SYDNEY, March 2 --AsiaNet/InfoQuest LEAD-FREE STANDARD... GREENVILLE: KEMET Corporation announced today its transitionto a lead-free standard termination for Aximax ConformallyCoated Axial and Goldmax Conformally Coated Radial products, inaccordance with environmental legislation eliminating lead fromthe manufacture of electronic components. http://www.kemet.com http://www.kemet.com/page/Greenproduct http://www.kemet.com/ir DIESEL INITIATIVE... GENEVA: From summer 2005 Mercedes-Benz is to be the world'sfirst automobile manufacturer to equip all its diesel passengercars with a particulate filter as standard. The dieselinitiative initially applies in Germany, Austria, theNetherlands and Switzerland. http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com FOXTEL LAUNCHES... SAN FRANCISCO: OpenTV Corp., one of the world's leadinginteractive television companies, today announced that FOXTEL,Australia's leading subscription television provider, willlaunch in early March 2005 the first-ever personal digitalrecorder service in Australia. http://www.foxteliq.com.au/ http://www.opentv.com DATA ACCESS... RICHFIELD: ProQuest Business Solutions, a subsidiary ofProQuest Company, the largest global provider of parts andservice-oriented electronic catalogs for the automotiveindustry, signed a data access agreement with Toyota MotorCorporation Australia, Ltd., the country's largest automaker. http://www.pbs.proquest.com STRONG FINISH... WALTHAM: NetCracker Technology, a leading provider of OSSand IT Infrastructure Management solutions, today announced astrong finish to 2004 including 23 new contracts, new US andEuropean headquarters, and a successful global hiring campaign.NetCracker remained profitable and cash-flow positive whilefunding its global expansion and continuing its investment intoproduct development. http://www.netcracker.com 2004 RESULTS... LONDON: Operating profit, before goodwill amortisation andexceptional items, was 2 per cent higher at GBP2,830 million.The results were adversely affected by sterling average ratesstrengthening against almost all currencies. At comparablerates of exchange, operating profit, before goodwill andexceptional items, would have risen by 7 per cent. Thisreflected the benefit from the ETI acquisition and a goodperformance in all regions except America-Pacific. NEW HEAD... KUALA LUMPUR: Swiss Re announced the appointment of Mr QinLu as General Manager of the company's Malaysia Branch. Mr Andrew Davidson, who served as Head of the Branch since2002, is relocating to Swiss Re in Australia to take up aclient management role there. Mr Lu was a Client Manager for Swiss Re's Property &Casualty business in Singapore, where he managed a growingportfolio of insurance companies and brokers. VOLANTIS CHOSEN... GUILDFORD: Volantis, the world's leading supplier ofIntelligent Content Adaptation solutions and services for thenext generation Internet, has been chosen by Discovery NetworksInternational, the international division of real-worldentertainment company Discovery Communications, to develop,deploy and host its all-new global mobile portal. http://www.volantis.com REVENUES RISE... FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Fiscal 2004 was a banner year for theFraport Group, with revenues rising by 8.9 per cent to EUR1,998.1 million. Due to stringent cost management, 2004 EBITDA(earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization)and Group profit (consolidated net income) increasedover-proportionately to revenues. http://www.fraport.de COLORECTAL CANCER... BASEL: Data published for the first time in the leadingJournal of Clinical Oncology showed that the unique new cancerdrug Avastin keeps cancer under control for a significantlylonger duration, even when used in a group of elderly patientswith advanced* colorectal cancer who are too sick to toleratetraditional aggressive chemotherapy. http://www.roche.com http://www.gene.com http://www.health-kiosk.ch STRATEGIC ALLIANCE... TOKYO: VA Linux Systems Japan K.K., a leading provider ofLinux solutions for the telecommunications and enterprisesystems markets, announced a strategic alliance with Sun WahLinux Limited to jointly develop a universal Debian GNU/Linuxinfrastructure and actively promote the adoption ofDebian-based systems in both the Japan and China markets. http://www.valinux.co.jp/en http://www.sw-linux.com AVIAN FLU... SAIGON: Health and animal experts met in southern Ho ChiMinh City, Vietnam on February 23 for a three-day conference tostrategize on and discuss the looming Avian Flu pandemic. Amongthe scientists and experts from more than two dozen countrieswere representatives from ImmuneRegen BioSciences. http://www.immuneregen.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.)