NEW DELHI: British broadcaster the BBC is launching a new company for Indian language services, in compliance with foreign investment rules that authorities in India alleged BBC violated after it aired a critical documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The broadcaster said on Tuesday four staff members, including current India head Rupa Jha, will leave the organization to form the new company named “Collective Newsroom” and provide services as commissioned by BBC.
The broadcaster is under scrutiny for alleged foreign exchange violations in India and an investigation was launched shortly after tax authorities searched BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai in February.
This followed the government’s angry reaction to a BBC documentary in January that examined Modi’s leadership during deadly communal riots in Gujarat state in 2002, in which at least 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims.
The BBC has said it was cooperating fully with tax authorities and hoped to resolve matters quickly.
BBC staff to launch new company for Indian language services
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BBC staff to launch new company for Indian language services
- “Collective Newsroom” will provide services as commissioned by BBC
- Launch comes as the BBC seeks to comply with India’s strict foreign direct investment rules in media
Hezbollah says Israeli strike killed Al-Manar TV presenter in southern Lebanon
- The Israeli military said later on Monday that Al-Din was a Hezbollah militant who recently worked to rehabilitate the group’s artillery capabilities in southern Lebanon
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Monday that an Israeli strike in the country’s south killed TV presenter Ali Nour Al-Din, who worked for the group’s affiliated Al-Manar television station.
The group said the killing portends “the danger of Israel’s extended escalations (in Lebanon) to include the media community.”
The Israeli military said later on Monday that Al-Din was a Hezbollah militant who recently worked to rehabilitate the group’s artillery capabilities in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024 to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed militant group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over ceasefire violations.
Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah. The group’s leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country, aiming to push the Lebanese government for quicker action to confiscate Hezbollah’s arsenal.
