Czech Republic pays US multimillionaire $354 mn
Prague: The Czech Republic on Thursday paid $354 million to US multimillionaire Ronald Lauder, following a court ruling earlier in the day that it is liable for losses his company suffered here. "The Czech Republic has paid this astronomical sum," Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla told reporters. A Stockholm-based appeal court on Thursday upheld the verdict of an international arbitration court from March. The arbitration panel ruled that the Czech government must pay Lauder's Central European Media Enterprises, CME, for failure to protect its investment in the broadcaster TV Nova.
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UK to unveil verdict on euro on June 9
London: The British government says it will unveil its long-awaited verdict over joining Europe's single currency on June 9 after a decision involving all senior government ministers. Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet will reach a final accord, on the biggest British political dilemma in a generation, after a debate going beyond a narrow economic assessment of euro entry. Blair, who sees the euro as part of Britain's destiny, has promised Britons a referendum if Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown says the economic conditions are right.
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IBM CEO says technology demand stable
New York: Demand for technology has stabilized relative to a year ago, IBM Chief Executive Samuel Palmisano said on Wednesday. Palmisano, head of the world's largest computer company, said during a meeting with analysts and investors in Boston that based on what he has heard from customers around the world, "things have stabilized." The comments were similar to those made by the Armonk, New York company's Chief Financial Officer John Joyce last month when International Business Machines Corp. announced its first-quarter earnings.
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Intel ships Pentium chips from China
Beijing: US semiconductor giant Intel said on Thursday it has begun shipping Pentium 4 chips from a Shanghai plant in which it has now invested $500 million. Craig Barrett, chief executive of the world's largest chipmaker, said last May it was building a facility to assemble and test microprocessors bearing "Made in China" stamps. Intel said in a statement it had begun shipping the chips, which the company had said earlier would begin in the first half of this year. The firm makes the rest of its chips in the United States and Ireland, then ships them to be assembled and tested in the Philippines, Malaysia and Costa Rica.
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Jalan rules out possibility of further interest rate cut
Kolkata: Reserve Bank of India governor Dr Bimal Jalan on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of further softening of interest rates in the immediate future. “We are in favour of a regime of soft rates. But that does not mean that we will go for softer rates,” Dr Jalan said here. He was in Kolkata to attend a meeting of the central board of directors of RBI. Dr Jalan pointed out that the interest rates had already been brought down a number of times to suit the industry. “So I do not think that there is a further possibility of interest rate cut,” the RBI governor said.
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