ASUS announced the launch of the new R2E ultra mobile notebook in India. With its 7-inch LCD screen, the R2E packs features that include SunRead glare-proof panel, a touch panel input on an intelligent digital writing pad and a built-in GPS.

It also sports a number of multimedia features for personal entertainment. Media access is available with live TV enjoyment with an external antenna and a remote controller. For a comfortable viewing experience, the ASUS SunRead glare-proof panel displays images and words sharply for a clear view in bright light.

On the security front, the R2E offers data protection with both software and hardware solutions. Data security is protected with a built-in AuthenTec buying drugs online without prescription fingerprint scanner with TruePrint technology and embedded TPM is a hardware solution that helps to avoid attacks by hackers looking to capture passwords and encryption keys to sensitive data.

Other features include built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), Wireless LAN 802.11 a/b/g and a high-resolution webcam. It runs on Genuine Windows Vista Edition with Microsoft Origami Experience Pack software and ergonomic hardware interface designs. It also has the InfoPen software that records and edits images or documents with color and highlighter options. The DigiPen stylus also has an eraser end and mouse control buttons. It comes bundled with a USB keyboard.

The ASUS R2E notebook is priced at Rs. 64900 and comes with a two-year global warranty.

By Vikas Dandekar & Archi Damania, CNBC-TV18

Daiichi Sankyo has said that the company has not made any changes in their acquisition plans for Ranbaxy. The company chose not to comment on the Ranbaxy-US FDA development and said that they will follow the matter closely. The company also said that they knew that the US FDA has investigated Ranbaxy’s facilities. At this stage Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy will remain two independent companies, it said.

The US FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) has taken Ranbaxy to court for systematic fraudulent conduct. The US FDA believed that violations have resulted in adulterated and misbranded drugs.

The US FDA has claimed that Ranbaxy has used APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredient) from unapproved sources. It has raised issues on potency and adulteration of medicines. The US FDA has asked court to force Ranbaxy for internal review of manufacturing operations in India. It has been investigating Ranbaxy for the past three years. The Ponta Sahib plant has been suspended for US supplies since 2006.

The US FDA charges are a big negative for Ranbaxy. Almost 25% of Ranbaxy’s revenues come from its US operations. If the case goes against Ranbaxy, it may be slapped with a high penalty. The supply from the Indian units may be suspended.

Ranbaxy will file its response today. The company said that their US business continues to be normal. The Daiichi Sankyo deal is binding, final and on track, it clarified.

Ranbaxy has said that no prosecution has been initiated. An investigation has been underway for approximately three years. Despite this no charges have been filed. During this period, Ranbaxy has been cooperating fully with the US Justice Dept. The FDA has also gathered over 200 random samples of various products marketed by the company in the US. These products have been independently Buy Cialis tested by the US FDA and were found to be complying with all the specifications as per the filing. Under these circumstances the company finds that the allegations are baseless.

Ranbaxy said, “A motion has been filed (not granted) seeking certain documents. No legal proceedings in the sense of a prosecution have been started. Ranbaxy strongly denies the allegations contained in the motion. Meanwhile, we continue to co-operate with the US Justice Department. We remain committed to providing high quality generic medicines at affordable prices to our customers and patients in the US.”

From 2006, the US FDA had blocked all Abbreviated New Drug Application, or ANDA, filings from Ponta Sahib, the plant that has come under this particular investigation. Ranbaxy had re-rooted all it’s ANDA filings from some other plants like OM Labs and its Madhya Pradesh plant in Dewas. ANDAs are not being filed anymore from that particular plant. So, we cannot expect any kind of fallout of that particular move.

With respect to other ANDAs that are already there, i.e. products that are already introduced in that market, it is not known how US FDA will want to react to it. Only one precedent had happened way back in 2005, where Able Labs really went belly up. They had to close down their operations because there was massive forgery and fudging of information that was submitted to US FDA.

