The Russian invasion in Georgia has cast a shadow of uncertainty over a gas route that seeks to bring the vast oil reserves around the Caspian Sea to Western markets through the NATO ally Turkey. The route was being pushed by the US administration and had seemed safer than most until now.

The oil and natural gas route, called the East West Energy Corridor, is the result of a decade’s diplomatic efforts from the US. This route seeks to connect oil-producing countries around the Caspian Sea with Turkey and through it to the Western countries. The route comprises of a network of gas and oil pipelines, ports and tankers that can fill millions of crude oil barrels for supply to the world market.

Russia is the most important supplier of this oil and gas route and its attack on Georgia has landed an important stretch of the network in turmoil. Experts feel that the Energy Corridor which was being considered an important alternative to Middle Eastern oil does not seem so reliable any more. Even though Russia is not expected to tamper with existing energy network, however proposed oil and gas lines from Turkmenistan to Europe might not take shape for some time now.

-Kalyani Mookherji

A federal survey has revealed that banks across the US are putting stricter lending policies in place. The trend applies to all major categories but is especially evident in the case of consumer loans.

The July survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank covered senior loan officers in 52 domestic banks as well as 21 agencies and branches of foreign banks. The results showed that banks across the nation were enforcing tighter lending standards. The results also revealed that since the last survey in April, the demand for loans from both businesses and households had fallen.

The results of the federal survey confirmed that the year long credit crunch is here to stay for some more time as banks hold on to capital and make it difficult for people to borrow. The present tightness in credit markets is the result of the subprime mortgage defaults suffered by big lending institutions across the US.

The survey found that the restrictions on credit were hardest in the consumer loan sector with as much as 65% of domestic banks tightening lending standards on consumer loans and credit cards. banks have raised the minimum credit scores required for a credit card besides bringing down card balance limits. Around 60 percent of domestic banks had restricted lending norms for commercial loans and industrial loans.

-Kalyani Mookherji

As part if its expansion drive, Best Buy plans to open self service gadget vending machines at airport terminals across the United States. The Best Buy kiosk will charge store prices for the gadgets instead of relatively higher airport prices.

Best Buy has identified twelve cities for its pilot program under which kiosks will be set up at airport terminals. So far these self service vending machines have already come up in San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Boston, Houston and Los Angeles while the remaining three are expected to be in place by September 1, this year.

The Best Buy kiosks are expected to stock a variety of high-tech items ranging from digital cameras to mobile chargers. Some of the other products which will perhaps be stocked at these vending machines are MP3 players, SD cards, PSPs, cameras and USB cables. Best Buys has teamed up with ZoomSystems in order to put up its kiosks at various airport terminals.

According to a company spokesperson for Best Buy, customers will not be required to shell out airport rates for the gadgets sold at the self service kiosks and will instead be charged regular store prices. This might come as good news for those air passengers who while waiting for their flight out of the country discover that they have forgotten to pack in their chargers or digital cameras.

-Kalyani Mookherji

In a move calculated to deflect increasing criticism, Junk food advertisements directed at kids in the US have shifted from television shows to online platforms such as social networking sites. Recently junk food companies have come in for heavy criticism for luring kids to non-healthy eating habits in a country where one of the primary problems affecting children’s health is obesity.

For quite some time, consumer and children’s advocacy groups had been lobbying with the government to restrict junk food commercials on TV and have recently succeeded in reining such ads. However the fast food companies have now settled on a new medium – the internet – to push their products before kids. Social networking sites and other websites of children’s interest not only feature ads for unhealthy snacks but even invite the kids to create ads and then share them with their friends.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, the proportion of overweight kids below 12 years has gone up by five times in the last generation. Besides this, as much as nineteen percent of the kids between six and eleven years of age are overweight. However consumer and public health groups face considerable challenges in imposing any sort of restrictions on websites as it is unclear who has the authority to control online advertising.

-Kalyani Mookherji

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to sue the state Controller John Chiang over the latter’s refusal to go ahead with the pay cut of about 175,000 state employees. This comes as the latest twist in a worsening debate over how to deal with the monstrous $15.2 billion deficit in the state budget. California lawmakers are yet to pass the state budget for the current fiscal year.

