■ Energy
Seven-Eleven in power deal
Seven-Eleven Japan Co will start buying electricity from Mitsui & Co this month to cut power costs by 5 percent, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. Mitsui's first such sale in Japan follows a reduction last month in electricity market restrictions by the government, the paper said, without saying where it got the information. The company wants to expand sales to other group businesses of Ito-Yokado Co, Seven-Eleven Japan's parent company, the report said. Ito-Yokado group pays more than ¥52 billion (US$497 million) for electricity a year, it said.
■ Auto Industry
Volkswagen plans new plant
German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen AG will set up a US$900 million car manufacturing facility in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state, newspapers reported yesterday. "There is no need for any speculation ... it is decided by the company that it will set up [the unit] at Vishakhapatnam" town, Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister B. Satyanarayana was quoted as saying by The Financial Express newspaper. He said details on the project schedules would be announced by the company. Satyanarayana said the facility would be spread across 141 hectares and generate up to 10,000 jobs, The Hindu newspaper reported.
■ Auto Industry
GM under pressure
The board at General Motors Corp, the world's largest automaker, meets today as the company faces pressure to restructure its North American operations and questions over what to do about its dividend, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's recent purchases of shares may accelerate moves to bring GM's North American production capacity more in line with sales, the newspaper said, citing analysts. Kerkorian's interest makes a dividend cut less likely because that would prompt shareholder activism, Bernstein Research analyst Brian Johnson told the Financial Times. Instead, the company may look to cut more from its businesses, the analyst said.
■ Retail
Food boosts Wal-Mart sales
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, said sales for this month at US stores open at least a year are rising within its forecast, buoyed by food purchases. The company has said it expects same-store sales gains of 2 percent to 4 percent for this month. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company updated results through yesterday in a recorded call last week. Shoppers bought more food than general merchandise this week, the company said. Sales last month rose 0.9 percent, the smallest gain in five months, as soaring gasoline prices crimped spending. Sales of food have outpaced general merchandise in 14 of the past 17 weeks.
■ Telecoms
Merger review procedes
The US government review of Verizon Communications Inc's planned US$8.44 billion acquisition of MCI Inc is proceeding at a "good pace," with approval expected by year-end, Verizon's top regulatory official said. "We think that our transaction is relatively easy" for governments to approve, Executive Vice President Thomas Tauke told investors at a Morgan Stanley conference in Washington last week. About 10 states "present some difficulty," he said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft