The data, released by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, also shows that the ICT sector is still in its infancy in many developing economies.

The UNCTAD database currently contains information on 57 economies. Read full post…

Microsoft completed the deal in October shortly after the European Commission, the EUs competition regulator, cleared the takeover. Microsoft Corp. hopes that owning Skype will allow it to better compete with other tech giants including Apple Inc. o

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The $9 figure proposed to take effect July 1 would give Connecticut the second-highest minimum wage in the nation. Washington state’s minimum wage, currently at $9.04, is adjusted for inflation annually, using the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the prior year, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

“We have to do our best as a society, as members of the General Assembly, to say we understand that you’re working hard and we want to make sure you get enough wages so you are not poor. … That’s what Connecticut does,” said House Speaker Chris Donovan, the measure’s chief proponent.

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Standard & Poor’s cut the big four banks, and their New Zealand subsidiaries, to AA-from AA in November.

At the time, New Zealand banks shugged off the S&P rating downgrade, saying it did not reflect a change in their individual financial strength.

Yesterday, Fitch said it was pushing ahead with a review of the sector, placing the Australian banks on an alert known as rating watch negative.

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As a busy mom, I’m sure you don’t have time to struggle with difficult or unreliable web printing.

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The county had 1,830 fewer people who were unemployed last month, lowering the jobless rate 0.5 percent from November, according to a report released Tuesday by the state’s Employment Security Department. November’s revised unemployment rate was 8.7 percent.

About 31,030 people were jobless in the county in December.

Snohomish County’s unemployment rate is now below that of the state, which was 8.5 percent in December.

Manufacturing and retail had the biggest gains in employment last month. Read full post…

The fourth quarter 2011 data from the is in and there is good news and bad news about the venture capital industry.

The good news is that the amount of money venture capital firms are investing is on the rise; the bad news is that the number of venture capital funds out there is declining. In the U.S., 38 venture capital funds raised a total of $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, representing a dollar increase of 162 percent but a 41 percent drop in the number of funds compared to the third quarter of 2011.

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Made up mostly of the governor’s appointees, Sen. Jack Martins, R-Mineola, is the sole Long Islander on the 11-member council.

Martins was one of two appointments made by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, as temporary president of the senate.

Related stories

• Martins to sit on NY Mandate Relief Council
• Duffy touts $140M in relief for Long Island
• NY group seeks local government mandate relief

Cuomo created the council to address the rising costs facing local governments including pension costs and increasing Medicaid costs. T

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If you need to renovate your home for which you are still paying an EMI (stands for Equated Monthly installment), instead of a personal loan, opt for a home improvement loan! In fact, whether you are an existing home loan borrower or not, you can still pledge the value of your house for financing the renovation.

Eligibility criteria

The value of money that you can borrow on your property increases according to the number of years you have completed in your loan tenure. The value will be set at around 60-70% of the appreciated value of the property.

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Photo: Virginia Star

WHAT if Jamie Dimon is right? What if the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase is not just blowing smoke when he complains that the country – and, indeed, the world – has imposed so many new rules on the banking industry, some of them overlapping, others seeming to contradict each other, yet others whose sole purpose seems to be to weigh down the industry, that they threaten to do as much harm as good.

Last summer, Dimon confronted Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, at a conference and asked him: ”Has anyone bothered to study the cumulative effect of these things?” Just last week, during JPMorgan’s earnings call with analysts, Dimon complained that Europe’s ”regulatory policy, government policy, central bank policy – it’s not co-ordinated.

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When Jordan Jefferson dropped back to pass, he was swept under by a tide of crimson. When the LSU quarterback took off running, he mustve felt like Alabama had a few extra players on the field.

Courtney Upshaw, Donta Hightower and Co. sure made it seem that way.

With a smothering display of old-school football, the No. 2

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Small businesses have contributed a lot to the economy of the United States. In fact, the small business industry has helped in keeping the United States economy alive by generating income for the owners and creating employment opportunities for workers. A significant part of the equation is the SBA loan lender – a private banking firm or a non-profit organization that has partnered with the Small Business Administration with aims to provide financial and other forms of assistance to individuals and companies to establish and / or grow their small business operations.

Basically, an SBA loan lender is a financing party that shells out loans to eligible and approved individuals or companies. A

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To kick sales of its ultra-low-cost Nano into higher gear, Tata Motors needs a lot more buyers like Vijay Govind Pisal, a sugar cane farmer in Ozarde in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Unable to afford a big vehicle to haul crops and fertilizer and unwilling to justify paying two or three times the price for a higher-end car given his limited usage, Pisal was sold on the Nano’s cost, fuel efficiency and extended warranty.

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The objective of this announcement is to ensure that the candidates do not spend exorbitantly on their election campaigns.

On the downside, people working for printing presses are facing the dire consequences, as they haven’t reaped gold this time during the election season.

Previously, candidates would spend unbelievable amounts on their election manifestos, but the tables have now turned.

“Our orders have reduced, due to the strict rules set by the Election Commission and there is reduction in employment as well. Read full post…