The per port transaction charge will be Rs 19 and the subscriber will not be charged more than that.

However, operators are free to levy any amount less than or equal to this charge, TRAI said in a statement on Friday.

The government has asked operators to ready their networks for porting of numbers in metros by 31st December, this year.

The regulator has left the dipping charge — payable by an operator to the MNP service provider to mutual negotiation between telcos and the respective MNP service providers.

To port his number, the subscriber will have to request the new operator for acceptance of his connection.

The process will have to be completed in four days and the subscriber will have to give porting charges to the new operator.

The MNP will open a host of opportunities for the new operators to lure the customers of existing operators by marketing their brands and USP.

Syniverse Technologies (Zone 1) and MNP Interconnection (Zone 2) are the two companies who have been licenced by the DoT to carry out the MNP exercise.

The Prime Minister told The Washington Post in an interview days ahead of his visit to the US that he wants the growth to be inclusive to and its benefits to reach all segments of the population.

“A growth rate of about 9 percent per annum and to ensure that this growth is an inclusive growth — that the benefits of development reach out to all sectors of our population,” Singh said when asked what would he like to achieve in the next few years.

“Do you feel you’ve made a difference to your country as prime minister? What will your legacy be?” the Prime Minister was asked.

“I hope I’ve made some difference. That’s for posterity to judge,” Singh said.

Responding to questions on the economic crisis, the Prime Minister was optimistic of US’ recovery from last year’s crisis.

“With the entrepreneurial skills of the US business class and the US educational system, I have no doubt that the United States will overcome this temporary setback,” he said.

As far as India is concerned, its banking system, he said, is better regulated.

“We don’t allow our banking system to invest heavily in those types of assets. Our export growth rate has sharply declined. The flow of capital has also been affected,” he said.

“But more recently, capital has started coming back to our country. Before the crisis, our growth rate was at 8.5 per cent to 9 per cent per year. This year it will be about 6.5 per cent. In two years, we should go back to 9 per cent growth rate,” Singh said.

The bid wouldn’t be ready for two weeks and the terms are in flux, the newspaper says people close to the matter have said.

But the people said the charitable trust that controls the company and has complicated Hershey’s merger efforts in the past is now prodding CEO David West to beat Kraft’s offer, the Journal reports.

The offer is expected to include at least $10 billion in cash from Hershey, plus $2 billion in new Hershey shares and another $3 billion to $5 billion in cash from investors in exchange for equity in Hershey.

Hershey adviser Byron Trott, a former Goldman Sachs banker known for his close relationships with billionaire Warren Buffett and other major investors, is courting new investors.

Buffett, whose investment firm Berkshire Hathaway is the biggest shareholder in Kraft, called Kraft’s original offer for Cadbury “pretty full.”

The trust would sell about $1 billion worth of assets but hopes to structure the deal to maintain control of Hershey, according to the Journal, which says Hershey and the trust are working with two banks to raise the money: JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Kraft has made clear that it, like Hershey, wants access to Cadbury’s presence in developing markets such as Mexico and India. Its 9th November offer includes 40 percent cash and the rest in stock.

Cadbury quickly dismissed it as too low, but Kraft has until December to present it directly to shareholders.

“We’re the only offer on the table,” Kraft spokesman Michael Mitchell said. And we’re confident we’re the best, most logical partner for Cadbury.”

With roughly $9 billion lined up from lenders including Citgroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and HSBC Holdings PLC, Kraft could top a bid from Hershey.

Representatives for Hershey, the Hershey trust and Cadbury declined to comment on Friday.

While the trust initially didn’t think it would be able to put together a bid, it has found banks are willing to lend at higher levels in recent weeks for a combined Hershey-Cadbury, the paper said, and that would allow a successful bid to be constructed.

Some on the Hershey corporate board worry a deal could burden the company with too much debt, the paper said.

And observers question whether trust board members will have the will to sign off on a deal.

Hershey shares may not hold value if the company proceeds with a bid. And further share price drops – as occurred after rumors spread in recent weeks that Hershey might bid – would eat into the value of any offer.

Hershey Chief Executive David West has been talking with Italian candy maker Ferrero Spa about a possible joint bid for Cadbury, the Journal reports, writing also that a person familiar with the matter said those negotiations have not advanced.

The Hershey Trust funds a boarding school for low-income children in Hershey, Pa.

It has resisted large-scale deals before and its insistence on retaining control has complicated talks about acquiring Cadbury.

But trust board members have decided Hershey must expand more outside the U.S. to keep growing and preserve funding for the school, those close to the matter said.

“It has decided it must be a consolidator before it is consolidated, which would risk its mission,” said one person familiar with the trust’s thinking, according to the Journal.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, climbed 18 cents to USD 77.64 a barrel after slumping USD 2.12 in US trade overnight.

Brent North Sea crude for January rose 23 cents to USD 77.87, after dipping USD 1.83 in London trade.

“The reason that oil is up is probably due to the fact that many investors view pricing below USD 78 a barrel as a buying opportunity,” said Victor Shum, senior principal at energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.

“The oil market has shown resistance against breaking through the 80-dollar level simply because the sustainability of economic recovery is still uncertain and oil fundamentals are weak.”

New York crude on Wednesday breached USD 80 a barrel after government data showed crude reserves in the United States — the world’s biggest energy consuming nation — fell by 900,000 barrels in the week ending 13th November.

The decline was more than the 600,000 barrels anticipated by the market.
US gasoline or petrol inventories tumbled 1.7 million barrels, confounding expectations for a small gain.

