:00:00. > :00:00.in September's referendum would increase costs for the company. Now
:00:00. > :00:19.on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore. Microsoft
:00:20. > :00:29.installs a new chief executive and chairman. The politically sensitive
:00:30. > :00:42.rice scheme in Thailand is dealt a blow after a major contract. Roof.
:00:43. > :00:47.We begin in Silicon Valley where a long anticipated changing of the
:00:48. > :00:52.guard has taken place at Microsoft. Company insider Satya Nadella has
:00:53. > :00:57.been tapped as the third ever CEO of the company. He joins the software
:00:58. > :01:02.manufacturer -- joined the software manufacturer more than two decades
:01:03. > :01:09.ago. He led various businesses in Microsoft before being given the big
:01:10. > :01:13.job. Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, is stepping aside as well as
:01:14. > :01:18.chairman to become a technology adviser to the company. John
:01:19. > :01:27.Thompson, a director who led the CEO search, will take over from Mr
:01:28. > :01:30.Gates. I asked the founder of a major technology website about how
:01:31. > :01:36.the tech world was receiving this change. A lot of shareholders wanted
:01:37. > :01:42.somebody who could shake up Microsoft, from the outside. That is
:01:43. > :01:47.why there was so much excitement about the Ford CEO coming in and
:01:48. > :01:50.taking a fresh look at Microsoft. Shareholders are disappointed with
:01:51. > :01:54.the notion of one of the tenants of Steve Ballmer taking over the job. A
:01:55. > :02:00.lot of investors were looking for that. Satya Nadella is not widely
:02:01. > :02:05.known in the tech world. What are your sources tell you about him? She
:02:06. > :02:11.is very well respected and that the company. In the tech world he is not
:02:12. > :02:17.a household name at this point. She is a quiet but strong individual. He
:02:18. > :02:21.has a lot of principle and, according to people who worked with
:02:22. > :02:27.him, we'll look at the data and not be afraid of bold decisions. He
:02:28. > :02:31.needs to translate that respect into the broader world and the stock
:02:32. > :02:40.market. Many analysts are saying that it will basically be three
:02:41. > :02:45.people running the company. The big question is, will Satya Nadella be
:02:46. > :02:50.allowed to make the transformative change is that Microsoft needs at
:02:51. > :02:56.the product and people level? The fact that you have seen John
:02:57. > :03:01.Thompson, rise so quickly to the role of chairman speaks to the fact
:03:02. > :03:07.that he at least will be willing to give the new CEO a long leash to
:03:08. > :03:10.make potential changes. Bill Gates being there is more the product
:03:11. > :03:15.side. She will be willing to make changes, given the struggles that
:03:16. > :03:20.Microsoft has had, particularly on smartphones and tablets. That
:03:21. > :03:27.extent, we will see change. It will not be radical change. Over time,
:03:28. > :03:34.you will see Satya Nadella make his own mark on the company. In other
:03:35. > :03:41.business News, shares of Panasonic surged more than 50% after posting
:03:42. > :03:46.stronger than expected earnings. The Japanese electronics maker said that
:03:47. > :03:56.its quarterly profit tripled to $3.4 billion. The stock price of Sony,
:03:57. > :04:01.rose on reports that it will sell its computer division. Its shares
:04:02. > :04:13.gained 8% in trade at Tokyo. That is a one-week high. Please do not
:04:14. > :04:17.worry. The commerce Ministry is trying its best. Those are the words
:04:18. > :04:20.of a government minister in Thailand on Tuesday as he announced that
:04:21. > :04:24.China has cancelled the contract to buy more than 1 million tonnes of
:04:25. > :04:30.rice. The deal would have been the first stage of a much bigger sale,
:04:31. > :04:33.but Thailand's entire rice subsidy scheme is being investigated by the
:04:34. > :04:43.corruption commission. The political turmoil is no close to being
:04:44. > :04:45.resolved. For more than two years, Thai farmers have been able to sell
:04:46. > :04:50.the entire rice crop to the government for a guaranteed price.
