Inexpensive smartphones and 2G subscriptions are expected to help boost Internet usage rates in India over the next two years, according to a new study by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and KPMG. While city dwellers are quickly upgrading to 3G and 4G, slower but more affordable data plans will enable more people to get online.

IAMAI-KPMG estimates that there will be a total of 500 million Internet users (out of a total population of 1.25 billion) in India by 2017, up from a current number of about 350 million. According to the report, the number of mobile Internet users in two years will be 314 million.

New Delhi: Supreme Court threw out on Tuesday a last-minute appeal by Yakub Memon, the only person to be sentenced to death for a series of bombings in Mumbai in 1993, clearing the way for his execution this month after two decades in jail.

He is due to be hanged on 30 July.

Two months after it launched its new Google Photos service, Google is closing its predecessor Google+ Photos — that will start on August 1st, initially on Android, and soon thereafter on the Web and iOS. A prompt inside the Google+ Photos on Android is already suggesting the user to download the new Google Photos.

Google assures users that all their photos and videos will still be saved and available after they switch to the new, stand-alone Google Photos app. With the new app they will still be able to backup, edit, and share their photos and videos, with unlimited storage, automatic organization, and more.

Infosys’s founder and former chairman Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures has invested $5 million in payment solutions provider Innoviti Payment Solutions (IPS). The round also saw participation from Canada-based New India Investment Corporation. The company aims to utilize the raised funds to expand the company’s SME loans category as well as for marketing, product development and scaling its overall payments infrastructure.

Prior to this, Innoviti has received Rs 10 crore in January from investors including Tata Capital and a group of London and India based individual investors. Bengaluru-based firm was founded by Rajeev Agrawal, it counts Reliance, Titan, Indigo, Yatra, Walmart, Sikkim Manipal University, HDFC, ICICI, Axis and SBI among its clients.

Sachin Tendulkar backed celebrity fashion and memorabilia company, Universal Sportsbiz Pvt. Ltd. (USPL) has raised Rs 8 crore from Temasek Venture’s lending platform InnoVen Capital India. The raised funding will be used to accelerate growth plan and in brand building via multimedia campaigns.

“We will be focused on unlocking the true potential of celebrity lines business by building enhanced awareness and providing access and availability,” said USPL Founder Anjana Reddy. Founded in April 2012, USPL started with its brand Collectabillia, which sold sports memorabilia and fashion accessories, including Tendulkar’s autographed bats and Lionel Messi’s laptop covers.

Gold prices stabilised on Tuesday holding just above a five-year low, but investors still see further price falls a day after the metal tumbled 4 per cent.

Reflecting losing interest in gold, holdings in top gold fund SPDR Gold Trust fell to the lowest since 2008.

BSE Sensex plunged over 270 points down after the Parliament’s first monsoon session failed to impress traders.

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade choppy with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive territory.

HDFC Bank, the country's second largest private sector lender, today reported a 21% rise in net profit to Rs 2,695.7 crore on the back of an increase in net interest income and robust other income.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, increased by 23.5% to Rs 6,389 crore in the quarter ended June as compared to Rs 5,171.6 crore in the same period a year ago.

Aiming for a dominant position in the mass-market sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment in India, Korean auto major Hyundai today launched Creta with price starting at Rs 8.59 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi).

Creta is being launched globally for the first time in India. The roll-out of the five-seater SUV in the country would be followed by launches in other international markets.

Revenues from top 10 clients have grown by 5.9 per cent sequentially compared to the decline in the previous quarter. Infy's revenue from its top client has grown by 10.5 per cent sequentially.Revenue growth rates across verticals are fast catching up with some of its peers, which could lead to a re-rating of the stock even if earnings upgrades do not happen for FY16.

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