:00:00. > :00:00.four passengers onboard were killed. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:00. > :00:25.business news live from Singapore. As India gears up for elections, the
:00:26. > :00:29.government seeks to tame inflation. Crisis communications - Malaysia has
:00:30. > :00:30.come under fire for how it has released information about the
:00:31. > :00:41.missing flight. We begin in India where the country
:00:42. > :00:47.is weeks away from national elections. As with past polls, the
:00:48. > :00:51.economy is set to play a key role in the government is under pressure to
:00:52. > :00:58.make sure that growth is on track. Later today we get the indications
:00:59. > :01:06.on cost of living when the February inflation figures RLS. The data will
:01:07. > :01:11.be closely watched. It is much cheaper to buy food in
:01:12. > :01:14.India now that it was in late 2013. That is the main reason why
:01:15. > :01:18.inflation has come down substantially. The latest data
:01:19. > :01:24.showed that consumer price inflation based on a basket of goods was its
:01:25. > :01:31.lowest level in two years. The wholesale price index, the number
:01:32. > :01:36.that India considers the main indicator of inflation, is thought
:01:37. > :01:40.to have fallen to under 5%. For most of last year food prices were high.
:01:41. > :01:46.Some vegetables cost triple what they normally do. What we see now is
:01:47. > :01:50.mainly due to favourable weather conditions and a good harvest rather
:01:51. > :01:53.than government intervention. The current leadership is likely to hope
:01:54. > :01:57.that this will benefit them in the upcoming elections. For many on the
:01:58. > :02:02.street the cost of living is a big factor when it comes to deciding who
:02:03. > :02:09.to vote for. But there is a worry that this dip is only temporary and
:02:10. > :02:12.that prices might shoot up. The central Bank has raised interest
:02:13. > :02:17.rates three times to try and hold inflation down. Many believe that
:02:18. > :02:20.inflation levels will depend on economic policy measures taken by
:02:21. > :02:27.whichever government comes to, in the long-term.
:02:28. > :02:33.It has been nearly a week since a Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared
:02:34. > :02:37.while en route to Beijing. A rescue effort has been under way but there
:02:38. > :02:43.has been no sign of any wreckage so far, leaving the world with few
:02:44. > :02:46.answers and a lot of questions. In Kuala Lumpur were, authorities have
:02:47. > :02:50.been holding daily news conferences but have recently come under heavy
:02:51. > :03:01.criticism for their handling of the crisis. Earlier I spoke to two
:03:02. > :03:04.aviation experts. It is a difficult crisis but -- and are not a normal
:03:05. > :03:10.type of accident. But these things have happened before and there
:03:11. > :03:15.should not have been such a state of confusion or lack of co-ordination.
:03:16. > :03:18.Information is key for families because of them time has stopped.
:03:19. > :03:22.There is no going forward and certainly no going back. The best
:03:23. > :03:28.that the Malaysia government and Malaysia Airlines could have done in
:03:29. > :03:32.this incident is not make it worse. Unfortunately they have made it
:03:33. > :03:36.worse. They will ever regain the trust and confidence of the
:03:37. > :03:41.families. Other accidents have happened and we do not find them for
:03:42. > :03:49.72 days or longer. The earth is a big place. Could anybody have done
:03:50. > :03:53.better? I expect that governments and airlines have done better and
:03:54. > :03:59.could do better. You don't like kicking people when they are down
:04:00. > :04:05.but it is frustrating and I am sure horribly frustrating for family
:04:06. > :04:09.members who have two go to the media to get information and get their
:04:10. > :04:15.hopes raised and then be told it is incorrect. It is the lack of
:04:16. > :04:21.consistency and it makes everyone wonder - who do you believe? That
:04:22. > :04:28.should be the airline and the government. It is a simple case of
:04:29. > :04:34.too many cooks in the broth. You have the Malaysia in government, the
:04:35. > :04:39.defence Minister, Malaysia Airlines clarifying rumours, and did not have
:04:40. > :04:44.anyone to look for for the facts rather than corrections of rumours.
