The unmistakable chatter of typewriters outside courthouses and government offices will soon fall silent in India's financial capital, Mumbai. Stenography colleges on Friday held their final manual exams. The roughly 3500 institutes teaching the antiquated ways of the typewriter across Maharashtra state will be phased out as India pushes ahead with a drive to digitise the economy. "It is absolutely the end of an era as typewriters bite the dust due to technological innovation," said Ashok Abhyankar, who runs a shorthand and typewriting institute in Mumbai. Long relegated to the history books in the West, typewriters are still a ubiquitous feature at legal chambers, police stations and official offices in India. Typists are found at courthouses punching out affidavits, family deeds and other legal documents for as little as 25 rupees (about R5), the click-clack of the ancient machines echoing around the vaulted corridors. Abhyankar, whose institute has been teaching stenography skill...

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