Dubai said debt payment delay

The government-owned investment company behind Dubai's rapid development drive has asked its creditors for a six-month delay on repaying its debts. Dubai World, which has total debts of $59 bn ( £35 bn), is asking creditors if it can postpone its forthcoming payments until May next year. Dubai World has also appointed global accountancy group Deloitte to help with its financial restructuring. The company has been hit hard by the global credit crunch and recession. It was due to repay $3.5 bn of its debts next month. The malaise has also affected Dubai as a whole, where, following six years of rapid growth, the economy has slumped since the second half of 2008. This has led to Dubai property prices falling sharply. 'Shocking' The Dubai government said in a statement that the request to delay debt repayments also applied to property developer Nakheel, a Dubai World subsidiary. "It's shocking because for the past few months the news coming out has given investors comfort that Dubai would most probably be able to meet its debt obligations," said analyst Shakeel Sarwar, of SICO Investment Bank. Dubai is one of the seven self-governing emirates or states that make up the United Arab Emirates. Analysts say the Dubai government has paid the price for a flamboyant economic model centred on foreign capital and giant construction projects. Some have speculated it is likely to turn to the more economically conservative Abu Dhabi emirate to bail it out. Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor's, which rules on a company's or government's ability to repay its debts, said the announcement "may be considered a [debt] default". As a result, it said it was downgrading its ratings on several Dubai government-related financial entities. The Dubai World announcement was made on the eve of the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival, which will see many government agencies and companies close in Dubai until 6 December.

General Motors will not close their German plant

General Motors (GM) has said that it will not be closing any of Opel's four plants in Germany as part of its restructuring plans. The US carmaker also said it would be cutting about 9 ,000 jobs in Europe, slightly fewer than the 10 ,000 it originally estimated. It also said the future of the Antwerp plant was uncertain. Earlier this month, GM cancelled the sale of its European operations to car parts maker Magna. Consultation period GM's European boss Nick Reilly said he saw Opel' s Eisenach plant as "a significant resource for the production of [Opel] Corsas for the long term". He had previously given assurances over Germany's three other Opel plants. "We have to reduce costs so we can make money in a lower [sales] market. There will be difficult decisions and we will reduce capacity by around 20 %, or 9 ,000 people," Mr Reilly said. About 50 % to 60 % of the job cuts would be made in Germany, he said. This means that about 4 ,000 jobs will have to go at GM Europe's plants outside Germany. The Antwerp plant employs about 2 ,500 people. Vauxhall's two plants in the UK, at Luton and Ellesmere Port, employ more than 4 ,000 people. Mr Reilly said that the carmaker was now entering a consultation period, which he hoped would be completed in December. Only then would GM be able to give specific information about which plants would be affected by job cuts, he added. He also said GM's European headquarters would be based at Germany's Ruesselsheim plant. GM pulled out of the deal to sell Opel and Vauxhall to Magna after months of negotiation, citing "an improving business environment". The decision caused anger in Germany and sparked walkouts at German plants. The German government had provided 1.5 bn euros ($2.3 bn; £1.4 bn) in bridging loans and had pledged a further 3 bn euros to help secure the Magna deal.

ING shareholder meet in share issue

Dutch financial services group ING has gained shareholder approval for a 7.5 bn euros ($11.2 bn; £6.8 bn) share issue, and plans to split the business. ING said 99 % of shareholders backed the proposals, which will see it sell its insurance business within four years to instead focus on its banking operation. While no date has yet been set for the share issue, it is expected to take place in the coming months. ING plans to pay off some of the 10 bn euros of state aid it got last year. 'Preferable' Like many global banks, ING required government financial support as a result of bad debts and the global credit crunch. The decision to split the firm in two was required by European Commission competition regulators as a result of ING gaining the state aid. "We think a split is preferable to keeping the bank and insurer together," said a spokesman for Dutch shareholder group VEB. "It will strongly reduce the risk profile, and this will benefit us as investors."

Toyota will solve the pedal fault

Toyota says it will make changes to accelerator pedals on 3.8 million already recalled vehicles in the US. It is the latest attempt to remedy a fault with the pedals which has been blamed for at least one fatal accident. In September, the car giant advised drivers to remove their floor mats after it warned the pedals could become jammed under it. In the latest move, Toyota will order dealers to shorten the accelerator pedals while it develops a replacement. Popular vehicles such as the Toyota Camry, the top-selling passenger car in America, and the Toyota Prius, the best-selling gas-electric hybrid, and the luxury Lexus brand are part of the recall. Government talks The first recall was prompted by a high-speed crash in August involving a Lexus ES350 that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family. The government has attributed at least five deaths and two injuries to floor mat-related unintended acceleration in the Toyota vehicles . The carmaker and government regulators have been discussing a potential fix for several weeks. Dealers will begin work on customers' cars in January, with the new pedals becoming available in April. Some vehicles will have brake override systems installed as a precaution. The company said: "Toyota has and will continue to thoroughly investigate and take appropriate measures to address any defect trends that are identified."

