News Headlines - 29 March 2019
▽Sony's Hirai, Architect of Tech Giant's Turnaround, to Retire - Bloomberg
Sony Corp. Chairman Kazuo Hirai, the architect of a turnaround at the once-dominant Japanese electronics giant, will retire in June after spending more than three decades at the company.
The 58-year-old, who ceded the role of chief executive officer to Kenichiro Yoshida in April 2018, will continue to advise the company after his retirement, Sony said in a statement. Shuzo Sumi of Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. was nominated to become chairman of the board.
Hirai, who took over as CEO from Howard Stringer in 2012, turned the company’s fortunes around by paring back and refocusing its operations. With Yoshida’s support, Hirai sold off the Vaio personal computer business, reshaped the television set unit and pulled the mobile business back from a destructive fight for market share. He also invested heavily in the PlayStation games business and image sensors used in smartphones, now major drivers of the business. Profits hit a record last year as he ceded the CEO role.
▽Honda, Hino join SoftBank-Toyota mobility services venture：The Asahi Shimbun
Japanese technology company SoftBank Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's top automaker, announced late last year a joint venture for mobility services, in what they called a "united Japan" effort to face global competition.
Honda Motor Co., Toyota's rival, and Hino Motors, Toyota's truck division, said Thursday each company will acquire a 9.9 percent stake in the 2 billion yen ($20 million) Toyota-SoftBank venture Monet Technologies Corp.
Each company invests 250 million yen, according to the companies.
The government said Friday it will announce the name of Japan’s forthcoming new era at 11:30 a.m. Monday, and that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make a statement on the decision from noon.
▽India conducted successful anti-satellite missile operation, Prime Minister says - CNN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has successfully conducted an anti-satellite missile test that put the country in a league of global "space powers."
In a national address Wednesday, Modi said India had achieved a "historic feat" by shooting down its own low-orbit satellite with a ground-to-space missile in three minutes.
Only three other countries -- the US, Russia and China -- have the capabilities to use an anti-satellite missile.
▽TASS: Venezuelan parliament set to demand withdrawal of Russian military
Members of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament are set to demand the withdrawal of Russian military from the country, lawmaker Sirit Eliezer told a parliamentary session on Tuesday... The El Comercio newspaper earlier reported that an Antonov An-124 and an Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft carrying Russian troops and 35 tonnes of cargo arrived in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on March 23.
