According to the International Monetary Fund, the economy of world is entering a major downturn after the recession of 1930. It has also revised the growth projection of India for the current financial year. The international financial body said that Indian economy growth rate can slip to 7.9% from 8% in 2008-09 and 6.9 per cent for the financial year 2009-10. It holds responsible to weakening economic activity in the world for global financial crisis. However, the Indian government said in a statement that it would ensure sufficient liquidity in the country and maintain growth rate of 8 percent.

Brasilia - US President George W Bush told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Wednesday that a 700-billion- dollar rescue plan should be felt on US financial markets "in close to two-and-a-half weeks," according to Lula's office.

Bush spoke with the Brazilian leader by telephone Wednesday afternoon, after Lula called the US president over the weekend to discuss the global financial crisis.

Lula was said to have told Bush that the Brazilian economy remains firm despite the crisis.

Cologne, Germany - Amid renewed world interest in thrifty little motor scooters, the world's biggest motorcycle trade show, Intermot, opened Wednesday in the German city of Cologne.

"There is a gigantic boom going on in scooters," said Thomas Alber, a motorcycling specialist at Germany's national motoring club ADAC. In Germany alone, new scooter registrations soared 14 per cent this year.

Buyers in Europe have tended to the more powerful models, with at least 125 cubic centimetres (cc) of cylinder capacity.

A 250-cc scooter uses only half as much fuel as a small car, according to Germany's motorcycle industry federation. Scooters also evade traffic jams better and are easier to park in crowded cities.

New York/Dresden, Germany - US chipmaker AMD plans to restructure its German-based manufacturing operation in Dresden in a bid to cut costs, US media reports said Tuesday.

The company plans to form a new joint venture, which will receive up to 6 billion dollars in funding from an investment company in Abu Dhabi, the reports said.

The aim is to reduce costs by producing chips for other companies as well as AMD, the reports added.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new venture will be called Foundry Co.

New York  - In a surprise development, Wells Fargo bank and the fourth-largest US bank Wachovia Corp. announced Friday that Wells Fargo had entered the bidding with an offer for a complete merger with Wachovia.

The announcement said Wells Fargo had presented Wachovia with a signed and board-approved offer to buy Wachovia as an intact company in a stock-for-stock merger which could be carried out without government help.

New Delhi, Oct 3: The fifth meeting of the India-Ethiopia Joint Trade Commission will be held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) on October 6.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh will be leading the Indian delegation comprising of senior officials, businessmen, export promotion councils and bankers.

A number of important bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during the meeting which include to expand the supply of raw skins and hides that are abundantly available in Ethiopia for India’s growing leather manufacturing industry and to set up an apparel fashion design institute in Ethiopia with the assistance of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).