• Factories busier in China and US
• Nigeria embarks on vast free trade zone with China
• South Africa's July trade surplus at 2.0 billion rand

• Wired for Success: Can Transcendental Meditation improve performance?
• Maharishi's programmes in healthcare and business expanding in Germany
• Tupperware chief: Transcendental Meditation is secret to leadership

• US Energy Disasters in 2010 - Factbox
• Silk's dark side: Uzbek kids made to grow cocoons
• US: Old-style coal plants expanding

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Factories busier in China and US
2 September 2010 - Manufacturing output in China, Russia, and the US accelerated in August, while European factory activity expanded more slowly. The manufacturing rebound in China and the US spurred a jump in stock and commodities prices worldwide on Wednesday, cheering investors after a gloomy August. Major stock indexes around the world rallied more than 2 per cent. (more)

Nigeria embarks on vast free trade zone with China
2 September 2010 - Nigeria is building a multi-billion dollar free trade zone with Chinese investors on the edge of its commercial capital Lagos to try to develop a local manufacturing base and help reduce its import dependence. The consortium will provide basic infrastructure including roads, power plants, and water plants before manufacturing firms are invited to set up business, Lekki Free Zone Development Co (LFZDC) deputy managing director Adeyemo Thompson said. The free zone is modelled on free zones around China which have helped the Asian giant to develop its manufacturing base and economy over the past three decades. (more)

South Africa's July trade surplus at 2.0 billion rand
2 September 2010 - South Africa's trade balance remained in surplus in July, with exports edging up slightly while the monthly rate of increase in imports was higher, but off a low base. Exports were up 0.8 per cent at 56 billion rand in July compared with the month before, while imports increased by 8.1 per cent to 54 billion rand. 'That is a very healthy surplus, I think what is encouraging is that imports at least ticked up, because imports give you a good indication of domestic spending. So that shows that there is life in domestic spending,' said Citadel economist Dave Mohr. (more)

Tesla Roadster qualifies for Japan electric vehicle rebates
2 September 2010 - US electric car startup Tesla Motors said it has qualified for the Japanese government's clean energy cash rebate programme, knocking off up to 3.24 million yen ($38,490) from the price of its Roadster. The zero-emission sports car costs more than 12.8 million yen ($152,100) in Japan. Mitsubishi Motors Corp's i-MiEV electric car, by comparison, costs 2.84 million yen after government subsidies. Tesla is scheduled to open a showroom in the world's third-biggest car market by the end of this year. (more)

US stocks: Wall Street jumps two per cent on manufacturing data
2 September 2010 - Wall Street jumped on Wednesday as an increase in US manufacturing activity and new signs of growth in China and Australia boosted investor confidence on the state of the global economy. Major indexes rose more than two per cent after a closely watched report showed US manufacturing grew faster than forecast and chalked up a 13th straight month of expansion. (more)

US: Stock market kicks off September with strong gains
2 September 2010 - Stocks jumped Wednesday after surprisingly strong growth in US and Chinese manufacturing allayed some of the worries that had been building over the global economy in recent weeks. The new reports snapped a string of disappointing economic data that sent stocks slumping in August. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 250 points on the first day of September. Broader US indexes also rose more than 2.5 per cent. The Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the US rose in August, in contrast to regional reports from recent weeks that pointed to a slowdown in growth. Economists had expected a decline. Overseas, Australia's S and P/ASX 200 index jumped 2.1 per cent on the upbeat growth report. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei stock average both climbed on the strong Chinese manufacturing data. Major European markets surged by more than 2 per cent in afternoon trading following the strong economic data in the US. (more)

World trade grows by 25 per cent in second quarter
2 September 2010 - World trade continued to rebound strongly in the first half of this year, rising by over a quarter from year-ago levels, with emerging economies showing particularly powerful export growth, World Trade Organization figures showed on 1 September. Trade typically grows and contracts at much faster rates than the overall economy, but the WTO data confirm the strength of the global recovery in the first half of this year. Trade in the first half of the year was about 25 per cent higher by value than a year earlier. The figures are based on monthly statistics from about 70 economies representing about 90 per cent of world trade. (more)

India automakers see 20-30 per cent rise in August sales
1 September 2010 - Sales at top Indian automakers rose 20 to 30 per cent in August, as analysts expected continued growth driven by strong demand in the festive months ahead. India's festive season starts in early September and peaks in early November after Diwali, the festival of lights. India is Asia's third-largest economy and is slated to grow 8.5 per cent this fiscal year. (more)

India GDP grows most since December 2007
1 September 2010 - India's economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly three years in the April-June quarter on strong manufacturing growth and better farm output. The 31 August data showed annual rate of growth picked up to 8.8 percent from 8.6 per cent in the previous quarter, underscoring continued growth momentum in Asia's third-largest economy amid a slowing pace of global recovery. (more)

