STIMULUS WATCH: Complaints from black, Latino businesses rise as they get fewer stimulus bucks

STIMULUS WATCH: Less stimulus for minority firms

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is hearing a rising chorus of demands to steer more stimulus money to Hispanic and black businesses.
Those businesses are getting a disproportionately small number of federal stimulus contracts. Latinos own 6.8 percent of businesses but have received only 1.7 percent of federal stimulus contracts …. Read the original article  : STIMULUS WATCH: Complaints from black, Latino businesses rise as they get fewer stimulus bucks.

G.P.Birla Cremated

KOLKATA, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Industrialist Ganga Prasad Birla, who passed away on Friday night, was cremated yesterday in the presence of family members and friends. The last rites of the eminent business tycoon was carried out by his son Chandra Kant Birla in a Kolkata crematorium. G.P.Birla breathed his last late Friday night at his …. Original source  : G.P.Birla Cremated.

UAE’s Dana Gas makes 2 new gas finds in Egypt

UAE’s Dana Gas makes 2 new Egypt finds
CAIRO – Dana Gas said Sunday it had made two new gas discoveries in Egypt, finds that will further boost the United Arab Emirates-based producer’s extensive holdings in the country.

The company said the first discovery in the West El Manzala concession produced 10 million standard cubic feet per …. Source  : UAE’s Dana Gas makes 2 new gas finds in Egypt.

Iran’s defense ministre says Iran now has its own cruise misso;es

Iran launches new cruise missile production line

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran on Sunday launched a new production line of highly accurate, short range cruise missiles capable of evading radar, state TV reported.
The report quoted Iranian defense minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as saying that the Nasr 1 (Victory) would be capable of destroying targets up to 1,000 …. Source  : Iran’s defense ministre says Iran now has its own cruise misso;es.

How can you miscount a town of 1? Census tally monitored warily in tiny places

Pop. 1 towns tell Census: Get count right
MONOWI, Neb. – The founding fathers must have chuckled at the impossibility of the job when they etched it into the Constitution: Count every man, woman and child along every back road and big-city avenue in the entire country.

From Key West to Nome, today’s Americans will largely get … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : How can you miscount a town of 1? Census tally monitored warily in tiny places.

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown headlines campaign rally in Tucson for John McCain

McCain, Scott Brown appear at Tucson, Ariz., rally

TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Sen. John McCain says the race for the Republican nomination for the seat he currently holds should be about fixing the economy, not about political ideology.
At a campaign rally in Tucson on Saturday, McCain enlisted one of the GOP’s rising stars – Massachusetts Sen. …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown headlines campaign rally in Tucson for John McCain.

Recalls: Honey mustard pretzels

Recalls: Pretzels
The following recall has been announced:

-National Pretzel Co., based in Lancaster, Pa., is voluntarily recalling all Honey Mustard Onion flavored pretzels produced since December 2009. They could be contaminated with salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children and others with weakened immune systems. No illnesses have been … Read this article on Gaea Times at : Recalls: Honey mustard pretzels.

China faces new pressure to let currency rise, gives signs it may allow yuan appreciation

China faces new pressure to let currency rise
BEIJING – China faces mounting pressure from trading partners to loosen currency controls and is giving signs it might raise the value of the yuan to ease strains on its fast-growing economy.
A stronger yuan could help China’s leaders achieve their goal of making the economy more … Read more >>.

Stop & Shop supermarkets: Tentative deals reached with 5 New England labor unions; vote Sunday

Stop & Shop reaches deals with 5 NE labor unions

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Stop & Shop supermarkets chain has reached tentative agreements with five labor unions in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The unions have scheduled Sunday meetings for votes by their members, who’ve been without contracts since Friday. The unions say they won’t strike unless … Read more : Stop & Shop supermarkets: Tentative deals reached with 5 New England labor unions; vote Sunday.

Initial results show most Icelandic voters reject deal to pay back bank failure debts

Early results: Iceland voters reject debt deal

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Still furious over the crippling aftermath of the global financial crisis, Iceland’s voters on Saturday resoundingly rejected a $5.3 billion plan to pay off Britain and the Netherlands for debts spawned by the collapse of an Icelandic Internet bank, according to initial results.
Results returned from around [..] Read the original article: here.

