Internet usage through broadband up
New Delhi: According to officials statistics Internet usage through dial-up mode has fallen by 41 per cent over the last year. Officials of the Internet Service Providers Association of India said that the slump in the usage is probably due to many dial-up users migrating to broadband connections. The number of broadband subscribers has crossed 1.6 million now, from a few thousand last year.

They say most of the broadband users are erstwhile dial-up Internet users. So, the usage through dial up is bound to slump since broadband usage cannot always be measured in minutes per month, said an ISP operator.

According to data compiled by the Telecom Regulatory Authroity of India (TRAI), Internet usage through telephone has gone down from an average of 305 minutes per subscriber per month in March 2005 to 175 minutes per user per month in March 2006.
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Inflation up on costlier food, energy
New Delhi: The wholesale price index-based annual inflation rate rose 5.44 per cent during the week ended June 17, higher than the previous week's annual rise of 5.24 per cent. The rise in the year-on-year inflation growth rate was mainly on account of an increase in the prices of primary articles and fuel products, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Friday.

On a disaggregated basis, the index for the Primary Articles group rose 1.2 per cent to 205.2 from 202.7 points for the previous week. The Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group index rose 0.1 per cent to 326.4 from 326 points for the previous week. The Manufactured Products group index declined by 0.1 per cent to 175.4 from 175.6 points for the previous week.

Within the primary articles' group, the index for `Food Articles' group rose by 0.8 per cent to 208.7 from 207 points for the previous week due to higher prices of urad (4 per cent), fish-marine and eggs (3 per cent each), fruits and vegetables (2 per cent) and barley, gram, ragi and milk (1 per cent each). However, the prices of bajra (2 per cent) and condiments & spices (1 per cent) declined.
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World Bank lifts suspension on Mumbai urban project funding
Mumbai: The World Bank has lifted the suspension imposed on financing the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) in March this year. The Bank had suspended disbursement of funds to Mumbai in March demanding rehabilitation of the affected people. Since then, the bank and the state government have been in talks to resolve the matter.

MUTP is an ambitious road and rail renewal plan which seeks to improve transportation in the traffic-choked mega city of Mumbai. It involves the involuntary resettlement of more than 17,000 households and 2,500 shops and small industrial units. About 14,000 households have already been moved to secure dwellings.

The MUTP is supported by an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan of $463 million for the road and rail components of the project and an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $79 million for resettlement. IBRD and IDA are two arms of World Bank.
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