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Congress protests outside Sushma Swaraj's residence; demands resignation

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Sushma Swaraj Lalit Modi

New Delhi: Scores of Congress workers today protested outside residence of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj demanding her resignation for “extending help” to scam-tainted former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi in procuring travel documents in the UK.

Shouting slogans and holding placards, the Congress workers demanded action against Swaraj and said she must quit or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack her immediately from the Union Cabinet. The protesters also burnt effigies of Swaraj.

Congress has been attacking Swaraj since yesterday after reports surfaced that she had written to British lawmaker Keith Vaz to allegedly recommend travel documents for Lalit Modi for visiting Portugal.

Swaraj has said she had written to Vaz on “humanitarian grounds” after Lalit Modi said his wife was ill.

Modi is wanted in India and has made London his home since 2010 to avoid a probe in the alleged betting and misappropriation of funds in the T20 cricket tournament.

Some of the Congress protesters also broke barricades outside Swaraj’s Safdarjung residence in posh Lutyens Bungalow Zone in central Delhi. Around 100 protesters were detained by the police and were later released.

Earlier in the day, Congress sharpened attack on Swaraj alleging there was “quid pro quo” involved in her “assistance” to Modi and demanded that the former IPL Commissioner be brought back and tried in India.

“There are circumstances which establish contact between Sushma Swaraj and Lalit Modi. As a quid pro quo, Sushma Swaraj has done favour to a tainted person who is accused of Rs 700 crore money laundering, tax evasion and several other charges,” said Congress national spokesperson P L Punia.

(PTI)

Indian Army's importance diminished due to lack of wars, says Manohar Parrikar

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Manohar Parrikar (Photo credit: HT)

Manohar Parrikar (Photo credit: HT)

Jaipur: Kicking up a storm, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday said that the Indian Army’s importance has diminished because the country hasn’t gone to war in the past 40-50 years.

“Soldiers were facing immense difficulties because people’s respect for the army has reduced during peacetime,” he said at a seminar in Jaipur.

However, he clarified his statement saying that he doesn’t endorse wars.

“I have written to many chief ministers (over defence matters). Some have acted on it and at many places it (response) has ended. The primary reason for this is that we have not been to war for 40-50 years. I don’t mean to say that we should go to war. I mean to say that without war the army’s importance has diminished,” he added.

He also said that two generations of officers have retired without seeing a war.

“A country that fails to protect its Army cannot progress.”

(PTI)

Caliph Umar’s governance impressed me; will try to follow him: Arvind Kejriwal

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Stating that he was deeply impressed by the governance of Hazrat Umar bin Khattab, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, said that he would try to emulate the second Caliph of the Muslims for the betterment of the people.

Mr Kejriwal was addressing a personality development workshop conducted by the India Islamic International Centre in collaboration with Nobel Education Foundation, here.

“I am extremely impressed by the governance of Caliph Umar and will try to follow his model of governance for the betterment of people,” Mr Kejriwal said.

His comments were in response to Aateqa Siddiqui, a girl student, who presented a book on the governance of Caliph Umar.

Mr Kejriwal reiterated that he would study the whole book and try to implement the model of Caliph Umar.

FTII students to step up stir against Gajendra Chauhan's appointment as chairman

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Gajendra Chauhan

Pune: The FTII students today vowed to continue their protest against the appointment of television actor Gajendra Chauhan as the new chairman of its governing council by boycotting classes and shutting down administrative offices on the campus.

About 150 students pursuing various courses at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) went on a flash strike yesterday.

Asserting that they would continue their protest till the demand is met, the students body alleged that it was purely out of consideration of his affiliation with BJP that Chauhan was chosen for the key post.

“A person who has an official affiliation with the ruling BJP and who lacks the vision and stature of the past chairpersons in film-making, has put a question mark on the process of selection for the post earlier held by eminent people like Girish Karnad, Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalkrishnan,” Harikrishnan Nachimuthu, who heads the FTII students’ association, told PTI.

Chauhan, who played the role of ‘Yudhishthira’ in television serial “Mahabharata”, has been a member of the BJP over two decades, the student leaders said.

At the gate of FTII, a billboard was put up by the protesting students asking “Gajendra resign and leave”.

