Surajeet Das Gupta, Subhayan Chakraborty

Stories by Surajeet Das Gupta, Subhayan Chakraborty

How Trai Plans To Scuttle Scams

How Trai Plans To Scuttle Scams

Rediff.com   15 Jun 2024

Numbers could be classified further into (140) marketing and (160 or 161) for service calls to easily identify the purpose of the call in the future.

China Remains Jaishankar's Main Problem

China Remains Jaishankar's Main Problem

Rediff.com   15 Jun 2024

'China is India's primary strategic challenge, which will not go away.

Telcos reiterate demands over FSC, 6 GHz spectrum

Telcos reiterate demands over FSC, 6 GHz spectrum

Rediff.com   13 Jun 2024

Telecom service providers have doubled down on their demands for a proposed fair-share charge (FSC) to be levied on major over-the-top (OTT) service providers, opening up the 6 GHz spectrum band and increasing the number of testing labs for telecommunication products. Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday said these were the topmost demands for Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The industry body wants this additional capital expenditure to be borne by these Large Traffic Generator (LTGs) OTTs as a proposed fair-share charge.

iPhone exports from India hit $2 billion in April-May

iPhone exports from India hit $2 billion in April-May

Rediff.com   12 Jun 2024

Technology giant Apple Inc has pushed the pedal on exporting iPhones from India by racking up exports valued at over $2 billion in the first two months of the current financial year (FY25), according to the data provided by vendors to the government. This accounts for 81 per cent of the country's total production of iPhones worth $2.6 billion. In May, Apple repeated its performance of April and once again crossed $1 billion of iPhone exports.

BPCL divestment completely off the table, says Hardeep Singh Puri

BPCL divestment completely off the table, says Hardeep Singh Puri

Rediff.com   12 Jun 2024

BPCL is a high revenue-earning public-sector undertaking (PSU) and plans to privatise it are completely off the table, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday after assuming charge of the ministry for the second time. "Why would we divest ourselves of highly successful Maharatnas like BPCL," Puri said, arguing the Centre was not in favour of divesting its stake in oil PSUs.

Feud in Godfrey Phillips: Samir Modi files FIR against mother Bina

Feud in Godfrey Phillips: Samir Modi files FIR against mother Bina

Rediff.com   4 Jun 2024

Godfrey Phillips executive director Samir Modi has lodged an FIR in New Delhi's Sarita Vihar police station, alleging that her mother Bina Modi and Lalit Bhasin, one of the company's board members, orchestrated an assault on him during the board meeting. It further exacerbated the ongoing feud among the late KK Modi's family members over the distribution of the Rs 12,000 crore inheritance. Bina is also the director of Godfrey Phillips.

Spectrum auctions: Airtel likely to edge past Jio

Spectrum auctions: Airtel likely to edge past Jio

Rediff.com   29 May 2024

Bharti Airtel may end up cumulatively bidding for more spectrum than market leader Reliance Jio in the upcoming auctions. This is owing to its need for spectrum renewal, and a requirement for 900 MHz in a few circles, analysts have said. Despite the muted bidding expected in the upcoming auctions, Airtel may end up making more bids than Jio, they added.

Are Plug-In Hybrid Cars The Future?

Are Plug-In Hybrid Cars The Future?

Rediff.com   15 May 2024

Plug-in hybrids have two engines and the electric part has a much larger battery than in the regular hybrids. Car companies, led by the Japanese, are pushing the Indian government to look at hybrids in the interim if it wants to reduce carbon emission.

How DoT Plans To Check Rising Spam

How DoT Plans To Check Rising Spam

Rediff.com   15 May 2024

Launched in March, it triggers re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. Failing re-verification, the number will be disconnected.

Analysts wary of Vodafone Idea's falling subscribers, broadband users

Analysts wary of Vodafone Idea's falling subscribers, broadband users

Rediff.com   14 May 2024

Vodafone Idea's (Vi's) subscriber loss reduced to a seven-month low in March, and alongside the company added 1.1 million broadband users after two months of net loss -- two things analysts have noted as key trends that need to be monitored. While Vi has been losing customers for more than two and a half years now, the churn reduced to below a million after five straight months in March, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data has shown. "Jio's softer than usual subscriber growth in March, and VIL's slowing subscriber market share loss are key trends to keep an eye on going forward," global investment banking and financial services major UBS said in an analyst note.