:04:45. > :04:50.Then there is the situation of 56 vessels from seven or ten different
:04:51. > :04:54.countries co-ordinating the effort. There is a lack of leadership. There
:04:55. > :05:00.needs to be one source of information. We advise airlines in
:05:01. > :05:04.these situations that customers are looking for one point of information
:05:05. > :05:09.and for facts. Rather than releasing lots of information from lots of
:05:10. > :05:15.sources, just point to one source. Then you do not have an air force
:05:16. > :05:25.chief making a statement and then retracting it. Perhaps it can all
:05:26. > :05:30.come from the airline CEO. In other business News, General Electric's
:05:31. > :05:34.credit card unit is looking to raise $100 billion through an IPO in the
:05:35. > :05:39.US. The move is part of plans to spin off the retail finance business
:05:40. > :05:46.with -- which some estimate it could be worth $18 billion. McDonald's is
:05:47. > :05:51.being sued by workers in three US states for stealing wages. The fast
:05:52. > :05:55.food giant is facing seven class action lawsuits in New York,
:05:56. > :05:57.California, and Michigan. The workers claim they were forced to
:05:58. > :06:01.work off the clock and not paid overtime. McDonald say it is
:06:02. > :06:07.committed to fair treatment of employees. Singapore is set to
:06:08. > :06:12.become the second country in the world after the US to regulate
:06:13. > :06:17.virtual currencies such as Bitcoins. Under a new proposal, middle man
:06:18. > :06:22.like virtual currency exchanges will need to verify the identity is of
:06:23. > :06:28.customers and restored suspicious transactions. The move is meant to
:06:29. > :06:40.at -- meant to address money and terrorism concerns. We spoke to an
:06:41. > :06:49.analyst at about the situation. Given the timing of the statement it
:06:50. > :06:53.has to do with the release of the ATM network data here and a
:06:54. > :06:56.concerned about money laundering. About the statement, it looks like a
:06:57. > :07:01.positive note because it means that the government is looking at the
:07:02. > :07:05.growth curve that Bitcoins is taking, looking out over the next
:07:06. > :07:09.year or two and seeing that adoption which will continue. We know that
:07:10. > :07:16.many countries have banned the currency. You would be one of these
:07:17. > :07:19.middlemen that the authority would look to the potentially report
:07:20. > :07:23.suspicious activity. What would prompt you to report to them? I
:07:24. > :07:31.would have to read the guidelines first. As a member of the community
:07:32. > :07:33.here, if I knew of any suspicion activities or Corel activities I
:07:34. > :07:39.would naturally report them to the police. Most of the exchanges here
:07:40. > :07:43.are already doing proper due diligence. I require that people
:07:44. > :07:54.send money via the eye bank in system. We are self regulating very
:07:55. > :08:02.well. I see very little new in this statement or anything that will
:08:03. > :08:05.change our operations. If you're employed big corporation and they
:08:06. > :08:09.send you a broad for work that transition is often helped by a
:08:10. > :08:16.relocation package. This can involve subsidised housing, flights home,
:08:17. > :08:22.and other things but now Panasonic is offering staff moving to China a
:08:23. > :08:29.payment to help cope with the notorious smog in the country.
:08:30. > :08:33.A thick smog hangs over the streets of Beijing, making it difficult to
:08:34. > :08:37.see and more difficult to breathe. Pollution is the price China pays
:08:38. > :08:41.for the economic growth of the past decade. It is the result of rapid
:08:42. > :08:45.industrialisation and the burning of millions of tonnes of coal every
:08:46. > :08:51.year. Now the Japanese electronics firm Panasonic says it will pay its
:08:52. > :08:57.foreign workers in China next dash of pollution premium to compensate
:08:58. > :09:01.for the poor air quality. It is not unusual for funds to pay staff more
:09:02. > :09:04.when they work overseas, especially if they go to dangerous or
:09:05. > :09:10.uncomfortable places. In the oil industry for example employees get a
:09:11. > :09:15.premium for working offshore. This is the first time a company has paid
:09:16. > :09:22.workers in China extra for having to breathe smog. It is a first from our
:09:23. > :09:27.perspective but it will be taken up by other companies. It is specified
:09:28. > :09:34.as an air pollution allowance rather than being bundled into a hardship
:09:35. > :09:39.premium. It is part of a wider drive by organisations to be transparent
:09:40. > :09:51.about the allowances they give to expatriates. As the annual National
:09:52. > :09:56.People's Congress drew to a close, the country 's Premier admitted the
:09:57. > :10:02.economic model was unsustainable. TRANSLATION: Our existing
:10:03. > :10:05.difficulties and problems are on our mind. We will confront serious
:10:06. > :10:12.challenges and some challenges may be even more complex. We need steady
:10:13. > :10:17.growth, employment, prevent inflation and defuse risks. Beijing
:10:18. > :10:21.faces the challenge of trying to maintain rapid economic growth by
:10:22. > :10:27.the same time encouraging businesses to clean up their act.