Category Archives: Business

Posted on by

Boeing plans to add more 777 aircrafts to its fleet

Boeing aircrafts

Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, has decided to increase the production of Boeing 777, most capable twin-aisle airliner, for the second time in 2010. The decision seems to be a conscious one on the company’s part keeping in view the delays on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The aircraft manufacturer has said that the production of the 777 aircraft will be increased up to 8 percent on a monthly basis until March 2013. It must be noted that in March this year, Boeing had announced its plant to boost production capacity to seven aircrafts every month from 2011.

The Chicago-based company is very keen to expand the production of twin-aisle aircrafts and add a wide variety to its fleet. So far the company has had delayed the production of 787 Dreamliner aircraft because of technical issues and the delay has left the program running late by three years.

Boeing 777 comes in a different set of configurations and can accommodate more than 400 people. It has released so far 907 aircraft since 1995 and still has a backlog order of more than 250 planes.

In October this year, the aircraft manufacturer had announced to raise the production of 737 airplane, world’s most widely used jetliner.

Boeing has strengthened its stock prices this year by gaining 20 percent in the New York Stock Exchange.

Boeing 737 aircraft faces stiff competition from its rival A320 manufactured byAirbus SAS. Airbus issued a statement last month in which it revealed a plan to offer new engines to A320 aircrafts.

Posted on by

Bank of America to Stop Processing payments for WikiLeaks

Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America stop services to WikiLeaks

Washington: WikiLeaks has received another major setback for leaking confidential security documents and unveiling many diplomats on national and international level.  The Bank of America seizes all transactions process for WikiLeaks following banning actions by Paypal, Mastercard, Visa Europe and others.

WikiLeaks website has fuelled storm in the entire world

Posted on by

Unemployment Rate increases in Colorado

Unemployemnet remains high in US

The United Sates is still recovering from the aftermath of economic recession with high rates of unemployment. Despite the increasing number of jobs in the state of Colorado, unemployment rate were still on the rise in the state in November.

The southern west state of the US has registered a rise in number of jobless people to 8.6%, that is higher than its previous level in October. Colorado’s Labor and Employment Office stated on Friday that the unemployment rate has grown 8.6 percent within a short span of one month.

There were 3,800 jobs in Colorado in November. However the number of people seeking for jobs also increased by 6,900, to about 230,000 in the state.  Thus, despite an increase in the total number of jobs the rate of increase in number of unemployed youth remained higher than that of job creation.

In previous year, national unemployment rate raised to 10 percent whereas for Colorado it was 9.8 percent this year in November.

Colorado’s chief economist Alexandra Hall commented on this situation as very confusing as people do not know what to do. Despite the increase in jobs in last three months the employment situations have not changed much in Colorado, he added.

Hall further added that it would not be easy for all people to recover from the job loss during recession. Many professionals were found opting for babysitting or other short term jobs after losing their work.

Posted on by

Republicans complain over the size, cost of spending bill

US Government proposes spending bill while Republicans criticize

Washington –The opposition Republicans gave green signal to the spending authorization bill of the US government.  On Thursday, they passed $1.1 trillion spending bill to allow the federal government spend funds for the remaining fiscal year, though many of them severely criticized the cost and size of the total expenditure.

Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader from R-Kentucky, however presented another bill to propose an alternative to the government’s bill. This would stop the government from making major financial decisions till February 18 and it would not be able to raise its fund level.

From January, the Republicans will enjoy a majority in the Congress and therefore can pass a less expensive bill if they wanted so.

Mitch McConnell further added that the Republicans would go for a less expensive bill to avoid waste of funds in the new Congress but for now they were obliged to respect the current bill proposed by the government.

The opposition members complained over the spending bill’s various appropriations bills of around $8 billion that were included in a single package by legislators.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, faulted Republicans’ out cry over the bill saying that the large number of the earmarks in the bill were requested by Republican members. said he also stated that the bill had reached the mark of $1.1 trillion to appease McConnell’s demands. Durbin criticized the Republicans for their dual strategy over the legislation.

Posted on by

Internet giant Yahoo mulls cutting 600 to 700 jobs

Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO

San Francisco : Yahoo Inc, the struggling web portal, will cut 600 to 700 jobs in the latest shake-up amidst company’s unsatisfactory growth results.

Yahoo! has not made any formal announcement regarding the layoffs, but a source familiar to the company’s policies has revealed that the employees could be notified about the decision within couple of days.

If Yahoo! cuts jobs then it will be 5 percent of its total work force which stands on 14,100 employees. At the same time, it will be Yahoo’s fourth biggest jobs cut since 2007. It should be noted that the last two layoffs took place under Yahoo’s current CEO Carol Bartz, a Silicon Valley veteran.

Bartz was hired two years back despite having no background of internet and advertising, which happens to be Yahoo’s main source of revenue generation.  The planned job cuts are going to be implemented in the company’s US products group, which has been under revamping process since the arrival of Blake Irving, ex-Microsoft executive, to run the business last yearHowever, the decision may not be a shocker for many since the report on layoffs was published last month on some technology blogs.

The company’s fragile growth rate, sluggish stock prices, and internal organizational turmoil have raised a question over the company’s current CEO’s capability to manage the functions. Rumors are going around that Bartz might be forced to leave the organization even before her term expires as a CEO in January 2013.

Posted on by

Democrats finally agree to go with Obama’s tax plan

Democrats were deeply divided over Obama tax plan

The US president got a relief when Democrats have moved toward approving his deal to extend George Bush’s tax cuts for the richer section.

