In what is likely to be the first step in turning around the embattled state airline Air India, the civil aviation minister has set up a committee to come up with a list of routes that need to be eliminated. The move, coming in the wake of a crippling pilot’s strike, is intended to cut […]
The Telecom Regulator has rejected the Government’s proposal to move the sunset for analogue cable from 2013 to 2015. In a letter sent to the ministry of information and broadcasting, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said the ministry’s concerns on the availability of set-top-boxes can be addressed if imports of the same are […]
Japanese camera and imaging company Ricoh Company has expanded its India operations again, this time with a bar-code paper manufacturing operation based in Mumbai. Three months earlier, the company established a development center in India’s software hub Bangalore. Known as Ricoh Innovations Private Limited (RIPL) is to create IT solutions adapted to India’s needs, incorporating […]
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has abolished roaming charges, starting with one of its prepaid plans. The move is the first such step by any telecom operator — removing roaming charges without charging any particular rent or payment for doing so. To avail of the feature, customers have to switch their plan to ‘Roam […]
Government of India has blocked a proposal by G’Five Telecom to invest in its Chennai-based subsidiary, even as it let in investment from Japanese logistics company Kintetsu World Express and UK-based publisher Bloomsbury. In February, local logistic comany Gati had formed a joint venture with Kintetsu and said it would transfer its Express Distribution and […]
The Rajya Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2012, making it possible for owners of motorvehicles to claim a refund on their road taxes when they move out from one state to another. State governments collect road taxes for the full tenure when a two or four-wheeler is registered. Most state governments collect for […]
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 […]
It has been in the market for close to three years, but Internet-on-TV has failed to take off in India due to the high prices of the televisions. That may be about to change. Panasonic has revamped its Smart TV range with 30 new models that cost as little as Rs. 13,990, starting at 24 […]
Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, a 2 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market exhibited a decline. “Global sales of mobile devices […]
Many big Indian companies will take a huge hit from the rupee hitting an all-time low, while it may be good news for IT, BPO and export companies. The Indian Rupee (INR) fell to Rs 54.51 per dollar, down 22% from January 2011. As SMC Global Securities points out, this is going to make it […]
Gold prices in the domestic market may cross Rs 30,000 per 10 grams ($55,555 per kg) during the June-August quarter registering a strong recovery on account of myriad reasons ranging from slowdown in inflow by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), rising headline inflation, rupee depreciation, growing signs of fatigue in the realty sector to pent up […]
Videocon, the latest entrant into India’s DTH market, today claimed that it is now offering the highest number of true HD channels in India. The company made the claim as it added six more HD channels to its bouquet, taking the total Asli HD channels on its platform to 19, according to the company. True […]
Logitech, estimated to have nearly half of India’s PC peripherals market, said it will increasingly focus on ‘living room’ products such as ‘TV peripherals’ as its core market of assembled PCs shrinks. The firm, which refuses to share its India-specific numbers, said it has achieved sales of around 4 million pieces of ‘pointing devices’ or […]
State-run mobile operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has slashed its 3G data plan charges to a fraction of what others are charging. The company slashed its 3G data charges to just Rs 22.50 per GB for heavy users in Delhi, much much lower than what its competitors are charging. For example, Tata DoCoMo charges […]
Bharti Airtel’s cut in 3G data rates has caught the headlines, but Airtel’s 3G is still more expensive than the pre-existing plans offered by some other operators. For example, Airtel’s plan is offering 300 MB of 3G data for Rs 100. In comparison, MTNL offers 1 GB of data for Rs 76 (weekly) and Rs […]
Trade and Industry minister Anand Sharma has spoken out in uncharacteristically blunt terms against a Parliamentary Committee report suggestion on the policy for land acquisition for industries. The report had suggested excluding “manufacturing and industrial activity” and public-private project (PPP) from the definition of ‘public purpose’ for land acquisition. The recommendation, if accepted, would make […]
The Aditya Birla Group today announced that it has agreed to take a 27.5% stake in Living Media India Ltd. (India Today Group), through a private investment company. This brings the multi-national conglomerate into the company of others like Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and the Anil Ambani Group that have significant investments in the media […]
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, […]