Danny Glover asks Oscars nominees to help Ohio factory workers by shunning Hugo Boss suits

Glover: Help Ohio plant, shun Hugo Boss at Oscars

CLEVELAND – Actor and activist Danny Glover is calling on Academy Awards nominees and others in the film industry to not wear Hugo Boss suits at Sunday’s awards ceremony.
The “Lethal Weapon” star, in collaboration with the Workers United labor union, made the request in a letter on …. Original article  : Danny Glover asks Oscars nominees to help Ohio factory workers by shunning Hugo Boss suits.

AIG to receive $231M termination fee if sale of Asian life insurance unit to Prudential fails

AIG to get $231M if sale of Asian unit crumbles

NEW YORK – American International Group Inc. will receive a termination fee of $230.6 million if the sale of its Asian life insurance business to Britain’s Prudential PLC falls through.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday, AIG said the deal, announced March …. Original source  : AIG to receive $231M termination fee if sale of Asian life insurance unit to Prudential fails.

Finance Minister meets the Directors of the RBI Central Board

Photograph (rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2120)
The customary post-Budget meeting of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India with the Finance Minister was held in Mumbai today. This time the meeting was held in Mumbai since it is the Platinum Jubilee Year of the RBI and provided an occasion for the …. Read the original article  : here.

AMD reduces pay package for its CEO by 14 percent in 2009 to $4.5 million

AMD reduces pay package for CEO by 14 pct. in 2009

SAN FRANCISCO – Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the world’s No. 2 maker of computer microprocessors, reduced its CEO’s pay package 14 percent last year. The company cut executives’ pay in response to falling sales.
CEO Dirk Meyer received a package that AMD valued at $4.5 million. …. Original source  : AMD reduces pay package for its CEO by 14 percent in 2009 to $4.5 million.

Iceland expected to turn down repaying Holland and UK for internet bank failure

Iceland expected to turn down bank failure repay

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Still smarting from the crippling aftermath of the global financial crisis, grudging Icelanders were expected Saturday to vote down a $5.3 billion plan to pay off Britain and the Netherlands for debts spawned by the collapse of an Icelandic Internet bank.
The resounding “no” vote expected … Read this article on Gaea Times at : Iceland expected to turn down repaying Holland and UK for internet bank failure.

Today’s partisan bickering in Washington seems genteel compared with many battles of the past

Partisanship’s bad now in Washington? Try again
WASHINGTON – The current partisan divide is as stark and nasty as any in recent history and on almost every issue – from health care to energy independence to reviving the economy – there’s little or no effort to find common ground.
But fierce … Original article on : Today’s partisan bickering in Washington seems genteel compared with many battles of the past.

For Obama, health care and economic messages don’t compete, but jobs-hungry public may differ

A furious health care push _ but what about jobs?
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s furious, final push to get a health care bill passed threatens to shove aside the message he promised would top his list this year: creating jobs.
Even as the White House juggles several enormous …. Source  : For Obama, health care and economic messages don’t compete, but jobs-hungry public may differ.

Report of Working Group to Review the Credit Guarantee Scheme of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for MSEs released

Mandatory doubling of the limit for collateral free loans to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) sector to Rs.10 lakh from the present Rs. 5 lakh, increase in the extent of guarantee cover, absorption of guarantee fees for the collateral free loans by CGTMSE subject to certain conditions, lower guarantee …. Original article  : Report of Working Group to Review the Credit Guarantee Scheme of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for MSEs released.

Icelanders vote in referendum on deal to repay debts of $5.3 billion to Britain, Netherlands

Icelanders vote on deal to repay $5.3 billion

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Icelanders are voting in a nationwide referendum on approving the use of taxpayers’ money to repay international debts.
Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Icelanders will vote “no” on Saturday to the $5.3 billion deal to compensate Britain and the Netherlands for deposits lost in … Read this article on Gaea Times at : Icelanders vote in referendum on deal to repay debts of $5.3 billion to Britain, Netherlands.

Facing election-year politics, Obama pitches health overhaul that GOP says must start anew

Obama turns up the heat for health care overhaul
WASHINGTON – Facing a tough political environment, President Barack Obama on Saturday turned up the heat for the health care overhaul that has been his top priority for a year yet has not been passed by Congress.
The president used his weekly radio [..] Read the original article: here.