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Telecom regulator TRAI on Wednesday sought views from the industry on introduction of 11-digit mobile numbers in view of existing 10-digit numbers getting exhausted due to phenomenal growth in the sector.

The regulator has floated a consultation paper and has asked the operators to give their opinions.

The 10-digit mobile numbers are expected to get exhausted soon due to the phenomenal growth in mobile telephony in the country with over 15 million users being added every month.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is also looking at possibilities of retaining 10 digit numbering scheme.

It has also sought industry’s views on migrating to 11 digit for fixed and mobile telephones.

Besides, it is also looking at pricing of the numbers as a tool for encouraging efficient utilisation of numbering resources.

“Major modifications in a numbering plan could mean substantial changes in the network and costs for the service providers.”

“From the subscribers viewpoint as well, frequent changes are inconvenient. It has therefore become necessary to elicit views of the stakeholders on issues like allocation and efficient utilisation of numbering resources,” TRAI said in a statement.

The government was planning to rework the current numbering plan and was debating with TRAI whether 11-digit numbers could be offered.

The present numbering plan was framed in 2003 and the DoT had expected it to be in place till 2030. Based on the 2003-projections, India was expected to have 500 million mobile customers only by 2010. But the country has reached that mark in 2009 itself.

Today we have about 550 million connections and it is expected that the one billion mark would be crossed before the end of 2014.

The consultation paper would discuss issues such as long term suitability of numbering plan, effective utilisation of numbers, allocation and pricing of the numbers.

TRAI has asked the stakeholders to furnish their response before February 19, 2010
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UN chief Ban-Ki moon vowed to stand behind the Haitian people as he visited the quake- devastated country and termed the catastrophe a “tsunami-like disaster”.

Touring the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban assured the disaster-hit people that “help is already arriving”.

“For a small country like Haiti, this is a tsunami-like disaster. This is a major catastrophe and a huge humanitarian

crisis, whose full dimensions we may not even know yet, particularly outside the capital,” Ban said.

He vowed that the United Nations would “stand behind the Haitian people”.

“We are with you. You are not alone. Help is already arriving,” he said.

Ban met Haitian President Rene Preval and also visited the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti which collapsed when the earthquake struck last week.

While 40 UN staffers, including its mission chief Tunisian national Hedi Annabi and his Brazilian deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa were confirmed dead, nearly 330 others were still unaccounted for.

“I will carry this in memory of our colleagues who have given their lives for the cause of peace,” Ban said, after receiving a UN flag.

“I am very saddened to see what all this destruction that has cost the UN and our dear colleagues. But I believe that their dearest wish would be that we carry forward,” Ban said.

Shortly after he left the site, news arrived than a UN staffer had been pulled out from under the rubble.

“And I was told immediately after my departure (from the site) that we had a small miracle… I am very glad that it was a great sign of hope. Saving lives is our first priority and I hope we see more such miracles,” he told journalists.

Besides Annabi and da Costa, Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates of Royal Canadian Mounted Police also perished.

“In every sense of the word, they gave their lives for peace,” Ban said.

“Our hearts are with them, the families and friends of Hedi, Luiz, Doug and the many other UN heroes who gave their

lives for Haiti and for the highest ideals of UN,” he said.

More than 27 international search and rescue teams are working to find people still alive under the rubble.

“People are still alive under the rubble. We need to dig them out, again including cities and towns outside the capital,” Ban said.

On Friday, the UN launched an international appeal for 560 million to help the approximately three million people impacted by the earthquake.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is presently supplying food to 40,000 people.

The UN agency will scale up operations to feed approximately one million people within 15 days and 2 million people within a month.

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Taliban militants struck in the heart of the Afghan capital on Monday, launching suicide attacks at key govt targets including the presidential palace and locked security forces in running gun battles, which left five civilians including seven millitants dead.

In wake of today’s attack near the Presidential palace in Kabul today, the Ministry of External Affairs has advised all Indians in Kabul to restrict their movements, avoid unnecessary travel and remain in safe places.

The advisory was issued by the Indian embassy in Kabul.

It was the worst attack on the city in nearly a year and came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai was swearing in cabinet members.

Gunfire and loud explosions shook the city and a huge column of smoke poured out of the shopping centre, where gunmen battled security forces for hours.

Sporadic fighting continued in some areas although Karzai said the city was back under under control.

Security officials said at least nine attackers were killed five inside the shopping centre and four who blew themselves up elsewhere.

The Health Ministry said four Afghan security force members and a civilian were killed and 38 people wounded.

”The security situation is under control and order has once again been restored,” President Hamid Karzai said in a statement after more than four hours of battles, when security forces finally recaptured the burning shopping centre.

The Defence Ministry said other fighters were still holed up in a cinema and fighting was still under way some hours later.

The Taliban said 20 of their fighters were involved in the attacks, which they said targeted the presidential palace, justice ministry, ministry of mines and a presidential administrative building, all clustered in the centre of town.

When the attacks began outside Karzai’s sprawling palace compound, he was inside swearing in new members of his cabinet.

”As we were conducting the ceremony of swearing in, a terrorist attack in a part of Kabul close to the presidential palace is going on. This is just one of the dangers,” Karzai told ministers.

