■ Industry
India to regulate steel price
India's steel ministry plans to set up a regulator to oversee prices and prevent any shortage, the Sunday Express said, citing Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. The regulator will have representatives from the government, steel producers and consumers, the New Delhi report said. Paswan will seek government approval for the plan in three months, the paper said. The regulator is being set up after prices of steel and raw materials such as iron ore and coal surged to a record, raising concern some steelmakers created an artificial shortage, the paper said.
■ Auto Trade
Sales targets slashed
Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors will slash its domestic sales target for the year to March 2005 by 27 percent as a series of scandals continues to turn away customers, a report said yesterday. Mitsubishi will cut its domestic unit sales target to 220,000 from 300,000 units projected in May, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. The projected sales drop will trim revenue by US$909 million and cut operating profits by millions of dollars, the paper said. The automaker had forecast in May that it would post sales in the year to March 2005 of US$2 billion, a recurring loss of US$1.37 billion and a net loss of US$2.11 billion.
■ Aviation
Airbus parts made in China
European aircraft maker Airbus has subcontracted a state-owned Chinese manufacturer to make parts for its super-jumbo A380 plane in a deal worth US$100 million, the company said yesterday. China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) will make panels for A380 nose landing gear in terms of a deal signed Saturday in Paris during a visit by Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan (曾培炎), Airbus said in a statement on its Web site. "This has been the first time for Airbus to involve China in producing A380 components," the statement said. The A380 aircraft is scheduled to enter service in 2006.
■ International
Conference discusses oil
Oil industry policy-makers and senior executives will meet in Malaysia this week for an international conference to discuss political and economic developments, including soaring crude oil prices. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and Iraq's Oil Minister Thamir Ghadbhan are among more than 800 delegates scheduled to attend the Asian Oil and Gas Conference that runs in Kuala Lumpur for two days starting today. The delegates will discuss "strategies for new ventures and development, innovations in trading and risk management and financing and new technology options," organizer Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil company, said in a statement.
■ Technology
Hynix sells operations to US
South Korea's struggling Hynix Semiconductor said yesterday it had signed a provisional contract to sell its non-memory chip operations to a unit of US financial giant Citigroup. The world's third-largest memory chip maker said the contract was signed on Saturday with Citigroup Venture Capital, which has offered to buy the operations for US$830 million. The deal, the biggest sale of assets since Hynix launched a sweeping restructuring program two years ago, is expected to help the South Korean firm focus more on its core memory chip business.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source