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 […]
Finally, the numbers from the crucial Neyyatinkara bypoll are in and both the Congress and BJP have reason to smile, while the Left parties are reeling from the shock. Neyyattinkara bypoll was crucial as a Left win there would have reduced the Congress-led UDF government’s majority in the state assembly to just 1 member and […]
Nokia has launched three new good-looking, mid-range ‘almost smart’ phones priced in the Rs 4,200-6,300 range. The phones — Asha 305, 306 and 311 — are, unfortunately, no great leap forward, either for Nokia or for consumers who are in the market for an affordable, mid-range smartphone. The new phones are essentially an upgrade to […]
Pranab Mukherjee may have just been chosen as UPA’s candidate for the Indian Presidency, but his ambition and rise was noted very early on by American diplomats in India. A cable, released by Wikileaks, from the American Ambassador to India David Mulford in June 2005 to the then U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has an […]
Two students from Bangalore and one from Lucknow are among the 15 finalists in the 2012 Google Science Fair. Including two from the United States, five out of the 15 finalists are of Indian/South Asian-origin. The finalists will be taken to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, to present their projects to our international panel […]
India’s commerce minister Anand Sharma has called the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s decision not to cut interest rates as ‘disappointing’. Trade bodies have been urging the banking regulator to ease the flow of money into the economy by lowering credit rates and-or lowering cash-reserve-ratio or CRR. On Monday, RBI kept both the CRR and […]
INTRODUCTION This action was the first of the so-called “smartphone war” cases tried to a jury. This order includes the findings of fact and conclusions of law on a central question tried simultaneously to the judge, namely the extent to which, if at all, certain replicated elements of the structure, sequence and organization of the […]
Google will introduce offline Google Maps for Android phones in the “next few weeks”, convert entire towns and cities into 3D using software, and start capturing ‘street views’ using cameras mounted on a person. The biggest announcement is the introduction of offline Google Maps, which will take direct aim at navigation software makers. So far, […]
Vodafone India has roughly halved its 3G tariffs, making them cheaper than those offered by competitors such as Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular in many cases. In most cases, however, they are now the same as the rates offered by Airtel and Idea. Under the new plans, Vodafone is offering 2 GB for […]
Months after Ratan Tata claimed an aviation minister asked him for a bribe of Rs 15 crore, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday said he was offered Rs 35 crore in the first five weeks as petroleum minister in 2004. Participating in a pre-budget discussion on a private news channel, Shankar accused big companies […]
Wikipedia, which normally seeks user donations at the end of the year, has started soliciting donations mid-year in 2012 under a ‘special fundraiser’ campaign. The website, founded by Jimmy Wales more than ten years ago, ranks number five in terms of traffic on the Internet. Despite its potential to earn millions, possibly billions of dollars […]
The budget for 2011-12 has confirmed suspicions that the government will soon have another round of spectrum auctions. The government had, earlier in the month, given out a detailed list of states where there is excess telecom and broadband spectrum in an indication that it was gearing up for another auction. It had conducted a […]
The Samsung Galaxy S3 will cost Rs 43,180 in India, in line with its pricing in Europe (600 euros or Rs 42,000 plus). While fans may be disappointed at the high cost, it may be noted that the rupee depreciation is the primary factor behind the high cost. The S2, the previous version of Samsung […]
Opera, currently the subject of much speculation as a target for acquisition by Facebook Inc, has released version 7 of its popular Opera Mini browser for phones. Opera Mini is estimated to be the world’s most widely used mobile browser, primarily due to its ability to provide a comfortable browsing experience on even modest phones. […]
Royal Dutch Shell, Reliance Power and Kakinada Seaports have reached an agreement to construct an LNG terminal on India’s eastern sea coast, targeting the energy-hungry local market. Shell and Reliance Power will hold the majority of the equity in the terminal company and the venture would represent a significant Foreign Direct Investment in the country […]
Google Inc has applied to be allotted domain names like .google, .youtube etc. as well as those based on some generic words under the Internet authority’s new scheme for customized domain names. The company said it has also applied for certain non trademark domain names such as .docs and .lol. “We decided to submit applications […]
Google Inc has applied to be allotted domain names like .google, .youtube etc. as well as those based on some generic words under the Internet authority’s new scheme for customized domain names. The company said it has also applied for certain non trademark domain names such as .docs and .lol. “We decided to submit applications […]
If you were worried about the Rs 43,000 India price tag on the new Samsung Galaxy S3, there is some good news — the actual retail price of the phone is about Rs 39,000. The white model is available on ecommerce site Indiaplaza for Rs 38,900. Similarly, Flipkart, India’s biggest Internet retailer has put the […]
