ST PETERSBURG, Nov 21 – Vladimir Putin pledged on Saturday to widen Russia’s anti-crisis aid package with a car scrappage scheme and mortgage support to jolt the economy out of the worst recession in 15 years.

Putin, who now serves as Russia’s prime minister after eight years as Kremlin chief, vowed to restore boom-time levels of economic growth after an 8.0-8.5 per cent decline in gross domestic product this year.

Speaking to members of his United Russia party at a congress in St Petersburg, Putin said he saw a rise in cargo turnover and electricity demand in 2010, two key indicators of economic activity. He did not mention taxation policy or interest rates.

“The decline in GDP by the end of the year will not be as big as we thought – the figure of 10 per cent or even more was calculated – it will be less: about 8 or 8.5, but that is still a great deal,” Putin said in a speech lasting more than an hour.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 – AirAsia  has sold 28,000 seats to date for the Kuala Lumpur and Kolkata sector.

Open for sale on Oct 15, the airline said the new route would unlock the potential of international air travel from Kuala Lumpur to eastern India and its surrounding areas.

“It's a significant achievement for this market. We are very committed to expanding and providing excellent opportunities for travellers to enjoy our unbelievable low fares and world class service,” Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan said in a statement today.

PETALING JAYA, Nov 21 – The Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) expects to accrue RM380 million from the sale of properties next year, said its Deputy General Manager (Administration and development) Md Nasir Md Arshad.

He said the corporation hopes to sell RM342 million in properties this year as demand from the upper middle class was growing.

“PKNS will continue to engage with potential customers on new projects to be launched next year through a comprehensive awareness campaign,” he told Bernama after the official sale of Kasturi Idaman apartments here today.

LOS ANGELES, Nov 21 — Las Vegas has cleaned up since its days as a magnet for ill-gotten mobster gains, but a Canadian insider trading scam has exposed the smaller-scale money laundering still going on in the desert city’s casinos.

Canadian Stanko Grmovsek admitted in a Toronto court earlier this year to making US$9 million (RM30.6 million) with a law school buddy in a 14-year illegal scheme. Court documents show he said he laundered some of it by gambling wads of cash on games like blackjack in Vegas’ world-famous casino strip.

His confession was a flashback to an era when Las Vegas’ “Sin City” image made it a playground for gangsters offloading their loot in glittering gambling parlours.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The Najib administration received a fillip yesterday with new economic data showing that the prime minister’s moves to rev up the economy are working.

Gross domestic product contracted 1.2 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, shallower than the 2 per cent drop predicted by most economists.

The economy shrank 6.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, but improved a bit in the second quarter by contracting 3.9 per cent.

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 21 — Google Inc has won a seat at the smartphone table.

Two years after the Web search leader announced its plan to barge into the market, a dozen phones are using Google’s Android mobile operating software, including Motorola Inc’s heavily promoted Droid phone.

And software developers have created more than 12,000 games and other applications that run on Android phones, second only to the 100,000 apps on Apple Inc’s iPhone.

PHILADELPHIA, Nov 21 — US chocolate maker Hershey Co is considering launching a bid of at least US$17 billion (RM58 billion) for chocolatier Cadbury Plc as it seeks to trump a hostile offer by Kraft Foods Inc, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Hershey has lined up deal funding from Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase & Co to make a solo offer for Cadbury, but is also still weighing a joint bid with Italy’s Ferrero Spa, the source said.

SINGAPORE, Nov 21 — Much has been said of government stimulus packages and the nascent global economic recovery. But have investors given serious thought to the prospect of another crash?

In a report, Societe Generale (SocGen) painted a Doomsday scenario in which global economic collapse could recur in the next two years. It advises clients to go short on US dollars and European stocks, and long on government bonds and agricultural commodities.

SINGAPORE, Nov 21 — Maybank has become the first bank in Singapore to pledge that it will give a one-off payment to employees who cannot be rehired beyond retirement age.

This is a key feature in a set of tripartite proposals announced on Monday on the rehiring of workers beyond the legal retirement age of 62.

The bank also promised to end the practice of cutting the pay of employees when they turn 60, although this is allowed under the law.

NEW YORK, Nov 21 — News Corp, Time Warner Inc and Qualia Capital LLC are interested in buying Hollywood’s Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, home of the James Bond movies, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

Citing people with knowledge of the situation, the report said the companies have not yet examined the studio’s finances and their level of interest will depend on price.

Burdened by about US$4 billion (RM13.58 billion) in debt, Los Angeles-based MGM said last week it was weighing options, including a possible sale of the company.