LCD Panel

Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp are in talks to combine their units that make small and mid-size LCD panels for smartphones and tablet computers, and may sell a stake in the new entity to the Japanese government for about $1.2 billion, sources said.
The new unit would overtake Sharp Corp as the leading maker of small liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels, and comes as others in the industry have teamed up to tap the burgeoning market for high-tech portable devices.
In addition, the selling of a stake in the unit to the government would help industrial conglomerate Toshiba and consumer electronics giant Sony to focus on their core businesses, industry watchers said.
"This should be a good move for both companies since it will allow them to invest more in their core businesses, as well as enjoy a collaboration through the merger of their (non-core) small LCD panel operations," said Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities in Tokyo.
The government-backed investment fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan is in discussions with the two firms to invest about 100 billion yen ($1.24 billion) for a stake in the entity, the industry sources said on Tuesday.
The Nikkei business daily reported earlier in the day that stake could be as high as 80 percent.
The new company may use the funds to introduce cutting-edge production lines at a Sony plant in Aichi Prefecture's Higashiura, and will develop technologies to mass-produce OEL (organic electroluminescence) panels, which deliver higher resolutions than LCD panels while consuming less power, the paper added.
Toshiba and Sony will aim to list the joint LCD panel business, the sources added.
Toshiba and Sony are seeking a basic agreement this month and the entity is expected to be formed later this year, the Nikkei said.
Representatives from both Toshiba and Sony declined to comment on the matter.

Scientific Superpowers

China Leads Challenge China and other emerging nations such as Brazil and India are becoming leaders in science to rival traditional "scientific superpowers" like the United States, Europe and Japan, a top British academy said on Monday. A report by the Royal Society science academy also found some rapidly emerging scientific nations not usually associated with a strong science base, including Iran, Tunisia and Turkey. The report, entitled Knowledge, Networks and Nations: Global scientific collaboration in the 21st century, stressed the growing importance of international cooperation in the conduct and impact of science, and its ability to tackle global problems like energy security, climate change and loss of biodiversity. "The landscape of science is changing. Science is increasing and new players are fast appearing," Chris Llewellyn Smith, chair of the advisory group for the study, told a briefing. "Beyond the emergence of China, we see the rise of Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, North African and other nations." Llewellyn Smith said in the five years from 2002 to 2007, global spending on research and development (R&D) had risen by almost 45 percent -- broadly in line with rising economic growth -- but in developing countries it had risen by 100 percent. "The increase in the developing world is mainly driven by China," he said. "But there are also others there." He said the growth in scientific research and collaboration should help the world find solutions to global challenges, and added: "No historically dominant nation can afford to rest on its laurels if it wants to retain the competitive economic advantage that being a scientific leader brings." SURPRISES The publication data analyzed by the report showed changes in the share of the world's authorship of scientific research papers between the periods 1993-2003 and 2004-2008. Although the United States still leads the world, its share of global authorship has fallen to 21 percent from 26 percent and its closest rival is now China, which has risen from sixth to second place with a share of authorship rising to 10.2 percent from 4.4 percent. Britain is stable in the rankings at third place, although its share is down slightly at 6.5 percent from 7.1 percent. Among big surprises in the report's findings were a handful of countries whose scientific credentials have come almost from nowhere to feature far more prominently in world science. Iran is the fastest growing country in terms of numbers of scientific publications in the world, growing from just 736 papers in 1996 to 13,238 in 2008. The Iranian government has committed to a "comprehensive plan for science" including boosting R&D investment to 4 percent of GDP by 2030, compared with just 0.59 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006. Turkey has also dramatically improved its scientific performance, at a rate to almost rival China, with R&D spending increasing nearly sixfold between 1995 and 2007. During that time the number of researchers increased by 43 percent, the report found, and four times as many papers with Turkish authors were published in 2008 as in 1996. It also highlighted Tunisia, which has raised the percentage of its GDP spent on R&D to 1.25 percent in 2009 from 0.03 percent in 1996, at the same time as restructuring national R&D to create 624 research units and 139 research laboratories.

2G Dual Technology Licence

Tata Teleservices and RCom were tonight locked in a war of words with the Tata firm attacking the Anil Ambani group company comparing itself with it on the issue of gettiing 2G dual technology licences. In a late night statement, RCom described as frivolous the grounds raised by Tata group against them on the issue of dual tech approval which was rejected by the Delhi High Court way back in 2008 and TDSAT in 2009. "Very suspicious to see Shri Ratan Tata suddenly disowning Tata Teleservices as not being ''Ratan Tata''s company'' - there appears to be more than meets the eye. "Shri Ratan Tata putting a distance between himself and his group, and Tata Tele, completely in conflict with documents, letters etc. on record," the statement said. Earlier in the day, TTSL in reply to RCom''s statement yesterday said that it was unfair to compare as RCom and other two operators got the dual technology licences even before the policy was announced in 2007. RCom had said that its application was "on identical terms and payment of identical fees as the three other companies --Shri Ratan Tata group''s Tata Teleservices, Himachal Futuristic Communications and Shyam Telecom (now known as Sistema) -- and there is nothing special or untoward in the same." TTSL''s statement came in response to RCom''s claim that it had to wait since February 2006 for more than 18 months to get the dual technology (GSM and CDMA) licence. TTSL said that it "was the only operator, amongst those named above, to apply for Dual-Technology Licence after the 19 October 2007 announcement by the DoT and it is hence unfair and incorrect to compare TTSL with the other applicants, who had applied before the policy was announced." "It is indeed special and intriguing that RCom and two other operators applied and got DoT approval even before the policy was announced," it added. TTSL said while RCom was allotted spectrum in all circles immediately in January 2008, it got approval after 83 days. "TTSL, even after three years, is still awaiting spectrum allocation in the crucial Delhi Circle and in 39 commercially crucial districts in 9 telecom circles," it said. The grant of dual technology approval to RCom in October, 2007, has been upheld by the Delhi High Court by a judgement in August, 2008, and by the Telecom Tribunal TDSAT in 2009. The CAG had pointed out that the DoT favoured RCom in jumping the queue for grant of GSM spectrum ahead of others. Over the past several weeks, as part of investigations pursuant to the Supreme Court''s orders, the CBI is reportedly examining a large number of telecom firms and their officials in relation to various matters from 2001 to 2008. TTSL clarified the company and the Tata Group were not family-owned or family-run concerns or owned by Ratan Tata. "Hence, to refer to them as ''Shri Ratan Tata group''s Tata Teleservices Ltd'' is not appropriate," it added.