The numbers are in – and they don’t paint a pretty picture of India’s economy, with growth continuing to slow and prices remaining very high. According to “Quick Estimates” by the government, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) declined by 2.2% in June, compared to an initial estimate of 1.6% decline in May. The IIP, […]
There is not a single person belonging to the scheduled castes among India’s top ranking bureaucrats — the 149 ‘secretaries’ to the government of India. Scheduled castes are those that are named in the ‘first schedule’ of the constitution for the purpose of protection from a historical trend of exploitation. Along with Scheduled Tribes (tribes […]
Almost two in every 5 faculty seats in central universities in India are lying vacant, according to numbers from the Human Resources ministry. Out of a total of 16,542 faculty positions in India’s central universities, 6152 were lying vacant as of March end, according to a reply furnished by the ministry in response to a […]
Samsung continued to hold the top slot in the Indian tablet market that doubled year-over-year, CyberMedia Research said in its updated Quarterly Tablet PC Market Review. Samsung held a share of 21.2% in the June quarter of 2013, down slightly from 23.9% it held in the September quarter of 2012. Micromax, which was number 2 in […]
A special committee set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC), India’s top higher education body, has faulted the agency for excluding high-scoring candidates from the ‘merit’ or ‘general’ list just because they belonged to a ‘reserved category’. In other words, if a ‘reserved category’ candidate qualifies in merit list, he or she cannot be […]
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), or investment by foreign companies to start or expand their operations in India, remained lackuster in the first quarter of the current financial year, according to data from the trade ministry. A total of $5.4 billion was received by India during the June quarter, compared to $22.4 billion during the whole […]
The Center for Science and Technology (CSE), which was instrumental in getting CNG mandated as a fuel of choice for public vehicles in Indian cities, has called the government’s recent move to increase gas prices “stupid.” In an editorial in its flagship publication, Sunita Narain, head of CSE, said the decision to increase the price […]
Sales of DTH set top boxes fell 45% in the quarter-ended June 2013 compared to the March quarter, while those of cable set top boxes rose 12%, according a quarterly tracker from 6Wresearch, a firm tracking the IT and communications market. Spurred by regulation that requires all cable operators to shift to a digital, addressible […]
The Aam Aadmi Party will launch its Karnataka unit in Bangalore on 27 July, the party said. The launch follows a series of district level meets organized by the fledgling party. Anti-corruption activist and leader Arvind Kejriwal will be in Bangalore on the day for the launch, which will take place at a school in […]
After a controversial clearance of the Navi Mumbai Airport in five months ago, the Bangalore Airport’s expansion plans seem set for a smooth take-off. The project, which would increase the airport capacity by 50%, has won the crucial Environmental Appraisal Committee approval, clearing the way for final approval at the hands of environment minister Jairam […]
It’s always been the foreign brands who introduced the latest phone technology in India with Indian brands playing catch up, but in case of Full HD screens, it is Indian brands that are leading. About five Indian brands have launched full HD display phones in India over the past several days in the Rs 15,000-17,000 […]
One of India’s biggest export promotion bodies, EEPC India, has warned of a sharp dip in engineering exports from India to the United States unless the government acts fast. The warning has come in the context of the expiry of U.S.’s Generalized System of Preferences — special duty exemptions granted to developing countries — for […]
The TRAI’s latest consultation paper on the pricing and conduct of yet another spectrum auction has re-started the tussle between big GSM operators who hold high-propagation spectra and others who hold ‘lower quality’ spectrum. However, according to the numbers given in the telecom regulator’s consultation paper, operators would be practically rolling in spectrum by the […]
India’s trade with China, including both exports and imports, have been cooling for several months, and may dip further this year, according to Q1 numbers. India’s trade deficit with China may also dip this year for the first time in many years. That may be good news for the rupee, which has been hit hard […]
Bangalore was the most visited city by business travellers in India in 2012, according to data released by Concur, the global corporate expense management firm. Concur, which used the help of IDC to mine data about expense filings by corporate employees, also found that business travellers to India spent considerably less in 2012 compared to […]
Kerala High Court judge Kamal Pasha has urged Muslim organizations in the country to rethink their opposition to having a uniform civil code, or the same law for all citizens irrespective of their religion. Pasha, speaking at a conference organized by Justicia – a lawyers’ association, said Muslims must rethink the benefits of sticking with […]
The ‘five inch’ revolution is only one year old, but already companies seem to be marching on to the next challenge – 5.7 inch, which have 30% more display area. Two 5.7 inch quad-core Android smartphones have already been launched in the last two weeks, and many more are on the way according to trends in […]
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has denied media reports that the government may force petrol pumps to remain shut in the night to save oil. “There is no proposal under consideration of the Government to allow sale of petroleum products from the retail outlets only during certain hours,” a statement from the ministry […]
The Anil Ambani group got approvals for starting 18 TV channels in 2008, even as applications for starting another 34 channels are pending with the government, according to data from the ministry of information and broadcasting. The ministry has kept pending all the applications tendered by Ambani for starting news channels, while his applications for […]
A staggering 43 per cent of total investment projects worth a humongous Rs 52 lakh crore attracted by states across India remained non-starter as of March 2013, while over 34 per cent of these investments are stuck at the stage of announcement, implementation of about six per cent of projects has been stalled and there […]
