Johannesburg  - When South Africa was awarded the right to host the 2010 World Cup football officials in the country embarked on an ambitious plan.

Not only did they want to ensure that the World Cup itself would be a huge success, they also wanted to make sure that they would be able to field a strong team at the showpiece of international football.

To facilitate the latter, the South African Football Association (SAFA) spared neither effort nor money and in 2006 they proudly announced that Carlos Alberto Parreira had signed a contract to coach the team.

The arrival of the Brazilian World Cup-winning coach had South African football fans dreaming of World Cup glory.

Biotechnology major Biocon has revealed its plans to pump Rs 100 crore in the coming fiscal with the aim to increase its research and development, to keep pace with increased orders from multinational firms, as leading worldwide firms have slashed their expenditure on R &D.

While commenting on the plans, Biocon Chairperson and Managing Director, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw stated, "We will be investing Rs 100 crore in 2009-10 for enhancing our research and development."

According to the sources, the conglomerate has set aside an investment of Rs 60 crore for the current year.

Madrid  - Spain are keen to show the world that their triumph at Euro 2008 was no flash in the pan.

That's why they are desperate to do well in next June's Confederations Cup, the draw for which will be held on 22 November in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This will be Spain's first participation in the elite tournament, now in its eighth edition.

Spain will go to the tournament as one of the favourites, as European champions and as number one in the FIFA world rankings.

"La Seleccion", as it is known, has never before flown so high - or so elegantly. And it has never before been so highly regarded across Planet Football.

Jubilant Organosys Ltd has announced that its US arm Clinsys Clinical Research, Inc has purchased TrialStat Clinical Analytics from Trial Stat for CAD 750,000.

According to the sources, TrialStat ClinicalAnalytics (TrialStat CA) is a Web-based electronic data capture that is used by a wide range of pharmaceutical and contract research organizations clienteles international.

London, Nov 18: Poland Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has allegedly passed racist jibes on US President-elect Barack Obama, saying that his grandfather was a cannibal, and ate a Polish missionary!

An Oxford-educated Sikorski (45) outraged colleagues when he joked that the US President-elect had Polish roots. “His grandad ate a Polish missionary,” The Mirror quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders in Poland are calling for him to be charged with breaking laws on racism.

Washington  - At the 2009 Confederations Cup, the United States will be anxious to test their progress on the international stage along the way to the 2010 World Cup.

Getting to the world's showpiece event shouldn't be a problem - the US are champions of their region and figure to make their sixth consecutive finals appearance in South Africa - but the ambitious Americans would like nothing more than a promising performance the summer before the big show against heavyweights like Spain, Italy or Brazil.

Having finished third before (in 1992 and 1999), football fans are hoping that the team will go one better and qualify for the final.