India

New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) A day after completing its three-day "survey operations" at BBC's premises in Delhi and Mumbai, the Income Tax department on Friday said that it was revealed that the "despite substantial consumption of content in various Indian languages (apart from English), the income or profits shown by various group entities is not commensurate with the scale of operations in India".

During the course of the "survey", the department gathered evidence pertaining to the operation of the organisation (BBC) which indicate that tax has not been paid on certain remittances, which have not been disclosed as income in India by foreign entities of the group. it said.

The Income Tax Department's "survey operations" also revealed that services of seconded employees have been utilised, for which reimbursement has been made by the Indian entity to the foreign entity concerned.

"Such remittance was also liable to be subject to withholding tax, which has not been done. Further, the survey has also thrown up several discrepancies and inconsistencies with regard to transfer pricing documentation. Such discrepancies relate to level of relevant function, asset and risk (FAR) analysis, incorrect use of comparables which are applicable to determine the correct arms length price (ALP) and inadequate revenue apportionment, among others," a statement issued by the department said.

The "survey operation" has resulted in unearthing of crucial evidences by way of statement of employees, digital evidence, and documents which will be further examined in due course. It is pertinent to state that statements of only those employees were recorded whose role was crucial including those connected to, primarily, finance, content development, and other production related functions.

As per the statement, even though the department exercised due care to record statements of only key personnel, it was observed that "dilatory tactics" were employed including in the context of producing documents and agreements sought. Despite such a stance of the group, the survey operation was conducted in a manner so as to facilitate continued regular media and channel activity, the Income Tax Department said.

The "survey operation" by the Income Tax Department was conducted in the Delhi and Mumbai offices of BBC between February 14-16. It was carried out under section 133A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the statement added.

The survey took place just weeks after BBC had released a two-part documentary titled "India - The Modi Question", which focussed on post-Godhra riots in Gujarat when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state's Chief Minister in 2002.

The documentary had evoked sharp reactions from the government and was been taken down from several social media platforms. The opposition has deplored the government's move, calling it "political vendetta".

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Aiming to check inflationary trend in the food economy, the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) has decided to further reduce reserve price of wheat up to March 31, 2023.

The reserve price under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) has been fixed at Rs 2150 per quintal (pan India) for wheat and Rs 2125 per quintal (pan India) for wheat (under relaxed specifications) of all crops including Rabi Market Season (RMS) 2023-24 for sale of wheat to private parties.

States may be allowed to purchase wheat from Food Corporation of India (FCI) for their own scheme at above proposed reserve prices without participating in e-auction.

Officials said that reduction in reserve price will help in reducing market price of wheat and wheat products for consumers.

FCI will float third e-auction for sale of wheat at these revised reserve prices on February 17 which will be opened on February 22.

The Committee of Ministers decided to release 30 LMT wheat from FCI stock through Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). It included 25 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) to be offered through the e-auction route to traders, flour mills, etc as per the usual process followed by FCI.

Bidders can participate in e-auction for a maximum quantity of 3,000 MT per region per auction, two LMT to be offered to State Governments for their schemes at 10,000 MT per state without e-auction and three LMT to be offered to Government PSUs and cooperatives such as Kendriya Bhandar, NCCF, NAFED etc without e-auction.

Subsequently, the Department made allocation of 3 LMT of wheat to Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED and NCCF as per their requisitions. Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED and NCCF were allocated 1.32 LMT, 1 LMT and 0.68 LMT respectively.

Further, the rate of wheat on February 10 has been reduced to Rs 21.50/kg for sale to NCCF, NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and State governments as well as community kitchen, charitable NGO subject to stipulation that they will convert wheat to atta and sell it to consumers at MRP Rs 27.50/kg.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Union Minister Smriti Irani launched a scathing attack on American billionaire George Soros, saying that foreign forces were trying to destroy India's democracy, and called upon Indians to unitedly respond to 'foreign powers who try to intervene in India's democratic processes'.

Talking to the media here on Friday, Smriti Irani said that the number one target of George Soros is the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and he wants to remove the Modi government from power and bring a government in the country that will protect his interests. He said that George Soros has announced funds to demolish India's democratic structure and it is known to everyone who he funds and to whom he sends money.

Smriti Irani further said that George Soros has announced that he will make Prime Minister Modi the main point of his attack. "Soros has announced that he will create such a system in India under his foreign power which will protect his interests and not India's. George Soros has made the announcement that he will make Modi bow down in India, demolish the democratically elected Government of India."

"He should be given a befitting reply by all the citizens, organisations and political parties of the country as well as every Indian. Let us answer George Soros in unison that under democratic conditions, a democratically elected government and our Prime Minister will not bow down to such evil intentions," the minister said.

