:00:17. > :00:22.The fear factor, shares in Japan are hammered with the main market
:00:23. > :00:25.sinking by five percent, safe havens like gold and the yen are soaring.
:00:26. > :00:30.Digging deeper, leaders from the world's top mining
:00:31. > :00:33.companies gather in South Africa as their industry faces one of its
:00:34. > :00:49.Also in the programme: How India's rural areas are hoping teaching
:00:50. > :00:55.entrepreneurial skills will lift many out of poverty.
:00:56. > :00:58.But first, the few financial markets that are open in Asia today
:00:59. > :01:04.are being punished as the investors seem to be transfixed by fear.
:01:05. > :01:07.In Japan the main market, the Nikkei 225 was down over percent
:01:08. > :01:14.Shares in Australia are also down nearly three percent.
:01:15. > :01:16.This follows heavy losses the night before on Wall Street
:01:17. > :01:23.The concern about the outlook for the global economy is become
:01:24. > :01:26.even more acute and now investors are dumping banking shares worldwide
:01:27. > :01:28.on fears they will be exposed to a fresh economic slowdown.
:01:29. > :01:44.Rico Hizon is in our Asia Business Hub in Singapore.
:01:45. > :01:50.They are celebrating a new year, but the share markets are not doing so
:01:51. > :02:03.well close to a bad start indeed for the year of the monkey -- so well? A
:02:04. > :02:08.bad start indeed. There was a change in US stocks due to persistent
:02:09. > :02:19.worries of a global economic slowdown. Oil prices were slumping,
:02:20. > :02:23.and in this panic, investors are purchasing Japanese yen as it is a
:02:24. > :02:31.safe net. The dollar slipped below 115 yen, its lowest level since late
:02:32. > :02:42.2014. One week ago, the yen was at about 121. It has shaken the core of
:02:43. > :02:51.Japanese exporters and people are worried. We are seeing that now in
:02:52. > :03:00.the nick a two to five -- Nikkei 225. Exporters are also in the
:03:01. > :03:10.dumps, down 5% today as they are hit by the strong yen against the
:03:11. > :03:16.dollar. As we went through those figures, the European trading day
:03:17. > :03:24.will start very shortly. 25 minutes to go in Japan before the close of
:03:25. > :03:28.the day. The Nikkei 225 down by 5.6%. We will keep you updated. You
:03:29. > :03:32.can find it online as well. Well as the global economy has
:03:33. > :03:34.slowed, and notably China with demand for commodities falling,
:03:35. > :03:37.one industry that has suffered The global players
:03:38. > :03:41.in the industry are gathered in South Africa for the biggest
:03:42. > :03:44.sector conference in the world and many are concerned about the future
:03:45. > :03:47.with further job cuts likely and This graph shows the downward path
:03:48. > :04:06.for prices of copper, gold The industry has had to
:04:07. > :04:10.dramatically cut costs. South Africa,
:04:11. > :04:11.the world's largest platinum and manganese producer, could lose
:04:12. > :04:14.as many 32,000 jobs, according to Bad news for a nation with
:04:15. > :04:22.unemployment above 25 percent. But one mining executive says
:04:23. > :04:35.there are opportunities to be had. Like everything in this modern
:04:36. > :04:41.world, there are always opportunities to reposition,
:04:42. > :04:48.consolidate. These are times when it new companies merge. To be nervous
:04:49. > :04:50.and new ideas, that's the model of capitalism. When it breaks, there is
:04:51. > :04:55.always someone to fix it. With me is Henry Hall, Senior
:04:56. > :05:08.Associate at Critical Resource. Mac has reasons to be cheerful, Rand
:05:09. > :05:16.Gold came out with very strong numbers. He is right, when the chips
:05:17. > :05:19.are down, there are opportunities to be had quit are absolutely. Some
:05:20. > :05:25.success stories in the current market seemed to have weathered the
:05:26. > :05:29.storm very well. There could be some potential acquisitions in this
:05:30. > :05:34.market, it is a buyers' market. Private equity firms certainly have
:05:35. > :05:42.considerable funds they are looking to deploy in the right types of
:05:43. > :05:49.assets. Even perhaps companies such as Rio Tinto who have low iron ore
:05:50. > :05:55.stocks may be looking as to whether they can pick up an asset or two.
