Times Top News

Times Top News

Tax Survey At BBC India Office Continues Overnight, Phones Seized, Laptops Scanned

Tax Survey At BBC India Office Continues Overnight, Phones Seized, Laptops Scanned

by | Feb 15, 2023 | top-stories



Tax officials said this was a survey, not a search

New Delhi:

Income Tax officials searched the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices on Tuesday and seized phones and laptops, weeks after a massive controversy over the UK national broadcaster’s documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the deadly sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002.

The taxmen sealed off the offices for a “survey” linked to alleged diversion of profits and irregularities in transfer pricing involving the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).

Sources say, the Income Tax authorities are checking account details dating as far back as 2012. 

“The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” the BBC tweeted.

Documents were seized and phones and laptops of journalists were taken away. Employees were allowed to leave six hours after the searches began, only after their laptops had been scanned. Visuals showed some employees arguing with the officials.

The officials used the keyword “tax” to search for information on the desktops after asking employees to log in, a BBC journalist told NDTV.

BBC, in a memo to staff, asked those not in office to stay away. It has also asked its staff to avoid commenting on social media on the searches.

Tax officials insisted that this was a survey, not a search, and that the phones would be returned.

“We needed some clarifications and for that our team is visiting BBC office and we are carrying out a survey. Our officers have gone to check account books, these are not searches,” Income Tax sources asserted, adding that they asked the BBC’s finance department for details of balance sheets and accounts.

The opposition accused the government of targeting the BBC for airing a documentary critical of PM Modi over the riots that swept Gujarat in 2002, when he was Chief Minister. The Editors Guild of India said the raids were part of a wider “trend of using government agencies to intimidate or harass press organisations that are critical of government policies”.

The two-part series, “India: The Modi Question”, was taken down from public platforms last month. The Centre used emergency powers under IT Rules to block YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary. The government slammed the documentary as “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage”.

Opposition leaders and students protested against what they called blatant censorship by organising public screenings of the documentary, which led to clashes on campus between students, college authorities and the police.

“Here we are asking for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row, and there the government is hounding BBC. Vinash Kaale Viprit Buddhi (when one is doomed, one makes wrong decisions),” commented Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra jibed in a tweet: “Reports of Income Tax raid at BBC’s Delhi office. Wow, really? How unexpected.”

“When a government stands for fear and oppression instead of fearlessness, then one should realise the end is near,” wrote Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav in Hindi.

The ruling BJP tore into the BBC for what it called “venomous, shallow and agenda-driven reporting” and said the Income Tax department should be allowed to do its job. “No individual or agency can be above the law. If they are working in India, they need to follow Indian law. If they have not done anything illegal, then what’s the worry? Why are the opposition parties defending the agency for cheap and petty politics,” said BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia. He also mocked the BBC as “Bhrasht, Bakwas Corporation (Corrupt, nonsensical corporation)”.

Last week, the Supreme Court rejected a request for a complete ban on BBC in India over the documentary, calling the petition “entirely misconceived”.





Source link

BBC Tax Survey: “Gloves Are Off,” Says Opposition, BJP Hits Back

BBC Tax Survey: “Gloves Are Off,” Says Opposition, BJP Hits Back

by | Feb 14, 2023 | top-stories


Around 20 tax officials searched the BBC’s Delhi office.

New Delhi:

Soon after Income Tax officials reached the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai for a “survey”, weeks after a huge controversy over the UK national broadcaster’s documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and allegations linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots, opposition leaders took potshots at the Centre, and called the action ‘predictable’, ‘a sign of panic’, and a hint that ‘their end is near’.

However, the BJP came down heavily on the British broadcaster, calling it “the most corrupt organisation in the world”. The ruling party also attacked Congress, saying it supports ‘anti-India’ narratives.

