Hindi
FICCI FLO Film Festival to host Global Symposium on Gender in Media
MUMBAI: The first FLO Film Festival organized by FICCI Ladies Organisation(FLO), Mumbai Chapter, the women’s wing of FICCI, today announces a new partnership with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media that will see the Festival host the Institute’s first Global Symposium on Gender in Media in Mumbai, India in February 2016.
Speaking about the partnership, Academy Award-winning actor and founder and Chairman Geena Davis said, “Media images have a huge impact on our perceptions, and on our social and cultural beliefs and behaviours. Our new global study, explores how global films may be reinforcing negative gender stereotypes with movie audiences of all ages.” The Institute is the only research-based organisation working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate, and influence the need to dramatically improve gender balance, reduce stereotyping and create diverse female characters in entertainment.
FLO National President Archana Garodia Gupta said, “FLO has been working to empower women, and erase gender stereotypes for three decades. Films are a very powerful medium, and have a major role to play in our perception of the world. They can help redress the balance or reinforce negative gender images. We are very excited to bring this issue to the fore in the Film Capital of the world, and hope to improve the image of women in Indian films.”
At the 3rd Global Symposium on Gender in Media, the Institute will present new global research which explores the influence of film audiences in the UK, India, Nigeria, France and Brazil funded by the Oak Foundation.
The Festival will open with the Symposium, (the Symposium is sponsored by Independent Television Service Inc- ITVS), which will convene eminent entertainment content creators, business leaders, actors, directors, media personalities, policy makers, to engage in dialogue around the institute’s global research along with two panel discussions from leading entertainment industry personalities, content creators, along with gender in media related subject matter experts.
CEO Geena Davis Institute Madeline Di Nonno said, “We are honoured to be partnering with FLO. They have been working for the education of the girl child, mentoring women entrepreneurs and many initiatives to empower women since the past 32 years. Our Symposium and the Film Festival are great platforms to discuss the depiction and representation of women and girls and how films can influence social and cultural views and beliefs. We are also very excited to continue our long partnership with ITVS.”
FLO Member of the Advisory Panel Amruta Devendra Fadnavis said, “Films are an integral part of our culture. The Movies have made us laugh, cry, they have inspired us and have been an important constituent in the cultural evolution of our society. “Objectifying” women in films should be done away with and be replaced by the characterisation of strong women, which will create a very positive subconscious impact on the society as a whole.”
FICCI Ladies Organisation Chairperson Falguni Padode said, “The FICCI FLO Film Festival hopes to create an impact that will mobilize and inspire audiences to bring about a paradigm shift in their perception towards crucial female-centric issues in India and across the globe.”
The films, national as well as international, features, shorts, documentaries, animation and digital films will focus on Women Empowerment spanning subjects of Skilling and Vocation, Educating the Girl Child, Hygiene and Wellness, Self Esteem and Economic Independence, Mental Health and Sexual Exploitation.
FICCI FLO Film Festival Creative Director Rashmi Lamba said, “For the first time in India, the FICCI FLO Film Festival aims to be the ‘Catalyst For Change through Film’ and will provide a platform to bring together the voices and expertise of leading Indian and global media institutions and organisations working towards creating gender sensitivity and women empowerment.”
Leading global and Indian Film and Media Institutes and Organisations that include Whistling Woods International, Women Make Movies, ITVS, Population First, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and Point of View will showcase selected films and hold a series of strategic Workshops during the FLO Film Festival to focus on gender sensitivity, skill development, outreach and social impact, to enable audiences to become discerning viewers and critically reflect on their media consumption and how it influences them.
A special screening of the acclaimed movie – He Named Me Malala was held as a special event to announce the Partnership and Film Festival.With a presence in 14 locations across the country and over 4,000 members, FLO boasts of some outstanding work in the field of women empowerment.
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.
