“Brazil is an agricultural superpower, leading the world’s supply of essential food commodities,” said Minister Stephanes. “We will keep a close eye on the 2010 harvest, as it is very close to setting a new record for Brazil. Grain production continues to be a driving force behind our growing agribusiness exports.”

The positive performance in the grain sector is due in part to increased productivity and steady rainfall. Soybean production is leading the performance with an anticipated 18.2 percent year-on-year increase in annual production to 67.57 million tons.

In the years from 1975-2008, Brazil’s agricultural productivity growth rates averaged 3.66 percent, ahead of China (3.20 percent), Australia (2.12 percent) and the United States (1.95 percent), according to a study prepared by the Brazilian Office of Strategic Management within the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.

Brazil’s strong agricultural performance was driven by genetic technologies and the introduction of new cultivars that yielded higher productivity in key commodities such as soybeans, corn, coffee, sugarcane, meat, fruit and vegetable products. Sugarcane yields grew from 49 tons per hectare to 80 tons per hectare in a ten-year period. Corn productivity reached 12 tons per hectare and soybeans six tons per hectare. The production of beef, which yielded 11 kg of carcass per hectare in 1997, rose to 39 kg in 2008. Poultry productivity rose dramatically from 373,000 tons in 1975 to 10 million tons in 2008.

By the end of this year, 110,000 cattle farms in the Brazilian state of Para will employ satellite monitoring through the national Cattle Guardian Program (Programa Boi Guardiao) introduced in December 2009. This initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture aims to reduce Amazon deforestation caused by cattle ranching. Since the end of 2009, the project has monitored approximately 15,000 properties in six municipalities in Para, where nearly four million cattle are raised.

Under the Cattle Guardian Program, electronic permits for animal transit (GTA) will only be issued on the condition that cattle are raised in non-deforested areas. The verification is monitored through satellite surveillance. GTA permits include information on sanitation and are mandatory for the transport of animals between properties, municipalities, states, slaughterhouses, or to other countries for export. By the end of 2010, the program will monitor the entire states of Para, Rondonia, and the Amazon region within the state of Mato Grosso. With over 18 million cattle heads, Para is the fifth largest cattle producer in the country.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, BEE and Mr. Stuart Davis, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India.

The objective of the EEFP is to create a mechanism towards mainstream financing of energy efficiency projects. EEFP will provide instruments like bankable Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and other risk mitigation measures to enhance comfort for lenders towards aggregated energy efficiency projects. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has already initiated work towards developing guidelines and tools for partial risk guarantee and venture capital funds to augment the work that will facilitate the EEFP.

Dr. Ajay Mathur, while signing the MOU, said “EEFP is being positioned as a platform to facilitate learning and experience sharing on removing barriers that have stunted financing to the energy efficiency projects. The significant step taken by HSBC India will send the right signal in the market and would spur private investment”.

Mr Stuart A Davis, CEO, HSBC India, on the occasion said “The Signing of MOU with Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an expression of HSBC India’s desire to work in partnership with the government on issues surrounding energy efficiency and climate change. This partnership will help us enhance our learning and explore innovative opportunities in this space.”

The MoU will strengthen the Energy Efficiency Financing Platform (EEFP) that seeks to overcome barriers to financing of energy efficiency projects though risk sharing strategies and capacity up-gradation of financial institutions. PTC India and SIDBI have signed the EEFP memorandum with BEE.

The overall energy efficiency investment market is estimated to be around Rs. 74,000/- crores. This will get a significant push after the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency is approved by the government. BEE will facilitate, apart from providing overall guidance, bankable projects in areas like energy efficiency improvements in commercial buildings, municipalities, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), agriculture, etc. to unlock the market.

The MOU provides for enhancing the effectiveness and reach of the energy efficiency activities; HSBC India, as per its internal policies and guidelines, will consider financial support for implementing this activity on terms mutually agreed with BEE.

The partnership will explore energy efficiency improvements by ESCO-based performance contracts and Demand Side Management initiatives in a variety of sectors.