“If any company or organisation is working in India, they have to comply with the Indian law. Why are you scared if you are adhering to the law? The IT department should be allowed to do their work. BBC is the most corrupt organisation in the world. BBC propaganda matches with Congress agenda,” BJP’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said in a press conference.

Mr Bhatia further said “BBC’s history is black, tarnished, and has been anti-India”, and asked Congress to remember that Indira Gandhi had once banned the broadcaster.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, while taking a “how unexpected” jibe, linked it to allegations of the US-based short-seller Hindenburg group’s allegations of Adani group manipulating stocks. Snacks for Adani when he visits the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) office, she said. Ms Moitra has long been calling for the stock market regulator’s investigation into Adani group companies.

“Reports of Income Tax raid at BBC’s Delhi office

Wow, really? How unexpected. 

Meanwhile farsaan seva for Adani when he drops in for a chat with Chairman @SEBI_India office,” she tweeted.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said while they are demanding a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Probe) probe into the Adani issue, the government is going after the BBC. “Vinash kale viprit buddhi (when one’s destruction is soon to come, they think unintelligently),” he said.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal, while condemning the action, said the ‘raid reeks of desperation’.

“The IT raid at BBC’s offices reeks of desperation and shows that the Modi government is scared of criticism.

We condemn these intimidation tactics in the harshest terms. This undemocratic and dictatorial attitude cannot go on any longer,” he tweeted.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said “their (BJP’s) end is near”.

“When the government and administration become symbols of fear and oppression instead of fearlessness, then it should be understood that their end is near,” he tweeted in Hindi.

Mehbooba Mufti of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the government is “brazenly hounding” those who “speak the truth”.

“Cause & effect of raids on the BBC Office is quite obvious. GOI is brazenly hounding those who speak the truth. Be it opposition leaders, media, activists or anyone else for that matter. The gloves are off & there is a price one pays for fighting for truth,” she said.

CPI(M) MP John Brittas called it predictable, and wondered how UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would respond.

“Wasn’t it predictable?! What will be the response of Rishi Sunak?” he tweeted.

CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam called it a “killing spree of a frightened government to strangle the voice of truth”.

“Raid on BBC!They call it survey!This survey is  killing spree of a frightened govt.to strangle the voice of truth.world is witnessing it.When Modi preside over G – 20,they will ask about India’s record on  freedom of press. Can he reply  truth fully ? (sic),” he tweeted.

The searches are in view of “the BBC’s deliberate non-compliance with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits of international taxation”, sources said.

“In the case of the BBC, there has been persistent non-compliance with the above-mentioned rules for years. As a result of the same, several notices have been issued to the BBC. However, the BBC has been continuously defiant and non-compliant and has been significantly diverted their profits. 

The key focus of these surveys is to look into manipulation of prices for unauthorised benefits, including tax advantages. These surveys have been undertaken due to BBC’s persistent non-compliance of the norms, making it a repeat offender,” official sources said.

Around 20 tax officials searched the BBC’s Delhi office. In Mumbai, BBC Studios, that deals with production, was searched.

Documents were seized and phones and laptops of journalists were taken away, the sources said. The offices will be sealed for the duration of the survey, and employees have been asked not to share details with anyone.

Tax officials said this was a survey, not a search, and that the phones would be returned.

“We needed some clarifications and for that our team is visiting the BBC office, and we are carrying out a survey. Our officers have gone to check account books, these are not searches,” Income Tax sources asserted.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

Featured Video Of The Day

Newlyweds Athiya Shetty And KL Rahul Spotted At Airport





Source link

“Thought He’s Cultured”: Sharad Pawar On Devendra Fadnavis’ Claim Against Him

“Thought He’s Cultured”: Sharad Pawar On Devendra Fadnavis’ Claim Against Him

by | Feb 13, 2023 | top-stories


Talks happened with Sharad Pawar, claimed Devendra Fadnavis over 2019 coup. (File)

Mumbai:

Three years after he teamed up with Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar in an overnight coup to form the government in Maharashtra, deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the exercise had NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s backing.

