hello, and welcome to asia business report. i'm mariko oi. we begin our programme in india — where a mega—merger has been reached between the walt disney company and reliance industries. they are combining their india tv and streaming businesses in a $8.5 billion deal. the media unit of reliance, controlled by billionaire mukesh ambani, will own 63% of the new streaming giant, with disney holding the rest. ornando parfitt is the senior news editor of screen international. he says this deal will be an industry disrupter. well they are talking about having a 40% market share — so

obviously a 40% market share of india and the indian diaspora is absolutely huge. these are two huge companies, reliance industries is one of the biggest companies in the world, owned by asia's richest man, mukesh ambani — mixing that with the huge presence that disney has their means it is a huge disrupterfor that disney has their means it is a huge disrupter for that sector, and it'll probably be subject to regulatory approval because of that. turning to the us — where its economy grew at an annual pace of 3.2% from october through december. that figure is less than the commerce department's initial estimate. but consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of us economic activity, grew by 3% in the same period. strong exports also contributed to fourth quarter growth. from the world's biggest economy to the world's fastest—growing economy — india's latest gdp figures later today. —— will be released later today.

its economy experienced an impressive first half of 2023. but its growth is expected to have slowe down in the last three months. —— slowed down. the bbc�*s archana shukla explains. after an impressive first half of the year, economic growth is expected to slow down in the october to december quarter. what is taking it down is uneven weather patterns that have affected agricultural production, and reduced consumption post the festive season. luxury and high—end sales have helped, but vehicle sales, that of tractors, two wheelers and cars, have shown consumption demand moderate in the rural and urban quarters. the government spending which has been a major driver of growth in previous quarters is slowing as the country heads towards national elections. despite that, india will hold onto its ranking as the fastest growing major economy of world

for a third year — a premise on which prime minister narendra modi is seeking a record third term in office this year. india has become an attractive market an alternative to china for global investors. brokerages expect the pace of growth to continue with gdp expected to surpass that of japan in 2027. india is expected to grow at 7% levels, which is resilient in the face of fluctuating inflation. this gives the central bank more incentive to hold on interest rates. china's search engine giant baidu, which is listed in the us, has reported its latest earnings which showed a rise in its quarterly revenue thanks to its generative ai applications doing quite well. it runs the "ernie" bot — china's answer to answer to chatgpt — which is banned in the country. there are already over 80 so—called large—language ai services in china

and the industry is further expanding. let's bring in wei sun, with tech tracker firm so the ernie bought has come to its fourth generation, and it has been acquired within baidu's business capes all over, it's navigation map systems. so that ernie bot is the driving engine for its chat bot that provides news guidance for the road trip or something like that, and also in terms of industrial applications, ernie bought is one of baidu's leverage to get into the vertical industries such as legal, advertisements, marketing, etc.- legal, advertisements, marketing, etc. legal, advertisements, marketin~,etc. . . , marketing, etc. china have been in competition _ marketing, etc. china have been in competition in _ marketing, etc. china have been in competition in many - marketing, etc. china have been in competition in many aspects, | in competition in many aspects, especially in the tech sector, but when it comes to ai, chatgpt is currently banned in china — so where do chinese ai

companies stand with regard to american rivals?— companies stand with regard to american rivals? looking at the generative _ american rivals? looking at the generative ai — american rivals? looking at the generative ai technologies, - generative ai technologies, china is actually lagging us by about 1—2 years. but if we look at the market size, the untapped market and also potential, china is actually very application driven an application specific. so we can see a growing number of potentials and applications already in banning this ai generative technologies all over the vertical markets, from the gaming industry to advertisement, to e—commerce to search engines — there's much more potential and market leverage for such technology. for the last two years, india's tata group has been investing millions of dollars in transforming air india. the conglomerate inherited a tired airline a fleet of old planes and bad debt. air india also faces

challenges, such as a slowing global economy and concerns around boeing planes it has ordered. but the carrier says the investments are paying off. suranjana tewari caught up with air india's chief executive and asked what makes india such a promising market. if you look at the size of the opportunity of india, it's already the world's most populous country, growing fuller from an air travel prospective 7% internationally. it has a geographic advantage the same as the middle east and others in connecting regions of the world together. and it is a hugely underserved market from an indian carrier cosmic perspective. india only had 43 wide areas, where is much smaller countries had multiples of that. so the connectivity opportunity from india to the rest of the world to serve not just the 37 million people in

the diaspora, but business opportunities in india becoming a greater part of the global supply chain as well as international connecting hub of theirs. so i think this investment needs to be seen in context of the broader opportunity. context of the broader opportunity-— context of the broader opportunity. context of the broader ouortuni . ., ., , ., opportunity. your rivals are very established _ opportunity. your rivals are very established and - opportunity. your rivals are very established and carry. opportunity. your rivals are - very established and carry most of the indian traffic — how do you propose to catch up with them and compete? in you propose to catch up with them and compete?- you propose to catch up with them and compete? in the case ofthe them and compete? in the case of the domestic _ them and compete? in the case of the domestic market, - them and compete? in the case of the domestic market, there i of the domestic market, there is consolidation happening. for tahoe group, there's four airlines, and the domestic market will be largely served by the low—cost airline which we are in the process of tripling in size. the international market will be driven by more aircraft but improving the proposition on board and distribution service sales, reliability, reputation in connecting more cities around the world nonstop with india. we think if we do that, we appeal to a new travelling

