Number portability implementation extended to Dec 31

September 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Move over passport and PAN card! Now the mobile phone will be used to verify your credentials, for authentication at banks, gas connection centres or while providing rural jobs, Unique Identification Authority chief Nandan Nilekani said Saturday. "Our project will provide a unique identification (UID) number not a card.

September 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Kanti Lal Bhuria has urged Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to expedite the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 in the State. In a meeting held here today with Patnaik, Bhuria pointed out that out of 2,92,000 claims, only 41,000 claims have been cleared by the State Government.

September 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Wednesday issued guidelines on mobile number portability (MNP) that will allow subscribers to change operators while retaining the original number, but only within a particular circle. The new facility will become a reality from Dec 31 in metros and by March 20, 2010 in the rest of the country, said a statement from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - There were many complaints of corruption in the implementation of the central government's flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi admitted Tuesday, while charging that some states ruled by parties other than the Congress were not utilising funds sanctioned for the purpose.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - An ombudsman will be appointed to ensure that welfare schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are implemented properly, Minister of State for Rural Development Agantha Sangma said here. She said on the sidelines of a function late Thursday that an ombudsman kind of system was being developed to ensure accountability and transparency in government-run welfare schemes.

July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Thursday told parliament his ministry has a mechanism to regularly monitor the progress in implementation of various development schemes for the minorities undertaken by the government. "Review of progress of implementation of the schemes is done through periodic review meetings and through the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation," Khurshid said in the Lok Sabha.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's telecom watchdog has sought the views of the industry stakeholders on mobile number portability (MNP) charges that will help decide what service providers and a customer should pay for switching operators. MNP once implemented will allow subscribers to retain their existing mobile number when they switch from one service provider to another or from one technology to another of the same service provider.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday extended the economic stimulus package for the print media by six months till Dec 31. "Since the print media is still passing through difficult times, the stimulus package for the print media is being extended till December 31, 2009," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the budget for fiscal 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Tuesday issued draft regulations for mobile number portability (MNP), highlighting the rights, obligations and duties of service providers. MNP allows users to switch operators without changing numbers.

June 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Rural Development Minister, Dr. C.P. Joshi today assured support to Sikkim for the implementation of flagship programmes of the Government under the Ministry of Rural Development in the State.

June 15th, 2009 Extended Stay Hotels files for Chapter 11NEW YORK — Extended Stay Hotels LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Spartanburg, S.C.-based company's brands include Extended Stay Deluxe, Extended Stay America Efficiency Studios, Homestead Studio Suites, StudioPLUS Deluxe Studios and Crossland Economy Studios.

April 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India plans to implement mobile number portability services in Kolkata, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu circles by September this year, a top official said here Thursday. 'By April 2010, we plan to launch the service in circles in the eastern and the southern parts of the country, including the whole of West Bengal,' Ashok Sapra, managing director of the US-based Telcordia Technologies, which owns a majority stake in MNP, told reporters.

March 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has selected two US-based companies - Telcordia Technologies and Syniverse Technologies - to provide mobile number portability (MNP) services in India, a government spokesperson said Monday. MNP once implemented will enable mobile phone users to change their telecom operators while retaining their mobile phone number.

March 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A proposal from global hospitality major Accor to set up budget hotels in India is among the 28 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs.6.16 billion (Rs.616.08 crore/$119 million) cleared by the government, an official statement said Wednesday. Accor, which has 4,000 hotels across the world from economy to upscale, has made an investment of Rs.3.66 billion to develop and manage budget hotels under the name 'Formule 1'.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The list of companies that will be granted licences for mobile number portability (MNP) - a technology that enables cellphone users to retain their phone numbers when changing operators - will be announced next month, the government said Thursday. 'The successful bidders for grant of mobile number portability service licences will be announced by March 5,' Communications and Information Technology Minister A.