Tag: offices

Kerala HC orders police to protect Asianet offices

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Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the police to provide adequate protection to offices of prominent Malayalam news channel Asianet.
The direction to the State Police by Justice N Nagaresh came on the channel’s plea claiming it apprehends “further violence and threats” from pro-Left student organisation SFI and CPI(M) youth wing DYFI and seeking protection against the same.
In its petition, the channel alleged that on March 3 around 30 SFI activists forcefully trespassed into its Kochi office and intimidated the staff there with dire consequences.
It has also alleged that work there was interrupted and was stopped for nearly an hour by the miscreants who also “wrongfully confined” the staff for nearly an hour.
“The 8th respondent (DYFI) through public platforms and social media has declared they will launch all Kerala protest against the petitioner news channel.
“Barging into a media office is illegal and is a blatant attack on the freedom of press. The fundamental right to seek and disseminate information through an independent press is under attack,” the channel has said in its petition.
Disposing of the plea, the High Court directed that protection be provided to the Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur offices of channel.
It also ordered that in case of a possibility of conflict or violence, sufficient numbers of police have to be deployed.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, recently in the state assembly, had said that SFI activists had organised a protest march to the channel’s office against the making of an allegedly fake video, using a minor girl.
The video content amounted to spreading the misapprehension that government schools in the state were in the grip of drugs, the CM had said.
He had also said that on the channel’s complaint a case was registered and eight persons arrested in connection with the trespass into its Kochi office.
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#Kerala #orders #police #protect #Asianet #offices
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 8, 2023
UK Foreign Secretary raises IT searches at BBC offices with Jaishankar

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New Delhi: UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday raised the issue of tax searches at BBC offices in India with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar.
The issue was raised during their bilateral meeting, as per reports citing an interview with Cleverly, who is in India to participate in the two-day G20 Foreign Ministers meeting, which began here on Wednesday.
Last month, income tax authorities conducted “survey operations” at BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
The searches came after the Indian government had reacted strongly against a BBC documentary on post-Godhra incident riots in Gujarat in 2002, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state’s Chief Minister.
Began the morning with a bilateral meeting with Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly of the UK.
Reviewed the progress in our relationship since our last discussion. Noted in particular the commencement of the Young Professional Scheme. pic.twitter.com/R3aUvX1U4Z
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 1, 2023
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#Foreign #Secretary #raises #searches #BBC #offices #Jaishankar
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 1, 2023
Income Tax surveys at BBC offices end after over 58 hours

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New Delhi: The Income Tax department’s marathon “surveys” at BBC’s offices ended on Thursday, after clocking over 58 hours in total, as officials prepared an inventory of financial data from select staffers and collected digital and paper data.
The operation that began at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai around 11:30 am on Tuesday has ended in Mumbai and will be wound up at Delhi by tonight, sources said late on Thursday.
Tax authorities have made an inventory of the available stock, recorded the statement of some staffers and have impounded some documents as part of the survey action that continued for three days clocking about 57-58 hours, officials told PTI.
The survey was carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, they had said.
The I-T teams, it is understood, sought answers on financial transactions, the company structure and other details about the news company, and copied data from electronic gadgets as part of their task of collecting the evidence.
Opposition parties have denounced the I-T department action against the London-headquartered public broadcaster, terming it “political vendetta”.
On Tuesday, the ruling BJP had accused the BBC of “venomous reporting” while the Opposition had questioned the timing of the action that came weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
While there has been no official statement from the Income Tax department on the action, the BBC has said it was cooperating with the authorities.