Stockpiles of distillates, which include diesel and heating fuel, fell 300,000 barrels. Analysts had pencilled in a bigger drop of 500,000 barrels.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Thursday approved the revision of the National Programme for Mid Day Meal in Schools.

The CCEA decided to increase quantity of pulses from 25 to 30 gm, vegetables from 65 to 75 gm and to decrease the quantity of oil and fat from 10 to 7.5 grams, an official spokesperson said.

The cooking cost, which excludes the labour and administrative charges, has been revised from Rs 2.08 to Rs 2.50 per meal at primary and from 2.60 to Rs.3.75 per meal at upper primary levels with effect from December one.

The CCEA further decided to increase the cost by 7.5 per cent from April one next year and again on April one, 2011. The Centre will provide for 75 per cent of the cost while the states and Union Territories will pay the balance.

However, the sharing will be in a 90-10 ratio between the Centre and the northeastern states, the spokesperson said.

The revision would involve an additional expenditure of Rs 10140.33 crore for the Central government and Rs 4280.79 crore for the states and union territories for the remaining period of the 11th Five year Plan.

The revised mid-day meal programme also sets norms for engaging cook-cum-helpers in schools. The government approved a separate provision for payment of honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month to each cook-cum-helper.

The new norms envisages provision of engaging one cook-cum-helper in a school having up to 25 students. Two cooks-cum-helpers can be engaged in a school having 26 to 100 students and one additional cook-cum-helper can be engaged for every addition of up to 100 students.

The expenditure towards the honorarium of cooks-cum-helpers will be shared between the Centre and the states and union territories.

The CCEA decided to revise the construction cost of a kitchen-cum-store being used for the mid-day meal programme. At present, the government spends up to Rs 60,000 for a kitchen shed.

This amount will be revised on the basis of State Schedule of Rates and the plinth area norm laid by the Department of School Education and Literacy on the basis of number of children studying in the school, the spokesperson said.

Transportation assistance, being given to the special category states, including eight northeastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, has been made at par with the Public Distribution System rates prevalent in these states.

Sentiments also dampened on fears that the government might step in to check the rush of foreign funds.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 117.71 points to 16,667.94 points in opening trade. The BSE barometer lost 265 points in the past two sessions.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved down by 42.95 points to 4,946.05 points.

Brokers said sentiments on the domestic bourses turned weak following overnight losses on the US stock markets and weak trends on the other Asian markets in early trade on Friday.

Besides, continued profit-booking by speculators also attributed to fall in stock prices, they said.

Among prominent losers, Reliance Industries fell by 0.40 per cent to Rs 2,073.70, Infosys by 0.43 per cent to Rs 2,399, Tata Steel by 0.34 per cent to Rs 535.50, Reliance Infra by 1.14 per cent to Rs 1092.70, State Bank of India by 1.17 per cent to Rs 2,253.80 and ICICI Bank by 1.42 per cent to Rs 873 and Sterlite 0.58 per cent to Rs 840.15.

The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and Japan’s Nikkei were down by almost one percent in early trade on Friday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Averaged ended 0.90 percent down in Thursday’s trade.

The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Cabinet also cleared first phase of Jawahar lal Nehru solar power mission.

It envisaged solar energy up to the tune of 22 thousand mega watts by 2022.

The Cabinet also gave its approval for re-inclusion of Cotton Seed as an essential commodity for a period of six months under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Government would now be empowered to regulate production, quality, distribution etc. of Cotton Seed.

“The Cabinet has cleared Rs 7,266-crore package for Bundelkhand region. It is also decided to set up a monitoring group to oversee its implementation,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the meeting.

The package is likely to give an impetus to the development of the region.

Bundelkhand comprises districts of both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and had hit the headlines after AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi visited the area last year.

Rahul had led a delegation, comprising AICC General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh and senior leaders of the two states, to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sometime ago demanding a special package for the drought-hit area.

Irrigation projects and the construction of a power plant are likely to be undertaken with the funds.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, fell 21 cents to USD 79.37 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for January delivery was off six cents at USD 79.41 a barrel.

The New York contract hit USD 80.33 on Wednesday as data from the Department of Energy (DoE), released on the same day, showed US crude reserves fell 900,000 barrels in the week ending 13th November.

The decline was more than the 600,000 barrels anticipated by the market.

US gasoline or petrol inventories tumbled 1.7 million barrels, confounding expectations for a small gain.

The DoE added that stockpiles of distillates, which include diesel and heating fuel, fell 300,000 barrels.

Analysts had pencilled in a bigger drop of 500,000 barrels.

“The latest report included some mildly bullish points for oil markets,” analysts from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report.

However they cautioned that “the big picture remains one of still subdued US oil demand.”

Against this, food inflation stood at 13.68 per cent for the week ended on 31st October.

Prices of urad rose by 9 per cent, mutton and moong by 4 per cent each, while condiments & spices, barley, wheat and bajra turned dearer by 3 per cent each compared to the previous week.

Besides, raw jute prices increased by 7 per cent, fodder by 5 per cent and raw cotton by 3 per cent.

However, on the weekly basis, poultry chicken and fruits & vegetables became cheaper by one per cent each.

Among fuels, prices of aviation turbine rose by 11 per cent while that of furnace oil was up one per cent.

On an annual basis, prices of potatoes have more than doubled, while onions have become expensive by about 40 per cent.

The Sensex, which had lost 51.87 points in Wednesday’s choppy trade, moved further down by (A70.68 points to 16,928.10 in early trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also drifted by 18.65 points to 5,036.05.

Brokers said, besides continued profit booking by funds and retail investors, weak trends at other Asian bourses, which were down up to 1.5 per cent in early trade today, put pressure on the sentiments here.