Idea has cut prices of its low-use 3g data plans, following a recent cut in 3g tariffs by competitor Airtel, even as it seems to have steeply increased prices in some plans. The price cuts are very similar, if not the same, as those implemented by Bharti Airtel last week. For starters, Idea has reduced […]
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 […]
State-owned mobile operators MTNL and BSNL are estimated to have increased their losses by 50% to more Rs 13,000 crore last year, according to numbers from DoT. The bigger company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd or BSNL had a loss of about Rs 6,300 crore in 2010-11 and is likely to see it zoom to about […]
Indian government has extended by five months the deadline for cutting radiation from cellphone towers by 90%, the government informed the Lok Sabha today. The directive cutting radiation limits for cellphone towers was issued after a multi-year consultation between the government, the industry, scientific bodies and consumer associations. The directive was supposed to come into […]
A departmental inquiry could not find any involvement of ministry officials in the ‘gift scam’ at the ministry of external affairs and the inquiry has now been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the ministry said. The alleged scam has been pursued by RTI activist Subhash Agarwal, who filed an RTI query […]
The controversy over the allocation of 2G spectrum under former telecom minister A Raja to CDMA operators refuses to die. The latest was the turn of a government official to write a letter pointing out how two traditional CDMA operators do not have to re-buy their 2G spectrum like Uninor, MTS and others. He argues […]
The defence ministry has refused to divulge the reason for imposing a ban on construction in the Demchok area of southeastern Ladakh — part of the land disputed between India and China. However, the Chinese are building infrastructure on the other side of the line of control, including military facilities, according to local residents. Residents, […]
The government has cut the amount of gold someone can bring as personal baggage from abroad even as India’s gold imports are expected to have increased to 1.08 million kg last year, worth $55 billion at current prices. The government has cut the amount of gold a person can bring into the country to 1 […]
India Against Corruption, the rainbow coalition of activists headed by Anna Hazare, has accused all political parties of planning to pass a toothless Lokpal bill, and promised to launch an even bigger campaign against any such move. Last year, Hazare had organized the biggest political protests in India since the JP Movement of the 70s, […]
Rahul Khullar, the new chief at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has a reputation for being a no nonsense boss. Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre, also has a few other qualities that will make his tenure at the TRAI second to none of those of his predecessors — he […]
As exports face headwinds from the western economies, particularly in debt-ridden Europe, India’s balance of trade or trade deficit is projected between USD 262 billion and USD 280 billion in the fiscal 2012-13, according to trade body Assocham. Trade deficit is the shortfall between how much a country needs to pay for its imports versus […]
The Economic Survey of India, the basis on which the country’s economic policies are formulated, sounds an optimistic beat for India’s growth during the next twenty years, even as short term risks remain. It forecasts 9% plus growth for the next two years and another ‘step up’ after that for the next 20. The most […]
The North European countries seem to love their Indian IT service partners. Indian IT services companies such as TCS, Cognizant and HCL scored considerably higher in a satisfaction survey among companies in the Nordic countriesin in KPMG’s Outsourcing 2012 study. “Cognizant also had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the top performer among […]
The Indian IT infrastructure market comprising of servers, storage and networking equipment will reach $2.05 billion in 2012, a 10.3 percent increase over 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. The IT infrastructure market is expected to reach $3.01 billion by 2016, the research agency said. Revenue growth will be primarily driven by ongoing data center modernization, […]
The government of India is thinking of creating a ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ to make it easier to acquire coal blocks in other countries, coal minister Sripraksh Jaisawal said. “There are issues which need to be resolved urgently in regard to acquisitions abroad especially in view of the fact that other energy deficit countries are rapidly […]
If you thought you were the only one paying for your cable, think again. New research says an average TV channel pays Rs 20 per household per year to compensate the cable network for bringing it to you in the prime band. In other words, if you get 150 channels, the cable operator would end […]
Airtel has entered the online phone retailing business, entering a market already boiling over with competition. The shop primarily sells handsets. Going by the rates, however, only some handsets are priced below the rates offered by competitors like Flipkart and Letsbuy. For example, the Nokia Lumia 800 is available for 23,338 on Airtel’s shop, compared […]
Only about 6% of the families registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) got the full 100 days of work during last financial year, according to numbers from the Rural Development ministry. The numbers also revealed a sharp increase in complaints from Uttar Pradesh. While the ministry did not reveal how […]
