural products, to the global market, Liu said. If China's cultural industry wants to create global brands and internationally-famous names, a brand industry is needed, Liu said. He sees China currently as a manufacturer with no brands, and it will be impossible for China to emulate Hollywood, Harry Potter, or Intel without a brand industry.
To create a (global) cultural brand there needs to be a transfer of Chinese characteristics abroad, but China's cultural product industry is not ready yet, Liu said.
Hammering home his point, Liu said, "Cultural trade needs brands."
China needs to deal with internal problems before it can create a Hollywood, companies need an understanding of (global) marketing and branding to enter global markets.”
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Japan planning to increase its present oil reserve

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Japan has decided to increase its oil reserve from 90 days to 95 days. Due to increasing oil price and on going political instability in the Middle Eastern countries the government has taken this decision.
Japan has the second largest economy in the world and like other economically developed countries it has lots of industries which run on oil. Last Friday, Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai, in a press conference said that the ministry is examining the possibilities to raise the amount of oil reserve in order to boost the country’s resistance. On Thursday, a panel of oil experts and senior business officials submitted a draft on the country’s oil policy.
Japan will need extra 15million barrels worth a total of 100 billion yen for five days. Each barrel would cost $60. In addition, the new draft on Japan’s oil policy submitted also recommends diversifying its reserve. At present, Japan only buys unrefined crude oil and refines it in domestic plants. The draft suggested that government should now think about buying refined products such as, gasoline and Kerosene. Nikai also said that if Japan increases its oil reserve than at least one day’s supply would consist of Kerosene and gasoline.

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Toyota setting up another new plant in North America

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Toyota is now planning to set up another new plant in Southern American states, including Texas, of North America. Due to excessive demand of its products the company is planning to set up this new automotive plant which is expected to go on operation in 2009. The new plant will have a production capacity of 200,000 units.

At present, USA is Toyota’s biggest market and the demand is growing. Toyota has planned to begin production in its new plant located in Texas and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Incorporation Located in Lafayette, Indiana. The Subaru plant is actually owned by Fuji Heavy Industries Limited. Recently, Toyota acquired 7% equity stake in Fuji.

Last year, Toyota produced 800,000 units and if things go well then with the existing factories and the new ones Toyota would be able to produce two million units annually.

On the other hand, Toyota’s rival Honda is also planning to build a new factory in North America. Now days, Japanese companies are planning to set up new plants in USA in order to avert the complaints. I am quoting from the report published in The Standard
By creating jobs, Toyota appears to be trying to deflect US complaints that Japanese automakers have unfairly benefited from a weak yen.
This is good news for American people because more jobs will be created but bad news for Japanese workers because they will loose their jobs.

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Dream came true for Great Dreams

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Great dreams, a Chinese animation company has started a joint venture project with Sequoia Capital, a US based venture capital firm. Sequoia invested 7.5 million dollar in Hunan Great dreams Cartoon Media. Under this joint venture they will set up a new company on cartoon production. I am quoting from the article:
'Great dreams Cartoon and Sequoia Capital will set up a new company engaging in cartoon derivative products,' said Wang Hong, Greatdreams' chairman. Wang said the company plans to open 3,000 franchised stores this year, and plans to seek a Nasdaq listing by 2008.
Shen Nanpeng, Sequoia’s Chinese partner is expecting further investment in the project after the completion of 7.5 million dollar investment. Animation making is a service oriented industry and unlike manufacturing industry it requires skilled manpower. Animation and cartoon making now days, require computers and softwares and China has lots of skilled IT professionals.
China’s internet sector is also increasing at a very fast pace. According to Shanghai Daily report, Sequoia Capital also invested $4 million in 51.com, a Shanghai based website. The website is a Chinese version of the popular My space internet community. At present, the website has 10 million users most of which are young people between 20 and 22. I am quoting from the report,
The local Website, which has 10 million members, most of whom are age 20 to 22, has created an online platform that allows users to upload pictures and diaries. The Website company plans to list on Nasdaq within three to five years, according to Pang Shengdong, 51.com's chairman and chief executive.
Sequoia Capital, which launched a US$200 million investment fund in China last year and in the past has channeled funds into Google and Cisco, will invest a total 150 million yuan (US$18.75 million) in 51.com, industry sources said on condition of anonymity. But partners to the deal declined to comment on the issue or divulge 51.com's share structure after yesterday's investment announcement.