In response to a question, the Union Minister said, "The conspiracy to damage Modi's image has been going on for the last several years. But ever since India has become the fifth largest economy in the world, and the US President, the French President and the Prime Minister of England have expressed gratitude to Indians, efforts are being made to destroy India's democratic structure."

She said that India has defeated foreign powers in the past as well and will defeat them in the future as well.

George Soros, while delivering a speech at the 2023 Munich Security Conference on Thursday said that PM Modi will be weakened by the business troubles of Gautam Adani.

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Feb 17 (IANS) A judge ruled on Thursday that no additional victims beyond the one woman, whose testimony was the basis for Harvey Weinstein's conviction, will be able to give victim impact statements at Weinstein's sentencing next week.

The ruling comes amid calls from attorney Gloria Allred to allow more victims to speak at the sentencing, which she says is the "right of a victim."

Allred represented three women in Weinstein's Los Angeles trial, and has argued that all women involved in the case, regardless of the verdict, should be able to speak at the sentencing to let their voice be heard and provide relevant information for the court to consider.

At the Thursday hearing, prosecutors Paul Thompson and Marlene Martinez asked the judge to hear from Allred in court, reports 'Variety'.

Weinstein was found guilty on three counts of rape and sexual assault last December, after a two-month trial in Los Angeles. The three charges on which he was convicted all came from Jane Doe #1, a European model who said Weinstein raped her in 2013 during a film festival in L.A.

The trial ended in a mixed verdict with the jury acquitting Weinstein on one count pertaining to Jane Doe #3, and not reaching a unanimous verdict on three additional charges from Jane Doe #2 and Jane Doe #4. Aside from the four charged victims, four additional victims took the stand during the trial as "prior bad acts" witnesses, in order to establish a pattern of Weinstein's behaviour.

"I'm not going to make this an open forum on Mr. Weinstein's conduct," Judge Lisa B. Lench said on Thursday, re-confirming that only Jane Doe #1 could make a victim impact statement at next week's sentencing.

"I don't think it's appropriate for the court to consider those alleged crimes," Judge Lench said, stating that the other women who testified in the trial are not "germane to the issues" that will be considered at the sentencing. "I heard the trial," she said. "I know the issues."

Weinstein was present at hearing, and was wheeled into the courtroom wearing a prison jumpsuit, which said "LA County Jail XL" on the back. He sat next to his attorneys, Alan Jackson and Mark Werksman. Before the hearing started, Weinstein was laughing with a big smile as he was overheard chatting with his lawyers about football.

Prior to the judge's ruling on Thursday, Allred submitted legal briefs to the court to put the matter on the record, and Weinstein's defence submitted an opposition. Immediately after the hearing on Thursday, Allred told the media that she will be disputing the court's ruling, in hopes of reversing the decision.

"I feel very strongly about victim's rights," Allred said at the courthouse. "I believe that everything that they would say would be relevant to the issue of the sentence that Mr. Weinstein should receive."

"If they are not permitted," Allred continued, "It could result in an unjust sentence. That is our concern - so that the court should be able to hear the entirety of the alleged scope of the defendant's conduct in order to protect the people of California and elsewhere to adequately punish the defendant and to deter such conduct in the future, whether or not there is ever a conviction of a crime."

Weinstein's defence objected on Thursday to allowing more women to provide victim impact statements, arguing that the mere presence of them at the sentencing would quality them as "victims," after jurors failed to reach a verdict pertaining to their allegations presented in the trial.

Werksman said that allowing more women to provide victim impact statements would be "unduly prejudicial" for Weinstein, and that the sentencing should only pertain to his conviction based on Jane Doe #1.

Weinstein's defence also brought up the possibility of some charges being re-tried, stating that allowing women involved with those charges to speak at the sentencing could "taint the jury pool and the public perception" that they are indeed "victims where he is still presumed innocent."

Weinstein will be sentenced on February 23. The former Hollywood mogul is already serving his 23-year sentence in New York after being found guilty in 2020, and the sentencing he faces in L.A. will effectively put him behind bars for life.

Last month, however, Weinstein filed his appeal for his New York conviction, after the highest court in the state agreed to hear his case.

Additionally, Weinstein's L.A. defence team is asking for a new trial, claiming that the jury was improperly instructed during the trial and that evidence and argument was withheld, which could have altered the jury's deliberations. That matter will also be heard next week in court, the same day as Weinstein's sentencing.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Feb 17 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu will join Maha Shivratri celebrations at the Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore, on February 18, Isha Foundation said in a statement on Friday.

This will be her first visit to Tamil Nadu after taking over as the President. Special security arrangements have been made for her smooth participation in the mega celebrations.

The nightlong festival will begin at 6 p.m. on February 18 and continue till 6 a.m. the following morning, in the presence of Sadhguru.

Isha Maha Shivratri will be live-streamed in 16 languages and telecast on all major television networks in India in English, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, and various other regional languages.

