April, 2019

• 17 April

  Etihad to operate single-use plastic free flight on Earth Day

  

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Etihad Airways will be the first airline in the region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board, in a bid to raise awareness of the effects of plastic pollution, on the occasion of Earth Day. Flight EY484 will depart from Abu Dhabi on April 21, and land in Brisbane on April 22, which ...

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• 17 April

  ‘Days of surprises’ are over as problems exposed: Eskom CEO

  

  Bloomberg Almost 15 months into the job, and the boss of South Africa’s state-owned electricity company is getting to grips with issues spanning corruption to defective power plants that threatened to collapse the grid. “The days of surprises are over,” Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. CEO Phakamani Hadebe said in an interview. “We just have to speed up the process of ...

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• 17 April

  Merkel opens Baltic’s biggest wind park

  

  Bloomberg Angela Merkel will leave Brexit worries by the shoreline as she cuts the opening ribbon on a giant wind farm out in the Baltic Sea, a move that will do little to gloss over her tarnished reputation as Germany’s climate chancellor. The Arkona wind park, a joint venture of utility EON SE and Norway’s oil and gas giant Equinor ...

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• 17 April

  Sunlight, mirrors still seen in Aussie future power mix

  Bloomberg An Australian energy startup says it has found a solution to the problem that has dogged some thermal solar technology projects, removing instability in the process of storing the generated electricity. Vast Solar’s technology differs from rivals because it uses liquid sodium as a heat transfer agent, improving control of the sunlight bouncing off specialised mirrors, according to Chief ...

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• 17 April

  China considers stimulus to bolster consumption

  

  Bloomberg China is drafting a series of stimulus measures to bolster sales of cars and electronics, according to people familiar with the matter. The draft includes subsidies for new-energy vehicles, smartphones and home appliances, said the people, who asked not to be named because they aren’t authorised to discuss the plan. The proposals are at a consultation stage with other ...

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• 17 April

  Singapore exports slump on worst electronics drop

  

  Bloomberg Singapore’s electronics exports slumped in March by the most since 2013, an ominous sign that it will take longer for the city state to shake off a regional demand slowdown from earlier this year. Electronics shipments in the city-state dropped 26.7 percent from a year ago, weighing down overall non-oil domestic exports, which fell 11.7 percent. That was far ...

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• 17 April

  Japan, US to accelerate ‘trade’ talks

  

  Bloomberg After a long wait for the first round of trade talks between the US and Japan, discussions will now take place at an accelerated pace to reach a deal quickly, according to Japan’s chief negotiator. The first talks focussed on agriculture and cars, with digital trade set to be discussed at a later date, Japan’s economy minister Toshimitsu Motegi ...

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• 17 April

  China builders eyeing smaller cities win race

  

  Bloomberg Property developers that focus on smaller cities in China are set to be the beneficiaries of a reform that could encourage 100 million rural citizens to move to urban areas. Policy makers said cities with an urban population of 1 million to 3 million should scrap the residency registration system this year, a move that is seen boosting housing ...

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• 17 April

  Google, Apple block TikTok download in India

  

  Bloomberg Google and Apple Inc complied with an Indian court order to block downloads of the popular app TikTok over government concerns with illicit content, according to people familiar with the decision. The move could handicap the app’s owner, China’s Bytedance Ltd, the world’s most highly valued startup, in one of its most promising markets. An Indian state court had ...

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• 17 April

  India jobless rate doubles since 2011

  Bloomberg India’s unemployment rate has doubled in the eight years to 2018 with the higher educated and younger population accounting for the most without jobs, a new research by a privately run university shows. After remaining at about 2 to 3 percent during the decade to 2011, the unemployment rate in India has increased to more than 6 percent in ...

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