SYDNEY, Aug. 20 --AsiaNet/InfoQuestATHENS ROWING... SYDNEY: Australian bookmaker Centrebet is taking bets at 200-1 that Kiwi crews win five Athens Games medals on Saturday and 1-3 that Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell win gold in their event. http://www.centrebet.comFASTFORESTS INC... LAS VEGAS: Vault Financial Services believes FastForests Inc. could become the number one lumber company in the years to come. Their exclusive SupaTree grows about three to four times faster than any other hardwood tree. http://www.fastforestsinc.comGASTROINTESTINAL EVENTS... BASEL: Novartis Pharma AG announced that results from a landmark trial showed that Prexige (lumiracoxib), the structurally distinct and most selective COX-2 inhibitor,demonstrated a significant 79 per cent reduction in the incidence of upper gastrointestinal ulcer complications without compromising cardiovascular safety. http://www.novartis.comKOMAG ANNOUNCEMENT... SAN JOSE: Komag, Incorporated, a leading independent supplier of thin-film media for disk drives, announced the promotion of Ali Dabier to Chief Operating Officer and the appointment of Dr. Richard A. Kashnow and Mr. Dennis Wolf toKomag's board of directors. http://www.komag.comMINISOFT OFFICE... PHOENIX: MiniSoft, Inc., a leading developer of revenue enhancement/accounts receivable collection software, announced the opening of its new Asia Pacific office, located in Queensland, Australia. It will service the company's globalmarket more efficiently and offer customers in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia direct access to MiniSoft's sales support and technical resources. http://www.minisoftinc.comPLANETGURU LAUNCH... SEATTLE: The launch of PlanetGuru.com took place in Portland over the weekend of August 15th, coinciding with the 58th anniversary of the Independence Day of both India and Pakistan. http://www.minecode.com http://PlanetGuru.comLED DRIVER... SAN JOSE: Micrel Inc., an industry leader in Power, Connect and Protect IC solutions, today announced the MIC2291, a 1.2MHz Pulse Width Modulated DC/DC white LED driver designed to provide high power within an extremely small footprint. http://www.micrel.comOFFSHORING CONTRACT... DALLAS: Carretek LLC, a transformational business processing outsourcer for transaction processing, announced that Carretek has been awarded a three-year offshoring agreement with a US-based company. http://www.carreker.com http://www.carretek.com http://www.mastek.comSHAREHOLDER MEETING... STOCKHOLM: Intentia International AB The shareholders of Intentia International AB are hereby invited to Extraordinary General Meeting on Monday, September 6, 2004 at 2 p.m. at the premises of the company (Horsalen) Vendevagen 89 in Danderyd, Sweden. http://www.intentia.com (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.)--InfoQuest (SP)--