A BBC staffer in Delhi said they were broadcasting their news like usual and the company has informed them that it is cooperating with the authorities.
The Supreme Court last week dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition “entirely misconceived” and “absolutely meritless”.
Another set of petitions challenging the government’s decision to block the documentary’s access on social media platforms will be heard in April.
On January 21, the government had issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.
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#Income #Tax #surveys #BBC #offices #hours
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
Income Tax survey at BBC offices clocks over 55 hours

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New Delhi: The Income Tax department’s marathon survey at BBC’s offices continued for the third straight day on Thursday as officials prepared an inventory of financial data from select staffers and made copies of electronic and paper data of the news organisation. The operation that began at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai around 11:30 am on Tuesday has clocked more than 55 hours, sources said. It was not clear if the survey has ended. Tax authorities have made an inventory of the available stock, recorded the statement of some staffers and have impounded some documents as part of the survey action, officials told PTI.
The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, they had said.
The I-T teams are seeking answers on financial transactions, the company structure and other details about the news company and are copying data from electronic gadgets as part of their task of collecting the evidence, tax officials had said.
Opposition parties have denounced the I-T department action against the London-headquartered public broadcaster, terming it “political vendetta”.
On Tuesday, the ruling BJP had accused the BBC of “venomous reporting” while the Opposition had questioned the timing of the action that came weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
While there has been no official statement from the Income Tax department on the action, the BBC has said it was cooperating with the authorities.
A BBC staffer in Delhi said they were broadcasting their news like usual.
The Supreme Court last week dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition “entirely misconceived” and “absolutely meritless”.

Another set of petitions challenging the government’s decision to block the documentary’s access on social media platforms will be heard in April. On January 21, the government had issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.
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#Income #Tax #survey #BBC #offices #clocks #hours
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 16, 2023
Kavitha takes dig at Centre over I-T surveys on BBC offices

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Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Tuesday took an apparent jibe at the Centre over the I-T survey conducted at BBC offices, located in Delhi, Mumbai, just weeks after the UK-based broadcaster aired a documentary on PM Modi.
Taking to Twitter, Telangana CM’s daughter said, “The entire ruling Government defends against probe amidst allegation on one business house and the same Government sends its agencies behind those who show the truth! Why?”
The entire ruling Govt defends against probe amidst allegation on one business house & the same Govt sends its agencies behind those who show the truth ! Why? #BBC
— Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) February 14, 2023
The I-T surveys conducted at BBC offices have drawn sharp reactions from several opposition leaders, including from J-K former CM Farooq Abdullah.
While reacting to the episode, Abdullah said, “Democracy is already under threat here and media is being suppressed and this raid on BBC is an addition to this.”
The former Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy said that this operation, carried out by officials of the I-T department, will malign the country’s image throughout the world.
Earlier this morning, Income Tax officials arrived at BBC offices located at the national capital’s KG Marg for the survey. The British broadcaster’s office at Kalina Santacruz in Mumbai was also surveyed, sources said adding that the survey was limited to the business premises of BBC only.
According to reports, a team of IT officials arrived at the BBC Studios office in Kalina Santacruz around 11.30 am today and a survey has been going on since then. There is no I-T activity at the BBC News office at Linking Road Bandra West.
It is learnt that the tax officials are conducting verification of certain account documents in the finance department of the BBC offices.

During the investigation, the mobile phones of all the employees present in the BBC office were taken away by the Income Tax team. The data of the computer kept in the accounts and finance department was also scanned. According to sources, officials said the devices will be returned to their owners after taking a backup.
However, as the survey was underway, the British public broadcaster BBC News released a statement, saying that it is cooperating with the Income Tax department, which is conducting a survey at its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai.
“The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating,” the BBC News Press Team said in a statement.
The searches come weeks after the BBC released a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi – ‘India: The Modi Question,” which caused controversy on January 21. The Centre had issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial BBC documentary on PM Modi. The Supreme Court had on February 3 directed the central government to produce original records relating to its decision to block the BBC documentary.

