Fresh Lead

BBC World Service India Private Ltd, whose offices were subject to a survey today by the income-tax authorities over non-compliance with the Transfer Pricing Rules, had to write off ₹7.2 crore from its pension fund following its exposure to the two tainted non-banking companies, IL&FS and DHFL. Tax authorities say the survey was in view of BBC’s deliberate non-compliance “for years”, with the transfer pricing rules and vast diversion of profits. The New Delhi-based subsidiary of the UK’s national broadcaster along with other group entities, BBC Studios India Pvt Ltd and BBC Global News India Pvt Ltd, has a provident fund scheme under a trust called the BBC Worldwide India Employees Provident Fund. The trust had an exposure of ₹2.85 crore and ₹4.35 crore in the securities of IL&FS and DHFL, respectively. It is not clear if the “securities” only refer to debt or equity as well. During the year (FY21), the company provided for ₹1.59 crore, including interest accrued till date, as ...

Division Bench reserves order; last week, judge asked that steps be taken to cancel appointments of 1,911 Group D school staff. The West Bengal School Service Commission finds no reason to re-examine the Optical Marks Recognition (OMR) sheets -- whose digital records were seized from Ghaziabad by the CBI and sent to the Commission to ascertain recruitment fraud -- or question their authenticity since they were “identical replicas” of the original answer scripts which are now destroyed. Calcutta High Court The submission was made by the Commission before the Division Bench of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court which kept its order in reserve after concluding the hearing of challenge petitions moved before the court by the aggrieved secondary school teachers whose appointments are all set to be revoked on the basis of an SSC affidavit submitted in court. Last week, following the Commission’s admission of its “fault”, Justice Abhijit Ganguly set...

The Free Press Journal discovered that the hostel space had been evacuated and only the police and administrative staff are being allowed to visit the fifth floor of the building. A student at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi was allegedly found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room with his hands tied. The student, who has been identified as Shivam Pandey from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, according to India Today, studied Business Analytics at IIM Ranchi. Pandey was found dead at the fifth floor of his hostel. The other residents of the building were knocking repeatedly on Shivam's door last night. When they received no response, the students peered through a window present above the room's door and found Shivam hanging. The hostelites reported it to the police by 2 am. As of now, students have been barred from entering the fifth floor and only admin members and doctors are able to access the area. Police officials have also arrived at the campus as...

The Lagos state government has ordered the indefinite closure of Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos over the controversy trailing the death of one of its students, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr even as reactions have trailed the incident. The 12-year-old student was alleged to have been attacked by some of his senior colleagues for refusing to join a cult group. The student’s father, who bears the same name as his son also claimed that his son was fed liquid substance and intimidated into keeping mum over what transpired. But the school had earlier dismissed the claim, alleging that the deceased only sustained injuries while playing football with his colleagues. Sylvester Oromoni Following a meeting with the management and staff of Dowen College on Friday, the Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, announced an indefinite shutdown of the institution. A statement signed by Ganiu Lawal, spokesperson of the Lagos State Ministry of Education said, “The Lagos State Government has ordered the in...

WhatsApp is used by millions of Indians. This app periodically brings new features to improve the user experience. WhatsApp has come up with many exciting features in the last year. Now in the new year, WhatsApp is planning to introduce new features. WhatsApp is going to bring a feature in that regard soon. That is, a new feature is coming to make the process of blocking someone even easier. According to information published by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is about to introduce a new feature that allows users to block a contact from their chat list. WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot in this regard. You can see it below. Whatsapp features WhatsApp update You can see in the screenshot that a 'Block' option will be added inside the chat option in the chat list to block contacts immediately. Currently this facility is not launched. It will be updated in future. Will be released soon According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp does not plan to block multiple chats at once. That means, going forward...

An image of a circular has been doing the rounds on WhatsApp purportedly asking girls to return to campus only if they have a boyfriend. Colleges have been known to issue the odd outrageous statement from time to time. And in an age of trial by social media, more often than not, the more ludicrous of them often become the butt of bad jokes before they are withdrawn. SRM university But this one, involving the popular SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) in Kattankulathur, Chennai, was downright silly — and extremely sexist, at that. The supposed circular, which bears the crest of the deemed varsity and the credentials of its Registrar Dr N Sethuraman reads: It is mandatory for each and every female student of SRMIST KTR Campus to have a boyfriend inside the university premises. This has been done for security purposes. Those girls who are single will not be allowed to enter the premises. They will have to show a recent picture with their boyfriend to enter the campus. It a...

In the clip, a shirtless man can be seen fighting with a fellow passenger quite violently. As the video goes on, other people present at the situation try to stop the man from hitting the passenger by pulling him away, but in vain. A video of a shirtless passenger behaving violently has gone viral. Cases involving unruly passengers misbehaving on flights have become quite frequent these days. After severe online uproar regarding the IndiGo airhostess-passenger spat, mid-air slap match on a Bangkok-Kolkata flight and the disgusting Air India episode, another video of a fight inside an airplane has surfaced on Twitter. Shared by Bitanko Biswas, the video was shot inside a flight operated by Biman Bangladesh. In the clip, a shirtless man can be seen fighting with a fellow passenger quite violently. As the video goes on, other people present at the situation try to stop the man from hitting the passenger by pulling him away, but in vain. The clip has been viewed over 112k times and garnere...

