democracy is underway as india chooses a new government. we will take a look at the impact -- the economic implication. the ultrasound breakthrough that could revolutionize production on earth and in space. we have a special report. cracking down on excess weight. our asia health check looks at another challenge facing china. all that and more on this monday edition of "asia edge." markets,g a nylon the asia-pacific market seeing a bit of a selloff following the decline on wall street. japan has been our most active market today. they are on a lunch break today. hong kong seeing a decline of about one point hi percent today on some of the tech shares and gamy stocks. we will be -- gaming stocks.

we will be tracking those across asia. we see shares in jakarta contained -- continuing again and a similar story in vietnam today. the malaysian ringgit climbing today. rebels in india are making some -- rebels in libya are making some surprising moves. >> as elections kickoff and india, what better way than to launch all this off with a big deal as well. a $4 billion deal as far as generic drugs industry goes. it was a headache for one investor group. so we have another company who is prepared to take on that headache. the discount taking place perhaps because of it. >> last week, ranbaxy rose 26%. today, the ag sankyo which bought it back in 2008 is one of

the for -- one of the few gainers on the naked 225, up 4.5%. so that is clearly a market thumbs-up on this deal. they are selling a $4 billion all-stop bill. all-stock deal. they did not meet standards of the faa -- of the fda. there is an fda cloud hanging over it. daiichi also has the fda hanging over one of its units. ranbaxy already knows about the situation. perhaps that helps ease the path.

it becomes the fifth biggest generic drug maker in the world and the biggest pharma in india. -- a huge population. >> the hope is that they get over those as well. that is exactly what we have in prospect possibly. openlls are beginning to in india 45-week election that some observers say is the most important in more than 30 years. live pictures now as the world's biggest election gets underway. someone in mumbai. a very big day, a very big month in fact. what is at stake? india, aa big day for big day for the world's biggest democracy. voting underway. two seats are at stake in the

eastern part of india. modiattle is between the the party that is trying to get back to office. facing allegations of bribery and corruption and most opinion polls in to suggest that they are likely to be thrown out of office. it will take one and a half months, this election. the magic number is going to be 272. the political formation there reaches 272 will form the new government. it looks like the momentum is clearly with the bjp. >> some criticism about modi. gandhi and his party facing crisis -- facing critics as

well. corruption a key there. what differentiates these two? >> a difficult question. at the core level of economic his partyat become has achieved in terms of reforming the economy is the problem that modi is making. modi has managed to communicate his economic agenda better than the congress party has done. they find themselves in that that because of the innovative -- the inevitability of them indicating what they have done in the past years. and has not displayed any kind of political maturity or communicate the economic vision of the future. havinghile pretty much

the same economic agenda and a track record for the last 10 years, somehow seems to have communicated the message that he means business. the financial markets and the business community seem to have confidence in him, that he will be able to get india's economy out of its funk. it remains to be seen. but what the opinion polls seem to be suggesting and what the announcer markets -- the financial markets are suggesting remain to be seen. thank you so much for that. a task does not give bigger than that. a new government being look for in india. foreign investors already seeming to cast their own vote. indian stocks being the best performing this year.

receptionwhat sort of the financial markets have already given to all of this. >> we always talk about this. markets tend to look ahead. 5%.re looking at returns of oft is really because a lot foreign money has flowed into the indian stock market. close to $5 billion of net inflows year to date. that has pushed up equity prices and the currency. best-performing currency year to date if you compare it to the indonesian rupiah. rupee itselft the -- let's see if we can get that. are dollar-rupee basis, we about at a 60. aok back to summer last year, lot of people were panicking whether there was a floor to the rupee. it hit a record high of 68.

you did see the technical cross where you have the 50-day trading below the 200-day moving average. there has been a lot of pressure as far as the rupee is concerned. the bond markets, 10-year yields, india, it indonesia, u.s., japan, the difference between these, essentially showing the spread. india still at 9%. in the past 30 days or so, you had $360 million being pulled out of the indian bond market pushing those yields two 9%. 9%.oes -- yields to as far as bonds are concerned, that shows the reality that perhaps the jury is still out whether or not the r.b.i can keep inflation in check. it has been good for the stock market. it has been good for the currency so far but the bond markets have yet to budge.

yield.ou go, 9%, 10-year >> the bank of japan has begun its latest two-day policy meeting. the governor and his colleagues are fighting to keep the stimulus program. with japan's recovery still fragile, they may still take further action in the future which. could include more asset purchases. . they could buy bonds as well as exchange traded [indiscernible] . his triptt has begun to japan. is hoping to he make progress on a free-trade agreement. then he goes to china and south korea later in the week. a fraction of twitter as it looks to raise cash in the u.s., hoping to raise $300 million, weibo.

