Brazil
raises minimum wage
 Lula is seeking to increase wages
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Brazil's centre-left government has offered workers an inflation-busting 20% rise in
the minimum wage beginning from Tuesday.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Workers' Party (PT) promised during last
October's elections to double the minimum wage within four years.
The monthly minimum wage has been increased by more than the 15.9% inflation recorded
for the 12 months to February to 240 reals (£45; $71).
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Brazil has secured World Bank loans worth $505m to finance its social
programme.
World Bank President James Wolfensohn said Brazil could look forward to an influx of
foreign investment once the war with Iraq is over. Brazil relies on foreign
investment which has dropped as companies suspend investments until after the war.
It has been said that up to $10bn could be available in World Bank loans over the next
three-and-a-half years.
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What is a Trademark?
A TRADEMARK is either a word, phrase, symbol or design, or combination of words, phrases,
symbols or designs, which identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods or services
of one party from those of others. A service mark is the same as a trademark except that
it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. Throughout
this explanation the terms "trademark" and "mark" are used to refer to
both trademarks and service marks whether they are word marks or other types of marks.
Normally, a mark for goods appears on the product or on its packaging, while a service
mark appears in advertising for the services.
A trademark is different from a copyright or a patent. A copyright protects an original
artistic or literary work; a patent protects an invention. For copyright information call
the Library of Congress at (202) 707-3000.
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India is well known as the home to some of the world's best-run software firms and
has a number of universities that produce educated and well-prepared software engineers.
Yet, the country is home to just 2.8 million internet users. By contrast, Brazil, with its
much smaller population, has 6.1 million users, more than twice the number in India. |
