Eni's CEO meets Nigerian President, security of workers discussed

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 29 December 2006 – Eni's Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni met the Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in Lagos. Main issues in the meeting were kidnapping of the four people working for Eni, which occurred on December 7 at the Brass Terminal nearby Port Harcourt, and explosion in Lagos of an oil pipeline causing hundreds of deaths.

Paolo Scaroni lauded President Obasanjo for the intense activity carried out by the central and local authorities with regards to the seising of the workers, hoping for a quick and positive solution. President Obasanjo also thanked Italy’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Eni for the support given to the Nigerian authorities on the events concerning the abducted workers.

Eni's CEO confirmed and supported the Nigerian Authorities of proceeding with the negotiations for the release of the hostages, avoiding any kind of military intervention.

During the meeting, themes like the security of workers, industrial plants for hydrocarbon extraction and power plants for the African Country were also discussed.

Paolo Scaroni expressed his deepest condolences for the tragedy occurred yesterday in Lagos. Eni's CEO offered to the Nigerian President all of Eni's sympathy, and confirmed the company's availability to arrange, as always happened before, medical care and social support for the community hit by the tragedy.

President Obasanjo, who was devastated by yesterday’s accident, thanked Eni’s availability and sensitivity shown towards Nigerian people in this tragic situation.

Eni’s CEO Paolo Scaroni, invited by President Obasanjo, visited people hurt by yesterday’s blow in the Lagos University Hospital and granted the Sanitary Director of the hospital Femi Olugbile Eni’s availability to provide medical assistance and treatment of the most difficult cases.

Eni is activating its own medical structures both in Nigeria and Italy to effectively support the situation. The Head of Italian medical staff in Nigeria will reach over the next hours the Lagos University Hospital to coordinate local doctors, while an EniMed medical team will shortly leave Italy to reach Lagos with equipments and medicines and join local medical staff to bring cures to people hurt by yesterday’s explosion.

Czech Airlines to rollout new uniforms in 2007

Czeck Airlines employees displaying their uniforms above

Prague, December 29, 2006

As a new year gift, Czech Airlines' (ČSA) staff will be greeting its customers in their new uniforms. After more than 9 years, the national carrier had decided to change the design of its uniforms and its two-and-a-half-thousand employees are about to get a new elegant look.

The new uniforms and their accessories are in the airline's colours – blue, red and white – and it is hoped that their bold designs will make it easier for passengers to identify the staff that is taking care of them during their air travels.

The domestic apparel manufacturer OP Prostějov was the winning bidder in the spring 2005 tender for the supply of these new uniforms.

Besides choosing a new elegant design, the selection of the new uniforms also involved considerations such as the comfort and any health impact on the wearer, water resistance, durability, a wrinkle-free appearance, colour fastness and tear resistance. The initial designs for the uniforms underwent several months of testing in all primary operating areas of the company's operations.

The main element of the uniform is a dark blue suit evoking a natural air of authority and professionalism. The rudimentary appearance of the blue colour is softened with red accents, which give the uniform a dynamic look and make it visible in crowded airport environments.

A variety of accessories are also used to differentiate between the different staff positions. Pilots wear a gold-coloured necktie and the staff of VIP services wears uniforms with silver-coloured accessories.

The designers paid a great deal of attention to even the smallest details and the decorative aspects of the new designs. An important decorative element is the diamond shaped symbol, the primary graphic identity logo for Czech Airlines. Its shape can be seen in the lines of the uniforms' cut, on the printed design on the scarves, shirts and on the buttons for the jackets. The sparkling Swarovski stones that decorate the women's jacket pockets have also been a successful part of the new designs.

Czech Airlines introduced its first uniforms back in the 1920's, shortly after the start-up of the airline. The use of uniforms slowly spread from pilots to stewards and, by today, the use of uniforms includes check-in staff, ticket agents, security officers, technicians and other ground service workers.

