The Rajya Sabha member was not keeping well for the past few days and was admitted to a private hospital in Lucknow, where he died around 7 pm.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks plummeted on Wednesday after ADAG chairman Anil Ambani reportedly met Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
Rubbishing government's claim of any wrongdoing in the 2G spectrum allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday asked why was A Raja forced to quit as telecom minister if the loss to the exchequer estimated at Rs.1.76 lakh crore was not true.
The government on Wednesday said it has received over Rs 2.15 lakh crore (Rs 2.15 trillion) so far from telecom operators as spectrum fee and licence fee.
The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The high-powered panel, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, which was to discuss the roadmap for auction of unsold GSM spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka, has been deferred twice last month.
The telecom industry has come out in support of new Communication and IT Minister Kapil Sibal for his observation that the sector should not be viewed as source of revenue for the Finance Ministry.
VIL pegs dues at Rs 21,533 cr, less than half of DoT estimate. During a meeting with Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made it clear that the government is against a monopoly in the telecom sector, and wants Vodafone Idea to survive and remain invested in India.
Voicing its concern over reports that its telecom companies have been blacklisted by India, China on Friday asked New Delhi to treat its firms fairly and called for an open and transparent system for them to operate in.
Days after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licenses for 2G spectrum, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday held consultations with senior Cabinet colleagues on its impact on the telecom sector and the way forward. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Paranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
Operators oppose levying of charges for additional spectrum with retrospective effect.
Last week, the 34-year old Deora, a two-time Congress MP from South Mumbai, had taken charge as Minister of State for IT and Communications.
The Group of Ministers on Telecom on Thursday approved a hike in foreign investment limit in the sector to 74 per cent from the present 49 per cent, subject to the management control remaining in Indian hands.
The broader Nifty of National Stock Exchange scaled the 10,200 mark intra day before closing at 10,184.85, showing a sizeable gain of 38.30 points, or 0.38 per cent.
India will attract $800 million in the manufacturing of telecom products and equipment during the current fiscal, Union IT and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said on Monday.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that further opening up of telecom sector and Indian private banks to FDI was 'pretty close' and will be done in the next few days.
If 4,000 workers could work round the clock for the construction of the new Parliament building, then there is no reason why all infrastructure projects too cannot follow that model, asserts Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Telecom gear makers say will take six to eight months for the top 10 cities to have some reasonable coverage of 5G network services.
Discussing the prospect of more reform earlier this month, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced a delay in the 5G spectrum auction. India's telecom sector regulation has to be benchmarked with the global best, he said. It's another matter that many countries have either introduced or are about to roll out 5G services that will enable cutting-edge tech in diverse areas. For India, too, it will mean a lot for healthcare, robotics and unleashing a new chapter in Digital India perhaps.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the much-awaited 5G services in India on October 1, 2022, an official release said on Friday. According to the release, 5G to be launched by the Prime Minister in select cities, will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years. The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is estimated to reach $450 billion by 2035. Capable of supporting ultra-high-speed internet services, the fifth generation or 5G is expected to unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, serving as a transformational force for Indian society.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday refused to grant early hearing on the Central Bureau of Investigation's appeal challenging the acquittal of former Union telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.
Government on Friday said the drive to make India a manufacturing destination for telecom equipment is likely to see foreign direct investment of up to $800 million in the current financial year.
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.
'Every telecom user wishes to know who is calling. This will help in preventing cyber frauds using telecom services.'
However, the revised target, 16.7 per cent higher than stated in the interim Budget in February, looks unrealistic.
Citing statistics of teledensity which has gone up from seven per cent in March 2004 to 66 per cent in December, 2010, Singh said the policy has paid 'rich dividends'.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that there were 31 complaints of call drops against the company in 2015
Portfolios of more than half-a-dozen ministers are expected to be changed.
The total incentive outgo under the ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is estimated to be less than Rs. 40,000 crore by the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), when it completes the fourth year of implementation, according to the government's internal estimates. This means only a fourth of the allocated Rs 1.97 trillion is expected to be utilised by the end of FY24, indicating that not all the 14 PLI schemes would have taken off fully. While three of the 14 schemes - large-scale electronics manufacturing, bulk drugs, and medical devices - were introduced in 2020, the remaining were launched the following year.
A former aide of A Raja and key witness in 2G spectrum case on Wednesday failed to recall in a Delhi court if the ex-telecom minister had discussions on telecom issues with his erstwhile senior cabinet colleagues Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram before sending the letters to the Prime Minister in November and December 2007.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate Friday on an Ethics Committee report recommending Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's expulsion in the cash-for-query issue, with the Opposition demanding she be allowed to speak in the House, and the government contending her views were heard by the panel.
Communication and IT Minister Arun Shourie said on Saturday that the penalty clauses in the telecom licences would be reviewed to make them more stringent and it would be mandatory for companies to comply with them.\n\n\n\n
Former Telecom Secretary D S Mathur on Tuesday told a Delhi court that he did not find the Department of Telecom officially processing some key letters on the 2G spectrum allocation issue, exchanged between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and erstwhile Telecom Minister A Raja.
The communications ministry is of the view that telecom tariffs in India can fall further to almost half their current levels - with local intra-circle calls for 25 paise and nationwide long distance calls for 50 paise - provided new operators are allowed to start services.
Under pressure from various political parties including key members of the NDA coalition, demanding roll-back in telecom tariff, Communications Minister Arun Shourie said on Friday the matter was for the prime minister to decide.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances