Abu Dhabi Airport Co welcomes Air India daily Abu Dhabi flights
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ABU DHABI, Sept 3 - The ABU DHABI AIRPORTS COMPANY (ADAC)will welcome an AIR INDIA daily service from Mumbai to AbuDhabi International Airport, starting November 1. The frequencyincrease, from five flights per week to daily, came as aresponse to growing demand for more flights to and from theIndian subcontinent.

* These additional services raise Air India\'s total numberof flights to Abu Dhabi to 14, connecting the UAE capital withboth Mumbai and New Delhi.

* Air India will be operating on a daily basis a state-ofthe-art A321 aircraft departing from Abu Dhabi at 02:40 am,local time, and arriving into Mumbai at 6:55 am, local time. ASIA IN FOCUS ry


Bangladesh enviro dept. slaps fine on three polluting companies
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CHITTAGONG, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - Bangladesh\'s Departmentof Environment (DoE) on Thursday slapped a 1.1 million takafine (US$15,759) on three companies, two in Chittagong city andthe other in Bandarban, for polluting river water and cuttinghill. The companies are C AND A TEXTILE MILLS LTD, SKACCESSORIES LTD and SAKURA HILL RESORT.

* A DoE team visited C and A Textile Mills Ltd at Kalurghatand SK Accessories at Nasirabad in Chittagong and realized atotal of Tk10 million from both companies for pollutingKarnaphuli as their Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) werenon-functioning.

* The government`s environment watchdog also realized a fineof Tk100,000 from Sakura Hill Resort for illegally cutting hillto build a commercial establishment in Bandarban town inChittagong Hill Tracts.

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Australian miner Terramin hunting for acquisition targets
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PERTH, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - Zinc miner TERRAMIN AUSTRALIALTD (ASX:TZN) says it continues to hunt for acquisitions.Investor relations manager Ian McAleese told the Paydirt AfricaDown Under conference in Perth on Friday that the companywanted to expand by acquiring base metals projects, and wouldfocus on zinc but was open to other opportunities.

* "We focus on looking for base metal mines and the companyactually put its foot on some of these properties when zinc wasout of fashion," Mr McAleese said. "Some people would say it isstill out of fashion but we would counter that argument. We tryto find deposits that are close to infrastructure." * He said the company\'s Angas mine in South Australia andits Tala Hamza deposit within the Oued Amizour project inAlgeria were examples of assets with good proximity toinfrastructure.

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China to loosen cross-border yuan flow restrictions: PBOC
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BEIJING, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - China will continueloosening restrictions on cross-border yuan flows and considerallowing companies to use yuan for overseas investments, saidHu Xiaolian, vice governor of the central bank, People\'s Bankof China (PBOC), on Tuesday. She also said China will approvethe "Mini QFII (qualified foreign institutional investor)"scheme, which allows institutions to channel overseas yuandeposit into investments in China within certain limits, theNational Business Daily reported Wednesday.

* Liu Yuhui, an economist with the Institute of Finance andBanking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said thekey for renminbi\'s overseas investment is whether thedestination country accepts renminbi.

* Another key is how the central bank would get the yuan toflow back, Yuhui said. ASIA IN FOCUS ry


CFO of Australia's Cougar Energy resigns
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BRISBANE, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - The company secretary andchief financial officer of embattled Australian-listed gasdeveloper COUGAR ENERGY (ASX:CXY) Rodney Watson has resigned.Cougar is in talks with the Queensland government to resolveuncertainty over an environmental protection order which hasstopped work at its pilot underground coal gasification (UCG)plant near Kingaroy, northwest of Brisbane.

* Cougar Energy chairman Malcolm McAully said Mr Watsonjoined the company in its formative stages and carried out hisduties with "the highest professional standards".

* The company\'s board has appointed Sarah Christensen ascompany secretary and current financial controller RajeevChandra as CFO.

