LG Cookie Smart T375 (Rs 4,900)
LG T-375 is a stylish phone with a metal border and grooved back. It is a dual SIM phone with a 3.2 inch TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen and a 2 megapixel camera.

You also get FM radio, an MP3 player and a very decent and easy user interface.


The phone offers good connectivity options with support for WiFi and GPRS for internet access. It has an extendable memory of up to 16 GB.

It also has very good battery life; and is all in all a very good feature rich phone.

Nokia X2-02 (Rs 3,270)
The Nokia X2-02 is a sturdy looking phone that has been optimised to deliver superior music. The phone offers EDGE and GPRS connectivity and is one of the best music phones in the budget range.

Apart from very good battery life and build quality the other features are not really very attractive. The phone has a small 2.2 inch screen, 2 megapixel camera and supports up to 32 GB external memory.

Samsung Champ Neo Duos (Rs 3,200)
Champ Neo Duos is the latest in the Champ series and comes with a 2.4 inch TFT LCD colour display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution, but it has a resistive touchscreen. Samsung includes a stylus with the device for easier navigation across the system.

The highlight of this phone is its dual speaker, which offers very good and loud music, and also its media player that supports multiple formats. Samsung has revamped the user interface and it is now even better.


Champ Neo Duos comes with dual GSM SIM connectivity with true hot swap capability, which means that the device will not require a restart in case the existing SIM card is changed with another while the phone is operational. The phone only gets a VGA camera at the back.

The feature phone segment is not hot anymore, but that doesn't mean there are not enough options for people on a budget. Here are some quality options for less than Rs 5,000.

In a world dominated by smartphones, feature phones have become basic hygiene for phone makers. They need to have them because many people don't have the budget for more expensive phones.

In fact many players like Sony, Motorola and to some extent even LG have more or less been dormant in this space. However, Nokia continues to have some very good options (for Nokia its feature phone segment is a life saver as its smartphones aren't doing really well). And Samsung too has maintained its focus on the segment despite having tasted big success in smartphones.

Indian players on the other hand are focused on bringing smartphones at a cheaper price. Here we have selected the five best phones that you can buy for less than Rs 5,000. All of them are really good quality devices and are feature rich.

Nokia Asha 305 (Rs 4,500)
This dual SIM phone is the latest from Nokia and boasts industry leading quality. The phone has a 3.0 inch resistive touchscreen which is sort of a let-down in this age of capacitive touchscreens. However, quality is great. Nokia has put 7 preloaded games in the phone and another 40 can be downloaded from the Nokia store.


The phone has a 2 megapixel camera which is just ok, but the phone has very decent battery backup of up to 14 hours' talktime.

On the downside you don't get 3G or WiFi but the phone does support GPRS. Overall a very good quality phone and it is also very good value for money.

Micromax Ninja 3 A57 (Rs 4,999)
Micromax Ninja 3 A57 is an Android 2.3 phone with a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen which runs on a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor. Even six months ago people could not even think of such a phone at this price.

Yet you get all the goodies of a smartphone like 3G, WiFi, all sorts of sensors except a proximity sensor, and decent battery life too. Unfortunately though, there is only 256 MB of RAM which is very low and in a way hinders the phone's performance. If you stick to a single task at a time, the phone will give you very good performance, even for gaming.

He further said, "Lenovo is already an established player in the smartphone segment in China and in India too we plan to be among the top handset players and extend our PC dominance to smartphones also.”

On the pricing of the Lenovo smartphones in India he said that the company will launch the smartphones in the low cost, mid range and premium segments to cater to a wider consumer base.

Lenovo recently introduced Lenovo A660, an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich based 4 inch smartphone in China. A660 is Lenovo's first waterproof and dust proof smartphone. Other capabities of the device are dual SIM capability, a 5 megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera and a 1 GHz dual core processor.

New Delhi: A barrage of requests by security agencies to a leading telecom company for telephone tapping led it to say a polite no even to the country's premier external intelligence agency RAW.

The request by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to Bharti Airtel for lawful interception of some telephone numbers came even as the telecom company was flooded with similar pleas by several agencies.

A letter from Arun K Sinha, a joint secretary-rank officer in RAW, complained to the department of telecom about the "unacceptable" approach of the telecom service provider of not following the instruction with regard to interception of some telephone numbers.

Though the telecom company replied that the targeted telephone numbers will be put on tapping "once (they) get the space", RAW protested saying "this is an unacceptable situation in the context of our national security."

The telecom company was not only directed to comply with the demand of the RAW, which it eventually did on priority basis, but it was also asked to explain the circumstances after which they furnished a reply to the intelligence agency.

When contacted, Bharti Airtel spokesperson said 'as a policy, we do not comment on matters related to national security.'

Over 9,500 phones are being lawfully tapped in various states out of which nearly 4,500 phones were intercepted during the month of August whereas more than 5,000 phones were already being tapped.
Out of this, RAW is monitoring only 10 phones.

Mumbai: Market regulator SEBI has set a one-year target to complete investigations, saying that the long-drawn probe processes are a thing of the past and manipulators can’t escape the long arm of the law.

The impression about market manipulators remaining scot-free or the enforcement actions getting delayed for years are all matters of the past, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) Chairman U.K. Sinha told PTI in an interview.

“There may have been some cases in the past, but right now we are reasonably current. I will not say that we are current to the level of a few months, but we are very current on our investigations.

