ADB lists corrupt

MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday corrected the number of people it has banned from working for the multilateral agency due to corruption to 33. The Manila-based bank reported on Monday 22 people were banned. It also reported that another 40 firms had also been banned, a figure which remained unchanged. No details on those banned under ADB guidelines were disclosed after the bank received 199 complaints relating to fraud or corruption last year. — AFP

Fertiliser smuggling

DHAKA: Growing fertiliser smuggling to India and Myanmar from Bangladesh’s port city Chittagong is leading to fears of a fertiliser crisis in the country. Bangladeshi daily The Financial Express reported that prices of fertilisers have been increased by 3.08 to 6.15 US cents per kg in the local market. At the same time, the government is also bearing the burden of providing subsidy worth about $23.08 million annually in importing fertiliser. — Xinhua

British jobless rate

LONDON: The number of people claiming jobless benefits in Britain fell in January, the first drop in a year. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell by 2,000 last month to 904,200. But the number of people out of work — including those not receiving benefits — increased by 108,000 to 1.54 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. — AP

Indonesia’s growth up

JAKARTA: Growth in Indonesia clocked in at 5.6 per cent for 2005, under the official government forecast as fuel price hikes ate into Southeast Asia’s largest economy. GDP slowed to 4.9 per cent year-on-year in the final quarter of 2005, meaning full-year growth of 5.6 per cent still beat 2004’s 5.05 per cent expansion. — AFP

Thai Air’s profits drop

BANGKOK: Thai Airways International said Wednesday that net profit fell by 33 per cent in the October-December quarter as high oil prices took a big bite out of operating expenses. The national carrier said that net profit in the first quarter of the fiscal year came in at $97 million down from $146 million during the same period a year earlier. — AP

UK team visits India

LONDON: British business leaders are to visit India in May under the ‘Seeing is Believing’ initiative, one of the most successful community partnership projects of the Prince of Wales. The business leaders aim to find out what can be learnt from sharing experiences of working in different countries and cultures. The tour will be led by Ian Smith, senior vice-president and managing director of Oracle Corp. — HNS

FT to axe 17,000 jobs

BRUSSELS: France Telecom (FT) is to cut 17,000 jobs worldwide, including 16,000 in France, in a new drive to slash costs, boost earnings and adapt to the new world of internet-based telephony and digital communication. The job cuts — about eight per cent of a global staff — follow Deu-tsche Telekom’s decision to axe 32, 000 posts and warn of more to come as the incumbents in continental Europe’s two biggest markets see fixed-line business besieged. — The Guardian