Friday, April 18, 2008

Business: Business in Asia Today - April 18, 2008

CHINA STARTS WORK ON BEIJING-SHANGHAI EXPRESS RAILWAY
Beijing (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour started construction on Friday.
The 1,318 km line, upon its completion in five years, will reduce the trip between the two cities to five hours and lift one-way transport capacity to 80 million passengers and more than 100 million tons of cargo annually, said the Railway Ministry.
With an investment of 220.9 billion yuan (US$31.6 billion), the railway is the most expensive construction project China has started since 1949. According to the ministry, all the technological equipment for the self-designed line was produced by domestic companies.

AUSTRALIA'S CAZALY LOSES BATTLE WITH RIO TINTO OVER SHOVELANNA
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Cazaly Resources Ltd (ASX:CAZ) has lost its three year battle with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) over the ownership of the Shovelanna iron ore deposit after the Australian High Court refused an appeal.
Cazaly swooped on Shovelanna in the Pilbara region in 2005 when Rio Tinto's license over the tenement expired after a courier failed to deliver documents on time.
Cazaly arranged financial backing for a potential development and signed an agreement with BHP (ASX:BHP) to process the ore before the tenement was stripped from the company by the state government and handed back to Rio.
An appeal by Cazaly to the Supreme Court of Western Australia to wrest back control of Shovelanna was dismissed in August. Little work was conducted on the tenement after a 130 million tonne resource was defined.

RUPERT MURDOCH BRINGS MYSPACE TO INDIA
New Delhi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Rupert Murdoch-run global media conglomerate News Corporation (ASX:NWS) on Thursday brought its social networking website MySpace to India. Like other players already present in the market, News Corp is also looking to attract the younger generation in India, which is home to world's youngest population with over half of its residents aged below 25, industry experts said.
Indicating its target audience, MySpace announced its India launch with a slogan "Rock with MySpace.com" and said it was marking its entry into the country with performances by three rock bands in Mumbai, where all the registered users of the website would get a free pass.
Websites like MySpace, Orkut, Facebook and Bigadda allow people to chat with each other and have already become a craze among the youngsters in India as well as in other parts of the world.

S KOREA'S KEPCO WINS PLANT ORDERS FROM DOMINICA, NEPAL
sEOUL (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Korea Electric Power Corp. (KSE:015760) said Friday it has won orders worth a combined US$580 million to build thermal and hydroelectric power plants in Dominica and Nepal.
KEPCO signed an MoU with Dominica's largest electric power company Haina to build and operate a 240 megawatt thermal power plant, which is forecast to cost US$500 million, the South Korean company said. KEPCO also inked a joint development agreement with Nepal Electricity Authority, a Nepalese state-run electricity firm to build a hydroelectric power plant
with a generation capacity of 42 megawatts, which will cost US$80 million, it said.
KEPCO plans to operate the Nepalese hydroelectric power plant for 30 years after its completion, the company said.
Last October, KEPCO and Nepal Electricity Authority agreed to cooperate in the field of electricity.

CHINA'S COSCO SETS UP JV WITH INDONESIAN FIRM TO TRANSPORT COAL
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Sea transport operator China Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco) (SSX:600428) is making efforts to win coal shipment contracts from Indonesia by establishing a joint venture with a local firm, a leading economic daily reported Friday.
Cosco has teamed up with Indonesia's PT Global Putra International (GPI) and the joint venture will buy up to 10 coal ships with the capacity of between 50,000 tons and 100,000 tons.
"Each ship has a price tag of US$50 million to US$100 million" GPI president Sumadi Kusuma was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as saying.
"We have handed over all documents to the government, who has the final say. We are confident the joint venture will become operational this year," said Kusuma.
The ministry has projected the need of 390 ships to meet the growing coal shipment, as the country's coal export is expected to hit 100 million tons by 2010.

JAPAN'S LABOR SHORTAGE PUSHED WORKERS 65 PLUS ABOVE 2 MLN IN '07
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - With more Japanese businesses tapping elderly workers to cope with labor shortages, employees aged 65 or older are increasing, topping 2 million for the first time last year.
The ranks of those wishing to work beyond 65 -- the eligibility threshold for receiving pensions -- are also growing.
Japan's employees crept up 2 per cent to 51.74 million in 2007, of which 2.09 million were 65 or older, according to Internal Affairs Ministry data.
These older workers jumped 15 per cent from 2006 and were up 32 per cent from four years earlier -- a rise attributed to an improved employment environment.
With the graying of society, more than 20 per cent of Japan's total population was 65 or older in 2005 -- the highest proportion among developed nations.

