Vartual works

A simple method to distinguish artistic fakes and imitations has been demonstrated by researchers. The approach, known as "sparse coding", builds a virtual library of an artist's works and breaks them down into the simplest possible visual elements. Verifiable works by that artist can be rebuilt using varying proportions of those simple elements, while imitators' works cannot. The work is reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The mathematical analysis of artworks is a relatively new discipline, which gained worldwide attention when it emerged in 1999 that Jackson Pollock's "drip paintings" could be cast in the mathematics of fractals - patterns that repeat at ever-smaller scales. However, the claim that a fractal analysis could be used to identify Pollock-like paintings of unknown provenance remains a subject of some controversy. Sparse richness Since that time, a number of approaches to identify the origins of artworks have been attempted, yielding varying degrees of certainty in the results. Now, Daniel Rockmore of Dartmouth College in the US and his colleagues have shown a straightforward method known as sparse coding that, so far, appears to be significantly more accurate than previous attempts. SPARSE CODING ANALYSIS Each of an artist's works is cut into 144 pieces (12 rows and 12 columns) A set of 144 random elements the size of each piece is generated Each element is altered by a computer until some combination of them can recreate each piece from the original artwork The elements (shown above) are refined until the fewest are required to recreate each piece Those refined pieces will be unable to reproduce the work of an imitator or a fake The method works by dividing digital versions of all of an artist's confirmed works into 144 squares - 12 columns of 12 rows each. Then a set of "basis functions" is constructed - initially a set of random shapes and forms in black and white. A computer then modifies them until, for any given cut-down piece of the artist's work, some subset of the basis functions can be combined in some proportion to recreate the piece. The basis functions are refined further to ensure that the smallest possible number of them is required to generate any given piece - they are the "sparsest" set of functions that reproduces the artist's work. The team tried the approach on the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a 16 th century Flemish painter whose original works are well-known and who had a number of imitators. Upon using the sparse coding approach on the artist's known works, the Dartmouth team showed that the optimised basis functions were unable to reproduce the imitations. However, Professor Rockmore said that although authentication of works was an application that would appeal to many people, sparse coding could lend its analysis to a number of problems in the study of art. "Our hope is that it becomes more of what people call technical art history," he told BBC News. "Instead of asking 'was this painting done 40 years after these drawings?', one might instead ask 'how are these statistics evolving over time and what does that say about the working style? '. "For many people those are more central questions, and probably more substantial questions."

UK manufacturing process

UK manufacturing activity grew at its fastest pace in more than two years in December, a survey has indicated. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply's purchasing managers' index rose to 54.1 from 51. 8 in November. A score above 50 indicates growth. The survey also found an increase in the new orders index to 57.4 , the highest level since July 2007. The pace of job cuts in the sector was the weakest since May 2008 and mainly centred on larger companies. 'Tumultuous year' The pound jumped higher after the data was released and gained 0.2 % on the US dollar to reach $1.62. Some analysts suggest the increase in the purchasing managers' index (PMI) is a sign that 2010 could be a better year for the sector. " It's an encouraging number but an awful lot depends on global economic growth " Mark Miller, Lloyds TSB "December data signal a positive end to a tumultuous year for UK manufacturers," said Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit, which helps to compile the PMI data. But worries over the general state of the UK economy mean others are more cautious. "Yes, it's an encouraging number, taken alone. But an awful lot depends on global economic growth this year and whether UK manufacturers can continue to export reasonably successfully," said Mark Miller, economist at Lloyds TSB. The CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI is compiled from 600 purchasing managers' responses to questions on subjects such as production levels and new orders. The report is closely watched by economists and markets as it gives the earliest indication of the state of economic activity in a given month. 'Pretty glum' The UK is the only G20 economy still in recession. Latest figures show that the UK economy shrank by 0.2 % between July and September last year. Looking ahead, some business leaders are pessimistic about prospects for the UK economy as a whole, according to a separate study released by the Institute of Directors (IoD). " Yes there could be an occasional spurt of activity, but the next two years look pretty glum " Graeme Leach, IoD chief economist "We are very doubtful of a sharp bounce back in 2010 ," said Graeme Leach of the IoD. It is predicting an L-shaped recovery, with very weak growth in 2010 and 2011. It also argues that a double-dip or even a triple- dip scenario is potentially possible, where the economy falls back into recession after expanding for a short period. The business association said growth would be restricted by households and businesses favouring paying off debts rather than spending, and post-election fiscal tightening. "Yes there could be an occasional spurt of activity, but the next two years look pretty glum," Mr Leach added.

