French public debt exceeds 75% of GDP in third quarter of 2009

ccording to the national statistics office INSEE, French public debt rose again in the third quarter of 2009 to hit 1,457.4 billion euros, a record level which amounts to 75.8% of GDvvvFrance's public debt soared to a record high level in the third quarter in response to anti-crisis stimulus spending and now amounts to about 75.8 percent of gross domestic product, the INSEE statistics agency said Wednesday.
The third quarter debt ratio was up by 1.9 points from the second quarter and well in excess of the 60 percent stipulated in the Maastricht Treaty that established the financial basis of the eurozone.
The French government has predicted that the ratio will reach 77.9 percent by the end of 2009 and 84 percent in 2010.
The debt in the July to September period rose 29.4 billion euros from the second quarter to a record 1.457 trillion euros (2.1 trillion dollars).
INSEE said the debt surge in the third quarter was mainly used to finance the state budget deficit.

US 50 renk job

They're the "big think" managers on large, complex projects, from major transportation networks to military defense programs. They figure out the technical specifications required and coordinate the efforts of lower-level engineers working on specific aspects of the project.Demand is soaring for systems engineers, as what was once a niche job in the aerospace and defense industries becomes commonplace among a diverse and expanding universe of employers, from medical device makers to corporations like Xerox and BMW.
Pay can easily hit six figures for top performers, and there's ample opportunity for advancement. But many systems engineers say they most enjoy the creative aspects of the job and seeing projects come to life. "The transit system I work on really makes a tangible difference to people," says Anne O'Neil, chief systems engi

Being the CEO or other top executive of a company is always challenging. In today’s tumultuous and dynamic global economy, the challenge is greater th

Being the CEO or other top executive of a company is always challenging. In today’s tumultuous and dynamic global economy, the challenge is greater than ever, and there is little margin for error.
Fortunately, the inheraent risks in running a business venture can also reap tremendous personal and financial gains, and U.S. Business Review is here to help you navigate the perilous landscape and achieve success.
U.S. Business Review features insightful, crossindustry articles on trends and opinions and legal matters, as well as intriguing and inspiring interviews with North America’s most influential business people at the largest revenue-producing industrial manufacturing and service firms across the country.
Each and every issue highlights businesses that are achieving superior results and breaks down their solutions to a host of concerns. No other publication features as many case studies of c.
Each month, U.S. Business Review explains Best Practices in areas that impact business leaders. Experienced journalists and expert columnist

Head of the Administration of the President of Georgia

On February 26, 2007 Global Compact Georgia Network (GCGN) held a workshop Global Compact – Business Perspective. The workshop, hosted by Bank Republic (Societe Generale Group), was held in response to the specific needs identified by the network members. The goal of the workshop was to provide GCGN members with specific insights on the rationale and benefits of Responsible Business Practices and membership of the global GC network, benefits and capacity of Social Reporting, as well as to provide GCGN member companies an opportunity to share their current experience in Social Responsibility.
List of participants:Agritechnics; Bank (Societe Generale Group);British Petroleum; Business Ethics Association; Caucasus University; Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia; Elkana; Georgian Business Consulting; Gosselin Georgia; Medi Club Georgia; JSC Madneuli; Nikora; PA Consulting; People’s Bank; Pfizer Luxembourg SARL; UGT; and Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Georgia.
Soren Petersen, Policy Advisor to UNDP – a renown international expert in Global Compact and Corporate Social Responsibility, delivered audience-tailored presentation on the concept of Responsible Business, practical benefits of GC membership and integrating Social Responsibility approach in corporate strategy and business operations, relevance of Social Responsibility approach and GC principles to developing countries, and mechanisms of introducing Social Responsibility and Social reporting in company operations.
British Petroleum and People’s Bank presented their experience in practicing social responsibility and social investment in Georgia. Business Ethics Association of Georgia came up with a proposal to develop and help companies adopt country-context-tailored social reporting framework.
During the discussion that followed, GCGN members shared their major interests, expectations from GC network memberships as well as their potential to contribute to the activities of the national network in the areas of social investment, environment, and access to finance and know-how in agriculture. As the outcome of the workshop, potential partnerships between the companies (British Petroleum and People’s Bank, Medi Club Georgia and Pfizer Luxembourg SARL) were identified during the discussion and the follow up to be facilitated by GC Brokers was agreed. In addition, the participants expressed their support toward the suggestion of the Business Ethics Association to develop a national standard framework for Social Reporting and in order to ensure prompt follow up they agreed to form a working group on the subject matter.

