This podcast is brought to you by SEW Eurodrive - leaders in the field of drive technology.

Thursday, September 10, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon O'Donnell.

Making headlines today:

Square Kilometre Array project manager Bernie Fanaroff says that South Africans should get behind the bid to build the world's biggest radio telescope in the same way they lobbied to host the 2010 soccer World Cup.

South Africa and Australia are competing to host the massive SKA project, which will cost about two billion Euro to build, and need between 150-million and 200-million Euro a year to maintain and operate.

The SKA core site proposed in South Africa is in the Northern Cape, where most of the dishes will be erected, but others will be located in neighbouring countries, and as far away as Ghana and Madagascar.

Between 50 and 100 times more sensitive than any other radio telescope on Earth, the SKA will be used by astronomers to explore the origins of the Universe's first galaxies, stars and planets.

Winning the bid will be a huge boost for local industry, with a significant portion of the capital, operation and maintenance costs expected to be spent in the host country.

The Rand Merchant Bank Bureau for Economic Research Business Confidence Index slipped to a ten-year low of 23 points in the third quarter of the year.

The three-point quarter-on-quarter decline was a result of a continued decline in the retail sector, which was down to 35 points, compared with 47 points in the previous quarter, and the wholesale trade sector, which dropped to 17 points, compared with 36 points in the second quarter of the year.

This was offset, to some extent, by an increase in business confidence in the manufacturing and new vehicle trade sectors. Business confidence in the building and construction sectors also remained largely unchanged.

While the overall drop in business confidence could be seen as a sign of worsening economic activity, RMB chief economist Ettienne le Roux says that an alternative view is that the recession, after having hit its worst point in the first quarter, continued to moderate in the third quarter.

Also making headlines:

South Africa slips two places in the Doing Business survey, ranking 34 out of 183 countries.
British defence group BAE Systems considers South African technology for the next version of its latest sight.
One of South Africa's largest solar water heater projects is rolled out at platinum mine.
And, Asian countries show keen interest in Germany's bauma trade fair.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit engineeringnews.co.za.