Manufacturing, auto sales show rebound in China
1 September 2010 - Chinese manufacturing and auto sales rebounded in August, suggesting the world's second-biggest economy may not be slowing as quickly as feared. Two surveys released Wednesday showed production, new orders, and purchasing prices all rose in August, with the HSBC purchasing managers index -- a seasonally adjusted index designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy -- rising to its highest level in three months. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Wired for Success: Can Transcendental Meditation improve performance?
29 July 2010 - A news post on the official Transcendental Meditation website quotes from Psychology Today's article titled, 'How meditation can improve leaders' performance,' which highlights new research on the Transcendental Meditation Technique and its effect on the brain. The article cites the study on college students from three universities in Washington, DC, who learned Transcendental Meditation, and concludes: 'It seems that there is a cost-efficient, easy to learn strategy to enhance leaders' (and employees' in general) performance, that could make a significant difference.' (more)

Maharishi's programmes in healthcare and business expanding in Germany
26 June 2010 - The media in Germany are featuring the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation Programme, and initiatives are underway to offer Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes in every area of society, including healthcare, education, and business. One such initiative is the Maharishi Corporate Development programme, which offers stress-free success to companies, their managers, and employees. (more)

Tupperware chief: Transcendental Meditation is secret to leadership
15 June 2010 - Transcendental Meditation 'not only burns off stress but gives me fresh eyes to clarify what's really going on and what really matters', says Rick Goings, chief executive of plastic storage giant Tupperware. He has practised the technique for the last twenty-five years. (more)

MSN interview with Jeffrey Abramson: Vedic Architecture changes the way people feel, and how they work
5 May 2010 - Tower Companies partner Jeffrey Abramson discusses the many benefits of Vedic Architecture, including greater happiness, health, energy, and success for those who live and work in such buildings. His office building at 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard, Rockville, Maryland, USA, is LEED certified at the Platinum level and also the largest building to be constructed according to principles of Vedic Architecture. (more)

Transcendental Meditation can help professional women in transition back to workplace
30 March 2010 - Re-entering the work force after an absence can be stressful for professional women. Research on the Transcendental Meditation Programme highlights benefits of the technique that can help to ease this transition--including increased self-confidence and faster recovery from stress; and improved focus, creativity, and conceptual thinking. (more)

US: Washington, DC green real estate developer 'works smarter not harder'
6 March 2010 - Marnie Abramson is a principal and third-generation owner of The Tower Companies, the largest green real estate developer in the Washington, DC area. In 2008, Ms Abramson received the Women Who Mean Business award from the Washington Business Journal and was named one of the '35 most influential people under 35' by a prominent DC real estate publication. Transcendental Meditation has been a way for her 'to come back into myself' and to 'work smarter not harder'. (more)

Transcendental Meditation helps retailing expert become 'balanced, thoughtful leader'
5 March 2010 - Carole Couture has held senior management positions, including president, CEO, COO, and EVP, at many leading companies. A multi-channel retailer, she works with stores, catalogs and e-commerce, and has helped build several companies while also maintaining a wonderful family life. She feels Transcendental Meditation has greatly contributed to her success as a business leader, and her increasing ability to balance business and family. (more)

Management consulting CEO: Transcendental Meditation brings more resilience to stress, inner and outer fulfilment
4 March 2010 - Martha Batorski is CEO of a nationally recognized management consulting firm launched in 2003. For 25 years Ms Batorski has consulted across multiple industry sectors including government, electronics and high tech, healthcare, utilities, entertainment, retail, and financial services. Practising Transcendental Meditation since age 17, she continues to experience 'greater resilience to stress and more inner and outer fulfilment' through the technique. (more)

Success defined by 'the quiet stillness that hums in my heart': Consultant describes Transcendental Meditation benefits
3 March 2010 - Many leading women professionals are practising the Transcendental Meditation Programme. Jennifer Meyer began the technique in 1992 and has seen the power of its positive influence in both her personal and professional life ever since. (more)

Transcendental Meditation brings clarity, focus, energy to professional women: Financial services executive praises technique
1 March 2010 - Jannette Gordon is Vice President and Section Manager of a large financial services group. She has held other similar positions and has more than 23 years of securities experience. Ms Gordon has been practising the Transcendental Meditation Technique since 1979 and is featured in a new website for Transcendental Meditation and women professionals. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

US Energy Disasters in 2010 - Factbox
2 September 2010 - Energy production and distribution in the United States can be a dangerous pursuit, in spite of strict safety regulations for oil, gas, and coal producers and processors. Following is a look at energy-related disasters that have rocked the United States in the course of 2010, including the deadly and environmentally destructive oil spill at BP's Macondo prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, which began in April. (more)

