:00:00. > :00:00.Now for the latest financial news with
:00:00. > :00:19.Yes, they are still talking: We bring you the latest from the big
:00:20. > :00:27.This here, India's love affair with trains: But
:00:28. > :00:30.for these people they may want to rethink of the way they travel
:00:31. > :00:34.because the Japanese are in town and India is about to sign a landmark
:00:35. > :01:00.Over the last two weeks Paris has played
:01:01. > :01:03.host to more than 150 world leaders and several hundred diplomats,
:01:04. > :01:28.Chinese Internet giant Alibaba is expected to announce its purchase
:01:29. > :01:30.of a controlling stake in Hong Kong's South China Morning
:01:31. > :01:33.Rico Hizon is in our Asia Business hub in Singapore.
:01:34. > :01:36.So Rico, why is Alibaba, which basically an online
:01:37. > :01:38.marketplace, so interested in buying an old fashioned newspaper?
:01:39. > :01:42.Alibaba, this is an interesting one. I was telling our friends around the
:01:43. > :01:49.world earlier that it is Google, Amazon on and eBay combined. Why is
:01:50. > :01:58.it interested in such a traditional form of media? It all boils down to
:01:59. > :02:07.gaining control of an influential English publication that has been
:02:08. > :02:12.there for more than a 100 years. It is known in journalism circles and
:02:13. > :02:16.to many readers for its excellent coverage of China over the past
:02:17. > :02:23.decades, but now analysts are saying that since it was acquired in 1993
:02:24. > :02:28.by a billionaire, it has been less hard-hitting. So, this purchase
:02:29. > :02:38.would mark the first acquisition of a non- mainland China news property
:02:39. > :02:45.by a Chinese internet company, and now many are concerned that the
:02:46. > :02:56.critical China papers could be watered down, and Jack Ma is a
:02:57. > :03:01.beneficiary of the Chinese system. It has a readership base of about
:03:02. > :03:05.350,000 people, but its influence is greater than the numbers suggest.
:03:06. > :03:10.Every month its website attracts 4 million unique visitors, with two
:03:11. > :03:18.thirds of them coming from Hong Kong and China. It is mainly non- Chinese
:03:19. > :03:24.speakers looking for views into the Chinese story. That is basically
:03:25. > :03:32.what Alibaba and Jack Ma want from the South China Morning Post. We
:03:33. > :03:37.will wait and see on that announcement.
:03:38. > :03:40.Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is kicking off his India visit later
:03:41. > :03:43.today, where he will meet with his counterpart, Narendra Modi.
:03:44. > :03:45.During the visit both sides are expected to
:03:46. > :03:48.sign a nearly $15 billion deal that will see Japan build India's first
:03:49. > :03:52.The project is being touted as one of the biggest foreign
:03:53. > :03:53.investments in the country's ageing infrastructure.
:03:54. > :04:19.Everyday, 23 million people use India's rail network. Many of them
:04:20. > :04:23.travelling on long-distance trains. Picking is often need bookings
:04:24. > :04:28.months in advance for the privilege of travelling in these carriages,
:04:29. > :04:35.which are usually old and fairly rickety. Narendra Modi has said that
:04:36. > :04:44.by 2020 it will invest $170 billion in the nation's vast antiquated
:04:45. > :04:49.railway system. Japan is expected to land India about $8 billion at low
:04:50. > :04:55.interest rates. And, with Japanese technology, expect Japanese firms to
:04:56. > :04:59.win to build the trains. They will be under pressure to create jobs
:05:00. > :05:05.here as well. In just seven years, some of us could be going from
:05:06. > :05:08.Mumbai to Ahmadabad, a 500 kilometre journey that today takes at least
:05:09. > :05:17.eight hours, but could be in just two. So why this route? Why not
:05:18. > :05:25.Mumbai to Delhi? Ahmadabad is the capital of Gujarat, the state that
:05:26. > :05:31.Narendra Modi was at responsible for, but it is also one of the city
:05:32. > :05:39.that India hopes to use to help its economy. Last month, General
:05:40. > :05:46.Electric and France -based Al Strom won multi-million dollar contracts
:05:47. > :05:52.to supply contracts to India's railways. All of these developments
:05:53. > :05:58.are little way off, but they are the kind of infrastructure investments
:05:59. > :06:03.at PM Modi needs to keep his plans on track.
:06:04. > :06:05.Over the last two weeks Paris has played
:06:06. > :06:08.host to more than 150 world leaders and several hundred diplomats,
:06:09. > :06:12.But as the climate change summit draws to a close, has anything
:06:13. > :06:21.In an attempt to unblock the talks on Wednesday,
:06:22. > :06:36.the Obama administration pledged $860 million to help poor countries
:06:37. > :06:40.But according to Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister,
:06:41. > :06:45.there are still three big stumbling blocks to a new climate deal.
:06:46. > :06:49.First, it is still unclear the size and nature of the money that wealthy
:06:50. > :07:03.countries will stump up to help poor nations cope with climate change.
:07:04. > :07:06.There also continues to be a dispute on what temperature
:07:07. > :07:10.Many developed nations say that the two-degree target should be
:07:11. > :07:16.And thirdly, no deal has been made on how much
:07:17. > :07:19.of a lead rich nations should take when it comes to combating
:07:20. > :07:43.We were going to speak to Andrew Symonds, but he didn't show up!
:07:44. > :07:53.Now, cricket. The cricket that industry has been suffering after
:07:54. > :08:02.floods in India last year. We went to an area about 40 kilometres
:08:03. > :08:05.south-east of Srinagar. In even the smallest of open spaces
:08:06. > :08:14.there is always time for a game of cricket. And down a dusty highway in
:08:15. > :08:19.Kashmir, a proud industry that produces one of the sport's most
:08:20. > :08:26.essential accessories. That's made from the willow trees that grow in
:08:27. > :08:31.this region are sold around the world, conceded second in quality
:08:32. > :08:32.only to those made in the UK. But despite the reputation, the
:08:33. > :08:43.factories here are struggling to survive. These bats almost ready for
:08:44. > :08:46.sale lay underwater for a week. This maker says that people like him have
:08:47. > :08:52.lost goods worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. TRANSLATION:
:08:53. > :08:55.We need help, we don't want aid. Give us loans without interest,
:08:56. > :09:00.otherwise it will take at least ten years to recover. Even the wood is
:09:01. > :09:05.now harder to come by because willow plantations were also submerged.
:09:06. > :09:11.These trees that are bent over are relatively young, about 10-12 years
:09:12. > :09:17.old. When the floods came, the area filled with water, the soil became
:09:18. > :09:22.loose, and now everytime it is windy a few trees fall over. And the trees
:09:23. > :09:27.need to be 30 years of age if their wood is to be cut to make a cricket
:09:28. > :09:31.bat. You can look at this stump, and see how broad the circumferences. A
:09:32. > :09:39.young tree like that falling over is a big loss. This man's family have
:09:40. > :09:44.earned its living from this generation for several generations.
:09:45. > :09:49.He started attending these trees when he was just a little boy, but
:09:50. > :09:57.he wonders if the famous Kashmiri willow has much of a future. We
:09:58. > :10:02.prefer to planned poplar trees instead of the willow, because it
:10:03. > :10:07.only takes six or seven years to mature. We don't get as much money
:10:08. > :10:12.as we do from willow, but it is not as much of a loss if a tree falls.
:10:13. > :10:17.Kashmiri willow bats were used by some of the finest cricketers in
:10:18. > :10:22.their early days. They are still very popular in national
:10:23. > :10:23.tournaments. A legacy in need of preservation, and livelihoods in
:10:24. > :10:32.need of protection. Don't forget you can get
:10:33. > :10:35.in touch with me and some of Adele has dominated the second BBC
:10:36. > :10:48.Music Awards, winning Best British