Obama’s chances of getting 60 votes required to pass his Tax relief plan were quite bleak as Democrats were quite apprehensive and feared that he might compromise too much with Republicans, the opposition party members. Obama asked the ex-president Bill Clinton to persuade Democrats to approve the deal.

Following the Democrats’ approval the bill would go to other house of the Senate in the House of Representatives. Obama is likely to win in the other House.

The Republicans won in the November 2 congressional elections taking control over the House of Representatives.

The proposed bill includes a package of $856 billion and extends unemployment benefits and tax breaks for lower income groups. The bill if passed will also revoke many subsidies for businessmen and renewable energy sector.

The deal retains all tax relief schemes for richer Americans passed under the Republican government under George Bush which would otherwise expire by January 1.

However, the Democrats wanted to raise tax rates for rich Americans by 2% to lower the already high deficit of the United States.

They were resentful for Obama’s readiness to retain Republicans’ tax cuts and agreed to support the bill only after former president Bill Clinton’s persuasion.

Posted on by

Obama Appeals to Former President Clinton to Help on Tax Issue

Barack Obama appealed to Bill Clinton for convincing Democrats

The US president seeks help from his predecessor. He asked former president Bill Clinton to persuade Democrats for supporting the Tax Relief Plan.  Obama wanted the bill to be cleared before expected prices rise in January.

Assisting the incumbent president, Bill Clinton requested Democrats of House of Representatives to pass the Tax Relief Plan right now before it goes in the hands of Republicans in the coming month. Referring to Obama’s Tax Relief Plan Clinton stated that it was a good agreement and should be passed before January.

Clinton’s regime in the United States has been an exemplary for every Democrat seeking for a recovery plan after the defeat in congressional elections in November. The president’s tax deal of $856 billion is awaiting Republican’s onion and this makes the Democrats concerned that Obama might compromise to bargain to win their acceptance for the deal. The budget commission stated that lower tax rates could be beneficial too if specialized deductions and other tax breaks are removed, however the Democrats were not convinced on how this tax relief plan could generate more revenue.

The Democrats expected tougher estate tax provisions for the rich people of the United States, which is not featuring in Obama’s bill. The Tax Relief Plan is expected to be passed on Tuesday but with a very bleak possibility.

Posted on by

Facebook Chief Joins Richest Americans Group for Charity

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO, Facebook

Another milestone in the history of philanthropy has been created in the united States. Social network Facebook chief join hands with 16 other richest people of America to devote money for charity issues.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, junk bond pioneer Michael Milken and AOL co-founder Steve Case together have joined philanthropic community promising to give away their wealth for social welfare.  Zuckerberg has already devoted $100 million to Newark NJ school education system. Giving Pledge is a charity organization founded by Microsoft  founder Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Facebook CEO has joined Giving Pledge with other rich people of America and commit to step up his donations toward charity.

The group has already 57 members devoting their wealth for humanity. The members include celebrities like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and film director George Lucas. But Zuckerberg and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz, who is just 26 years old.

Today, younger generation is thriving on success so they should initiate work for charity in their youth, he social network chief stated. Though Giving Pledge do not have a criteria about how much money should be devoted for philanthropic causes, most of the members have committed to spend half of their wealth.

By joining the world of philanthropy at this age, Facebook chief has set a milestone for upcoming young entrepreneurs to give it a thought right now.

Posted on by

US Steps To Help Illegal Immigrants

The Speaker of the House of Representatives supporting illegal immigration

Taking a step forward toward granting legal status to the illegally migrated youths, the US House of Representatives passed a bill for changing immigration law.

The US representatives voted the bill with a majority [198] to change the current immigration law, that do not permit illegal immigrants to enjoy normal rights. For converting into a law, the bill needs to win 60 votes at least in the House of Chambers.

However, the Republicans plan to block the bill unless Obama administration extends tax cuts initiated by George Bush and before the next fiscal year begins in October.

The proposed bill has also been considered as a DREAM Act as it, if passed would allow illegal young immigrants to get legal rights as residents provided they serve in military or study for 5 years. This provision will come into effect with the cooperation of Representative Howard Berman, a California Democrat, and Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who would also sponsor the process.

The proposed bill has been titled as a ‘tailored’ transformation of immigration laws to revamp the shattered US economy. This would also promote employment and education.

Democrats regarded the bill targeted youth migrated to the US with their parents who entered the country illegally.

The Opposition however called the measure as an ‘amnesty’ to shade illegal migration and feared that this would again give a chance to foreigners to grab the jobs otherwise meant for American youths.

Posted on by

NASA to supply rockets for commercial purpose

SpaceX Falcon 9 heavy-lift launch vehicle

NASA is hopeful to launch rockets for international space station. The organization is set to test it SpaceX Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station situated in Florida.

After successful completion of the test, the device will circle around the earth and sink down in the Pacific Ocean after finishing its tasks. SpaceX Falcon 9 was first tried in the early morning around 9 am but could not take off due to some technical fault. Later it was re-launched after 90 minutes.

This space rocket is being tested for the first time and right now unmanned. NASA however, plans to send humans later on and use the rocket as a cargo to space station.

The United States is very enthusiastic about the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 and earn from the commercial space industry. The US government further plans to send astronauts to Mars using these rockets.

The incumbent President, Barack Obama tried to increase funds for NASA space projects but could not succeed due to severe resistance from his opponents.

SpaceX is a commercial space company owned by Elon Musk. The company started its venture with a launch of Dragon 9.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 has cost 1 billion of which NASA funded only $253 million.

The launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 is considered a very fast and cheaper venture than previous projects.