twitter has a market value of $24 billion. it has more than 200 million users. >> let's get back to the markets now with zeb eckert. >> we are down from a two-month high and we snapped eight days of gains across the asia-pacific. performance. some southeast asian markets advancing. these are the key movers at this hour. in jakarta, cross industry groups. in australia, you are seeing some of the mining shares moving. has an upsideng again at 4%. about .4%g kong, lower the move for the hang seng index. focushares very much in today and the benchmark on the

hang seng down for the second day. this is what we have in terms of the decliners. tensent is one of the biggest movers. new world development and galaxy entertainment among the casino shares and property developers that are seeing a bit of downside today. >> what about tech shares? on wall street friday, we saw tech stocks take a nosedive. how are asian tech companies faring today? >> let's take a look at some of those g tech movers we were tracking in the session. tensent today down about 4% today. it is poised voice for the lowest close in two months, falling on that nasdaq decline. we saw a lot of selling pressure on friday as the bull market is over. yahoo! japan reflecting the concern we saw earlier today among the japanese tech stops -- tech stocks, down 3.8%. is slightly higher.

>> later in the program, a look at expansion in china and not in mere economic terms. a growing problem with obesity. next, we've got a pioneer of emerging markets. that is mark mobius right there. our exclusive with him today at "asia edge."

>> welcome back to "asia edge." the world's biggest election has picked up in india. suggest that it would

be the end of congress cost 10-year-old. e. 10-year rol >> it is very unlikely that bjp will get even something close to the 272 to the halfway mark in parliament. that means he will have to share the or the bjp will have to share its mandate with quite a sizable number of smaller parties. that means that there will need to be a significant degree of negotiations over key issues that will have to take place and that can delay and in some cases thwart in some cases policy reforms. >> irrespective of who wins, a stable government is the most important thing. >> there has been a lot of optimism that is being deflected

through the large inflows. what is missing is the participation from domestic investors. i think it will come if we see a stable government by the bjp or any other political, -- clinical party in india. india.tical party in >> the central bank moves have not been enough to ease concerns. governor doing a sort of paul volcker on inflation expectations in india. policy rates are high. notation is coming down but coming down enough for the r.b.i to declare victory and say that they have reduced inflation expectations. we know that that can be painful for the real economy. it turns the currency into a one-way bet. >> we have mark mobius now.

beenext guest has investing in emerging markets for more than four decades. [indiscernible] 800 people going to the polls. it is going to take five weeks. -- 800 million people going to the polls. it is going to take five weeks. it is an amazing feat. what do you think of in india? they still had to see -- they still seem to have this hangover that comes from the nehruvian era. taking the shackles off of that is the biggest problem that this country faces. >> that's true but india has done it in various stages, taking the shackles off. that is why modi is a front runner.

many have seen what he has done in his state and say they want that. the problem is not the center. not making reforms that have to be made. that is why they are in deep trouble. congress is in deep trouble because of this. people used to say the only time the prime minister spoke was when he went to the dentist. that is to say you can open your mouth now because no one is watching. this is the situation you have what this congress. they have not moved enough to make the reforms needed and desired by the people in the country. >> you've got lots of people on the ground. are they saying that regime change, if we get modi in a leadership position, is that going to be a good thing? >> a good thing. reform, less corruption, more access in terms of inviting --

in there -- the barriers to investing in india are tremendous by foreign investors. [indiscernible] >> exactly. we really have to differentiate. our company has over a thousand people in india working for us. what does that mean? it means the state where we are located is traveling to our investing and has been very helpful. on a national level, you have to make this appear the same way. >> what are the challenges that india faces? >> the first challenges reform. a reduction in the bureaucracy. reduction in the barriers to investing. that is number one. the second is education. raise theo educational level of all of the population. of course, you've got some terrific universities.

you've got some very well trained, educated people. but this has to spread throughout the country. >> what are the picture like in india? >> the ones related to brain power. all of these companies that are using the brainpower of that segment of the population that has been well-educated and exported. they are insulated from all the barriers that you have throughout industries in india. for example, in mining, lots of barriers, lots of problems. we are focusing on those companies that can separate themselves from the problems you have in india. a big day for india coming elections come a big deal. ranbaxy run by daiichi sankyo in there as well. >> the pharmaceutical industry in india has this incredible

brainpower. and lots of patience on widget tester of. that is a very -- on which it test drove. that is a very expensive operation. problem is quality control. the fda has continuously been looking at the way they manufacture, whether the sanitary conditions are good enough. this is where india has to upgrade and continuously look at quality control. i think that is the barrier they have. with the japanese and there, that may be a very good mood -- move. japanese, that the with an emphasis on quality, will help the indians were in that respect. -- indians in that respect. >> we will get a lot more from our exclusive interview with mark mobius after this short break.

