Posts Tagged ‘online news’

Greece under the supervision of Brussels

February 3, 2010 - 5:00 pm Comments Off

Athens finally got the good report from Brussels. The European Commission ruled Wednesday that the savings plan acceptable Greek. "The Commission shares the ambitious deficit reduction that the Greek government has set, and the fiscal and structural reforms announced in the stability program," she said in a statement.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, had presented new budget measures, including freezing the salaries of all officials at the last moment on Tuesday evening. The Commission appreciated the welcoming approach.

The approval of Brussels is not a blank check.The Commission "calls on Greece to explain the tax measures announced and the timetable for their implementation in the coming weeks" and ", more detailed measures to be implemented in 2011 and 2012.

Athens will be placed under surveillance free credit reports . "The way to help, not only applaud, is to establish a monitoring tool and monitoring the implementation of this program" fiscal recovery, "said European Commissioner for economic, Joaquin Almunia. "For the first time we put in place a monitoring system as intense and almost continuous, but is necessary given the circumstances."

Confidence does not reign. Greece has for several years, played the unreliability of its statistics.In this regard, it will be an infringement procedure.

After the announcement of the Commission, the Greek bond yields back down to 6.516% against 6.742% on Wednesday morning around 8:30.

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United States: exceptional growth in late 2009

January 30, 2010 - 9:45 pm Comments Off

Year End Spectacular for the U.S. economy. According growth reached 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast between 4.7% and 5.4%.

This unexpected development will limit the historical downfall of GDP over the year to -2.4%. The U.S. economy had not experienced such a decline since 1946.

In the fourth quarter, growth was supported by the recovery in business inventories, the resumption of investment and exports, says the Federal Bureau of Statistics payday loans for bad credit . In addition, imports, which are deducted from GDP, slowed. These factors have offset the slowdown in federal spending and household consumption.

Alcatel is the challenge of saving energy

January 12, 2010 - 7:06 am Comments Off

The world of telecom and Internet is one of the largest energy consumers in the world. Also, the giants of the industry can not stand idly by. Alcatel-Lucent and its famous Bell Labs in the United States have therefore taken the initiative to create a consortium, called "Green Touch" to floor on this issue. From the outset, the consortium brings together the best researchers. Around the Bell Labs of Alcatel and research laboratories of Samsung of South Korea are three of the most prestigious American universities specializing in technology: Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard. The National Institute for Research in Computer Science (INRIA) and laboratories from CEA-Leti in Grenoble are part of the French side, and the Belgian research institute IMEC.Finally, two operators, Telefonica, and Swisscom, join the adventure.

For six months, Bell Labs, the famous centers of R & D of Alcatel-Lucent, consider a crucial question: "How much energy a telecommunications network can it be reduced without affecting capacity information transmission? "

Networks must be completely redesigned, including the architecture should be changed. For example, "wireless telecommunications are one of the largest contributors to the energy needs of a network. It is easy to reduce the power emitted by an antenna, and therefore consumption, removing his show in all directions in space and focus the signal to the next station or end user, "says the boss research at Bell Labs.Moreover, the power of an antenna of a wireless network can be reduced by using tricks to encode the signal. "Thus, information can be extracted even if the noise level is high." Architecture is another central point: "To perform a calculation, the human brain needs a million times less energy a computer, thanks to its apparently chaotic! "

Consumption divided by 10 000

"After six months of work, we have calculated, based on our many disciplines such as physics, mechanics and quantum computing, it is possible to reduce, at most, by 10 000 energy d a telecommunications network, "said Gee Rittenhouse, head of research at Bell Labs. "We can not do everything alone.We have therefore decided to create a consortium, called "Green Touch," whose objective is already reduced by 1 000 the energy of a telecommunications network within five years. This consortium will bring together four groups of actors: universities, industrial laboratories, research institutes, non-profit and telecommunications operators, "said Gee Rittenhouse.

Besides protecting the environment, this research will have another impact: Increase the amount of data transmitted in the network without increasing the radiation, which concern both consumer groups.

