SYDNEY--7 Oct--AsiaNet/InfoQuest SURRENDA-LINK... CHESTER - Surrenda-link Investment Management, Europe'spremier traded life policy investment specialist(1), hasreceived soaring levels of enquiries from institutionalinvestors regarding US Life Settlement investments. The companyattributes the accelerated growth in enquiry levels to thecredit crunch and the ensuing 'flight to safety'.http://www.surrendalink.co.uk ITC FORAY... KOLKATA - ITC (BSE: ITC, NSE: ITC, Bloomberg: ITC@IN, RICS:ITC.BO, ISIN: INE154A01025) will now utilize wind energy in itspackaging and printing business as part of its commitment toprogressively use renewable energy to further consolidate itscarbon positive status. PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION... MELBOURNE - Tony Oxley Director of The InternationalAperture Awards announced today that due to the extraordinarynumber of requests for a single image entry, we have made somepositive changes to the entry fees and also to the number ofimages able to be accepted per entrant.www.internationalapertureawards.com ALCAN ACQUISITION... PARIS - Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging - a divisionof Alcan Packaging, a business unit of Rio Tinto Alcan - hasacquired the Chakan flexible packaging plant from AssociatedCapsules Private Limited in India.www.riotinto.com/riotintoalcan; www.alcanpackaging.com GLOBAL SOURCING... LONDON - The organizers of Informex are delighted toannounce their inaugural conference on Global Sourcing for thePharmaceutical Industry, taking place November 10th-11th 2008at the Princeton Marriott in New Jersey USA.http://www.pharma-globalsourcing.com FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON, D.C.: Fannie Mae will redeem the principalamount of MTN securities issues amounting to a total of US$300million on October 16, 2008 at a redemption price equal to 100per cent of the principal amount redeemed plus accruedinterest.http://www.fanniemae.com SPIRIT AEROSYSTEMS... WICHITA, Kan.- Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. (NYSE: SPR), theworld's largest independent supplier of commercial airplaneassemblies and components, today announced that it will designand build the wing for the new Gulfstream G250 super mid-sizebusiness jet. Spirit will design and produce the wing at itsTulsa, Okla., facility and ship it to Israel AerospaceIndustries for incorporation with the rest of the airframe.http://www.spiritaero.com LOMBARD GLOBAL... DALLAS - Lombard Global, a growing International BusinessConsultancy today announced a strategic partnership with Dr.Raj Kumar of the University of Nottingham in the UK. The jointIndia-US civilian nuclear agreement that has been fast trackedin Congress will take the partnership between the twosuperpowers to a new level.http://www.lombardglobal.com MERRIAM-WEBSTER... SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Merriam-Webster announces this month thepublication of Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's EnglishDictionary -- the first advanced learner's dictionary from anAmerican publisher. Created by North America's foremostlanguage experts, this groundbreaking volume is designed tohelp advanced students of English as a second language masterspoken and written English as it is actually used.http://www.Merriam-Webster.com NEW IVIG FACILITY... LOS ANGELES - Today, Grifols SA (Grifols), a globalhealthcare company based in Barcelona, Spain, broke ground on anew 92,000 square foot, intravenous immune globulin (IVIG)production facility at its manufacturing complex in LosAngeles, California.http://www.grifols.com CAPRION AWARD... MONTREAL - Caprion Proteomics Inc. announced today that ithas been awarded a $12.9 million contract by the NationalInstitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part ofthe US National Institutes of Health, to carry out Biodefenseresearch in the area of infectious disease biomarkers.http://www.caprion.com RISI REVELATION... BRUSSELS - RISI today announced that International Paper(IP) is again at the top of the PPI Top 100 list of the world'sleading pulp and paper companies. According to the annualranking, there has been little movement among the top 10 firmsin the sector, with Stora Enso holding on to its number twoposition and Procter & Gamble coming in third.http://www.risiinfo.com PALI LAUNCH... NEW YORK - Pali Capital, Inc., the US broker-dealersubsidiary of Pali Holdings, Inc., today announced that it haslaunched both an equity sales and trading operation and a teamwithin its Investment Banking Department focused on DevelopingEconomies around the world. The business unit - formed as theDeveloping Economies Business - is led by a former Bear Stearnsteam that focused on these markets and in particular sales andtrading and banking opportunities in India.: http://www.pali.com OBESE KIWIS... MELBOURNE- Shocking Ministry of Health data shows that atleast 50% of adult New Zealanders are now obese or overweightand therefore it is very important for obese people tounderstand that Obesity Can Damage Your Feet. This is also thetheme for the Australasian Podiatry Councils Foot Health Week2008 promotion, which runs across New Zealand between October12 and 18 this year.www.podiatry.org.nz. MARS ACQUISITION.... MCLEAN, Va.- Mars, Incorporated ("Mars") announced todaythat it has successfully completed its acquisition of the Wm.Wrigley Jr. Company ("Wrigley"), following approval of thetransaction by Wrigley stockholders on September 25, 2008 andreceipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. All shares ofWrigley Common Stock and Class B Common Stock are beingpurchased for $80 per share in cash, or a total ofapproximately $23 billion. TELLIER IN ANTARCTICA... ANTWERP - PROTECT 7-7 The Largest Art Installation EverThe Antwerp-based art photographer, Wim Tellier, who shockedthe world in 2006/07 with his project W-Wish - a 600 metressquared baby photo exhibited throughout the world - iscurrently engaged in preparing and even larger-scale project.The apotheosis is to be an installation covering some 3hectares on Antarctica. Over the past few months, Wim Tellierhas been busy photographing subjects on the six othercontinents of the globe in what is to form the basis for agigantic carrousel of ideas.http://www.protect77.com GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE.... TOKYO - Iconic Japanese developer Grasshopper Manufacturehas licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 for a newmultiplatform action horror game to be published by ElectronicArts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS). The new game is directed byinnovative game designer Suda51 and produced by legendaryResident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.http://info.ea.com MCX ANNOUNCEMENT... MUMBAI - MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) has launched CurrencyFutures segment today in Mumbai at the hands of Chief Guest ofHonour Shri C. B. Bhave, Chairman, SEBI. Smt. ShyamalaGopinath, Deputy Governor, RBI was Guest of Honour at theevent. Over 500 industry leaders from banks, corporates, andfrom other financial institutions attended the launchceremony. AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agenciesdistributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwideclients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.