Bharti Airtel has landed the 2Africa Pearls subsea cable in India, strengthening the country’s global internet connectivity. This project is a joint effort with center3 and Meta, with Airtel serving as the landing partner. The 2Africa Pearls cable is a part of the larger 2Africa network, which, once completed, will be the longest undersea internet cable in the world. Covering around 45,000 km, it will link Asia, Africa, and Europe through the Middle East.

A group of major global companies, including Bayobab, center3, China Mobile International, Meta, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone Group, and WIOCC, is backing the project. Alcatel Submarine Networks is responsible for building and installing the cable.

Sharat Sinha, Director and CEO of Airtel Business, shared that bringing the 2Africa Pearls cable to India is an important step in boosting the company’s network strength. He highlighted Airtel’s recent efforts to expand its global network, including landing the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable in Chennai and Mumbai. He also mentioned that Airtel will keep investing in undersea cables to ensure better reliability and high-speed connectivity for its customers.

Airtel’s global network spans over 400,000 km across 50 countries and five continents. The company has already invested in 34 subsea cable systems, including key projects like the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 and Equiano.

Apart from the newly landed 2Africa Pearls cable, Airtel is also a part of other major subsea systems, such as the i2i cable network, Europe India Gateway, IMEWE, SEA-ME-WE-4, AAG, Unity, EASSy, Gulf Bridge International, and the Middle East North Africa Submarine Cable (MENA).

With these efforts, Airtel aims to further strengthen India’s position in global digital connectivity while offering a faster and more reliable internet experience.

Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) holding NRE or NRO accounts can now make UPI transactions through their smartphones linked to international mobile numbers. This new option, introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), makes it easy for NRIs to send money to family or pay bills in India without the need for regular bank transfers.

Key Features of NRI UPI Transactions

• No Transaction Fees: NRIs from countries like the US, UK, Canada, UAE, Singapore, and Australia can use UPI for free, even while abroad.
• Supported by Major Banks: Popular banks like HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Canara, and PNB support this service, and NRIs can use apps such as PhonePe, iMobile, and BHIM to make transactions.
• Transaction Limits: There’s a daily limit of ?1 lakh. New users start with a limit of ?5,000 for the first 24 hours. UPI can be used for payments between NRE/NRO and resident Indian accounts, though it doesn’t work for transfers between NRO and NRE accounts. Only the primary holder in joint accounts can access UPI.

How NRIs Can Set Up UPI

NRIs need to link their international mobile number to their NRE or NRO bank account, download a UPI app, verify their number, create a UPI ID, and activate their account. This setup allows them to start making easy, fee-free payments in India.

Representational Image | Source: freemalaysiatoday

Meta has been fined 21.62 billion won (about $15.67 million) by South Korea’s privacy agency for collecting sensitive information from Facebook users and giving it to advertisers without permission. The country’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) found that Meta gathered details on the religious beliefs, political views, and sexual orientation of around 980,000 South Korean Facebook users and shared this data with 4,000 advertisers.

The PIPC explained that Meta tracked users’ activity on Facebook, including the pages they liked and the ads they clicked, to organize users by topics related to these private areas. Some categories created for users included religion, sexual identity, or status as a former North Korean citizen.

According to the commission, Meta used this personal information without approval, which breaks privacy laws. They also pointed out that Meta failed to protect inactive accounts. Hackers managed to reset passwords on these accounts using fake IDs, and Meta accepted these fake documents without proper checks. This led to personal data leaks for 10 South Korean users.

The PIPC added that they will keep an eye on Meta’s actions to ensure it follows privacy rules, protecting people’s information. Meta responded by saying it will “carefully review” the commission’s decision.