Norbert Dentressangle invests in solar

November 12, 2009 - 4:50 pm Comments Off

On November 16th is the day J. To this date will begin a public inquiry into the grand scheme of Norbert Dentressangle in Sabran, in the Gard. The motor carrier has build a strong photovoltaic power of 11.5 MWp (megawatt peak), enough to power a city of 3 000. If the case succeeds, Sabran, with 1 600 inhabitants, is one of the few French villages to produce more green energy than it consumes electricity. This is a winery on 70 acres that the photovoltaic plant Financial Norbert Dentressangle, through its subsidiary Norbert Dentressangle Sustainable Development (N3D) will install its solar farm. "It would occupy about 26 hectares," explains Jean-Louis Savoye, chief investment officer for Financial Norbert Dentressangle.

Investment is expected to be approximately 45 million euros.However, the carrier gave no timetable. Prudence understandable because farmers in the south of France, are opposed to the erection of wind turbines or solar panels on cropland. "We do not seek this type of land, warns Jean-Louis Savoye. These are homeowners who have contacted us because they wanted to sell and stop their activity. "We can not always support an activity that is not viable, says the mayor of Arles, Jean-Marc Jorda.Furthermore, we negotiated with Dentressangle it undertakes to restore the land under cultivation on the day he would quit his electrical activity.

Business tax preserved

Another precaution taken by the City Council: "We negotiated in case of removing the business tax without compensation to the State, Norbert Dentressangle pay the equivalent of the amount to the town, 150 000," says Jean – Marc Jordan. This represents approximately 10% of the municipal budget.

After the construction of a roof made of solar panels on one of its warehouses in Lyon, and filing a case under public inquiry into the common Bessan in Hérault (10 acres of solar panels approximately 15 million euro investment), this solar farm project in the Gard is the largest so far devised by N3D."We will work on this activity as an investor in the long term, and also have a social and ecological footprint responsibly as possible", says one in Norbert Dentressangle. In Sabran Photovoltaic Park is located on an elevated plateau natural and should therefore have a limited visual impact, or "nonexistent," according to Jean-Marc Jorda.

The airlines put in turbulence

November 2, 2009 - 7:36 pm Comments Off

It's almost a turn on the wing for Air France. In its medium-haul flights, the airline plans to reduce ticket prices. In return, benefits (such as seat selection or meal on board) currently included in the fare paid and would become available to the card. Such a formula is in fact the companies that used by low-cost airline Ryanair and easyJet (see below). For Air France and for British Airways or Lufthansa, the conclusion is the same: after a thrill-back this summer, the traffic looks bleak this fall. "Summer is traditionally a good period for our business, explains a part of Air France.The key event was the start of September and the results are clearly wrong. "Lowered activity in the three European competitors is for the success of low-cost companies, but also in France, competition from the TGV.

For Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa, the evils are the same: the number of passengers falling and business is back on economy class. This causes a drop in revenue and profit lines. British Airways is the most mistreated because she is very exposed to the Atlantic. The company recorded a 7.9% decrease in the number of premium passengers in September. In turn, the economy class traffic was up 0.7%. British Airways has reached an operating loss of 94 million pounds in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009-2010.To redress the balance, the company has begun downsizing.

At Air France-KLM, income (per seat per kilometer) fell 8.1% in the first quarter of 2009 in economy class and 18.2% in business class. In the first quarter of fiscal 2009-2010, the Franco-Dutch company had a net loss of 426 million euros. For now, analysts expect 850 million loss this year. To pass the turbulence, Air France can rely on its network in Africa, Oceania and the Caribbean. "He who holds the company," said an officer.

Freeze

Lufthansa seems to suffer far less from the crisis. It was at the German company that signs of recovery have been the most tangible this summer with an activity greater than that of the 2008 season.The group relies on a greater presence in Asia and a business alliance – Star Alliance – more comprehensive than SkyTeam (which includes Air France-KLM).

To restart, Air France is therefore preparing the revision of the tender medium-mail. It has also launched its new premium class traveler. Objective: To bring the business to the front of the camera. The company also announced in September a plan for voluntary departures than 1 500 people. The news relieved the unions who feared a major plan. Reportedly, in 2007, an audit at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have advocated the abolition of 30% of posts in support functions, that is to say earth, about 10 000 people. "All our social model is based on economic growth, explains a part of Air France. We have 4% growth to begin to reduce our unit costs.This crisis calls into question our development model. "Meanwhile, Lufthansa has frozen hiring since mid-2008, introduced part-time for 3 500 employees. These plans assume a swift economic recovery. So, in France as in Germany, employees are afraid of social plans more consistent if the passengers were slow to return.

"On board the A380 Air France