LIVE news: India, China acknowledge need to ensure disengagement, says MEA

India, China agree that restoration of peace, tranquility in border areas is essential for overall development of ties: MEA. Stay tuned for the latest news of the day

2:40 AM

ESIC to give higher unemployment benefits to unemployed members till Dec

The members of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) will now get enhanced unemployment allowance and more expeditiously till December this year. The benefits will be available to members of ESIC who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
 

Under its Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyna Yojna, ESIC will give 50 per cent of average wages for a maximum period of 90 days of unemployment till this calendar year-end. At present, the benefit amounts to around 25 per cent of average wages.
 

The relief would be given after 30 days of unemployment as against 90 days at present, according to decision taken by the ESIC at a meeting chaired by labour minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar.

2:40 AM

Record 918,000 Covid tests done in a day; positivity rate under 8%

With a record 9,18,470 tests been being done in a day, the cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of Covid-19 in India have reached 3.26 crore even as the national positivity rate has fallen below 8 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said.

 

With constantly increasing testing numbers, there has been a commensurate fall in the positivity rate, the ministry said.

2:39 AM

Microsoft's Internet Explorer bows out, but browser wars aren't over yet

There was just a small ripple across the technosphere when Microsoft (MS) announced it would retire its Internet Explorer (IE) browser, shutting down all support by August 2021. MS also stated that the IE successor, the MS Edge browser, would move completely onto Google’s open-source Chromium platform.

 

Neither IE nor Edge are popular anymore. Barely 1.3 per cent of the world’s surfers (desktop plus mobile) used IE in July 2020, and cynics would suspect that many of those IE windows were opened by accident. MS Edge only has about 2.2 per cent market share. READ MORE

2:15 AM

US charges former Uber security chief with covering up massive 2016 hacking

1:59 AM

Record melt: Greenland lost 586 billion tonnes of ice in 2019

Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive enough to cover California in more than four feet of water, a new study said.
 

After two years when summer ice melt had been minimal, last summer shattered all records with 586 billion tons (532 billion metric tons) of ice melting, according to satellite measurements reported in a study Thursday.
 

That's more than 140 trillion gallons (532 trillion litres) of water.

1:58 AM

Tesla's soaring stock cracks $2,000 ahead of share split

Shares of Tesla surged past the $2,000 mark on Thursday for the first time as the electric car maker extended its recent rally ahead of an upcoming share split.
 

The company's stock traded at a record high $2,003.16 before falling back a bit to $1,998 for the day, a gain of 6.4 per cent.
 

With many investors betting Tesla will be added to the S&P 500 a after strong quarterly report last month, the stock has surged over 300 per cent in 2020.

1:57 AM

Facebook confirms Zuckerberg interviewed in FTC investigation

Facebook confirmed chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed earlier this week at a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigative hearing.

 

Politico reported the interview earlier on Thursday. "We are committed to cooperating with the US Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have," the social media company said in a statement.

 

The FTC has been probing whether the company has engaged in unlawful monopolistic practices.

1:56 AM

Israel says 2 rockets fired from Gaza Strip; no casualties

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Israeli security fence late on Thursday, the Israeli military said.

 

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in the attack.

 

Tensions have risen in recent days as groups affiliated with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers have launched incendiary balloons across the frontier, igniting farmland inside Israel.

1:47 AM

Nasdaq closes at all-time high as tech stock gains offset weak data

Nasdaq ended at a record high on Thursday, with the S&P 500 and Dow also rising, as gains in heavyweight tech stocks outweighed downbeat data that affirmed the Federal Reserve's view of a difficult road to economic recovery.

 

Gains in Apple Inc - the only publicly listed US company to cross the $2 trillion market value milestone - Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp underpinned the three main indexes' gains as investors bet they would ride out the economic crisis.

1:44 AM

SC fears bankruptcy proceedings may consume dues

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues melting away in bankruptcy proceedings.

 

“We are worried that alm­ost the entire AGR dues will be extinguished in the IBC (Inso­lvency and Bankruptcy Code) proceedings. After sale (of spec­trum), new users will exti­n­guish pending (demands for dues),” Justice Arun Mishra said. He said in case the dues were not paid, the spectrum must be surrendered. Read on...

1:16 AM

US demands restoration of UN sanctions against Iran

The Trump administration on Thursday formally notified the United Nations of its demand for all UN sanctions on Iran to be restored, citing significant Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal.
 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered the notification to the president of the UN Security Council, setting the stage for a showdown in the world body that could lead to a crisis of credibility for its most important and powerful institution. Even before Pompeo presented the council president with the notice, other members rejected the step.

12:27 AM

Bihar polls should be deferred in view of Covid-19 pandemic: Yashwant Sinha

11:08 PM

International community should isolate Pakistan to increase cost of engaging in terror activities: India

10:27 PM

India says it wants Indian lawyer to represent Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistani court when it takes up his review petition against his death sentence

9:36 PM

Heavy rains in Delhi led to waterlogging at nearly 50 locations: Report

Heavy rains in the national capital on Thursday led to waterlogging at nearly 50 locations while parts of buildings collapsed due to it at some places, according to municipal reports.

 

Rains lashed several parts of the national capital on Thursday throwing traffic out of gear on many streets.

 

According to a monsoon report release by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, in north Delhi, the rains led to waterlogging at 25 different locations, including Burari, Rohini, Civil Lines, West Patel Nagar, Daryaganj, Nangloi and Paschim Vihar.