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Twitter detects ‘unusual activity’ from China and Saudi Arabia

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Twitter Inc shares fell almost 7 percent after the company said it was investigating unusual traffic that it said might be from state-sponsored hackers.

In what appeared to be an unrelated issue, a security firm also said that hackers used the platform to try to steal user data.

Twitter said in a blog that it discovered suspicious traffic to a customer-support forum while investigating a security bug that exposed user data, including users’ phone country codes and details on locked accounts. It said the bug was fixed on November 16.

Twitter said it observed a large amount of traffic to the customer support site coming from individual internet IP addresses in China and Saudi Arabia.

“During our investigation, we noticed some unusual activity involving the affected customer support form API. Specifically, we observed a large number of inquiries coming from individual IP addresses located in China and Saudi Arabia,” Twitter said in a press release.

“While we cannot confirm intent or attribution for certain, it is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors,” the blog said.

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Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter blamed the share price tumble on concerns that news of a breach could hurt growth and user engagement.

“Clearly, a breach like this impairs user trust in the platform,” he said.

Separately, security software maker Trend Micro Inc said in a blog earlier on Monday that attackers sent out two tweets in October in a bid to steal data from previously infected machines.

The hackers hid instructions in tweeted memes that secretly ordered infected devices to send information, including usernames, screen images and other content, Trend Micro said.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on the Trend Micro report.

Biggest bank fraud and RBI Governor’s resignation mark a dismal banking year (2018 In Retrospect)

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New Delhi,  The year leading up to the 2019 general elections was defined by a slowdown in investment, slackening growth, falling GST revenues, the biggest bank fraud and a credit crunch that provoked the most significant crisis in government-RBI relations.

It was topped up by the abrupt resignation of Urjit Patel as the RBI Governor, a rare phenomenon in the banking world. He was immediately replaced by former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das the man who was the vocal face during demonetisation and seen as a ‘yes’ man of the government.

India, meanwhile, continued to be the fastest growing big economy during 2018 with its gross domestic product (GDP) rising at above 7 per cent, after having slipped to 6.7 per cent in the previous financial year, mainly on account of the impact of demonetisation. 

Even as it is projected to overtake China by GDP in the coming year, India jumped 23 spots in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings to 77th place, continuing its impressive climb on this score for the third year running. 

The pace of the country’s GDP growth slowed substantially during the second quarter of the current fiscal to 7.1 per cent, from 8.2 per cent in the previous quarter, mainly on the back of a drop in manufacturing, agriculture and mining. By criteria of gross value added (GVA), which includes taxes and excludes subsidies, growth fell to 6.9 per cent from 8 per cent during the April-June period.

On the inflation front, lower food prices kept headline inflation down, which touched a 13-month low of 3.3 per cent in October, and fell further to 2.3 per cent last month. Core inflation, however, continued to remain elevated.

Following the release of the GDP numbers, US agency Fitch Ratings lowered India’s growth forecast for the fiscal to 7.2 per cent, from an earlier projection of 7.8 per cent rise, “on weaker-than-expected momentum in the data, higher financing costs and reduced credit availability.”

The year witnessed the biggest fraud in Indian banking history with the Rs 14,000 crore scam on state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) committed over a number of years and reported in February. The fraud was committed from 2011 till 2017 by illegally issuing letters of undertaking and rolling over foreign letters of credit to diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi from PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. 

Both are currently absconding and Interpol has issued red corner notices against them.

Twin storms hit the country in September — rising fuel prices that climbed new highs daily and a falling rupee that spiralled down to new lows against the US dollar before recovering somewhat towards the end of the month.

The year’s global protectionist measures unfolding through the US-China trade war, along with high crude oil prices, put the rupee on a downward spiral, dragging it down to a record low of 72.98 against the US dollar on September 18.

According to analysts, concerns over a rise in inflation rate, growing protectionism in global trade and an outflow of foreign funds from the country’s equity markets have had an adverse impact on the Indian currency. It fell nearly 15 per cent since the start of the year to become Asia’s worst-performing currency.

On the other hand, transport fuel prices in the country began going up almost daily since August 1, incessantly recording new highs across the country, even as the UK Brent crude oil climbed to $86 per barrel. A weak rupee and high excise duty added to the heady mix that made for high petrol and diesel prices in the country before beginning to fall from late October in tandem with global crude prices. 