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South Korean, Indian defense ministers discuss military ties
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SEOUL, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - The defense ministers of SouthKorea and India held talks Friday on boosting their militaryties, including cooperation for security in the Asia-Pacificregion and joint development of weapons, Seoul\'s defenseministry said. The talks between Defense Minister Kim Tae-youngand his visiting Indian counterpart A.K. Antony were mainlyaimed at drawing up follow-up measures to an agreement made inJanuary between President Lee Myung-bak and Indian PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh to upgrade the bilateral relations to a"strategic partnership," the ministry said in a statement.

* During Friday\'s talks, the defense ministers shared viewson security matters in the Asia-Pacific region and NortheastAsia and agreed to work together to counter regionalnon-military threats, including an anti-piracy mission in theIndian Ocean and natural disasters, the statement said.

* After the talks, Kim and Antony signed a memorandum ofunderstanding to promote cooperation in research anddevelopment for military equipment, it said.

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Russia's ARMZ to sell Kazakh mines to Canadian firm
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ASTANA, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - The Kazakhstan Industry andNew Technologies Ministry has cleared CANADA URANIUM ONE (U1)to acquire stakes in Kazakhstan-based uranium mines, Akbastauand Zarechnoye, from Russia\'s ATOMREDMETZOLOTO (ARMZ). ARMZwill swap these assets for shares in the Canadian company andreceive a controlling stake in U1.

* ARMZ currently owns 23.1 per cent of U1; U1 shareholderswill vote on the takeover at an EGM on August 31st.

* ARMZ will subscribe to US$610 million in new U1 shares andcontribute 50 per cent of the Kazakhstan based mining jointventure Akbastau and 49.7 per cent of the Zarechnoye jointventure, and will receive at least 51 per cent of U1 as aresult.

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Taiwan's over the counter company revenues top US$22 bln
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TAIPEI, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - Combined revenue ofover-the-counter (OTC) companies in Taiwan totaled NT$708.8billion (US$22.1 billion) in the first half of 2010, up 42 percent from the same period of last year, according to a reportreleased Thursday by the GreTai Securities Market. Thecompanies posted a pre-tax profit of NT$59 billion in the firstsix months, which represents an increase of NT$84.7 billionfrom last year, when a pre-tax loss of NT$25.7 billion wasrecorded.

* The largest growth was seen in the semiconductor,electronic parts and components, photonics, computer andperipheral equipment, and financial sectors.

* During the same period, revenue of emerging companiestotaled NT$290.4 billion, a rise of 58 per cent year-on-year.

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Russia to help Vietnam set up nuclear energy research institute
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HANOI, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - Russia\'s atomic energy groupROSATOM and Vietnamese scientists will set up a training centrefor nuclear power plants and an atomic energy researchinstitute, said Rosatom chairman Sergey Kirienko. As planned,the Rosatom Group will provide training for about 70 Vietnamesestaff, chairman Sergey Kirienko told Vietnam\'s President NguyenMinh Triet in Hanoi on Sept 1.

* Russian experts will continue close cooperation withVietnam to build the most modern and safest possible nuclearpower plant and Russia wants to help Vietnam become a nuclearenergy centre for peaceful purpose in ASEAN, he affirmed.

* President Triet spoke highly about the significance ofchairman Sergey Kirienko\'s current visit, saying that the twosides will continue accelerating the nuclear power plantproject.

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Japan's Lawson to expand China stores to 10,000 by 2020
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TOKYO, Sept 3 Asia in Focus - Japanese convenience storeoperator LAWSON INC. (TSE:2651) is looking to expand itsChinese presence to 5,000 to 10,000 stores by 2020, its presidentTakeshi Niinami told reporters in the Chinese city of Chongqingon Thursday. The company opened the first Japanese conveniencestore in that city in July and has added one more since.

* It had plans to increase the store network in Chongqing toabout 200 by 2015, but the president has upgraded the target to300, citing expectations of further economic development.

* Lawson also has 325 stores in Shanghai.

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