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Mamata Banerjee hits out at Modi govt over IT survey at BBC offices: “There will be no media left in country”

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Kolkata: “The Income Tax survey at the BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai is very unfortunate,” said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday. She criticized the BJP government for conducting the survey and accused them of “running a political vendetta.” Banerjee also expressed concern that the freedom of the press has been affected by the action against the broadcaster and warned that soon there may be no media left in the country.

She added that the media is already under the control of the BJP and cannot raise their voice as their management will cut their service within 24 hours. Comparing the BJP to Hitler, Banerjee said that their only mandate is a dictatorship and they are worse than Hitler.


“I am abided by the mandate of the people. Where is their (BJP) mandate? They don’t care about the people’s mandate. BJP’s only mandate is a dictatorship, (they are) more than Hitler. My sympathy and my support with media and BBC,” she said.

She further alleged that BJP wants to capture the judiciary also adding that the judiciary must be neutral as only the judiciary can save this country.

“Sometimes they have said against the judiciary also and they want to capture the judiciary also. But we want judiciary must be neutral…only judiciary can save this country,” she added.

The income tax (I-T) department on Wednesday continued its survey at the offices of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai for the second day, sources say.

On Tuesday, the I-T department conducted a survey at BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai in view of the British public broadcaster’s “deliberate non-compliance” with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits. Yesterday, the sleuths arrived at the BBC offices located at the national capital’s KG Marg and Mumbai’s Kalina Santacruz for the survey.

In the case of the BBC, sources said 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 significantly diverted its profits, sources said.

Sources said the above exercise, conducted by the tax authorities, is called “survey”, not search or raid as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Such surveys are routinely conducted and are not to be confused to be in the nature of a search/raid, said sources.

The key focus of these surveys is to look into the 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.

In this case, sources said BBC has been, “non-compliant under transfer pricing rules; persistent and deliberately violative of transfer pricing norms; and deliberately diverted a significant amount of the profits and have not followed the arm’s length arrangement in the case of allocation of profit.”

Accordingly, the surveys have been conducted with a view to investigating BBC’s violation of the Transfer Pricing Rules and its diversion of profits.

After the I-T department survey, sources in the United Kingdom government said they are monitoring the developments closely.

“We are closely monitoring reports of tax surveys conducted at the offices of the BBC in India,” UK government sources said.

Meanwhile, BBC has said 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 development comes weeks after the BBC released a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi – ‘India: The Modi Question,” which caused controversy.

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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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, 6 ministers take oath as members of Legislative Assembly

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41 mins ago

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February 24, 2025

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New Delhi, Feb 24: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta along with her council of ministers took oath as members of the Legislative Assembly on Monday. The first session of the House commenced this morning and will see all newly-elected legislators taking oath.

Alongside Delhi CM, the BJP ministers namely Parvesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Kapil Mishra, Ravinder Singh Indraj, Pankaj Kumar Singh and Manjinder Singh Sirsa also took the oath.

AAP’s 22 MLAs, including Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Atishi, also took oath during the first session of the House.

Rekha Gupta had taken the oath as Delhi’s Chief Minister on Thursday at a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan. The swearing-in event, marking BJP’s comeback after 27 years, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and several Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled states.

The event was not only a political milestone but also a show of strength for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

With her appointment, Rekha Gupta has become the fourth woman Chief Minister of Delhi, following in the footsteps of Sheila Dikshit, Sushma Swaraj, and Atishi.

She is also the fourth BJP leader to hold the top post in the capital, succeeding Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, and Sushma Swaraj.

The first session of the Delhi Assembly is set to last for three days.

The proceedings began with BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely taking oath as the pro-tem Speaker, a temporary position responsible for conducting House proceedings until a full-time Speaker is elected. Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena administered the oath to Lovely at Raj Niwas.

The election for the Assembly Speaker is scheduled to take place at 2:00 p.m.

According to the Assembly bulletin, L-G Saxena will address the House on February 25, after which the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports will be tabled.

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National News

Arvinder Singh Lovely takes oath as pro-tem Speaker of Delhi Assembly

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1 hour ago

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February 24, 2025

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New Delhi, Feb 24: BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely took oath as the pro-tem Speaker of the Delhi Assembly on Monday and will chair the proceedings during the first sitting of the legislature.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena administered the oath to the Gandhi Nagar MLA at Raj Niwas.

Four-time legislator Arvinder Singh will perform the duties of the Office of the Speaker till the new Speaker is elected.

In a notification published in Delhi Gazette on Saturday, the legislative Assembly secretariat quoted an L-G’s order which said, “I hereby appoint Arvinder Singh Lovely, a member of the newly elected Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi to perform the duties of the Office of the Speaker from the commencement of the said meeting and until the new Speaker is elected.”

The LG’s order added, “I also hereby appoint Arvinder Singh Lovely to be the person before whom Members of the newly elected Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi shall make and subscribe oath or affirmation in accordance with the provisions of section 12 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991.”

The CAG reports are also expected to be placed on the table of the House on February 25.

Vijender Gupta, a three-time legislator and three-time councillor who has been designated by the BJP to be the next Speaker, had said the proposal to call a three-day session of the legislature – February 24, 25 and 27 – was approved by the Delhi Cabinet in its first meeting on Thursday.

He said since the CAG reports, including the one pointing to lapses in the now-withdrawn excise policy, have already been received in the office of the Speaker of the outgoing Assembly, these will be the first to be taken up by the new House.

The CAG reports are expected to expose the alleged financial mismanagement of the previous AAP governments led by Arvind Kejriwal.

The excerpts of a few CAG reports that managed to reach the public domain revealed a revenue loss of over Rs 2,026 crore due to irregularities in the Delhi government’s excise policy.

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health

Centre committed to provide quality healthcare for workers, families: Union Minister

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2 days ago

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February 22, 2025

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New Delhi, Feb 22: The government is committed to providing quality healthcare services for workers and their families, Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, said on Saturday, emphasising the welfare of workers.

Dr Mandaviya, who visited Chandigarh to review key institutions under the Ministry, said that data-driven decision-making is crucial for enhancing economic growth, governance and service delivery.

As part of his visit, the Union Minister toured the Labour Bureau and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Model Hospital, Chandigarh, assessing their ongoing initiatives and interacting with stakeholders.

At the Labour Bureau, he was apprised of the objectives, scope and status of various activities, including price indices, labour statistics and surveys.

Dr Mandaviya also took a review of the performance and initiatives of the EPFO Regional Offices under the Punjab & Himachal Pradesh Zone at the Labour Bureau.

The Union Minister highlighted that reforms in the IT system are continuously transforming the functioning of the EPFO.

Later, the Union Minister visited the ESIC Model Hospital in Chandigarh and toured the hospital facilities. He interacted with patients receiving treatment at the hospital and reaffirmed to them that the government is committed to providing quality healthcare services for workers and their families.

Earlier this week, Dr Mandaviya instructed officials to prioritise efficient medical service delivery and expedite the timely completion of hospital renovation and construction projects.

During his visit to ESIC Hospital in Mumbai, he interacted with patients and staff to understand their experiences and feedback on the services provided.

To improve efficiency and transparency, he directed officials to accelerate the digitisation of processes, including inspections, ensure better upkeep of laboratories, and maintain a strong focus on transparency in regulatory activities.

Meanwhile, the payroll data of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), released on Friday, show that as many as 17.01 lakh new employees were added in December 2024 while 20,360 new establishments were brought under the social security ambit of the ESI Scheme during the month, ensuring social security to more workers.

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