Hindi
Once upon Udaipur tales take centre stage at storytelling festival 2026
MUMBAI: Once upon a time is not just a phrase in Udaipur this January, it is a full-blown festival. The Udaipur Tales International Storytelling Festival has unveiled its celebrity artist lineup for its seventh edition, scheduled from 9 to 11 January 2026, promising three immersive days where stories travel by voice, memory and imagination rather than screens.
Setting the tone for the 2026 edition are National Award-winning actor Divya Dutta and acclaimed theatre and film actor Rajit Kapur, who headline a diverse roster of storytellers and performers from India and overseas. The line-up blends theatre, dance, music and oral narrative, with names such as Danish Husain, Arif Zakaria, Divy Nidhi Sharma, author Mayur Kalbag, international storytellers Maia Ganatra, Mikka Chesron, and musician-actor Meiyang Chang performing with his band. Adding a visual dimension, the Sanjukta Sinha Dance Company from Ahmedabad will present Shifting Sands.
A defining feature of the festival remains Honours Unveiled, the Honouring of Master Storytellers, a curated segment introduced in the fifth edition to recognise lifelong contributions to oral storytelling. The jury-led honour celebrates those who have preserved cultural memory, language and lived histories through the spoken word, reinforcing the festival’s belief that storytelling is a living, transformative art.
Speaking about her participation, Divya Dutta noted that storytelling is where performance becomes most honest, shaped by the bond between teller and listener, adding that the festival offers a rare, meaningful space for stories to be shared through presence and imagination. Festival co-founder Sushmita Singha said the 2026 edition deepens that philosophy by bringing together distinguished voices from across cultures, adding new layers of craft and perspective.
The three-day programme is carefully structured. Day One opens with contemporary, folkloric and satirical narratives featuring Mayur Kalbag, Maia Ganatra, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Rajit Kapur and the Sanjukta Sinha Dance Company. Day Two focuses on legacy and lived histories, anchored by Honours Unveiled, followed by performances from Danish Husain, Colonel R K Sharma, Arif Zakaria and Meiyang Chang with his band. Day Three spans morning and evening sessions, culminating with performances by Mikka Chesron, Prithviraj Choudhury and Divya Dutta, alongside a closing Sufi music performance by Aanchal Srivastav.
Strengthening its digital outreach, Readmio joins as the official digital partner, supporting engagement initiatives and a dedicated children’s stage each morning. The festival will also host its sixth annual storytelling competition for school students, alongside Jamghat, its open talent platform running daily from 3 pm to 5 pm, encouraging participation from first-time performers, students and independent artists.
True to its inclusive ethos, the festival will feature sign-language interpreters, participation from visually impaired students and a performance by inmates from Udaipur Central Jail. Tickets for the 2026 edition will be available on Bookmyshow, starting at Rs 250, inviting audiences to step into a world where stories are heard, not scrolled.
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.
