In order to generate additional revenues from 2G spectrum, the government has decided to charge a fee of 1-2 percent of mobile operators. The government has also decided to levy a one-time charge for spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz radio frequency.

The government has also made it clear that the operators with more than 8 Mhz spectrum will have to pay an additional 2 per cent of their revenues to the Government annually. Those with less than 8 Mhz will have to pay one per cent more than what they already give to the Government as spectrum charges. Currently, the maximum spectrum charge being paid by mobile operators is four per cent of their annual revenue. This will now go up to six per cent.

Taipei - Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves dropped slightly to 278.15 billion US dollars at the end of October from the previous month, the island's central bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

The 2.98-billion-US-dollar, or 3-per-cent, month-on-month decrease was however an increase of 7.84 billion US dollars over the same period last year, the bank said.

Net foreign capital outflows, including net selling in the local stock market by foreign institutional investors to remit funds abroad, were the main factor for the decline, the bank said.

The bank has kept its foreign exchange reserves in the denominations of euros, US dollars, Japanese yen and other major currencies in various major overseas banks.

London, November 5: Prince Harry has given his support to a group of wounded war heroes who are preparing for an expedition to Mount Everest.

The third in line to the throne met dozens of British soldiers, both men and women, who suffered trauma or injury in Iraq and Afghanistan, at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth, reports the Daily Star.

The 24-year-old promised to boost the confidence of the officers who were set to trek to a spot 18,370ft up the world’s highest peak next year.

The soldier prince also met with Royal Marine Ben McBean, who had lost an arm and leg in a landmine blast, and had been befriended by the royal on a plane whilst the two were returning home.

London, Nov. 5: Manchester United star Wayne Rooney’s birthday party for his two brothers ended in a brawl yesterday in which a fan of his was left with cuts and bruises.

Twenty-seven-year-old Michael Mitchell told the Sun that he had spotted Rooney and his wife Coleen, 22, at the Liner Hotel in Liverpool, where a birthday party was on for Rooney’s two brothers -- John, 18, and Graeme, 21.

Michael asked Rooney, 23, if he could take a photograph of him standing next to pal Dermot Graham — and the star obliged.

But as digger driver Michael, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was taking the snap, he was punched and a fight broke out.

Mobile phone footage showed Rooney trying to help.

Washington - Michelle Obama, was born on January 17, 1964 and grew up in a one-bedroom apartment on Chicago's South Side where her mother, a former secretary, still lives. Her late father was an employee at the city's water plant.

Sometimes compared to Jacqueline Kennedy, Michelle, 44, will bring her own style of charm and sophistication to the White House as the country's first African American first lady.

Paris - Stung by the impact of the global financial crisis, French bank BNP Paribas said its profits for the third quarter of 2008 had fallen significantly compared to the same period last year.

Third-quarter profits stood at 901 million euros (1.16 billion dollars), down 55.6 per cent from 2007, BNP Paribas said in a statement.

The loss was attributed to "a direct impact of the financial crisis," which the bank estimated at 1.1 billion euros.

Turnover fell by a more modest 1 per cent, to 7.614 billion euros, compared to the third quarter of 2007.

"The direct impact of the financial crisis was significantly greater than in previous quarters," the bank said.