Mobile Number Portability requests increased from 64.92 million subscribers at the end of August 2012 to 69.78 million at the end of September 2012. In the month of September 2012 alone, 4.86 million requests have been made for MNP.

Active wireless subscribers on the date of Peak VLR in September 2012 are 698.96 Million, 77.10% of the total subscribers.

Broadband subscription reached 15.08 million in September 2012 from 14.82 million in August 2012.

The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased to 937.70 million at the end of September, 2012 from 939.57 million at the end of August 2012, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of -0.20%. The share of urban subscribers has declined to 63.53% from 63.77% whereas share of rural subscribers has increased to 36.47% in the month of September 2012. With this, the overall Teledensity in India reached 77.04 at the end of September 2012 from 77.28 of the previous month.

Subscription in the urban areas decreased from 599.20 million in August 2012 to 595.69 million at the end of September 2012. Subscription in rural areas increased from 340.37 million to 342.01 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural subscription is -0.59% and 0.48% respectively. The overall urban Teledensity has decreased from 162.35 to 161.13 and Rural Teledensity increased from 40.20 to 40.36.

New Delhi: Zee News today announced adoption of a new philosophy ? ?Jitegi Aapki Soch? ? as ?Thought? kicks off action and action helps in achieving goals.

?Jitegi Aapki Soch? is a daily contest launched by Zee News which aims to give voice to views of citizen?s on various issues and bring it to the national platform thereby aiming to empower our viewers and their thoughts. The overwhelming response to the Campaign from the viewers has brought to light the latent demand by viewers across the country.

Supporting this reality is Sanjay Aggarwal, Business Head, Cornershop saying, "The number of responses that we (at Short code 57575) received, when Zee News asked the question "Should Team Anna contest elections?" were over 5 lakh within 24 hours. According to our data, till date it is the highest number of responses received for a single question for a single broadcaster over a similar time-period."

Under this 30 days contest ?Jitegi Aapki Soch? everyday a question is flashed on the TV screen with 4 options and the viewers are requested to send in their responses through an sms. Usually the questions are either factual or convergent, and two lucky winners are rewarded with one Gold coin and a Silver coin daily. The names of winners are announced during the mid-night bulletin. Most participants are happy to voice their opinion and it shows.

?This initiative from Zee News is really helping to sense and form Public Opinion about various current issues. Participation of the people and their verdict sends a strong message to everybody and illuminates us with what the majority of the society thinks,? said Vinita Nautiyal, a Gold Winner of ?Jitegi Aapki Soch? and a resident of Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.

Similar thoughts were shared by, Dr Sachin Joshi from Maharashtra, another Gold Winner said, ?This kind of polls makes the relation very interactive between the broadcaster and the viewer. Making the result public shows the pulse of the society which is very important for a democratic country.?

Mr. Rohit Kumar, Marketing Head, Zee News says, ?The idea behind thoughtful questioning based campaign is connecting viewers with issues as well with the brand philosophy, increasing awareness, encouraging the imaginative thought process, and generally helping viewers explore deeper levels of knowing, thinking, and understanding of any event and happening or issues. Through this activity we are ensuring to involve people in nation building process for a healthy democracy?.

In the era of complex media when everyone is trying to be different, it is the ?Thought? that differentiates products/services from each other.

Mumbai: Anees Salim makes his literary debut this October with The Vicks Mango Tree (HarperCollins), a book that tells the story of India under the Emergency as she limps through twenty-one months of suspended civil liberties, half-hearted revolts and stern censorships. This Kochi adman will have not just one but four of his books brought out by major publishers.

A school drop-out, Salim has spent more time in the company of books and in trains than with friends, his meanderings providing material for his novels. Having spent most of his growing up days in a home library, Anees Salim calls himself an autodidact. He spent his adolescent days travelling across India, seeing places and meeting people. In 1995, he joined Ulka as a trainee copywriter.

"The Vicks Mango Tree is essentially about the Emergency, a period millions of Indians consider as the darkest chapter of India?s history. I was too young to understand its meaning and implications when it happened. But I remember listening to people, mostly women, who supported it because they had blind faith in Indira Gandhi.

nd, of course, there were people who were totally upset about the Emergency, but they were as quiet about it as the censored newspapers. The Emergency was one thing I had always wanted to write a book about, even as a schoolboy" says Salim who is creative head of Draft FCB Ulka Advertising in Kochi.

Anees has three more books coming out in the next two years. Vanity Bagh (Picador) sketches the picture of a tiny Pakistan inside a big Indian city. The Blind Lady?s Descendants (Amaryllis) is written as a suicide note of a young Muslim from a little known Indian town. Tales From A Vending Machine (HarperCollins) is the hilarious story of a young girl employed at an airport coffee shop. While his debut novel, The Vicks Mango Tree, would hit bookstores across the country this month, the others will follow in quick succession.

New Delhi: Discovery Channel today claimed that its social media campaign and contest on Twitter for Yash Raj Films? upcoming release ?Jab Tak Hai Jaan? has everyone talking about Akira (played by Anushka Sharma) who is portrayed as an employee of the Discovery Channel in the movie.

