■ Computers
IBM to buy India's Daksh
International Business Machines Corp (IBM), the world's largest computer maker, plans to acquire Daksh eServices Pvt, an Indian operator of customer-contact centers, IBM said in a statement sent by e-mail. Armonk, New York-based IBM did not disclose how much it will pay for Daksh, based in Gurgaon, near New Delhi. IBM expects to complete the transaction by next month, the statement said. The acquisition will give IBM contact-center capabilities in India and the Philippines and Daksh's expertise in providing services to customers in industries such as banking, insurance, retail, telecommunications and travel, the statement said. The deal will add to IBM's 22 customer contact-and-transaction processing centers globally.
■ Automobiles
DaimlerChrysler CEO upbeat
DaimlerChrysler head Juergen Schrempp said yesterday that first-quarter earnings at the troubled US division Chrysler would continue an upward trend that saw it earn US$173 million in the fourth quarter of last year. "At Chrysler Group the positive earning trend that has started since the third quarter of last year has continued during the first quarter of 2004," Schrempp said in a prepared statement ahead of a speech to shareholders at the company's annual meeting. Chrysler is trying to bounce back from an overall loss last year, due mainly to a disastrous second-quarter loss due to heavy price competition in the US market. Later yesterday, Schrempp was to face criticism from some of the 10,000 shareholders at the meeting in Berlin.
■ Transportation
Eurotunnel rebels win votes
Rebel shareholders seeking to oust the current management of Eurotunnel Group have won a majority of the votes cast so far in a no-confidence vote, the cross-channel tunnel operator said in a statement Tuesday. A win for the rebels would mean a change in management for the tunnel operator. The company said leaders of the shareholder revolt have won proxy votes representing 20.5 percent of its capital ahead of a general meeting yesterday, compared to 8.3 percent for the current management. Together with the proxy votes, the shareholders who have voted by correspondence and those registered to attend the meeting represent a total of 39 percent of Eurotunnel's capital, the company said. But the final participation figure is likely to be higher since some shareholders who plan to attend the meeting have not registered, it added. The ballot is taking place after disgruntled small investors obtained a court order last year forcing Eurotunnel to hold a no-confidence vote.
■ Life insurance
China Life faces fines
The China-based parent company of China Life Insurance faces 67.49 million yuan (US$8.2 million) in fines and unpaid taxes for alleged accounting irregularities, the company said yesterday. China Life Insurance, whose shares are traded in New York and Hong Kong, outlined allegations by the National Audit Office against its Beijing-based parent company, China Life Group, in a legal notice made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In February, the National Audit Office reported finding illegal practices involving 5.4 billion yuan (US$653.7 million) by the parent company before China Life was restructured for its US$3.4 billion overseas share listings in December.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
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