:00:00. > :00:07.in September's referendum would increase costs for the company. Time
:00:08. > :00:14.for Asia Business Report with Rico Hizon.
:00:15. > :00:21.Microsoft installs a new chief executive and chairman, ushering in
:00:22. > :00:28.a new era for the technology giant. And, Thailand's politically
:00:29. > :00:35.sensitive rice scheme is dealt a blow.
:00:36. > :00:45.We begin with silicon valley, where a long and dissipated changing of
:00:46. > :00:51.the guard has taken place at Microsoft -- Silicon Valley. Satya
:00:52. > :00:55.Nadella has been tagged as the third ever CEO of Microsoft. He started
:00:56. > :01:09.working there more than two decades ago. He will replace Steve Ballmer
:01:10. > :01:12.who announced his retirement last year. Bill Gates will become
:01:13. > :01:27.technology advisor to the company. Earlier, I spoke to Todd Bishop,
:01:28. > :01:30.asking him how the tech world was receiving the management change. A
:01:31. > :01:34.lot of shareholders wanted someone who could come in from the outside
:01:35. > :01:39.can shake the company down. I think that is why there was so much
:01:40. > :01:45.excitement about Alan Mullally, and the prospect of him coming in. I
:01:46. > :01:51.think they will take a fresh look at Microsoft. I think they will be
:01:52. > :01:59.disappointed by one of Steve Ballmer's the tenants coming into
:02:00. > :02:06.takeover. -- lieutenants. Tell me about him. History well respected
:02:07. > :02:11.inside the company. He is not a household name in the broader tech
:02:12. > :02:15.world. He is a quiet but strong individual, with a lot of principle.
:02:16. > :02:19.According to people who look at him, he will look at the data
:02:20. > :02:25.closely and not be afraid to make bold decisions. He needs to
:02:26. > :02:29.translate that respect into the broader world and into the stock
:02:30. > :02:36.market. Analysts are saying that it will basically be a triumvirate
:02:37. > :02:41.running the company. There will be John Thompson running the board,
:02:42. > :02:58.Bill Gates as the advisor, and Satya Nadella. I think the fact that you
:02:59. > :03:06.see John Thompson, the former CEO, rising so quickly, this suggests he
:03:07. > :03:16.will be giving the CEO a longer chain to make changes. To that
:03:17. > :03:21.extent, I think we will see change, but I don't think it will be the
:03:22. > :03:32.radical change that we have seen. Over time, I think we will see Satya
:03:33. > :03:41.Nadella make his own mark on the Co. Morgan Stanley reached a $1.25
:03:42. > :03:45.billion settlement. The investment bank was sued by the Federal Housing
:03:46. > :03:50.agency over mortgage-backed securities it sold in the years
:03:51. > :03:54.leading up to the financial crisis. Shares in Panasonic have surged more
:03:55. > :04:00.than 15% after closing stronger than expected earnings. -- posting. Its
:04:01. > :04:05.quarterly profit more than tripled to $2.4 billion, and it was near the
:04:06. > :04:17.end of a multi-year restructuring process. Sony's price has also been
:04:18. > :04:25.rising. Share prices rise 8% to a one-week high on news that it may
:04:26. > :04:36.unload its Vaio brand to Japanese industrial partners. The government
:04:37. > :04:39.witness in Thailand has said that China has cancelled a contract to
:04:40. > :04:51.buy more than a million tonnes of rice. It would have been the first
:04:52. > :04:56.age of a much bigger sale and Thailand's rice scheme is now being
:04:57. > :05:01.investigated by a corruption commission.
:05:02. > :05:04.For more than two years, Thai farmers have been able to sell their
:05:05. > :05:10.entire rice crops to the government for a guaranteed price. It has been
:05:11. > :05:13.an understandably popular policy with them, but it has left the
:05:14. > :05:18.government holding an immense and growing rice mountains, estimated at
:05:19. > :05:23.more than 15 million tonnes, which has proved hard to sell overseas
:05:24. > :05:27.without making a huge loss. When I met the minister now in charge of
:05:28. > :05:31.the rice scheme 12 days ago, I asked him whether he was having any
:05:32. > :05:37.success and loading the stocks. We have been doing pretty well lately.