A woman and her 2.5-year-old son were killed after an under-construction metro pillar collapsed on them in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning. An under-construction Metro pillar collapsed in Bengaluru's Nagavara on Tuesday morning, killing a mother and her two-and-a-half year old son. The father also sustained injuries in the incident. The pillar was part of the Namma Metro's operations to the city's Kempegowda International Airport. her family were traveling on the road on their bike when they came under the pillar. The identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained. The injured were being treated at a hospital. However, the woman and her child succumbed to their grave injuries shortly after, while the man is still being treated. “Today morning at around 10:45am, a metro pillar collapsed and hit a bike, on which four people were travelling. Father Lohith and mother Tejaswini and twins (one son and daughter). Tejaswini and Vihan (son) were seriously injured and immediately...

Jr NTR and Ram Charan-starrer period drama RRR has won two nominations at the Golden Globes 2023 and has been submitted in 14 categories at the Oscars 2023.  Veteran filmmaker SS Rajamouli stated that when they initially set out to make the Jr NTR and Ram Charan-starrer period drama  RRR , they made the film for the audience and for them to love it and experience the movie.  SS Rajamouli says that the audience should come out of the theatre refreshed. Rajamouli told the news agency Reuters, “When we initially set out to make the film, we don’t have the critical acclaim in mind. We set out to make the movie for the audience, for them to love it, for them to experience the movie.”  He further says that the audience should come out of the theatre refreshed. Rajamouli noted, “I need to make them come out of the theater completely refreshed and get back into their lives.”  He added that critical acclaim is important as it gives the cast and crew a pat on the back. Th...

The video was posted on Twitter by Dr Showkat Shah , a Srinagar-based doctor and netizens pointed out lack of safety precautions. The video was posted on Twitter by Dr Showkat Shah, a Srinagar-based doctor, with the caption, “He needs appreciation and all praise.” However, netizens differed in their viewpoint and highlighted the grim conditions in which the man had to work to eke out a living. The 11-second clip shows the man perched on a narrow strip of scaffolding on top of a building which seems a few storeys high. The video was posted on Twitter by Dr Showkat Shah, a Srinagar-based doctor Since being shared, the video has received more than 60,000 views. Many netizens pointed out that the man needed a safety harness and the contractor should be booked for endangering the life of the man. “No he need safety kit and the contractor need to be in jail for this,” commented a user. “He need safety harness and working at heights training .. and his employer needs fine immediately with sto...

The second phase of polling will be held on December 5. The counting of votes is scheduled for December 8. The counting of votes is scheduled for December 8 New Delhi:  89 assembly seats went to polls yesterday in the first phase of assembly polls in Gujarat. Surat is among the key areas that voted. While the BJP is pushing for the seventh consecutive term in the state, the AAP has launched a mega campaign. Here is your 10-point cheat-sheet to this phase A moderate voter turnout of 60.23 per cent was recorded in the polls covering the 19 districts of Saurashtra-Kutch and southern regions of the state, with the voting largely peaceful, officials said. The voter turnout was less than 66.75 per cent recorded in the first phase of the 2017 Assembly polls. Barring a few incidents and reports of technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at some places, the voting process, which began at 8 am, was largely peaceful, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi said. The focus o...

The following story includes renderings of a fictional pickup created by independent designer Travis Yang who is neither related to nor endorsed by Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce Car Rolls-Royce is probably the least likely automaker to ever introduce a pickup truck but this fact hasn’t limit the imagination of young design talent Travis Yang who created the Britannia. The digital-only concept combines extravagant proportions with Rolls-Royce’s styling language and a wood-covered rear bed, making a case for an ultra-luxury pickup. The Britannia measures 5,500 mm (216.5 inches) long which makes it slightly longer than a Spectre and gives it a commanding road presence. Its massive ground clearance would put a Cullinan to shame, thanks to the portal axles and the large-diameter wheels. The most striking feature of the concept is the ultra-long bonnet which makes it look like a yacht. Note that the concept was envisioned as an EV, which means that all this space at the front can be used for ext...

First-time car buyer programs are designed to help car buyers without a credit history — and those with a thin credit history — get into their first vehicle. These programs typically have less stringent credit requirements than traditional auto loans, but approval is not guaranteed. If you’re interested in a first-time car buyer program, research vehicles in advance, create a budget and ask about any additional fees before applying. First-time car buyer programs are designed to help car buyers without a credit history  How do first-time car buyer programs work? Although first-time car buyer programs are easier to qualify for, approval is not guaranteed — it is still possible to be denied. So if you do not get approved, you may need to look into other options such as cosigners, secured credit cards and checking accounts. What are the requirements for a first-time car buyer program? First-time car buyer programs vary by lender and manufacturer, so requirements can change. However, th...