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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
A departmental inquiry could not find any involvement of ministry officials in the ‘gift scam’ at the ministry of external affairs and the inquiry has now been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ministry said. The alleged scam has been pursued by RTI activist Subhash Agarwal, who filed an RTI query […]
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 […]
Rahul Khullar, the new chief at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has a reputation for being a no nonsense boss. Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre, also has a few other qualities that will make his tenure at the TRAI second to none of those of his predecessors — he […]
As exports face headwinds from the western economies, particularly in debt-ridden Europe, India’s balance of trade or trade deficit is projected between USD 262 billion and USD 280 billion in the fiscal 2012-13, according to trade body Assocham. Trade deficit is the shortfall between how much a country needs to pay for its imports versus […]
The Economic Survey of India, the basis on which the country’s economic policies are formulated, sounds an optimistic beat for India’s growth during the next twenty years, even as short term risks remain. It forecasts 9% plus growth for the next two years and another ‘step up’ after that for the next 20. The most […]
The North European countries seem to love their Indian IT service partners. Indian IT services companies such as TCS, Cognizant and HCL scored considerably higher in a satisfaction survey among companies in the Nordic countriesin in KPMG’s Outsourcing 2012 study. “Cognizant also had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the top performer among […]
The government of India is thinking of creating a ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ to make it easier to acquire coal blocks in other countries, coal minister Sripraksh Jaisawal said. “There are issues which need to be resolved urgently in regard to acquisitions abroad especially in view of the fact that other energy deficit countries are rapidly […]
If you thought you were the only one paying for your cable, think again. New research says an average TV channel pays Rs 20 per household per year to compensate the cable network for bringing it to you in the prime band. In other words, if you get 150 channels, the cable operator would end […]
Only about 6% of the families registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) got the full 100 days of work during last financial year, according to numbers from the Rural Development ministry. The numbers also revealed a sharp increase in complaints from Uttar Pradesh. While the ministry did not reveal how […]
Giving some respite to the government and the oil companies, the effective price of crude oil for India fell by about 1.9% in the second half of April, according to numbers released by the Government of India. Effective price paid by Indian companies for crude oil fell to Rs 6174.90 per barrel in the second […]
The government of India does not have any information on complaints regarding the issue of ‘below poverty line’ or BPL ‘ration’ cards, according to a reply by the Rural Development ministry to BJP MP Varun Gandhi. Varun Gandhi, MP from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, had sought details about the complaints that it may have received […]
India’s fourth largest IT services firm Wipro Ltd may have to redraw its plans to open a 8000-person IT centre in Kolkata due to delays from the state government. Wipro had applied for setting up a special economic zone (SEZ) on January 20. However, the state government, headed by Mamata Bannerjee is against the policy […]
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved Jairam Ramesh’s Rs 46,000 crore project to increase India’s forest cover. The plan, called ‘Green India’ Mission, aims to add 10 million hectares of “high quality” forest cover to the existing 40-45 million hectares, the ministry of environment and forests said. “The mission aims to achieve annual CO2 sequestration […]