The new collection from the workshop of OP Prostějov features not just a modern design and cut for both men and women and people of different ages but most importantly, a standardised type of uniform for all airline staff that are in regular contact with our customers.

For the last three years, ČSA has been selected as the “Best Airline Based in Central/Eastern Europe - 2004, 2005 and 2006”. This title is awarded annually by the Official Airline Guide (OAG) and is based on the votes of frequent business travellers.

Arcelor Mittal signs MoU with Orissa govt

Rotterdam/Luxembourg, December 21, 2006 - Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest and most global steel company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government in India for setting up a steel making operation in the Keonijhar District.

The company now intends to undertake a Detailed Project Report (DPR) based on the needs of
the steel plant. This would include captive mining facilities, captive power supply, water supply
infrastructure and other facilities as required including setting up townships for its employees.

The project is expected to entail an investment of approximately Rs 40,000 crores (appro-ximately US$9 billion). The intention is to build an integrated steel plant with a total annual capacity of 12 million tonnes. The project would be developed in two phases of 6 million tonnes each. It is expected that the first phase would be completed within 48 months from the date of the Submission of the DPR and the second phase within a further 54 months after the
completion of Phase 1.

The Company has also pledged its support to the community as part of its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility in the countries in which it operates.

Commenting, on this Lakshmi N. Mittal, President and CEO of Arcelor Mittal, said:
“We have always said that we want to have an operational presence in India. The Indian
economy is demonstrating excellent growth and steel consumption is set to increase
considerably in the future.

“Orissa is well known for its rich mineral reserves and as such is an ideal location for such a
Greenfield venture. Mr Naveen Patnaik, its Chief Minister, has done an excellent job in
attracting foreign investment to the region and it is showing signs of becoming one of the major
steel industry hubs of the future.”

Bombardier wins contract from Toronto Transit Commission

December 21, 2006
Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract to produce 234 new subway cars (39 six-car train sets) for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The base contract for the cars is valued at approximately $431 million ($499 million CDN, 330 million euros). The TTC has also opted to purchase spares and additional equipment as part of the deal, bringing the total value of the contract to $473 million ($548 million CDN, 362 million euros), company statement said.

William Spurr president Bombardier Transportation North America, said: “We are very pleased that, after a lengthy process to ensure high value, the TTC has engaged Bombardier to provide the next generation of subway vehicles for Greater Toronto and TTC customers. We are proud that these cars will be made in Ontario, and that this project is expected to create nearly 2,500 new direct and indirect jobs in the Province over four to five years.”

The next-generation subway cars will provide a range of new features for passengers, including:

- Open gangways allowing riders to walk freely from one end of the train to the other. The TTC cars will be the first in North America to offer this configuration.

- An electronic information system, which includes automated audio station announcements and an “active” subway map that will show direction of travel, tell riders which station is next and identify which side of the train doors will open at the station.
-

- New security features, including onboard cameras and a two-way intercom system connecting passengers with the driver.

Manufacturing and final assembly of the vehicles will be carried out at Bombardier Transportation production facilities in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Delivery of the cars is scheduled to take place between 2009 and 2011.

Gorm Frimannslund appointed President of SAS Ground Services Norway

SAS Ground Services has appointed Gorm Frimannslund as President of SAS Norway AS.He is currently Chief Operating Officer of Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS.

"With broad knowledge of both ground handling and the airline industry, I amcertain that Gorm Frimannslund can make a positive contribution to the furtherdevelopment of our Norwegian company, both in Norway and globally," saysHans-Otto Halvorsen, President of SAS Ground Services. "With his experience oflarge and operation-intensive organizations, as well as of purchasing andselling ground handling services, he has a solid background for this position."

Gorm Frimannslund has led a working group concerning infrastructure andenvironmental issues for the Association of European Airlines. He has aBachelor's Degree from BI Norwegian School of Management.

