Ailing state-owned telecom firm BSNL has sent an SOS to the government, seeking immediate cash infusion as it is finding it “nearly impossible” to continue operations and even manage Rs 850 crore salary liability for June as outstanding liabilities of nearly Rs 13,000 crore have made its business “unsustainable”. “The gap between monthly revenues and bare expenses to continue operations as a going concern has reached to a level where continuing with the BSNL operations would be nearly impossible without immediate infusion of adequate equity,” Puran Chandra,..

Saudi Arabia has opened applications for a permanent residency program designed to attract foreign investment to the kingdom, but it will cost a hefty 800,000 riyals ($213,000).   There’s also a cheaper option, with a one-year renewable residency costing 100,000 riyals.    The so-called premium residencies will allow foreigners to buy property and do business without a Saudi sponsor, switch jobs and exit the kingdom easily and sponsor visas for family members, according to the website for registrations.   Along with paying high fee, applicants..

Mobile technology has transformed the way we live - how we read, work, communicate, shop and date. But we already know this. What we have not yet grasped is the way the tiny machines in front of us are remoulding our skeletons, possibly altering not just the behaviours we exhibit but the bodies we inhabit. New research in biomechanics suggests that young people are developing hornlike spikes at the back of their skulls - bone spurs caused by the forward tilt of the head, which shifts weight from the spine to the muscles at the back of the head, causing bone growth in the connecting tendo..

The researchers who detected the link between lychees, undernutrition and encephalopathy over five years ago assert that their findings have no relevance to the consumption of lychees by well nourished children or adults.  “Children and adults who are otherwise well nourished can consume it without concern— the problem emerges only if the fruit is consumed in a state of prolonged fasting by undernourished children,” said T. Jacob John, an emeritus paediatrician and virologist formerly at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. John, collaborating with Mukul Das, a seni..

Fresh off dealing with chaos caused by last month's ransomware attack, the city of Baltimore has a new problem to deal with -- the $18 million in damages that came with it. On May 7th, the city's government computer systems were infected with aggressive ransomware called RobbinHood which encrypted hard drive data to prevent access. Each computer affected by the attack demanded a payment of 13 bitcoin (over $75,000) for users to regain access to their files. Gizmodo reports that the FBI specifically advised the city against paying the ransom as it would not not reduce cybersecur..

Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest person, on Tuesday became the third person in the world with a net worth of over $100 billion, the other two being Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Arnault is chairman and CEO of luxury goods maker LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton. He joined the $100 billion club when LVMH shares on Tuesday climbed 2.9% to a record 368.80 euros apiece. Here are a few things to know about the new centibillionaire: 1. Bernard Arnault was born in the northern French town of Roubaix in 1949. 2. After graduating with an engineering degree in Paris, he joined his fa..

Consumption growth of petroleum products — a proxy for India’s industrial activity — was under 1.5 per cent for the third consecutive month in May, reflecting a precipitate decline in auto sales volumes, drop in housing starts, and slower GDP growth. Sales of both auto and industrial fuels rose 0.04 per cent in May to 18.61 million tons, data compiled from Petroleum and Planning and Analysis Cell showed. On a trailing 12-month basis, petroleum product consumption grew 2.11 per cent in May, the slowest in 18 months. GDP growth in the March quarter moderated to 5.8 per cent, t..

From asking employees to work from home to reducing the number of bathrooms in offices, the Information Technology companies in Tamil Nadu are looking at ways to tackle one of the worst water crises to have affected the state in many years. Employees from a cross-section of IT majors said their managements have turned to various ways to handle the situation, even as tankers and alternative sources are quenching the thirst, albeit at a fortune. When contacted, industry sources told PTI that quite a few top companies along Old Mahabalipuram Road, also known as the IT corridor, and the Siruseri..

Facebook is finally ready to talk about its blockchain plans. Following numerous reports unraveling its upcoming announcement in detail, the company today said that its in-development global cryptocurrency, called Libra, will launch next year alongside the underlying blockchain-based network that will support it. The currency is designed not to be a speculative asset, like Bitcoin, but a form of digital money backed by a reserve of assets. You will one day be able to use Libra as payment for online and offline services, Facebook executives say. At the beginning, the company imagines Libra..

Bitcoin mining has increased rapidly in recent years, raising the question of whether it is imposing an additional burden on the climate. The use of Bitcoin — a popular virtual currency — emits over 22 megatonnes of carbon dioxide annually, comparable to the total emissions of cities such as Las Vegas and Vienna, a study has found. Researchers from Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany carried out a detailed calculation of the carbon footprint of the Bitcoin system. For a Bitcoin transfer to be executed and validated, a mathematical puzzle must be solved by an ..