March, 2019

• 10 March

  India announces poll dates as Modi fights to retain power

  

  Bloomberg India will hold elections from April to May to decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins a second term as leader of the world’s largest democracy. Around 900 million voters — 84 million more than in 2014 — will elect 543 lawmakers to the lower house of parliament, the chief election commissioner Sunil Arora said. Voting will run in ...

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• 10 March

  N Koreans vote in rubber-stamp election

  

  Bloomberg North Koreans cast their votes on Sunday in a parliamentary election that comes as leader Kim Jong-un faces mounting pressure to demonstrate his ability to cope with the international sanctions squeezing his country. The regime holds elections every five years to pick representatives to the Supreme People’s Assembly — North Korea’s rubber stamp parliament — with the last one ...

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• 10 March

  Yellow Vests hold protests in France for 17th weekend

  Bloomberg The 17th Saturday of protests by France’s Yellow Vests passed without major incidents as the movement’s momentum appeared to wane. There were 28,600 protesters throughout France, according to the Interior Ministry, down from 39,300 a week ago and the lowest turnout since the movement began. There were 3,000 protesters in Paris, compared with 4,000. That’s way down from the ...

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• 10 March

  The stock buyback battle

  

  The latest pitched battle between Corporate America and its critics involves stock buybacks: Large companies’ purchases of their own shares on the stock market. The aim is to raise share prices and satisfy investors. But the practice has triggered outrage from critics, who argue that the buybacks discourage productive investment, higher wages and worker retraining. Big business is accused of ...

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• 10 March

  How Tata can keep its hold on JLR

  

  India’s Tata Group should treat the speed bump at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as a timely memo: The $102 billion salt-to-software conglomerate can no longer put off listing its closely held parent. UK-based Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc is burning cash on electric-vehicle technology just as the double whammy of a Chinese auto slowdown and Brexit threatens margins and sales. ...

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• 10 March

  Alibaba’s US deal won’t help Trump’s trade balance

  

  Soon after Donald Trump got elected, a host of Asian business leaders responded by flying to the US to shake his hand and pledge to create more jobs for Americans. Since then, the US president has continued to flay China for the massive trade imbalance between the two nations. It’s been the spur for raising tariffs and dragging Beijing to ...

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• 10 March

  Let American people see the Mueller report

  Michael Cohen’s appearance last week before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform was surely a spectacle. The former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, who had spent a decade lunging at anyone who threatened Trump’s image or interests, marshaled his own attack on the president’s character and behaviour. Cohen also documented his testimony with financial statements and canceled checks. ...

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• 10 March

  China finds a G-7 ally for Belt and Road initiative

  

  The trading relationship between Italy and China goes back a long time. In the 13th century, Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant and explorer, was the first European to leave a detailed chronicle of his experience in the Far East. For centuries, precious fabrics traveled on the Silk Road from China to the Italian cities of Venice and Lucca, where they ...

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• 10 March

  Apple deserves kudos for the gains it made

  

  I’ve been quite harsh towards Apple Inc. for a long time. Having covered the company for close to 15 years, first as a reporter and now a columnist, I’ve spent much time researching and writing about its supply chain and the myriad problems within. Today, though, it’s time to give credit where it’s due. Two of my major beefs with ...

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• 10 March

  Will tariffs on India work? Here’s a shiny clue

  

  President Donald Trump has decided that India’s failure to provide “equitable and reasonable” access to its market means it’s no longer eligible to export certain goods duty-free to the US. The 43-year-old US Generalised System of Preferences, the privilege India now loses, is part of a shared commitment by developed countries to promote export-oriented growth in emerging economies. Washington also ...

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