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Tag: surveys

  • Income Tax surveys at BBC offices end after over 58 hours

    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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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • New Zealand surveys damage from Cyclone Gabrielle amid new storm warnings – in pictures

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    At least five people have been killed after the storm with towns cut off, thousands of people uncontactable and many more without power

    Guardian staff

    Main image:
    Residents wade through flood waters in the city of Napier, on New Zealand’s North Island, in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

    Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

    Thu 16 Feb 2023 05.07 GMT

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    #Zealand #surveys #damage #Cyclone #Gabrielle #storm #warnings #pictures
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Kavitha takes dig at Centre over I-T surveys on BBC offices

    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 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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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Press Club of India condemns I-T surveys at BBC office in Delhi, Mumbai

    Press Club of India condemns I-T surveys at BBC office in Delhi, Mumbai

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    Press Club of India condemns I-T surveys at BBC office in Delhi, Mumbai

    New Delhi: The Press Club of India (PCI) has strongly condemned the income tax “surveys” at the office of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday.

    In a statement, PCI said, “The ‘surveys’ are part of a series of attacks on the media by government agencies in recent times, especially against those sections of the media that the government perceives is hostile to it and critical of the ruling establishment.

    “It is deeply unfortunate as this latest instance appears to be a clear cut case of vendetta, coming within weeks of a documentary aired by the BBC on the Gujarat riots.”

    The PCI said that the documentary, which appears to be the immediate provocation for the raids, has already been banned on YouTube and other social media platforms.

    “We are deeply concerned and distressed that such an action on an international broadcasting network will damage the reputation and image of India as the largest democracy in the world. We appeal to the government to restrain its agencies from misusing their powers in order to intimidate the media and put curbs on the freedom of the press,” the statement read.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )