South Korean President Park Geun-hye warns against broadcasting market monopoly; “I urge broadcasting regulators to ensure that the industry will not fall into the hands of a handful of conglomerates.”

Park warns against broadcasting market monopoly

Lee Jae-cheol

2014.02.17 17:43:16

South Korean President Park Geun-hye noted Monday, “I urge broadcasting regulators to ensure that the industry will not fall into the hands of a handful of conglomerates.”
President Park said at the policy briefing by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and Korea Communications Commission “conglomerates, which set their foot in the broadcasting market, are expanding their presence via vertical integration including increasing their broadcasting channel.”  Read more of this post

The Korean government plans to announce a set of comprehensive measures to curb mounting household debt, the main drag on the South Korean economy, next week

Gov’t to announce measures to curb mounting household debt

Chun Beom-joo, Lee Hyun-jung

2014.02.18 17:46:24

The government plans to announce a set of comprehensive measures to curb mounting household debt, the main drag on the South Korean economy, next week. The measures, to be drawn up by the Finance Ministry and Financial Services Commission, are expected to include limiting loans to those who are seeking to live in high-priced rental homes with debt and reducing the size of housing mortgage loans. The government is also likely to encourage banks to increase the ratio of fixed-rate lending, limit lending by secondary financial institutions and expand support for the financially disadvantaged brackets.  Read more of this post

The South Korean state-run companies markedly cut back on their spending after the government’s plan to normalize their operations

S. Korean state-run companies tighten belt

Shin Hyun-gyu

2014.02.17 14:59:40

The South Korean state-run companies markedly cut back on their spending after the government’s plan to normalize their operations. Their earnings also posted steep rises on the back of utility rate hikes including electricity bill.  Read more of this post

ATV executive director Louie King-bun hit back at disgruntled television audiences and told them to “use their brains” after social activist Lui Yuk-lin threw “hell money” outside the venue

ATV boss tells furious viewers to use brains
Kelly Ip
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
ATV executive director Louie King-bun hit back at disgruntled television audiences and told them to “use their brains.”

In the first public hearing on the license renewals of TVB and ATV at City Hall in Central, many participants urged the government not to renew ATV’s license as its programs are mostly reruns and lack quality. Read more of this post

For India’s railway children, a dangerous life by the tracks

For India’s railway children, a dangerous life by the tracks

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 – 14:11

Reuters

NEW DELHI – The young boys huddled over a fire between two tracks just beyond the platforms of New Delhi railway station, oblivious to the trains rolling past. They were trying to boil some water to make tea.

One, a grime-encrusted urchin wearing a filthy baseball cap at a jaunty angle, said this was their home. He had run away after his mother died and he could take no more beatings from his alcoholic father. Read more of this post

Gold smuggling in India to accelerate if import curbs stay

Updated: Tuesday February 18, 2014 MYT 2:56:44 PM

Gold smuggling in India to accelerate if import curbs stay

MUMBAI/SINGAPORE: Gold demand in India is expected to be robust in 2014, likely leading to a further jump in smuggling if curbs on bullion imports remain, the World Gold Council (WGC) said.

Indian gold consumption is expected to be 900-1,000 tonnes in 2014 on strong jewellery and investment purchases, according to the WGC, still slightly behind top buyer China, whose demand is expected to be 1,000-1,100 tonnes. Read more of this post

Housing cost of monthly tenants outstrips homeowners’ for first time in Seoul metro area

Housing cost of monthly tenants outstrips homeowners’ for first time in Seoul metro area

2014.02.18 16:28:00

South Korea’s housing cost of tenants paying monthly rents surpassed that of homeowners for apartments in Seoul and the surrounding areas for the first time, as monthly rents have risen while interest rates fell, according to a survey.
As the real estate market shows clearer signs of recovery, the increasing burden on tenants and reducing burden on purchasing houses are forecast to drive up the demand for buying home. Read more of this post

Justice never sleeps, literally; Judges’ grueling work hours ― key to how Korean courts handle heavy workload

2014-02-17 18:10

Justice never sleeps, literally

Judges’ grueling work hours ― key to how Korean courts handle heavy workload
By Kim Da-ye
More than 6 million lawsuits are filed every year across all courts in Korea, which together employ some 2,500 judges.
The Korean Supreme Court received 35,777 new cases and handled more than 36,200 in 2012. Although data for direct comparison isn’t available, over 7,700 cases were filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2011 term ending in October 2012. Seventy-nine cases were argued and 73 were disposed. Read more of this post

TWG founder in tussle with major shareholder OSIM

TWG founder in tussle with major shareholder OSIM

POSTED: 17 Feb 2014 19:55
The founder of luxury tea company TWG has filed a lawsuit against majority shareholder OSIM International.