Thousands are expected to join the LIVE event and millions will participate in guided meditations and soak themselves in unparalleled music, dance, and cultural performances in front of the 112-ft Adiyogi on Maha Shivratri.

Explaining the importance of the festival, Sadhguru says, "Maha Shivratri - not of Religion or Beliefs, not of Race or Nation; a night in which planetary positions cause a natural energy upsurge in the human system. A Cosmic phenomenon with a Universal impact. Experience this consciously."

Starting with the Pancha Bhuta Kriya at Dhyanalinga, Isha Maha Shivratri will begin with Linga Bhairavi Maha Yatra and move to Sadhguru discourse, midnight meditations, and spectacular Adiyogi Divya Darshanam, a 3D projection video imaging show.

Renowned artists from different parts of the country like Rajasthani folk singer Mame Khan, award-winning Sitar maestro Niladri Kumar, Tollywood singer Ram Miriyala, Tamil playback singer Velmurugan, Mangli, Kutle Khan, and Bengali folk singer Ananya Chakraborty will be performing this year. Karnataka Janapada and Theyyam troupes will also showcase their folk culture through their dance and music. There will be the much-sought performances by Isha Foundation's homegrown brand- Sounds of Isha, and dance performances by Isha Samskriti promise to heighten the mystical aura of the night.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) With the arrest of five men, the Delhi Police Crime Branch on Friday claimed to have busted a gang of sextortionist operating from Mewat region.

Khurshid Khan, Raman, Murari, Kaluram and Vikram Jatav had duped several people of crores of rupees. The gang members have withdrawn four crores from different ATMs in Bharatpur and Mewat in the last six months.

According to police, a complaint from a businessman Sushil Gautam was received at Cyber Cell, Crime Branch saying that he received a video call from a girl on 'Whatsapp', who undressed herself and asked the complainant to take off his clothes too.

"Thereafter, the complainant received a phone call from a person, who posed himself as Inspector Vikram Rathore from Crime Branch, Delhi Police and extorted money on pretext to block the complainant's obscene video on social media," said Ravindra Singh Yadav, the Special Commissioner of Police (Crime).

"Later, the complainant was told that the girl who had called the him had died by suicide in Rajasthan and that the matter has now become complicated with murder case to be registered against him," said the Special CP.

In the sequence of incidents, the accused had extorted a total sum of about Rs 5,79,500 from the victim.

"To crack the case and arrest the accused, a police team was formed. The team collected information and analysed details of more than 50 mobile phone numbers and more than 10 bank accounts and also scanned CCTV footage of more than 50 ATMs. It was established that the accused gang was operating from Mewat and Bharatpur," said the Special CP.

Police after raids at Mewat and Bharatpur nabbed all the five accused.

On interrogation, it was revealed that Raman is the main conspirator. The other accused Khursid and Murari used to withdraw money from different ATMs and further used to supply the money to the accused Raman after keeping their commission.

"Raman is a habitual cyber offender, who has previously been involved in similar types of crime. He has purchased a swift car, plot and agricultural land with the extorted money," said the official.

"Vikram Jatav and Kaluram used to provide his bank accounts for cheating," said the official.

--IANS
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Jammu, Feb 17 (IANS) A light intensity earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale rocked J&K's Reasi district on Friday although no casualty or damage to property was reported from anywhere.

The National Centre For Seismology said that an earthquake measuring 3.6 occurred at 5.01 a.m. in Reasi district with an epicentre 97 kms east of Katra town in Jammu.

The latitude and longitude of the earthquake was 33.10 degrees north and 75.97 east degrees respectively.

No casualty or damage to property was reported from anywhere so far, officials said.

Further details awaited.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 17 (IANS) After a marathon nine-hour grilling of Venugopal Iyer, a Chartered Accountant and a close aide of Sivasankar, the ED has reportedly made a headway with the CA stating that he had just followed the former top bureaucrat's instructions.

Three days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested M.Sivasankar -- the former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with the Life Mission bribery case, things are getting tough not just for the arrested former official, but others too.

Former CEO of the Life Mission U.V. Jose, who was questioned in the past, appeared before the probe agency this morning. He too will be questioned along with Sivasankar.

Sivasankar retired from service on January 31.

The arrest is related to the ongoing probe in Vijayan's pet project 'Life Mission' - intended to provide homes to the poor who were displaced in the devastating floods of 2018.

An amount of Rs 4 crore was allegedly paid as commission to get a contract, as builder Santhosh Eapen told the CBI after he was arrested.

Earlier, the ED had recovered Rs one crore in cash from a locker in the name of prime accused in the gold smuggling case and also in the Life Mission case- Swapna Suresh.

The locker from where the ED recovered the huge amount of money was in the name of Iyer and Swapna.

