08/07/2016
GPF interest rate will be 8.1% for the period from 1st July, 2016 to 30th September, 2016 CLICK HERE. TO VIEW.
The high-profile Communications and
IT Ministry has been split with Manoj Sinha today taking the charge of the
telecom ministry, which is all set to conduct the largest-ever spectrum
auctions in the country.Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar
Prasad, who is the new Minister for Law and Justice, will
continue to look after Department of IT and Electronics. So far, Prasad was
handling both Communications and IT portfolios."I will share my views (on telecom) day after tomorrow," Sinha told
reporters after assuming the charge at his new office as Minister of State
(Independent Charge).He is a Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur constituency of
Uttar Pradesh.Sinha, an M Tech in civil engineering, will have his hands full as the new
minister for the telecom sector which boasts of the world's second largest
mobile subscriber base and the lowest tariffs, and where the biggest corporate
houses - RIL, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular - are
slugging it out for market dominance While on the one hand, Telecom Department is gearing up for the mega spectrum
auction, where airwaves worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore will be up for bidding, on the
other, Sinha will have to address issues such as call drops wherein the Supreme
Court has struck down telecom regulator Trai's plans of making operators
compensate mobile phone users for call dropsIn fact, to check call drops, Trai has demanded more teeth, including imposing
fine of up to Rs 10 crore on operators and jail term of up to two years for
their executives, prompting the telecom companies to term such powers as
'draconian'.Sinha will also have to handle framing of regulation on the much-debated net
neutrality issue, where battlelines are already drawn between telecom operators
and internet based content providers. As such, Trai has started
pre-consultation process on net neutrality, and has already got written
comments from industry stakeholders and members of civil societyFormer telecom minister Prasad had earlier said that the government will take a
view on net neutrality after receiving Trai's recommendation.Sinha will have the challenging task of protecting consumer interest for
affordable telephony services while maintaining investor confidence in the
sector.The IT-BHU pass-out Minister will also look after the Department of Posts which
is undergoing massive reforms to start 650 payments bank branches by September
2017.
GPF interest rate will be 8.1% for the period from 1st July, 2016 to 30th September, 2016 CLICK HERE. TO VIEW.