ArcelorMittal acquires Austrian steel distribution company

To enhance it’s presence in Central Europe, ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, announces that it has acquired 100 per cent stakes of the Eisen Wagner GmbH, the Austrian steel distribution company.

Gonzalo Urquijo, member of ArcelorMittal's group management board and in charge of its Steel Solutions and Services division, commented: "This acquisition enables us to set foot in the very competitive and dynamic Austrian steel distribution market". "Once Eisen Wagner will be integrated into our Central European distribution network, it will allow ArcelorMittal to both strengthen its presence within this market and better serve its customers in Austria".

Eisen Wagner, one of the leading steel distribution companies in Austria It sold 140,000 tons and out of this 60,000 tons of steel products were processed in 2007. Its last yearly turnover from the year ending 28 February 2007, was 127 million euros, for a staff of 262.

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ICL Announces Calendar for the year 2008

December 17th, 2007:
Subhash Chandra, Chairman Essel Group along with Mr. Kapil Dev , Chairman Executive Board ICL today announced the cricket calendar for Indian Cricket League (ICL) for the year 2008. ICL will be having 5 tournaments next year.

All set to revolutionise the game of cricket, Indian Cricket League conducted the first ICL 20-20 Championship at the newly built cricket stadium at Panchkula , Chandigarh between November 30th and December 16th. The tournament witnessed world class facilities matching international standards followed in cricket tournaments world over. The high standard production facilities included 30 camera set up, higher technical specifications such as the inclusion of Fly cam, Hawk Eye, Zoomer, Snickometer, Speedgun and Third umpire.

Calendar Year 2008
S.No
Month
Tournament
Particulars
1
February 08
Domestic Championship
50 Over tournament
Indian players to play
2
February – March 08
Triangular Series to field ICL XI.

20 20 Over Tournament
3
March – April 08
ICL Grand Championship
20 20 Over Tournament
8 Teams to participate in the tournament.
Increase of 2 Teams.
4
April – May 08
ICL to Open Academies in prominent cities.

5
September – October 08
ICL Invitation Cup
20 20 Over Tournament
8 Teams to participate in the tournament
6
November – December 08
ICL 20 20 Indian Championships 2nd Edition.
20 20 Over Tournament
8 Teams to participate in the tournament.

Praj Industries joins ICRISAT for sweet sorghum ethanol consortium

Praj Industries joined hands with ICRISAT by signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to become a member of the institute's Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Research Consortium (SSERC) on December 10, 2007.

Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT and Shashank Inamdar, CEO & Managing Director of Praj Industries, signed the MOA at Hyderabad.According to Dr William Dar, this partnership will go a long way in enhancing the commercialization of sweet sorghum for bioethanol production globally.

Production of ethanol from sweet sorghum as a biofuel can provide additional income to dryland farmers and does not compromise their food security. Through the ICRISAT Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Research Consortium (SSERC), the institute promotes the technology for producing the biofuel through public-private partnership.

The overall goal of this consortium is to strengthen sweet sorghum research at ICRISAT and at its partners' locations to improve the livelihood options of the smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics.Praj Industries based in Pune, Maharashtra, India, is a leading biofuels technology company with a number of ethanol and biodiesel production plants to its credit.

Praj, with its global operations, aims to provide end-to-end solutions backed by several years of research and development resources to support the biofuels industry.

Through the MOA, Praj Industries could avail the sweet sorghum research outputs of ICRISAT to further refine their bioethanol engineering activities. This includes the testing of sweet sorghum varieties and hybrids along with technical know-how on sweet sorghum cultivation aspects.

Through this partnership, ICRISAT and Praj can work together to tap into the huge global opportunity to benefit millions of farmers by offering new market opportunities through the sweet sorghum for ethanol technology.

Global Crop Diversity Trust to fund ICRISAT's Genebank

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has entered into an agreement with the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT), to ensure the long-term availability of funds for the conservation, characterisation and distribution of germplasm (seeds) in the ICRISAT's Genebank for the benefit of agriculture and food security for mankind.

Dr William Dar, director general of ICRISAT and Prof Cary Fowler, executive director of the GCDT, signed the agreement, recently during the Annual General Meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) at Beijing, China.

Under the agreement, the Trust will commit $ 8 million and ICRISAT $ 2 million, totaling an endowment of $ 10 million. The proceeds from the endowment will be used for genetic resources conservation and management activities at ICRISAT.

As per the agreement, the endowment's support for the sorghum germplasm collection will begin in 2007, pearl millet from 2008 and chickpea in 2009, to be followed by other ICRISAT mandate crops. The aim is to raise at least US$ 450,000 per year as return from the endowment to meet critical operational needs such as regeneration, characterization, conservation and viability testing for the crop collections held in trust at ICRISAT.

According to Dr William Dar, the long-term partnership with the GCDT, an international fund established to ensure conservation and availability of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, will ensure that there is steady financial support to ICRISAT's Genebank.

ICRISAT holds more than 118,000 accessions of germplasm for pearl millet, sorghum, chickpea, groundnut, pigeonpea and six small millets in its Genebank, Dr Dar added. "This global treasure holds the genetic material to overcome some of the future breeding bottlenecks and can help breeders develop varieties that can overcome drought, pest and disease infestations."

According to Dr CLL Gowda, ICRISAT's Global Theme Leader for Crop Improvement, the genetic resources at ICRISAT are to be preserved for eternity. This is a big responsibility that the Center is shouldering, to ensure that the genetic resources are conserved safely and will be available for the future generations.

Through the agreement ICRISAT and GCDT will conserve and make available the ICRISAT-held collections through:

* Long-term storage, management and curation of germplasm;

* Safe duplication of the collection;

* Characterization and evaluation of germplasm;

* Documentation of the germplasm and provision of data in publicly-available documentation systems;

* Distribution of the germplasm in accordance with the International Treaty;

* Providing training and capacity building;

* Partnering with other genebanks and networks; and

* Providing conservation services to others.With the committed continuous support from GCDT, ICRISAT's germplasm collection holds the future for dryland agriculture in the developing countries.