Bharti Airtel’s cut in 3G data rates has caught the headlines, but Airtel’s 3G is still more expensive than the pre-existing plans offered by some other operators. For example, Airtel’s plan is offering 300 MB of 3G data for Rs 100. In comparison, MTNL offers 1 GB of data for Rs 76 (weekly) and Rs […]
Trade and Industry minister Anand Sharma has spoken out in uncharacteristically blunt terms against a Parliamentary Committee report suggestion on the policy for land acquisition for industries. The report had suggested excluding “manufacturing and industrial activity” and public-private project (PPP) from the definition of ‘public purpose’ for land acquisition. The recommendation, if accepted, would make […]
The Aditya Birla Group today announced that it has agreed to take a 27.5% stake in Living Media India Ltd. (India Today Group), through a private investment company. This brings the multi-national conglomerate into the company of others like Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and the Anil Ambani Group that have significant investments in the media […]
In what may be good news for thousands of fans of Mandriva Linux, the company behind the operating system has decided to set up an independent community to lead the development of the operating system. Mandriva Linux, formerly Mandrake Linux, had stopped coming out with regular updated versions of the popular operating system late last […]
More than half of India’s wells have higher-than-permitted levels of iron, while about one in six have higher than allowed levels of fluoride, according to data from the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The numbers, updated as of April 2012, also show the real extent of arsenic […]
Indian and Indian origin kids dominate yet another annual Google Science Fair, sweeping 18 out of the 40 places in the 13-14 year category this year. Indian kids accounted for all 13 nominations this year from the APAC region, which includes China, Australia and Japan. In all, 90 students worldwide qualified for the Science Fair, […]
After a zooming trade deficit, India may have some more bad news on the balance of trade front – slowing services exports. Services exports, jargon for payments made by foreigners in return for services in India, grew at just 5.9% in the first three quarters of the last financial year (2011-12). In comparison, services exports […]
Indian enterprise IT spending across all industry markets is forecast to reach Rs 1,910 billion (Rs 1.91 lakh crore or $37 billion) this year, a 16.4 percent jump from last year rupee terms. The growth will be less in dollar terms due to the 15-20% fall in rupee value this year, compared to the last. […]
Vehicle owners who are permanently shifting their residences can now get a refund of their road taxes when they apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC). The NOC from the Road Transport Office (RTO) or Department is required to move the vehicle from one state to another and to re-register their vehicles in a new place. […]
Idea has cut prices of its low-use 3g data plans, following a recent cut in 3g tariffs by competitor Airtel, even as it seems to have steeply increased prices in some plans. The price cuts are very similar, if not the same, as those implemented by Bharti Airtel last week. For starters, Idea has reduced […]
The Rajya Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2012, making it possible for owners of motorvehicles to claim a refund on their road taxes when they move out from one state to another. State governments collect road taxes for the full tenure when a two or four-wheeler is registered. Most state governments collect for […]
Idea has cut prices of its low-use 3g data plans, but also seems to have steeply reduced data offered in heavy-use plans. For example, the Rs 1250 plan now offers just 4 GB, while it used to offer 10 GB earlier. Similarly, the data offered by the Rs 850 plan has been reduced to 3 […]
It has been in the market for close to three years, but Internet-on-TV has failed to take off in India due to the high prices of the televisions. That may be about to change. Panasonic has revamped its Smart TV range with 30 new models that cost as little as Rs. 13,990, starting at 24 […]
Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, a 2 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market exhibited a decline. “Global sales of mobile devices […]
Many big Indian companies will take a huge hit from the rupee hitting an all-time low, while it may be good news for IT, BPO and export companies. The Indian Rupee (INR) fell to Rs 54.51 per dollar, down 22% from January 2011. As SMC Global Securities points out, this is going to make it […]
Gold prices in the domestic market may cross Rs 30,000 per 10 grams ($55,555 per kg) during the June-August quarter registering a strong recovery on account of myriad reasons ranging from slowdown in inflow by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), rising headline inflation, rupee depreciation, growing signs of fatigue in the realty sector to pent up […]
The controversy over the allocation of 2G spectrum under former telecom minister A Raja to CDMA operators refuses to die. The latest was the turn of a government official to write a letter pointing out how two traditional CDMA operators do not have to re-buy their 2G spectrum like Uninor, MTS and others. He argues […]
The defence ministry has refused to divulge the reason for imposing a ban on construction in the Demchok area of southeastern Ladakh — part of the land disputed between India and China. However, the Chinese are building infrastructure on the other side of the line of control, including military facilities, according to local residents. Residents, […]
The government has cut the amount of gold someone can bring as personal baggage from abroad even as India’s gold imports are expected to have increased to 1.08 million kg last year, worth $55 billion at current prices. The government has cut the amount of gold a person can bring into the country to 1 […]
India Against Corruption, the rainbow coalition of activists headed by Anna Hazare, has accused all political parties of planning to pass a toothless Lokpal bill, and promised to launch an even bigger campaign against any such move. Last year, Hazare had organized the biggest political protests in India since the JP Movement of the 70s, […]