Silk's dark side: Uzbek kids made to grow cocoons
28 August 2010 - Uzbek's silkworm business dates back centuries to the Silk Road that ran through this Central Asian country. But its modern-day incarnation as a state monopoly has a dark side. For one month a year, from morning to night, children grow silkworms, a painstaking and exhausting job. Farmers say they are threatened with fines or loss of their land leases for missing quotas, and these quotas are so high that they have no choice but to draft their children into the work. The use of child labor in Uzbek cotton-picking has been widely documented, and Walmart and several other US chain stores won't stock it. But the silk industry has largely escaped international scrutiny. (more)

US: Old-style coal plants expanding
24 August 2010 - Utilities across the country are building dozens of old-style coal plants that will cement the industry's standing as the largest industrial source of climate-changing gases for years to come. An Associated Press examination of US Department of Energy records and information provided by utilities and trade groups shows that more than 30 traditional coal plants have been built since 2008 or are under construction. The expansion, the industry's largest in two decades, represents an acknowledgment that highly touted 'clean coal' technology is still a long ways from becoming a reality and underscores a renewed confidence among utilities that proposals to regulate carbon emissions will fail. The Senate last month scrapped the leading bill to curb carbon emissions following opposition from Republicans and coal-state Democrats. (more)

Weak hiring shows US recovery on the ropes
6 August 2010 - US private employers added fewer workers to their payrolls in July than expected and hiring in June was much weaker than initially thought, a big blow to an already feeble economic recovery. Given the poor state of the labour market, discouraged workers gave up the search for jobs in droves last month. That kept the jobless rate steady at 9.5 per cent since people not looking for work are not counted as being in the labour force. Job growth has taken a step back after fairly strong gains between February and April, putting in jeopardy the economy's recovery from its worst downturn since the 1930s. (more)

Industry-paid studies likely to favour company drug
2 August 2010 - When drugmakers fund studies of their own products, the results are much more likely to be positive than when the government picks up the bill, US researchers said Monday. They found that about 85 per cent of industry-backed studies reported positive outcomes, compared to only half of those with federal funding. Among the nearly 550 studies of common drugs the researchers examined, three-quarters of those that had been published in medical journals had industry backing. 'Industry has financial incentives to tweak the science to make sure their drugs shine,' said Dr Daniel Carlat, a long-term critic of drug company marketing strategies who was not involved in the study. 'When you see that industry funding is associated with such a dramatic difference in outcome it makes you wonder what causes that difference.' (more)

US: Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' overlaps BP spill zone
2 August 2010 - This year's low-oxygen 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest ever, about the size of Massachusetts, and overlaps areas hit by oil from BP's broken Macondo well, Louisiana scientists report. The area of hypoxia, or low levels of oxygen, covered 7,722 square miles (20,000 square kilometres) of the bottom of the Gulf and extended far into Texas waters, researchers from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium said in a statement late on Sunday. The annual summer 'dead zone' in the Gulf is fuelled by farm chemicals carried by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. Nitrogen and phosphorus in agricultural runoff stimulates algae growth in the Gulf. (more)

US bank failures in 2010 surpass 100
23 July 2010 - US bank failures this year have surpassed a bleak milestone of 100 as regulators shut down banks in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Kansas, Nevada, Minnesota, and Oregon. The seven bank seizures announced Friday bring to 103 the failures so far in 2010. The pace of bank closures this year is well ahead of that of 2009, which saw a total of 140 banks shuttered amid the recession and mounting loan defaults. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. (more)

Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web
14 July 2010 - Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment. Researchers have documented a massive die-off of organisms fed on by endangered sea turtles. Along the coast, droplets of oil are being found inside the shells of young crabs that are a mainstay in the diet of fish, turtles, and shorebirds. And at the base of the food web, tiny organisms that consume oil and gas are proliferating. If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem. (more)

Taser asks Canadian court to quash critical study
5 July 2010 - Stun gun-maker Taser International Inc told a judge on Monday its rights were violated by a Canadian inquiry that recommended police restrict the weapon's use because of safety concerns. The inquiry concluded that the weapons, which send a disabling jolt of up to 50,000 volts of electricity, pose a risk to the human heart. The 2009 Braidwood report said there 25 deaths in Canada in incidents in which Tasers were used, and more than 300 in the United States. Taser International says the report has hurt its potential sales. (more)

Global: The blood diamond is making a comeback
30 June 2010 - Reform of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is becoming more urgent as controversy over Zimbabwe's diamond sales pushes the international initiative designed to stem the flow of conflict diamonds towards paralysis. At the KPCS meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 21-24 June, Zimbabwe dominated proceedings, and delegates were given a rude reminder of the growing disillusionment when diamond business magnate Martin Rapaport embarked on a three-day hunger strike to protest against 'corrupt governments [that] have turned the KP on its head; instead of eliminating human rights violations the KP is legitimizing them'. (more)