Monthly Archives: May 2012

DH – 2G case: Behura, five others allowed to go abroad

New Delhi, May 30, 2012 (IANS)

 

A CBI special court here Wednesday allowed former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura and five other accused in the 2G case to go abroad in June.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini allowed Behura, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa and co-promoter Vinod Goenka, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables director Asif Balwa, Cineyug Films director Karim Morani and Unitech’s managing director Sanjay Chandra to go abroad.

“The six accused are facing trial in a very serious matter and it is incumbent upon them to be available… for facing trial. However, at the same time travelling is a natural incident of human life and should not normally be denied without any valid reason,” said the court.

Accused and DMK MP Kanimozhi has moved an application seeking to visit her state Tamil Nadu on the occasion of the birthday of her father and DMK… Continue reading

TOI – Loop seeks 2G licence fee refund

Agencies | May 30, 2012, 09.58PM IST

 

NEW DELHI: Loop Telecom took the government and Trai before the telecom sector’s tribunal TDSAT seeking refund of Rs 1,454 crore paid for 2G licence and sought Rs 1,000 crore damages for loss of reputation after licence cancellation.

In its petition, Loop Telecom has argued that the decision of Supreme Court to cancel the UASL license issued to it by the government under its “flip flop” first-come-firstserve policy has caused a huge loss to the company.

“The reason for quashing the first-come-first-serve policy , the UASLs and the subsequent allocation of the spectrum are wholly and absolutely attributable to acts and omissions of the respondent (DoT & Trai) and as a direct proximate result thereof, the petitioner has suffered huge losses and damages,” claimed Loop in the petition. It alleged that due to “faulty issuance of… Continue reading

Ibnlive – 2G: Siddharth Behura moves Court to visit kids abroad

PTI | 08:05 PM,May 29,2012

 

New Delhi, May 29 (PTI) Former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, today moved a Delhi court for permission to visit his children abroad. On Behura’s plea to visit Hong Kong for a week in June to meet his children, settled there, Special Judge O P Saini sought CBI’s response by May 31. Behura also moved the court for release of his documents, like his driving license and those of his financial investments, seized by the CBI during the probe. The special court would here these applications tomorrow. Behura is facing charges of breach of trust by a public servant and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code for his alleged role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Behura was granted bail by the Supreme Court on May 9 this year after he was arrested by the CBI… Continue reading

HBL – New TRAI chief defends 2G spectrum pricing at JPC

Our Bureau

 

The new Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday defended its 2G spectrum proposals at a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

 

This assumes significance given that the Telecom Commission has asked TRAI to give an analysis on the impact of its pricing proposal. Telecom companies, which are protesting against the TRAI proposals, were hoping for a review.

 

But at today’s JPC meeting TRAI contested the telecom companies’ arguments that if implemented, the recommendations would result in increase in mobile charges. The TRAI Chairman, Dr Rahul Khullar, and former chairman, Dr J.S. Sarma, appeared before the panel.

 

The JPC Chairman, Mr P.C. Chacko, told Business Line that TRAI’s presentation on the new set of recommendations will continue in the next meeting of the JPC.

 

“We are trying for a presentation by another former chairman of TRAI. Members are yet… Continue reading

OutlookIndia – TRAI Defends Recommendations on 2G Before JPC

PTI | New Delhi | May 29, 2012

 

Telecom regulator TRAI today defended the steep minimum price for auction of 2G spectrum saying the technology has undergone a “sea change” since 2008 and assured that consumers would not be affected much as they will have to pay a maximum of five paisa extra per call.

Appearing before Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief Rahul Khullar and his predecessor J S Sarma are learnt to have defended the recommendation to auction 2G spectrum at a base price of Rs 3,622 crore for a megahertz of spectrum at pan-India level which is around 10 times higher than the price for 2G licences in 2008.

The recommendation was made when Sarma was heading TRAI.