:04:51. > :04:54.It has been an understandably popular policy with them. But it has
:04:55. > :05:01.left the government holding an immense and growing rice Mt. It is
:05:02. > :05:05.estimated at more than 15 million tonnes. It has proved hard to sell
:05:06. > :05:09.overseas without making a huge loss. When I met the minister in charge of
:05:10. > :05:14.the rice scheme, I asked him if he was having any success in unloadings
:05:15. > :05:22.the rice. We have been doing pretty well lately. At the beginning, we
:05:23. > :05:29.may have had a problem but that was only a short time and it has now
:05:30. > :05:35.been moving quite well. We are still doing the normal sales. Which were
:05:36. > :05:43.selling at a lower price? You have to look at this. With this kind of
:05:44. > :05:49.programme, you need a budget. You may say, this is the loss. But even
:05:50. > :05:53.the skin of the last government, they provided a budget for this. The
:05:54. > :06:02.amount of the subsidy is not that high. Really? Do you actually know
:06:03. > :06:11.how much this rice scheme has cost? Can you put a figure on it? We have
:06:12. > :06:20.accounts year by year, but we do not know exactly. We can estimate. The
:06:21. > :06:26.amount of money, the subsidy, what you're calling a loss, it is not
:06:27. > :06:30.very different. At a time, he was still in talks with China to explore
:06:31. > :06:35.a million tonnes of rice at an undisclosed price. There was a hope
:06:36. > :06:41.of selling a further 6 million tonnes. That deal would help to
:06:42. > :06:46.reduce the stocks and feel hole in the budget. Now it has fallen
:06:47. > :06:51.through. This leaves the government with few options for paying farmers
:06:52. > :06:55.for the last crop in October. Until Parliament reconvenes it has limited
:06:56. > :06:59.powers to raise funds. Angry, unpaid farmers have been protesting by
:07:00. > :07:03.blocking roads. Some have even joined the anti-government movement
:07:04. > :07:13.in Bangkok. Critics now believe that the government will have to abandon
:07:14. > :07:19.the rice scheme. Thailand can only then recover its previous reputation
:07:20. > :07:23.as a benchmark for quality. Car sales in India have dipped for the
:07:24. > :07:28.first time in over a decade last year. The entire industry is feeling
:07:29. > :07:32.the effects. India is holding one of the biggest auto Expo is holding one
:07:33. > :07:37.of the biggest auto expos in Asia, it is worth asking if the sector can
:07:38. > :07:44.come out of this slump? Trying to get back into the spotlight, these
:07:45. > :07:56.are the first new cars from the major motoring companies in nearly
:07:57. > :08:06.four years. Sales at Tata fell more than at any of its rivals. This was
:08:07. > :08:08.the ultra cheap, small car that Tata Motors created and which were
:08:09. > :08:15.supposed to revolutionise the industry. What it has disappointed
:08:16. > :08:20.since its launch. The current -- the company now wants to change its
:08:21. > :08:25.strategy. If you look at the demographic of the buyers, we are
:08:26. > :08:29.seeing more younger buyers. Cheap is not what they are looking for.
:08:30. > :08:34.They're looking for the right value, something that enhances their
:08:35. > :08:40.identity. We are repositioning the brand, and targeting those younger
:08:41. > :08:45.buyers. And it is not just Tata Motors. Every other car maker in the
:08:46. > :08:51.country is trying to tempt the consumers in a market down 10%.
:08:52. > :08:54.Customers are hardly walking into the showrooms these days. Borrowing
:08:55. > :09:01.has become more expensive in the last couple of years. But about two
:09:02. > :09:05.thirds of all cars in India are being sold on loans. Higher
:09:06. > :09:13.borrowing costs mean that purchasing decisions are being delayed. But the
:09:14. > :09:20.market is not uniformly bad. Foreign firms like Ford are sitting on
:09:21. > :09:28.months of orders. Launching a new prototype of the existing compact
:09:29. > :09:33.car, the company says that getting India right is crucial for its
:09:34. > :09:39.success. Our investments are on track. We are investing $2 billion
:09:40. > :09:43.into India, 1 billion of which is for a factory facility. That will be
:09:44. > :09:49.operational by the end of this year. There is great potential. While the
:09:50. > :09:54.urban roads of India may be struggling with traffic jams, there
:09:55. > :10:00.are millions of people still looking to buy their first car. So carmakers
:10:01. > :10:05.in the third watermark at in Asia, are hoping that the auto show will
:10:06. > :10:13.drive interest and sales to help change the fortunes of the
:10:14. > :10:19.industry. In the markets, after a strong start, the rally has fizzled.
:10:20. > :10:27.Sentiment is mixed, following a rise in Wall Street. Hong Kong is lower.
:10:28. > :10:29.Australia is also in negative territory as the Australian dollar
:10:30. > :10:36.continues to gain.