Weizmann to move court against Western Union on trademark, logo issue

Weizmann to move court against Western Union on trademark, logo issue

Rediff.com   13 May 2024

Mumbai-based Weizmann, part of a diversified group, will take to court its former partner Western Union Holdings, the American money-transfer giant, alleging that the United States-based company has imitated its trademark and logo. This, its lawyers say, constitutes a case of infringement and dilution of its intellectual-property rights.

In red-hot AI space, funds for Indian startups cooling down: Traxcn

In red-hot AI space, funds for Indian startups cooling down: Traxcn

Rediff.com   11 May 2024

Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funding for Indian startups in the artificial intelligence sector has seen a dramatic decrease with deal sizes shrinking, notwithstanding the buzz around the country's potential as a major AI hub. Data from research agency Traxcn, which tracks PE/VC investments, shows that total funding for AI startups in India, which started with a bang in 2022 at $599 million, dropped sharply in 2023 to $168.4 million - a decrease of over 71 per cent.

Finnish phone maker HMD plans to make India its manufacturing hub

Finnish phone maker HMD plans to make India its manufacturing hub

Rediff.com   10 May 2024

Finnish phone manufacturer Human Mobile Devices (HMD Global), which acquired the Nokia brand name from Microsoft, is planning to make India a key manufacturing hub for its phone exports. The company only began exporting late last year with the Nokia 105 Classic. What started mainly with feature phones will now extend to smartphones - it announced the global launch of models under the HMD brand for the first time a few days ago and these will be available in India too.

Top 6 Auto Brands Sold 92% Cars

Top 6 Auto Brands Sold 92% Cars

Rediff.com   10 May 2024

The top six auto brands are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia and Mahindra & Mahindra.

'Now China Is Afraid'

'Now China Is Afraid'

Rediff.com   4 May 2024

'Ladakh will be dealt with in Modi's third term.'

Needed Quickly! Semiconductor Experts

Needed Quickly! Semiconductor Experts

Rediff.com   1 May 2024

Semiconductor makers need thousands of engineers and technicians, and though India has one of the largest pool of engineers in the world, they do not have experience in the semiconductor manufacturing space.

How China Is Wooing Elon Musk

How China Is Wooing Elon Musk

Rediff.com   30 Apr 2024

'Companies like Tesla and others have been given a long rope in India.'

India-made chips may soon power iPhones

India-made chips may soon power iPhones

Rediff.com   26 Apr 2024

Micron Technology, a global leader in memory and storage, is considering supplying Made-in-India chips from its Gujarat plant to one of its key global clients, Apple, whose vendors assemble iPhones in the country. Micron is setting up an assembly test marking and packaging (ATMP) plant in Sanand, Gujarat. Currently, Apple vendors import chips for manufacturing iPhones. Sources in the know say the aim is to use part of the production to supply to Micron's clients in India directly.

Tesla's India factory plan may materialise in 2025

Tesla's India factory plan may materialise in 2025

Rediff.com   25 Apr 2024

Tesla's plan to manufacture its affordable electric car priced at $25,000 in India and Mexico could materialise sometime in 2025 or thereafter, with Elon Musk declaring that these models would be produced at its existing factories to utilise their full capacity before investing in new manufacturing lines. The company operates factories in Texas and Fremont in the US, Berlin in Germany, and Shanghai in China. By the end of the calendar year 2023, Tesla was manufacturing 1.8 million vehicles annually.

West Asia tensions stall India's plans to import crude oil from Iran

West Asia tensions stall India's plans to import crude oil from Iran

Rediff.com   18 Apr 2024

The latest flashpoint in West Asia has derailed India's preliminary plans to resume crude oil imports from Iran, officials said. In January, officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had told Business Standard that the government had been studying proposals for the same, given that India was trying to expand sources of imports. "We are always monitoring the situation when it comes to crude flows.