Through the use of integrated multimode devices that support TD-LTE as well as 3G and 2G technologies, TD-LTE will take advantage of the 3G and 2G ecosystems, thereby creating economies of scale to enable a broad choice of wireless broadband devices at affordable price points for Indian consumers. TD-LTE enhances 3G networks and offers an attractive value proposition to end-users as well as the wireless ecosystem.

Qualcomm has a history of participating in spectrum auctions to expedite the commercialization of new wireless technologies. By participating in India’s BWA spectrum auction, Qualcomm can foster the accelerated deployment of TD-LTE.

If successful in winning spectrum in the auction, Qualcomm intends to secure Indian partners after completion of the auction and in compliance with the applicable Indian Foreign Direct Investment regulations. Qualcomm and its partners intend to demonstrate TD-LTE technology with the goal of creating a TD-LTE infrastructure and device ecosystem that, in concert with 3G networks and devices, will support India’s broadband goals. Qualcomm and its partners will decide the venture’s strategy in due course. Qualcomm’s goal is to attract an operator partner or partners into the venture at the appropriate time for construction of a TD-LTE network in compliance with the Indian Government’s rollout requirement for the BWA spectrum and then to exit the venture.

The UN WFP undertook the PDS project on behalf of the Government of Orissa to reissue ration cards and institute new processes to better manage and monitor the distribution of food grains. The intent was to use the new technology and processes to eliminate fraud, so that aid gets to as many eligible recipients as possible. The first phase of the project, which was also implemented by 4G ID, was the multi-biometric solution for approximately one million citizens in the Rayagada district. The solution captured three biometrics – a face picture, two irises and ten fingerprints, and demographic details of citizen. In addition, 4G ID provided a specialized de-duplication solution to eliminate fraud.

The current project has two objectives. First, 4G ID will setup and run biometric enrollment stations to enroll citizens in order to create a unique ID for all eligible beneficiaries in Rayagada. The second objective is to design, test and deploy an end-to-end biometric Point of Sale solution, robust enough to handle food distribution in hundreds of rural locations. Such a system will ensure that the commodities are issued to beneficiaries only when one of the family member’s credentials are verified at the assigned Fair Price Shop. 4G ID is tasked with providing a number of technologies (biometric, barcode, smart card and wireless technologies) in the POS solution. In addition 4G ID will provide a centralized management information system (MIS) to track and monitor the PDS system.

Dr. Sreeni Tripuraneni, the CEO of 4G ID, said “We are happy that this challenging project will not only plug significant leakages in the current public distribution system but also provide an efficient and effective delivery mechanism for the government to provide many more welfare schemes. This project will result in substantial savings for the PDS Programme making it possible for the government to expand the food subsidy scheme to excluded but eligible beneficiaries.”

The plan will use co-financing from the multilateral CTF to expand large-scale geothermal power plants and to accelerate initiatives to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy by creating risk-sharing facilities and addressing financing barriers to small- and medium-scale investments. Under the Indonesia plan, the CTF is slated to mobilize an additional $2.7 billion from a range of other sources.

“The greater availability of power supplies will help the Government of Indonesia reach its objective of providing electricity access from the present 65% of the population to 90% by 2020,” said Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Ursula Schaefer-Preuss. “Through the utilization of a cleaner fuel source, geothermal development will also result in better health benefits and more energy access for poor people,” she said.

Indonesia is the fourth Asian country to have a CTF-funded investment plan for the deployment of low-carbon technologies endorsed by governments – following in the footsteps of the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. The Trust Fund Committee’s endorsement of Indonesia’s plan raises the level of CTF support to Asia to $1.2 billion, mobilizing a total of nearly $13 billion from government, private sector, and other sources for Asia’s move to become a leader in the use of clean energy.

“The Climate Investment Funds are about demonstrating what can be done at scale and the Indonesia plan stands out,” said World Bank Vice-President for Sustainable Development, Katherine Sierra. “Indonesia has the largest geothermal energy potential in the world. The co-financing will help Indonesia reduce the use of fossil fuels to meet its rapidly growing energy needs. It also gives a clear signal on the practical actions developing countries can take to combat global climate change,” she said.

