Two US firms selected for number portability services

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharti Airtel, Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services are among the 13 Indian companies that have made it to the list of Forbes' 50 Best companies in the Asia-Pacific region. "Our list is a mix of giant, established companies this year which includes Australian miner BHP Billiton, Hong Kong conglomerate Noble Group and Indian oil and gas heavyweight RIL - and smaller outfits such as Agile Property Holdings, Anhui Conch Cement and Digital China Holdings," Forbes Asia said in a statement.

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 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The wait for number portability, which will enable subscribers to switch telecom operators without getting their phone numbers changed, has got longer with the government Thursday extending the implementation deadline from Sep 20 to Dec 31. "The implementation of first phase of the mobile number portability (MNP), in metro and category A service area has been extended to December 31, 2009, an official statement said.

August 12th, 2009 Record number of Dutch bankruptcies in H1 2009AMSTERDAM — A record number of companies went bankrupt in the first half of 2009, the country's Central Bureau for Statistics said Wednesday. In all 3,500 businesses went bankrupt, double the number that failed last year and the most since the agency began keeping data in 1981.

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 15th, 2009 CHENNAI - Venture capital (VC) firms investment has fallen in the first six months of this year, as compared to the corresponding period in 2008, according to a study. The study, conducted by Venture intelligence, a leading research firm in the venture capital space, and Global India Venture Capital Association, said VC firms invested $117 million in 27 deals in India with fund inflow picking up in the last two months of the period under review.

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.

May 8th, 2009 SRINAGAR - After cracking civil services examinations, Jammu and Kashmir based Imtiyaz Ismail Parrey has become a celebrity in the backward village of Kulgam, 90 kilometers off Srinagar. Parrey has been selected for the coveted Indian Police Services (IPS) cadre after passing the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Services Commission for the civil services with the glorious 134th rank.

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.

April 22nd, 2009 Treasury picks asset management firms for bailoutWASHINGTON — The Treasury Department on Wednesday selected three management firms to handle bank assets obtained as part of the $700 billion financial rescue program. The assets include stock warrants that Treasury has received as part of its program to buy nearly $200 billion in preferred shares in banks to help bolster their capital reserves and resume more normal lending to consumers and businesses.

March 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh is to import 60,000 tonnes of wheat from India to meet its domestic demand. It has selected two private firms, an Indian and a local, to carry out the task estimated at Taka 863 million ($1.3 million).

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.

December 29th, 2008 NEW DELHI - Delhi Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely has directed department officials to follow zero-tolerance in maintenance of new low-floor buses among other measures to provide better services to commuters. Lovely gave this direction after a meeting with all depot managers of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

December 22nd, 2008 AHMEDABAD - With Dec 24 being celebrated as National Consumer Day, Gujarat will get a toll free number, 1800 233 0222, to help consumers get free advice on all consumer-related issues. The Gujarat Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and the Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) are jointly celebrating this year's event with the theme 'Consumers Be Alert, Stay Safe'.