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World Cup Football Injuries: It's the fans who suffer from physical and mental hazards most

Written by: Biplob Kishore Deb
As world cup is drawing near, the injuries of star players like Michel Owen are getting a lot of media coverage and the sponsors are even more worried that the coach. However, you will be amazed to hear that it is the fans who suffer much more injuries in their health and mind than the players. The fans do not play directly but still it is they who suffer most.
According to an article published in a Chinese daily, watching football may cause some serious health and mental hazards like cardiac arrests, drunk-driving, fan violence, wife-beating, smoking, getting addicted to fatty foods, depression and even suicide.
(http://english.people.com.cn/200605/18/eng20060518_266653.html) .

A study of the British Medical Journal (BJM) found 25% increase in the number of heart attacks after the defeat of England to their ever rival team Argentina during the 1998 world cup. In 1950 world cup some Brazilians killed themselves after their team lost to Uruguay. The most interesting news has been found in the article is of the opinion of a researcher at Cardiff University in Wales, Vas Sivarajasingam who says that the possibility of making clash by the fans is higher after winning the match than after losing the match because after winning fans are more likely to celebrate and get drunk and lose control on themselves and thus bad accidents and incidents may happen. During the last world cup Thailand's deputy public health minister, Surapong Suebwonglee and his Ministry tried to make fans aware of the serious health risks from eating too much snacks and beer.

I have noticed one thing. People in Asia and South America are too much crazy for World Cup Football. The craze of Asian people is really a surprising matter. No Asian team has even reached the final of World Cup Football. Except, Korea no team has consistent performance in World Cup. Still, people in almost in every Asian country are crazy for World Cup Football. So, Asian fan- please, watch out this time. Don't risk your health. If you have any heart disease then do not watch any tie breaker. Finally, I think that FIFA should have a special fund for supporting those person's families who die during World Cup from excitement or depression.
Do you agree with me? What is your own condition during World Cup Football?
Source: http://english.people.com.cn/200605/18/eng20060518_266653.html

Goleo: Loveable lion or loveable looser

Written by: Biplob Kishore Deb
An official Mascot is made for every world cup football so that people can easily remember a particular world cup, and its host nation just seeing the mascot. One of the main attractions of every World Cup football is its mascot. The first mascot appeared in the 1966 world cup, ‘Willie’ a British lion, wearing the Union Jack. Surprisingly, the 2006 FIFA World Cup mascot is also a lion, “Goleo”.
I do not know whether the designer was an Englander or a die hard English football fan or the whole thing is a coincidence, the main point is that “Goleo” is struggling for its own existence as its manufacturing company Bavarian toy maker Nici AG has appealed to the court for its own insolvency. The lion shaped toy could not make a boom in its selling. In the market it is sold at 19.95 euros. For some reason, it could not attract much football fans.
A report published in the BBC website says that this mascot does not go with the German culture because the national symbol of Germany is Eagle and the most important thing is that lion is the symbol of England, one of the most rival groups of Germany. Moreover, the mascot wears a football shirt with the number 6 but with no trousers or shorts. So it does not reveal the image of a perfect football player. According to Brendan Trembath’s report, another reason behind the failure of the mascot is that lion has been used as a mascot for other sports (the most prestigious cycling sport Tour de France’s mascot is a lion). FIFA has tried very hard to promote the lion and they dubbed it as a “Lovable Lion” but in the end it has become a “Lovable looser.”
The German toy making company has incurred huge loss and it is blaming the poor demand for the mascot. However, it did not disclose any information about how many units it actually sold.
The World Cup is six months away from now and it is the most prestigious and most popular event in the world. I am hopeful that, FIFA would come up with some good ideas to solve this problem.

