03/09/2014 Asia Business Report

16`year period. Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore. Is to scrap the controversial and

unpopular mining tax. What impact will it have on the government's

finances? 100 days. We look at what India's Prime Minister has achieved

since taking the post in May. Thanks for joining us for this

edition of Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon. Australia's minerals

industry has pushed for the government to scrap the mining tax

and now a Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivers the 30% tax on mining

profits from coal and iron ore. It was introduced by the former Labour

government in 2012. Our correspondent has more.

The scrapping of the mining tax has been a long time coming, it was the

promise by the Conservatives going into an election last September here

in Australia and finally the government has pushed this reform

through the upper house of Parliament , the Senate.

The government has had to negotiate with Clive Palmer's party, in order

to push through the repeal legislation. There is a price to be

paid. Welfare payments and other changes to pensions are a concession

that the government has had to make, which will result in a multi`

billion`dollar hole in government finances.

Multibillion dollar. What kind of impact will this have on the mining

sector? The Conservative government has

always argued the mining tax was never likely to raise anywhere near

the sort of money that had been predicted. It was brought in in 2012

by the previous Labour Administration, partly to fund

welfare payments and also to spread the wealth of Australia's resources

boom. The Conservatives said it simply wasn't working and also it

was having at negative impact on mining investment in this country.

Critics, including the Greens in Australia, say that this is the

greatest given that Clive Palmer, a Federal

MP, is also a cold billionaire and they wonder just how it is that he

has been able to vote down Australia's mining tax `` coal. It

is not the first time Australia has repealed an unpopular tax . In July,

it scrapped the carbon tax legislation. Yes, two unpopular

taxes according to the government has been axed in the last few

months, the carbon tax bit the dust and now we have seen the mining tax

go the same weight too. It hasn't been an easy journey for the

Conservative government in the upper house of Parliament, the Senate ``

way. That is the house of review because the Conservative

administration does not have a majority. It is having to negotiate

with the likes of the Palmer united party to get these reforms through.

Our correspondent in Sydney. Staying with Australia and the

economy expanded by open side percent in the second quarter of the

year when content with the first quarter.

`` 0.5%. Compared to the same period, the economy expanded by

3.1%. Those numbers are better than what economists were forecasting.

More on corporate Australia and Wesfarmers conglomerate is cutting

400 jobs, the redundancies affecting the support centre of the

supermarket chain, Coles. It is said the job cuts are

necessary to fund the building of more stores. Australia's number two

supermarket chain announced a $1 billion investment to build 70 new

stores across Australia by 2016. A group of workers tasked with

decommissioning Fukushima nuclear power plants have filed a lawsuit

against the operator Tokyo electric power, TEPCO. The current and former

employees claimed that TEPCO had failed to ensure workers were paid

hazard allowances. Four men are seeking damages of up to $620,000 in

total. The US slaps fresh duties on China,

this time on carbon and alloy steel by rods imported from the mainland.

The preliminary ruling came through overnight and will be made permanent

this year in November. Under the ruling, Chinese producers of the

rods, used to make chain`link fences, will be forced to play a

cash deposit when the goods arrive in the US.

In technology, Apple confirms celebrities' I clout accounts were

broken into, but it says it wasn't caused by a breach `` iCloud.

It is suggested the thefts were carried out by deducing the

victims' login credentials. It follows the publication of intimate

pictures of 20 celebrities. For more on that story and other

headlines from around the world, visit our website.

Moving to South Asia and India's by minister Narendra Modi swept into

power promising better days ahead for the world's largest Chrissie.

The campaign to be business friendly and economic reform at `` democracy.

How is he doing after the first 100 days in office? Our correspondent

reports. After official meetings with

Narendra Modi this week, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced

a plan for more Japanese investment in India as well as major

infrastructure loans. After 100 days in office, Narendra Modi wants the

world to know he is all business. He led his party to a decisive

political victory earlier this year in part by promising to inject life

into India's flagging economy. It is still early days of course but has

it made a difference so far? There was a turnaround that I think

started at the time of the election. Part of that was that

India was in a business cycle and that cycle was turning. Things were

getting better. There is, in addition, a sort of upsurge of hope

under the new government. Narendra Modi has launched a financial

inclusion scheme to open bank accounts for millions of the poor.

His lucent foreign investment in railways infrastructure and defence

many factoring `` he has loosened. He is doing something about red

tape. Still, not everyone got what they wanted. Some businesses were

expecting a more aggressive privatisation at gender. He is

pro`business but believes in a strong state as well. `` agenda. He

is a and eastern reformer, not a western reformer. He believes in a

strong public sector. He would never privatise that way. However, some of

the disappointments have been his attitude towards trade. He

single`handedly, this government, has torpedoed world trade

negotiations, which took a lot of people by surprise. For the moment,

India's economy seems to be improving. GDP growth has increased

and the markets have improved significantly in three months.

Economists and politicians will differ on whether or not his agenda

may be different. Our correspondent reporting.

Due to the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian ruble hits a series of lows

against the dollar is the Mac dollar as investors worry about the

prospect of sanctions against Russia `` against the dollar.

This follows falls in the ruble and Russian stocks last week after

Western government accused Russia of direct military intervention in

eastern Ukraine. The tumbling currency poses problems for the

economy as our correspondent reports.

In the past few days, pro`Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has

stepped up their offensive, forcing back government troops around

Luhansk and Donetsk. Nato warns at least 1000 Russian troops have

crossed the border to join them. In Russia, the escalation of the

conflict is mirrored by a run on the currency. The ruble ` dollar

exchange rate has risen over the last week from 35.5 rubles to the

dollar to over 37 rubles to the dollar. Investors have been selling

off ruble `based assets, worried that EU will soon introduce much

tougher sanctions against Russia. Is quite likely that by the end of

this week the EU will decide what of the measures they will take against

Russia is to ban biting Russian currency on paper. `` buying. It

means the Russian government will be cut off from its previous access to

capital markets. It means that the investors who already hold Russian

bonds will be quite worried and will try to ditch those. The falling

ruble is hurting the economy. It means Russia gets less of the oil

and gas it exports `` from the. It means imported goods are more

expensive to buy. Inflation rate in Russia is over 9%. TRANSLATION: As I

receive my salary in rubles, of course it has been a substantial

rise in prices. When you go abroad, the rising exchange rate affects the

budget of the trip so it influences ordinary people. The central bank is

coming under pressure to raise interest rates to force down

inflation. That would make credit more expensive for households and

industry and might push Russia's already stagnating economy into

recession. Before we go, a quick look at the

markets in Asia. Asia is in positive territory in mid`morning Wednesday

trade despite US stocks ending mixed overnight. Australia's second

quarter is up very positively, that is why we see the ASX up by seven

points. Thank you for investing your time with us. I and Rico Hizon.

Goodbye for now. `` item. I am Mike Embley in London with the