She is on a quest to discover the truth behind the compelling story of ?The Man Who Cannot Die?.

Owing to the phenomenal response received by this activation, #AkirasDiscovery was the most talked about topic on Twitter, trending nationally for over 20 hours starting 4 pm on 3 November. @discoveryin, Discovery Channel?s twitter handle and the movie?s character Akira, also featured on the list of topics trending nationally as well as the list of topics trending across major cities in India.

The two-hour contest conducted on 3 November proved to be an effective medium of getting the audience engaged. The contest was quiz based wherein the fans had to watch the Discovery Channel?s ?Jab Tak Hai Jaan? promo and answer questions related to it. They were further asked to tweet using the hash tag #AkirasDiscovery when answering, to be eligible to win gifts from Discovery Channel. Taking it a step further, the contest was cross-promoted on Discovery Channel?s Facebook fan page to enable its fans to participate in the contest.

Commenting on the success of the initiative, Rahul Johri, senior vice president & general manager ? South Asia, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, ?In today?s modern digital age, social media is the novel way of engaging with our youth audience. This is marketing innovation at its best. Making connect with its viewers, Discovery Channel?s social media strategy tent poles are innovation and ingenuity and of course, differentiation."

Conceptualised and executed by Red Digital, this focused social media outreach for Discovery Channel helped launched its Twitter handle, @discoveryin with an encouraging 321 new followers, 1,400 tweets and 8,400 video views in just two hours.

Remarkably, the campaign saw an additional 1100 tweets with #AkirasDiscovery even after the contest had ended. The campaign successfully reached out to a whopping 1,24,000 unique Twitter users and received over 0.5 million impressions on Twitter meaning each of those unique Twitter users being exposed to branded Discovery Channel content over four times on an average, all in just two hours.

Talking about the initiative, Yashraj Vakil, Chief Executive Officer, Red Digital said, ?There is no magic mantra to success but the potent combination of a great idea, belief and an encouraging agency-client relationship is what leads to some of these impactful campaigns.?

MUMBAI: Cheil Worldwide inc., one of the world?s leading marketing communications networks headquartered in South Korea, received two awards at the 2012 London International Awards (LIA) for the Emart Sunny Sale campaign. Cheil was the only Korean agency to win at the LIA.

The client, E-mart, is the largest discount store chain in South Korea but, like most Korean retailers, sales drastically decrease during lunchtime, typically between noon to 1 PM. Cheil Worldwide created a campaign using a QR code which responds to midday sunshine.

Scanning the QR code automatically links the customer to the Sunny Sale mobile homepage where special offers including a $12 coupon can be downloaded. When users make a purchase on the online store the purchase is delivered directly to the consumer?s home.

The work has proved popular with both shoppers and Awards juries with the campaign winning five Lions at Cannes Lions and seven Spikes at the Spikes Asia earlier this year. Click to see the video.

MUMBAI: The Mobile Marketing Association Forum series has evolved to become the leading global platform for brands, agencies and publishers to share their experiences and success in mobile marketing.

Percept Activ, the strategic business unit of Percept Media, expertly coordinated and executed the inaugural India edition of the premier global Mobile Marketing Association Forum (MMAF) 2012 which was held from September 20-21, 2012 at The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon.

The MMAF brought together leaders of the industry who are focused on building mobile campaigns around branding, engagement and analysis, for a Smarter Tomorrow.MMAF India 2012 featured an unparalleled programme that celebrated the way that the mobile channel is redefining marketing.

Percept Activ focused on the area of brand communication activities, encompassing both promotional activation and event activation. The two day event consisted of a workshop, held on the first day, on Mobile Marketing Fundamentals which was followed by a conference and the SMARTIES India Awards Night, held on the second day.

The enhanced Keynote and Conference Sessions covered the latest innovations, trends and best practices in the global mobile advertising industry. Attended by over 200 Indian and international delegates, MMAF featured industry experts representing the key players in the mobile marketing ecosystem?Brands, Agencies, Technology Innovators, Publishers & Operators, as they shared their learning?s and best practices. The focus was on tapping mobile as a critical marketing channel for building smarter campaigns leading to smarter branding, smart sales and ultimately a smarter tomorrow. The conference was followed by the SMARTIES India Awards Night which recognised and celebrated the best in the mobile marketing industry.

The first Smarties India 2012 awards winners were adjudged by a global jury of senior brand marketers and advertising executives under the guidance of Jury Chair Vishnu Mohan, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Media Asia Pacific.

Commenting on the successful execution of the event, Sanjay Shukla, Chief Operating Officer, Percept Activ said, ?We are honored to be associated with The Mobile Marketing Association Forum. India is at the crux of much of the mobile advertising growth globally, being the world?s second-largest mobile market. Being the first MMAF in India, the smooth functioning of the event was crucial. Focused conferences and awards are fast emerging as an organized format of engagement for the B2B segment and our expert understanding of the format helps us become an agency of choice.?