Related Articles:
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THE WORLD TODAY

If you want to know about the mascots of the previous world cups you can visit this link:
2002 World Cup

Ring! Ring! This is Google: Google search in Japanese mobile phones

Written by: S.M.Mehdi Hassan
Google.com, the world’s most popular search engine company, has joined with KDDI, Japan’s second largest mobile phone service provider, to promote search engine content in mobile phones. This type of service will be the first of its kind in Japan. The service will be activated from July.

After NTT Docomo, KDDI is the biggest cell phone company in Japan. It has more than 22 million mobile phone subscribers. At present, Google is the most popular search engine in Japan and through this service Google will make a firm position in the Japanese search engine industry.

The search service will be available on KDDI’s EZ web Internet service. The search
content is not only aimed at mobile phones but also for personal computers. In addition, there will be text advertisements appearing beside the search results which are related to the search word.

One of the main features of this new search service is that users will be able to access the search results directly. I am quoting from the report:
In addition, KDDI's content information management will enable users more direct access to the information they seek. Consider, for example, a search for information about an artist: In the past, a search would turn up links to relevant content in officially designated categories, forcing the user to perform further searches in each category. However, the new service will provide direct access to music, applications, books and magazines, shopping and other information related to the artist.
In Japan technology in all spheres evolves and changes at a very quick pace and people are also very tech savvy. They are always eager to accept and test new technologies. I think this new service will observe a huge popularity in Japan.

Related articles:
JAPAN CORPORATE NEWS NETWORK
SEARCH ENGINE JOURNAL
CNET NEWS

World Cup Football 2006 in Mobile Phone

Written by: Biplob Kishore Deb
Can you imagine that you are at work in your office and watching world cup match even though there is no television? No, I am not joking with you. I also became astonished after reading an article titled “World Cup Mobile TV- will anyone be watching?” written by Jan Libbenga. He wrote that mobile TV can be launched in the twelve venues of this world cup.

One of the biggest electronic companies in the world, Samsung Electronics has made terrestrial multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB) phone earlier this year, mainly, for the commercial use but they have not started marketing their product hoping to get the license of launching it in the world cup in Germany.

Other DMB phone makers expect that this service will have a great demand during the world cup 2006. Debitel, the biggest German GSM service provider, and Dusseldorf-based Company Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland GmbH are interested to launch this service in the next world cup. In this service viewers will enjoy German channels ZDF, N24, MTV and a comedy and entertainment channel German Satellite Broadcaster ProSieben. Viewers have to pay €9.90 a month after the completion of the games.

Now football fans have nothing but waiting to see whether mobile TV will be available during the world cup 2006.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/12/dmb_at_soccer_games
http://www.southasiabiz.com/2006/05/world_cup_football_2006_fever.html

World Cup Football 2006: Germany opens a window of traveling and acquiring knowledge

Written by: Biplob Kishore Deb
After reading the title you may think that, what is the relation between world cup football and acquiring knowledge? Yes, this is true. Football is a source of entertainment and knowledge is something different but on the occasion of world cup football millions of football fans will have a chance to travel the historical places, museum, observe the cathedrals, churches and many other attractive sights that will help them to know about the German culture and history.

Thinking about the huge number of football fans from different countries and their traveling interests, German government and private travel organizations have already taken some programs for cheap accommodations and meals. Communication system is also praiseworthy because travelers can rent mobiles and cars which are available in the German society. Almost all types of transportation system including air, train, and bus are available in Germany. Bars, clubs and internet cafes are also very cheap.

This is really a great step taken by German government. Yesterday when I read the article written by my teacher on World Cup Football and Tourism I felt bad for those who are interested to visit Germany but would not be able to do so because of the high prices of tickets and hotel rooms. This program will attract those travelers and help them to enrich their knowledge. Through such programs the organizers are expecting some financial boom in the sector of tourism. So friends! Start your preparation for Germany. Wish you all a nice travel!

