I-T teams ‘survey’ BBC offices over‘violation’ of laws
Summary:
The Income Tax Department of India conducted a "survey" at the offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai on charges of deliberate non-compliance with Indian laws, including transfer pricing rules and the illegal diversion of profits. The survey comes just weeks after the BBC released a documentary about the 2002 Gujarat riots and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's years in office. The ruling BJP party called the action "lawful", and the BBC said it was fully cooperating with officials. The survey was limited in its scope, and the Income Tax Department's power to conduct it is under Section 133A of the Income Tax Act. The BBC's journalism continues as normal, and the company is committed to serving its audiences in India
Anti-encroachment drive in J&K halted after Centre steps in
Summary:
The Indian government's month-long anti-encroachment drive in Jammu and Kashmir to retrieve government land has been halted following an intervention by the Union Home Ministry. The J&K administration has been asked to issue notices and provide proper hearing to residents before arriving with bulldozers. The drive to recover public land was being done as per a 2020 order of the J&K High Court to scrap the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting Ownership to the Occupants) Act, popularly known as the Roshni Act. However, an official has denied that the eviction drive has been paused and stated that the land that has been retrieved so far is being geo-tagged and digitized to prevent future encroachments.
Man kills girlfriend and hides body in fridge, gets married same day
Summary:
A 24-year-old man, Sahil Gahlot, was arrested in Delhi for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Nikki Yadav, 23, and hiding her body in a refrigerator after she objected to his plan of getting married to another woman. The couple had been in a live-in relationship for a few years. The police received a tip-off and arrested the accused, who eventually confessed to the murder. Sahil strangled Nikki in his car using his phone's data cable after she confronted him near Kashmiri Gate ISBT. He then took her body to his dhaba in Mitraon village and hid it in a refrigerator.
U.S. Air Force’s B-1B Lancer lands at Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru
Summary:
Two supersonic heavy bombers, the B-1B Lancer, were added to the United States Air Force (USAF) fleet at Aero India 2023. The two B-1B Lancers arrived from Guam and are considered the backbone of America’s long-range bomber force. The B-1B Lancer carries the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the USAF. This is the second time that the long-range, supersonic, heavy bomber is participating in Aero India. The return of the long-range, supersonic, heavy bomber to India to participate in Aero India 2023 underscores the importance the United States places on the growing strategic partnership with India.
The Adani story and Indian neoliberalism
Summary:
The article discusses the recent downfall of the Adani Group, led by Gautam Adani, a prominent businessman and billionaire in India. The Adani Group experienced a significant loss of wealth after a crash in the stock values of their seven publicly listed companies. The article suggests that two significant features of the Adani Group's rise were their investments in capital-intensive infrastructural areas and India's neoliberal policy regime. The article explains how the Indian government's embrace of neoliberalism opened up infrastructural sectors that were previously restricted to the public sector, and the private sector could only enter after the government offered support through subsidies and 'viability gap funding' from state co#ers and flexible pricing. The article suggests that Gautam Adani's ability to mobilize the resources required to make investments in multiple infrastructural areas was due to his genius in capitalizing on the opportunities provided by the Indian government's neoliberal policy regime.
Disturbing dilation:
Untamed inflation risks hurting domestic consumption
Summary:
The article discusses the surprise increase in consumer price inflation in India in January 2023, with headline retail inflation accelerating to 6.5% due to a 175 basis-point jump in food prices. The rise in inflation was not aided by a favourable base effect and entirely due to an upsurge in the momentum of price gains. The article suggests that this unexpected reversal in price trends requires further policy action from both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and fiscal authorities. The article also notes that policymakers face the challenge of targeting the components of the inflationary trend that can be addressed by raising credit costs and tamping down on demand. Finally, the article warns that uncontrolled inflation risks hurting domestic consumption and overall economic growth.
Ladakh, a fragile region, needs autonomy
Summary:
The people of Ladakh are agitating for special constitutional status, allowing them to decide on their development path that safeguards the region's fragile ecological and cultural heritage. Ladakh's status as a Union Territory (UT) has not led to substantial local employment generation, and Ladakhis have realized that their need for relatively free and autonomous functioning is still a mirage. The region is already groaning under infrastructure development, intense armed forces presence, and excessive tourism, and has seen an increase in investments in mining, tourism, hydropower, and other natural resources since becoming a UT. Ladakh's cold desert ecosystems harbor rare mammals like the wild yak and the snow leopard, and diverse flora. High-altitude pastoralism, agriculture, and trade have been the mainstays of Ladakhi economy and society for centuries, and administrators sitting in or appointed from Delhi hardly comprehend what can and cannot work in such a landscape. There are opportunities for Ladakh and Delhi to work together, such as fully organic agriculture, aiding communities to claim and operationalize collective rights over grasslands using the Forest Rights Act, and tourism fully oriented towards community-run, ecologically sensitive visitation.\
Army set to close around 80 deals worth ₹15,000 cr., says Gen. Pande
Summary:
The Indian Army has identified 80 deals valued at roughly ₹15,000 crore (around $2 billion) in its fourth tranche of emergency procurements. The Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, said the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is the most suitable for mountain warfare and will comprise the Army's first dedicated attack helicopter. The Army is also set to receive the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter in February 2024. The Army Aviation has three brigades operating approximately 145 indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) and will eventually have 90-95 LCHs. The Army is also looking to right-size its manpower while inducting niche technology.
Oppn. slams govt. for surveys on BBC offices
Summary:
The Indian government has been criticised by journalists' organizations and opposition parties for the Income Tax Department's "survey" on the BBC's offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. The Editors Guild of India expressed concern over the trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass media outlets critical of the ruling establishment, and called for the government to ensure that investigations are conducted within the prescribed rules so that they do not become instruments of harassment. The raid has been seen as an assault on the freedom of the press, and opposition parties have linked the timing of tax surveys to the release of a BBC documentary on "the 2002 violence in Gujarat and the current status of minorities in India."
Section 133A of the Income Tax Act of India grants the tax authorities the power to conduct a survey or an inquiry at any place where business or profession is conducted or accounts are maintained. The authorities can enter the premises during office hours and inspect and seize account books, documents, and other relevant materials. The purpose of conducting a survey under Section 133A is to gather information that is useful in determining the tax liability of the assessee. The survey is limited in its scope and cannot be used for other purposes. The tax authorities have to provide a copy of the report of the survey to the assessee.