By now, the central agency has been able to retrieve chat messages of Sivasankar, Iyer and Swapna and with Iyer explaining things what happened, they have now made a solid case with facts and evidence and that is going to spell trouble for more.

Another clinching evidence is that it was Sivasankar who had directed Swapna on how to draft letters especially to get the money from a UAE-based Red Crescent, a UAE based charity organisation for building the flats under the Life Mission project for the poor and weaker sections here.

Sivasankar asked Swapna to call Raveendran if she had any doubts.

Incidentally, Raveendran is the assistant private secretary to Vijayan and one of the closest aides of his who is the last word in the chief minister's office.

Swapna soon after the arrest of Sivasankar had told the media that Raveendran is the storehouse of all secrets surrounding Vijayan and if he is questioned he would spill the beans about Vijayan, his wife, daughter and son.

With Sivasankar's ED custody ending on Monday, the probe agency is working overtime and is likely to serve notices to a few key people also holding high positions.

Reacting to the arrest of Sivasankar, for the first time CPI(M) state secretary M.V.Govindan said the party will not be affected by it as he is no longer associated with them.

"Sivasankar has been arrested in the past also a few times, so what's it for the
CPI(M). We have got nothing to do with Sivasankar," said Govindan.

The Congress and the BJP have now called for the resignation of Vijayan saying the CM should quit as it's better than being thrown out.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Feb 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now become the target of derogatory comments from controversial West Bengal minister of state for correctional services Akhil Giri, who had already been in the centre of polemics earlier for his insulting comments concerning the looks of President Droupadi Murmu.

A video of his comments made at a public rally at Ramnagar in East Midnapore district in West Bengal on Thursday evening went viral where Giri was heard making a slating comment that the "Prime Minister has been attacked and crushed by a cow".

Referring to a recent statement about the controversial 'Cow Hug Day' statement from the Animal Welfare Board of India, Giri said the Prime Minister in his attempt to show affection towards a cow by hugging it has been crushed by that animal.

"February 14 is the occasion of Valentine's Day when the boys and girls express love towards each other by gifting roses. But the Prime Minister tried to show his love towards a cow by hugging that animal. He fell being hit by the cow. Luckily it was a cow and not a bull. Had he been hit by a bull he could have just gone," Giri was heard making the remark in the video.

Giri did not stop at that. "In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections the Prime Minister will get a similar hit and he will totally crumble. The people of India will throw him out of the Parliament," Giri said.

Reacting to the comments, BJP's district president in East Midnapore district Sudam Pundit said that Trinamool Congress is such a party where no leader cares for minimum political decorum. "It is a third-grade party whose only motto is corruption. Their leaders are out of their mind sensing that the end days are nearing fast. So, they are uttering such rubbish," he said.

To recall, in November last year, a video went viral where Akhil Giri was heard making derogatory comments against the Indian President. "We do not judge people by their looks. We respect the chair of the Indian President. But my question is how does the President look," Giri was heard saying in the video.

In the face of large-scale criticisms from different quarters of the society, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee finally spoke out over the matter almost after a week since the video went viral and apologised on behalf of Giri. "The President is a beautiful woman. I condemn such comments against her. I apologise on behalf of the party MLA," the chief minister had said.

-IANS
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Lucknow, Feb 17 (IANS) The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh will be appointing Udyami Mitras (friends of entrepreneurs) soon for the implementation of Rs 33.52 lakh crore investment proposals received through the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit-2023 that was held in Lucknow from February 10 to 12.

The Udyami Mitras will be appointed by Invest UP under the Mukhya Mantri Udyami Mitra Yojana, and the CEO of the department.

According to the official spokesman, the Udyami Mitras will contact investors, listen to their problems, get them solved and explain to them in detail about the facilities available to them.

As many as 105 Udyami Mitras will be appointed on a one-year contract in the first phase, according to a press release. Seventy of these posts will be for the districts, 10 for the Invest UP office and headquarters and 25 posts for working with various industrial development authorities.

They will be given honorarium and allowances of Rs 70,000 per month each.

The candidates will be able to apply online on the Invest UP website or on the portal developed for the purpose. The Udyami Mitras must have an MBA degree with at least 60 per cent marks and be in the 25-40 year age group. The candidate should be fluent in Hindi and English, and should also know typing in both languages.

Apart from this, preference will be given to the candidates knowing a foreign language. The candidate must have good knowledge of computers and experience in Microsoft Office.

Those applying should have an MBA degree with minimum of one-year experience as management trainee/ analyst/ associate in banking/consulting/market research organisation, or investor friendly related private or public company.

They should also have studied or have work experience in infrastructure and industrial development, defence, aerospace, civil aviation, warehousing and logistics, information technology (IT), information technology enabled services (ITES), data centre, data science, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, machine learning, data governance, startups, handloom and textile.

--IANS
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