>> let's get back to our guest, mark mobius. he oversees nearly $50 billion. let's talk about russia. pped your bed in the fourth quarter. >> when looking at ukraine, they

have two parties that can help them. the europeans are the russians. either one of them will have to pay the bills. something you have to consider. but if you look at the whole situation in ukraine, what it is doing now is waking up nato and it is waking up europe. that they have to become more active and more unified. the implications of that will be very far-reaching going forward. the amount of investments going into eastern europe will be accelerated. the amount of distance spending in these countries will be accelerated. that will have an impact on what has happened. reform. >> did it surprise you what was happening in the ukraine? we just saw the russian markets take a hit. but it's pretty sanguine here. i we taking things too lightly when we talk about geopolitical issues? >> no question about it.

we have to be very aware of the geopolitical issues. then you have to look at what is happening in each of these individual countries. for example, georgia. now you have a leader in georgia who is a billionaire, mostly money made in russia. he understands russia. he knows that he has to have an accommodation with russia. but at the same time, he clearly states we are european. we want to be part of europe. >> stick with us. [indiscernible] the reopened coming up in a couple of minutes from now.

>> concession for the students in taiwan out are occupying the legislature for weeks. it is man versus machine. tell yoda turns back the clock to stay ahead. first worldons' problems, the battle of the bulge. >> a bit of a drag here. a negative follow-through from new york. eight straight days of declines. advances coming to a halt for the regional index.

let's have a quick look at what is happening. singapore off at the moment. snap its longest rally so far this year. japan should be just about. start for its afternoon session. down .3%. is let's get back to our exclusive interview with mark mobius. he oversees nearly $50 billion. we were just talking about russia and u.s. sanctions. you are on the board of luke oil. >> there will be implications, no question about it. this is a totally private company. it does not have government ownership. in russia, you have this balance between state-owned enterprises and totally private enterprises. the question is how will these -- this balance out?

>> you have shareholders within your company. that can cause all sorts of problems for you. >> exactly. the good news is that the major shareholders are not on the list. they are very well thought of in the west and they are not on that list. so far, so good. >> let's talk about china. you recently said it was not a good idea for msci to include shares on the index. they are taking the pulse in the measure of a lot investors but yours is a very important. voice. why don't you like a shares? >> put them in the index where must investors who cannot buy those shares because of the various restrictions the chinese have, that does not make sense. wheredex has got to be people can trade and people can buy and sell stocks. >> are we putting the cart before the horse because

eventually perhaps it will be all free and clear for everyone? >> we hope. >> but this is an important first step. >> not really. what you are doing is the tailwagging the dog. you are saying that you will put the a shares in there and hopefully china will make the changes and pressure the chinese to make these changes. but that doesn't make sense for indexes. >> let's talk about one thing. ask what do you like in china and they say health care and i think that must be the most crowded trade ever. we are getting more and more demand for these stocks. and alibaba shares in the u.s.. we have tencent in the mix as well. would you buy alibaba? in principle? >> no. i am worried about the corporate governance issues.

the fact that they would not go into all come because of the control issue. that concerns -- concerns me a lot. i would by other internet stocks in china. for example, we do have tencent in our portfolios. will a big field and china be more and more techno-oriented, more internet-oriented. internet shopping is a global phenomenon and it is growing fast. >> alibaba was one of those. >> alibaba is one of the greatest ones. but corporate governance is an issue. >> what about frontier markets? what do you like? >> we are very big on nigeria. nigeria is growing at a very fast paced. -- fast pace. >> you have like kenya and nigeria for a while. >> yes. vietnam is a very good value but liquidity is not very good.

