Data leak crises: Facebook suffers drop of stocks
San Francisco: The world's largest social media company Facebook suffered the biggest one-day drop of its stocks by seven per cent on Wall Street on Monday in four years following reported data leakage of its 50 million users for alleged political purposes.
The Facebook loss came after US and British media reported that the data of more than 50 million Facebook users were inappropriately used by a British data analysis company, Cambridge Analytica, in activities allegedly connected with US President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign.
Trump's campaign reportedly used the firm's data during the primaries but not during the general election and Federal Election Commission numbers showed the firm collected $5.9 million in 2016 from Trump's campaign, Xinhua cited California-based The Mercury News daily as saying.
Cambridge Analytica received user data from a Facebook app years ago that purported to be a psychological research tool, though the firm was not authorised to have that information.
Facebook admitted that an estimated 270,000 people had downloaded the app and shared their personal details with it.
Last Friday, Facebook said in an official post that it had suspended "Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), including their political data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica," from its website.
It said the two companies had failed to delete user data acquired in 2015 in violation of Facebook rules.
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Air India suspends flights to Israel till May 31
Jerusalem (PTI): Amid the ongoing war in West Asia, Air India has suspended its flights to Israel till May 31.
An Air India executive confirmed to PTI that the airline has suspended flights on the New Delhi-Tel Aviv route till May 31.
Most of the leading airlines have suspended their operations on the Tel Aviv route with only Israeli carriers like El Al, IsraAir, Arkia and Air Haifa operating under severe restrictions.
The suspension of flights has caused major worries among more than 40,000 Indians living in Israel who wish to travel to India for personal or professional reasons, or even to escape the escalating tensions in the region.
Indians looking to leave Israel have to go through Jordan or Egypt by entering the two countries through the land crossings.
The Indian mission in Tel Aviv has been assisting those looking to travel through various means.
The embassy has also maintained regular contact with the community during the period, opening a 24x7 emergency line and also launching a massive registration drive.
Ambassador J P Singh and the embassy team on Saturday held virtual discussion with Indian workers and students across Israel to listen to their concerns, assuring them of “constant support during the ongoing crisis, and beyond”, the mission said on its social media handle.
The direct flight service between New Delhi and Tel Aviv was re-launched on January 1 with four weekly flights, utilising the advanced Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
However, flights have been disrupted ever since the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28.
The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region. The conflict has taken a major toll on energy supply chains, especially across the Strait of Hormuz.
