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World Business Quick Take

■ Economy
India raises growth forecast
India sharply raised its full-year growth forecast to 9.2 percent yesterday from an estimate above 8 percent at the start of the year on a surge in demand for services and manufactured goods. The government's latest advance estimate for the year ending March 2007 comes after the central bank last month also raised its full-year growth forecast to 8.5 to 9.0 percent from above 8 percent. India's economy grew 9.1 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year ended September and the central bank, in a policy review yesterday, said it was on track for a full-year rate of 8.5 to 9.0 percent.

■ Internet
YouTube urged to act
Japanese copyright holders yesterday urged YouTube to do more to tackle unauthorized uploads after the popular video-sharing Web site agreed to post an infringement warning in Japanese. YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen along with Google vice president David Eun held their first meeting on Tuesday with representatives of 23 Japanese media and copyright protection bodies. As well as demanding the copyright infringement warning, the Japanese firms asked YouTube to require people uploading media content to declare their names and addresses and to refuse postings that violate intellectual property rights.

■ Aviation
US, EU revive air talks
The US and EU on Tuesday revived talks on an "open skies" deal to liberalize trans-Atlantic air traffic, two months after Washington threw a large spanner in the works. US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot sat down for a new round after Peters, in early December, scrapped proposals to offer foreign investors a greater say in US airlines. The EU had said it "deeply regretted" that move, which cast doubt over a 2005 agreement to deregulate lucrative airline routes between the US and Europe. In November 2005, Brussels and Washington hammered out the outlines of a pact to allow freer competition by US and EU airlines, opening the prospect of cheaper tickets and more choice for passengers.

■ Banking
PRC curbs project loans
China's battle to rein in liquidity and prevent prices from rising is far from over. Controls will be extended into this year, a statement from the central bank said yesterday. The People's Bank of China will seek to curb commercial banks' medium and long-term loans for infrastructure projects "in a rational manner," the Financial News said, citing Xiang Junbo (項俊波), the bank's deputy governor. "We will further improve management of the [commercial banks'] reserve ratio, of refinancing and of interest rates," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper, which is published by the central bank.

■ Mining
BHP Billiton profits soar
Mining giant BHP Billiton yesterday reported a record first half-profit of US$6.168 billion, up from US$4.364 billion in the same period the previous year. The world's biggest miner said revenue for the six months to December was US$22.113 billion, up from US$18.080 billion previously, and predicted that China would remain the main driver of demand. The company also announced that CEO Chip Goodyear would retire by the end of this year.

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