SINGAPORE : The founder of luxury tea company TWG has filed a lawsuit against majority shareholder OSIM International, alleging that the Singapore lifestyle firm and some of its directors had conspired to dilute his stake in the firm he had built up.
Manoj Murjani and his company The Wellness Group have asked the Singapore High Court  to reverse recent corporate developments at TWG Tea Company that had resulted in OSIM raising its stake in TWG Tea to 70 percent from 53.7 percent.
Besides OSIM, Murjani is also suing several individuals including OSIM founder Ron Sim and TWG Tea’s other founder Taha Bou Qdib.
OSIM acknowledged receipt of the lawsuit on Monday but said the allegations were “unmeritorious and groundless”. Read more of this post

432 Vietnamese SOEs set to conclude equitization by 2015

432 Vietnamese SOEs set to conclude equitization by 2015

HANOI, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) — Vietnam has set to conclude equitization of 432 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by 2015, said a government official.

Pham Viet Muon, deputy head of the Permanent Steering Committee for Innovation and Enterprise Development of Vietnam, said at a conference on implementing tasks of SOEs restructuring during 2014- 2015 period in capital Hanoi on Tuesday that the country must speed up equitizing SOEs in the coming two years as the number of SOEs finishing equitization remained low after three years of implementation. Read more of this post

The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will become the Republic’s fifth autonomous university after Parliament passed a Bill on Monday.

SIT to be Singapore’s fifth autonomous university

By Leong Wai Kit 
POSTED: 17 Feb 2014 23:35
The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will become the Republic’s fifth autonomous university after Parliament passed a Bill on Monday.

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will become the Republic’s fifth autonomous university.

This comes after Parliament on Monday passed a Bill that Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat said gives more young Singaporeans a wider choice in pursuing a degree here. Read more of this post

Ruling May Curb Lawyers’ Mobility; Partners at struggling law firms may find it harder to jump ship after a new ruling increased the risk of lawsuits against firms that hire them.

Ruling May Curb Mobility of Lawyers at Struggling Firms

Judge’s Ruling Raises Risk of Suits Against New Employers

JENNIFER SMITH

Feb. 17, 2014 7:19 p.m. ET

Partners at struggling law firms may find it harder to jump ship in the future after a new ruling raised the risk of lawsuits against the firms that hire them.

Firms that hire lawyers from bankrupt law firms have long been subject to “unfinished business” claims, which seek to recover profits from ongoing legal work that partners take with them to their new homes. Such claims have typically been confined to firms that take on lawyers once a firm has shut down, under the theory that pending matters are assets that rightfully belong to the failed firm. Read more of this post

Big IPOs Don’t Mean Big Gains in China

February 17, 2014, 9:59 a.m. ET

Big IPOs Don’t Mean Big Gains in China

China’s newly reopened initial public offering market shows that large deals don’t necessarily lead to big gains for investors.

Although all 45 companies that have listed in China since its securities regulator ended a more than yearlong moratorium on IPOs in late December are trading above their listing prices, it is companies in the consumption and information-technology sectors championed by Beijing, or those that were priced cheaply, that are posting the sharpest gains. Read more of this post

Time to change the narrative about nation building in Singapore

Time to change the narrative about nation building in Singapore

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 – 09:00

Tham Yuen-c

Singapolitics

The tale of how modern, independent Singapore was built is one familiar to most Singaporeans.

It starts with the country being thrust into statehood in 1965, after a brief flirtation with the Federation of Malaysia ended in a painful split. And it continues with the young Republic’s transformation from rags to riches.

At the centre of the story is the first generation of leaders, including founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his key lieutenants like Dr Goh Keng Swee, Mr S. Rajaratnam and others. Read more of this post

JB folk cash in with ‘illegal rooms’

JB folk cash in with ‘illegal rooms’

Monday, February 17, 2014 – 11:45

New Straits Times

JOHOR BAHRU – Some unscrupulous homeowners in Johor Bahru have been caught extending and renovating their houses illegally to build more rooms to be rented out.

There are cases where three-room single-storey semi-detached houses were transformed into double- storey units with 24 rooms in each unit. Read more of this post

Run on Thai Bank Linked to Rice Subsidy Points to Strain on Economy

Run on Thai Bank Linked to Rice Subsidy Points to Strain on Economy

Government Says Protests Will Cause Economy to Slow in Months to Come

WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN and NOPPARAT CHAICHALEARMMONGKOL

Updated Feb. 17, 2014 12:03 p.m. ET

BANGKOK—Depositors have withdrawn nearly $1 billion from a bank linked to a foundering rice-subsidy program, the bank said Monday, in one of the first signs that Thailand’s months-old political stalemate is starting to affect the economy. Read more of this post

China Folds On Reforms – Bails Out 2nd Shadow-Banking Default After “Last Drop Of Blood” Threats

China Folds On Reforms – Bails Out 2nd Shadow-Banking Default After “Last Drop Of Blood” Threats

Tyler Durden on 02/17/2014 14:20 -0500

As we showed over the weekend, it is abundantly clear that for all the talk of reform, Chinese authorities have found the gap between words and deeds uncrossable. First, Chinese authorities bailed out the relatively small CEG#1 Trust (for fear of contagion); second, the PBOC injects CNY 375 bn into short-term repo to save banks from a liquidity crisis at year-end; third, total social financing rose by the largest amount on record in January (despite all the talk of deleveraging following the Plenum); and now, fourth, thanks to a CNY 2bn loan (to an entirely insolvent coal company), Chinese authorities have bailed out a 2nd wealth-management product – this time even smaller. Read more of this post