Asia-Pacific News
Southeast Asia
*Thailand's Q2 GDP caps strong quarter for Southeast Asia. BANGKOK, Aug 21- Thailand's economy capped a solid performance for Southeast Asia in the second quarter, growing at its fastest clip in over four years thanks to strong exports- a common denominator for many countries still struggling to boost private consumption despite ultra-low interest rates.
*Afghanistan has deposits of gold, silver, copper, lithium. Ever since a United States Geological Survey study a decade ago identified deposits later estimated to have a potential value of as much as $1 trillion, both Afghan and foreign officials have trumpeted the reserves as a likely key to economic independence for Afghanistan. Afghanistan, some reports say,...
NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI, Aug 20- A consortium led by Russian oil major Rosneft will announce on Monday completion of a $12.9 billion deal to acquire Indian private refiner Essar Oil, strengthening ties between the world's largest oil producer and the fastest growing fuel consumer. The purchase is the biggest foreign acquisition ever in India and Russia's largest...
TIMIKA, Indonesia, Aug 20- Limited access to the giant Grasberg copper mine in eastern Indonesia is expected to resume on Monday, its operator said, after hundreds of former workers blockaded the site and clashed with police. Buildings, vehicles and motorbikes belonging to the company and its employees were also torched in the incident in the province of Papua,...
*Ongoing spat between founders, board complicates CEO search. By Sankalp Phartiyal and Nivedita Bhattacharjee. MUMBAI/ BENGALURU, Aug 19- The dramatic departure of Vishal Sikka as chief executive of Infosys, following a months-long public battle with the tech giant's founders, has left the company with another messy problem: how to find someone willing to...
Chicago Board of Trade November soybean futures settled up 4-3/ 4 cents at $9.37-3/ 4 a bushel, slightly below its session high. CBOT December corn was 1-1/ 2 cents higher at $3.65-3/ 4 a bushel and September wheat futures were up 2 cents at $4.16 a bushel. Seasonal supply pressures from big harvests in Russia and elsewhere in the Black Sea export region along with...
At 10:13 a.m. CDT, Chicago Board of Trade November soybean futures were up 1-1/ 4 cents at $9.34-1/ 4 a bushel. CBOT December corn was 3/ 4 cent higher at $3.65 a bushel and September wheat futures were up 1-1/ 2 cents at $4.15-1/ 2 a bushel. Seasonal supply pressures from big harvests in Russia and elsewhere in the Black Sea export region, along with chart-based selling...
*Pravin Rao named interim CEO. BENGALURU/ MUMBAI Aug 18- Vishal Sikka, the chief executive brought in to turn around India's Infosys three years ago, resigned on Friday, blaming a "continuous drumbeat of distractions" and a long-running row with the founders over company strategy. Sikka's resignation spooked investors in India's second-biggest IT services...
*CBOT wheat consolidates but Paris wheat slips again. PARIS/ MANILA, Aug 18- Chicago wheat futures edged higher on Friday to hold above day-earlier contract lows but gains were modest as an expected record Russian harvest kept attention on the size of global supplies. Wheat for December delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.5 percent at $4.42-3/ 4 a bushel...
*COO U.B. Pravin Rao named interim CEO, MD. BENGALURU/ MUMBAI Aug 18- Vishal Sikka, the chief executive brought in to turn around India's Infosys three years ago, resigned suddenly on Friday, blaming a "continuous drumbeat of distractions" and a long-running row with founders over the tech firm's strategy. U.B. Pravin Rao, Infosys' chief operating officer, was named...
The letter was prompted by a Reuters investigation last month that revealed how Philip Morris was deploying marketing tactics in India, some targeting young people, that officials said were illegal. The India unit of Philip Morris International did not respond to questions from Reuters. The health ministry also sent a letter to ITC Ltd, India's leading...
NEW DELHI— The CEO of India- based outsourcing and information technology company Infosys, Vishal Sikka, has resigned following differences with some founders of the company, including N.R. Narayana Murthy. The Infosys board of directors accepted Sikka's resignation and appointed U.B. Pravin Rao as interim CEO and managing director, a company statement said...
*COO U.B. Pravin Rao named interim CEO, MD. Aug 18- Infosys Ltd, in a surprise announcement, said Vishal Sikka has resigned as CEO citing a stream of distractions and disruptions in recent months, pushing down shares of the second-largest Indian IT services firm almost 8 percent on Friday. U.B. Pravin Rao, Infosys' chief operating officer, was named interim managing...
Aug 18- India's No. 2 IT Services company Infosys Ltd said Vishal Sikka had resigned as managing director and chief executive of the company with immediate effect, sending shares tumbling more than 7 percent in early trading on Friday. The founders, who still own 12.75 percent of the firm, had questioned a pay rise granted to Sikka and the size of severance payouts...
LONDON, Aug 17- Emerging stocks sailed higher for a second day and many currencies firmed on Thursday after diminishing U.S. interest rate prospects and political upheaval in Washington hurt the dollar while choppy commodity prices cast a shadow over some markets. In Asia, heavyweights South Korea and Taiwan as well as Chinese mainland stocks rose around half...
Cambodia, like other developing countries, has been casual about tax collection as it promoted economic development. Those singled out by the tax collectors include a long-established English-language newspaper, The Cambodia Daily, two U.S. government-funded radio stations, the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and local human rights groups.
MANILA, Philippines— Officials say the Philippine economy grew 6.5 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, boosted by strong industry, farm recovery and with the services sector rising slower but remaining the main driver of growth. Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said Thursday the government is on track to meet at least the lower to middle...
A burst of global trade has been driving economic growth in many countries, but it isn't clear whether that will continue.
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Aug 16- Saudi Aramco has received bids from international engineering firms to expand the Hawiyah gas plant, industry sources said on Wednesday. They said the companies that submitted their proposals, on Sunday, were: South Korean Samsung Engineering, Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas, Taiwan's CTCI, Italy's Saipem, Britain's Petrofac, India's...
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration has added a Kashmiri militant group fighting to end Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region to several terrorism blacklists., The designation blocks any assets the group may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bars Americans from doing business with it. Its founder, Syed Salahuddin, was designated a terrorist by the U.S. in...