If this particular case does go against Ranbaxy and in favour of the US FDA, the implications can be really grave. It might also include banning the entire exports for Ranbaxy as far as the US is concerned.

MONDAY, July 14, (News Locale) - The BlackBerry flap in India continues to simmer with the government now brining in the National Security Advisor to find a solution to the vexed issue.

The NSA was brought into the loop after BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion, or RIM refused to lower encryption levels so as to provide access to emails sent over the network within India. The whole episode erupted last week after security agencies expressed concern that data sent over BlackBerrys could effectively be transmitted through an encrypted security layer.

This meant the data would be inaccessible to security agencies. The main problem is that all data sent over a BlackBerry is stored in RIM’s own servers in Canada and is thus out of bounds for Indian security agencies.

Earlier the Department of Telecommunication tried to solve this issue by asking RIM to shift servers for Indian networks to this country or creating copies of e-mails and data sent over these devices in India and store the same for at least six months.

RIM said such solutions were unfeasible and shifting servers to India was untenable. When asked to lower encryption levels, the company said such a measure would leave its customers vulnerable to hackers.

RIM how to buy prescription drugs without a prescription also alleged it was being singled out by the Indian Government as there are four other networks in the country that provide similar encryption services. These include Windows Mobile ActiveSync, Nokia Intellisync, Motorola Good and Seven Networks.

The NSA is currently supervising officials from National Test Research Organisation (NTRO) and DoT as they talk to BlackBerry representatives.

BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device, which was launched in 1999. The handheld supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services and is immensely popular worldwide. It is estimated that there are at least 400,000 BlackBerry users in India.

By Sarah Thompson

July 14 (Bloomberg) — European stocks and U.S. index futures rose after the U.S. government put its support behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and takeovers increased. Asian shares declined.

Alliance & Leicester Plc surged 48 percent as the U.K. bank said it was in “advanced” takeover talks, while InBev NV and Anheuser-Busch Cos. rose as the Belgian company agreed to buy the brewer of Budweiser for $52 billion. Continental AG, Europe’s second-biggest tiremaker, jumped on talks with Schaeffler Group. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gained more than 11 percent in Germany.

Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index advanced 1.2 percent to 273.65 at 10:51 a.m. in London, while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.8 percent. The Stoxx 600 last week closed at its cheapest relative to earnings in at least six years as record oil prices hurt automakers and airlines and concern deepened Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were short of capital.

“Attractive valuations have become hard to resist,” said online pharmacy without prescription onmouseover=”return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))” href=”http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Peter+Jarvis&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1″>Peter Jarvis, a London-based director of European equities at F&C Asset Management, which has about $200 billion. “The corporate sector clearly believes assets are now at the wrong price. The fact that recent high-profile deals are being done with cash adds further weight to the argument.”

More than $11 trillion has been erased from global equities this year as rising oil prices, accelerating inflation and more than $400 billion in credit-related losses threatened to push the U.S. into recession and stifle profit growth.

Three-Year Low

The Stoxx 600 closed last week at a three-year low. The index is valued at 10.8 times profit.

The S&P 500, the benchmark for American equities, and the MSCI World Index slumped last week into a so-called bear market, or a decline of 20 percent from a recent peak. Among the 23 industrialized nations in the MSCI World, only Canada has averted such a sell-off.

“The market washed down good and bad assets rather indiscriminately,” said Bernhard Maeder, a portfolio manager at Credit Suisse Asset Management in Zurich. “The market is not expensive.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 1 percent.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., once the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage bonds, gained in Germany. TNT NV rallied on a report it’s in preliminary talks with FedEx Corp., while ITV Plc gained after Endemol NV’s co-founder John de Mol said he wouldn’t exclude making a bid for broadcaster.

Alliance & Leicester added 105.75 pence to 319 pence.

“Alliance & Leicester confirms that it is at an advanced stage of discussions regarding a possible offer at an offer price of 299 pence a share,” the Leicester, England-based bank said today.