FTII director D Narayanan told PTI that the institute authorities have opened the channels for dialogue with the students.

“We are having a dialogue with the students to find a way out amicably”.

A final year student pursuing course in film direction said Chauhan lacked the “experience and stature and quality” of his predecessors to merit his new posting, which is “politically coloured”.

Meanwhile, the students’ association has decided to send their representation on the issue objecting to Chauhan’s appointment to Information & Broadcasting ministry.

“We will re-look the current protest only after getting a positive response to our demand by the authorities,” Nachiputhu said.

(PTI)

Is Airtel spying on you for Israel? Bengaluru techie exposes secret 'code'

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Thejesh GN

Bengaluru: Bharti Airtel has been now accused of spying on its 3G mobile Internet subscribers in India by using programming from an Israel-based firm that offers monetisation solutions to telecom operators round the world!

The snooping came to light on June 3, when Bengaluru-based programmer Thejesh GN tweeted that Airtel was injecting lines of code into users’ browsing sessions over its 3G network without their knowledge.

The development has angered consumers, coming in the wake of widespread criticism for the Airtel Zero scheme that users and activists said violated net neutrality.

Using a web-based IP tracker, Thejesh was able to confirm that the code was originating from an IP address that belonged to Bharti Airtel.

Thejesh dug further and revealed that Airtel had partnered with Ericsson, which in turn was using the services of Israel-based Flash Networks to inject the code into web pages that users were browsing.

There’s more cooking in here. Thejesh also received a legal notice (Cease & Desist) from an Israeli company named Flash Networks Limited for exposing proprietary code.

The firm contended that his action was a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

Thejesh’s files on GitHub too were taken down under the US Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

Experts contend that Airtel is using the Israeli firm’s code to make money by using the consumer’s browsing history.

Flash Networks describes itself on its website as the “global leader of mobile Internet optimization and monetization solutions, enables operators to boost network speed, optimize video and web traffic, and generate over-the-top revenues from the mobile Internet”.

In reaction, Airtel issued a statement saying that the code is part of a tool it is working on to help users keep track of their data consumption but has now stopped using it.

According to Rohin Dharmakumar, a Bengaluru-based startup founder, Flash Networks enables mobile operaters to intercept their subscriber’s browsing and insert their own content or advertisements.

Experts said if this is true, Airtel is guilty of violating the privacy of its users by spying on their online behaviour. When questioned about this, an Airtel spokesperson said: “This is a standard solution deployed by telcos globally to help their customers keep track of their data usage in terms of mega bytes used. It is therefore meant to improve customer experience and empower them to manage their usage.

“One of our network vendor partners has piloted this solution through a third party to help customers understand their data consumption in terms of volume of data used. As a responsible corporate, we have the highest regard for customer privacy and we follow a policy of zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data.”

(Agencies)

Six dead, 100 injured in ammonia gas tanker leak in Punjab

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punjab-ammonia-gas-leak

Ludhiana: At least six persons were killed and around 100 others were injured when an ammonia gas tanker leaked early today in the district, police said.

The leak occurred when the tanker got stuck under a flyover on the Doraha Bypass Road along a canal, about 25 kms from here, they said.

Six persons died due to inhaling of the gas, Doraha Police Station’s SHO Rajnish Kumar Sood said, adding, the bodies have been shifted to a hospital in Ludhiana.

He said that around 100 other persons complained of breathing problem due to inhaling of the gas.

The residents came out of their houses when the gas from the leaking tanker spread in and around Doraha, police said.

The affected people have been admitted to different hospitals in Doraha, Khanna and Ludhiana, the SHO said.

The tanker, bearing registration number of Gujarat was going from Ludhiana side, the police said.

Details were still awaited and identities of the victims yet to be ascertained, police said, adding, senior civil and police officers have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

(PTI)

Lottery scam-tainted IPS officer Alok Kumar's posted to Internal Security Division

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alok_kumar

Bengaluru: The state government on Friday placed Alok Kumar, the Additional Commissioner of Bengalru West in a IGP level post in the Internal Security Division (ISD).  Alok Kumar, an IGP rank officer, WAS suspended for his alleged link with the main accused in the single number lottery scam.

