Tokyo  - The Japanese electronic giant Toshiba Corporation plans to build a new manufacturing and sales base in Vietnam to meet growing demand for high-efficiency motors in the global market, the company announced Wednesday.

The new company, Toshiba Industrial Products Asia Co Ltd, will be located in Vietnam's Dong Nai province, and will manufacture high-efficiency industrial motors rated at under 100 horsepower, plus their parts, Toshiba said.

The company will build a factory at Amata Industrial Park in Dong Nai province, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. The start of construction is scheduled for April 2009, and the plant will come on line in September 2010, the company said.

It will definitely be a relief for some housewives who don't want to perform the undesirable kitchen chores. Now a robot has been developed that can not only wash the dishes in the sink, but also place them neatly in the dishwasher and then switch the start button. The scientists from the university of Tokyo and electronics company Panasonic created the kitchen assistant robot (KAR).

Tokyo  - Stocks in Tokyo opened stronger on Monday after the United States announced to guarantee emergency loans to ailing US automakers.

Buoyed also by a weaker yen, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 121.9 points, or 1.42 per cent, to 8,710.42.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues climbed by 12.77 points, 0r 1.53 per cent, to 847.2.

On Friday, US President George W Bush agreed to a 17.4-billion- dollar emergency loan to keep the iconic US car industry alive, granting General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC a breathing space until March 31.

Tokyo - Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp and its smaller competitor Sanyo Electric Co have announced their agreement to a business alliance Friday, sealing Sanyo's takeover.

Panasonic will take control of about 70.5 per cent of Sanyo's shares after US investment bank Goldman Sachs, which is one of Sanyo's major shareholders together with two Japanese investment firms, agreed to the deal on Thursday.

Sanyo's management threw its support last month behind the takeover, which would create one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies.

Tokyo  - The Bank of Japan on Friday reduced its benchmark interest rate from 0.3 to 0.1 per cent to stem the effects of the recession that has hit the world's second-largest economy.

The reduction had been expected after the US Federal Reserve this week lowered its key interest rate to a record low, from 1 per cent to a range of 0 to 0.25 per cent.

The Bank of Japan had also been under pressure from the government to stimulate the contracting economy by pumping more money into financial markets to ease a credit crunch and to prevent a further rise in the rapidly appreciating yen.

The stronger yen has been hurting Japanese exporters because it makes their goods more expensive abroad and lowers their overseas earnings.

Tokyo  - The Bank of Japan on Friday reduced its benchmark interest rate from 0.3 to 0.1 per cent as the world's second-largest economy finds itself in recession.