Frimannslund, 44, joined Widerøe's route planning department in 1987, he had been responsible for the airline's ground handling organization for ten years.Before hisappointment as COO and Accountable Manager in 2004. Prior to that, he hadworked for three years as Business Controller.

Although the date of appointment has not been decided, Frimannslund will takeoffice during the first quarter of 2007.

You are entrepreneur

The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay has launched Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) at http://www.genportal.org/ in the Entrepreneurship Summit here recently.It was a big success with a robust participation of 300 people including corporates,mentors,speakers,working professionals, students and eminent media bodies.

The Global Entrepreneurship Network is an online platform to provide budding entrepreneurs amongst the student and working professional community a support system for their entrepreneurial initiatives.

It is aimed at bringing on a common platform organizations with a similar vision of promoting entrepreneurship and hence help channelise their resources in a much more efficient way in catering to the needs of budding entrepreneurs across the country.

Speaking at the summit, Founder and CEO of Rediff.com India, Ajit Balakrishnan, said while regarding the interest in today’s generation to be “10 million times” more than that in the previous generations, was fantasizing how great a group of 250 entrepreneurs with a billion dollar company each will be.

Sandeep Murthy partner Sherpalo Ventures said, “It is the youth that drives the entrepreneurship phenomenon and by having it in such an institute having so many resources and from where such great graduates have come… It is a great place to have such an initiative.
“As we build up a community of entrepreneurs supporting those who want to be entrepreneurs, the phenomenon of entrepreneurship will see a great boost.”, he added.

Imagine being able to formulate you idea into a business plan, to set up your own business enterprise with a team spread across the globe .Imagine getting valuable inputs from experts and funding for your own startup from venture capitalists. Now Imagine all this at the click of a mouse !!

So why are you waiting…submit your idea.

GEN is presently supported by The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay, The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Guwahati, Megabucks, IIT Kanpur, ASES, Chennai, The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIM Bangalore, Abhiyan, IIM Lucknow and The Entrepreneurship Cell, NIT Trichy.

For detailed information log on to http://www.genportal.org/

Fokker services enters India

Fokker Services has entered a strategic co-operative venture with the Cades engineering agency in India. As a result of the increasingly project-based nature of its engineering activities and the associated demand for greater flexibility. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed recently by CEO Hans Berends van Loenen of Fokker Services and Dataram Mishra, the CEO of Cades.

With this co-operative venture, Fokker Services has reinforced its long-term competitive position and paved the way for further growth. Now, Fokker Services can make flexible use of Engineers from India who are educated and trained by Fokker Services.

After a stringent selection process, India was chosen as the most realistic location for co-operation. English is the lingua franca; the country has an excellent infrastructure, there are many highly educated people available and the country has a reputation to keep in the field of ICT, technological applications and aeronautics. In addition, Indian aviation companies have recently bought many aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. As a result of the compensation schemes, there is a possibility of many orders from Boeing, Airbus and their subcontractors for companies that perform activities in India.

Following extensive discussions with various engineering agencies in India, Fokker Services chose Cades as the most suitable partner for co-operation. Fokker Services will assist Cades with projects for new aircraft building programmes. In turn, Cades will offer assistance if Fokker Services offers large (conversion) projects, such as aircraft conversions from passenger to VIP aircraft.

Hans Berends van Loenen said about the partnership: "This co-operative venture gives us an even firmer foundation for our Engineering knowledge, which serves as the basis for further growth. Not only for Fokker, but also for non-Fokker aircraft."

Jeanke van der Haar director marketing and communications, speaking to Nehul Jagdish Kumar he said: “ We are proud indeed to announce our partnership with Cades, which is mainly focussed on sharing aerospace engineering resources. This will give both of our companies opportunities to better adjust to the capacity requirements of engineering projects, as well as creating more business potential.

“This business is predominantly on non-Fokker aircraft, such as Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier aircraft which are being converted in our Dutch facilities today. It will also help us in seizing opportunities of Engineering packages that, for instance, Airbus is outsourcing in India”.
We are positive towards this initiative, since it can only be beneficial for our support business, he added.