IRAN TO INVEST IN EXPANSION PROJECT OF SRI LANKAN OIL REFINERY
Tokyo (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Sri Lanka's Oil Minister said Wednesday in an interview with Japan's Kyodo news agency that Iran has decided to increase its investment, up to US$1 billion, in an oil refinery expansion project there.
According to Kyodo's report, the Managing Director of Sri Lanka's state run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Ashanta Domel, too, has said that the pilot study for increasing the production of Sri Lanka's only refinery from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day has been completed by Iranian oil engineers.
Mr Domel added, "Iran would make the major part of the required investment for expansion of this oil refinery (70 per cent) and the CPC would cover the rest (30 per cent)." According to Kyodo, Mr Domel expects the project's executive phase to begin within the next three to four months.

PETROVIETNAM PROPOSES FUELS COOPERATION WITH OMAN
Hanoi (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has proposed cooperation with state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) in four main areas of the oil and gas industry.
The suggested fields of oil and gas cooperation include building storage and distribution systems in Vietnam, supplying technical services, trading in products and establishing joint ventures to invest in a third country.
The two parties will establish a joint working group and negotiate on the four proposed areas on April 18.
The current visit to Vietnam by Macki aims to discuss cooperation between PetroVietnam and OOC after both sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) during Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung's recent visit to Oman.

TAIWAN GROUPS WANT TIMETABLE FOR GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION
Taipei (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Environmental groups in Taiwan expressed opposition Wednesday to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Bill being deliberated in the legislature, on grounds that the legislation provides no target or timetable for its implementation.
At a joint press conference the Green Party Taiwan, the Green Citizens' Action Alliance and the Taiwan Environmental Action Network urged the legislature not to pass the bill.
Pan Han-chiang, secretary-general of the Taiwan Environmental Action Network, noted that the current version of the bill is similar to the one introduced in May last year, except that the current version has deleted the clauses committing to an overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reductions by individual sectors.
Pan added his group and the others are unhappy with a proposal floated by some legislators that an article should be added to the draft bill to stipulate that Taiwan's carbon dioxide emission level should be maintained at the 2007 level.

AUSTRALIA'S COAL & ALLIED TO SPEND US$4.7 BLN ON NEW PROJECTS
Melbourne (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Coal & Allied Ltd (ASX:CNA), which is majority owned by Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO), has flagged spending A$5 billion (US$4.68 billion) on new projects over the next seven years to double the company's annual coal output.
Chairman Chris Renwick said today the company envisaged doubling the company's annual coal output to 58 million tonnes by 2015.
Coal & Allied's goal, however, faces hurdles in infrastructure constraints and changing attitudes towards coal amid the
climate change debate. Mr Renwick said the issue of climate change would pose a "real quandary" to the company's expansion plans but said coal would have an ongoing role in the global energy mix.
The other issue facing the company and other coal producers on the east coast of Australia is infrastructure constraints.

Source:
Business in Asia Today - APRIL 18, 2008
published by Asia Pulse


COPYRIGHT © 2008

Metal/Mining/Business: Hindustan Zinc announces exploration success

Increase in reserves and resources by 28.7 million ronnes containing 4.0 million tonnes of zinc-lead metal, prior to depletion increase in mine life by nearly four years
Total reserves and resources now at 232.3 million tonnes containing 27.5 million tonnes of zinc-lead metal Rampura Agucha Mine achieves Landmark of crossing 100 million tonnes with certified reserves and resources of 107.3 million tonnes

Mumbai, India (BUSINESS WIRE) - Hindustan Zinc Limited ("HZL") is pleased to announce that its ongoing exploration activities have yielded significant success with an increase of 28.7 million tonnes to its reserves and resources, prior to a depletion of 5.8 million tonnes in FY 2008. Contained zinc-lead metal has increased by 4.0 million tonnes, prior to a depletion of 0.6 million tonnes during the same period. Total reserves and resources at 31 March 2008 were 232.3 million tonnes containing 27.5 million tonnes of zinc-lead metal. The reserves and resources position has been independently reviewed and certified as per JORC standard.

The success of exploration has primarily been in the Sindesar Khurd and Rampura Agucha mines. The sustained exploration and aggressive drilling programme at Sindesar Khurd mine has successfully augmented the resource base to the current level of 37 million tonnes, making it the second largest ore body in HZL's portfolio after Rampura Agucha, with potential for further additions, through ongoing exploration. In FY 2008, the drilling programme successfully increased the strike length, by 300 metres, to 1,600 metres averaging 5.8% zinc, 3.8% lead and 215 ppm silver.

At Rampura Agucha, 28,000 metres of drilling in 32 holes were carried out to outline mineralisation below a depth of 550 metres. Of these, 29 holes intersected ore widths with significant grades averaging 15.5% zinc and 2.0% lead. The combined reserves and resources at Rampura Agucha alone have been augmented to 107.3 million tonnes at 31 March 2008, achieving the landmark of crossing 100 million tonnes in reserves and resources.

The group's exploration philosophy has been to replace every tonne of ore mined with at least one tonne of resource.

HZL has dynamically increased its exploration focus, through a team of 40 geologists employing the latest geophysical, geochemical and GIS technologies and high speed deep drilling equipment. This has resulted in an addition of 110.7 million tonnes of reserves and resources, before depletion of 22.1 million tonnes, in the period from April 2003 to March 2008.

About Hindustan Zinc Limited

HZL is India's only integrated producer of zinc and lead and among the world's leading integrated producers. Its metal production capacity is nearly 670,000 tpa with its smelter operations situated in Chanderiya, Debari and Visakhapatnam. HZL has zinc-lead mines in Dariba, Rampura Agucha, and Zawar. The company is a subsidiary of the NYSE listed, Sterlite Industries (India) Limited (NYSE:SLT) and London listed FTSE 100 diversified metals and mining major, Vedanta Resources plc.

Disclaimer
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects,""anticipates,""intends,""plans,""believes,""seeks,""should" or "will."

Forward looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

for Hindustan Zinc Limited
Sumanth Cidambi, +91 22 6646 1531 Associate Director - Investor Relations sumanth.cidambi@vedanta.co.in
Sheetal Khanduja, +91 22 6646 1427 Manager - Investor Relations sheetal.khanduja@vedanta.co.in

Business: Alcan Composites opens new Chinese conversion centre

Paris - CNW - AsiaNet/ - Rio Tinto Alcan is pleased to announce that Alcan Composites, a division of Alcan Engineered Products, has officially inaugurated its new Core Materials conversion centre in Shanghai, China at a ceremony attended by local officials, industrial association representatives, customers and management. The investment, announced in June 2007, is a clear demonstration of Alcan Engineered Products' growth strategy in action in the fast-developing Asia Pacific market.

"China and the Asia Pacific markets are of strategic importance not only for the Composites business but also for the Engineered Products unit. The combination of local sales and technical service capabilities along with our own manufacturing plants will allow us to grow even faster in the region," said Georg Reif, president, Alcan Composites.

Located in the Shanghai Tangzhen industrial zone, the Alcan Composites Core Materials centre presently employs 30 people.
It is already operational and is equipped with dedicated lines for the transformation of AIREX(R) plastic foam and BALTEK(R) balsa-based core materials used by fabricators to make innovative sandwich structure solutions. In addition to the transformation capacity, the new centre includes sales and technical services to provide customers with local market knowledge and expertise.

"This new conversion centre will enable us to offer leading-edge composite core materials and will improve our lead times and services to our customers in the Chinese and Asia-Pacific wind energy and mass transportation markets," added Pierre Monton, president, Core Materials, Alcan Composites.

AIREX(R) and BALTEK(R) core materials are used by manufacturers to create innovative lightweight sandwich structures for the wind energy, marine and ground transportation markets. Thanks to their light weight, the final products allow better energy efficiency over their whole life cycle.

