ENERGY
Australian plants planned
Australian power-sector tycoon Trevor St Baker is to set out plans to build new coal-fired plants under proposals for A$6 billion (US$4.3 billion) of developments with a Chinese joint venture partner, the Australian newspaper reported. St Baker is to submit plans next week to Australian Minister of Energy Angus Taylor, the newspaper reported. The proposals would see a A$3 billion to A$4 billion power plant built in Victoria State, a A$2 billion coal plant installed in New South Wales and A$500 million for a new hydro facility in South Australia.
AUTOMAKERS
VW to pay Indian fine
Volkswagen Group (VW) on Friday said that it would pay a fine of 1 billion rupees (US$14.2 million) imposed by India for installing software on vehicles that allegedly cheated pollution testing devices, though it is still appealing the order. The company said it has challenged the National Green Tribunal’s order in India’s top court. Company spokesman Gagan Mangal declined to say whether the company had transferred the money to India’s Central Pollution Control Board. The company said in a statement that all Volkswagen cars were compliant with emissions regulations in India.
ELECTRONICS
Germany nixes Apple claim
Apple Inc was ordered to stop using part of a press release that claims all iPhones would still be available in Germany through phone companies and resellers after it was banned from distributing several versions of the device in the country. Qualcomm Inc on Thursday obtained a preliminary injunction stopping its rival from using a statement that Apple distributed to the press in response to the initial ruling. The court said Apple’s release was misleading, because the December judgement also ordered Apple to recall the products from resellers.
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney+ to be previewed
Walt Disney Co is to show off its Disney+ streaming service at an April 11 investors’ meeting, providing a peek at a platform that is to challenge Netflix Inc. The service, which is to include original movies and TV shows from Disney’s Marvel, Pixar and other brands, is to debut this year. It will be a third, more family-focused streaming service, on top of Disney’s existing ESPN+ and Hulu, which will soon be majority owned by the Burbank, California-based entertainment giant.
ENTERTAINMENT
Sony ditches R. Kelly
Sony Music has called it quits with singer R. Kelly, ending his contract with subsidiary RCA after a documentary aired accusing him of repeated cases of sexual abuse, media reports said on Friday. While Variety and Billboard reported the breakup, Sony Music did not immediately confirm it when contacted by reporters.
ZIMBABWE
Workers reject raise
Public workers have rejected a second offer to raise their salaries and demanded to be paid in US dollars, days after at least three people died in violent anti-government protests. Hundreds of people were detained on public order charges on Friday. Zimbabweans have seen their purchasing power eroded by soaring inflation, despite adopting the US dollar in 2009.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure