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Development aid brings big rewards to Swiss economy

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 The study, commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, found that for every franc spent abroad, Switzerland receives back between SFr1.40 and SFr1.60. Thus in 1998 Switzerland recouped an income of around SFr2 billion ($1.2 billion) from a development aid budget of SFr1.3 billion. The Geneva and Neuchatel university study found that Switzerland’s…

Christmas shopping in full swing

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 As in previous years, electronic goods are leading Christmas sales. But this year, quality is playing a bigger role in the choices made by shoppers, the main stores agree. Ernst Pfenniger, a spokesman for the Globus group, said sales over the first weekend of Advent were cause for celebration. Although they still hadn’t reached their…

First “sexed” cattle born in Switzerland

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 The first “sexed” calves born in Switzerland were “introduced” to the public on Tuesday, in what scientists are describing as a revolution in the breeding of farm animals. The technique was developed in the United States by the firm XY Inc., and has been licensed to the Swiss biotechnology company, BIG X. Using XY Inc’s…

Swiss residents counted in most expensive census ever

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 Everyone living in Switzerland on Tuesday, December 5, is required to complete the census. For the first time, Swiss citizens have the option of filing their details on the Internet. The federal office for statistics said that by Monday 160,000 people – corresponding to 65,000 households – had availed themselves of the new service. More…

Serono announces major new advance in infertility treatment

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 Serono says the two new products are based entirely on recombinant DNA material while its main competitors still use urine-based products. Analysts say they should give the company the edge over its rivals. Serono will launch “Luveris” in Europe following the European Commission’s decision to grant it full marketing authorisation. Luveris is the world’s first…

Switzerland marks 40 years of European space research

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 The celebrations in Lausanne coincided with the launch of a book: “Switzerland, Europe and Space: an Adventure and a Necessity”. The launch marked the 40th anniversary of the Meyrin Accord, signed at CERN, the European nuclear research centre just outside Geneva, following a space conference organised by the then Swiss Foreign Minister, Max Petitpierre. “The…

UMTS auction likely to be a cheap deal

This content was published on Dec 5, 2000 Most observers agree it be an anti-climax, because it is unlikely to raise anything like the revenues received in auctions in other European countries. There are only four companies bidding for the four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licences, so it is not expected that the bidders will have to pay much more than the…

Swissair crash probe calls for better firefighting methods

This content was published on Dec 4, 2000 As part of its probe into the 1998 crash off the coast of Nova Scotia, the Canadian Transportation Safety Board issued five recommendations on Monday aimed at helping to reduce risks identified with the Swissair accident. In Zurich, Swissair stressed that “the implementation of these recommendations has already begun” and said it was pushing forward…

Novartis claims breakthrough in battle against leukaemia

This content was published on Dec 4, 2000 Announcing the study’s findings in California last weekend, Novartis, said that of 532 patients who had been given the experimental drug, “Glivec”, 30 per cent showed no traces of the disease. “We are extremely encouraged by the growing body of scientific evidence on our investigational agent, Glivec, and its potential role in treating certain forms…

Givaudan invests in “smell” technology

This content was published on Dec 4, 2000 Givaudan, which was spun-off from Swiss drugs giant Roche in June, said it was entering an exclusive agreement with DigiScents, which is a California -based start-up that’s trying to give computers a sense of smell. In an interview on Sunday, DigiScents chief executive, Joel Bellenson, said that Givaudan along with Dutch group, Quest, have both…

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