“We had an offer from the NCP that they needed a stable government and we should form such a government together. We decided to go ahead and hold talks. The talks happened with Sharad Pawar. Then things changed. You have seen how things changed,” Mr Fadnavis said, referring to Ajit Pawar quitting the government 80 hours later.

“In all fairness I want to state that Ajit Pawar took oath with me with honesty… but later on their (NCP’s) strategy changed,” Mr Fadnavis said, during an event organised by TV9 news channel.

Responding to Mr Fadnavis’ remarks, Sharad Pawar said, “I felt that Devendra is a cultured person and a gentleman. I never felt that he will take recourse to falsehood and make such a statement.” The BJP had won 105 seats in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the results of which were announced on October 24, 2019. The Shiv Sena, which was in an alliance with the BJP, won 56 seats. Despite having enough seats to form a government together, the two allies bickered over power-sharing – who will get the chief minister’s post being the bone of contention – resulting in the Shiv Sena starting negotiations with the ideologically different Congress and NCP instead.

With no outcome in sight then, the Centre imposed President’s Rule in Maharashtra on November 12. The Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP continued negotiations to form an alliance, and Sharad Pawar later announced that Uddhav Thackeray had been unanimously chosen to head the new government. Thus, the early morning oath-taking ceremony of Mr Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on November 23 came as a surprise.

In one of the biggest political surprises in Maharashtra, then Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari swore in Devendra Fadnavis as the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister. The ministry lasted three days, after which Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the chief minister.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

Demolition Drive In Delhi’s Mehrauli Continues Amid Protests



Source link

Joe Biden Ordered Downing Of “Flying Object” Out Of “Caution”: Report

Joe Biden Ordered Downing Of “Flying Object” Out Of “Caution”: Report

by | Feb 12, 2023 | top-stories


Another Michigan lawmaker said the US military had “decommissioned” an object over the lake.

Washington:

A US warplane shot down another flying object on Sunday, this time over Lake Huron on the US-Canadian border, the fourth in a dramatic series that began with the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon a week ago.

Jittery Americans have been watching the skies as the mysterious incursions unfolded against a backdrop of acute tensions with China — although only the first object has so far been attributed to Beijing.

President Joe Biden ordered a F-16 fighter to shoot down the latest object “out of abundance of caution,” a senior administration official said.

This new device — described as an octagonal structure with strings hanging off it — was not deemed to be a military threat to anything on the ground, but it could have posed a hazard to civil aviation as it flew at about 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) over Michigan, the official said.

“We have no indication that it has surveillance capabilities but nor can we rule that out,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Reflecting the heightened state of alert, US authorities briefly closed the airspace over Lake Michigan Sunday, before the latest object was shot down further towards the Canadian border.

The US aerospace command NORAD tracked the new object visually and with radar, and it was downed over the lake “to avoid impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

A senior Republican on Sunday accused Beijing of “an act of belligerence” regarding the first object, a Chinese balloon shot down February 4 off the US East Coast after American officials said it was engaged in spying.

China has insisted it was a weather balloon blown off course.

“It was done with provocation to gather intelligence data, and collect intelligence on our three major nuclear sites,” Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CBS.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, among senior lawmakers who received a government briefing, told ABC the second and third objects — one shot down over Canada’s Yukon territory on Saturday, and one downed over Alaska on Friday — both appeared to be balloons, but “much smaller than” the first large one.

Meanwhile Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was heading Sunday to the western Yukon territory, where the third unidentified object was shot down a day earlier.

There, a US F-22 jet, acting on orders from the prime minister and US President Joe Biden, downed a “high-altitude airborne object” about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the border.

Canadian officials described it as small and cylindrical, roughly the size of a Volkswagen car.

Recovery teams backed by a Canadian CP-140 patrol aircraft were continuing their search Sunday for debris in the Yukon, officials said.

US teams were struggling with Arctic conditions as they searched near Deadhorse, Alaska, where the second object was shot down Friday.