The booming Indian Aerospace Industry also gives many opportunities for a maintenance and support organisation such as Fokker Services. We company has services facility in Singapore. The company have extensive ATR42/72 MRO capabilities and we are able to support Indian operators on this aircraft type, he stressed.

Being the Type Certificate Holder on all Fokker aircraft, Fokker Services has all the skills, facilities, equipment and systems in place to deliver full support to aircraft operators and owners in the continued competitive operation of their fleet. Our focus is mainly on the regional (50-100 seats) aircraft, since we have a hertitage of almost 100 years building and maintaining aircraft in this specific market segment. Especially when companies start up their operation with a new aircraft type, the

combination of OEM (design) knowledge and independent after-sales support services make Fokker Services a unique and valuable partner for the global aerospace industry, Jeanke van der Haar concluded.


Fokker Services is part of Stork Aerospace.

Mumbai Varsity to get its own community radio

Nehul Jagdish Kumar

Mumbai University will have its own community radio. The radius will be 18 km to 20 km covering major parts of Mumbai. More than 20 lakh students will access the radio service. It will be on air by Feb 2007. The frequency is 91.2 MHz. It will be accessible world wide through the internet.

The radio will link more than 400 colleges including recognised and affiliated to Mumbai University. This was an idea of the university to cater to the needs of the students. The campus is spread in more than 300 acres.

Speaking on this development, Dr N Hatekar member secretary of the committee told Employment & NRI Times, community radio is, “a non-profit venture run by the community for the benefit of the community” and the committee was set up in the early 2006.

Community in two sense, students and people who will be living in the radius of the radio. The programmes will be academics and information in nature. It will be having five minutes advertisement in one hour to balance the functioning of the radio, Hatekar added.

There will be cultural programmes, debates and translation programmes as students learning French will have to translate the French play in Hindi and Marathi, giving the students a way of learning from this service, he elaborated.

It will bridge the gap of communication in the campus area.

It will provide a platform to upcoming artists, singers, musicians to perform for the university radio on a freelance basis. The department of folks and dance will help us a lot, said Pankaj Athawale, Radio Jockey and Programme Coordinator told Employment & NRI Times.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is setting the studio at Ranade Bhavan, Kalina campus. The university has got the licence and is awaiting clearance from the Standing committee for frequency consumer authority, Department of Communication, Ministry of Communication and Broadcasting.

Gulf Air extends IET to British Airways, Emirates

After the first successful implementation of Interline Electronic Ticketing (IET) with American Airlines, Gulf Air has now extended the IET facility to include British Airways (BA) and Emirates (EK) in its e-ticketing network.
Passengers can now enjoy the convenience of using a single e-ticket for journeys on Gulf Air and BA and EK to eligible destinations. BA flies to over 550 destinations while Emirates connects 83 destinations in 57 countries around the world.

"Gulf Air is on the fast track in its e-ticketing mission," says Gulf Air Vice President Information Technology Pauric Doyle. "This is another milestone in our continuous stride towards implementing electronic ticketing to make global travel easier especially when it involves more than one airline."
IET offers greater flexibility and convenience to passengers and the airlines; it makes it easier for travellers using electronic tickets to change travel plans and carriers while en route and, allows airlines to issue e-tickets on each other’s services and code share flights, where eligible.

"Since we rolled out our first e-ticketing in November 2005, our progress has been well on the track. Gulf Air is one of the very few airlines to date to have completed e-ticketing in 70 per cent of its network. And we are well ahead in our plans to meet the International Air Transport Association (IATA) deadline of 31 December 2007," concludes Doyle.

Gulf Air already enjoys 'Green Status' by IATA in recognition of its progress towards achieving 100 per cent electronic ticketing by the deadline.

The airline has leveraged it’s participation in the major Interline ET hubs which reduces activation timelines dramatically and enables immediate access to all other linked airlines at minimal cost.