Santander

Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank, is in discussions to acquire the U.K. mortgage lender, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

A Santander spokesman, who asked not to be identified by name, said the bank had no immediate comment.

Mergers have slumped worldwide from last year’s record pace as banks curtail lending for deals following the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market. Takeovers have fallen to $1.63 trillion so far this year from $2.60 trillion a year earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Mergers reached $4.1 trillion last year.

InBev gained 1.1 percent to 45 euros. The $70-a-share transaction ends a month of court fights and public denunciations as InBev tried to acquire the St. Louis-based beermaker in a hostile takeover. Leuven, Belgium-based InBev sweetened its initial offer by 7.7 percent and agreed to rename itself Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brewers said.

Anheuser-Busch gained $1.72 to $68.22 in Germany.

Continental

Continental advanced 24 percent to 66.87 euros. The company said it discussed a “possible engagement” by ball-bearing maker Schaeffler.

“One brief conversation” took place between the two companies at the end of last week, Hanover, Germany-based Continental said today. “As soon as Schaeffler Group has substantiated its plans, the management board of Continental AG will evaluate these and communicate its views in due course.”

Freddie Mac rose 90 cents to $8.65 in German trading. The company is scheduled to sell $3 billion in short-term notes today. Fannie Mae added $1.25 to $11.50.

Paulson asked Congress for authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to the companies that buy or finance almost half of the $12 trillion of U.S. mortgages. The Federal Reserve separately authorized the firms to borrow directly from the central bank.

“What they have done is probably quite helpful,” said Roger Nightingale, global strategist at Pointon York Ltd. in London, which manages about $1.5 billion. “It is a great deal better than it otherwise would have been.”

Lehman, TNT

The steps would bring the U.S. closer to giving an explicit guarantee for the debt sold by the shareholder-owned, federally chartered companies. That reflects a need for the government to bail out an economy that’s been rocked by the worst housing recession in 25 years, the credit crisis, and soaring energy costs.

Lehman gained 50 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $14.93 in Germany.

TNT climbed 25 percent to 23.14 euros. Rising fuel costs and an economic decline revived merger discussion between FedEx and TNT, the FT said July 12, without citing anyone. Pieter Schaffels, a spokesman for TNT, and Jess Bunn of FedEx both declined to comment when contacted by telephone and e-mail.

A buyout “makes sense,” said Philip Scholte, an analyst at Rabo Securities in Amsterdam. “You just link the two networks together.”

ITV

ITV rallied 8.9 percent to 41.7 pence. Endemol’s co-founder John de Mol said he wouldn’t exclude making a bid for U.K. commercial television broadcaster ITV, the Financial Times reported, citing an interview with de Mol. Separately, Morgan Stanley raised its recommendation on ITV to “equal-weight” from “underweight.”

Norsk Hydro ASA, the world’s fourth-largest aluminum producer, slumped by the most on record in Oslo trading as rising costs hurt second-quarter profit. The shares declined 13 percent to 65.5 euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Thompson in London at sthompson17@bloomberg.net.

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — About 500 Nepalese riot police who revolted and took their senior officers hostage to protest poor working conditions released their captives and surrendered after a two-day standoff, officials said Monday.

Seven senior police officers were released unharmed just after midnight Buy Cialis Online Sunday, said Narendra Sharma, chief government administrator in the area.

The armed policemen took over a riot police camp Saturday at Nepalgunj, about 310 miles west of Katmandu. They were protesting the alleged ill treatment of lower-ranking officers by their supervisors, low-quality food and other issues.

Hundreds of police surrounded the camp Sunday after the government ordered an immediate end to the standoff, Sharma said.

“The revolting policemen allowed their hostages to leave after midnight, and they are all being held at the police training camp,” Sharma said.

There had been reports of shots fired during the standoff, but no one was believed to have been hurt.

Home Secretary Umesh Mainali told The Associated Press that authorities were assessing how to improve the 68,000-member force after two revolts in a month.

