News in Short

• The mobile phones of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the defence minister, Margarita Robles, were both infected last year with the Pegasus spyware.
• Sánchez’s phone was targeted in May and June 2021, while Robles’s was targeted in June 2021. Data was extracted from both phones.
• The allegations come as the Spanish government faces questions over how Pegasus allegedly came to be used to monitor dozens of members of the Catalan independence movement.

• Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose to Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April, for sales in March, according to data released by the Union Finance Ministry.
• This marks a 20 per cent increase from the April 2021 level on the back of improved compliance, enforcement action against tax evaders and pick-up in economic activity.
• Gross GST collection in April is at an all-time high and Rs 25,000 crore more than the previous high of Rs 1.42 lakh crore collected in March.

• Karnataka government has signed an MoU with Israel-based ISMC Analog Fab Private Limited for setting up a semiconductor fab plant in the state at a cost of Rs 22,900 crore ($3 billion).
• Two other companies have bid for incentives to set up semiconductor and display units in India, the Vedanta-Foxconn joint venture and Singapore-based IGSS.
• ISMC is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based NextOrbit Ventures and Tower Semiconductor. Tower is an Israeli semiconductor firm that Intel announced it plans to acquire.

• Google is all set to have a massive campus in Hyderabad, the largest outside its US headquarters in Mountain View.
• The new campus, spread over 7.3 acres, is in addition to the approximately 3 million sq.ft. built up area of Google offices across India.
• Upon commissioning, it will offer a highly-skilled tech workforce a healthy, collaborative workplace that is both resilient and adaptable, designed to serve the city for years to come.

• Tennis great Boris Becker was sentenced to two and half years in prison for illicitly transferring large amounts of money and hiding assets after he was declared bankrupt.
• The three-time Wimbledon champion was convicted earlier this month on four charges under the Insolvency Act and had faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
• Becker was also convicted of failing to declare a property in Germany and hiding an 825,000 euro (USD 871,000) bank loan and shares in a tech firm.