In addition to the Indonesian plan endorsement, the CTF meeting in Manila on Monday also endorsed plans for Colombia (CTF $150 million, leveraging an additional $2.85 billion from other sources, including private sector), Kazakhstan (CTF $200 million, leveraging $1.1 billion) and Ukraine (CTF $350 million, leveraging $2.3 billion).

As a result of the evaluation, the following nine securities will be added to the Index: AIXTRON AG (Nasdaq:AIXG), A123 Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:AONE), Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:GPRE), Universal Display Corporation (Nasdaq:PANL), Power-One, Inc. (Nasdaq:PWER), Satcon Technology Corporation (Nasdaq:SATC), STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:STRI), UQM TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (AMEX:UQM), and Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq:VECO).

The Index is designed to track the performance of clean-energy companies that are publicly traded in the U.S. The Index includes companies engaged in the manufacturing, development, distribution, and installation of emerging clean-energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics, biofuels and advanced batteries. The five major sub-sectors that the index covers are Renewable Electricity Generation, Renewable Fuels, Energy Storage & Conversion, Energy Intelligence and Advanced Energy-Related Materials. The securities must also meet other eligibility criteria which include minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume, and price. The Index is evaluated on a semi-annual basis in March and September. For more information about the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index, including detailed eligibility criteria, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/.

As a result of the evaluation, the following six securities will be removed from the Index: Advanced Analogic Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:AATI), China BAK Battery, Inc. (Nasdaq:CBAK), Greatbatch, Inc. (NYSE:GB), Raser Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:RZ), Ultralife Corporation (Nasdaq:ULBI), and Valence Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:VLNC).

The NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index is the basis for the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (Nasdaq:QCLN), which seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index before fees and expenses.

SVC and series compensation solutions are used to regulate and stabilize power flow to enhance capacity and reliability in electricity networks.

“This solution is designed to enhance the supply of electricity through the existing transmission network without constructing new lines. It will improve grid stability and help meet growing consumer needs in the region” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division.

SVC and Series Compensation are part ABB´s group of FACTS (flexible alternating current transmission systems) technologies, which enhance the capacity, reliability and efficiency of existing power transmission systems and will facilitate the evolution of smarter grids.

By enhancing the capacity of existing networks, FACTS solutions can reduce the need for capital investment, providing an alternative to the construction of new transmission lines. The technologies enable more power to reach consumers with less impact on the environment. ABB is a global leader in FACTS technologies and has more than 700 installations in operation or under construction around the world.

Furthermore, in their business planning, 76 percent of organizations surveyed are optimistic about the economic recovery time frame, indicating that in their planning cycles, they are seeing that the recovery already began in 2009 or will occur in 2010.

In November and December 2009, Gartner conducted a survey of 1,073 respondents, covering a range of company sizes and vertical markets (excluding government organizations) across three regions (America, Europe and Asia/Pacific) to determine how economic changes have impacted IT services buying and decision making.

“The impact of the global economic recession in 2008 through 2009 has been significant, in some cases radically changing a vertical market or a company’s competitive position. Buyers of services have been impacted in many areas, making them more cautious regarding IT spending,” said Allie Young, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “In terms of IT services spending, the recession has been clearly felt by organizations, which report the following changes in their behaviors: increased contract renegotiations with ESPs, greater influence of the CFO and procurement in IT services spending, and increased levels of offshore services usage. However, the good news for service providers going forward is that the majority of buyers of IT and business process services will increasingly turn to ESPs to support the execution of their IT strategies.”

Ms. Young said that the results of the survey confirm an overall positive market acceptance of ESPs to support IT initiatives. Nevertheless, regional and vertical differences will apply and must be factored into client needs, and will be discussed in other Gartner research. For example, in 2010, the overall mean average for spending with ESPs is predicted to increase 7.13 percent. Yet there is a great degree of variation by country; for example, India users expect to increase spending by 17.4 percent, and Japan users expect a decrease of 1.5 percent.