but most important of all is the middle east. you have said he arrayed you with lots of well-run mps, very cheap. well-run companies, very cheap. and dubai. >> that is not a frontier market as such. >> during the time that we started emerging markets, the middle east countries were oil-rich countries and were not included in the index. the time around, ok, now is time to inject them in because they are very good countries. but you're right come in terms of per capita income, much, much higher than any other frontier market. >> we can't wait to see you next time and see what you like. if it is still kenya and nigeria and dubai as well. thank you for dropping by our hong kong studios. >> we are going to look at the search for the missing malaysian airline, focusing on a stretch of ocean northwest of perth. we had three separate audio single is detected. they are being called acoustic

events. what do we know? >> yes, that's right, acoustic events following on from this yet-to-be-identified debris field. thell began on friday when chinese ship detected what appeared to be pings. it only recorded 90 seconds worth. but crucially it was broadcast on a 37.5 kilohertz which is used in image it's was early for black boxes. so the frequency was spot on and then the same ship the tech did the same signal on saturday -- ship detected the same signal on saturday. it is the chinese detection that is generating all of the attention. ship hms echo is in

the area and has more specialized equipment to be able to track what the ping was. what we have is an encouraging lead. research chief angus chieftain is still urging caution. this is an encouraging lead but one which i urge you to continue to treat hair fully. we are working in a very big ocean and within a very large search area. so far, since the aircraft went missing. we have had very few leads which allow us to narrow the search area. >> the other issue here is that detected -- the pings were fleeting. and it is difficult to determine where it was coming from because the ocean is full of all sorts of other noises. the topography is not flat. so what we have here is an

encouraging lead and a little more than that. we have a window don't way as to how long these batteries last. that window is getting smaller and smaller. how long do we have? looking at -- it could be today that they stop singing. >> it could be. that window may be shut already. the batteries on the flight recorders is meant to last 30 days. this is day 30. but of course, battery seven and to run for longer. there are estimates that they could remain usable for another eight to 10 days in which case the lack box will continue to send out those pings. but if the batteries do die in the near future, what is already an extreme the difficult job will be company much impossible. >> thank you. week.has dragged on for a the tensions between students

and lawmakers in taiwan have remained high. there is a minor breakthrough. know?hat do we >> good morning. yesterday in taipei, for the first time since this protest almost three weeks ago, for the first time the speaker of the legislature went back to the legislature, his place of business or to speak, and met with the students. almost three weeks ago, the students stormed the legislative chamber and have been occupying it ever since. they are inside the chamber holding a captive and they have demands. the the man's broiled down simply to they want an oversight law passed by the legislature that would give oversight -- an oversight mechanism on future deals with china. then, after that is passed, they will agree to having the current trade services pact with china

be reviewed and maybe but through the legislature as well. so they want the oversight lobby for the review. that is basically the slogan. went down and met the students yesterday and agreed in principle that that should be the way forward. but the problem for the ruling kmt is another lawmaker, the caucus head who came out and said he was shocked. he was surprised by the other lawmaker. they did not agree with what he had agreed to in principle. so we have a cleavage, a divide in the ruling kmt. boils down to the president of the kmt and the president of taiwan versus the speaker. they are members of the same party but are not friends at all. one was almost ousted from the party last year in a move that found him instigated.

so this shows cleavage within the ruling party now. >> this very controversial decision and also very controversial relationship. so we've got the students and a lot of people in taiwan kind of stepping back and measuring this deal. but this decision to put that trade deal on hold doesn't sit well with everyone. certainly business people taiwan want the trade deal to go through. various businesspeople have come out and said we need to push it through. and to the students -- not just students, many taiwanese come a couple hundred thousand people turned out in taipei basically supporting the students and against the trade deal going to so quickly. they were not just students. they were average joe blow taiwanese out on the streets. you got a group of average taiwanese thinking we need to slow down on these trade deals

and then you have business deals saying we need to go ahead. this is important for the future, an important part of economic policy. that is pretty much the divide we are seeing right now those for and those against this free-trade deal with china. >> thank you so much. $19 billion, the bank turning back the clock to stay ahead of the field. >>. it is called craftsmanship. they are looking to humans for their skills. the head of technical engineering explains why people are so crucial. >> i have been working at the toyota factory floor for 50 years. automation take away the opportunity from engineers and factory workers to acquire

sophisticated skills. learning to make parts by hand allows engineers to perfect the procedure in the system. even using the automated system, workers can address the issue of how to fix the problem. they can also come up with ideas to improve procedure if they know the details. most of all, we can save cost by reducing waste and be more productive. times,ging craftsmanship. words of wisdom or scaremongering? >> we will discuss that and all of today's top stories when "asia edge" returns.