Nestle in Cadbury bid

Food giant Nestle says it does not intend to table a takeover bid for Cadbury, despite recent speculation. Nestle had been linked to a possible offer following Kraft Food's hostile bid for Cadbury, announced in December. Separately, Kraft has announced it will increase the proportion of cash in its offer to Cadbury shareholders in order to make its bid more attractive. Kraft will use cash made from the sale of its north American pizza business - sold to Nestle for $3.7 bn (£2.3 bn). More cash The sale means Kraft will be able to offer an extra 60 p per share in cash, though the overall value of the offer is not being increased. The company will announce full details of its new offer before 16 January. KRAFT BID TIMELINE 7 Sept: Kraft tables offer for Cadbury, valuing the company at about £10 bn. The bid is immediately rejected by the Cadbury board 9 Nov: Kraft goes hostile with its takeover bid, and Cadbury again rejects the offer 4 Dec: Kraft details offer aimed at Cadbury shareholders, setting 5 January deadline 14 Dec: Cadbury publishes its defence document, urging its shareholders to reject the Kraft offer 31 Dec: Deadline for shareholders to accept the Kraft bid is extended to 2 February 5 Jan: Kraft announces revised offer with higher cash proportion 15 Jan: Deadline for Cadbury to issue trading update 19 Jan: Deadline for Kraft to publish details of revised offer 2 Feb: Deadline for Cadbury shareholders to accept Kraft bid Kraft's original bid was £3 plus 0.26 new Kraft shares for each Cadbury share - a deal that analysts said would be unlikely to tempt shareholders. The Cadbury board responded by again calling the offer "derisory". "Despite this tinkering, the Kraft offer remains unchanged and derisory with less than half the consideration in cash," it said in a statement. James Targett, an analyst at Consumer Equity Research, said it was not clear what difference the extra cash would make. "It might tempt a few shareholders who want a bit more cash, but nothing's really changed from Cadbury's management's perspective - they still see the offer as undervaluing the company," he told the BBC. He added that Kraft would be reluctant to raise its offer while it remained the only bidder in the running. Pizza deal Nestle was among the possible rival bidders expected to enter the fray. On Monday, that speculation was fuelled when Nestle sold its remaining stake in eye-care group Alcon to Novartis for $28.1 bn (£17.5 bn) - a deal perceived as freeing up cash for a Cadbury bid. However, on Tuesday it instead spent some of that money buying Kraft's frozen pizza business, which sells brands including DiGiorno and California Pizza Kitchen in the US and Canada. In a statement, Nestle said its decision not to make, or participate in, a formal offer for Cadbury followed discussions with the UK Takeover Panel - the body in charge of regulating takeovers. That leaves Kraft as the only current bidder for Cadbury, although US confectioner Hershey has previously expressed its interest in a possible bid.

Japan Airlines to cut pension

Shares in Japan Airlines (JAL) rose again on Tuesday after more than two-thirds of its staff agreed to pension cuts. The airline needs employees to agree to cuts in order to reduce its $3.6 bn (£2.2 bn) pension deficit and qualify for a state bail-out. JAL shares rose by 3.4 %, adding to the 31 seen on Monday. On Sunday, the Japanese government agreed to double its offer of state-funded credit to the ailing airline. JAL now has access to 200 bn yen ($2.2 of credit, although it has already made use of 55 bn yen of that. Separately, the airline applied for a government bail-out in October last year through the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC) - a body able to draw on taxpayers' money to prop up the business while it restructures. A decision on that is due before the end of January, but the ETIC requires cost-cutting concessions including restructuring of pension arrangements. JAL is battling 1.5 trillion yen of debt, and has been hit hard by the global fall in demand for air travel.

