from yesterday's Nikkei

半導体設備　投資１/100 少量生産向け　超小型システム　日立・東芝などで３０社で開発１４年までに実用化

According to sources familiar with the matter, abou 30 domestic companies such as Hitachi,Ltd., Toshiba Corporation and Olympus Corporation likely will jointly develop a production system of ultra-small semiconductors and put it on a practical operation by 2014. The envisaged system is favorable for small poduction of specific-usage semiconductors like LSIs used for various kinds of degital products and automobiles and estimated amount of investment in one line is expected to be less more than 500 million yen.

One LSI production line usually costs 50 billion yen. So, compared with this, the small production syetem they are going to develop is very efficient in terms of cost performance.

from today's Nikkei

りそな、公的資金返済へ　国有化時の２兆円　まず４０００億円で調整　大手行支援に区切り

It was learned Wednesday that Resona Holdings,Inc. has enterd into a final stage of its negotiations with the government that it will repay some of its borrowing from the government,which amount to 2 trillion yen, injected from the public fund as a rescue package to the bank in 2003.

Specifically,the bank intends to buy back a 400 billion stake of its preferred shares the govenment has now this summer and write it down off the book.

As the government also has a plan to finish its policy of bolstering major banks once proceeding to the brink of bankruptcy,implemented in the period from the late 1990sto the early 2000, it is thought that the government approves the bank's policy.