news,key rooney, breaking has died at the age of 93. >> in countless films --

>> 200 west film credits. judy garland, elizabeth taylor, america's favorite boy actor turned into america's favorite grandpa. >> called the greatest actor of all of them. >> a beloved man. >> on that rather depressing note, we have john david and andrew ferris. >> very depressing. >> andrew, the legacy of congress party not so great here. we have 10 years of the congress party. they probably are not going to make it. >> what i am really waiting is the bjp bringing out the electoral proposals today as we talk. >> are they actually voting

today? >> yes, they are voting today. the rumors are that it will be a lot of infrastructure, a complete review. i am really keeping my fingers crossed. >> from an investment perspective, don't get involved. wait until it is all over with and the dust settles. >> yes, exactly. even if they come with a really good electoral set of proposals -- it is very important for india. if that is the kid, in other words come infrastructure and subsidies and the opening up the economy is on the top of the agenda, that is fantastic. the other thing is whether they will have a workable coalition. ,f they have a weak coalition then half of it -- question we met at >> we may have to wait a -- we may have to

wait a month after. >> they need something like 252 seats and they have something like 146 shorter. if the size of the coalition gets smaller and smaller come aid is less likely they will have an agreement. optimistic.e if the rumors are true as to what they are planning to move forward, that is good news. after four years after -- after four years of being expelled from the bond market, employment is that unemployment is at 27%. >> the sovereigns are coming in.

off and pay as bank have done very well. >> [indiscernible] is it a big step forward? >> i think so for two reasons. one reason that has been there and it has been in the news and i thought this was absolutely brilliant. five years spanish bonds trading at lower interest rates than five-year u.s. bonds. ? what you have it right. i think it is absolutely fantastic. corporate greeks have already been in. >> bottom line, a lot of problems. >> i'm not quite sure it is a lot problems. as long as they can actually prove that they are fanning out

in the market, that makes it a lot easier. >> what sort of coupon will they have to have on this? >> i'm trying to think if it is a two-year or a five. they are doing a five-year. the last ones were about eight. i do not imagine they will be able to get away with less than five or six. is this a cover-up that they say they will not give greece anymore money? so they have to go to bond markets to raise money? >> that is not quite accurate. fact the greeks know that if they are going to ask for more imf condition is that they have to be funding themselves out of markets. so that is a very important step to have it at the background should, in two years time or a years time, for whatever reason, they need more.

look, we are already raising money. so you see how far we have moved. >> look at the spanish yields. --does not seem to be under seem to be reflecting the underlying risk. thes traders looking for ecb? happens, we are not going to have another sovereign crisis. the fact that drug he is saying, well, we don't know what kind of stuff, and the fact that the americans -- again, they are paring, but they have the interest rates next zero until 2015. and allthe rest of 2014 of 2015. it is the same law. >> if you are going to do

stimulus, how about stimulus for japan? >> they are meeting on tuesday. they will not move interest rates >>? the sales tax increase? they have to offset that somehow. >> yes, they are offsetting this because they are spending more money. there is a fiscal trade-off. >> and deliver some of the corporate taxes as well. >> yes. if they double the amount of money they put in -- they are doubling the amount of money in certain classes. they say we are going to buy a more. in other words, we are moving a little bit away from pure government bonds. we cannot and should not forget -- >> [indiscernible] because japan has

a substantial still surplus and no, because most of the disco deficit come -- the fiscal deficit is domestically founded. nearly one third of the government debt is held by foreigners, in particular china. we see these differentiating factors again. >> good to see you. >> thank you for asking me questions about grace. good -- about grace. -- bout greece. good idea.

>> today, we are looking at china and the looming problems facing operation. it is a story of expansion but of the waste, not the economy.

economy andowing easy access to good food has led to fast-growing waistlines in china over the past two decades. about 10% of over 18 were classified as obese in 2010. the number is increasing rapidly. our obesity ratio is not as high as europe and the u.s. we have a far larger population base and a rate of increase is very fast. we record an annual increase of 4% of overweight and numeral my -- and 9% fore the clinically obese. china spent $330 million turn to get the nation moving last year. some friends of mine are getting cerebral thrombosis and

hemorrhages when they are only in their mid 30's. ismade me realize that it easy for overweight guys like us to get these diseases. that is why i am here, to reduce my weight. >> living conditions are better. people are even better than before but are not selective enough about eating food. they stuff all kinds of delicious food into their mouths and have become fond of eating. this has tremendously increased the burden on our bodies. obesity-related diseases are soaring on china and putting a strain on the health system. but public policy and health campaigns can change eating habits. introduced strict trends intake -- trans fat intake programs. they bit of a rally for

daiichi. targeting ranbaxy and sun pharma. >> we will see you hopefully tomorrow.

>> the following is a paid program. the opinions and views expressed do not reflect the views of bloomberg lp, its affiliates, or its employees. ♪ >> the following is a paid presentation. youfocus t-25, brought to by beach body. >> it is about time. >> the number one reason people are not working out is they don't have time. >> i have four kids. i work 60 or 70 hours a week. foi don't want to work out