Knowledge Update

Havana, May 17 (IANS) The US economic sanctions against Cuba impeded the development of bilateral ties despite normalisation of relations, a Cuban official said on Monday, urging the US to lift them.

Washington, May 9 (IANS) In a move that could immensely benefit private space technology companies, NASA has released 56 formerly patented agency technologies into the public domain, making its government-developed technologies freely available for unrestricted commercial use.

​Beijing, May 8 (IANS) China's exports rose 4.1 percent year on year in April while imports dipped 5.7 percent, customs data showed on Sunday.

It led to a monthly trade surplus of 298 billion yuan ($45 billion), up from March's 194.6 billion yuan, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs, reports

​Rome, May 6 (IANS) World food prices rose slightly in April, marking a third consecutive monthly increase after four years of decline, but they remained almost 10 percent lower than a year earlier, the UN food agency said.

​Beijing, May 5 (IANS) The Chinese sports industry will amount to over three trillion yuan ($460 billion) by the end of 2020, according to the Asian country's five-year sports development plan released on Thursday.

​Riyadh, May 2 (IANS) Indian IT major Wipro on Monday announced that it has signed a tripartite deal to set up Saudi Arabia's first all-women business and technology park in collaboration with Saudi Aramco and Princess Nourah University here.

Johhanesburg, May 3 (IANS) Think tanks from the five BRICS countries -- Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa, have agreed to come up with a road map to create digital diplomacy.

Las Vegas, May 3 (IANS) Michael Dell announced at the casino capital of the world that the biggest merger in tech history will be called Dell Technologies.

"It has a nice sound to it," the Chairman and CEO of Dell, which last year announced the $70 billion dollar merger with EMC, said at the Venetian Convention Center where he

​Toronto, May 3 (IANS) As part of its plans to scale training offerings, Google has acquired Synergyse Training, a business technology start-up founded by an Indian-origin entrepreneur, the California-based search engine giant announced on Monday.

Paris, May 3 (IANS) French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday said he was "at this stage" opposed to the free trade accord between the European Union and the US -- the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) -- unless rules to protect domestic businesses were respected.