大象传媒

India has announced a long term plan to cut carbon pollution by a third within 15 years. Sanjay Vashist, a director of Climate Action Network South Asia, tells us whether the government has made a credible case for a greener future. Many might wonder if there any economic risks in these commitments. We get the view of Kilbinder Dosanjh, from the Eurasia Group.

Tests carried out on behalf of the 大象传媒 have shown that two popular diesel powered cars produced significantly higher emissions of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, on the road than they did during the official laboratory tests that manufacturers rely on, and that are standard across Europe. In response to our findings, the government has reiterated calls for official testing procedures to be changed. The tests were carried out by Emissions Analytics, a well-regarded independent firm which specialises in producing real-world fuel consumption and emissions data for vehicles. The two cars chosen were a 2013 Volkswagen Passat and a 2015 Ford Focus. Ford has emphasised that the Focus meets all applicable emissions requirements and does not have a so-called 'defeat device'. VW has declined to comment.

Amazon has decided to stop selling Apple TV or Google Chromecast, rivals to its own streaming service. But is the online retailer going too far, by no longer selling competing products? Carolina Milanesi of Kantar World Panel in Silicon Valley is not impressed. We also hear from Dan Rayburn, principal analyst at Frost and Sullivan in New York.

Earlier this year, the New York Times published an investigative article about nail salon workers who were underpaid and exploited by their employers. Many of those salons are Asian, and the newspaper alleged there was even ethnic bias in some places. In New York City, where an $8 manicure is cheaper than lunch, the story touched a nerve. The state governor, Andrew Cuomo, responded by creating a task force to look into the nail salon industry and he proposed new regulations to improve salon workers' rights. The 大象传媒's Golda Arthur reports from New York City.

At the end of a busy week for the 大象传媒's Business News Team we review some of the developments that dominated the agenda, such as Royal Dutch Shell giving up drilling for oil in the Arctic, plus Google and Microsoft finally burying the hatchet on their long running series of legal battles over patent rights. We are joined by Cassell Bryan-Low, from the Wall Street Journal in London and Sujeet Indap, a US editor with the Financial Times.

(Picture: Factories in India. Copyright; Getty Images.)