SYDNEY--20 Sep--AsiaNet/InfoQuest MALAYSIA MOVES... SINGAPORE: As Malaysia moves towards developed nation statusand with its growth forecasted to be more than 6.5 per centannually, the pressure is on Malaysian companies to identify the right people, develop and motivate, and lastly to retain them; a priority of the Malaysian HR Congress this end October. http://www.alleventsgroup.com/mhrcongress ALLEGIANCE SECURES... SYDNEY: Allegiance Mining NL is pleased to announce that formal documentation has been completed and executed withSociete Generale and the Australian & New Zealand Banking Group for a US$45M project finance facility, plus a cost overrunfacility (A$7.5m), working capital facility ($A11M) and an Environmental Bond Facility (A$2M), which totals A$73M. www.allegiance-mining.com.au NORTHROP ANNOUNCES... NEW DELHI: Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced the appointment of retired Commodore Gyanendra Sharma to theposition of managing director of Northrop Grumman International's New Delhi, India office. http://www.northropgrumman.com LA PERLA APPOINTS... AMSTERDAM: Having realized another year of record sales and profits in 2006, La Perla International Living has taken stepsto assure its continued growth by appointing a dedicated Chief Investment Officer whose responsibility will be to find andbring to market the opportunities to sustain the company's growth into the future. http://www.laperlainternationalliving.com FTSE CHANGES... HONG KONG, LONDON and NEW YORK: FTSE Group, the global index provider, announced Thursday the result of its annual review of the classification of countries into developed and emerging market categories. http://www.ftse.com/country http://www.ftse.com/watchlist JBS UNVEILS... SHERIDAN: Following the launch of OptiPhos, the most technologically advanced phytase enzyme product available, JBSUnited Wednesday announced the unveiling of a new website aimed at providing up-to-date information for pig and poultryproducers worldwide. http://www.optiphos.net ONFORCE SECURES... NEW YORK: OnForce, the world's largest marketplace for IT service professionals, Wednesday announced the completion of a$6.75 million Series A1 financing round, led by Accel Partners, the venture capital firm behind Facebook. http://www.onforce.com http://www.Accel.com STARBUCKS REJECTS... NEW YORK: The whole world is watching as DaVido aims to convince Starbucks CEO and founder Howard Schultz to put 'JavaJitter' on their CD racks. http://www.JavaJitter.com/ DANKA COMPLETES... HORSHAM: Astea International Inc., the leader in service lifecycle management solutions announces that Danka Business Systems PLC, one of the largest independent providers of enterprise imaging systems and services, has recently completed the national deployment of Astea's FieldCentrix Mobility solution to support its' growing customer base. http://www.astea.com http://www.danka.com ATMEL AVAILS... HEILBRONN: Atmel Corporation announced Wednesday the availability of its stand-alone ASK/FSK transceiver evaluationkit ATAB542x. http://www.atmel.com AVIATION FEATURES... NEW YORK: AVIATION WEEK's annual MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition, to be held October 17-18, 2007, at the ShanghaiEverbright Convention & Exhibition Center in Shanghai, China, will feature keynote presentations from two top Chinese industry leaders: Xu ChaoQun, Deputy Director Flight Standards, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), and He Li, VicePresident, Air China. http://www.aviationweek.com http://www.mcgraw-hill.com MICREL LAUNCHES... SAN JOSE: Micrel Inc., an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications and Ethernet IC solutions, Wednesdaylaunched the MIC4830 and MIC4832, a new series of 180Vpp and 220Vpp low noise electroluminescent lamp (EL) drivers designedto drive panels of up to 4 square inches or greater. http://www.micrel.com VELUX RENEWS... LA ROCHELLE: The VELUX Group, the world leader in the manufacture of roof windows and skylights, announced Wednesdaythe renewal of its title sponsorship of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, a 30,000 mile around the world solo sailing race that is regardedas the longest and toughest event for any individual in any sport. http://www.velux.com http://www.velux5oceans.com IDF RECOMMENDS... AMSTERDAM: The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Wednesday issued the new global guideline for diabetes care which includes the management of postmeal glucose. http://www.idf.org SOFINNOVA WELCOMES... PARIS: Sofinnova Partners Wednesday announced that Chika Yoshinaga, M.D., a seasoned investor in life sciences, has joined the firm as Vice President, Asia. http://www.sofinnova.fr WIFI HOSTS... BEIJING: The Global Wi-Fi Summit in China 2007, to be held September 26-27, at the Presidential Plaza Hotel in Beijing, will host industry leaders to present on Wi-Fi technology,deployments and markets. http://www.wi-fi.org XML RELEASES... TOKYO: The XML Technology Certification Committee Wednesday announced the release of the XML Online Tutorial, available forfree through the XML Master website. http://www.xmlmaster.org/en/ MODEL PICKED... WELLINGTON: Nineteen year old Adelaide-based model, Samantha Fava, was selected to model for the famous Napoleon cosmetics brand on Monday after entering a model search run by online talent community, StarNow.com. NETCOM-AUSTRALIA WINS... MELBOURNE: Asia Netcom Australia has been named "Recommended Employer in Telecommunications" for 2007 at the AustralianBusiness Awards. http://www.asianetcom.com http://www.businessawards.com.au INSIDE INDIA... NEW YORK: Next Tuesday on the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION special Inside India, Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin gives viewers anin-depth look at the challenges confronting India's expanding economy 60 years after its independence. http://www.bloomberg.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.