US banking sector back to profit

The US banking industry returned to profit in the third quarter, but the government insurance fund went into deficit for the first time since 1992 , regulators announced Tuesday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said commercial banks and thrifts earned a collective 2.8 billion dollars in the third quarter. This came after a collective 4.3 billion dollar loss in the second quarter, and the profit was well above the 879 million dollars the industry earned in the same period in 2008. But the sector is still feeling the effects of the deep financial crisis triggered by a collapse of the US housing market and global credit crunch. "Today's report shows that, while bank and thrift earnings have improved, the effects of the recession continue to be reflected in their financial performance," said FDIC chairman Sheila Bair. More than 26 percent of all insured institutions reported a net loss in the latest quarter, and total loan balances declined by the largest percentage since quarterly reporting began in 1984 , the FDIC said. As projected in September, the FDIC's deposit insurance fund balance fell below zero for the first time since the third quarter of 1992. The fund balance of negative 8.2 billion dollars reflects a 38.9 billion dollar contingent loss reserve that has been set aside to cover estimated losses over the next year. The FDCI report showed total loans and leases declined by 210.4 billion dollars, or 2.8 percent, during the quarter. Loans to commercial and industrial borrowers declined by 6.5 percent, residential mortgage loan balances fell by 4.2 percent, and real estate construction and development loans dropped 8.1 percent. "There is no question that credit availability is an important issue for the economic recovery," Bair said. "We need to see banks making more loans to their business customers. This is especially true for small businesses that rely on FDIC-insured institutions to provide over 60 percent of the credit they use." The FDIC noted that 124 banks had failed so far this yer, and the number on the "problem list" grew to 552 ,the highest number in 16 years. "For now, the credit adversity we have been discussing for some time remains with us, and we expect that it will be at least a couple of more quarters before we see a meaningful improvement in that trend," Bair said. "Despite the challenges, I am optimistic that if we address these problems head-on, we will see clear signs of improvement in bank earnings and lending in 2010 The FDIC noted that it has 23.3 billion dollars of cash and marketable securities on hand. It has moved to bolster its position by approving a measure on November 12 to require insured institutions to prepay three years' worth of deposit insurance premiums -- about 45 billion dollars -- by the end of 2009. "This measure will provide the FDIC with the funds needed to carry on with the task of resolving failed institutions in 2010 , but without accelerating the impact of assessments on the industry's earnings and capital," Bair said.

Malaysia Airlines revises their winter flights

Malaysia Airlines announced revised timings for its winter flights from December 1 to January 31 , due to the fog at Dhaka airport, said a press statement. The flight MH-197 will depart Dhaka at 10.10 pm and reach Kuala Lumpur at 3 am, while the MH- 196 flight will depart Kuala Lumpur at 6.10 pm and reach Dhaka at 9 pm.

Vietnam will establish their first neuclear power plant

Vietnam's Communist-dominated parliament on Wednesday brushed aside criticism and approved building the country's first nuclear power stations, a project keenly watched by potential foreign partners. The "draft law on nuclear electricity" was approved by 77 percent of deputies present in the single-chamber national assembly, said one deputy critical of the project, Nguyen Minh Thuyet. He described debate in the chamber as "lively" as some deputies preferred the idea of building just one power station, rather than the plan finally approved for four reactors at two sites. According to the government's plans, at least one reactor should be operational from 2020. Together, the four reactors should have a capacity of 4 ,000 megawatts. The intention is to meet the energy needs of an economy that is growing annually by an average of 15 percent.

