Business

SYDNEY, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus pandemic will bankrupt most airlines worldwide by the end of May unless governments and the industry take coordinated steps to avoid such a situation, an aviation consultant warned.

Many airlines have probably been driven into technical bankruptcy or substantially breached debt covenants already, Sydney-based consultancy CAPA Centre for Aviation warned in a statement.

SYDNEY, Mar 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, announced on Tuesday (today) that, it will cut international flights by 90 percent and domestic services by 60 percent, to cope with COVID-19.

The changes will also affect the company’s budget carrier, Jetstar, and will remain in place until at least the end of May.

In a statement, the airline cited “significant falls in travel demand” due to the virus outbreak, which in Australia has reached over 350 confirmed cases.

JERUSALEM, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Ben Gurion University (BGU) in southern Israel announced Monday the initiation of a consortium, led by BGU and Northwestern University in the U.S. state of Illinois, for the development of new technologies to solve global water challenges.

The multi-institutional international program, called the Collaborative Water-Energy Research Center, has a total budget of 21.4 million U.S. dollars.

16 Mar 2020; MEMO: The central banks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, the two largest Arab economies, on Saturday announced stimulus plans worth a combined $40 billion to ease the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in their respective countries, Reuters reports.

Beijing, Mar 16 (AP/PTI) Asian stock markets and U.S. futures fell Monday after the Federal Reserve slashed its key interest rate to shore up economic growth in the face of mounting global anti-virus controls that are shutting down business and travel.

Sydney's benchmark plunged 7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2%. Shanghai was down 0.5% and Tokyo was flat. Brent crude, the international oil standard, fell 3% while gold gained.

Wellington, Mar 16 (AFP/PTI) New Zealand's central bank slashed its base rate to a record low of 0.25 percent Monday, but economists said the surprise move was unlikely to prevent a coronavirus-induced recession.

The official cash rate was already at an all-time low of 1.0 percent and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was not scheduled to make a monetary policy statement until March 25.

Washington, Mar 16 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has advised his countrymen against hoarding of essential items as reports of grocery stores being swept by panic buying due to the coronavirus crisis emerged, saying supply chains in the country are the most powerful in the world and there is no shortage of daily goods.

The US mainstream media, including newspapers and channels, on Sunday showed pictures and visuals of empty shelves in grocery stores in the country.

Bengaluru, Mar 16 (PTI) Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, the order of closure of malls and multiplexes across many top cities by the respective state governments to prevent people congregating for any reason, has caused the organised retail scene there to come to a grinding halt, according to a property consultant.

New Delhi/Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani has been summoned by the ED in connection with its money laundering probe against Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others, officials said on Monday.

They said Ambani was asked to depose at the Enforcement Directorate office in the Ballard Estate area of Mumbai on Monday as his group companies are among the big entities whose loans allegedly went bad after borrowing from the crisis-hit bank.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Bursa Malaysia took another beating in early trade today as selling pressure from last week’s Friday the 13th persisted, with the FBM KLCI down 3.34 per cent.

At 9.10 am today, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 44.99 points to 1,299.76 compared with Friday’s close of 1,344.75, after opening 25.38 points lower at 1,319.37 this morning.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 539 to 57, with 105 counters unchanged, 1,320 untraded and 31 others suspended.