”The danger that could harm Afghanistan is sowing national discord among Afghans.”

US envoy to the region Richard Holbrooke, who had left Kabul hours earlier for New Delhi, said, ”The people who are doing this certainly will not survive the attack nor will they succeed, but we can expect this sort of a thing on a regular basis. That is who the Taliban are.”

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The BSE Realty index gained 2.83% at 4,188.76 and was the best performer among the sectoral indices on the BSE. It outperformed the Sensex, which was up 0.35% to 17,602.17

Indiabulls Real Estate (up 3.14%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (up 1.58%), Unitech (up 3.29%), Parsvnath Developers (up 0.67%), Sobha Developers (up 4.09%), Omaxe (up 2.26%), DLF (up 2.49%), Anant Raj Industries (up 4.28%), and Orbit Corporation (up 2.67%), advanced

The BSE Realty outperformed the market over the past one month till 8 January 2010, rising 2.28% as compared to the Sensex’s 2.04% rise.

However it underperformed the market in the past one quarter, sliding 7.93% as compared to the Sensex’s return of 5.39%.

The BSE IT index was up 1.10% to 5,010.34. The BSE IT index outperformed the Sensex, which was up 0.35% to 17,601.92

TCS (up 1.02%), Infosys (up 1.08%), Wipro (up 1.10%), HCL Technologies (up 2.03%), and Polaris Software Lab (up 1.49%), edged higher.

As per reports air carrier British Airways plans to introduce a $600 million IT contract by April 2010. The contract is likely to span across six years. Infosys, TCS, HCL, Wipro, Polaris and unlisted iGate are the likely bidders. The airline currently works with six IT vendors globally.

The BSE IT index had underperformed the market over the past one month till 8 January 2010, rising 1.59% as compared to the Sensex’s 2.04% rise. However, it outperformed the market in the past one quarter, surging 14.21% as compared to the Sensex’s return of 5.39%.

The NSE Nifty was trading above the 5250 mark with a modest gain of 0.5%. The action was seen mainly in the broader market, midcaps and smallcaps continued their upward journey from the last week.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap index was up 1.26% and 2.05% respectively. Realty stocks were star performers of the day. Auto, metal and IT stocks also saw some short covering today. Future and options segment saw muted turnover today.

The Sensex was up 62.95 points or 0.36% at 17603.24, and the Nifty was up 20.70 points or 0.39% at 5265.45. About 2237 shares advanced, 701 shares declined, and 134 shares were unchanged.

In the largecap space, buying was seen in Unitech, Idea Cellular, DLF, Punjab National Bank and Hero Honda. Cairn India, Reliance Industries, BHEL, HDFC and Grasim saw some selling pressure.

MUMBAI: Shares of Reliance Industries were under selling pressure on Monday after the company raise Rs 3500 crore by selling 33 million treasury shares in block deals on the NSE.

According to ET Now, the company sold 28.9 million shares at Rs 1089 per share and remaining 4.1 million shares were sold at Rs 1057 per share.

This deal is said to be the highest block deal in terms of value. 5 new long only funds from Asian and Europe have bought the shares. UBS was the sole arranger for the deal.

At 9:41 am, the stock was at Rs 1090.65, down Rs 11.30 or 1.03 per cent. It touched a low of Rs 1066 and high of Rs 1184.70 in trade so far.

BSE-Sensex are trading in the positive with power and auto stocks leading the pack.

The BSE-Sensex is trading up by around 100 points, while the NSE-Nifty is up by 30 points. Buying interest is also being witnessed among mid and small-cap stocks as the BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices are trading higher by 1% and 1.2% respectively. The rupee is trading at 45.47 to the US dollar.

Auto stocks have opened the day on a positive note. Gainers here include TVS Motor and Hero Honda. As per a leading business daily, M&M plans to enter the motorcycle segment during 2010 with the launch of an in-house developed bike. It may be noted that the company is already present in the ungeared scooters segment.

Now it plans to become a significant player in the two-wheeler market cutting across the various categories. As such, the motorcycle will be one among several launches for the company.

Swiss drug manufacturer Novartis AG has get patent protection in India for Nilotinib, a superior version of blood cancer drug Gleevec (imatinib mesylate).

It has been engaged in a legal battle with the government on the latter’s decision to deny patent protection for Gleevec.

Novartis markets Nilotinib globally as Tasigna, which is used as the second-line therapy for Gleevec-resistant patients in the case of chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The drug was approved in the US three years ago.

The Stock Index started the day on a very strong note mirroring international cues and on expectation of a good earning season. The Sensex is now at 17,660, up 120 points. The NSE Nifty is 33 points higher at 5,278.

DLF has advanced 4% to Rs 390. Grasim Industries has added 3% at Rs 2,754. Sun Pharma and Jaiprakash Associates are up 2% each at Rs 1,574 and Rs 161, respectively.

NTPC, BHEL and Larsen & Toubro are some of the other prominent gainers, up 0.5% each.

Infosys is the major loser on the Sensex, down 2.5% at Rs 2,464 and TCS has shed 2% at Rs 700.

HDFC, Reliance Communications and Maruti have declined 1.5% each to Rs 2,600, Rs 181 and Rs 1,433, respectively.