Sandigan dismisses graft case vs ex-DBP officials.
Byline: EDMER F. PANESA The Sandiganbayan First Division dismissed yesterday the graft case against former board members of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in connection with the alleged anomalous R20-million loan the DBP granted to a mining company in 1982. In a 17-page...

SALES Talk; Las Vegas, Dallas lawyers offer free legal services over Placer Dome lawsuit.
Byline: Arthur S. Sales After the Canadian multinational mining company Placer Dome Inc. wanting to elevate the lawsuit which the provincial government of the island province of Marinduque in the Philippines filed against it in the United States Federal courts, a team from the law offices of...

Birla Minerals to raise Rs 775 crore to repay debt, list on ASX.
MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Minerals (ABML), the wholly-owned Australian subsidiary of Hindalco, will raise about Rs 775 crore (A$250m) through offer of shares and subsequent listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). The major assets under ABML include the Nifty Copper Mine and the Mt Gordon Copper Mine. ...

Morality tale.
MORALITY TALE: In the face of mortality humans are inclined to think that their community and the life it supports will survive them. But a major disaster like the tsunami in south Asia, which destroyed whole communities, calls that confidence into question. The very culture and civilization we inhabit...

Noli: Chile to assist in socialized housing.
Byline: DAVID CAGAHASTIAN The Philippines and Chile have reaffirmed their commitments to help each other in the implementation of their respective socialized housing programs and agreed to work closely to realize their common goal of providing shelter to their poor citizens, Vice President Noli de Castro reported...

Wesley Earl Dunkle.
WESLEY EARL DUNKLE. By CHARLES CALDWELL HAWLEY. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2003. ISBN 0-87081-723-X. 274 p., b & w illus., notes, glossary, index. Hardbound. US$34.95. This is a fascinating account of the exploits of one of the most knowledgeable and energetic pioneers involved in the "growing...

NEWS IN BRIEF; P/$ rate closes at P51.875 to $1.
The peso rate closed lower P51.875 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines from P51.83 the previous day. The weighted average rate appreciated to P51.734 from P51.959. Total volume amounted $603 million. 4 RP banks get aStablea...

J'khand CM readies MoU with Mittal steel.
Byline: Sudha Nagaraj NEW DELHI: Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda, who is leading a high-level delegation to London, has readied a draft MoU with steel sultan Laxmi Nivas Mittal's Mittal Steel. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) would have to be vetted by law experts back home before...

It's final, S&P downgrades.
MUMBAI: Vedanta Resources' plans to set up a 5-lakh-tonne greenfield aluminium smelter in Jharsuguda, Orissa, at a cost of approximately Rs 9,300 crore has led to a fall in its credit ratings. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) on Friday announced that it has lowered its long-term...

Large-scale development planned for Copperopolis.
Buidling houses around publicly accessible lakes may be the new gold mine in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The unincorporated community of Coppero-polis in western Calaveras County has just such a water feature in Lake Tulloch, and, not surprisingly, the area is experiencing a growth boom. The county...