Telecom regulator TRAI is unlikely to recommend floor pricing for voice and data services in India due to ideological as well as practical reasons, according to industry officials. The telecom regulator today came out with a consultation paper saying it wants to broad-base the discussion on setting minimum price for data and voice. At present, […]
PM Kisan, one of the world’s largest welfare schemes with a targeted beneficiary strength of 140 million, seems to be running well behind schedule, going by data on the disbursement of funds. The scheme was started on Dec 1 2018, and has so far enrolled only around 7 cr (70 million) farmers against the target […]
eNAM, the electronic National Agricultural Market that was unveiled three-and-a-half years ago, has seen the total cumulative turnover on its platform hit Rs 84,842, Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said. He said a total of 1.65 cr farmers in 18 states and union territories have been brought onto to the electronic agricultural commodity trading platform. […]
Government of India today said it has decided to give 5G spectrum to state-owned telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd without the company participating in the upcoming spectrum auction. In 2010, the government had set apart one block of 3G and 4G spectrum for BSNL, even as other telecom operators had to fight long […]
A day after shocking consumers by increasing plan prices by around 20-40%, Reliance Jio has re-introduced the Rs 149 unlimited plan, but with a shorter validity and lower daily data allowance. The original Rs 149 plan used to offer 1.5 GB of daily data for four weeks (28 days) and was the most affordable monthly […]
Ministry of Railways has announced that it will release by next month the result panel for 66,604 vacancies for which Railway Recruitment Board exams were conducted in 2018. Out of these 66,604 vacancies for which panels will published, around 10,000 are for so-called Level 1 jobs, while the others are for ‘Group C’ jobs. Level […]
Even as global leaders like Donald Trump call climate change a hoax, the Indian government said it expects the phenomenon to lead to more and more extreme weather events like floods and to hurt farm output. “Global Warming associated with the increase in concentration of green house gases in the atmosphere is one of the […]
Home Minister Amit Shah today said that he was opposed to the idea of the judiciary donning the mantle of ecclesiastical courts and telling people how to worship their gods and interfering in their religious practices. He was answering a question about his “dual stand” on the issues of Sabarimala temple and Ram Janmabhoomi temple, […]
India’s junior minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh, today said the government was still hopeful of signing a deal to set up a massive, 7.2 GW nuclear power plant in partnership with US-based Westinghouse Electric. Singh, who was responding to a question in the parliament today, said Westinghouse’s bankruptcy delayed proceedings, but […]
Almost 1 cr city-dwellers in India have been sanctioned around Rs 1.5 lakh each under the flagship PM Housing Scheme or PMAY for urban dwellers, with Andhra Pradesh emerging the clear winner in the implementation of the scheme. On average, the single beneficiary was allocated Rs 1.57 lakh. PMAY or PM Awaz Yojana (Housing Scheme) […]
On Tuesday night, Reliance Jio — the telecom operator that has made wireless data accessible to crores of Indians for the first time — said it would adopt ‘appropriate increases’ in tariffs over the next few weeks to help generate enough money to fund investments. The comment came in the wake of similar statements by […]
DD Free Dish, the free direct-to-home service from Prasar Bharati, has bounced back from the impact of the boycott of the platform by major broadcasters like Star India, Zee Entertainment, Sony Pictures and Viacom18, according to industry sources. According to the CEO of a rival DTH agency, the number of subscribers of DD Free Dish […]
In a diplomatic victory for China, Nepal has started issuing stapled visas to Taiwan passport holders, departing from its previous policy of issuing regular visas to citizens of the island nation. Diplomatic sources in the Taiwan Embassy in New Delhi say that the matter came to their attention shortly after China’s President Xi Jinping’s visited […]
Royal Enfield, the country’s biggest maker of premium motorcycles, is unlikely to offer last minute, stock-clearance discounts as part of the BS-VI transition, given that strong festival sales helped clear out much of its inventory. According to company officials, the festival sales this year have been so strong that they have effectively cleared out any […]
Sun Direct, the Chennai-based direct-to-home satellite TV service, has started giving free access to nearly all Sun Group channels to anyone who activates the base packs designed by the DTH company. The base packs designed by Sun Direct — called DPO packs — start at Rs 200 per month, including tax, for the Tamil market, […]
Bharti Airtel, the former No.1 telecom operator in India, has started bouncing off the bottom as far as its operational numbers are concerned. The numbers for the second quarter (July to September 2019) showed that the company has definitely turned the corner, at least far as broader operating numbers and revenue are concerned. However, the […]
Reliance Jio, India’s biggest telecom operator by volumes, has set a short-term target of signing on 3.5 cr (35 mln) subscribers for its fiber internet service by the end of 2020, said a stock analyst, quoting company sources. “Their immediate target is to sign up 20 mln [2 cr] homes in the next 12-15 months,” […]
ZEE5, the video app from Zee Entertainment Enterprises, will introduce cheaper plans soon to take on rivals in the market, company CEO Punit Goenka said. “We are working on lighter packs which we will roll-out in the next couple of months,” the CEO said. ZEE5’s annual pack is currently priced at Rs 999. Goenka was […]
Zee Entertainment Enterprises CEO Punit Goenka reassured investors that the recent cut in the price of some of its popular TV channels, such as Zee TV, is short-term in nature, and won’t leave any long-term impact on the company. Zee Entertainment, Star India, Sony India and TV18 Broadcast have cut the a-la carte prices of […]
Subramanian Swamy is often accused of propagating outlandish ideas and suggestions, but at least on the issue of addressing a slowdown in India’s GDP growth, he seems to be closer to the truth than India’s ruling establishment. Both Sitharaman and Swamy are united in recognizing the need for a ‘stimulus’ to nudge the economy from […]
