Hindi
‘I am Kalam’ makes strong plea for children’s right to education
PANAJI: “Every child has a right to get educated no matter what your circumstances”, and this is even more imperative after passing of the Right to Education Act by the Government, renowned character actor Gulshan Grover said here today.
The actor said the film ‘I Am Kalam’ by Nila Madhab Panda, which is part of the Indian Panorama, was aimed at encouraging children and parents to realise the importance of education and literacy.
Panda said 60 million children are still not going to school despite education being a right in the country.
He and Sanjay Chauhan said the aim of the film was to show that a determined child could achieve what he wanted, if the step was in the right direction.
The movie marks the debut of Delhi-based 12-year-old child Harsh Mayar in the lead role. The young child also showed his prowess in singing by rendering a popular Hindi film song.
French theatre actress Beatrice Ordeix who has played a role in the film, said she had learnt some Hindi for the film.
Child actor Hussan Saad has also played a pivotal role in the film funded by the Smile Foundation, whose representatives were also present.
It is the story of young Chhotu who starts his life as a skivvy in a roadside food joint and chances to strike a chord with Prince Ranvijay of the royal mansion who is of the same age. Chhotu does not have an answer when people ask him his real name and it is this question which changes his life. “I am Kalam”, Chhotu finds himself saying. He had seen on television that former President APJ Abdul Kalam was a poor kid like him, selling newspapers. Chhotu is a dreamer and Prince Ranvijay will do anything to make his dreams come true.
The film is the first ever feature film produced by Smile Foundation, a development organisation addressing the issue of children’s education in India. The film made its world debut at the Marche du Cannes (Cannes film Festival Market section, 2010).
The film is the feature debut of International Award winning director Nila Madhab Panda, who has produced and directed over 60 documentaries, short films, television drama and films for international and the national broadcaster.
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
