Idola Blogs

The major banks that loaned Chrysler LLC about $7 billion have agreed to significantly reduce that debt, according to the Treasury Department, a move that could save the struggling automaker from having to file for bankruptcy later this week.

“The agreement from Chryslers principal banks is an exceptional accomplishment in line with the Presidents firm commitment that all stakeholders sacrifice to make this deal succeed,” said an administration official Tuesday.

The company still needs to win a rank-and-file ratification vote Wednesday of a tentative labor deal reached with leadership of the United Auto Workers union late Sunday, and wrap up an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat before the Thursday deadline set out by the federal government.

via Chrysler debt deal reached, bankruptcy may now be avoided – Apr. 28, 2009 .

Here is the show detail about one of my colleague’s makeover to his deck recently which aired on DIY.  Guys, its worth watching

From DIY…

Geff and Tiina Vitale have a home just down the road from the Jersey Shore. They have an old deck attached to their house and they want to try to salvage as much as possible. Also, the Vitales would like to rework the deck in the dead of winter, so they can enjoy the renovated deck in the Spring and Summer. Geffs idea is to detach the deck from the house, knock out every-other plank, save the remaining ones, but add new wood to create a sturdier, bigger deck. Geff and Tiina have a newborn, so Tiinas limited with the amount of work she can contribute, so Geff recruits his best friend, Jay. Jay however, is the last one to know that hes in it for the long run. Aside from the deck being a bit of a bear to restructure, below freezing temperatures only add to the difficulty of the job. This is one show that truly tests friendship during the renovation process.

via Shows A – Z : Renovation Realities : The Vitale Job : DIY Network.

Scientists at GE’s Global Research Center in upstate New York announced a breakthrough in the pursuit of holographic data storage today. They have successfully demonstrated technology that can put 500 gigabytes onto a single DVD-sized disc.

via GE unveils holographic disc breakthrough | GE Reports .

Asian investments in hedge funds may have declined by 40 percent over the 18 months to mid-2009, said an official of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world’s biggest custody bank.

The value of institutional and wealthy individual holdings in hedge funds will fall to $206 billion by June from $344 billion in December 2007, said Andrew Gordon, the bank’s Hong Kong-based executive vice president of financial markets and treasury services. Government entities such as sovereign wealth funds will help drive a recovery in the dollar value of Asian hedge fund investments to $382 billion by 2013, he said.

via Asian Hedge Fund Investments May Have Fallen 40% Update1 – Bloomberg.com .

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Slush money stashed away in secret Swiss bank accounts and other tax havens across the world has come into sharp focus again, with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr L.K. Advani, underlining the need to end banking secrecy in these countries.

India should become an active player in the global crusade against banking secrecy and tax havens, he said, reiterating that a BJP-led government would seek to bring back the country’s wealth from foreign shores and use it for developmental projects.

“The dimensions of the loot may be denied but not the fact of the loot,” he told mediapersons here on Friday.

He also unveiled the interim report of the party’s task force that, based on studies conducted abroad, estimated the Indian wealth in Swiss bank accounts and other tax havens to be between $500 billion or about Rs 25 lakh crore to $1.4 trillion or Rs 70 lakh crore.

The credibility of the estimate is reinforced by the $11.5 trillion (Rs 575 lakh crore) officially given by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), at the G-20 Summit in London earlier this month, as the amount of global wealth parked in various tax havens, the report said.

via The Hindu Business Line : ‘Rs 70 lakh cr Indian money in Swiss banks, other havens’ .

The Canadian Government will provide an additional aid worth 330,000 USD for an on-going project to fight money laundering run by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vietnam.

An agreement to this effect was signed by Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister Leonard Edwards and UNODC Representative to Vietnam Narumi Yamada in Hanoi on April 17.

The sum has brought the total aid granted by Canada to the 1.03 million USD project to over 700,000 USD.

This move begins a new stage of the Canada-Vietnam cooperation in preventing financial flows from terrorist and criminal groups, said the Canadian Deputy FM at the signing ceremony.

According to Sen. Lieu. Gen. Le The Tiem, Deputy Minister of Public Security of Vietnam, the government has exerted efforts to fight crimes, particularly those involved in money laundering, adding a committee has been set up and a national strategy on the issue is being drafted.

The three-year project, beginning in July 2007, aims to help increase authorised agencies’ capacity in investigating and prosecuting money laundering crimes, and intensify information exchange and international cooperation.

In the first stage, the project with funding of more than 600,000 USD from the United Kingdom and Canada, helped train more than 500 law enforcement and judicial workers and completed a draft plan of action against money laundering to submit to the Government for approval.

According to the project’s coordinator Hon Chan, from now to 2010, the project will help train trainers in localities who in future will directly teach workers, thus increase the effectiveness of the project.

According to UNODC, money laundering crime has become a global issue having impacts on all countries over the world. Vietnam, with booming trade and investment activities, is in need of effective measures to cope with this crime.

via Canada finances anti-money laundering project in Vietnam.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 (Bernama) — Efforts to strengthen the anti-money laundering and the combating of the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime needs to be intensified to maintain financial stability, according to Bank Negara Malaysia.

Its deputy governor Datuk Zamani Abdul Ghani said robust AML/CFT regimes could benefit individual countries as enhanced financial sector integrity and stability facilitated their integration into the global financial system.

“They will also contribute to more transparent governance and effective fiscal administration,” he said in his keynote address at the International Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing Conference 2009 here today.

Zamani said the lack of AML/CFT regime could contribute to undermine the soundness and stability of financial institutions and systems, discourage foreign investment, and distort international capital flows.

“The global financial crisis amplifies such risks,” he said.

via BERNAMA – Bank Negara: Need To Strengthen Anti-money Laundering Efforts.

Fiserv, Inc. NASDAQ: FISV, the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that it was ranked as the top-selling provider of global anti-money laundering AML solutions by IBS Publishing. IBS determined the ranking by analyzing the AML market for the number of new name wins achieved in 2008. Fiserv topped the chart with 117 new name wins.

via Fiserv Ranked #1 in Anti-Money Laundering System Sales for Second Consecutive Year | SYS-CON CANADA.

“Detroit has, historically, been one of the more violent cities in the U.S.,” says Megan Wolfram, an analyst at iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, a Maryland-based risk-assessment firm. “They have a number of local crime syndicates there–a number of small gangs who tend to compete over territory.”

Detroit was followed closely on the list by the greater Memphis, Tenn., and Miami, Fla., metropolitan areas. Those three were the only large cities in America with more than 950 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people.

via America’s Most Dangerous Cities – Forbes.com.