News Headlines - 09 February 2019
▽India unexpectedly cuts key rate, changes stance to neutral | Reuters
India’s central bank on Thursday unexpectedly lowered interest rates and, as anticipated, shifted its stance to “neutral” to boost a slowing economy after a sharp slide in the inflation rate.
The cut is welcome news for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which wants to boost lending and lift growth as it faces elections by May.
▽South Africa to hold presidential election on May 8 | Al Jazeera
South Africa will hold its presidential and parliamentary elections on May 8.
It will be the first vote in the country since the resignation of Jacob Zuma in February last year.
▽'Landslide Vote' For Wider Muslim Self-Rule In Philippines' South - The Organization for World Peace
For nearly three million Filipino Muslims, a new era of autonomy and self-government will soon be realized. Monday’s plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law represents what many hope is the first step towards the resolution of a decades-long conflict between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). As a result of this vote, a new Muslim-led entity known as the Bangsamoro (meaning Moro nation) will be created on the southern island of Mindanao. This territorial establishment has been long awaited, as it was six years ago that the Filipino government signed a peace deal with the MILF, which dropped its bid for independence in return for the right to self-rule, but only six months ago that President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
The government confirmed Friday that it will follow the procedures taken to pick the current era name of Heisei in choosing a name for the new era... The government will announce the name for the new era on April 1, ahead of the start of the new era on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito is set to ascend the throne to succeed his father, Emperor Akihito... The guidelines also say that an era name should have a positive meaning that is appropriate to the people’s ideals, and be written using two kanji characters. The era name should also be easy to read and write, not commonly used and should not have been used in previous era names or in the posthumous names of previous emperors.
▽Renesas to cut 1,000 jobs - NHK WORLD
A major Japanese chipmaker is preparing to slash jobs due to a shrinking domestic market. NHK has learned that Renesas Electronics is in labor union negotiations about the plan.
The company says it intends to cut 1,000 positions by the end of June. That's about five percent of its workforce.