Alcan Composites Core Materials is a global organization with over 1,500 employees in production locations in Europe, North America, Ecuador and now China. It is part of Alcan Composites, a global unit employing 2,700 employees active in manufacturing and commercializing branded products for visual communication, architecture, transportation and industrial markets. Alcan Composites has been present in South East Asia with sales offices in Singapore since 1991, a manufacturing plant for ALUCOBOND(R) facade panels since 1999 in Shanghai, China and a paint line factory in Changzhou, China since 2006.
Alcan Composites is part of the Engineered Products unit, a division of Rio Tinto Alcan.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, those regarding Rio Tinto's financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to Rio Tinto's products, production forecasts and reserve and resource positions), are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Rio Tinto, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Rio Tinto's present and future business strategies and the environment in which Rio Tinto will operate in the future. Among the important factors that could cause Rio Tinto's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, levels of actual production during any period, levels of demand and market prices, the ability to produce and transport products profitably, the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on market prices and operating costs, operational problems, political uncertainty and economic conditions in relevant areas of the world, the actions of competitors, activities by governmental authorities such as changes in taxation or regulation and such other risk factorsidentified in Rio Tinto's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") or Form 6-Ks furnished to the SEC.

Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be construed in light of such risk factors and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Rio Tinto expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking (except as required by applicable law, the City Code on Takeovers and
Mergers (the "Takeover Code"), the UK Listing Rules, the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Services Authority and the Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange) to release publicly any updates or revisions to anyforward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Rio Tinto's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Nothing in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that future earnings per share of Rio Tinto plc or Rio Tinto Limited will necessarily match or exceed its historical published earnings per share.

Subject to the requirements of the Takeover Code, none of Rio Tinto, any of its officers or any person named in this announcement with their consent or any person involved in the preparation of this announcement makes any representation or warranty (either express or implied) or gives any assurance that the implied values, anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in forward-looking statements contained in this announcement will be achieved.

SOURCE: Rio Tinto Alcan

CONTACT: Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations,
China: Helen Jiang,
+86 21 6133 6906,
Helen.jiang@alcan.com;
Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations,
Stefano Bertolli,
+1 514 848-8151,
stefano.bertolli@riotinto.com;
www.riotinto.com/riotintoalcan/

Technology:: Finacle from Infosys Positioned in leaders quadrant

Finacle from Infosys Positioned in leaders quadrant in magic quadrant for International Retail Core Banking 2008

Bangelore, India & London (BUSINESS WIRE) - Infosys today announced that Gartner, Inc. has positioned Finacle core banking solution in the Leaders Quadrant of the recently released `Magic Quadrant for International Retail Core Banking (IRCB) 2008' report.

(Report available at: http://www.infosys.com/finacle gartner2008.asp).

The Gartner Magic Quadrant IRCB report "assesses the suitability of core banking system providers and their product offerings to address the impact of these and other trends in the IRCB market."

Moreover, the report "has uncovered the leading strategies of these vendors/products, revealed their underlying product service capabilities and affirmed their relevance to the changing conditions of the banking industry."

As per Gartner, "Leaders are vendors that possess a strong banking market understanding, have a measurable strategy for disaggregating core banking software functionality into component-based constructs, exhibit highly developed and certified development and delivery of quality methodologies or are executing on a strategic road map to attain certification, and most have extensive marketing delivery and sales channels.
Some higher-rated vendors share conspicuous operational organization approaches that are relevant to the business and show a clear willingness to own and be accountable for a successful customer experience."

Haragopal M, Business Head - Finacle, Infosys Technologies, said, "We believe Finacle's position in the Leaders quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant and its position as the solution of choice for leading banks across the world are a validation of its market leadership. Finacle's transformational approach, state-of-the-art solution and comprehensive execution capabilities have set new global standards and we believe this report by Gartner further demonstrates our differentiating strengths."

Magic Quadrants depict markets using a two dimensional matrix that evaluates vendors based on their completeness of vision and ability to execute. The Magic Quadrant has 15 weighted criteria that plot vendors based on their relative strengths in the market. The evaluation began with 32 candidates for the IRCB Magic Quadrant for 2008 and resulted in a qualified group of 22 combinations of vendors and products that represent the major movers in retail core banking systems.

Source: Gartner, Inc. April 2008 "Magic Quadrant for International Retail Core Banking, 2008,"

Don Free The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2008 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant.

The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Finacle Universal Banking Solution

Finacle, the universal banking solution from Infosys, empowers banks to transform their business leveraging technology. The solution addresses the core banking, e-banking, treasury, and wealth management and CRM requirements of retail, corporate and universal banks worldwide. Finacle has been architected out of years of experience with global banks and offers several powerful and differentiating features making it one of the most comprehensive, flexible and scalable solutions in its class.

