:00:00. > :00:15.16`year period. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:16. > :00:20.business news live from Singapore. Is to scrap the controversial and
:00:21. > :00:27.unpopular mining tax. What impact will it have on the government's
:00:28. > :00:34.finances? 100 days. We look at what India's Prime Minister has achieved
:00:35. > :00:37.since taking the post in May. Thanks for joining us for this
:00:38. > :00:42.edition of Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon. Australia's minerals
:00:43. > :00:47.industry has pushed for the government to scrap the mining tax
:00:48. > :00:51.and now a Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivers the 30% tax on mining
:00:52. > :00:55.profits from coal and iron ore. It was introduced by the former Labour
:00:56. > :01:00.government in 2012. Our correspondent has more.
:01:01. > :01:05.The scrapping of the mining tax has been a long time coming, it was the
:01:06. > :01:09.promise by the Conservatives going into an election last September here
:01:10. > :01:12.in Australia and finally the government has pushed this reform
:01:13. > :01:19.through the upper house of Parliament , the Senate.
:01:20. > :01:23.The government has had to negotiate with Clive Palmer's party, in order
:01:24. > :01:29.to push through the repeal legislation. There is a price to be
:01:30. > :01:34.paid. Welfare payments and other changes to pensions are a concession
:01:35. > :01:36.that the government has had to make, which will result in a multi`
:01:37. > :01:42.billion`dollar hole in government finances.
:01:43. > :01:47.Multibillion dollar. What kind of impact will this have on the mining
:01:48. > :01:50.sector? The Conservative government has
:01:51. > :01:54.always argued the mining tax was never likely to raise anywhere near
:01:55. > :02:00.the sort of money that had been predicted. It was brought in in 2012
:02:01. > :02:04.by the previous Labour Administration, partly to fund
:02:05. > :02:10.welfare payments and also to spread the wealth of Australia's resources
:02:11. > :02:14.boom. The Conservatives said it simply wasn't working and also it
:02:15. > :02:17.was having at negative impact on mining investment in this country.
:02:18. > :02:19.Critics, including the Greens in Australia, say that this is the
:02:20. > :02:28.greatest given that Clive Palmer, a Federal
:02:29. > :02:32.MP, is also a cold billionaire and they wonder just how it is that he
:02:33. > :02:38.has been able to vote down Australia's mining tax `` coal. It
:02:39. > :02:44.is not the first time Australia has repealed an unpopular tax . In July,
:02:45. > :02:50.it scrapped the carbon tax legislation. Yes, two unpopular
:02:51. > :02:53.taxes according to the government has been axed in the last few
:02:54. > :02:59.months, the carbon tax bit the dust and now we have seen the mining tax
:03:00. > :03:03.go the same weight too. It hasn't been an easy journey for the
:03:04. > :03:07.Conservative government in the upper house of Parliament, the Senate ``
:03:08. > :03:08.way. That is the house of review because the Conservative
:03:09. > :03:14.administration does not have a majority. It is having to negotiate
:03:15. > :03:21.with the likes of the Palmer united party to get these reforms through.
:03:22. > :03:24.Our correspondent in Sydney. Staying with Australia and the
:03:25. > :03:27.economy expanded by open side percent in the second quarter of the
:03:28. > :03:31.year when content with the first quarter.
:03:32. > :03:35.`` 0.5%. Compared to the same period, the economy expanded by
:03:36. > :03:42.3.1%. Those numbers are better than what economists were forecasting.
:03:43. > :03:45.More on corporate Australia and Wesfarmers conglomerate is cutting
:03:46. > :03:49.400 jobs, the redundancies affecting the support centre of the
:03:50. > :03:52.supermarket chain, Coles. It is said the job cuts are
:03:53. > :03:58.necessary to fund the building of more stores. Australia's number two
:03:59. > :04:02.supermarket chain announced a $1 billion investment to build 70 new
:04:03. > :04:07.stores across Australia by 2016. A group of workers tasked with
:04:08. > :04:10.decommissioning Fukushima nuclear power plants have filed a lawsuit
:04:11. > :04:17.against the operator Tokyo electric power, TEPCO. The current and former
:04:18. > :04:22.employees claimed that TEPCO had failed to ensure workers were paid
:04:23. > :04:28.hazard allowances. Four men are seeking damages of up to $620,000 in
:04:29. > :04:33.total. The US slaps fresh duties on China,
:04:34. > :04:38.this time on carbon and alloy steel by rods imported from the mainland.
:04:39. > :04:40.The preliminary ruling came through overnight and will be made permanent
:04:41. > :04:46.this year in November. Under the ruling, Chinese producers of the
:04:47. > :04:51.rods, used to make chain`link fences, will be forced to play a
:04:52. > :04:56.cash deposit when the goods arrive in the US.
:04:57. > :05:02.In technology, Apple confirms celebrities' I clout accounts were
:05:03. > :05:05.broken into, but it says it wasn't caused by a breach `` iCloud.
:05:06. > :05:10.It is suggested the thefts were carried out by deducing the
:05:11. > :05:14.victims' login credentials. It follows the publication of intimate
:05:15. > :05:17.pictures of 20 celebrities. For more on that story and other
:05:18. > :05:26.headlines from around the world, visit our website.
