Air India employees to be paid today
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NEW DELHI, July 3 Asia in Focus - AIR INDIA on Thursday saidit was working on the formalities to disburse salaries to lowergrade employees by tomorrow, as per the agreement reached withthe unions last week. "Air India is working towards payingwages and salaries to its employees in the lower grades on July3 as part of the decision finalised at a meeting with theunions last week," an airline spokesperson said.

* He said since the payments were being made only to thoseemployees as a special case on July 3 instead of the earlierdecision of doing so in the middle of the month, "the processof identifying all eligible employees in various departments onvarious grades, is taking time."

* The formalities to make the payments through theelectronic clearance systems were also being complied with, thespokesperson said, refuting reports that the salaries would notbe paid on time.

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Air India told to prepare plan for restructure in 30 days
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NEW DELHI, July 3 Asia in Focus - The borrowings of AIRINDIA, which is facing a severe financial crunch, have morethan doubled in less than two years and the airline has beennow asked to prepare a restructuring plan in the next 30 days."The airline has been facing a financial crunch for the pastfew years. The borrowings of Air India have risen steeply fromRs 65 billion (US$1.357 billion) in November 2007 to Rs 152billion in June this year," Civil Aviation Minister PrafulPatel told Lok Sabha, the Lower House, on Thursday.

* In reply to a question, he said the borrowings have goneup largely due to servicing of debt on account of purchase ofnew aircraft and its operating losses which have compounded dueto the present economic recession and the high oil prices lastyear.

* He said the NATIONAL AVIATION COMPANY OF INDIA LIMITED(NACIL) has been advised to formulate "a concrete proposal forequity induction and provision of loans".

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Future of Kaesong complex depends on South Korea: Pyongyang
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SEOUL, July 3 Asia in Focus - North Korea on Thursdaydenounced South Korea\'s "confrontational" policies and said thefuture of their joint industrial complex will entirely dependon Seoul\'s attitude, a warning that came after inter-Koreantalks ended without progress. The two sides failed to narrowdifferences over the joint park in the North\'s border town ofKaesong earlier Thursday. Pyongyang insisted on rent hikes andrefused to discuss a detained South Korean worker, Seoulofficials said.

* "Our side emphasized that we naturally come to ask whetherthe South intends to continue the working-level contact or not,as it talks about \'dialogue\' and \'sincerity\' in front of us,but then with its back to us, behaves in a way that inspiresconfrontation," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)said.

* The statement laid out a string of examples of theincumbent South Korean government\'s recent policy positionsthat it claims "inspire confrontation" toward Pyongyang.

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Indian govt approves economic partnership agreement with S Korea
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NEW DELHI July 3 Asia in Focus - The Indian government onThursday approved the signing of a Comprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement (CEPA) with South Korea paving the wayfor an eventual duty free trade of goods and services betweenthe two countries. The approval was granted by the UnionCabinet at its meeting presided over by Prime Minister ManmohanSingh.

* Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Informationand Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said, "India\'s exclusionand sensitive lists includes agriculture, textile and autocomponents."

* She said while South Korea\'s offer to break duty barriersinclude items of India\'s export interest, New Delhi has takenenough care to protect its sensitive industries and the farmsector.

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Indian stocks best global performers over last 5 years: survey
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NEW DELHI, July 3 Asia in Focus - A sharp meltdown duringthe last year notwithstanding, the Indian stock market hasemerged as the best performer among its global peers for atime-frame of five years with a return of over 65 per cent forinvestors, according to Economic Survey. In the five-yearperiod ending December 2008, the Indian stock market benchmarkSensex posted a positive return of 65.2 per cent, the Surveyshowed, even as a number of global markets such as Japan,Malaysia and Taiwan, posted negative returns.

* The second best five-year return of 43.7 per cent wasgiven by China, followed by 35.5 per cent in Indonesia and 25.6per cent in South Korea, the pre-budget survey (2008-09)said.

* This is the first time that the Indian stock market hasposted a better return than any other markets from 2003-endlevels.

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North Korea test-fires missiles as talks with South stall
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SEOUL, July 3 Asia in Focus - North Korea test-fired fourshort-range missiles off its east coast on Thursday, officialsin Seoul said, just hours after the communist state ended itstalks with South Korea without progress over their jointindustrial park, the fate of which remains in jeopardy. Themissiles, which appeared to be surface-to-ship ones, "werefired into the East Sea," South Korean defense ministryspokesman Won Tae-jae said.

* "One was fired at 5:20 p.m. and the other at 6:00 p.m.from Sinsang-ni" near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, hesaid.

* The test-firings are the first military action North Koreahas taken since the U.N. Security Council passed a resolutionbolstering sanctions on the communist state for its May 25nuclear test.

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Rio asks for trading halt as it tries to complete rights issue
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SYDNEY, July 3 Asia in Focus - RIO TINTO LTD (ASX:RIO) hasrequested a trading halt on its shares as it seeks tosubscribers for a shortfall in its Australian rights issue. Riosaid on Friday it had attracted 94.76 per cent take up of thenew shares it offered as part of a 21 for 40 rights issue,totalling 142,149,887 shares.

* The Australian leg of the issue raised A$4.02 billion(US$3.198 billion).

* As part of their underwriting obligations, JP MORGAN andMACQUARIE are seeking subscribers for the remaining 7,865,410new shares offered through the Australian-listed Rio entity, byway of a bookbuild to be undertaken on Friday.

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South Korea to tighten rules for home-backed lending
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SEOUL, July 3 Asia in Focus - South Korea\'s financialwatchdog plans to strengthen its monitoring of home-backedloans and toughen lending criteria if the housing market showssigns of jitters, its head said Friday. In an effort to findrevenue sources amid a protracted economic slump, local bankshave been scrambling to increase their mortgage lending thisyear, stoking worries about an unusual surge in housingprices.

* "The government plans to let banks beef up risk managementfor loans to smaller firms and households," Chin Dong-soo,chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said in aforum.

* "The watchdog will draw up preemptive measures by keepinga close tab on mortgage loans and stiffen lending standards ifconcerns over market unease mount."

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Vietnam exported 741 K tonnes coffee in H109
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HANOI, July 2 Asia in Focus - Vietnam exported 741,000tonnes of coffee in the first six months this year with theexport turnover of US$1.1 billion, up 23 per cent in terms ofvolume and down 12.07 per cent in terms of value, reported theVietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. InJune, the national volume of exported coffee was only 90,000tonnes worth US$129 million.

* The coffee price is now put at US$1,324 a tonne, a drop byUS$1,433 a tonne in comparison with the highest price level inMarch 2008 at US$2,757 a tonne.

* In the past six months, top-ranking countries importingVietnamese coffee have changed.

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Vietnam aims to increase pepper acreage to 52K ha by 2010
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HANOI, July 2 Asia in Focus - Vietnam aims to increasepepper cultivation acreage to 52,000ha by 2010, Bui Ba Bong,Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD),has announced at a review meeting of the cash crop\'s currentstatus in southern Binh Phuoc Province. Bong told participantsthat the Government has decided to invest VND 34.3 trillion(US$1.9 billion) in further development of peppercultivation.

* Under the plan, Vietnam will export 140,000 tonnes ofpeppers by 2010 with the intent of becoming a major exporter.

* The 2009-10 pepper crop covers about 48,413 ha, reportedNguyen Van Hoa, deputy-director of the Department of CropProduction, from MARD. This figure represents an increase ofnearly 412ha over the previous crop.

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