Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered interest waivers for farmers and cheaper housing loans for the poor in a bid to shore up his popularity, a day after his deadline for exchanging banned notes expired. In a televised speech that stretched close to three-quarters of an hour, Modi praised citizens for bearing the hardship caused by the cash ...

  Bloomberg Qualcomm Inc. said China’s Meizu Technology Co. has agreed to pay licensing fees to settle legal battles in China and three other countries, demonstrating the US company can defend its intellectual property in the world’s biggest smartphone market. Meizu will pay Qualcomm patent fees similar to those accepted by other Chinese phone makers, the two companies said in ...

  Bloomberg China is poised to abandon its 6.5 percent growth target sometime in the next two years as leaders push to contain asset bubbles and financial leverage, according to Societe Generale SA. Signals pointing to acceptance of an expansion below the current objective are encouraging, though authorities haven’t yet confronted the test of a deceleration, which will come in ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. wants India to offer tax concessions on iPhones that the company plans to manufacture in the country, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The company wrote to the industry ministry last month seeking lower import and manufacturing duties, the person said, asking not to be identified citing rules on speaking to the media. The ...

  Bloomberg Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada will seek to build on its EU trade deal within the UK once Brexit occurs, rather than striking a separate bilateral pact. The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is set to go into force provisionally in early 2017, about the same time the UK only begins official talks to exit the ...

  Bloomberg Electricity prices from Boston to Dallas sank to their lowest levels ever in 2016, presenting new challenges for generators more than a decade after the industry was deregulated. Power prices plunged this year as cheap natural gas cut fuel costs, and wind and solar alternatives came online. Consumers also used less electricity for the second straight year, despite ...

  Bloomberg US Steel Corp. said it will restart production at an idled plant and call back employees following an agreement to supply iron-ore pellets to third-party customers. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said in a statement that it will restart the Keetac plant in Keewatin, Minnesota, more than 18 months after the company idled the facility amid rising steel imports and ...

  One insistent question that will shape 2017 is whether we’re witnessing the gradual decay of the post-World War II international order, dominated by the economic and military power of the United States. After the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, it became fashionable to talk of the United States as the only true superpower. Pax Americana would promote peace and ...

  My main New Year’s resolution for 2017 is pretty much the same as always: Stop eating Christmas cookies, cut back on the drinking and get back to the gym. This resolve tends to stick for much of the year — only during the next holiday season does everything invariably fall apart again. Maybe I should consider making this a ...

  President Barack Obama granted 78 pardons earlier this month, doubling the total for his presidency — and ensuring that it will not go down as the least forgiving in more than a century. Instead, it will probably end up as the second-least forgiving. It’s a strange legacy for a president who has spoken so eloquently about the need for ...