:05:38. > :05:43.At the beginning, we had some problem, but that was only a short
:05:44. > :05:49.time. We have been doing quite well, and we are still doing the
:05:50. > :05:58.normal sales. But you are selling at a much lower price than you paid for
:05:59. > :06:02.it? Significantly lower? With this kind of programme, you need some
:06:03. > :06:08.budget for this. You may say, this is the loss. Even if the last
:06:09. > :06:11.government's scheme, they also provided a budget for this. The
:06:12. > :06:19.amount of the subsidy is not that much different. Really? Yes. You
:06:20. > :06:23.actually know how much this rice scheme has cost since you have been
:06:24. > :06:29.in government? Can you put a figure on it? We haven't closed the account
:06:30. > :06:38.for the year, so we don't know exactly, but we can estimate that
:06:39. > :06:44.the amount of money the subsidy, the loss that you are calling, is not
:06:45. > :06:49.much different. At the time, he was still in talks with China over a
:06:50. > :06:55.deal to export more than a million tonnes for yet undisclosed price,
:06:56. > :07:00.with a hope of selling a further 6 million tonnes. That would help to
:07:01. > :07:03.fill a gaping hole in the national budget, but now it has fallen
:07:04. > :07:09.through. This leaves the government with few options for people to sell
:07:10. > :07:18.the last crop. Until the government intervenes, it has limited chance to
:07:19. > :07:22.make a difference. Protesters have joined the anti-government movement
:07:23. > :07:25.in Bangkok. Critics now believe the government will have two abandon the
:07:26. > :07:33.rice scheme if Thailand is to recover its previous position as a
:07:34. > :07:39.rice exporter and as a benchmark for quality.
:07:40. > :07:41.India's car sales dipped for the first time in over a decade last
:07:42. > :07:46.year, and the entire industry is feeling the effect of the slowdown.
:07:47. > :07:55.As the country gears up to host one of the biggest auto expos in Asia,
:07:56. > :08:05.can the come out of the slump? Trying to get back into the
:08:06. > :08:08.spotlight, these are the first new cars from Tata Motors in three
:08:09. > :08:13.years. It is one of the country's biggest carmakers, but sales fell by
:08:14. > :08:17.more than a third last year, worse than any of its Indian rivals. It
:08:18. > :08:25.wasn't meant to pan out like this. This was the ultracheap small car
:08:26. > :08:31.Tata created, supposed to revolutionise the industry. But the
:08:32. > :08:37.$2000 car has disappointed since its launch in 2009. The company now
:08:38. > :08:40.wants to change it selling strategy. If you get the buyers, and the
:08:41. > :08:44.demographic of the buyers, you see more younger buyers coming to the
:08:45. > :08:49.market. Obviously, cheap is not what they are looking for. They are
:08:50. > :08:52.looking for the right value, and something that announces their
:08:53. > :09:01.identity. We embarked on a repositioning of the Nano. It is not
:09:02. > :09:05.just Tata. Every other car maker in the country is try to tempt the
:09:06. > :09:09.consumers, in a market down 10%, one of its worst years in over a decade.
:09:10. > :09:13.Customers are hardly walking into the showrooms these days, borrowing
:09:14. > :09:16.has become more expensive in the last couple of years. About two
:09:17. > :09:23.thirds of all cars are livid in India are being sold, and purchasing
:09:24. > :09:37.decisions are delayed. The market is not uniformly bad.
:09:38. > :09:42.Foreign firms like Ford are sitting on months of orders. Launching a new
:09:43. > :09:46.prototype of the existing compact car, the company says getting India
:09:47. > :09:53.right is critical for Ford's global success. Arie investments are on
:09:54. > :10:02.track, we are committed to investing $2 billion in India. Part of that is
:10:03. > :10:09.for a new facility which will be operational by the end of this year.
:10:10. > :10:12.While India's urban roads may be struggling with traffic jams, there
:10:13. > :10:17.are millions of people still looking to buy their first car. So,
:10:18. > :10:28.carmakers in Asia's third largest auto market are hoping that the auto
:10:29. > :10:34.show will drive interest rates down and help drive the improvement of
:10:35. > :10:39.the market. Stock will thank you for investing your time with us on Asia
:10:40. > :10:47.Business Report. -- thank you for investing your time with us.
:10:48. > :10:54.Our top stories: The Pakistani Taliban have condemned government
:10:55. > :11:00.representatives who failed to turn up for long planned talks. The group
:11:01. > :11:02.say they are still willing to negotiate. Government sources say