SYDNEY--27 Mar--AsiaNet/InfoQuest DOT ASIA ANNOUNCEMENT... HONG KONG - DotAsia Organisation announces Go Live of the".Asia" registry, signifying the start offirst-come-first-served registrations, allowing anyone aroundthe world to get their ".Asia" domain instantaneously. "Withover 10 million domains registered in China alone and over 150million worldwide, the potential for ".Asia" is only nowstarting to be realized. There are millions of great ".Asia"domains still available on a first-come-first-served basis,"says Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia.www.cyberport.asia MITSUBISHI JV... TOKYO - Under share redemption plan, Caterpillar wouldbecome the majority shareholder in Shin Caterpillar MitsubishiLtd. with an option to reach full ownership after five years.www.CAT.comwww.mhi.co.jp GLOBAL PAYMENTS... HONG KONG - Global Payments (NYSE: GPN), a leading providerof electronic transaction processing services, has entered intoan agreement with Planet Payment (LSE AIM: PPTR and PPT), aleading international, multi-currency payment and dataprocessor, to offer Pay in Your Currency(TM) dynamic currencyservice to HongKong & Shanghai Banking Corporation's ("HSBC")merchants in the People's Republic of China, subject toregulatory clearance in China.www.planetpayment.com STREAMING MAG AWARD... PLANO, Texas - Streaming Media magazine chose the ViewCastNiagara(R) GoStream(R) Plus portable streaming media encoderappliance for its 2008 Editors' Picks award. The annualEditors' Picks list showcases what their industry-savvy writersjudge to be the "best products" in the industry.www.viewcast.com. CEO ANNOUNCEMENT... SAN FRANCISCO - Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC), a leadingindependent global financial services and payments consultancy,announced today the appointment of Lance Blockley as new CEOand Managing Director who will serve from the firm's Sydneyoffice.www.edgardunn.com OTIS CHINA... FARMINGTON, Connecticut - The China Association for QualityPromotion (CAQP) has recognized Otis Elevator Company as aleading service provider in China for its consistent nationalservice model, standardized processes and best-in-classresponse time. Otis is a unit of United Technologies Corp.(NYSE: UTX). COLUMBIAN FINANCIAL... LONDON - FIS Software ispleased to announce that Columbian Financial Group (CFG) inBinghamton, NY has selected ALIS as its strategic policyadministration platform.www.fis-software.comwww.cfglife.com KPMG STUDY... TORONTO - KPMG LLP will release its 7th CompetitiveAlternatives Study, ranking the competitive business costadvantage of 10 countries and 136 cities, on March 27 at 09:30EST, 06:30 PST, 13:30 GMT, via a news conference, conferencecall, and Web cast. The announcement will be made in Toronto,Ontario, Canada.www.kpmg.comwww.newswire.ca/en/webcast/ NOVELIS ANNOUNCEMENT... SEOUL - Novelis Korea today announced it will implement anew alloying element surcharge for its aluminum products inresponse to the rising costs of alloying ingredients. Thesurcharge will apply to aluminum products for all industrialapplications such as electronics, construction, transportation,surface critical, as well as general purpose.www.novelis.comwww.novelis.co.kr ANSWERS.TRAVEL LAUNCH... LOS ANGELES - ANSWERS.travel enables users to search the top20 travel web sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz,Priceline, Kayak and other major travel sites at the same timewith one click as well as answer any type of travel relatedquestion free of charge to users.www.ANSWERS.travel HEALTH LEADERS... WASHINGTON - Academic health centerleaders from around the world will be taking a Voyage ofDiscovery addressing the visions, growth, and strategicpartnerships of academic health centers in a global environmentand speaking to vital infrastructure issues that impacteducation, research, and patient care innovations at the 2008International Forum of the Association of Academic HealthCenters.www.aahcdc.org BOMBAY SAPPHIRE... LONDON - A US$1 Million Collection of Five Luxury SpiritsBottles Bombay Sapphire, the world's leading premium gin, hasinspired three prominent names in luxury and design --Baccarat, Garrard and Karim Rashid -- to create Revelation,five handmade crystal bottles individually decorated withsapphires and diamonds, priced at US$200,000 each.www.bombaysapphire.com CELLECTRICON LAUNCH... GOTHENBURG, Sweden - Cellectricon, a leading provider ofscreening solutions for drug discovery, today announced thelaunch of the new Cellaxess(R)HT System. The world's firstfully automated high throughput transfection system enablesreagent-free delivery of genetic material to a wide range ofbiologically relevant cell types. The system will be introducedat the SBS 14th Annual Conference and Meeting in St. Louis,MO, USA, April 6-10. PIRACY STUDY... MUMBAI - The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) hasreleased a new study showing huge job and revenue losses to theIndian economy as a result of piracy in Indias burgeoningentertainment industry. www.usibc.com QUINTILES LAB... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina - QuintilesTransnational Corp. today announced an agreement with MedcaJapan to provide central laboratory services, further extendingthe Quintiles global network of laboratories certified by theCollege of American Pathologists (CAP).www.quintiles.comwww.quintiles.co.jp FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON, D.C.: Fannie Mae will redeem the principalamount of MTNR securities issues amounting to a total of US$25million on April 5, 2008 at a redemption price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued interest.www.fanniemae.com FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON, D.C.: Fannie Mae will redeem the principalamount of MTN securities issues amounting to a total of US$430million on April 9, 2008 at a redemption price equal to 100 percent of the principal amount redeemed plus accrued interest.www.fanniemae.com AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agenciesdistributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwideclients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.