Business

29 July 2020; MEMO: German clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company CureVac said Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has taken an undisclosed stake in the firm as part of a $126 million financing round, the latest high-profile investor to come onboard ahead of a potential stock market listing, Reuters reports.

The State Fund of the Emirate of Qatar is the third major investor to enter CureVac within weeks of GSK and the German government agreeing to participate in mid-June.

Hong Kong, Jul 29 (AP/PTI) Hong Kong's economy shrank by 9% from a year earlier in the latest quarter, hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and facing more potential damage from the loss of US trade privileges due to a security law imposed by Beijing.

The performance reported Wednesday for the three months ending in June was an improvement over the previous quarter's 9.1% contraction, the biggest since the government began reporting such data in the 1970s.

New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI) Amid speculation that the 44 Vande Bharat trains scheduled to hit the tracks by 2022 will be delayed, the Railways on Tuesday said the train sets will now be manufactured by not one but three railway units and will be on the rail network within the next three years.

Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav on Tuesday said the trains will be simultaneously manufactured in three rail units -- the Railway Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareilly and the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) The arrival of five Rafale jets will make the Indian Air Force much stronger to deter any threat facing India and those wanting to threaten the country's territorial integrity should be worried about its new capability, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday.

The remarks are largely seen as a veiled message to China with whom India is locked in a bitter border row in eastern Ladakh. China has significantly enhanced deployment of its fighter jets and other aerial assets around its key bases in the region.

28 July 2020; MEMO: Oman has cancelled a major project with the United Arab Emirates worth billions of dollars, Arab sources have reported, highlighting the growing tension between the two countries. Oman’s new Sultan, Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said, is said to have issued an order to reduce Abu Dhabi’s grip on his country’s affairs.

28 July 2020; MEMO: Libyan air carriers resumed flights on Sunday after a four-month halt in operations as part of measures taken to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Misrata International Airport said that the first flight by the private airline Libyan Wings took off in line with guidelines prepared by the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority, according to Anadolu Agency. The second plane to take off was for the Libyan state-owned Afriqiyah Airways.

28 July 2020; MEMO: The Egyptian army is set to receive its first Sukhoi Su-35 air-superiority fighters as pictures were captured of the Russian jets on a flight on their way to Egypt.

Five of the Sukhoi Su-35 Flankers, which are now owned by the Egyptian Air Force, were seen headed to Egypt. They are given numbers between 9210 and 9214, according to the RT’s Arabic-language news site.

New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) India and Indonesia on Monday agreed to expand strategic cooperation in a range of areas including defence industries and technology sharing, as the two maritime neighbours looked at injecting a new momentum to their security partnership.

The possible areas of further expansion of defence and military ties were discussed during talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Indonesian counterpart General Prabowo Subianto, officials said.

Thiruvananthapuram, July 27 (PTI) The Kerala government on Monday said a complete lockdown was not a solution to halt the spread of coronavirus but containment measures in affected areas will be further strengthened as the state's infection tally touched 19,727 with 702 fresh cases.

A special cabinet meeting held on Monday decided not to go in for a total lockdown in the state, a line suggested at the all-party meeting last week, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Jammu, Jul 27 (PTI) The much-awaited Jammu ropeway project, aimed at boosting tourism in the winter capital of the Union territory, has been launched by Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu on Monday that has brought a smile on the faces of the people of Jammu.

Planned back in 1995, the project faced dozens of delays in its start, execution and date of completion but the people of Jammu feel are now happy that a prestigious project has seen the light of day after 25 years.