Airbus trading case dismissed

France's financial watchdog has cleared 17 current and former bosses of Airbus parent company EADS of insider trading. The executives had been accused of selling EADS shares in 2005 and early 2006 when they realised there were delays to the Airbus A380 superjumbo. The subsequent public announcement of the delays to the project caused EADS's share price to fall sharply. EADS said it welcomed the verdict of the Financial Markets Authority. The bosses had always denied wrongdoing. Parallel case The watchdog's decision followed a investigation lasting almost three years, and a week of behind closed-door hearings. It ruled that knowledge of the technical problems to the A380 could not be considered " privileged information". EADS itself, and two of its major shareholders - French group Lagardere and Germany's Daimler - were also cleared. EADS said it was "confident" that the watchdog's verdict will be repeated by the parallel criminal investigation. Five of those questioned by investigators, including former EADS co-president Noel Forgeard, still face criminal proceedings that could lead to a court trial. The first A380 to be delivered to an airline was handed over to Singapore Airlines in October 2007 , 18 months behind schedule. It had been delayed by a number of technical problems.

Job cut for airlines

Administrators for collapsed airline Flyglobespan said they have had to make a large number of redundancies. Out of the 650 workers at the Edinburgh-based firm, 550 are now without a job. Bruce Cartwright from administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said there was no choice other than to cease flights and make redundancies. He said that everything was being done to ensure that 4 ,500 stranded holidaymakers would be brought home. All flights were cancelled after Flyglobespan's parent company, Globespan, entered administration on Wednesday at 1700 GMT. Passengers are currently stranded in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt. Bruce Cartwright of PricewaterhouseCoopers said they would endeavour to make sure that " nobody would be left stranded anywhere". About 1 ,000 passengers who had booked package holidays and were currently abroad would be brought home under the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) insurance arrangement scheme. The remaining 3 ,500 stranded passengers will have to make their own way back to the UK using alternative airlines. Mr Cartwright said that in less than 24 hours good progress on repatriation had been made. He thanked Virgin for stepping in to take home, free of charge, 60 cabin crew currently stuck in India. The administrator added that he had spent most of the day with Globespan staff in Edinburgh. He said employees had acted with "great dignity". Mr Cartwright said: "They have behaved incredibly well considering this has come so close to Christmas." At a news conference in Edinburgh, he went on to explain that although the company's directors had not wanted to appear publicly they had offered their full co-operation. He said he was asked on behalf of the directors to thank the Scottish public for supporting them over the last 35 years and to thank employees. Mr Cartwright said: "They [the directors] did everything they could to achieve a more favourable outcome than they see today." About £30 m was owing to the Globespan group by the company holding its credit card transaction payments, according to Mr Cartwright. He said that about half of the money paid by passengers could be re-paid. A premium rate helpline for passengers who have booked flights only is now operational and can be contacted on 0871 271 9000.

Asia AIG list in $20b IPO

Bailed-out US insurance giant AIG is planning to list its Asian unit in Hong Kong by the second quarter of 2010 in a sale that could raise as much as $20 billion, a report said Thursday. American International Group, which said in May that it planned to float American International Assurance, was expected to file a prospectus before Christmas, the Financial Times said, citing unnamed sources. If Hong Kong regulators approve the initial public offering, it could be one of the world's largest share sales, the paper said. Dow Jones Newswires said the company has now submitted a listing application to Hong Kong's stock exchange, citing an unnamed source. The listing represents an attempt to distance the Asian insurance arm from its parent group, whose reputation has been hit by a huge Washington bailout at the end of last year after it was battered at the onset of the credit crunch. Proceeds from the planned sale could be used to help repay some of the more than $80 billion that AIG owes the US government, the report said. AIG confirmed its listing plans for the unit earlier, but declined to give a timeline, saying it was 'dependent on market conditions and regulatory approvals.'

Indian government give incentive in green energy

The government will offer 3.8 billion rupees ($81 million) in incentives to wind power projects that feed into the national grid, the government said on Thursday, a move analysts believe will attract large companies. The country ranked fourth in the world after Germany, Spain and the United States in grid- connected wind projects, with 9,587 megawatt of capacity in November 2008 that fed over 54 billion units of electricity to the grid, official data showed. Wind power projects will be given 0.5 rupee for each unit of power fed into the grid with a ceiling of 6.2 million rupees per MW for a minimum 4 years and maximum 10 years, the ministry of new and renewable energy said in a statement on its website. The subsidy will be for projects of up to 4,000 MW until 2012, it said. This looks better than an existing tax benefit scheme because it provides direct cash benefits to the developers, Bhargav Buddhadev, analyst at Noble group, said. 'It will now attract genuine utility size players to enter into wind farm development,' he said. Most of the wind projects are in small private hands, but large companies such as Tata Power Co have plans to diversify into the energy source. Wind turbine maker Suzlon could also expect more orders, analysts said. Buddhadev also said the incentive would increase the internal rate of return by at least 3- 4 per cent for a project. India currently allows wind power firms accelerated depreciation and the ministry said projects can either continue to claim this benefit or avail the new subsidy, not both.