In June, disgruntled policemen took 16 officers hostage at the same camp, which is the regional hub for security agencies in western Nepal.

Police official Akhtar Ali Ansari said those involved in the latest action would face a special court.

“They reflect, I think, a traditional bipartisan wisdom when it comes to foreign policy,” Obama said. “Neither of them are ideologues but try to get the facts right and make a determination about what’s best for U.S. interests — and they’re good guys.”

The two will accompany the Illinois senator to the two battlefronts and to several European cities.

Although he is Republican, Hagel has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Hagel served as an Army sergeant in Vietnam. Reed, who was one of 21 Democratic senators voting in 2002 against authorizing the invasion of Iraq, is a former Army Ranger and paratrooper.

More than two years have elapsed since Obama has traveled to Iraq, a point of sharp criticism from Republicans.

“We think it’s a good thing he’s finally taking the time to visit,” McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann told reporters Sunday. He said McCain has made eight Iraq trips.

In San Diego, after addressing a convention of Hispanic voters Sunday, Obama said McCain’s numerous visits to the Middle East doesn’t leave him better equipped to deal with its volatility as president. After McCain’s visit last year, “He came back and reported how safe everything was in Baghdad,” Obama said. “I don’t think that that was indicative of what was actually happening.”

Scheunemann repeated the campaign’s charge that Obama has flip-flopped on his long-held position to withdraw troops from Iraq over a 16-month period. Last month, Obama said he was still committed to ending the war, but likely would “refine” that timetable after talking to military commanders.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., an Obama supporter, said the Illinois senator has been consistent on Iraq.

She called the 16-month timetable a “goal” and said “it would be irresponsible … to set in stone a date.” She spoke on NBC’s Meet the Press.

McCaskill and top McCain adviser Carly Fiorina sparred vigorously over the candidates’ policies on issues ranging from the war to the economy during their NBC appearance Sunday.

Fiorina argued that Americans aren’t paying a lot of attention to what campaign surrogates have to say. Her comments came as she discussed McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm’s recent remarks about the country becoming a “nation of whiners” and suffering a “mental recession.” McCain has disavowed Gramm’s sentiments.

” I think most Americans are not really focused on what a bunch of surrogates are saying,” Fiorina said. “They’re focused on what the candidates are saying.”

Asked whether Gramm would continue to have a role in the campaign, Fiorina said, “I don’t think Sen. Gramm will any longer be speaking for John McCain.”

Contributing: Fredreka Schouten in McLean, Va.

PARIS (AFP) — Israel and the Palestinians disagreed over the final declaration at a Mediterranean summit and the wording will have to be changed, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday.

Kouchner said in a radio interview that the last-minute dispute between Israel and the Palestinians meant that the founding text of the Union for the Mediterranean “will have to be corrected a bit”.

The dispute touched on the use of the term “national and democratic state” to describe Israel, a term that “entails difficulties in terms of refugee return, Jewish or non-Jewish state,” the foreign minister said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy and some 40 leaders launched the new union at a Paris summit on Sunday, hoping to inject new momentum in Middle East peace efforts and bolster cooperation in the troubled region.

“There are words, or a phrasing of words that are not suitable because they invoke a historical legacy, a legacy of tragedy and murder also,” said Kouchner.

The final declaration was adopted with vague wording but negotiations on a definite formulation will continue along with talks on other details on the workings of the union such as the location of its permanent offices.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki said his delegation “categorically opposed” online pharmacy without a prescription wording in the text submitted by Israel that referred to a “state of the Jewish people”.

“It was out of the question for us to accept this,” he told AFP.

Kouchner nevertheless hailed the inaugural summit of the union as “a magnificent event”, saying it was held “against a backdrop of peace.”

Leaders agreed on a batch of modest projects such as cleaning up pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, improving shipping routes and developing solar energy.

But the Middle East peace process loomed large over the gathering, with a flurry of meetings on the sidelines underscoring the need for progress.