On the issue of its impact on the consumers, TRAI officials said since the licences are valid for 20 years, it will have… Continue reading

HT – 2G spectrum woes: Mistry at ministry

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, May 29, 2012

 

Tata Sons deputy chairman Cyrus P Mistry, who is slated to take over from chairman Ratan Tata later this year, on Tuesday met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss issues related to pricing and refarming of spectrum. Mukherjee is the chairman of the empowered group of ministers on telecommunication.

 

Mistry informed the minister about the need for refarming of spectrum, said sources. Incumbent operators were allotted spectrum in the 900 MHz band, which is considered to be twice more efficient than the 1,800 Mhz band allotted to new operators.

 

Tata Teleservices wants the government should take back spectrum from old operators and auction it so that all operators get equal opportunity to acquire it.

 

Mistry is also said to have appraised Mukherjee about the dual technology status of Tata Teleservices.

FC – Loop takes govt, Trai to TDSAT

Loop takes govt, Trai to TDSAT

By Sriram Shankar May 29 2012 , New Delhi

 

Loop telecom on Tuesday hauled the government and the telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) before the telecom dispute settlement and appellate tribunal (TDSAT) seeking a refund of Rs 1,454 crore the company paid as entry fee for 2G licences and Rs 1,000 crore as damages citing loss of reputation.

The company, in its petition before the tribunal, asked for the release of bank guarantees of Rs 700 crore and a full refund of liquidity damage charges of Rs 7 crore. In its petition, the company said that its unified access service license (UASL) was cancelled by the Supreme Court due to the government “flip-flop” this had led to a huge losses.

Due to “faulty issuance of licence and the policy flip-flops of the government, Loop had to pay a very… Continue reading

Mr. RK Anand All Set to Launch his Second Book “ASSAULT ON MERIT”

24-05-2012 02:09 PM

NEW DELHI, DELHI, INDIA

Authoring the most controversial book on Nira Radia, prominent lawyer & politician, Mr. R.K Anand is all set to release his second book “ASSAULT ON MERIT” which speaks of the untold stories of civil-military relations. The book will be released on 25th May at the Hotel Ashok, New Delhi by the Acting Chief of The Army Staff, General V.K. Singh,

Veteran lawyer’s first book, “Close Encounter with Nira Radia” did a record selling of 1,50,000 copies in a day’s time but got banned later. Thereafter, R.K Anand is showing remarkable zeal & dexterity in taking on the govt. & complaisant bureaucrats in his next book. “ASSAULT ON MERIT” has strung together a series of cases he handled in High Court which clearly demonstrate that unless the political class of this country, backed by… Continue reading

Call to redial

The best thing for the Government to do is to auction all available spectrum resulting from cancellation of the tainted licences.

 

The Telecom Commission has asked the industry regulator to give a complete “analysis” of the impact of its 2G spectrum pricing proposals on consumer tariffs, viability and continued attractiveness of the sector for investors, and revenues to the Government. That, in a sense, amounts to the Government wanting the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to revise its recommendations on auction of airwaves made last month. These have been criticised by many, quite justifiably, as muzzling competition. TRAI had suggested selling only 5 MHz of spectrum, enough to accommodate just one additional player to operate in each of the country’s 22 telecom circles. Considering the context in which the recommendations were made — in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s order cancelling 122 licenses held by eight operators —… Continue reading

2G case witness points out bids to issue Letters of Intent to ineligible firms

28 May, 2012, 08.58PM IST, PTI

 

NEW DELHI: A 2G case witness today told a Delhi court that attempts had been made to issue Letters of Intent for grant ofspectrum licences to some ineligible telecom firms.

Department of Telecommunication official Shah Nawaz Alam also told Special CBI Judge O P Saini that some leading telecom firms like Shyam Telelinks, Allianz, S Tel and Spice Communications even lacked the criterion for allocation of the radiowaves.

“In this case, there was an attempt to issue LoIs even to ineligible candidates and there were large number of applicants, therefore, it was in the fitness of things to specify as much details (in the LoIs) as possible,” Alam told the court, which resumed hearing the case today after May 15.

Deposing as a prosecution witness, the DoT official said in all the… Continue reading

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