Mobile number portability: What you need to do to shift to a new operator

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Here are the steps to port your mobile number to another service provider.

1. First, you need to generate UPC (Unique Porting Code).

This can be done by sending an SMS to 1900.

The SMS should be in this format: PORT Eg: PORT <99XXXXXXXX>.

This should be sent to 1900

Operator SMS charge will be applicable.

PM to flag off nationwide roll-out of MNP on Jan 20

2. In reply, you will receive a UPC (Unique Porting Code) as SMS from 1901.

The UPC will be an 8 digit alpha-numeric code. You will also receive the date till when the UPC will remain valid in the MM/DD/YYYY format.

3. Send the UPC to the service number of the mobile operator you wish to switch to, through an SMS, if such a number is available.

You can confirm by visiting the operator's website. Else, visit the nearest outlet/showroom of the operator you want to migrate to with your UPC in hand.

4. Some service providers charge a nominal fee for the process, while others like BSNL have advertised free porting.

5. You will also have to fill and submit the prescribed Mobile Number Portability form to the new operator. They could also ask you to submit documents (like photo ID and address proof). Post-paid subscribers will be asked to submit a copy of their latest bill too.

6. Your request could be denied if any of these factors apply:

• You have an unpaid bill on your existing postpaid mobile number.
• Pending request for change of ownership of the concerned Mobile Number
• The mobile number is under contractual obligation
• 90 Days has not lapsed since number activation
• 90 Days has not lapsed since last Porting Request from the same Mobile Number
• You have applied for inter-circle porting
• There is a pending legal case against your mobile number

7. The number portability has to be completed within 7 working days as per process mandated by DoT. You will also receive an SMS mentioning the time and date for porting.

8. Once the switch is complete, you will receive another SMS from the new operator.

Your mobile phone may go 'dead' for 120 minutes, the time when the porting takes place. At the end of it, your migration to your new operator should be complete.

9. One thing you must keep in mind - You can change your operator only once in every 90 days. So, use the service with care

What the various service providers are offering:

BSNL | Airtel | Idea | Vodafone | Tata Docomo | Uninor

ICMR asks people not to panic over Congo virus

Confirming the first case in Ahmedabad of human infection caused by Crimean–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday asked people not to panic as any possible outbreak of the disease could be controlled by proper hygiene and infection control measures in hospitals where the patients are admitted.

A six-member team of specialists from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) will visit Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Tests conducted at the National Institute of Virology (under ICMR, Pune) have confirmed the presence of the CCHF virus in blood as well as urine samples of a patient.

While reports from Gujarat claimed three persons from Sanad had died and a few others were being treated for the deadly disease, the Centre did not give out any figure of the dead or those affected.

“After proper control measure, the outbreaks can be successfully handled locally. In this instance, awareness among the doctors and also prompt diagnosis at NIV is an evidence of the competence of our system and there should be no reason for any panic reaction,” the ICMR statement said.

However, as of now there is no medicine or vaccine that can prevent or cure the disease. The CCHF virus is known to be transmitted among animals through ticks. It does not affect animals, but kills 20 to 40 per cent of humans who contract it.

The ICMR added that typically, one to three days after the incubation period following a tick bite (5-6 days after exposure to infected blood or tissues), flu-like symptoms appear, which may resolve after a week. In up to 75 per cent of cases, however, signs of hemorrhage appear within 3-5 days of the onset of illness. Patients usually begin to recover after 9-10 days, but it can lead to death in some cases.

The CCHF virus has earlier been reported from Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Pakistan. There is serological evidence of CCHF infection being present in India in animals.

Reports from Ahmedabad suggest that a woman died of the disease on January 3, followed by the doctor and the nurse who had attended on her. The doctors took the nurse's sample which tested positive for the Congo virus. Fifty others are being tested for the disease.

The Gujarat government has already warned of a possible outbreak and started screening process in 16,000 villages.

The virus is said to be highly infectious and causes multi-organ failures after affecting the brain, resulting in convulsions.

Health warning revision on tobacco packs deferred till 2012

January 12, 2011 - With the tremendous pressure being put by the anti-tobacco lobby and the health ministry when it comes to smoking or drinking liquor, celebrities are now shying away from endorsing tobacco and liquor products. Sources say that the tobacco and liquor companies have apparently decided to loosen their purse strings to the tune of Rs 25-30 crore (1 crore = 10^{7 = 10,000,000.00 INR = 221,018.88 USD) for a single ad-deal to get a celeb on board, but find themselves up against a wall.}
                                 The central health ministry has delayed the revision of pictorial warnings on cigarette and tobacco packets till 2012, causing widespread anger among activists and health campaigners.

