Kapil Sibal

Sibal says no censorship on social media

Mumbai: No government in India will ever censor social media, telecoms minister Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday. "I want to say once and for all, without any obfuscation, no government in India will ever censor social media," Sibal said at an industry event. Internet giants Google Inc and Facebook removed content from their websites earlier this month after a court directive warning them of a crackdown "like China" if they...

2G: PM meets ministers to decide on road ahead

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in a key meeting with Cabinet ministers Kapil Sibal, Salman Khursheed, Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram to find a way out of the 2G mess. The ministers reached 7 Race Course early on Saturday morning to review the rules and guidelines to be applied for an auction of 2G spectrum. The leaders are likely to decide whether to cancel licences issued in 2008...

16 million children still out of school: Sibal

Tezpur: Over 16 million children are not attending schools in the country and the government has taken all possible steps to make them literate within this decade, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said. "Globalisation has led to much improvement in the field of education and the country is ready to compete with the rest of the world, but we cannot ignore the many children who are...

2G order: PM to meet Pranab, Khurshid, Sibal

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Telecommunications and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal in the next few days to discuss Supreme Court's order cancelling all 122 2G spectrum licences allotted by former telecom minister A Raja on or after January 10, 2008. Singh will discuss the fallout of the cancellation of 2G licences by the Supreme Court and...

Don't preach morality, look inward: Cong to BJP

New Delhi: Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue of its legislators caught watching porn in the Karnataka assembly, Telecommunication Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the party should look inwards before preaching morality. "There are all kinds of entertainment, sometime political entertainment and sometime other kinds of entertainment and I would not like to use any kind of harsh words against them," Sibal told...

Sleaze row: Oppn slams BJP, wants MLAs suspended

Bangalore: The Karnataka Assembly was adjourned for half an hour on Wednesday amidst Opposition uproar over the sleaze row involving two BJP MLAs. The Opposition shouted 'Shame! Shame!' as soon as the Assembly proceedings began. BJP party members CC Patil and Lakshmana Savadi were caught on camera on Tuesday watching an obscene video on their mobile phones while the Assembly was in session. The Opposition demanded the dismissal of the...

CBSE to introduce international curriculum in schools

New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will soon introduce its international curriculum, CBSE-I, in schools in India on trial basis, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday. Making the announcement in New Delhi, the minister said CBSE-I will be for students opting for boards like the International Baccalaureate. The international curriculum, which would be available to students from Class 1-12, would be taught totally through...

Meeting with Sibal fruitful: Norwegian IT minister

New Delhi: Norwegian IT Minister Rigmor Aasrud said on Tuesday that she had a "constructive meeting with Mr Sibal". Aasrud was seeking protection for Norwegian telecom company Telenor's 3 billion dollar investment in the Indian telecom sector. Calling the discussion "fruitful", Aasrud said India must treat all companies fairly. Meanwhile, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said he had heard Aasrud and assured her of all help. "The Indian market has depth...

Production base of Akash to be diversified: Sibal

Bangalore: The low-cost Aakash tablet PC will be made completely indigenous and its production base diversified, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today said. "We are now going to diversify production base and indigenise Aakash tablet. We are planning to create eco-system for end to end development of Aakash in India. This will create enormous opportunities for R&D institutions, developers, electronic production houses," he said at a function here. He said the...

Sibal-Norwegian IT minister meeting on the cards

Bangalore: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday indicated that a meeting with Norwegian IT Minister Rigmor Aasrud is on the cards, in the backdrop of the Supreme Court order cancelling 122 2G licences. "As and when the Minister meets me, we shall have a discussion," he told reporters when asked if he would meet Aasrud. Concerned over the impact of the recent Supreme Court verdict cancelling 122 2G licences, Aasrud...

We will continue to target P Chidambaram: BJP

New Delhi: Notwithstanding the trial court's dismissal of the case against Home Minister P Chidambaram on the 2G spectrum issue, BJP on Saturday said it would continue to target him and the Government on the issue and await the decision of the higher courts in the matter. "This judgement has come from the lower court. There is a hierarchy of courts and there are two higher courts. There are several...

2G verdict a victory of the truth: Congress

New Delhi: After the CBI trial court on Saturday dismissed Subramanian Swamy's plea to make Home Minister P Chidambaram co-accused in the 2G spectrum scam case, a relieved Congress said it's a victory of the truth. "This is a victory of the truth," said Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni. Welcoming the court order on Chidamabarm. Finance Minister Pranab Mukharjee said, "Someone was unfairly persecuted. Even in the Supreme Court...

2G verdict not surprising: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: After the CBI trial court on Saturday dismissed Subramanian Swamy's plea to make Home Minister P Chidambaram co-accused in the 2G spectrum scam case, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said he is not surprised. "This was something we always maintained. This is not something surprising" said Sibal. "I am very disappointed how some leaders of the Opposition has been blaming us," added the Telecom Minister. ...

PM, Chidambaram must resign: BJP

Vijayawada: Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday demanded that both the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram step down in the wake of Supreme Court's Thursday's ruling in the 2G scam case. "The Supreme Court has indicted the Government, and the PM and the Home Minister have no moral right to continue," Naidu said in Vijayawada. The Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled 122 2G...

2G: Anxious UPA awaits court order on PC

New Delhi: It is not just Union Home Minister P Chidambaram but the entire top Congress leadership too who will be watching the trial court's verdict on Saturday with a bated breath. A nod to probe Home Minister's role in 2G issue will upset the UPA's cart. The timing of a possible adverse verdict can't be worse. The verdict comes close to battleground that is the Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections...