Samsung loses title of India’s No.1 smartphone seller to Chinese vendor

China’s BBK Electronics, which sells its smartphones under brands such as Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus, has emerged as the top smartphone seller in India, dislodging Samsung which had been on top for six years. Samsung, however, continues to be the top feature-phone brand in the country. Between its three brands, BBK Electronics had a total […]

JioPhone booking starts at 5:30 PM today at Reliance Jio stores

The Mukesh Ambani-led telecom operator is likely to start prebooking for its JioPhone device at 5:30 PM today, according to sources. Booking can done in four ways — using the company’s website Jio.com, using the MyJio app and by going to a either a Jio Store or any multi-brand store that sells the device. Customers […]

Oriental Bank of Commerce to raise Rs 500 cr via bonds

State-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce said it intends to raise Rs 500 cr by selling bonds. “The Bank intends to raise Tier 1 Capital through Private Placement of Basel III Compliant Additional Tier 1 Bonds of Rs.10,00,000 each at par aggregating to Rs.500 crore with an option to retain over-subscription of up to Rs.500 crore,” […]

Islamic missionaries arrested for ‘creating tension’ between groups

A group of 39 Islamic missionaries have been arrested for door-to-door distribution of religious pamphlets that said, among other things, that people who worship multiple Gods will burn in hell. The volunteers of ‘Mujahid Wisdom Global Islamic Mission’, who were distributing the material in villages near Kochi, were arrested on complaints by local RSS activists. […]

Liquor shops in Kerala start installing token system

Kerala’s snaking long queues in front of its liquor shops — the state’s only source of alcohol after bars were banned in 2014 — are almost as famous as the backwaters and beaches, but some relief may be on the horizon for hapless liquor buyers. As there are only about 340 liquor shops in a […]

BSNL STVs now valid on roaming as well

BSNL, the state-owned telecommunications company, said it has decided to extent the benefits of all special recharges to its subscribers even when they’re roaming. So far, these special tariffs were available only in the home location. For example, STV 349 which offers unlimited voice call to any network only in home LSA, now the benefit […]

Kannur Airport: 95% of airside, 90% of cityside work completed

Kerala’s fourth international airport at Kannur is very close to completion, with 95% of the airside works and 90% of cityside work completed, the government said today. Airside refers to the runway, bays, traffic control tower and so on, while city-side works refer to civilian construction components such as the parking area, approach roads and […]