“Our target is that going forward there will not be any matter where we will keep any case pending for beyond a year.

That is the target I am giving to our people and we are moving towards that. I am hundred per cent sure that we will be able to achieve that target,” Sinha said.

He added, “So, the impression that the investigations have got delayed for years together in the past, that will not happen now. From the system that was there earlier and the system and processes we have got right now, there is a world of a difference.”

Sinha also warned market manipulators of strong action.
He said the regulator will always keep an upper edge over them with a robust surveillance system and safeguard mechanism for the markets and the investors.

Asked about the steps being taken to safeguard against manipulators who manage to find the loopholes, Sinha said: “But, it is also said, ‘Kanoon ke haath bahut lambe hote hain’, that the law catches them finally with its long arms.
“How far the manipulators can run?”

Mumbai: Salt-to-software conglomerate Tatas have become the country’s first business house to attain $100 billion revenue, even as the group’s profit slipped to near $5 billion in the last financial year.

Total revenues of Tata group, which has over 100 companies including 31 listed entities, rose about 20 per cent in the 2011-12 fiscal to $100.09 billion, from $83.3 billion in the previous year.

The last fiscal also saw the group’s total headcount rise by nearly 32,000 to nearly 4.56 lakh.

At the same time, the group’s profit after tax slipped by 9.4 per cent to $5.23 billion during the year, as per the latest financial details available with the group.

In rupee terms, the fall in profit was lower at 4.5 per cent, while revenue growth was higher at 25.3 per cent.


Tatas have made a number of high-profile takeovers abroad, including high-profile acquisitions like Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008 and Corus Steel in 2007, and made an offer last week to acquire US-listed Orient Express, which runs an iconic chain of hotels and luxury trains.

Among its key businesses, the group is present in information technology, steel, automobile, power, hospitality, telecom, chemicals, consumer goods, retail, engineering and chemicals sectors.

Out of its total headcount of 4,55,947 persons, communications and information systems accounted for about 55 per cent, followed by about 18 per cent each in materials and engineering sectors.

Bangalore: World's largest software major, Microsoft Corporation is offering its new education programme to the Indian academia for capacity building through faculty and making students more employable.

"Our new education programme will help academic institutions across the country with relevant topics, partner with us for technology innovation and capacity building in terms of faculty and students," Microsoft India Ltd. managing director Sanket Akerkar said in a statement here on Sunday.

The "Microsoft Ed-vantage" initiative will enable about 10,000 universities and colleges across India to adopt its student solutions to individual needs, providing them an opportunity to compete on the global employment state on an equal footing.

"The programme will benefit faculty and students who are leveraging our tech courses such as Campus Agreements, IT Academy, DreamSpark, Imagine Cup and Student2Business with the right software tools as they are designed to help them connect with the industry for internship and employment opportunities," Akerkar said.

Noting that providing real-world tools to students at an affordable cost was a challenge to information systems (IS) educators, the Indian subsidiary's top executive said the programme was in response to the need with genuine software and certifications that make them (students) more employable in times of shrinking academic budgets and increasing education costs.

'The Ed-vantage programme represents a new way institutions can work with us to leverage our technology, build the right skills to become more employable while getting innovative,' Akerkar observed.

Offered at four levels spanning basic to silver, gold and platinum, the programme is based on the core principles of genuine software, campus agreements, sound content and platform for IT certifications.

'The courses are intended to benefit technical and non-technical colleges and institutes in the country having our own software,' Akerkar added.

New Delhi: India is expected to see a slower economic growth of 5.9 per cent in the current fiscal even as there are reasons to believe the “economy has turned the corner”, an United Nations agency report said on Thursday.


The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said India’s growth has been slowing down since 2011, mainly on account of “severe” monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India.

“India is projected to grow at 5.9 per cent in 2012-13 compared with 6.5 per cent in 2011-12,” UN ESCAP said in the report titled ‘South and South-West Asia Development Report 2012-13’

Projecting a GDP growth of 6.8 per cent for 2013-14, it said there are reasons to believe the economy has turned the corner.



The South and South-West Asia region has nine countries besides India. They are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

As per the ESCAP report, the sub-region should guard against the volatility that policies such as the third round of quantitative easing in the US may bring in.

“These include rising inflation as well as financial and exchange rate instabilities,” it added.

Beijing: China's economy expanded 7.4 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2012, slowing from 7.6 percent in the second quarter and 8.1 percent in the first, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Thursday.


The figure has slowed for the seventh straight quarter, but was in line with economists' prediction that third-quarter economic output would grow by between 7.4-7.5 percent in the world's second-largest economy, reported Xinhua.

The GDP reached 35.35 trillion yuan ($5.61 trillion) in the first three quarters of 2012, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun told a press conference.

"The GDP grew 7.7 percent in the first three quarters, and the economy is generally running stable," Sheng said. The figure was 7.8 percent in the first half.

Expected date: 20^th Oct 2012

Estimated Price: Rs. 2-2.50 lakhs

It is a known fact that the small car segment is the most competitive and important segment in the Indian car market. The earliest car to hit the market in this size was the iconic Maruti 800 which ruled the segment for decades before being gradually moved out.

Currently, the Suzuki Alto 800 is one of the rulers of this segment and an all new spanking Maurti Suzuki Alto 800 is currently on the way

Prior to Google, de Castro spent two years at Dell Corporation, where he managed sales and business development operations across Western Europe.