Business

Mumbai, May 8 (PTI) Air India employee unions have moved the Bombay High Court against the airline's decision to slash allowances, which form a major part of salary, by ten per cent because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Air India Aircraft Engineers Association, All India Service Engineers Association and Indian Pilots Guild filed a writ petition in the high court earlier this week against the national carrier and its subsidiary Air India Engineering Services Ltd.

SYDNEY, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Australia’s government on Friday unveiled a three-stage plan to get the economy back to a new “COVID-safe” normal by the end of July.

Federal authorities have left details of the plan’s implementation up to the country’s diverse states and territories, meaning coronavirus restrictions will remain in place for weeks or months longer in areas hardest hit by the disease.

JERUSALEM, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israel said it will lease drones to Greece to defend its borders, in the first military deal between the two countries which includes an option to buy the system.

The Israeli Defence Ministry said that the agreement with the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence was signed digitally due to the coronavirus crisis.

Under the deal, Israel’s Defence Ministry will lease the Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, made by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries for three years.

LONDON, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Bank of England has warned that the coronavirus pandemic will push the UK economy towards its deepest recession on record.

It said the economy was on course to shrink 14% this year, based on the lockdown being relaxed in June.

Scenarios drawn up by the Bank to illustrate the economic impact said Covid-19 was “dramatically reducing jobs and incomes in the UK”.

Policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.1%.

7 May 2020; MEMO: Bahrain has received $4.57 billion in urgent financial aid from its Gulf Arab neighbours as part of a support package approved in 2018, a government document revealed.

According to the document Bahrain’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to $3.7 billion at the end of December 2019.

The government is expected to withdraw another $1.76 billion from the Gulf support package this year.

New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is on the verge of collapse and urged major industries to release the outstanding dues to such companies within a month.

He said the position of MSMEs was "worst" as they were now engaged in a "battle for their survival".

Lucknow, May 7 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has lifted its ban on 'paan masala' which does not contain nicotine and tobacco, according to an official order issued here.

"The ban on manufacturing and sale of 'paan masala' imposed on March 25 has been lifted," Commissioner Food Security and Drug administration Anita Singh said in the order issued on Wednesday.

KUCHING, May 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has identified 101 projects worth RM16.828 billion on which works have continued during the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) period.

Its chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said of the total, 42 projects costing about RM16.6 billion involved allocations from the state government, federal government, people’s projects and alternative fund.

NEW DELHI, May 7 (NNN-PTI) – India’s federal government banned the export of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, in wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, officials said today.

An official notification to this regard was issued on Wednesday, by the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

“Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are prohibited for export,” said the order, issued by DGFT that comes under the federal ministry of commerce.

Hand sanitizers are in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries.

6 May 2020; MEMO: Qatar’s sovereign fund is borrowing around €7 billion ($7.6 billion) against its stock holdings that will help the world’s top liquefied gas exporter to bolster its cash reserves as energy prices continue to plunge.

The Qatar Investment Authority announced that it is in discussions with banks such as JP Morgan and UBS Group for the margin loan. A deal could rank as one of the biggest ever such transactions in the region, it said.