Outlook 2010's Conversation View And Protected View

Outlook 2010's Conversation View And Protected View

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Love it or hate it, Gmail's use of the "conversation" metaphor instead of folders was a big change for e-mail. Outlook 2010 borrows the concept, and actually improves on it in couple of ways.

First of all Conversation View is an option for particular e-mail messages, not your only choice for dealing with your inbox. It's designed to help users clean up the large volumes of e-mail they get. (Microsoft says the average person gets 1,800 e-mails per month, and deletes 1,500 of them.)

Many of those e-mails come as part of endless threads on which you're cc:ed but not interested. You can select Conversation View to deal with the mess, condensing the thread to a single line, Gmail style, while leaving the rest of your inbox as is. It even works when some messages in the thread are in other folders.

Better still, you can "Ignore" a conversation and Outlook 2010 automatically deletes all messages in the thread -- and even deletes new messages that come in to it.

Outlook 2010 also adds a new Protected View that opens Microsoft Office docs you receive via e-mail in a special "sandbox" where they can't harm your system. You can view the document, but have to mark it as "Safe" to edit it. Once marked Safe, it's trusted from then on and opens normally.

Best of all, the IT department can manage which sources and file types trigger Protected View.

Hoarding fuels shortage of cigarette, beer

The local market has started experiencing shortages of some of brands of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, as the government is preparing to announce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. A snap survey conducted by myrepublica.com found that Surya ´hard´ brand of cigarettes and Tuborg beer are not being released to the retail market in sufficient amounts, giving leeway for some retailers to arbitrarily raise the prices. "For the past one week, my wholesaler hasn´t released more than four packets of Surya ´hard´ cigarettes per day, whereas demand at my shop for this brand hovers around one to one and half cartons," said Indira Faiju, owner of Sampanna Store at Maharajgunj. Ishwor Upadhyaya, owner of a retail store at Nayabazar, echoed Faiju´s views. He had gone to buy two cartons of Surya ´hard´ cigarettes the other day, but had to return with only two packets. The same is the case with Tuborg beer, one of the most popular beers in the country. Ambika Shrestha, owner of Shrestha Kirana Store at Sankhamul, used to stock two boxes of this beer brand per day. But she has not been able to lay her hands on more than two boxes over the last one week. "Per day demand for Tuborg at my store stands at one and half to two boxes," she said. These are common problems faced by most of mom-and-pop stores in town this time of year. And this is giving some retailers an opportunity to profiteer. The other day, a store at Jyatha asked this scribe Rs 80 for a packet of Surya ´hard´ cigarettes. The maximum retail price of the brand is Rs 70. As for Tuborg beer, retailer Upadhyaya told myrepublica.com that a box of Tuborg, which costs Rs 1,490, is being sold at up to Rs 1,600 in the Balaju area. Although no one can give a clear-cut reason for this supply crunch, manufacturers´ statements that they have not reduced production give a clear indication that rampant hoarding is creating the artificial shortages. A senior official at Surya Tobacco, requesting anonymity, told myrepublica.com that Surya Tobacco has not lowered production of Surya ´hard´ brand of cigarettes. Ashish Bista, marketing manager of Gorkha Brewery, also said something similar. "May be stockists are hiding the products as the government is preparing to announce the budget," he said. Prior to the budget announcement, most stockists hoard such consumer items as they deem that the government will hike taxes on tobacco and alcoholic beverages through the budget speech. An increment in taxes allows stockists to sell the products at higher prices later on. Pokhara: Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri said the central bank will punish financial institutions flouting its directions. The NRB has initiated action and inspection against financial institutions disobeying financial discipline, he said talking to journalists in Pokhara this morning. "We took action against the Nepal Development Bank for refusing to comply with the central bank´s directives, though we aware the bank time to time," he said. "Similar action will be taken against those banks violating the NRB´s instructions." While mentioning that the central bank has been allowing banks to resume operation considering the present financial possibility, he said that some financial institutions have been seeking merger and the NRB has been screening them. "Financial status of most of the banks is satisfactory. But case of some banks is exceptional. So, they are under the supervision of the central bank," he said. Dispelling rumours that some banks will go bankrupt in the near future, the governor urged consumers to stay in no doubt about this. He, however, expressed sadness over the recent trend of investing in unproductive sectors.