Russia threatened to cut power

Belarus has threatened to cut the supply of electricity via its territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The Belarus state power firm Belenergo said Russia was delivering electricity to the enclave in the absence of an agreement on transit fees. "This compels the Belarusian side to think of cutting the unauthorised commercial transit of electricity," the Belenergo statement said on Monday. A dispute over Russian oil supplies to Belarus has not yet been resolved. Russian oil is still being supplied to Belarus, both for transit and processing, the Belarus oil concern Belneftekhim said. But the two former Soviet republics have failed to sign a new agreement on Russian oil deliveries for 2010. It was supposed to be signed by the end of 2009. "We are continuing uninterrupted transit to Western European customers," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, quoted by Interfax news agency. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he hoped a deal with Belarus on oil supplies would be clinched soon. The dispute centres on the preferential tariff that Belarus has been paying since 2007 for Russian oil. It has been selling on Russian crude or refined oil at world prices. Russia says it is prepared to sell oil to Belarus duty-free for domestic consumption but wants to charge the tariff for oil that Belarus exports. In 2007 a similar dispute with Belarus over oil tariffs disrupted Russian oil exports via the Druzhba pipeline to Poland and Germany.

China manufacturing growth sharply

Chinese manufacturing grew by the biggest margin in five years in December, fuelling growth expectations for the world's third- biggest economy. The purchasing managers index (PMI) from HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics reported the fastest rate of growth since records began in 2004. The index is based on a survey of more than 400 Chinese manufacturers. The finding supports the view among some economists that China's economy could grow by as much as 10 % this year. But the survey also renews concerns over inflation, with prices rising at their fastest rate in 17 months. The PMI measure rose to 56.1 , up from 55.7 a month earlier. A measure over 50 represents growth in the manufacturing sector. The figure was also in line with China's official PMI figure, released on 1 January, which showed growth in manufacturing at a 20- month high. Growth hopes The growth in manufacturing has fuelled expectations that the Chinese economy could return to double-digit growth figures. While other countries slipped into recession in 2009 , China saw its annual GDP growth rate slip to a low of 6.1 % in April last year. " The... effect of stimulus measures is filtering through to substantially benefit the manufacturing sector " Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC Last month, the Chinese government said it was targeting a growth rate of 8 %. However, some economists believe that China is already growing at an annualised rate of at least 10 %, with similar growth for 2010 forecasted. Commenting on the figures, Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC, said the Chinese authorities' actions to help the economy were clearly working. "The second-round effect of stimulus measures is filtering through to substantially benefit the manufacturing sector," he said. At the end of 2008 the Chinese government announced a 4 trillion yuan ($586 bn; £354 bn) stimulus plan that pumped money into the economy through spending on public infrastructure projects. Overheating? But the expansion in manufacturing raised inflation concerns, with output prices rising at their fastest pace since July 2008 according to HSBC. Chinese companies are also reporting rising costs of raw materials including oil and steel. But Qu Hongbin from HSBC argued that overcapacity in manufacturing, combined with the government's ability to rein in spending will help keep a lid on inflation. "We believe inflation will be manageable in the coming months," he said.

Singapore's economy

Singapore's economy shrank for the first time in three quarters in the last three months of 2009. Weaker manufacturing helped the economy shrink by an annualised rate of 6.8 fourth quarter of the year, the island's government said. That compares with a 14.9 % rise in the third quarter, following Singapore's deepest recession on record. However, the economy still grew by 3.5 compared with the same three-month period in 2008. Over 2009 as a whole, the economy shrank by 2. 1 %. Speaking last week, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the economy was still improving after a "volatile" year. He added that the stabilising of global economies would help future recovery. Mixed picture Weakness in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for about a quarter of the economy, contributed to the decline in GDP. "This decline was mainly due to a contraction in the output of the biomedical manufacturing and transport engineering clusters," the trade ministry said in a statement. Mariko Oi, the BBC's business correspondent in Singapore, said that some economists had expected a contraction. "The saviour of Singapore's economy - the pharmaceuticals sector - is very volatile," she said. "But if you look at export figures, things are picking up. They rose for the first time in 19 months in November, and as exports account for two-thirds of the economy, that's good news." She added that the government was continuing to take a cautious approach, and would hold back from tightening monetary policy until later in the year.

