LONDON, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- VocaLink, the payment transaction specialist, announced today that its contract with Bacs Payments Schemes Limited (Bacs) to process the UK automated payments has been extended. The contract which ran to 2010 has been extended for a further five years to 2015.

Bacs is responsible for the Schemes behind the clearing and settlement of automated payments in the UK including Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit. VocaLink services and maintains the infrastructure network on behalf of Bacs, processing more than 5.5 billion automated payments a year on behalf of the Scheme.

LONDON, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtual International Mobile Network Operator, Morodo Ltd, continues to expand the device footprint of its popular MO-Call low-cost calling service. Customers can now use MO-Call in any one of more than 1,000 different mobiles, from over 30 different mobile manufacturers.

MO-Call offers low-cost international calling direct from a mobile phone, without the need to change mobile number, SIM or network. Used when traveling overseas, MO-Call also helps avoid roaming charges. Providing seamless connection of a low-cost call from a mobile phone, MO-Call offers savings of up to 90% over existing Mobile Network International Tariffs.

HAMBURG, Germany, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- AVEVA (LSE:AVV), the leading supplier of engineering IT systems for the plant and marine industries today announced that Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems has extended its 25-year association with AVEVA by signing a new agreement that includes migration from the former Tribon system to the AVEVA Marine shipbuilding solution with all of its extended functional possibilities at the company shipyards in Kiel, Emden and Hamburg, Germany.

One of the TKMS companies, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), has been using Tribon (and its predecessor Steerbear) since 1983. The other German shipyards of the group first started using the software system in 1994.

Nihilist types, and even prevailing theoretical models, attempting to explain the formation of the solar system have assumed it to be average in every way but a new study by Northwestern University astronomers that used recent data from the 300 exoplanets discovered orbiting other stars turns that view on its head.

Our solar system is pretty special and if early conditions had been just slightly different planets could have been thrown into the sun or jettisoned into deep space.

LONDON, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Hottest New Designers of 2008

- 4 September - 2 November 2008

- Awards Private View 28 October 2008

September sees HEARD launch an 8 week showcase competition for young design graduates. The competition provides a great opportunity for new graduates to show the skills they have developed during their degree and for HEARD to champion their work in a commercial environment.

Six graduates will be selected every week to organise their own five-day showcase at Heard Gallery, London. A finalist will be chosen from each showcase and the winner will be announced at the Awards Private View on Thursday 28th October 2008.

DALLAS and JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Mining division launches its full e-Procurement functionality with African suppliers

Anglo Base Metals launched its full e-Procurement functionality at a formal event on 1 August 2008, in partnership with Quadrem Africa, a subsidiary of Quadrem International Ltd, a supply chain solutions company with one of the world's largest electronically connected supplier networks for private and public sectors.

ABU DHABI, UAE, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- TAQA's Growth Strategy Delivers AED 8.6 Billion in Revenue for the First Six Months of 2008

- Basic Earnings per Share Grows 249% to 21 Fils for the Half

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC, a publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX: TAQA), today reported financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2008.

LONDON, August 7 /PRNewswire/ -- AmberFin today announces Benchmark Microsystems as the latest addition to its global partner program. The new partnership will enable AmberFin to strengthen its existing presence in the Indian market.

Benchmark will provide local sales and marketing, as well as a systems integration capability and after-sales support for AmberFin's industry-leading iCR software. AmberFin iCR maximizes the value of content by digitizing and transforming new and archived content across multiple delivery platforms.

MUMBAI, India, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Global e-learning Provider, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) Wins an APEX Award for its Web-based Training Program on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

The RFID on the Web(TM) program developed by Tata Interactive Systems (http://www.tatainteractive.com) for OTA Training (http://www.otatraining.com ), the global leader in hands-on, vendor-neutral RFID training, has won the 20th Annual APEX Award in the category "Campaigns, Programs & Plans - Education & Training Campaigns & Programs".

LONDON, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Level 3 to Deliver Caching and Download Services to One of Germany's Leading National Newspaper Portals

Level 3 Communications' European Markets Group today announced that it has been selected to provide content delivery services to Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's leading national newspapers. Level 3's content delivery network (CDN) will be used to deliver all video and pictures for the newspaper's Web portal at http://www.sueddeutsche.de.