:05:56. > :06:03.The industry has had to restructure in a big way and cause some minds to
:06:04. > :06:07.mothball. Investment in some areas has just stopped. They have had to
:06:08. > :06:14.rethink their money and where they are spending it in a dramatic way?
:06:15. > :06:18.Absolutely. It is a difficult time, they are under huge pressure from
:06:19. > :06:24.investors to cut their building times. It has meant retrenchments,
:06:25. > :06:28.cutting back projects and staff. I think one of the most important
:06:29. > :06:33.thing to look to the future and think about when prices will start
:06:34. > :06:36.to come up again. Will they be potentially damaging some of the
:06:37. > :06:41.relationships when they need to start back up again? It takes a lot
:06:42. > :06:44.of money and effort to build relationships with your stakeholders
:06:45. > :06:49.to get a project off the ground. Resume and leave the countries who
:06:50. > :06:53.have got it wrong, the smaller companies will basically go under?
:06:54. > :07:05.Big players can manage this kind of a crisis? Absolutely. I think it has
:07:06. > :07:09.been interesting so far, this mining slump has been going on for some
:07:10. > :07:13.time. Banks have had to be very patient with some smaller companies,
:07:14. > :07:18.allowing them to keep going in the hope that there will be a pickup.
:07:19. > :07:23.Unless some of these companies get an investor soon, it will be very
:07:24. > :07:28.tough for them. Thank you for your time.
:07:29. > :07:31.And now for the second part in our Education series looking
:07:32. > :07:34.at how governments are investing in the next generation
:07:35. > :07:42.In the past few years India's become a hub for start-ups,
:07:43. > :07:44.attracting billions of dollars of investment from around the world.
:07:45. > :07:46.Most has been focused on the country's cities.
:07:47. > :07:49.But with a majority of India's people living in rural areas,
:07:50. > :07:51.what difference would teaching entrepreneurial skills to village
:07:52. > :07:53.The BBC's Yogita Limaye reports from Bettiah
:07:54. > :08:11.Students from the local school, out on an assignment. They are scouting
:08:12. > :08:18.for entrepreneurs in the village. When they find one, they ask him or
:08:19. > :08:25.her a list of questions. How did you start your business, and what
:08:26. > :08:32.problems did you face? Her classmates carefully wrote down the
:08:33. > :08:35.shop owner's answers. I learnt a lot about what people go through to set
:08:36. > :08:38.up a business through this exercise, especially about how to
:08:39. > :08:45.overcome challenges. It was part of the lesson on entrepreneurship that
:08:46. > :08:48.we are being taught at school. Like this shop or the many other stores
:08:49. > :08:54.along here, you would find that typically in these villages most
:08:55. > :09:00.people are running farms or small businesses. If they were in exit is,
:09:01. > :09:03.they would be thought of as entrepreneurs, a concept that has an
:09:04. > :09:09.urban feel. A recent government campaign to encourage start-ups
:09:10. > :09:17.seemed very city centric. But, about 70% of Indians live in rural areas
:09:18. > :09:20.and believe that teaching entrepreneurial skills in these
:09:21. > :09:25.areas could create jobs and improve lives. That is what this
:09:26. > :09:30.not-for-profit organisation is trying to do. They have been taking
:09:31. > :09:36.lessons in entrepreneurship in some of the poorest states. They use a
:09:37. > :09:42.mix of textbooks and outdoor activities to teach students is like
:09:43. > :09:49.marketing and financial planning. Entrepreneurship is basically
:09:50. > :09:54.non-existent as a concept. But there are businesses which are
:09:55. > :10:01.entrepreneurs. To make people realise these are of high value can
:10:02. > :10:07.be related to something much bigger. It is something that is still not
:10:08. > :10:10.taught at most schools, either rural or urban. But in these villages, a
:10:11. > :10:16.vast majority of students would perhaps never have access to higher
:10:17. > :10:20.education or management school. And so, they would probably have to
:10:21. > :10:28.learn how to run a business as they go along.