For more information, visit www.infosys.com/finacle

About Infosys Technologies Ltd.

Infosys (NASDAQ:INFY) defines, designs and delivers IT-enabled business solutions that help Global 2000 companies win in a flat world. These solutions focus on providing strategic differentiation and operational superiority to clients. With Infosys, clients are assured of a transparent business partner, world-class processes, speed of execution and the power to stretch their IT budget by leveraging the Global Delivery Model that Infosys pioneered. Infosys has over 80,000 employees in over 39 offices worldwide. Infosys is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index.

For more information, visit www.infosys.com.

Infosys Technologies Ltd - Safe Harbor Statements in connection with this release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of US Securities laws intended to qualify for the "safe harbor" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including those described in our SEC filings available at www.sec.gov including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31 2007 and our other recent filings, and actual results may differ materially from those projected by forward-looking statements. We may make additional written and oral forward-looking statements but do not undertake, and disclaim any obligation, to update them.

Infosys Technologies Ltd India Shashwati Bangalore +91 80 4105 7583 Shashwati_Chowdhury@infosys.com or UK Shamima London+44 (0) 207 067 0469 sbegum@golinharris.com

Business: Sterlite Industries (India) Limited notice of fourth quarter results

Mumbai, India (BUSINESS WIRE) - Sterlite Industries (India) Limited (NYSE: SLT) (BSE: STERLITEIND) will announce its results for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 March, 2008 on Saturday, 26 April, 2008.

About Sterlite

Sterlite is one of India's leading diversified mining and metals companies with interests and operations in aluminium, copper, zinc and lead. The company's main operating subsidiaries are Hindustan Zinc Limited for its zinc and lead operations; Copper Mines of Tasmania Pty Limited for its copper operations in Australia; and Bharat Aluminium Company Limited for its aluminium operations.

The company is entering into the commercial power generation business by setting up a large scale 2,400 MW coal-based, independent thermal power plant in Jharsuguda, Orissa. Sterlite is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources plc, a London-based diversified FTSE 100 metals and mining group.

Sterlite Industries (India) Limited Sumanth Cidambi, Associate Director - Investor Relations Tel: +91 22 6646 1531
sumanth.cidambi@vedanta.co.in

Sheetal Khanduja, Manager - Investor Relations Tel: +91 22 6646 1427 Sheetal.khanduja@vedanta.co.in

Health/Medical: Phase Forward delivers Enhanced InForm (TM) Solution to Japanese markets

The latest Japanese version expands electronic data capture to incorporate real-time, trial management reporting and analysis

Tokyo (BUSINESS WIRE) - Phase Forward (NASDAQ: PFWD), a leading provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, today announced the availability of a new Japanese version of its electronic data capture (EDC) solution, InForm J Integrated Trial Management (ITM).

The new Japanese version offers comprehensive, real-time trial management reporting and analysis capabilities embedded directly into the product - providing clinical organizations with the ability to help enhance the execution and management of clinical trials, and improve and accelerate clinical decision-making.

Since 2003, Phase Forward's InForm J solution has been used by life sciences companies of all sizes to help efficiently collect, manage and clean clinical data, and has been leveraged in more than 110 trials in Japan.

"Our customers require innovative, sophisticated clinical data capture and management tools to support today's increasingly complex trials, and the benefits afforded by improved clinical trial productivity and efficiencies," said Steve Powell, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales at Phase Forward.

"InForm J meets that requirement by offering real-time visibility into data and the ability to more effectively analyze the data, process reports and ultimately take appropriate action."

New product features include: Comprehensive Reporting and Analysis Capabilities - with its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, InForm J provides a robust and flexible set of out-of-the-box reporting and analysis tools.

An extensive library of trial reports, including 32 dynamic and fully configurable trial management reports and 18 new reports specifically designed to assist monitors with site management, are provided to help clinical staff track metrics such as eCRF completion status, source verification progress and query cycle times.

The InForm J solution also has powerful ad hoc reporting tools, enabling end-users to create and publish reports easily without the need for extensive report customization or IT assistance.

Unlike competitive offerings that require additional software, strong technical expertise, or custom report development from the EDC solution vendor - which result in added costs and time delays - the new release of the InForm J solution puts reporting into the hands of those directly responsible for running the study - the study teams.

