Paris  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy demanded late Thursday that the European Union adopt a common position to reform the capitalist system.

During a 90-minute appearance on national television to discuss the economic crisis, Sarkozy also criticized the European Union for passivity in the face of the crisis.

"It is not possible that, in such a situation, Europe does not take the initiative," Sarkozy said, indirectly criticizing the Czech presidency and the European Commission.

Tokyo - Japan's foreign reserves hit a record high in December as US Treasury bond prices increased, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The nation's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 1.03 trillion dollars at the end of December, marking a the second monthly rise in a row.

Foreign securities came to 908.02 billion dollars and foreign currency deposits totaled 95.29 billion dollars.

The rate of inflation has increased to 12.01 percent. It is the highest rate in past 13 years. The inflation rate was 11.98 per cent in the last week. The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rate is increased due to increase in the prices of as pulses, spices, eggs, fish and meat and some dairy products.

Although the rate of steel is not increased by steel companies yet the increase in the prices of cement contributed in the rise of inflation rate.

The increase in TDS receipts and buoyancy in corporate profits led to an increase in the direct tax collection, including corporate and personal income tax, by 46.95% to Rs 71,648 crore in April-July this year.

A finance ministry statement said, “Robust growth in direct tax collections is a result of tax education and compliance mechanism put in place by the Income Tax department in the area of tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collection at source (TCS) and indicates further improvement in tax administration and tax compliance levels.”