:05:27. > :05:30.Moving to South Asia and India's by minister Narendra Modi swept into
:05:31. > :05:34.power promising better days ahead for the world's largest Chrissie.
:05:35. > :05:39.The campaign to be business friendly and economic reform at `` democracy.
:05:40. > :05:45.How is he doing after the first 100 days in office? Our correspondent
:05:46. > :05:48.reports. After official meetings with
:05:49. > :05:51.Narendra Modi this week, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced
:05:52. > :05:56.a plan for more Japanese investment in India as well as major
:05:57. > :06:01.infrastructure loans. After 100 days in office, Narendra Modi wants the
:06:02. > :06:05.world to know he is all business. He led his party to a decisive
:06:06. > :06:10.political victory earlier this year in part by promising to inject life
:06:11. > :06:13.into India's flagging economy. It is still early days of course but has
:06:14. > :06:17.it made a difference so far? There was a turnaround that I think
:06:18. > :06:24.started at the time of the election. Part of that was that
:06:25. > :06:30.India was in a business cycle and that cycle was turning. Things were
:06:31. > :06:37.getting better. There is, in addition, a sort of upsurge of hope
:06:38. > :06:40.under the new government. Narendra Modi has launched a financial
:06:41. > :06:45.inclusion scheme to open bank accounts for millions of the poor.
:06:46. > :06:49.His lucent foreign investment in railways infrastructure and defence
:06:50. > :06:54.many factoring `` he has loosened. He is doing something about red
:06:55. > :06:57.tape. Still, not everyone got what they wanted. Some businesses were
:06:58. > :07:01.expecting a more aggressive privatisation at gender. He is
:07:02. > :07:11.pro`business but believes in a strong state as well. `` agenda. He
:07:12. > :07:15.is a and eastern reformer, not a western reformer. He believes in a
:07:16. > :07:21.strong public sector. He would never privatise that way. However, some of
:07:22. > :07:30.the disappointments have been his attitude towards trade. He
:07:31. > :07:33.single`handedly, this government, has torpedoed world trade
:07:34. > :07:37.negotiations, which took a lot of people by surprise. For the moment,
:07:38. > :07:42.India's economy seems to be improving. GDP growth has increased
:07:43. > :07:48.and the markets have improved significantly in three months.
:07:49. > :07:51.Economists and politicians will differ on whether or not his agenda
:07:52. > :07:55.may be different. Our correspondent reporting.
:07:56. > :07:59.Due to the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian ruble hits a series of lows
:08:00. > :08:02.against the dollar is the Mac dollar as investors worry about the
:08:03. > :08:05.prospect of sanctions against Russia `` against the dollar.
:08:06. > :08:09.This follows falls in the ruble and Russian stocks last week after
:08:10. > :08:12.Western government accused Russia of direct military intervention in
:08:13. > :08:14.eastern Ukraine. The tumbling currency poses problems for the
:08:15. > :08:19.economy as our correspondent reports.
:08:20. > :08:24.In the past few days, pro`Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has
:08:25. > :08:28.stepped up their offensive, forcing back government troops around
:08:29. > :08:32.Luhansk and Donetsk. Nato warns at least 1000 Russian troops have
:08:33. > :08:36.crossed the border to join them. In Russia, the escalation of the
:08:37. > :08:41.conflict is mirrored by a run on the currency. The ruble ` dollar
:08:42. > :08:45.exchange rate has risen over the last week from 35.5 rubles to the
:08:46. > :08:52.dollar to over 37 rubles to the dollar. Investors have been selling
:08:53. > :08:55.off ruble `based assets, worried that EU will soon introduce much
:08:56. > :09:01.tougher sanctions against Russia. Is quite likely that by the end of
:09:02. > :09:07.this week the EU will decide what of the measures they will take against
:09:08. > :09:12.Russia is to ban biting Russian currency on paper. `` buying. It
:09:13. > :09:17.means the Russian government will be cut off from its previous access to
:09:18. > :09:22.capital markets. It means that the investors who already hold Russian
:09:23. > :09:29.bonds will be quite worried and will try to ditch those. The falling
:09:30. > :09:33.ruble is hurting the economy. It means Russia gets less of the oil
:09:34. > :09:37.and gas it exports `` from the. It means imported goods are more
:09:38. > :09:45.expensive to buy. Inflation rate in Russia is over 9%. TRANSLATION: As I
:09:46. > :09:50.receive my salary in rubles, of course it has been a substantial
:09:51. > :09:53.rise in prices. When you go abroad, the rising exchange rate affects the
:09:54. > :10:00.budget of the trip so it influences ordinary people. The central bank is
:10:01. > :10:05.coming under pressure to raise interest rates to force down
:10:06. > :10:09.inflation. That would make credit more expensive for households and
:10:10. > :10:15.industry and might push Russia's already stagnating economy into
:10:16. > :10:22.recession. Before we go, a quick look at the
:10:23. > :10:26.markets in Asia. Asia is in positive territory in mid`morning Wednesday
:10:27. > :10:30.trade despite US stocks ending mixed overnight. Australia's second
:10:31. > :10:34.quarter is up very positively, that is why we see the ASX up by seven
:10:35. > :10:43.points. Thank you for investing your time with us. I and Rico Hizon.
:10:44. > :10:44.Goodbye for now. `` item. I am Mike Embley in London with the