Nokia asks ITC to investigate alleged patent infringement by Apple

Nokia, the world's largest phone maker, has launched a new complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against its rival Apple, arguing that almost all of its products infringe on the Finish phone maker’s patents. Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said on Tuesday it had asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to open an inquiry into alleged infringement of Nokia patents by Apple.
Nokia has already filed a legal case against Apple, which has countersued the Finnish giant, in a fierce battle between the two mobile world titans as Apple's iconic iPhone eats up Nokia market share in the smartphone market.
Nokia's complaint focuses on seven Nokia patents and alleges that "Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers," Nokia said in a statement.
"These patented technologies are important to Nokia's success as they allow better user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size and longer battery life for Nokia products," the statement said.
Nokia patents manager Paul Melin said: "Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices. This action is about protecting the results of such pioneering development."
Nokia filed its legal complaint against Apple in October in a federal court in the eastern US state of Delaware.
It accused Apple of infringing 10 patents covering "wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption and are infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced in 2007."
Apple hit back earlier this month, alleging that Nokia was infringing Apple patents.
"While our litigation in Delaware is about Apple's attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia investment in wireless standards, the ITC case filed today is about Apple's practice of building its business on Nokia's proprietary innovation," the statement said.
The Finnish giant posted its first quarterly loss in a decade in October, amid falling sales.
Analysts said the poor results were partly due to the growing popularity of Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry over Nokia models.

JAL merged with Japan Air System Co. in 2002

Fears deepened Wednesday about the future of debt-ridden Japan Airlines as shares in Asia's biggest carrier plunged to a record low on fears it might file for bankruptcy, dealers said.
JAL, battered by the global recession and swine flu pandemic, is scrambling to slash costs and seeking its fourth government bailout since 2001 to keep flying in the face of mounting losses.
Media reports that bankruptcy is one option for the cash-strapped carrier have spooked investors.
Shares in the airline slid to 60 yen at one point, the lowest level since JAL merged with Japan Air System Co. in 2002. They ended the day down 23.9 percent at 67 yen, after an 8.3 percent dive on Tuesday.
"Speculation is rife that JAL may face court-led proceedings, which could result in its delisting" from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, said Kazuhiro Takahashi, equity information chief at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
"We have the impression that somebody needs to take responsibility in order to move JAL's restructuring plans forward. Worries are growing among shareholders," he said.
Cabinet officials were expected to meet later Wednesday to discuss JAL's problems.
Local media have reported that the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp., which is overseeing JAL's restructuring, is considering the possibility of the carrier filing for protection from creditors.
Bankruptcy protection can enable a company to restructure its debts with creditors and implement other measures to emerge stronger, as seen with ailing US auto giant General Motors.
But it can also mean that shareholders will see the value of their investment wiped out.
JAL, which lost about 1.5 billion dollars in the six months to September, has said it plans thousands of job cuts and a drastic reduction in routes as part of its efforts to return to profitability.
It has been offered financial assistance by both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, who are competing to take a minority stake in the Japanese carrier, eyeing its coveted Asian landing slots.
Japan's government has ruled out allowing JAL to collapse, but has left the door open to possible bankruptcy proceedings to allow the group to restructure more easily.
"It is so murky how the company will rehabilitate itself," said Hiroichi Nishi, a broker at Nikko Cordial Securities.
"Transport Minister (Seiji) Maehara said he would not let JAL collapse but (the authorities) have not reached any conclusion," Nishi noted.
The global economic downturn has dealt a heavy blow to JAL's efforts to recover from a long period of financial turbulence stretching back to its privatisation more than two decades ago.
JAL is seeking consent from its retirees to reduce their generous pension allowances -- seen as a major reason for its financial troubles.
In November JAL withdrew its previous forecast for a net loss of 63 billion yen for the full financial year to March 2010, saying it was difficult to forecast its future performance. Last year it lost 63.2 billion yen.

sanupdhakal

The international High Representative, Valentin Inzko, says the Bosnian Serb republic, Republika Srpska (RS), has violated the 1995 Dayton peace accords.
His statement came after RS rejected his extension of the judges' and prosecutors' mandate until 2013.
They work on Bosnian war crimes cases, in line with the Dayton peace accords.
The Bosnian Serb prime minister, Milorad Dodik, has rejected Mr Inzko's comments, and accused his office of undermining the peace deal.
Under the Dayton agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 war, Bosnia was divided into Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim)-Croat and Bosnian Serb entities, with a federal presidency. Plea to respect Dayton
The High Representative has the power to impose laws and dismiss elected officials.

