Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks shed the previous session's gains on Wednesday, tracking the US market's overnight losses.

Pune, Oct 22: An International workshop on Advances in processing of Solid Propellant Rocket motors (IWAPS 2008) will be held at the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory 
(HEMRL) here today.

The two-day workshop is being organised as part of the Golden Jubilee celebration of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Centenary Celebrations of HEMRL.

The objective of the workshop is to bring eminent scientists and technologists from across the globe together on a common platform to discuss the advances in the field of solid propellant processing in order to meet the challenges ahead for advanced futuristic propulsion systems needed for high pay loads.

Cairo- Egyptian ministers emphasized terms including "healthy," "safe" and "sound" to describe the local economy during a two-day Euromoney business conference in Cairo, which concluded Tuesday.

The theme that they conveyed was: "We are not worried."

As panic spreads in markets worldwide amid the international economic slowdown, the local officials laboured to reassure investors about Egypt as a place with ample opportunities.

Tokyo - Japan's key Nikkei index fell 2 per cent Wednesday, tracking the US market's overnight losses.

Wellington - The man who could be New Zealand's next immigration minister apologized Wednesday for giving offence with remarks about Asian and Pacific island migrant workers in the country's orchards and vineyards.

Lockwood Smith, immigration spokesman for the opposition conservative National Party, which is favoured in next month's general election, said that Asian workers were more productive "because their hands are smaller" and Pacific islanders had to be taught how to use toilets and showers.

Smith, who was campaigning Tuesday in the vineyard and fruit- producing province of Marlborough, said his comments were reported out of context.