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#Kavitha #takes #dig #Centre #surveys #BBC #offices
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 15, 2023
Operations at BBC offices ‘affront to freedom of expression’”: Global watchdogs

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New York: Global media watchdogs and human rights bodies on Tuesday criticised the Indian government’s income tax survey operations at the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, saying the action “smacks of intimidation” and was a “blatant affront” to freedom of expression.
The Income Tax officials described the action as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion.
Reacting to the Indian IT department’s action, the UK-based British public broadcaster said that it was “fully cooperating” with the authorities and hoped that the situation will be resolved “as soon as possible”.
The New York-based independent non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged the Indian government to stop harassing journalists.
Its Asia programme coordinator Beh Lih Yi said: “Raiding the BBC’s India offices in the wake of a documentary criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi smacks of intimidation”.
“Indian authorities have used tax investigations as a pretext to target critical news outlets before, and must cease harassing BBC employees immediately, in line with the values of freedom that should be espoused in the world’s largest democracy,” CPJ said in a statement.
“The searches by the tax authorities of the offices of @BBCWorld in #Inde , 3 weeks after the censorship of his documentary on @narendramodi, constitute an outrageous reprisal. RSF denounces these attempts to silence any criticism of the Indian government,” Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) tweeted.
Amnesty International tweeted: “These raids are a blatant affront to freedom of expression.”

“The Indian authorities are clearly trying to harass and intimidate the BBC over its critical coverage of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The overbroad powers of the Income Tax Department are repeatedly being weaponised to silence dissent. Last year, tax officials also raided the offices of a number of NGOs, including Oxfam India. These intimidatory acts, which undermine the right to freedom of expression in India, must end now,” it said in a statement.
The South Asia Solidarity Group, a human rights organisation based in the UK, dubbed it a “blatantly vindictive move”.
“In the wake of the government’s ban on sharing extracts or screening the documentary, this raid makes it clear that the Modi government will attack all those who criticise Narendra Modi, the BJP and those close to them,” said Mukti Shah, spokesperson for the group.
In New Delhi, officials said the survey was being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, and alleged that the BBC had been served with notices in the past but was “defiant and non-compliant” and had significantly diverted its profits.
The IT action against the BBC comes weeks after the broadcaster aired a controversial two-part documentary -“India: The Modi Question”- on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Indian government has branded the two-part series a “propaganda piece”, designed to push a particular “discredited narrative”.
“The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at the time it was aired in the UK last month.
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#Operations #BBC #offices #affront #freedom #expression #Global #watchdogs
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Passport offices asked to prioritise Haj pilgrims’ applications

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Hyderabad: The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, directed passport offices across the country to accord high priority to applications of prospective Haj pilgrims and ensure timely issuance of passports. The process will be done upon completion of requisite documentation, police verification and other formalities.
A circular issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, stated that the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, has informed that the process for inviting online Haj applications for Haj 2023 has begun.
They have further stated that this year the country has received a quota of 1, 75,025 for Indian pilgrims. But like in the previous years, only those pilgrims who have machine readable Indian passports will be eligible to apply, the circular stated.
Since applications for Haj 2023 are expected to be on a larger scale, it is likely that the regional passport offices will receive a number of applications for renewal or issue of new passports.
“It is anticipated that there could be a last minute rush for submission of passport applications by intending pilgrims. All passport offices are therefore requested to extend requisite assistance to prospective Haj applicants by means of nominating a nodal officer, opening of facilitation counters, reserving appointment slots for such applicants, and attending to request/ grievances petitions received from such citizens in a prompt manner,” the circular further read.
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#Passport #offices #asked #prioritise #Haj #pilgrims #applications

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
Adams quietly creates new offices, empowering low-profile deputy mayor

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Marmara, who made $224,618 last year with overtime, worked in Southeast Queens. During his three decades on the force, the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated three complaints against him, including one in 1996 related to use of force, according to public records.
His new office is tasked with helping city agencies “monitor and assess the delivery of services to the public and other key stakeholders to ensure that services are delivered in a professional, equitable, efficient and effective manner,” according to the executive order Adams signed Jan. 26.
It is expected to spot “deficiencies” in agencies and is empowered to conduct audits and direct commissioners on how to respond to community complaints. And it can monitor how effectively departments are correcting mistakes or poor performance related to “delivery of services,” the order reads.
The office affords Banks an expanded role beyond overseeing public safety, while taking on a politically relevant issue that Adams has deemed one of his priorities — improving government efficacy.
Until now, Banks’ job has been restricted to public safety agencies like the FDNY and Office of Emergency Management. From his office in a private building a few blocks from City Hall, he can keep an eye on the NYPD — where he served as chief of department before stepping down amid a federal corruption probe for which he was an unindicted co-conspirator. He was never charged.
Meanwhile the risk management office began operating last year but hadn’t been formally established until Adams signed the executive order in January.
As a candidate in 2021, Adams announced plans to create an office that would root out waste, fraud and abuse in city government. Run by former Deputy Comptroller Marjorie Landa, the office has six employees and a budget of $900,000, the spokesperson said.
Among the office’s tasks is auditing city agencies and troubleshooting independent audits conducted by city and state comptrollers. Adams is likely to come under increased scrutiny from City Comptroller Brad Lander as the passage of time weakens the standard tactic of blaming bad audits on the prior mayor.

Landa’s office is expected to track agency implementation of the comptrollers’ audit recommendations and report its own findings to the city’s Department of Investigation when necessary, according to the executive order.
“Making government work for everyday New Yorkers and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely are at the heart of Mayor Adams’ vision for a more equitable city,” spokesperson Jonah Allon said, noting these offices are the first of their kind. “Under the mayor’s leadership, these offices will promote smart, data-driven solutions to ensure city agencies are fulfilling their core mandates and delivering better, more efficient services to New Yorkers.”
On Friday Adams announced the creation of the Mayor’s Office for Child Care and Early Childhood Education, to focus on connecting families with “equitable, high-quality and affordable early education and care.” It comes as Adams is scaling back a pre-kindergarten program for 3-year-olds, which he said is not reaching the families most in need of it.
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#Adams #quietly #creates #offices #empowering #lowprofile #deputy #mayor
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 14, 2023
Biden on documents: People packing offices ‘didn’t do the kind of job that should’ve been done’

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He continued to contrast the discovery of sensitive materials in his own possession with the FBI seizure of documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate in August.
“The best of my knowledge, the kind of things they [investigators] picked up are things that — from 1974, stray papers. There may be something else, I don’t know,” Biden said of the investigators that looked for materials in his possession. 1974 was Biden’s second year in the U.S. Senate, and he didn’t explain what type of material from that year he might have had in his possession.
He also maintained he “volunteered to open every single aperture” in cooperating with the Justice Department, a notable difference from Trump. The former president is under investigation not only for allegedly holding highly sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, but also for possibly obstructing the investigation process. Trump has repeatedly complained about the process that led to the FBI seizures at Mar-a-Lago.
Classified documents have been found at Biden’s Wilmington, Del., home, as well as a Biden-associated private think tank space in Washington. Biden previously said he was “surprised” at the discovery of classified materials in the think tank space and that he didn’t know what was in them.
Federal agents also searched Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Del., home last week, but no additional documents with classified markings were found, according to Biden’s personal lawyer.
His administration has repeatedly said they’re cooperating with the investigation, which is being led by special counsel Robert Hur.
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#Biden #documents #People #packing #offices #didnt #kind #job #shouldve
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 9, 2023
Allegations against Adani: Chhattisgarh Cong protests in front of LIC, SBI offices

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Raipur: The ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh on Monday staged protests in front of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and State Bank of India (SBI) offices in all the district headquarters across the state in connection with the allegations against the Gautam Adani group and the resultant stock market upheaval.
Adani group stocks have taken a massive hit after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation. The group has dismissed the charges as lies.
Opposition parties have alleged the value of shares held in Adani group firms by LIC and leading lender SBI had eroded massively, which they claimed was a setback to taxpayers.
The protesters sought a joint parliamentary probe into the allegations against the Adani group as well as a white paper on the issue from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government.
Addressing the gathering outside the Jai Stambh Chowk branch of SBI, Chhattisgarh Congress chief Mohan Markam said the allegations show LIC and SBI made “risky investments” in the Adani group.
The common man, who has been affected by the stock rout, needs to know who sanctioned such “disproportionate loans” from state entities to the group, Markam said.
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#Allegations #Adani #Chhattisgarh #Cong #protests #front #LIC #SBI #offices
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023