A statement from Mr Inzko's office says Republika Srpska's government and parliament "are in violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement" because they rejected his extension of the foreign judges' and prosecutors' mandate.
"The Republika Srpska must respect the Dayton Peace Agreement in its entirety and must not challenge actions undertaken on the basis of Dayton," the statement said.
Mr Dodik, quoted by the Belgrade-based Radio B92 website, countered that Mr Inzko's team "are the ones committing crimes and violating Dayton, not us".
Mr Inzko, an Austrian diplomat, is taking the matter to the UN Security Council and to the governments monitoring implementation of Dayton.
Meanwhile, the Bosnian Serbs plan to hold a referendum on the issue.
The leaders of Bosnia's divided communities have stalled over reform of the Bosnian constitution - seen as a vital step towards eventual EU and Nato membership. These sites allow you to store, tag and share links across the internet. You can share these links both with friends and people with similar interests. You can also access your links from any computer you happen to be using.
So, if you come across a BBC story that you find interesting and want to save for future reference or share it with other people, simply click on one of these links to add to your list.
All of these sites are free to use but do require you to register. Once you have registered you can begin bookmarking.
Each of the sites works slightly differently so use the links below to find out which service best suits your needs.
You can find out more about social bookmarking on WikipediaThis additional money will give the company the "capital buffer" it needs "to meet the worse-than-expected economic scenario," GMAC said in a statement Wednesday.
The Treasury's stake in GMAC will increase from 35% to 56%, and the government will have the right to appoint two additional directors to the company's Board of Directors.
Last month, GMAC brought in former Citigroup executive Michael Carpenter to replace CEO Al De Molina, who had led the company since April 2008.
Carpenter had been a member of the lender's board since May, when the Treasury made its second investment of $7.5 billion on top of the $6 billion received in December 2008.
Earlier this year, the government told GMAC to raise additional capital from private investors by Nov. 9 as part of the spring's stress tests of the nation's largest banks.
The Treasury said it will inject $3.8 billion of new capital into GMAC rather than the previously announced $5.6 billion, because GMAC's needs are now less than originally expected, in part because the impact from the bankruptcies of General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler were not as harsh as regulators predicted.
Still, GMAC, which provides financing for General Motors and Chrysler and their customers, lost $5.3 billion in the first nine months of 2009, as demand for cars remained tepid and previous loans continued to go sour.
This marks the first big injection to a single company in several months, as firms such as Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and GM have announced plans to repay their loans.