Sources:
http://www.soccerphile.com/soccerphile/wc2006/city_guide/freiburg.html http://wm2006.deutschland.de/EN/Content/Host-Country-Germany/Germany-in-brief/germany-your-travel-destination.html
http://www.southasiabiz.com/2006/05/world_cup_football_2006_fever.html

Starbucks freshening up Japanese consumers more

(By Razib Ahmed)
I always knew that Japanese the country of tea. Even Japanese girls learn serving tea in a decorative way. Well, that seems to be related to old Japan. The new Japan adores coffee and not just any kind of coffee but Starbucks coffee. Starbucks is a company which owns retail coffee shops in many parts of the world. I visited the website of Starbucks Japan and at first, I felt a bit afraid to see everything was in Japanese language. However, I discovered that there was an English language version. I am quoting from the website:
" Since the opening of our first store on August 2, 1996, in the Ginza district of Tokyo, our network has expanded rapidly throughout the country. Starbucks has reached the milestone of 500 stores with the opening of Nagoya Fushimi AT Building store in November, 2003."
(Source: http://www.starbucks.co.jp/en/company_info.htm )
Now Starbucks has nearly 600 stories in Japan and today Starbucks Japan posted 51.4% increase in its profit in fiscal year 2005-06. That is a huge jump in profit and Starbucks Japan officials are upbeat about the current fiscal year too. In the last fiscal year, the company opened 51 new outlets while this year it has a target of opening 75 stores. Starbucks Japan is selling tea too in addition to coffee. Actually in the website of Starbucks Japan, I could find the following items of tea in its menu:
" Tazo® Chai Tea Latte (Hot/Iced)
Black tea and spiced in steamed milk or milk and ice
S:340yen T:390yen G:440yen V:490yen

Freshly Brewed Tazo® Tea
A selection of black and herbal infusions
T:290yen G:360yen

Iced Tea
Today's iced tea or herbal infusion
S:260yen T:310yen G:360yen V:410"

I am happy that Starbucks bosses have acted very smartly to integrate tea with coffee in its operations in Japan. A few days ago, I wrote about the falling profit of McDonald's Japan in Japan and I suggested that they should introduce more fish and vegetable items in Japan. Today, I like to appreciate the wisdom of Starbucks in integrating tea very well in their menu in Japan.

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Digitalization of Cable TV: It's show time for China

Digital cable television service will be the standard norm within in a short time. Chinese government just finished a three-year pilot program of digital cable television in 49 areas. The switch to digital cable TV from analogue has been very successful and the Chinese government feels confident about introducing digital cable TV in all the major cities of China. Right now, the number of digital cable TV users is around 1 million and there will surely be a multifold increase in the number of such users. There are now 120 pay television channels that provide service to digital cable TV users.

You can understand that digital cable TV is becoming popular from the financial results of China Digital Media Corporation. In the first quarter of this year, the company had:
" * Revenue increased 272% to $3.7 million from $1.0 million
* Net income before tax improved 65% to $734,000 from $438,000
* Net Income grew 1.5% to $445,000 from $438,000"
(Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060516/lntu008.html?.v=9)

The figure quoted above is more than impressive and I am sure that there is too much potential for growth as these are the very early days for digital television in China.

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China to popularize digitalization of cable TVChina Digital Media Corporation Reports First Quarter 2006 Results

China: Foreign companies are surpassing Chinese companies in mobile phone market

(By Razib Ahmed)
China has now the world's largest mobile phone user base and the market is growing very fast. For example, in the first quarter of this year around 25 million mobile phones were sold in China. It is a 15.3% increase compared to the same time last year and even it is higher 8.5% than the previous quarter. Sales revenue in the first quarter was $4.6billion and it is a good improvement too. The market is growing but the market share of Chine mobile phone producers is shrinking. Nokia, Motorola and Samsung have the top 3 spots in the Chinese market and their market shares are:
Nokia: 26.9%
Motorola: 13.4%
Samsung: 9.02%
The market share of Chinese mobile phone producers is 36.9%. The market shares of top Chinese companies are:
Bird: 7.71%
Lenovo: 7.04%

Kongka and TCL- two old and previously popular Chinese brands did not perform up to the mark and lost their market share significantly.

China's mobile phone market grew very fast in the last few years and the market is going to show sign of slowing down within a year or two.

The interesting thing is that while people in the rest of the world are afraid of Chinese products flooding their market and costing their jobs, Chinese mobile phone companies are losing grounds in their own backyard.

What is your idea about it?
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