Business

NEW DELHI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Data of around 4.5 million customers of the state-run Air India has been leaked following a massive cyber-attack on its data processor in February, the airline officials said Saturday.

The leaked data included customer information of credit cards, passports and phone numbers registered between August 26, 2011 and February 3, 2021, Air India said.

The airlines disclosed the scale of the breach nearly three months after it was first informed of it.

Mumbai, May 21 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India approved paying a higher-than-expected Rs 99,122 crore to the government as a dividend, providing cushion to the state at a time when a crippling second wave of the novel coronavirus may strain public finances.

New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a COVID-19 antibody detection kit that offers results in just 75 minutes, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The testing kit is called DIPCOVAN and it offers a "significantly faster turn-around-time as it requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases", the ministry's statement noted.

The kit has a shelf life of 18 months, it added.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Greenpeace welcomed a ban by Ankara on imports of most plastic waste after the environmental group said it uncovered exports, some possibly illegal, from Britain and Germany that created "mountains" of trash in southern Turkey, Reuters reported.

The environmental group said its teams visited ten sites in Adana province and found plastic waste – most either burned or on fire – mainly from the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and other EU countries.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund yesterday withdrew its investments from two Israeli companies over their involvement in Israel's illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced yesterday that the Western nations have agreed to lift the main sanctions imposed on his country, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Speaking at the inauguration of projects for the Ministry of Oil, Rouhani said: "They are in Vienna negotiating and agreeing to lift all sanctions imposed on oil, petrochemicals, shipping, insurance and the central bank."

Washington, May 21 (AP-PTI) The US Treasury Department said Thursday that it supports a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 per cent below the 21 per cent minimum it has been seeking to impose on the foreign profits of US-based companies.

The offer comes as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Group of 20 major economies seek an agreement on a minimum corporate tax rate.

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) The relationship between India and China is at a crossroads and its direction depends on whether the neighbouring country adheres to various agreements on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday referring to the eastern Ladakh standoff.

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook will take the witness stand Friday to defend the company’s iPhone app store against charges that it has grown into an illegal monopoly — one far more profitable than his predecessor Steve Jobs envisioned when it opened up 13 years ago.

The technology company is counting on Cook’s appearance to put the finishing touches on Apple’s defense against an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite.

20 May 2021; MEMO: Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad said yesterday that his country has refused to borrow money from the IMF in order not to undermine its sovereignty, Anadolu reported.

The PM said that his government decided to maintain financial balances through certain measures in light of the fight against COVID-19, but absolutely refused to turn to the IMF.