market, and of course we can then bring people back to fly nonstop to india, rather than suffer a 4—5 hour transit connection somewhere between where they are starting from and where they're going. you've ordered new _ and where they're going. you've ordered new boeing _ and where they're going. you've ordered new boeing max - and where they're going. you've ordered new boeing max jets i and where they're going. you've ordered new boeing max jets - l ordered new boeing maxjets — given everything that's been going on with boeing, are you concerned at all given the size of the order? i concerned at all given the size of the order?— of the order? i think airline safety is — of the order? i think airline safety is a _ of the order? i think airline safety is a long, _ of the order? i think airline safety is a long, hard - of the order? i think airline safety is a long, hard one | safety is a long, hard one battle, so anything that calls into question the robustness of that whole ecosystem is clearly of concern to us. of course we are raising the highest levels with every other manufacturer because our expectations are to operate the most safe airline that we can possibly do. you sa ou that we can possibly do. you say you are _ that we can possibly do. you say you are raising _ that we can possibly do. you say you are raising those concerns — have they given you any extra assurances? concerns - have they given you any extra assurances?- any extra assurances? they clearly keep _ any extra assurances? they clearly keep us _ any extra assurances? they clearly keep us informed i any extra assurances? they clearly keep us informed of|

clearly keep us informed of what they are doing, the actions they're taking, the seriousness with which they approach that issue, but it's not appropriate for me to talk about that. irate not appropriate for me to talk about that-— about that. we are seeing demand — about that. we are seeing demand come _ about that. we are seeing demand come back- about that. we are seeing demand come back after i about that. we are seeing i demand come back after the pandemic, but indian airlines are suffering from pilot shortages and grounded aircraft because of technical faults. how is that affecting air india? ~ ., ., how is that affecting air india? ., ., . _ india? we are not affected by - we don't have _ india? we are not affected by - we don't have any _ india? we are not affected by - we don't have any of— india? we are not affected by - we don't have any of those - we don't have any of those engines in our fleet. we don't have any of those engines in ourfleet. so we don't have any of those engines in our fleet. so with respect to our aircraft coming in, generally they are on track, we've got least aircraft as well as white tail aircraft being produced, those are happening on schedule. aircraft coming off the production line starts towards the end of next calendar year, and at this junction there on schedule, though this industry has a habit of surprising, so we will wait and see. in terms of pilots, we've been able to recruit and train the pilot cohort except for a couple of limited areas where we've been massively increasing our triple

seven fleet for example and being the only triple seven operator in india —— 777, so we've had to recruit from overseas to staff it. the value of bitcoin is soaring — in fact, it's more than doubled over the past four months. it now hit $60,000 for the first time in more than two years. a surge of capital into new us spot bitcoin exchange traded products fuelled a rally that has reached 42% this month. the cryptocurrency was last up 8% at $61,272, its highest and that's it for this edition of asia business report. thanks for watching. bbc news — bringing you different stories from across the uk. every step is going on the right direction. i spent 15 years in manchester. this was not available even when i lived here. i never turned to the mountains for something to do. this area, eryri,

has so much to offer. it's more than just a landscape. to some people, it is a lifeline. it's massive to get people outdoors, to socialise with others who have gone through the same difficulties. over 20 years, rob havelock battled his addictions that destroyed his life. drugs and alcohol led to isolation. i ruined my relationships and they'd gone downhill. after many sober walks he has created sober snowdonia, a walking group of people who've been through similar challenges. i thought i should make it available, it is available to anyone who chooses to do it, but organise walks up the mountain and invite other people suffering with addiction or in recovery, even family members of people struggling. for more stories from across the uk, head

to the bbc news website. hey, i'mjulia with the catch up. tonight — mps' bodyguards, x is underfire, and raye's victory story. but first — prince harry has lost a court case against the government over how much security he gets when it comes to the uk. his security status got a downgrade when he stopped being a working royal. his lawyers said that decision was unfair, and they're going to appeal this latest ruling. eni aluko, the england striker—turned tv pundit, has spoken out against x — that's the app that used to be twitter. she got a wave of abuse when the former footballer joey barton attacked her football commentary. some people were sending racist, sexist, and threatening messages. speaking to the bbc, she said she's reported barton's posts multiple times, but x hadn't taken any action.

online abuse, from somebody who has millions of followers, feels like the world is caving in on you. some other stories now — the safety of some mps is under threat as the outbreak of the war in gaza. they are going to get extra security and some might have bodyguards. in fi, red bull's team principal christian horner has been cleared of inappropriate and controlling behaviour, after an internal investigation. he'd previously denied the allegations. and we'll leave you with ten seconds of raye. # i wanted to feel... yes, she broke records with seven brit nominations in one year — but now she's gone and won best songwriter in an early reveal before the awards show this weekend. that's you all caught up now, have a good night.

hello, and welcome to sportsday with me, will perry. coming up on the programme... a last—minute connor gallagher winnerfor chelsea breaks leeds hearts in the fa cup.

christian horner�*s been cleared after facing allegations of innapropriate and controlling behaviour at red bull. and he hopes to play at the olympics in paris — but could july draw the curtian on andy murray's career? welcome along to the programme. just days after their league cup final misery, chelsea are into the quarter finals of the fa cup, thanks to a 3—2 win at home to championship side leeds. 5live's senior football reporter ian dennis was at stamford bridge. a hard —fought a hard—fought win as chelsea snatched a 90th minute winner to the relief of mauricio pochettino and the stamford bridge crowd. they struggled in the second half and with extra time looming, gallagherfired

time looming, gallagher fired past time looming, gallagherfired past millie a. leeds united were the better side