Industrial fair concludes

SUNSARI: A one month-long eastern regional industrial fair organised in Dharan has been ended 15 days earlier. The fair organised in Bhanu chowk of Dharan was closed down by the local administration after the general public complained of cheating by some of the participants. However, the organisers of the fair and the local traders have denied the allegations.— RSS

Pig distribution

RAMECHHAP: The community development society, Ramechap has distributed 33 pigs of developed species free of cost to one group each from two VDCs of the district. The Setidevi group of Manthali VDC-9 received 23 pigs while Janajyoti group of Sukajor VDC-8 received 10 pigs. The society has also been running the Hatemalo programme for poverty alleviation. — RSS

Outsourcing banned

WASHINGTON: The California Assembly has approved legislation seeking to ban outsourcing of state government service jobs when state agencies sign new deals with private contractors. The legislation passed has to be approved by the California Senate (upper house) before it can become a law. — HNS

Brazil, US tax dispute

BRASILIA: Brazil will withdraw a trade complaint it filed against the US alleging unfair protection of its citrus industry because Florida has reduced a state tax on imported orange juice concentrate, a top Brazilian official said. Brazilian and US trade officials will inform the WTO within days that they reached a way to resolve their differences. — AP

French plan for EDF

PARIS: Two days after winning a battle with the EU to bail out engineering giant Alstom, France’s finance minister is again risking Brussels’ wrath by promising to pump

$615 million into France’s main state-owned power utility. The EU executive would review any injection of government money into Electricite de France after a minister pledged to use some proceeds from EDF’s partial privatisation to finance its expansion plans. — AP

Coke chief to step down

ATLANTA: The Coca-Cola Co said that outgoing chairman and chief executive Doug Daft will step down from those positions seven months earlier than expected. The Atlanta-based company said E Neville Isdell, a former top official for one of its bottlers, will officially take over as head of the world’s largest beverage maker on Tuesday. — AP

EU clears antitrust deal

BRUSSELS: EU antitrust regulators cleared a deal between Denmark’s Group 4 Falck and Britain’s Securicor to create the world’s second-largest security company. The EC said the companies “successfully resolved” competition issues in three areas by agreeing to divest Securicor’s security business in Luxembourg and Group 4 Falck’s manned guarding business in the Netherlands and cash transport in Scotland. — AP

China bans ‘Hearts of Iron’

BEIJING: China has banned a Swedish-made computer game accused of “distorting history and damaging China’s sovereignty,” by showing Manchuria, Tibet and Xinjiang as independent nations. The computer game, ‘Hearts of Iron’, made by the Stockholm-based games developer Paradox Entertainment, also showed Taiwan as a part of Japan. — AFP