Police ask Zee boss to join probe, get 2-day custody of executives

Zee News editor and business head Sudhir Chaudhary and Zee Business editor and business head Sameer Ahluwalia were Wednesday remanded in police custody for two days by a local court after the crime branch of the Delhi police said it wanted to question them to unravel the alleged “larger conspiracy” in the extortion case involving Congress MP Naveen Jindal.

Full Story :  Police ask Zee boss to join probe, get 2-day custody of executives

Israel pips US in anti-tank guided missile supply to India

NEW DELHI: Israel has upstaged the US in the ongoing race to bag the huge deal to supply third-generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) to the Indian Army, in a project which could well be worth $1 billion eventually.

Defence ministry sources said the plan to go in for the American FGM-148 Javelin ATGMs has "virtually been shelved" because of Washington's reluctance to provide full military knowhow - licensed "transfer of technology (ToT)'' - to allow India to indigenously manufacture the "tank killers'' in large numbers after an initial off-the-shelf purchase.

Full Story :  Israel pips US in anti-tank guided missile supply to India

Geithner Sets Congress Talks as Obama Pushes for Deal

President Barack Obama assured company executives that he was ready to cut spending as he dispatched Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to meet with congressional leaders on the fiscal cliff, marking the first face-to-face talks between high-ranking administration officials and top lawmakers since Nov. 16.

“Everything was discussed, taxes, entitlements,” AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson said outside the White House after he and other CEO’s spent more than an hour with the president. 

Full Story : Geithner Sets Congress Talks as Obama Pushes for Deal

Canada Shows How U.S. States Can Fix Immigration

Republicans seem ready to play ball on immigration, if only to patch up their image with Hispanics. It would be a pity if this political moment -- which comes only once every few decades -- was squandered on minor and temporary fixes. U.S. immigration policy needs a fundamental rethinking.

This isn’t as daunting as it appears. For inspiration, Americans need look no farther than Canada.

Canada’s provincial-nominee program, while not perfect, avoids the economically meaningless distinctions between skilled and unskilled workers that bedevil the employment-based U.S. immigration laws. It also puts in place incentives to treat foreign workers not as foes but as friends whose labor and skills are vital to the economy.

Full Story :  Canada Shows How U.S. States Can Fix Immigration

Asian Stocks Rise on U.S. Budget Remarks, Japan Stimulus

Asian stocks rose as U.S. lawmakers said they are optimistic a budget agreement can be reached to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases and Japan’s main opposition leader called for unlimited monetary policy easing.

Komatsu Ltd. (6301), which gets about a quarter of its sales in the U.S., gained 0.9 percent. Sky Network Television Ltd., New Zealand’s largest pay TV operator, jumped the most in more than six months in Wellington after the company announced payment of a special dividend.

Starpharma Holdings Ltd. (SPL) tumbled 35 percent in Sydney as the biotechnology company said it won’t file a drug application in the U.S. following a disappointing clinical trial for a new treatment.

Full Story :   Asian Stocks Rise on U.S. Budget Remarks, Japan Stimulus

China Mafia-Style Hack Attack Drives California Firm to Brink

During his civil lawsuit against the People’s Republic of China, Brian Milburn says he never once saw one of the country’s lawyers. He read no court documents from China’s attorneys because they filed none. The voluminous case record at the U.S. District courthouse in Santa Ana contains a single communication from China: a curt letter to the U.S. State Department, urging that the suit be dismissed.

That doesn’t mean Milburn’s adversary had no contact with him.
For three years, a group of hackers from China waged a relentless campaign of cyber harassment against Solid Oak Software Inc., Milburn’s family-owned, eight-person firm in Santa Barbara, California.
Full Story :  China Mafia-Style Hack Attack Drives California Firm to Brink

Microsoft's ads deride Google as a bad place to shop

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft is trying to skewer Google as a lousy holiday shopping guide in its latest attempt to divert more traffic to its Bing search engine.

The attack starts Wednesday with a marketing campaign focused on a recent change in how Google runs the part of its search engine devoted to shopping results. The revisions require merchants to pay Google to have their products listed in the shopping section.

Full Story :  Microsoft's ads deride Google as a bad place to shop

NYC to light iconic Christmas tree

NEW YORK (AP) — An 80-foot Norway spruce that made it through Superstorm Sandy is getting a chance to shine when it's scheduled to be lit as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

The tree, which will be lit Wednesday night, comes from the Mount Olive, N.J., home of Joe Balku. Balku lost power and other trees during the storm at his residence about an hour outside of Manhattan.

Full Story :  NYC to light iconic Christmas tree