Operations were also continuing off the South Carolina coast, where the past week’s drama climaxed when the initial large balloon was shot down.

‘Real concerns’

Culminating a weekend with the military on alert, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said on Twitter that Sunday’s Lake Michigan closure was “to ensure the safety of air traffic in the area during NORAD operations. The temporary flight restriction has since been lifted.”

Republicans meanwhile have harshly criticized Biden for allowing the first balloon to drift for days across the country — potentially gathering sensitive intelligence — before having it shot down.

Schumer on Sunday defended Biden’s handling, telling ABC an analysis of recovered debris would represent “a huge coup for the United States.”

But Biden has faced bipartisan calls for greater transparency.

“I have real concerns about why the administration is not being more forthcoming,” Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told NBC.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



Source link

Delhi Mayor Election On Thursday, Was Stalled Thrice Due To AAP-BJP Fight

Delhi Mayor Election On Thursday, Was Stalled Thrice Due To AAP-BJP Fight

by | Feb 12, 2023 | top-stories


A third attempt to elect a Delhi Mayor failed last week (File)

New Delhi:

Delhi’s civic body will meet on Thursday to elect a mayor after three failed attempts amid a tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has accepted a proposal by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s party to hold the mayor election on February 16, officials said today.

The mayor could not be elected when the councillors met on January 6 and 24, and February 6 due to protests by the BJP and AAP after 10 MCD members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor were allowed to vote.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act says nominated members, or aldermen, cannot vote in house meetings.

AAP has strongly opposed voting rights for the aldermen nominated by Mr VK Saxena – who is the Centre’s representative in Delhi. The party alleges that these members are inclined to support the BJP.

Chief Minister’s AAP says the BJP is trying to capture the Municipal Corporation of Delhi by electing a BJP leader to the mayor’s post, although the AAP won far more seats than the BJP in the recent election to the civic body.

The AAP emerged as the clear winner in the MCD polls in December, winning 134 wards and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule in the civic body. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats.

The post of Delhi mayor sees five single-year terms on rotation, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two again for the open category. Delhi will thus get a woman mayor this year.

This will be the first time in 10 years that the city will have one mayor, following the merger of three divisions of the municipal body last year.



Source link

Body Of Missing Indian Man Found Under Destroyed Hotel In Turkey

Body Of Missing Indian Man Found Under Destroyed Hotel In Turkey

by | Feb 11, 2023 | top-stories



The body of an Indian man, missing since the February 6 earthquake in Turkey, was pulled out from under the rubble of a hotel where he was staying, the Indian embassy said on Saturday.

The man, Vijay Kumar, from the hill state of Uttarakhand, was working for a Bengaluru-based company and was on a business trip to Turkey, said the embassy.

He was pulled out from under the rubble of a hotel in Malatya, a region severely hit by the devastating earthquake. 

All arrangements are being made to bring the body back to India, the embassy added further.

The number of Indians residing in Turkey is around 3,000, out of which about 1,800 live in and around Istanbul, while 250 are in Ankara and the rest are spread all over the country, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria on Monday, flattening thousands of structures, trapping an unknown number of people and potentially impacting millions. The death count stands at 25,000 and expected to rise further. 

Turkey’s disaster agency on Saturday said nearly 32,000 people from Turkish bodies are working on search and rescue efforts. In addition, there are 8,294 international rescuers.

India is providing material, medical supplies and equipment to Syria as well as sending search and rescue teams to Turkey under ‘Operation Dost’, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said earlier this week.

Tens of thousands of local and international rescue workers are still scouring through flattened neighbourhoods despite freezing weather that has compounded the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conceded for the first time on Friday that his government was not able to reach and help the victims “as quickly as we had desired”.

The tremor was the most powerful and deadliest since 33,000 people died in a 7.8-magnitude tremor in 1939.
 





Source link

YouTube
Instagram
WhatsApp