After several years of relentless increases in spending on populist schemes such as the National Employment Guarantee scheme, food, fertilizer and fuel subsidies, the government has finally applied the brakes in the budget for 2011-12. Instead of increasing budgets to rope in more people under the schemes, the government has proposed to make the schemes […]
Banks in India will face increasing stress over the next two years due to a possible deterioration in asset quality and overall economic malaise, ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said. While other BRIC countries will also face slowing growth, India’s situation is the most dire among the four big developing nations, it said. “We believe […]
Prices of food items, particularly pulses and coarse cereals, are likely to rise in coming months due to a possible drought in India this year and add to the already high inflation levels, CRISIL Research has warned. It pointed out that monsoon has so far been 22% below average and the situation is reminiscent of […]
Internet purchases are worth $10 billion (Rs 50,000 crore) at present, but are growing fast, prompting online retailers like Flipkart and Myntra to burn cash to attract customers, a new study by consultancy firm Zinnov has found. On a positive note, it noted that online retail accounts for only 0.5% of the total retail industry […]
Even as mainstream media has adopted a wait-and-watch approach towards the ‘second round’ anti-corruption agitation by Team Anna, a little-known live streaming website is catching on in popularity due to the agitation. Granslive, a little known web-streaming service, has seen tens of thousands of users log on in an effort to watch live Anna Hazare’s […]
An influx of thousands of Anna Hazare’s supporters, eager to find out what is going on at the Jantar Mantar fast venue, seems to have overwhelmed the live web streaming set up India Against Corruption. The live video feed by event-streaming firm Granslive seems to have become inaccessible to new viewers today morning, and several […]
Barely two weeks after launching the Android tablet version, Google has launched its Google Plus app for the iPad. The biggest advantage in using the app (and not the mobile website) is ease of use and the possibility of multi-user, free video conferencing. “There’s nothing like catching up with friends face to face. Now you […]
Uninor has launched India’s cheapest talk plan — all calls at 25 paise per minute — in its Mumbai circle. Customers will have to pay Rs 49 per month as monthly rental for the plan through an easy recharge. Earlier Videocon used to have a similar plan. Uninor’s offer is without any monthly limit on […]
WishTel has launched the second version of its tablet, called IRA THING 2. The main upgrades are in the operating system — which is now Android Ice Cream Sandwich, processor (1.5 GHz) and RAM (512 MB). IRA THING 2 also plays full HD (1080p) videos through its HDMI port. Display remains at 7 inches. Resolution […]
In keeping with recent trends, India’s exports dipped again in June, this time by 5.5%. June exports were US $25.07 billion. Thankfully, imports too dipped, faster than exports. Imports were US $ 35.37 billion with a negative growth of (-) 13.46%. Balance of Trade was comfortable at US $ 10.3 billion, compared to $13-14 billion […]
Anna Hazare has made it clear that he will not break his next fast on the basis of assurances, written or otherwise, from the Prime Minister or anyone else. His fast starting next month will end only with the passing of a strong Lokpal bill, or his death, he said. “So many people are dying […]
Inflation continued to remain above 10% in June, led by high food inflation, latest government numbers show. Overall, on an all-India basis, consumer prices were up 10.02% in June, compared to prices in June 2011. Double-digit consumer price inflation is bad news for people with fixed income, such as those on salaries and pensions. Even […]
If 2010-11 was the year of the Indian mobilephone brands, 2011-12 has been the year when they’ve crash landed to reality, according to the latest Voice & Data survey. Barring Karbonn and Lava, all the Indian mobile phone brands such as Micromax and Spice saw drops in their revenues in 2011-12, according to the survey. […]
After many stumbles, the reform of India’s massive food-subsidy system is gathering pace. Starting this month, Kochi in Kerala will be among the select few cities in India where a new public distribution system (PDS) will be tested out. Unlike the current system, the new system will not route the subsidy on food and kerosene […]
Come next year, salaried employees who earn less than Rs 8 to 9 lakhs a year will not have to through the hassle of filing their annual income tax returns. According to the budget for 2011-12, from June 2011, government would change the laws to make it unnecessary for salaried employees to file annual IT […]
Asian Americans are the American minority most unimpressed with how they are portrayed in mainstream TV, according to a survey about 1,500 households in the United States. 27% of the Asian respondents felt the portrayal of their community in mainstream media was inaccurate, while only 22% felt it was accurate. The rest were neutral. Similarly, […]
Subash Chandra-owned Zee Groups’ DTH platform Dish TV has bowled a googly in the ongoing scamper for snapping up subscribers during the cable digitization wave. While the whole battle was seen as DTH operators fighting with cable operators to lure away the latter’s customers at the time of digitization, Dish TV has unveiled a new […]
The following are the highlights of the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today: Salaried taxpayers, whose tax is deducted at source by employer, will soon not be required to file a return of income (IT return) Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to be effective from April 1, 2012. Bill to be introduced in […]
Crisil Research has blamed high food prices and lower rupee value for consistent high inflation. It noted that even though growth seems to have moderated, inflation, which should also have come down, has not. “This reflects the higher-than-anticipated increase in food inflation, and the impact of the weak currency on imported component of inflation. Although […]
Bharti Airtel, which has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, said it will offer a customized and co-branded version of Opera Mini internet browser for Airtel across its operations. “With this, over 253 million Airtel customers across countries including India, South Asia and Africa will now be able to leverage Opera Mini’s unique […]
