Month: February 2020

Coronavirus panic pushed the world stock markets which again fell on Friday, with an index of global stocks setting its largest weekly fall since the 2008 global financial crisis, and over $5 trillion wiped from global market value this week. U.S. stocks shaved most of the day’s losses late in the New York session but only the NASDAQ eked out a positive close. The Dow lost nearly 3,600 points this week and the S&P 500 posted a double-digit weekly percentage loss for only the fifth time since 1940.   Yields…

The lion, Lekaneleo roskellyae, was discovered in Adels Grove and the Riversleigh World Heritage area in Queensland near the Northern Territory border back in 1987 but misidentified until a recent study, as report.   A new study has discovered a new marsupial lion had roamed the lands near north-western Queensland around 23 million years ago.   Researchers from UNSW released a study published in Taylor & Francis Online, which found the domestic cat-sized marsupial lion, differed from previously discovered examples despite being considered as a new species under an existing…

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested an operative of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), in the first major breakthrough in the Pulwama terror attack case that had killed at least 40 CRPF soldiers on February 14, 2019.   The accused, Shakir Bashir Magrey is a resident of Hajibal, Kakapora, in Pulwama. A furniture shop owner, Shakir Bashir Magrey provided shelter and other logistical help to suicide-bomber Adil Ahmad Dar.   During the initial interrogation, Magrey revealed that on several occasions, he collected and delivered arms, ammunition, cash and other…

The coronavirus has started taking over South Korea, after China with over 256 new cases being reported. The total patient count has mounted to 2,022, the highest in the world outside China. More than 90% of the new cases were in Daegu — the city at the epicentre of the outbreak in South Korea. So far, 13 people have been killed in the epidemic.   A team of public health experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) visited Wuhan last week to conduct a detailed probe about the virus which reportedly originated…

The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was introduced by the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on December 11, 2019. The Bill seeks to provide for protection of personal data of individuals and many serious incidents of data breaches in the past year in which their personally identifiable data including names, addresses and bank account numbers were publicly accessible.   Over 3.94 lakh cyber-security incidents were reported in 2019, according to information tracked by the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In) and it has also breached as much as 48 websites of central…

North east Delhi is burning into flames. On Monday, February 24 during the clash between pro and anti-CAA protesters, the man who opened fire at the Delhi Police has been identified as Shahrukh. As per reports, Shahrukh has been detained by the Delhi Police and has been charged with firing eight rounds at Northeast Delhi’s violent protests.   A head constable was among the four people killed and at least 50 others including several paramilitary and Delhi Police personnel were injured as violence spiralled over the amended citizenship law in northeast…

Germany will spend US$19.3bn on the acquisition of defense equipment in 2020 in an attempt to combat ongoing issues with fleet readiness and military capabilities, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.   GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Germany – FY 2020 Defense Budget Analysis, Competitive Landscape and Forecasts’, reveals that 35.9% of FY2020’s total defense budget is to be spent on the procurement, research and development (R&D) and upgrading of new platforms and systems across all military domains.   Madeline Wild, Associate Defense Analyst at GlobalData, comments: ‘‘Despite ongoing criticism…

Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) has welcomed the decision by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to facilitate air lifting of consignments from China amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has reached out to MAIT for specific requirements from the IT and electronics manufacturing sector. MAIT has been working closely with the industry and ministries to minimize the pressure created due to the outbreak in China.   Almost two weeks after the official reopening date, many factories across China remain shuttered as of date which will cascade…