MUSK SCORES A MUCHNEEDED WIN WITH SPACEX SATELLITE LAUNCH

SAN FRANCISCO: Finally, a success story for Elon Musk. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. launched a commercial satellite for Telesat from Florida, marking the firm’s 16th mission of 2018, two years of uninterrupted achievements. The launch, the 16th successful mission of about 30 targeted this year, is a bright spot in an otherwise tumultuous few months for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who also heads Tesla Inc. Musk has had a rough time since his spur-of-the-moment tweet about taking the carmaker private, only to drop the idea a little more than two weeks later amid criticism, shareholder lawsuits, and an investigation by federal regulators. In a New York Times interview last month, Musk described the past year as “excruciating,” appeared to be overcome by emotion, and also defended his use of the prescription sleep aid Ambien.

Spicejet to start cargo service Spicexpress

NEW DELHI: Spicejet Ltd will start a dedicated air cargo service from September 18 as the budget airline seeks to capitalize on the boom in online retail in the country. The company has inducted its first freighter aircraft—a Boeing 737-700—and has also prepared a blueprint to grow its logistics business, covering both domestic and international routes, it said in a statement on Monday. Spicejet plans to gradually expand its cargo operations from the existing 500 tonnes a day to 900 tonnes per day. It aims to increase its fleet of freighter planes to four by March next year. Spicejet will begin cargo operations under the Spicexpress brand from Delhi, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Hong Kong, Kabul and Amritsar.

Sun Pharma’s Mohali plant on FDA radar

NEW DELHI: Two days after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued six observations related to deficient procedures at Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s Halol manufacturing facility, the regulator also turned up the heat on the firms’s Mohali plant in Punjab by starting a three-day surprise inspection at the plant on Monday. The US drug regulator had found seven breaches of manufacturing standards at the Mohali plant during an inspection between and November 7-16, 2016 and had issued Form 483, citing four deviations in the laboratory system, two in the quality system and one in production.

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