Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's personal website has been hacked and defaced by groups alleging Internet censorship and curbs on free speech.
The Supreme Court on Monday refrained from passing any order on a PIL filed against Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal accusing him of reducing a penalty amount favouring Anil Ambani-headed Reliance Communications, saying persons aggrieved can avail remedy under the law.
Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai has asked Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi for permission to react to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal\\'s open attack on him over the 2G report, according to sources.
Refusing to be labeled as an enemy of the social media, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has called for the Internet to be governed by regulations similar to the print and the electronic media.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday got support from the Press Council whose chief Markandey Katju said that he favoured filtering of "offensive material" on social networking sites as it could promote religious hatred.
The charge against Sibal is that, in February 2011, he reduced the penalty on RCom for violation of the United Access Service Licences agreement from Rs 50 crore to Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) per telecom circle.
The Trai recently issued a consultation paper to seek public views to strengthen regulations to check pesky calls and SMSes.
Aditi Phadnis in a free-wheeling chat with Telecom and Law Minister Kapil Sibal
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 asked private telecom operators to replicate the success story of telecom revolution -- witnessed in urban India-- in rural areas as well.
Last week, while releasing the 100-day agenda for telecom sector, Sibal had announced formulation of a new and comprehensive National Telecom Policy, 2011 that he said will be 'clear and transparent'.
NGO files a detailed documented complaint against Sibal for reducing the penalty of Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance from Rs 50 crore to only Rs 5 crore. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal tried to put up a brave front over the allegations levelled against him of causing loss to the government by favouring an Anil Ambani-led company.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the growth in the sector is essentially centered on adequate spectrum availability, assuring government will make all efforts to provide requisite airwaves to meet industry's demand.
Trashing the report on 2G scam by Justice Shivraj Patil, former telecom minister Arun Shourie on Tuesday accused Union Minister Kapil Sibal of trying to save former telecom minister A Raja by functioning as his advocate.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government over the 2G spectrum allocation
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 Opposition on Wednesday created uproar in the Lok Sabha over the presence of just one cabinet minister during Zero Hour when it was raising matters of public importance.
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.
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.
The government has washed its hands off rising onion prices with Union ministers not sounding too sympathetic.
Jailed former Telecom Minister A Raja on Wednesday told a Delhi court that he would get Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the then finance minister P Chidambaram and the current Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal summoned as witnesses to prove that the government did not incur any loss in the 2G allocation.
it will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Parliament's Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi hit out at Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal for questioning the Comptroller and Auditor General report on the 2G Spectrum scam. He said that Sibal's comments showed both the PAC and the CAG in poor light and said that the telecom minister's conduct was unbecoming.
Noted personalities like member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Shobhaa De and Shekhar Kapur joined others in expressing their displeasure over Sibal's statement on Tuesday on moves to eliminate offensive content from Internet platforms.
Sibal discussed issues ranging from spectrum sharing, merger and acquisition, annual spectrum usage charge and rising disputes among the telecom firms.
In December, Trai had floated a pre-consultation paper seeking inputs from stakeholders on tariff for national roaming services.
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.
Operators oppose levying of charges for additional spectrum with retrospective effect.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
he meeting is part of Sibal's efforts to achieve the 100-day plan for reforms in the telecoms sector in consultation with the industry.
A crown of thorns awaits the next telecom minister at Sanchar Bhawan as the new incumbent will have to address a host of tricky issues like industry infighting, tariffs and improving financial health of the Rs 2.3 lakh crore industry.
Amid growing consumer dissatisfaction, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal will hold the first round table with consumer user groups to look into their grievances in issues like pesky calls, hidden costs in tariffs and ineffective redressal system, among others.
It will help to lower their costs by 7-8 per cent.
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.
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