Page 4 - Bbc

UK Foreign Minister raises BBC issue, EAM Jaishankar says laws are for all

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday "firmly" told his British counterpart James Cleverly that all entities operating in India must fully comply with relevant laws after the visiting foreign secretary raised the issue of tax searches at BBC's offices. Cleverly, who is on a visit to India to attend a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers, raised the issue during a bilateral meeting with Jaishankar. "UK Foreign Secretary brought up the BBC tax issue with EAM today. He was firmly told that all entities operating in India must comply fully with relevant laws and regulations," a source in the Indian government said. Last month, the Income Tax department conducted survey operations at the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion. The tax scrutiny was conducted weeks after the UK-headquartered British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) aired a two-part documentary, "India: The Modi Question", on the prime minister and the 2002 Gujara

UK Foreign Secy raises issue of IT searches at BBC offices with Jaishankar

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday raised the issue of tax searches at BBC offices in India with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar

Congress' Salman Khurshid slams Centre over BBC documentary on PM Modi

Responding to the recent BBC docuseries on Prime Minister Modi, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said that restricting the documentary from being shown to the public reflects cowardness

BBC does not have an agenda, says chief to staff in India after I-T survey

The BBC is not driven by an "agenda" but by purpose and will not be put off reporting impartially and without fear or favour, the UK-headquartered media organisation's chief has said days after the income tax department survey operation at its New Delhi and Mumbai offices. In an email to BBC staff in India reported on Thursday by the broadcaster, Director General Tim Davie thanked them for their courage as he stressed that nothing was more important than reporting impartially. He added that the BBC would help staff in India do their jobs effectively and safely. "Nothing is more important than our ability to report without fear or favour, Davie said in the email, reported by the BBC. "Our duty to our audiences around the world is to pursue the facts through independent and impartial journalism, and to produce and distribute the very best creative content. We won't be put off from that task. I'd like to be clear: the BBC does not have an agenda we are driven by purpose. And our first

BBC cannot hide economic offences under garb of freedom of expression: BJP

The BJP said on Wednesday the BBC or any other organisation cannot hide their "economic offences" under the garb of freedom of expression. The British broadcaster is under the Income-Tax department probe for alleged tax avoidance by underreporting income and these are serious offences, BJP's information technology department head Amit Malviya said. The BBC has to abide by Indian laws to operate in the country, he said. The BJP reaction came following the British government's strong defence of the BBC and its editorial freedom in Parliament after the Income Tax department's survey operations on the media corporation's New Delhi and Mumbai offices last week. The BBC has said it is fully cooperating with the investigation and hopes to have the situation resolved as soon as possible. Malviya claimed that the international broadcaster has a chequered past and accused it of trying to meddle in the internal affairs of democracies, including India. He said that it once showed Russian tan

We stand up for BBC: UK govt in Parliament after India's I-T survey

The British government has strongly defended the BBC and its editorial freedom in Parliament after the Income-Tax department's survey operations on the UK-headquartered media corporation's New Delhi and Mumbai offices over three days last week. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) junior minister responded to an urgent question raised in the House of Commons on Tuesday to say that the government cannot comment on the allegations made by the I-T department over an ongoing investigation but stressed that media freedom and freedom of speech are essential elements of robust democracies. David Rutley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of the FCDO, pointed to a broad and deep relationship with India which meant the UK was able to discuss a wide range of issues in a "constructive manner". We stand up for the BBC. We fund the BBC. We think the BBC World Service is vital. We want the BBC to have that editorial freedom, said Rutley. It criticises us (government), it criticises t

Why no documentary on 1984 riots in Delhi, asks EAM S Jaishankar

He termed the documentary as politics at play by people who don't have courage to come into the political field

BJP wants to make India a country of Nathuram Godse: Tejashwi on BBC survey

The RJD leader alleged that the Centre wants to send a message that anybody who "speaks against" the government would be dealt with

BBC survey: Income, profits not commensurate with India ops, says CBDT

The income and profits shown by various BBC group entities are not commensurate with the scale of their operations in India, according to an official statement on Friday, a day after the Income Tax authorities ended a three-day-long survey against the British media organisation. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a statement without naming the media organisation and said that I-T teams unearthed crucial evidences by way of statement of employees, digital proof and documents. Officials said the statement pertains to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). According to the statement, several discrepancies and inconsistencies with regard to transfer pricing documentation were found during the survey. The survey was launched on February 14 at BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai and it ended after about 60 hours on Thursday night.

