Rs500 fine for every unsolicited commercial call
Telecom regulator TRAI has come down heavily on telemarketers and imposed a fine of Rs500 on them for each unsolicited commercial call or message.

Issuing a new regulation to curb unsolicited commercial calls, TRAI said the regulation would come into effect from yesterday.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been tasked with creating a national "do not call registry" (NDNC) database containing the telephone numbers of subscribers who do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) within three months.

After the establishment of the NDNC registry, landline and cellular subscribers who does not wish to receive UCC can register their numbers with the telecom service provider for inclusion in the registry.

"The telemarketer will have to register with NDNC registry to avail the facility of scrubbing their calling list," TRAI said in a statement.

An amount of Rs500 per call / message has been prescribed to discourage telemarketers who makes calls to numbers registered in the do not call list.

"The defaulter telemarketer will face disconnection of telecom services," the regulator said.
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Monsoon building after cyclone Gonu
Super cyclone Gonu, that has been accorded the maximum possible category-5 status, is expected to create favourable monsoon conditions as it begins to weaken. The weakening of the storm is expected to create favourable conditions for monsoon flows to re-build in the Arabian Sea.

The Bay of Bengal is already showing some signs of life as evidenced in the cloudiness along the South Eastern coast.

According to meteorologists, numerical models suggest that once Gonu weakens on crossing the Omani coast, the monsoon flow may re-converge by the end of the week.

Predictions suggest that, concurrently, a North-South trough in westerlies would get anchored over the North Eastern states, aiding the accentuation of rains over the region.

This trough will combine with the converging flows to help the monsoon resume its northward journey over the peninsula from Saturday.

The onset of monsoon may take place over the North-Eastern states by Sunday.

The model outlook suggests that, over the subsequent three days, there is a good chance of strong monsoon flows establishing over both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

This will create favourable conditions for progress along the Konkan coast up to Mumbai and on the eastern front up to West Bengal.

The region will see `full-blown monsoon' conditions setting in from June 12-14. The strong monsoon flows will penetrate the peninsula and extend its influence across the east coast.

However, the heat wave in the North and Northwest may get aggravated for at least four days from Thursday, with temperatures crossing 45 deg C at many places in the region, including Haryana, Punjab, North Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh and parts of central India.

There may be some relief for the eastern parts including Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa after Friday in view of the approaching onset of monsoon.
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