According to the ministry notification issued Dec 20, the existing pictorial warnings will continue and any revision will come into force only after two years.

'The specific health warning on tobacco packets shall be rotated every two years from the date of notification of the rule,' the health ministry said.

The revision was originally to be implemented and new warnings put on packets Dec 1, 2010, but was then delayed.

This has sent a wave of dissatisfaction among activists.

'This is the final act of betrayal across the board to one billion Indians,' Bhavna B. Mukhopadhyay, executive director of Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), a social group, said in a statement Wednesday.

'The civil society and public health advocates are deeply distressed and concerned by the government notification which confirms that the earlier, weak pictorial health warnings of the lung X-ray and diseased lungs (on cigarette packets) and the scorpion (on the chewing tobacco packets) will continue till 2012,' Mukhopadhyay said.

'The obvious question is why was the earlier notification of implementation effective Dec 1 retained for 20 days,' she asked.

Isn't it time to invest in Indian sportspersons?

Amid all the negative news of corruption, scams and tape leaks over the last few weeks there was some cheer in the performance of the Indian squad in Guangzhou, where young athletes competed, won medals and received a rousing welcome on their return home. The homecoming - from Gurusarsahai and Bhiwani in the north to Calicut and Chalakudy in the south; from Savpada in the west to Ratu Chati in the east - was euphoric.

The state governments showered the winning athletes with cash rewards and some even dug up family backgrounds to establish a remote connection with their state. The Haryana government not only awarded the coaches but went a step ahead to announce cash grants of Rs.51 lakh, Rs.31 lakh and Rs.21 lakh for developing the villages where the Guangzhou winners hailed from.

It's no secret that a large number of these sportspersons are employed with Indian Railways, the Indian Armed and Police Forces, PSU giants like SAIL and corporate houses like the Tatas.

But chances are that their talent was discovered and nurtured by an odd sports enthusiast or a coach in the deep interiors of the country. If these organisations had chosen not to support these sportspersons our sports track record may have been even more dismal.

Two sporting events held in the last 60 days got India 165 medals or one sixth of the nearly 1,000 medals won by India, till date, in Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games put together.

Is there is a method or process to uncover and nurture sporting talent in the country? While the work done by sporting academies set up by legends like Prakash Padukone, Pulella Gopichand and Viswanathan Anand and others is praiseworthy it does not even touch the tip of the iceberg.

For a country that represents 16 percent of the world population, there is no reason why every sixth medal should not come from here. While we have hundreds of stories of Indian athletes training in adverse conditions and winning acclaim in the global sports arena, the issue really is whether we as a nation have an aspiration to fire up sportspersons to breast the finish line first.

Aspiration alone is not enough. We also need to provide respiration for the sportspersons, both existing and budding. The respiration needs to come in the form of the meritorious getting an opportunity in an environment that is not polluted by sports administrators, politicians and self-appointed sports lovers.

The last is perspiration that comes in the form of rigorous training - physical, emotional and psychological - and opportunities to test, compare and benchmark oneself against the best in the world. And then comes the time to look at rewards.

While all of us want our loved ones to be doctors, engineers and space scientists, how many of us can put our hands on our hearts and say, 'I shall train my eldest child to be an ace swimmer and the younger one to be the Flying Sikh of the 21st century'.

We need to go the distance, beyond giving a ticket collector's job in the railways or a sub inspector's job in the police to a medal winner. While India bids to host the Asiad and the Olympics, I would propose that Pratibha Patil as the president of India launch a scheme to build India as the next sporting nation.

We need to identify those who have won medals in global competitions in the last 10 years and give them a grant of a million dollars a year for the next 10 years. Their mandate will be to develop a culture of sports in their community, identifying and nurturing talent and bringing them up to global standards.

For the critics, here are some numbers - a grant of a million dollars a year for the next 10 years to 1,000 sportspersons, who are world beaters like Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom or Krishna Poonia, will be half the money the country spent on CWG 2010.

Let them use this money to set up 1,000 centres of excellence in sports. Don't ask the sportspersons questions on how the money is being spent, cut the administrative procedures to the minimum, entrust the CAG to draft a policy that is humane and set the ball rolling. Don't discriminate between a wrestling player or a golfer, or an archery expert and a kho kho player. For today, we have an Indian sporting community that is upbeat, charged and raring to pole vault new heights.