Local Bangladeshi airways set to international flight

Local private carrier United Airways is set to launch flight on Monday to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, a popular destination already directly served by four other airlines. According to officials, the airline will operate two flights every week with an introductory promotional fare. United will also start operation on Dhaka- Katmandu route on January 4. Four weekly flights will be operated on this popular tourist destination, currently served by Biman Bangladesh Airlines and GNG Airlines. There will also be an introductory promotional fare for this route. With the launching of these two new routes, the number of the carrier's international destinations will rise to five. Currently, United flies to Kolkata, Dubai and London. The local carrier will have to compete with Biman Bangladesh Airlines, GMG Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia, a Malaysia-based budget carrier, for its share of business. 'Yes, we did the market research before making a decision. Our market research says the routes will be viable,' Jilanee FR Chowdhury, director (Sales and Marketing) of United Airways, told New Age. Responding to a question regarding Dhaka- Kuala Lumpur, he admitted that initially the airline might face little problem due to the issues relating to Bangladesh's manpower export to Malaysia. 'In this regard, we are thinking more about the future.' About Katmandu, Jilanee said, 'Apart from passengers using Dhaka-Kathmandu route, we have a target of carrying passengers from Nepal to Malaysia. The schedule of these two routes will be done to facilitate that.' To a question, he informed that the introductory promotional return fare (including taxes) for Kuala Lumpur and Katmandu would be Tk 19,900 and Tk 13,671 respectively. 'These fares will be the cheapest at the moment.' He also said that MD-83 aircraft would be used on both these routes. About the fleet expansion, the director said that another MD-83 aircraft would be inducted by this month to the fleet of two Dash-8 and one MD-83. He said as part of the expansion plan, the airline would launch flights on Dhaka-Bangkok route within about a month. Jilanee said the process of procuring a Boeing- 767 had already begun and the aircraft was expected to join the fleet by April 2010. After the arrival of the Boeing-767, he said it would be used straightway in flights to London, currently served by MD-83, a relatively smaller aircraft. 'The aircraft will also be used in new flights to Saudi Arabia.' About Dhaka-Dubai and Dhaka-London routes, Jilanee said the Middle Eastern route was doing okay while it would take some time to get hold the passengers of Dhaka-London sector.

Tata Motors sales rise

India's largest vehicle maker, Tata Motors, said Thursday global sales, including those for Jaguar and Land Rover, rose 62 percent in November, aided by improved demand and last year's low sales base. The company, which also makes the world's cheapest car, the Nano, said total global sales for November rose to 75 ,775 vehicles, up 62 percent from the same period last year. Global sales of the two British premier brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, rose to 18 ,825 vehicles in November, up 30 percent from a year earlier, Tata Motors said in a statement to the stock exchange. Jaguar sales accounted for 4 ,333 vehicles while those for Land Rover were 14 ,492. Tata Motors bought the two marques from US Ford Motor last year for 2.3 billion dollars.

Bangladeshi dealer distribute jute seed among the farmer

The government will soon take steps to procure and distribute jute seeds among farmers through appointing dealers across the country. The disclosure came at a parliamentary body meeting at Jatiya Sangsad yesterday. Chairman of the Standing Committee on Jute and Textiles Ministry Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury presided over the meeting. The educational quality and environment in the textile institutes and progress in project implementation in different departments under the ministry came up for discussion at the meeting. Committee members Textile and Jute Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Molla Jalal Uddin, Hayatur Rahman Khan, Mohammad Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie and Nur-e-Hasna Lily Chowdhury were present.

BMW's new worker project

The German luxury car maker BMW will put 8 , 800 workers on shorter working hours in January as it anticipates a slump in the sales of some models, a spokesman said on Thursday. The move affects in particular around 8 ,300 workers of the 19 ,000 at a plant in Dingolfing, southeastern Germany that makes the Series 5 model, of which a new version is to be launched in March. Sales of the current model are therefore expected to slow sharply. Many German companies have resorted to short work hours for staff, with around 1.1 million workers currently involved by the scheme. The government pays part of the difference to keep people in jobs and trained for when the economy picks up again.

A textile seminar held in Dhaka

Textile manufacturing requires constant innovations in business practices, as it is one of the leading industries in the world, speakers said at a seminar yesterday. AMS System Services Pte Ltd organised the seminar on apparel manufacturing systems and solutions at Asia Pacific Blossom Hotel at Baridhara in the city. Peter Fung, founder and managing director of AMS, Eric Tay and Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury, factory representatives of AMS System Services, spoke at the seminar, said a statement. The speakers discussed how AMS technology and methodology would be able to provide solutions to the challenges ahead. Fung, who has been in the apparel industry since 1972 , discussed the solutions to different problems of apparel manufacturing at the programme.

Hong Kong's jobless rate down

Hong Kong's unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent between September and November, official data showed Thursday, the third consecutive decline since the start of the global financial crisis. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate dipped from 5.2 percent in the July to September period, and was in line with the median 5.1 percent forecast of ten economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. The number of jobless declined by 9 ,400 to 181 , 000 , while the southern Chinese city's overall workforce fell from 3 ,678 ,700 to 3 ,678 ,600 in the three months ending November, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The decline was largely driven by job creation in the construction sector, where the unemployment rate has dropped for seven consecutive months to 7.6 percent, a government statement said.