Team members can further streamline trial management by creating personal homepages with tailored views of data such as summary snapshots covering a variety of trial metrics.

Productivity Enhancements

Across All Clinical Roles - for monitors, remote access to detailed and up-to-the-minute site status allows for better visit planning to minimize travel and maximize effectiveness while on site. A monitor can run reports on data entry, query rates and response times, form completion, and signature status, to plan for an upcoming site visit. These efficiency gains allow monitors to work with more sites and support additional trials, improving overall workflow and productivity in the clinical process.

With InForm J ITM, project managers are able to gain a real-time view of critical clinical events, such as adverse events or protocol violations, and can proactively monitor patient recruitment to identify slow enrollment or high dropout levels or track and trigger payment milestones. In addition, managers are better able to manage contract research organizations (CROs) and other trial partners through direct access to externally collected data.

About Phase Forward

Phase Forward is a leading provider of integrated data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety. The company offers proven solutions for electronic data capture (InForm), phase I clinic automation (LabPas), clinical data management (Clintrial), clinical trials signal detection (CTSD), strategic pharmacovigilance (WebVDME? and Signal Management), adverse event reporting (Empirica? Trace) and applied data standards (WebSDM?).

In addition, the company provides services in the areas of application implementation, hosting and validation, data integration, business process optimization, safety data management and industry standards.

Phase Forward's products and services have been utilized in over 10,000 clinical trials involving more than 1,000,000 clinical trial study participants at over 280 organizations and regulatory agencies worldwide including: AstraZeneca, Boston Scientific, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Eli Lilly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, GlaxoSmithKline, Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Merck Serono, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, PAREXEL International, Procter & Gamble, Quintiles, sanofi-aventis, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Servier, Tibotec and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Additional information about Phase Forward is available at www.phaseforward.com.

for Phase Forward Katsuhiko Niga, +81 35276 4372

Business: Citadel Drives International growth with another key hire

Nick Taylor to head Principal Investments for Asia and Europe

Chicago (BUSINESS WIRE) - Building upon the firm's global capabilities and expertise, Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C. today announced that Nick Taylor will join the firm as Senior Managing Director and Head of Principal Investments for Asia and Europe.

Mr Taylor will join Citadel from Credit Suisse, where he co-founded and led one of Credit Suisse's internal hedge funds, Modal Capital Partners.

"Expanding our world-class team is critical to the continued growth of our franchise on a global scale," said Kenneth Griffin, CEO and Founder of Citadel Investment Group.

"Nick Taylor has rare expertise and experience, and he will be a major asset as we extend our investment platform."

"Asia and Europe are some of the most promising regions in the global capital markets," said Mr Taylor. "Citadel has a great reputation for its thoughtful approach to risk taking and investing, and I am pleased to be joining the organization."

Mr Taylor served with Credit Suisse since 1999, in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Previously, he worked with Credit Suisse First Boston as a Managing Director of Proprietary Trading in Europe, and worked on the Risk Arbitrage Desk in Europe for Goldman Sachs. He graduated from Cambridge University.

Mr Taylor will report to Tim Throsby, CEO of Citadel Asia.

Mr Taylor is the most recent in a series of senior-level appointments at Citadel. Earlier this month, the firm announced that David Noh, previously with Merrill Lynch, will join as Head of Asian Merchant Banking. Patrik Edsparr will join as CEO for Citadel Europe and Head of Global Fixed Income. He joins from JPMorgan Chase. Additionally, Kaveh Alamouti will join from Moore Capital, as Head of Global Macro Investments.

About Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C.

Citadel is a leading global financial institution focused on alternative investment strategies and services. The Citadel group of companies employs 1,200 professionals worldwide in Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Bermuda, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C.Katie Spring, 312-395-2596 katie.spring@citadelgroup.com

Business: Convergys appoints Sidney Yuen Director of Consulting in Asia Pacific

Hong Kong (BUSINESS WIRE) - Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), a global leader in relationship management, announces the appointment of Sidney Yuen as Director of Convergys' Consulting Practice in the Asia Pacific region.

In this position, Yuen will be responsible for managing all of Convergys' customer management consulting and professional services activities in Asia Pacific. He will be located in Convergys' offices in Hong Kong.

