Key changes in telecom policy: spectrum audit, easier mergers
The telecom sector, which has been hit hard recently by the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, is to see major changes in policy. On Monday, communications minister Kapil Sibal announced the basic contours of the new telecom policy, to be implemented in the coming months, which will include for the first time audit of spectrum held
‘Banking M&As out of Competition Act’
Mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector will be kept out of the purview of the Competition Act, the government has said.
No tax returns for those with one income source
In a major Income Tax reform, the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed that the people who get salary need not file their Income Tax returns in case they don’t have any other source of incom
Hopes high for hike in I-T exemption ceiling
All eyes — from those of the inflation-hit common man to the country’s stock markets which have been one of the worst performers globally this year, ranking second only to trouble-torn Egypt — will be on finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday morning in the hope of relief as he rises to present the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha.
9% growth on track despite rising oil bill
The Economic Survey 2010-11, tabled in Parliament on Friday by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is upbeat and sees the economy touching a growth rate of nine per cent in 2011-12.
Trai: Make old telcos pay for extra spectrum
It’s time to pay up for old telecom operators like BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, which got spectrum free above their contractual limit of 6.2 Mhz. On Wednesday, Trai recommended that these companies be made to pay `4,571 crores for every MHz of spectrum they hold on a pan-India basis over the contractual limit of 6.2 Mhz.
NDA ministers too may face scanner on 2G
The one-man committee of retired Supreme Court judge Shivraj V.
Raja flouted own rules, defied PM
Former telecom minister A.
No ‘free’ spectrum, says Sibal
In a damage-control exercise, telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said that in future 2G spectrum will not come free with telecom licences and that operators would have to pay market-driven price
Billions, gone with the hawa(la)!
It may seem like an unpalatable truth to the powers that be in the country.