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Nitish criticises I-T surveys on BBC premises, JPC probe rejection on Adani

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said the Income Tax department's surveys on BBC premises in Delhi and Mumbai were a "clear cut" indication of the Narendra Modi government's intolerance of criticism. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, the JD(U) leader also criticised the brusque manner in which the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into allegations against the Adani Group has been rejected by the Centre, pointing out that this was unlike the Vajpayee era when voice of the Opposition was given a patient hearing. "I had been busy with my Samadhan Yatra all these days. But I read something about it (IT raids) in newspapers. I will try to learn about it in more detail," Kumar said in reply to a question on the action against the international broadcaster. When his attention was drawn to the fact that the IT department's survey has come shortly after a documentary produced by the BBC, on the Gujarat riots, raised the hackles of the Modi ..

I-T officials leave BBC offices after three days of 'lengthy questioning'

The Income Tax authorities have left the offices of the BBC in New Delhi and Mumbai after three days of lengthy questioning of some of its staff, the UK-headquartered public broadcaster said on Thursday. The BBC said it will continue to cooperate with the authorities after the I-T "survey" action at the broadcaster's India offices, which began on Tuesday morning. It said the priority was to support its staff, many of whom have had to stay overnight in the offices during the course of the enquiries. The Income Tax Authorities have left our offices in Delhi and Mumbai, a BBC spokesperson said in its latest statement on Thursday evening. We will continue to cooperate with the authorities and hope matters are resolved as soon as possible. We are supporting staff some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight and their welfare is our priority, the spokesperson said. The broadcaster said its output is now back to normal and reiterated its previous state

Income Tax 'survey' operations at BBC offices continues for third day

The Income Tax department's 'survey' at the BBC office here continued for the third straight day on Thursday as officials gathered 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 45 hours now, officials said. The survey is going on, they told PTI. Authorities had said on Wednesday that the exercise would continue for some more time, saying the "exact time frame to call the operation closed rests entirely on the teams on the ground". The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, officials have said. The survey 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 ta

From Thatcher to Diana, Indira Gandhi, and more: BBC's troubled history

More recently, in 2008, BBC came into controversy for fake footage of child labour in cloth workshop in Bengaluru

We support importance of free press around the world: US on BBC documentary

'I'm not familiar with the documentary you're referring to. I am very familiar with the shared values that enact the United States and India as two thriving, vibrant democracies'

India-UK ongoing FTA negotiations won't be hit by BBC row: Govt official

"As per the UK government, BBC is an autonomous organisation and the even UK government is not owning up to it," said the official

Attack on press freedom is akin to suppressing people's voice: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said media is the fourth pillar of democracy and suppressing its voice is akin to suppressing the voice of the public. His comments came a day after the Income Tax department carried out a survey operation at British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The operation was conducted as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, according to officials. "Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and an attack on its freedom is similar to suppressing the voice of public. Whosoever speaks against the BJP, these people deploy CBI, ED and I-T behind him," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. "Does the BJP want to crush the country's democratic system and institutions and turn the entire country into its slave?" he said. The action, which sparked a sharp political debate with the ruling BJP accusing the BBC of "venomous reporting" and the opposition questioning the timing of the move, comes weeks after the broadcaster ai

I-T Dept's survey operation at BBC offices and memories of another 'raid'

Such incidents reinforce the impression that the government is hiding something

Income Tax department's survey on BBC India continues for second day

The Income Tax department survey operation against the BBC India continued for the second day with the sleuths understood to be making copies of electronic and paper-based financial data of the organisation, officials said Wednesday. The tax department had launched the action on Tuesday at the BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices along with at least two linked premises as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion against the British broadcaster in India. Sleuths knocked at the doors of the BBC around 11:30 AM on Tuesday and they are still present, sources aware of the development told PTI. The tax officials are speaking to staffers of the BBC in the finance and some other departments even as other staffers and journalists were allowed to leave Tuesday night. Some computer peripherals and mobile phones were cloned as part of the operation, officials had said. The action, which sparked a sharp political debate with the ruling BJP accusing the BBC of "venomous reporting" and the ..

Democracy in India facing trouble: Sanjay Raut after I-T survey at BBC

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said democracy in India is facing trouble, comments coming in the backdrop of the Income Tax department survey at the BBC's offices in the country. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its earlier avatar as the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), had opposed the Emergency (1975-77), but the same outfit is now targeting the judiciary and the media. The Income Tax department on Tuesday conducted survey operations for over ten hours at the BBC's offices in Delhi, Mumbai and two other linked locations as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, officials said in the national capital. When questions are asked to the government or Prime Minister, such raids take place (referring to I-T survey at BBC offices) or arrests are made. Democracy in this country is in trouble. "During the Emergency, when censorship was forced on newspapers, the BJP (in its previous avatar BJS) had agitated against it. Now, when their government is