"Customer service management is high on the business agenda these days. Governments and commercial companies need advice to guide them through challenges posed by fast changing expectations of their customers and stakeholders," said Yuen.

"Convergys' strength lies in being able to leverage proven process knowledge, operational and technical skills, as well as extensive analytical capabilities, to help our clients succeed.
Our ability to offer such services has been reinforced by Sidney's appointment," said Jean-Herve Jenn, President, International and Global Consulting.

"We extend a very warm welcome to Sidney, who brings with him considerable thought leadership experience, technical knowledge, and an extensive network in the region. He will be a valuable member of our senior management team."

Before joining Convergys, Yuen served as the chief executive officer of HBC. He has also been a director at Andersen Consulting and a customer service director at American Express.
Currently, Yuen is the chairman of the Hong Kong Call Centre Association and the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (Hong Kong).

Hundreds of clients rely on Convergys to lend insight from our global experience to address key business challenges that drive revenue and control costs. Our consulting services provide not just technical, but true operational expertise to meet critical business requirements for business systems and customer solutions. Leveraging intelligence gained from our 25 years of operational experience in Customer and HR Solutions, our Consulting & Services offerings apply a customer-centric view to positively impact key drivers of business success.

Editor's Notes: A digital picture of Mr Yuen is available on request.

ABOUT CONVERGYS

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers and employees.

Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.

For 25 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to clients that now span more than 70 countries and 35 languages.

Convergys is a member of the S&P 500 and has been voted a Fortune Most Admired Company for seven consecutive years. We have approximately 75,000 employees in 84 customer contact centers and other facilities in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and our global headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information,
visit www.convergys.com

To receive Convergys news releases by email, click on http://www.convergys.com/news_email.html

(Convergys and the Convergys logo are registered trademarks of Convergys Corporation.)

Convergys Corporation Susan McKay, +65 6248 5198 susan.mckay@convergys.com
or John Pratt, +1 513 723 3333 john.pratt@convergys.com

Business: Hitachi Chemical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. enhances production capacity

Hitachi Chemical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. enhances production capacity of high-density, high-layer printed wiring boards

Tokyo (BUSINESS WIRE) - Hitachi Chemical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Head Office: Singapore: Managing Director: Lee Wee Koon; paid-in capital: US$ 19.5 million; hereinafter "Hitachi Chemical Singapore"), a consolidated subsidiary of Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo; CEO and President: Yasuji Nagase; paid-in capital: 15.4 billion yen; hereinafter "Hitachi Chemical")(TOKYO:4217), has recently invested approximately 3 billion yen to build a new production facility of printed wiring boards (PWBs) with a gross floor area of about 19,000m.

The facility will be situated in the Loyang Plant and will undertake inner layer processing. The purpose is to expand its business by securing the market for high-density, high-layer PWBs, which are widely used for information and communication equipment such as servers and routers, portable music players, and notebook personal computers.

Hitachi Chemical Singapore has been operating two production sites, which mainly produce standard multilayer PWBs for automotive and communication market: Loyang Plant (mainly outer layer processing), and Bedok Plant (mainly inner layer processing).

Due to the recent decline in product prices and the continuous rise in the price of raw materials including copper, it has become necessary to shift the focus of production to more value-added, high-density PWBs and high-layer PWBs, whose market is expected to expand. Under such circumstances, in order to promote more sophisticated products, which is the company's policy, it has been decided to build a new plant to carry out inner layer processing on the premise of Loyang Plant, where outer layer processing has been performed.

The Hitachi Chemical Group restructured and consolidated the domestic PWB business on April 1. The Sales Division, Operation Division, and Development Division are combined to form Hitachi Chemical so that the overall business strategy is unified and customer service is integrated.

Production is integrated into Hitachi AIC Inc. to further improve production efficiency. In the overseas PWB business also, it is intended to provide products promptly that meet customers' requirements through cooperation and segregation of products between Hitachi Chemical Singapore and Hitachi Chemical Co. (Taiwan) Ltd., which is a subsidiary of the Hitachi Chemical that produces PWBs mainly used for automobiles and digital consumer appliances.

(Outline of Hitachi Chemical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd) (As of April 1, 2008) Corporate name: Hitachi Chemical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Location: 32 Loyang Way, Singapore 508730
Capital: US$ 19.5 million
Foundation: November 10, 1972
Equity holder: Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. 100%
Representative: Lee Wee Koon, Managing Director
Description of business: Production and sales of printed wiring boards
Amount of the investment: About 3 billion yen
Full-scale operation of the new plant: From April 2009 Hitachi Chemical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
Jenny Tan, +65-6548-0808 Senior Manager Human Resource Dept.

Insurance: A.M. Best Senior Analyst to speak at Fifth Philippine Non-Life Insurance Summit

Oldwick, New Jersey (BUSINESS WIRE) - A.M. Best Co.'s Managing Senior Financial Analyst Terrance Wong will speak at the fifth Philippine Non-Life Insurance Summit on the topic, "The Importance and Implications of Catastrophe Risk Management in Rating Analysis."

A.M. Best will participate as a major sponsor at the summit, which will take place 23 April at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City, Philippines. Terrance Wong will speak from 1:30 to 2:15 on 23 April, in the Rizal Ballroom.

For more information on Best's Ratings, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings.

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers.
For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

A.M. Best CompanyFeyi Omola, +(44) 207-397-0261 feyi.omola@ambest.com

Health/Medical: Dore Australia conducts public information meetings in five states

Eleven Meetings Feature Locals Currently Enroled or Graduated from Dore's Exercise-based, Medicine-free Program for Learning and Cognitive Disorders

Pymble, NSW (BUSINESS WIRE) - Dore Australia, which offers drug-free treatment for learning, attention and cognitive symptoms associated with labels such as Dyslexia, AD HD, Dyspraxia and Asperger's (high-functioning Autism), today announced it has scheduled eleven public information meetings in five states for teachers, parents and others who want to hear more about these symptoms and the company's unique treatment approach.

Each meeting will feature some of Dore's clients or their parents who can answer questions and discuss their own experiences living with these symptoms and with the Dore program.

Experts from Dore will also be on hand to explain the science and theory behind the Dore program and answer questions.

Clients who go on the Dore program do not need a formal diagnosis of a particular learning, attention or cognitive label. Many clients report experiencing symptoms related to one or more of these conditions, even if there has not been a formal diagnosis.

Symptoms reported by clients include difficulty with:
Reading comprehension
Structuring thoughts onto a page
Copying information from blackboard to paper
Writing in a straight line or writing legibly
Controlling frustration levels or general emotionalcontrol

Sequencing information such as recalling lists, order of days/months or times tables

Understanding or identifying consequences of choices or actions
Motor coordination required for sporting
Spelling
Concentration levels/easily distracted
Short-term memory/recalling things just learned
Working memory/focusing on more than one task at a time
Waiting their turn or waiting in a queue
Excessive talking
Anxiety/easily overwhelmed/coping with change in routine
Social interactions (maintaining eye contact, keeping up with a conversation, taking comments literally, etc.)

Glynis Howard, National Medical Services and Quality Control Manager for Dore Australia, said, "With more than 35,000 clients served since Dore was founded, our story is best told by those who have experience with the program. These public information meetings are an opportunity for adults or families who are searching for help to hear first-hand accounts and ask questions.

"It is not uncommon at these meetings for individuals to sit in surprise as we describe their symptoms or the symptoms of their children and discuss what could be responsible.
Additionally, for audience members who have tried other therapies to little or no avail, the information discussed at these meetings may shed new light into their situations and answers many of their questions."

About Dore Ltd.

The Dore programme was created after Wynford Dore, a successful entrepreneur, committed his problem-solving skills and resources to finding a way to help his daughter overcome her severe dyslexia after traditional methods failed.
Assembling a team of experts, they came across research to suggest that an underdeveloped cerebellum may be the root cause of learning and cognitive deficiencies such as AD/HD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Asperger's.

Following Wynford's direction, the team developed the Dore programme which assesses cerebellar functioning and uses a customized exercise regimen designed to stimulate development where needed. The idea that physical exercise can stimulate the brain is based on the concept of neuroplasticity, which is the brain's natural ability to create new neural pathways.

Following an initial assessment, Dore clients return every 6-7 weeks for a follow up appointment. Most clients finish their cerebellar development in 15-18 months.

To date, the Dore programme has benefitted more than 35,000 clients.

Coltrin & Associates (for Dore) Eric Anderson, 0415 567 428eric_anderson@coltrin.com