Novartis to buy Alcon

Novartis AG said Monday it plans to take over Alcon Inc by paying $38.5 billion for the 77 percent stake it does not already own in a deal that would make it one of the biggest players in the global market for eye-care products. The Swiss pharmaceutical company will purchase Nestle SA's 52 percent stake for $28 billion, or $180 per share, before carrying out a merger with Alcon that would give it control of the remaining 23 percent held by minority shareholders. The Basel-based drug maker had already purchased 25 percent of Alcon from Nestle in April 2008 for $11 billion, with the option of buying the food and drinks company's remaining stake at a later date.

General Motors China sales will rise

General Motors Co said Monday that 2009 sales in China by the company and its local partners rose 67 percent to a record 1.8 million vehicles amid tax cuts and incentives to help boost the industry. Detroit-based GM and other global automakers are looking to China's fast-growing market to drive sales amid slack demand elsewhere. Chinese auto purchases surpassed those in the United States for all but two of the first 11 months of the year. Total sales for December are yet to be released. GM said its own China sales in December soared 96.6 percent from a year earlier to a new monthly high of 189 ,793 vehicles. "Despite the sales records in 2009 , it looks as if 2010 will be even stronger. The industry outlook is strong and we expect more growth, albeit on a somewhat slower pace," GM China president Kevin Wale said in a statement. Beijing has helped to boost auto sales with tax cuts and subsidies for drivers to shift to cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars. Most of that aid has gone to Chinese makers of smaller cars, though foreign producers also see sales rising.

Airtel will buy Bangladeshi warid

The telecom regulator yesterday gave a go- ahead to Bharti Airtel's $300 million initial investment proposal to buy a 70 percent stake in Warid, the fourth largest mobile company in Bangladesh. "We have approved Bharti Airtel's plan to buy the Warid stake," BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed told The Daily Star. The boss of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said the Indian telecom giant will take over a 70 percent stake in Warid by creating new shares, possibly at a nominal price. Abu Dhabi Group has so far invested $600 million for Warid operations in Bangladesh, said an official of the operator. However, BTRC officials said half of the amount came as foreign direct investment. "We hope Airtel investment would cross $1 billion within the next few years," Ahmed said, hinting at his talks with Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and group chief executive officer of Bharti Enterprises, who recently visited Dhaka. Ahmed also ruled out the debate that BTRC will not get 5.5 percent as revenue of the total amount of a possible deal. "Whatever price Airtel is going to pay for Warid stake, as per law, 5.5 percent of the deal amount must go to BTRC." Bharti Airtel is one of the Asia's leading providers of telecommunication services with presence in all the 22 licensed jurisdictions in India, and in Sri Lanka. It served an aggregate of 113 ,439 ,670 customers as of September 30 , according to the company website. The company also deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure of telecom operations under its subsidiary Bharti Infratel Ltd. Bharti Airtel at first expressed interest to invest in Bangladesh's mobile phone market in October 2008 during a meeting with BTRC officials at South Asian Telecommunication Regulators' Council in New Delhi. With the BTRC approval, Bharti Airtel would be the first Indian telecom operator to enter Bangladesh's mobile market to compete with Bangladesh-Norway joint venture Grameenphone, Egypt-based Banglalink, Malaysia-Japan joint venture AKTEL, Bangladesh- Singapore joint venture Citycell and state-run Teletalk. The BTRC chairman said the commission welcomes the Indian telecom giant, as Airtel has a dynamic background in telecom sector with operations in different countries. New partnership was crucial as Abu Dhabi Group, the parent company of Waird, has been unwilling to invest for a long time. Warid officials had earlier said the company was on the lookout for a partner to raise fresh capital for investment in its next phase of operations in Bangladesh. Warid made its Bangladesh debut as the sixth operator in May 2007 and has roped in 2.92 million subscribers until November last year. Grameenphone is the market leader in the 50. 55- million mobile market with 22.75 million customers followed by Bangalink's 12.99 million and AKTEL's 8.87 million. Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd launched the first mobile service in Bangladesh in 1993 with CDMA (code division multiple access) technology. The costly mobile service later came to the mass with the introduction of comparatively cheap GSM ( global system for mobile communications) technology. The market has become tough for bottom three operators since 2005 as top three operators in the meantime grabbed more than 90 percent market shares waging a stiff price war. However, market insiders term the Bangladesh's six-operator mobile market as a 'crowd'. State-run Teletalk could be the next operator to go for partnership as it is in talks to sell majority stake to a Vietnamese company. Meanwhile, Warid officials have expressed concern fearing a big job cut after Airtel's taking over of majority stake in the operator. "We are worried as Waird is already overstaffed, " said a mid-level official at Warid Telecom, requesting anonymity. However, they also expect that a new management might provide them with more benefits. "We have expectations as well. The new management will give something new," the Warid official said. Presently, there are around 700 employees at Warid.

