Amazon executives depose before parliament panel, quizzed about revenue & tax paid in India
New Delhi: Days after Amazon refused to appear before the parliamentary panel on the data protection bill, its top executives in India on Wednesday deposed before the committee and were questioned about the company's revenue model and how much tax it pays in the country.
The Joint Committee on Data Protection Bill, 2019 chaired by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi questioned Amazon India and Amazon Web Services representatives separately for nearly two hours each.
Amazon India was represented by its vice-presidents Chetan Krishnaswamy and Rakesh Bakshi while Amazon Web Services was represented by Head Public Policy India Yolynd Lobo, Lead Public Policy Uthara Ganesh, and others.
Members questioned the e-commerce major about its revenue model, how much revenue it generates, and what percent of it Amazon reinvests in India. The panel also asked questions about how much tax it pays in India, sources in the committee said.
The committee asked Amazon to give answers to these questions in writing, signed by its top-most officials.
A stringent notice was sent to Amazon by the parliament's committee on data protection bill after the company had last week said its representatives will not appear before it. In view of its non-appearance before the panel, a privilege motion was also under consideration.
The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on December 11, 2019. The bill seeks to provide for the protection of personal data of individuals and establishes a Data Protection Authority for the same.
The Personal Data Protection Bill was later referred to a joint select committee of both Houses of Parliament. The proposed law seeks a bar on storing and processing of personal data by entities without the explicit consent of an individual.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sabarimala gold loss: How did the accused reach Rahul's home, asks Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi for targeting the ruling CPI(M) over the Sabarimala gold loss case during a poll campaign, questioning how the accused in the case had managed to reach the Congress leader's home.
The Marxist veteran was apparently referring to a widely circulated purported photograph in which the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold loss cases, Unnikrishnan Potty, accompanied by some senior Congress leaders, was seen with Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi.
He also said people have already given a reply to Rahul, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on this matter.
The CM's reaction came a day after Rahul sang a line from a popular parody song about CPI(M) leaders' alleged roles in the gold theft at the Sabarimala temple while addressing a corner meeting as part of the assembly polls campaign in Pathanamthitta district.
As he sang the line "swarnam kattathu aarappa" (who stole the gold of Ayyappa) from a song used by the Congress-led UDF to target the ruling Left during the local body polls a few months ago, at the meeting in Pathanamthitta -- the district where the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa is located-- the crowd cheered Rahul.
Soon after Gandhi targeted the Left party over the gold loss issue, CPI (M) activists began a social media campaign making allegations against his mother and former party chief Sonia Gandhi in connection with the matter.
While replying to a question regarding this, CM Vijayan said the Congress leader already got a befitting reply and should he also repeat the same.
"If he thinks about how all those who were involved in the stealing had reached his home...then he will get a reply. Anyway, we don't have any such flaws," Vijayan added.
Attacking the Left and the BJP over the Sabarimala gold loss issue, Rahul Gandhi on Monday had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had forgotten about what happened in Sabarimala, during his visit to Palakkad as part of election campaign.
Rahul claimed that the prime minister remained silent to avoid damaging the LDF.
He had also said that a UDF government would ensure that those responsible for alleged irregularities related to the temple are punished.
