Kapil Sibal, telecom minister, said many companies borrowed heavily to pay for 3G licences late last year. These companies were now facing difficulty in raising resources for the business, upsetting the calculations they had made while bidding aggressively for the licences, he said.
Seeking to corner the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it was "seriously" examining the possibility of bringing a privilege motion against Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal for announcing a probe into the 2G Spectrum allocation from 2001 at a time when Parliament was in session.
In December, Trai had floated a pre-consultation paper seeking inputs from stakeholders on tariff for national roaming services.
The Rajya Sabha secretariat has verified the signatures of 44 of the 55 MPs who had signed a notice to bring a motion for the removal of Allahabad high court Judge Shekhar Yadav over his 'hate speech' even as Kapil Sibal and nine others were yet to verify their signatures.
A day after mobile charges were hiked by leading operators, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said consumers should be offered the lowest call rates. "We want consumers to be offered calls at lowest rates," Sibal told PTI.
Sibal took the action following a complaint filed by National Brain Research Institute Director Dr Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath.
The Opposition on Saturday forced Law Minister Kapil Sibal to apologise in Rajya Sabha for failing to get a Constitution Amendment Bill passed in the Lok Sabha, alleging that he "misled" the Upper House while getting it passed in "haste".
The Supreme Court of India has reserved its interim orders on three key issues related to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, including the power to denotify waqf properties, the composition of waqf boards, and the provision regarding government land. The court heard arguments from both the petitioners, who challenged the validity of the amended law, and the Centre, which defended the Act as a secular concept. The petitioners sought interim orders to prevent the implementation of certain provisions while the court considers the legal challenges.
Telecom honchos Sunil Bharti Mittal, Anil Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla and Vittorio Colao are expected to meet IT and Communications Minister Kapil Sibal tomorrow to discuss various issues impacting the sector.
The minister said that some aspects of the Internet are completely protected by freedom of speech but some aspects of it may not be protected by free speech.
The Supreme Court of India has sought responses from the Centre and others on a petition challenging the blocking of the YouTube channel '4PM'. The petitioner, Sanjay Sharma, the Editor of the channel, alleges that the blocking order, issued by an intermediary based on an undisclosed direction from the Centre, violates his right to free speech and the public's right to information. The plea argues that the blocking was based on vague grounds of 'national security' and 'public order' without any opportunity to be heard. The court has issued notices to the Centre and others seeking their responses on the petition.
Will the secondary school system be able to produce teachers competent to carry out and monitor the new assessment system? asks A K Bhattacharya.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said Gandhian leader Anna Hazare was seeking to create a 'parallel government' through a Jan Lokpal bill without accountability, flouting the basic structure of the Constitution.
it will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another.
The 'Group of 23' leaders who participated included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, besides Sibal who hosted the post-birthday dinner for them.
Congress leader and Union minister Kapil Sibal said at a press conference that the government has told the court that it had no clue about the source of income of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and how she accumulated this wealth. They could order a probe into the source of her money.
Delinking spectrum from the licences in the aftermath of the 2G scam, Sibal said, "In future, the spectrum will not be bundled with licence. The licence to be issued to telecom operators will be in the nature of 'Unified Licence' and the licence holder will be free to offer any of the multifarious telecom services."
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said that he meant no disrespect to any institution by his comments on the CAG report on 2G scam, but maintained that "canards" had to be responded to.
The government has called for an open dialogue with the social media firms and asked for opinions on how social media and e-governance can empower individuals and citizens of this country, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said after meeting representatives of these firms.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday night faced the ire of people at a government hospital when he arrived there to visit those injured in the Old Delhi building collapse.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal asked private telecom operators to replicate the success story of telecom revolution -- witnessed in urban India-- in rural areas as well.
Downplaying differences between the Congress and its United Progressive Alliance partner Trinamool Congress, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday squarely blamed the Opposition for the government's inability to get through the Lokpal Bill and Foreign Direct Investment.
Hailing Supreme Court judgement on auction of natural resources, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday said the apex court has brought "constitutional clarity" on the issue.
The Supreme Court has questioned the line of investigation adopted by the Haryana SIT in the case of an Ashoka University professor booked for social media posts, stating that it "misdirected itself."
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal will hold additional charge of the telecom ministry, official sources said on Monday.Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam leader A Raja was forced to put in his papers as the telecom minister on Sunday night due to his alleged involvement in the massive 2G spectrum scam.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed Sibal as the telecom minister, in spite of DMK chief Karunanidhi claiming that the key ministry will remain with the party.
Both sides remained tigh-lipped about the meeting between Sibal and White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt, Christopher Painter as Coordinator for Cyber Issues and Bruce Mcconnell Senior Coordinator for Department Under Secretary Homeland.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and his deputy D Purandeswari today received wholesome praise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who described them as being a team of "finest minds" in the government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states' education ministers on Wednesday trashed Human Resources and Development Minister Kapil Sibal's road map for education, stressing that fiddling with examinations and a single board for 12th class examination cannot reform the education.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a Governor cannot send bills to the President for consideration if the state assembly has already cleared them for a second time. The court was questioning the Centre over the powers of the Governor when it comes to granting assent to bills.
Sibal discussed issues ranging from spectrum sharing, merger and acquisition, annual spectrum usage charge and rising disputes among the telecom firms.
India would have a new World Trade Organisation-compliant patent regime by January 1, 2005, apart from making India competitive
Maintaining the zero-loss claim, therefore, involves justifying the failure to do proper price discovery, as through the spectrum auction in 2010 for 3G services.
After engaging in a war of words with industrialist Ratan Tata, Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar has now given a 7-point agenda to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal suggesting that the ministry be made "free of lobbyists and wheeler-dealers" to clean up the sector.
The bench, which examined the online post by the professor, who heads the political science department in the Sonipat-based Ashoka University, questioned his choice of words, saying they were used deliberately to humiliate, insult, or put others in discomfort. "The choice of words are deliberately made to insult, humiliate or cause discomfort to others. The professor, who is a learned person cannot lack a dictionary... he could have conveyed the very same feelings in a simple language without hurting others. He should have shown respect for the sentiments of others. He could have used a simple and neutral kind of language, respecting others," Justice Kant said.
Manufacturing market in India is huge, said Kapil Sibal in California.
Says inordinate delay on this and other issues raised by firm earlier are impacting investor confidence.
Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley's view that the new anti-terror law is likely to be misused against the minorities. "This is not true," Sibal said.
Seeking to take forward reforms in education, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday asked the IITs to expand into new areas like medicine and law and evolve a framework in this regard.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to revise electoral rolls in Bihar. The hearing is scheduled for July 10.
