Bharti Airtel’s mobile Internet packs, both 2G and 3G, sold online will cost more for prepaid customers across the country.The company has withdrawn discounts that it was offering for online purchase of mobile data packs, bringing the prices at par with Internet packs sold offline through retailers. “There is a slight change in few of our online prepaid data packs …

An anonymous hacker going by TeamUnknown on Sunday posted on Reddit claiming to have hacked Ola Cabs. TeamUnknown claims that it was able to acquire Ola Cabs’ user database, and describes it as “winning a lottery.” It also claims to have sent an email to Ola Cabs to show the weakness, but adds that there has been no response from …

On a cloudy day in a dingy lane of the Kaparada slums in Kancharapalem, 83-three-old Digumarthi Venkayamma waits for lunchtime to meet her big family of 35 children. Soon, lunch is served in the hall adjoining the terrace of Venkayamma’s modest dwelling. There are moments of laughter followed by some strict words of discipline as she surrounds herself with the …

Relaxing on a reclining chair in an air-conditioned movie house with popcorn has for long been the affordable indulgence of an average family. But, not any more if one prefers to watch the movie in a city multiplex. In the swanky and ritzy world of multiplexes, everything is as costly as it seems where even the everyday popcorn costs as …

The ‘kabadiwala’ has been making fewer trips to Chettinad Enclave, a township in Pallikarnai. Most residents here have found a novel approach of disposing of their newspapers. They give away the newspapers to schoolchildren in the locality. “We collected 130 kg of newspapers from 30 houses last month. That’s a small number considering this is a large gated community, but …

The last couple of years have seen a number of books coming out on Madras that is Chennai. The city is not uniformly lucky in all this output. While some publications have been excellent, many would qualify as egregious. Happily Tulsi Badrinath’s Madras, Chennai and the Self: Conversations with the City is in the former category, for it attempts a …

As Ramesh, 15, and Vignesh, 12, take their seats atThe Hindu ’s office, there’s no nervousness, no reticence. They are now veterans at giving interviews. The little one, Vignesh, looks me squarely in the eyes, and lifts his eyebrows — almost a haughty taunt that tells me he’s ready to answer my questions. I oblige. Better not keep the National …

From heating to lighting your home, energy costs can be among your highest expenses if you do not make an effort to be energy efficient. The introduction of different types of energy saving technologies has enabled homeowners to enjoy long term savings and participate in environment conservation. There are a number of methods worth considering if your goals are to …

The city of Isfahan in central Iran is a city of bridges and parks. All exquisitely designed and built in the past with superb Persian architecture. As the description once went “Isfahan, ‘Nesf-e-jahan’” or Isfahan is half the world. It helps if you have a river running through your city. It also helps if the river is shallow and wide …

  ‘Are you really that addicted?” my friend asked when I’d mentioned my travel plans. I was to spend three days in Umbria, in the countryside 20 miles north of Orvieto, in what appeared to be a monk’s cell. No television, no wi-fi and no mobile phone reception. Umbria, of course, is no stranger to “simple” holidays, home to scores …