Bloomberg Retailers in India’s drought-hit southern state of Tamil Nadu stopped selling PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.’s sodas alleging that the companies were depleting ground water. About 70 percent of the 1.5 million members of the local retailers association who stock carbonated drinks have stopped selling the two brands, A. M. Vikkramaraja, president of the group, said in a …

  Bloomberg Nuclear-armed Pakistan is seeking to ramp up defense exports amid simmering regional tensions and a surge in the global arms trade. Pakistan expects to increase defense exports more than 10-fold to $1 billion within the next two years, targeting sales to countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Nigeria. Azerbaijan recently agreed to buy arms from Pakistan. The target …

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is nearing a plan to boost capital by more than 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion) through an equity offering and the partial sale of its asset management unit, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The measures, which executives may review as soon as this weekend, would be a way for the bank to …

  Bloomberg Mexico’s new $20 billion plan to support the peso could prove a gift to some of the country’s biggest companies. The central bank will hold its first $1 billion auction of non-deliverable forward contracts on Monday, offering a way for businesses with expenses in dollars but revenue in local currency to hedge against further declines in the peso. …

  Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s dealmakers endured job cuts and a tough bonus season. Then the penny pinchers turned to their beloved phones. In a push to cut costs and shift employees from BlackBerry devices to personal mobile phones, the firm is imposing a new policy around the world for reimbursing data and calling expenses, according to an internal …

  Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. is facing a Justice Department probe that seeks to learn if executives hid details of a bogus account scandal from the board or regulators, according to Reuters. The investigation may lead to criminal charges for individual executives, the news service reported, citing people familiar with the matter who it didn’t identify. The Justice Department …

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s need to backstop growth and its shrinking pile of unwanted assets complicate its ability to maintain the pace of capital improvement, Chief Financial Officer David Mathers said. The bank entered 2017 with a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 11.6 percent, up from 11.4 percent at the start of 2016 — this after a …

  BANGKOK / AP The 49-story Bangkok high-rise was supposed to feature luxury condos for hundreds of newly affluent Thai families, but it was abandoned unfinished when the Asian financial crisis struck in 1997. Now called the “Ghost Tower,” it’s a monument to mistakes made and an object of curiosity to a steady stream of visitors. “Sathorn Unique,” named after …

  NEW YORK / AP Melons going splat in slow motion. Drawn-as-you-go animation about machines. A behind-the-scenes look at winery operations. Not the usual viral videos, but small business owners have realized offering something to watch and having a sense of humor about themselves can help grab customers’ attention. In more than a hundred videos he’s posted on YouTube, Tom …

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai Holding, the global investment holding company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Municipality to develop the largest public park in Dubai. The move follows the directives of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Stretching across 1,430,000 sqm in DubaiLand, …