Last month Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had ordered that the pay of around 140,000 state employees be cut to $6.55 an hour which is the federal minimum wage. Another 30,000 management employees would get $455 a week while around 8000 state workers, comprising of lawyers and doctors who do not come under minimum wage protection, would not be paid at all until the adoption of a state budget.

The worsening situation of California’s fiscal budget has laid open the acrimonious divide between two opposing political sides. While the Republican Governor feels that wide ranging pay cuts would provide the right start in preventing the state’s deficit from further ballooning, Democrats like John Chiang oppose the view, saying the state has enough money to pay its employees till October.

-Kalyani Mookherji

Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences announced on Monday that its AIDS drug Viread had been approved by US authorities for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis B in adults.

The generic name of Viread is tenofovir. It has been available in the United States since 2001 and is widely used in the treatment of HIV infections. For the treatment of Hepatitis B, Viread would work by blocking an enzyme which the virus needs to replicate itself in the liver cells.

Another drug marketed by Gilead Sciences in the treatment of Hepatitis B is Hepsera which sold worth $90 million in the second quarter of 2008. The company also markets Truvada which is a combination of Viread and another HIV drug called Emtriva. The second quarter sales of Truvada stood at $516 million. According to industry experts, the market for Hepatitis B drugs is greatly underserved with Hepsara having just 44 percent of total market share.

Hepatitis B is a potentially fatal infection that can severely damage and even destroy the liver. According to estimates provided by Gilead, almost 400 million around the world suffer from this disease which is especially widespread in the Asian countries. Hepatitis B is also the leading cause of liver cancer, with around 1.2 million patients dying every year from serious complications.

-Kalyani Mookherji

The ongoing Beijing Olympics have thrown open the doors of contemporary China to the world and the regular tourist is determined to explore as much as he can of its fascinating culture. So if you have a day to spare in Beijing, here is a list of some of the best and most quaint eateries in the city.

Start your culinary trail at Vineyard which is a tranquil courtyard-meets-café near the magnificent Lama temple. You may sample the fluffy Benedict eggs or the other vegetarian options. Then wash the rest of your breakfast down with some good coffee.

For a pre-lunch pick-me-up you can head to the fashionable Face Bar located, rather, interestingly in an old Communist-era school. Or you can head for the Q Bar whose frozen lychee daiquiris offer perfect cooling on a hot summer day.

If you are looking for an early lunch, rush for the sushi rolls and tangy sauces at the modern Japanese restaurant Hatsune. On the other hand if you plan to do some shopping settle for a late lunch at the new Brazilian favorite, Alameda where practically anything you order is delicious.

After some hectic sight-seeing enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail at the Yin, the roof-top bar at the recently opened Emperor. The bar offers a fascinating view of the Forbidden City bathed in the glow of a setting sun.

For an early dinner, head off to the Han Kang which offers traditional Hakka cuisine of the southern Chinese minority. On the other hand you can opt for a more chic setting at the 1949 – The Hidden City which is an eatery complex including a noodle bar, a Chinese as well as a Western restaurant.

Finally, bid the day goodbye by sipping a post-dinner cocktail at the Drum and Bell which offers a breathtaking view of the floodlit drum tower.

-Kalyani Mookherji

In another sign of the beleaguered US economy, college students are queuing up for financial aid in increasing numbers and seeking bigger grants. The trend is supported by data from the US Department of Education which has noted a rise in applications over previous years.

The rise in requests for student aids comes in the wake of worsening economic situation in the country in which tuition costs have soared across college campuses while wages have remained largely stagnant.

It is estimated that during the first half of 2008, some 8.9 million students from all over the country filed federal student aid forms. This constitutes a 16.8 percent increase over the same period from 2007. In the state of California alone, some 999,594 students have applied for financial aid and the trend is evident in college campuses across the country.

The reasons for the rise in student aid applications are simple, say financial aid officials. In a spluttering economy where families have been hit by job lay offs and housing market foreclosures, it has become increasingly difficult for them to meet the spiraling college costs of their children amidst rising living expenses. At the same time, states are reducing grants to colleges and universities which are, in turn, raising their tuition costs, thus creating more pressure on students and their families.

-Kalyani Mookherji