Green technology in Bangladesh

The use of green technology showed a significant rise last year, covering some new areas from rural farming to city restaurants, corporate houses and government offices. Industry insiders said a fall in prices of green technology-based products on the global market caused by recession has attracted more entrepreneurs to such business, which ultimately pushed the growth up. Infrastructure Development Company Ltd ( IDCOL), a major financier for green technology in Bangladesh, says it receives at least five new proposals for green technology-based business every day. Installation of solar home system increased to 17 ,000 month in 2008. Solar irrigation pumps, water pumps, telecom base stations, and solar panels were the major hit last year. Experts termed the trend as a 'hidden revolution'. However, they suggested introducing a monitoring system to ensure sustainability of such technology. According to IDCOL, installation of solar home system by 15 421 300 Farzana Rahman, senior investment officer of IDCOL, said this market is becoming more dynamic gradually with the introduction of new solutions. Citing an example, she said IDCOL has recently financed a 250- power plant in Kapasia, Gazipur as a pilot project. The plant uses rice husk for power generation and supplies grid-quality electricity to 500 households and commercial entities of that area. A total of 9 September 2009. IDCOL and some private entrepreneurs are engaged in this business. The company has a target to finance 12 power plants equivalent to 5- 2012. Some brick kilns also started using environment- friendly solutions to make bricks in 2009. Diamond Auto Bricks in Narayanganj had set up such a brick kiln. The new technology being used by Diamond Auto and the likes is Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHK) technology imported from China. A single kiln that runs on HHK technology will produce 15 by 5 produce 30 emission by 10 Around 4 billion bricks a year, and the number is increasing by 10 estate. United Nations Development Programme also took a project under which 31 brick kilns will initially be set up in different parts of the country. Telecom came to the forefront to go green in 2009. Bangladesh's largest mobile phone company Grameenphone is going for a transformation to become a 'green company' with a target to reduce 30 installing solar base stations. "We are all contributors to this global crisis and need to be part of the solution," said Oddvar Hesjedal, chief executive officer of Grameenphone. The major change in the green technology market is that the local firms are increasingly opting for new solutions. Grameen Shakti and Rahimafrooz are developing telecom base stations. Rahimafrooz also developed solar pumps. The Prime Minister Office installed a solar power system to encourage people to go for green energy amid acute power crisis. A similar move the Bangladesh Bank took in 2009 example for banks. Nando's, a restaurant in Dhaka, installed solar panel as backup. "Our plan was to use something environment- friendly as backup during power cut," said Abdur Rahim, director of Nando's. Saiful Haque, secretary of Bangladesh Solar Energy Society, said: "We should understand what we're going to face due to climate change. Green technology should replace the one that emits a huge carbon." He said sustainability of such technology is crucial for Bangladesh, and so the government should introduce a monitoring system.

World's tallest building opened

Once-bustling Dubai will open the world's tallest skyscraper on Monday, boasting new limits in design and construction, hopeful of polishing an image tarnished by the debt woes afflicting the Gulf emirate. Emaar, the giant property firm part-owned by the government and which developed the needle-shaped concrete, steel and glass structure, has declined to reveal Burj Dubai's exact height. Apparently wanting to maintain the suspense, the company will say only that the tower exceeds 800 metres (2 ,640 feet), putting it far higher than Taiwan's Taipei 101 tower (508 metres). Bill Baker, a structural and civil engineer and partner in Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), which designed the tower, said Burj Dubai has set a new benchmark. "We thought that it would be slightly taller than the existing tallest tower of Taipei 101. ( Emaar) kept on asking us to go higher but we didn't know how high we could go," he said. "We were able to tune the building like we tune a music instrument. As we went higher and higher and higher, we discovered that by doing that process... we were able to reach heights much higher than we ever thought we could.