Telecom companies have switched off one in three pre-paid mobile connections they have verified so far under new security regulations. Figures submitted by the Apex Advisory Council for Telecom in India to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) show that till September 8 the companies had de-activated 4.8 million of their 13.5 million pre-paid mobile connections after finding them based on false identities. Pre-paid subscribers constitute up to 90 per cent of all mobile users. Bharti Airtel has struck 2.8 million of its 6 million subscribers off its rolls; Reliance Communications 1.04 million of 2.3 million and Hutchison-Essar 681,000 of 1.84 million.
The DoT has directed telecom companies to run a check on their user bases till May 2006. For subscribers signing up after that date, verification is mandatory. The issue came to a head when the Haryana police discovered a customer had taken multiple connections and was using them for criminal activities. |
Once a country at the receiving end of international assistance, India is now playing an increasing and important role in assuring food security for South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan. “From being a net recipient in 2000, India is presently the 15th largest donor to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in 2005,” said Tony Banbury, Asia regional director of WFP. “This speaks volumes about India’s increasing importance in confronting global challenges such as hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy in South Asia and around the world,” he said, following meetings with Indian government officials.
Banbury also noted the important role of food assistance in maintaining security in India’s neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan, according to UN News Service.
In the last three years, India has made donations worth approximately $52 million to help assist the children in Afghanistan and Iraq to come back and attend schools. Nearly two million children benefit from this contribution. |
