eNews
Lawsuit slapped on Google over copyright infringement
MUMBAI: While in India copyright is sometimes interpreted as the right to copy, abroad this issue is taken very seriously! This piece of news is a case in point.
French news service Agence France Presse (AFP) which asks charges users for browsing through content is suing search engine Google for copyright infringement.
In its suit AFP stated, “Without AFP’s authorisation the defendant is continuously and willfully reproducing and publicly displaying AFP’s photographs, headlines and story leads on its Google News web pages.”
Media reports indicate that AFP is seeking damages of $17.5 million. It also wants to prevent Google from using any of its content in the future. AFP filed the lawsuit in US Federal Court for the District of Columbia.
Content by AFP is sold by subscription and is not available for free. Google News scours news services for latest breaking news items from thousands of sources around the world and subsequently posts links to them on its news site.
Google News however does not publish the news articles and only shows a thumbnail image for related news items. In the suit, AFP alleges that Google ignored it’s request to cease and desist from infringing its copyrighted work.
The Paris headquartered AFP has bureaus around the world. It supplies its news services to various kinds of media, including electronic. It has 600 online clients.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