India moves to making pollution free car

Chetan Maini, the engineer who pioneered India' s first electric car, had his eureka moment two decades ago when he drove a vehicle fuelled by solar power across the blazing Australian outback. Now Maini, the man behind Reva Electric Car Co., is building in southern India what he says will be the world's biggest factory making battery- powered city commuter cars. "It's the first attempt at mass production of a green car," said Maini, who studied hybrid electric technology at California's Stanford University and developed the no-clutch, no-gears Reva as head of a 75- member engineering team. "With growing climate change awareness, I think we're at the tipping point for electric cars," Maini told AFP in an interview. The drive in 1990 which set Maini on his career track was a General Motors-sponsored solar- powered race in which his car finished third, beating many of the global car companies. "Driving across the continent on the sun's energy made me think how we could use alternative energy to power cars in the Indian context," he said. "When I saw how our cities were getting polluted, I realised employing clean, alternative energy could make a lot of sense -- we needed to develop this kind of technology," he said. Maini has put some 3 ,000 of the zero-polluting three-door Revas on the roads in India and Britain -- where it is known as the G-Wiz -- in the eight years since the company started selling the cars. The Reva was formed in 1994 as a joint venture between the family-owned Maini Group and AEV of the United States to manufacture environment-friendly vehicles. But it took seven years for the first Reva to go on sale as Maini and his team worked on the design. Afterward, "we were in a test marketing phase, trying to see how people used electric cars, what were their needs. But that's now over and we're ready to move to the mass-market stage," Maini said. In September, Reva got a big endorsement when GM announced it would team up with the tiny car company to develop a plug-in version of the best-selling GM Spark mini-car as the US giant embraces electrically powered driving. "We think their technology is the best," said GM India president Karl Slym. The Reva -- named after Maini's mother -- can seat two adults and two children and cover 50 miles (80 kilometres) on a single charge of electricity. New models feature sleeker looks than the Reva, which resembles a modified golf- cart, and will offer greater distance. The company's next generation three-door, four- seater hatchback NXR is intended to be a family car and will go into production in 2010. It will have a top speed of 65 miles per hour and travel 100 miles on a single charge. The car will go on sale for around 10 ,000 euros ( 15 ,000 dollars) and can be charged in 90 minutes. The higher-end NXG will have a 125- mile range and an 80 mile per hour top speed and sell for 23 ,000 euros in Europe. The price of the new vehicles is not fixed for India but the cars are expected to sell for "much less," said Maini. The Reva currently retails for around 350 ,000 rupees (7 ,500 dollars) and is built at a small factory outside the southern city of Bangalore. Maini is targeting people who want a vehicle for city jaunts or as a second automobile. The cost of running an electric car in India is a tenth of a petrol-fuelled car, Maini said. The car has no oil filters, spark plugs or radiators so maintenance costs are also low. "Since we started, there's been quite a big change in consumer mind-sets," said Maini, whose love affair with cars began when he was a child assembling remote-controlled toy vehicles. "We are also seeing a large policy shift by governments to environmentally friendly vehicles," he added. Maini is eyeing annual sales of "5 ,000 plus" for the next three years and then 30 ,000 annually from cars produced at his new Bangalore factory, which is being built with venture funding. There is a large market as the infrastructure for electricity is widespread -- even in India, he said. "All you need is the installation of a standard plug point -- 15 amps -- that is used for an air conditioner or an iron. Most people only need a larger car if they are going out of town." The tie-up with GM is part of a three-pronged strategy for Reva which wants to make its own cars under the Reva brand, franchise production in countries such as the United States and license the company's technology for use by global companies. GM and Reva have promised the new electrically powered Spark mini-car will be on Indian roads in a year and they see a market later abroad.

Grameen Phone want to reduce carbon pollution form Bangladesh

Grameenphone (GP) has set a target for reducing carbon emission by 30 percent from its entire operations by 2015. The mobile operator started adopting green technology in 2007 and so far has set up 12 solar and one wind power network sites. With an aggressive move, the company targets to set up 100 more base stations using green technology in off-grid areas. "It's high time we went for green technology, as Bangladesh badly suffers from climate change," said Matiur Rahman Siddiqui, additional general manager and head of Climate Change Initiative of Grameenphone. He said GP has so far managed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emission by nine percent from its entire operations like networks, transports and offices. The company estimates that the successful results will save approximately 1 ,202 megawatt of electricity every year amounting to an equivalent reduction of over 700 tonnes of CO2. Siddiqui said the operator's CO2 emission until end-October is 140 ,458 tonnes. With the target achieved by 2015 , the emission amount will stand at around 99 ,814 tonnes. Emission factors are being considered under international standards set by the United Nations. In line with the climate change programme, an energy-efficient headquarters has been constructed where GP will move to by March. The head office buildings will require around 20 million kilowatts of electricity per hour. "We have set a target to reduce our energy requirement by 40 percent," said Siddiqui. GP and telecom equipment vendor Huawei partnered in 2008 to build a green mobile network in Bangladesh to transform the operator's core network to an environmentally friendly one with layered architecture solutions, and reduce the energy requirements of its base stations. Recognising the companies' initiative, GSM Association has given away Green Mobile Awards to GP and Huawei. Siddiqui said such a recognition will encourage other operators to adopt green technology in Bangladesh. According to estimates by Ericsson, a telecom equipment maker, around 0.14 percent of global CO2 emission and around 0.12 percent of primary energy use are attributed to mobile telecom technology. For instance, this compares to 20 percent of CO2 emission and around 23 percent of primary energy use for travel and transport. The annual CO2 footprint of the average mobile subscriber is around 25 kilogrammes, which is equivalent to driving an average car for an hour or running a five-watt lamp for a year. The Ericsson study said it is the energy consumption in the 'use phase' of radio access networks that the environment is most significantly impacted, out of all the company's products. Usually in the radio access products of the mobile networks, the highest volume or 75 percent of indirect CO2 emissions are made, according to Ericsson. In Bangladesh, 22 ,000 base stations of six mobile operators, supporting the nationwide telecom network, could raise a question as to how much CO2 is emitted by the rapidly growing mobile sector.