At the same time, the government transferred Pratap Reddy, IGP of CID (Administration) as Additional Commissioner of Bengaluru West in the existing vacancy due to suspension of Alok Kumur.

Alok Kumar was suspended on May 24 by the Chief Minister SIddaramaiah after his call details proved his link with the single number lottery scam accused Pari Raran. However, Alok Kumar had said that he has friendship with Pari Rajan and does not have any connection with the single number lottery scam. Later the investigation was handed over to CBI by the Siddaramaiah government following the demand from the opposition parties and public.

KV Sharath Chandra,Inspeclor Generat of Police, Administration (Chief Office) Bengaluru is transferred as Inspector General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, Bengaluru.

S Rangaswamy Naik, Superintendent of Police, Chamaraianugar District, Chamarajanagar has been transferred as Deputy Commandant General, Home Guards & Ex-officio Deputy Director of Civil Defence, Bengaluru. Kuldeep Kumar R.Jain, Commandant, First Battalion, Karnataka State Reserve Police, Bengaluru is transferred as Superintendent of Police, Chamarajanagar District.

(Agencies)

25 electrocuted after live wire falls on bus in Rajasthan

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Rajasthan

Jaipur: At least 25 persons were electrocuted Friday when a bus in which they were travelling came in contact with a live wire in Pachewar area of Tonk district of Rajasthan, officials said.

15 deaths are confirmed and several others also received burn injuries, district collector Rekha Gupta said.

Police and district administration officials have reached the spot, the DC said.

The death toll is likely to increase, the SP Deepak Kumar said.

(PTI)

US opens probe against TCS, Infosys for H1-B visa violations

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TCS-Infosys

New York: The US government has opened an investigation against two of the biggest Indian outsourcing companies for possible violations of H1-B visa rules, according to a media report.

The Department of Labour has opened the investigation against Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys for “possible violations of rules for visas for foreign technology workers under contracts they held with an electric utility Southern California Edison,” the New York Times said.

The power company had recently laid off more than 500 technology workers amid claims that many of those laid off were made to train their replacements who were immigrants on the temporary work visas brought in by the Indian firms Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois and Jeff Sessions of Alabama announced the investigation after they were notified by the department, the report said.

The move by the Labour Department comes days after the NYT had reported that hundreds of employees at entertainment giant Walt Disney were laid off and replaced with Indians holding H1-B visas.

About 250 Disney employees were told in late October last year that they would be laid off and many of their jobs were transferred to immigrants on H1-B visas brought in by an outsourcing firm based in India, the report had said.

It had also cited the layoffs at the Southern California Edison power utility, saying that the layoffs are “raising new questions about how businesses and outsourcing companies are using the temporary visas, known as H-1B, to place immigrants in technology jobs in the United States.”

(PTI)

Alok Kumar pressured me to become an ‘approver’ in alleged terror conspiracy: Syed Sadiq Sameer

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Syed Sadiq Sameer

Bengaluru: Syed Sadiq Sameer, a businessman from Bengaluru, who was acquitted in the Hubballi terror conspiracy case, has revealed that IPS officer Alok Kumar had pressured him to become an approver.

Sadiq, along with 15 others, was acquitted in the case recently, as police failed to create evidence.

“I was scared when the police arrested me in the case. Even before the police took me to the magistrate, Alok Kumar called me and asked me to become an approver. I refused, and I was also charge-sheeted for the conspiracy. This offer was given to me repeatedly at the CID office, as well. I was not told what I should do after becoming approver,” he said.

Syed Akmal Hassan Rizvi, a High Court advocate and member of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, said: “The CID police had framed charges and the court termed the investigation shoddy and casual.

“Many witnesses in the case were from the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, who had protested against one of the accused, Dr Asif, for making arrangements in his hostel room for prayers,” he revealed.

“The judge had also noted in the order that 14 cases were registered against the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike. The judge further doubted the seizure of the explosives stating that they could have been planted, as suggested by the defence,” he added.

It could be worth mentioning here that IPS officer Alok Kumar was recently suspended from the post of Additional Commissioner of Police for his connections with illegal lotteries and the cricket betting mafia.

(Agencies)

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