basmati, back office, garage sale

The study is published as millions of the world's poor face food shortages caused by rising populations, droughts and increased demand for land for biofuels, which have sparked riots and protests from Haiti to Mauritania, and from Yemen to the Philippines. Last month India halted the export of non-basmati rice to ensure its poor can eat, while Vietnam, the second-biggest rice exporter, is considering a similar measure after Cyclone Nargis ripped through Burma's rice-producing Irrawaddy delta.

basmati 圖

Citigroup's Big Garage Sale

Vikram S. Pandit has done some serious spring cleaning at Citigroup. And he's not done yet.

As Mr. Pandit makes his first major presentation to investors and analysts this morning, The New York Times reports that Citi is now trying to sell Primerica Financial, a life insurance and mutual fund company, and is also looking to sell its back-office outsourcing unit in India and its Smith Barney brokerage firm in Australia. Some speculate Mr. Pandit may also may try to sell 340 bank branches in Germany, possibly to Deutsche Bank.

Together, all these sales could raise billions of dollars for Citigroup at a time the bank is feverishly raising capital. Yet the moves also reflect a crucial shift in how Mr. Pandit plans to run the bank.

Go to Article from The New York Times»



garage sale noun [C]
an occasion when people sell things, often in their garage or outside their house, that they no longer want
clean (NOT DIRTY)
spring cleaning 春季大掃除

back office

n.
The internal operations of an organization that are not accessible or visible to the general public:“The . . . bank will . . . modernize its back office and computer systems and improve its marketing and customer service” (Peter Sinton).

Long-grain Indian variety of rice; much prized for its delicate flavour (the name means ‘fragrant’ in Hindi).