Businesses are different from government owned bodies

The major factors affecting how a business is organized are usually:
The size and scope of the business, and its anticipated management and ownership. Generally a smaller business is more flexible, while larger businesses, or those with wider ownership or more formal structures, will usually tend to be organized as partnerships or (more commonly) corporations. In addition a business which wishes to raise money on a stock market or to be owned by a wide range of people will often be required to adopt a specific legal form to do so.
The sector and country. Private profit making businesses are different from government owned bodies. In some countries, certain businesses are legally obliged to be organized certain ways.
Limited liability. Corporations, limited liability partnerships, and other specific types of business organizations protect their owners or shareholders from business failure by doing business under a separate legal entity with certain legal protections. In contrast, unincorporated businesses or persons working on their own are usually not so protected.
Tax advantages. Different structures are treated differently in tax law, and may have advantages for this reason.
Disclosure and compliance requirements. Different business structures may be required to make more or less information public (or reported to relevant authorities), and may be bound to comply with different rules and regulations.
Many businesses are operated through a separate entity such as a corporation or a partnership (either formed with or without limited liability). Most legal jurisdictions allow people to organize such an entity by filing certain charter documents with the relevant Secretary of State or equivalent and complying with certain other ongoing obligations. The relationships and legal rights of shareholders, limited partners, or members are governed partly by the charter documents and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the entity is organized. Generally speaking, shareholders in a corporation, limited partners in a limited partnership, and members in a limited liability company are shielded from personal liability for the debts and obligations of the entity, which is legally treated as a separate "person." This means that unless there is misconduct, the owner's own possessions are strongly protected in law, if the business does not succeed.
Where two or more individuals own a business together but have failed to organize a more specialized form of vehicle, they will be treated as a general partnership. The terms of a partnership are partly governed by a partnership agreement if one is created, and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located. No paperwork or filing is necessary to create a partnership, and without an agreement, the relationships and legal rights of the partners will be entirely governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located.
A single person who owns and runs a business is commonly known as a sole proprietor, whether he or she owns it directly or through a formally organized entity.
A few relevant factors to consider in deciding how to operate a business include:
General partners in a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), plus anyone who personally owns and operates a business without creating a separate legal entity, are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the business.
Generally, corporations are required to pay tax just like "real" people. In some tax systems, this can give rise to so-called double taxation, because first the corporation pays tax on the profit, and then when the corporation distributes its profits to its owners, individuals have to include dividends in their income when they complete their personal tax returns, at which point a second layer of income tax is imposed.
In most countries, there are laws which treat small corporations differently than large ones. They may be exempt from certain legal filing requirements or labor laws, have simplified procedures in specialized areas, and have simplified, advantageous, or slightly different tax treatment.
To "go public" (sometimes called IPO) -- which basically means to allow a part of the business to be owned by a wider range of investors or the public in general—you must organize a separate entity, which is usually required to comply with a tighter set of laws and procedures. Most public entities are corporations that have sold shares, but increasingly there are also public LLCs that sell units (sometimes also called shares), and other more exotic entities as well (for example, REITs in the USA, Unit Trusts in the UK). However, you cannot take a general partnership "public."
[edit] Commercial law
Most commercial transactions are governed by a very detailed and well-established body of rules that have evolved over a very long period of time, it being the case that governing trade and commerce was a strong driving force in the creation of law and courts in Western civilization.
As for other laws that regulate or impact businesses, in many countries it is all but impossible to chronicle them all in a single reference source. There are laws governing treatment of labor and generally relations with employees, safety and protection issues (OSHA or Health and Safety), anti-discrimination laws (age, gender, disabilities, race, and in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation), minimum wage laws, union laws, workers compensation laws, and annual vacation or working hours time.
In some specialized businesses, there may also be licenses required, either due to special laws that govern entry into certain trades, occupations or professions, which may require special education, or by local governments. Professions that require special licenses range from law and medicine to flying airplanes to selling liquor to radio broadcasting to selling investment securities to selling used cars to roofing. Local jurisdictions may also require special licenses and taxes just to operate a business without regard to the type of business involved.
Some businesses are subject to ongoing special regulation. These industries include, for example, public utilities, investment securities, banking, insurance, broadcasting, aviation, and health care providers. Environmental regulations are also very complex and can impact many kinds of businesses in unexpected ways.
[edit] Capital
When businesses need to raise money (called 'capital'), more laws come into play. A highly complex set of laws and regulations govern the offer and sale of investment securities (the means of raising money) in most Western countries. These regulations can require disclosure of a lot of specific financial and other information about the business and give buyers certain remedies. Because "securities" is a very broad term, most investment transactions will be potentially subject to these laws, unless a special exemption is available.
Capital may be raised through private means, by public offer (IPO) on a stock exchange, or in many other ways. Major stock exchanges include the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Singapore Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq (USA), the London Stock Exchange (UK), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Japan), and so on. Most countries with capital markets have at least one.
Business that have gone "public" are subject to extremely detailed and complicated regulation about their internal governance (such as how executive officers' compensation is determined) and when and how information is disclosed to the public and their shareholders. In the United States, these regulations are primarily implemented and enforced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other Western nations have comparable regulatory bodies. The regulations are implemented and enforced by the China Securities Regulation Commission (CSRC), in China. In Singapore, the regulation authority is Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and in Hong Kong, it is Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
As noted at the beginning, it is impossible to enumerate all of the types of laws and regulations that impact on business today. In fact, these laws have become so numerous and complex, that no business lawyer can learn them all, forcing increasing specialization among corporate attorneys. It is not unheard of for teams of 5 to 10 attorneys to be required to handle certain kinds of corporate transactions, due to the sprawling nature of modern regulation. Commercial law spans general corporate law, employment and labor law, healthcare law, securities law, M&A law (who specialize in acquisitions), tax law, ERISA law (ERISA in the United States governs employee benefit plans), food and drug regulatory law, intellectual property law (specializing in copyrights, patents, trademarks and such), telecommunications law, and more.
In Thailand, for example, it is necessary to register a particular amount of capital for each employee, and pay a fee to the government for the amount of capital registered. There is no legal requirement to prove that this capital actually exists, the only requirement is to pay the fee. Overall, processes like this are detrimental to the development and GDP of a country, but often exist in "feudal" developing countries.

sanupdhakal

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