Service providers that prioritize understanding the marketplace and monitoring the changes in their client and user environments will be best-prepared to capitalize on growth. The days of “low-hanging fruit” and sole-source decision making in IT services are largely over; however, through deep relationships, providers still rely on new opportunity leads and expansion of services from existing client relationships, often as sole-source opportunities.

“Although there are positive signs of a return to growth, we will remain in a hypercompetitive IT services environment for some time, with more provider options for buyers to consider, a focus on cost continuing to dominate in buyer considerations, and very likely more providers pursuing the same opportunities,” said Ms. Young. “Service providers across all types of service categories and relationship models have the potential to capitalize on growth opportunities as the economy recovers, yet there will likely be little relief from the extreme competitive challenges experienced by service providers in the 2008-through-2009 economic downturn.”

According to Gartner, to be successful, highly disciplined service providers must focus on the following:

Balance: Service leadership will need to focus on balanced strategies of being aggressive/proactive to capture growth, but also highly attentive to monitoring changes in their client environments and the economies and vertical markets they serve to know how and when to react. Prioritizing market/client knowledge and insights to drive internal optimization of strategies, processes, delivery, skills, and reaching clients will separate the leaders from the followers.

Agility: Sales, marketing and service delivery teams must work closely to deliver on the promises made to win deals. Yet accounts are never static, and more than ever providers must be agile to respond to changes in the competitive market, in economic conditions, in vertical sectors, in the talent pool, and in technology. Failure to respond quickly will compromise relevance to their clients. Ensuring the right investments in their own internal operations to achieve this agility will be a task that providers will need to take seriously.

Cost-competitiveness: Pursuit teams must recognize that their clients want, need and expect cost-competitive answers to their IT needs. This does not negate the value and business insight that providers can and must bring — but without cost-competitive responses, providers will never begin to build trust and gain a position to communicate their value message. Pursuit teams must hone their skills to identify which deals are the right ones to pursue, and which are the ones to walk away from.

The sector indices go beyond the global, country and regional indices previously available by allowing clients to monitor market movements more deeply by sector. Covering 44 countries and 18 regions, Thomson Reuters indices enable clients to monitor global markets, benchmark specific countries, regions, and sectors, and develop investment vehicles globally.

Each Thomson Reuters index is created using a proprietary liquidity filter that selects stocks based on price, as opposed to volume. By only including stocks that investors can access, the indices provide a more accurate depiction of the investing opportunities available, particularly in emerging markets, where many securities are not accessible to all investors.

The indices utilise the proprietary Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC) system which provides globally consistent sector standards. TRBC is the industry’s broadest classification system covering 71,000 public and 230,000 private companies worldwide.

All Thomson Reuters Indices are accessible via desktops as well as data feeds, in products such as Reuters 3000 Xtra, Thomson Reuters Datastream, StarMine and Thomson Reuters Portfolio Analytics.

Solid-State Lighting (SSL) is type of energy-efficient lighting that uses semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), or polymer light-emitting diodes (PLED) as sources of illumination. With worldwide electrical lighting using 19 per cent of all electricity, the use of energy-efficient lighting will significantly reduce energy consumption around the world and thereby cut harmful CO2 emissions.

“We are very pleased to expand our partnership with Philips and to commence the cooperation with Philips Lighting. This deal marks our entrance into a new fast growing market segment – Solid-State Lighting – that fits into our capabilities and our manufacturing network extremely well. We are looking forward to building a global cooperation with Philips also in this new market segment”, says Vesa Keränen, President of Elcoteq’s Consumer Electronics Business Unit.

Elcoteq has already started the production of SSL products in its factory in Dongguan, China. Production will expand to other Elcoteq locations including Mexico and Hungary still during the year 2010.

The lighting business will be undergoing significant transition when new LED-based lighting products replace conventional light sources. These new lighting product applications provide significant growth opportunities for EMS companies. The value of LED-based lighting products is estimated to reach 80 billion euros by the year 2020. These trends create a solid basis for developing Elcoteq’s Consumer Electronics business toward serving a wider and more balanced business and customer portfolio.