“The widening of the current account deficit amidst tighter global financing conditions should put downward pressure on the currency, and we forecast the rupee to weaken to 75 against the dollar by end-2019,” Fitch said. 

The defining moment, however, came in December with the resignation of the RBI Governor nine months prematurely and the first such instance since Independence, which prompted Patel’s predecessor Raghuram Rajan to say that it should be a cause of concern for all Indians. 

The historic tensions in government-central bank relations were re-ignited in October when, in a public lecture, RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya talked about the independence of the Reserve Bank, arguing that any compromise could be “potentially catastrophic” for the economy. 

The government responded with the Finance Ministry seeking discussions with the central bank under the never-used-before Section 7 of the RBI Act which empowers the government to issue directions to the RBI Governor, who then summoned a meeting of the bank board. 

Central to the issue was the government’s demand that the RBI hand over its surplus reserves by making changes to the “economic capital framework”. Analysts noted that the government’s demand came in the face of a huge fiscal deficit and the need to boost the economy in an election year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Governor Patel before the board meeting and what emerged on November 19 was seen as settling the debate on the central bank’s autonomy and clearly establishing the government as a stakeholder in policy making.

The current liquidity crunch, particularly among non-banking finance companies, follows a series of defaults in late October by the privately-run IL&FS. 

In hindsight, the words of Sudipto Mundle on the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, after the November board meeting proved prophetic.

“The RBI-government fight has been pushed down, abated for now and postponed, but the NPAs issue continues to remain,” he said. 

Imran Khan hopes US-Taliban talks end Afghan suffering

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Islamabad,  Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said he hoped that the Islamabad-backed US-Taliban negotiations which was held a day earlier in the UAE, could bring an end to “almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people”.

“Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi,” Khan tweeted.

“Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people. Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process.”

Khan’s remarks come a day after US diplomats and Taliban representatives met in the United Arab Emirates for the first round of talks facilitated by Pakistan on finding a negotiated settlement for the Afghan war, Dawn news reported.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi was also attended by officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

There were no statements from the participating parties at the end of the daylong meeting, although Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had officially announced the start of the talks through a tweet.

It was the third meeting between the Taliban and US officials since the appointment of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad as Washington’s special envoy for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. 

Their meeting last month had continued for three days.

However, it was the first meeting sponsored by Islamabad and also the first outside Doha which hosts Taliban’s political office and was the venue of the earlier two rounds. 

Pakistan had arranged the meeting after receiving a request from US President Donald Trump for help in the peace process a fortnight ago. 

The Afghan government was not represented at Monday’s meeting because Taliban have stood firmly on not talking to them whom they call the “puppet regime” and insisted on speaking directly to the US.

Replace Modi with Gadkari: Maharashtra leader tells RSS

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Mumbai, In a huge embarrassment, a prominent Maharashtra farmer leader has demanded that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) must replace Prime Minster Narendra Modi with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wishes to win the 2019 general elections.

The demand has come from a state-government panel, Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM) Chairman Kishore Tiwari, on a day when Modi was in Maharashtra to attend a series of events, including laying foundation stones for Metro Rails in Thane and Pune.

In his letter to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Suresh Joshi, Tiwari said the BJP’s defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was the direct outcome of “arrogant leaders” who implemented devastating decisions like demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST), fuel prices hike and other anti-people measures.

“Leaders who pursue an extremist and dictatorial attitude in the party and government are dangerous for the society and the country… This has been witnessed before and if history is not to be repeated, hand over the reins to Gadkari for the 2019 polls,” Tiwari said.

On December 11, the VNSSM chief, who is accorded a Ministerial status, had categorically asked the BJP to “get rid of both Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah” for their anti-farmers and anti-people policies, which led to the party’s stunning defeats in the just concluded elections.

Accusing Modi and Shah of upturning the good works done by the former BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Tiwari said they (Modi-Shah) seem to be interested “only in grandiose Bullet Trains and Metro Rail projects”.

In his letters to the RSS top brass, Tiwari said that considering the “dictatorial approach” of Modi and Shah, which has unleashed fear in the country, it was imperative to have an acceptable and gentle leader like Gadkari, who can take along all viewpoints and friendly parties, evolve consensus and remove fear among people.

He said the 61-year-old Gadkari, a staunch BJP-RSS activist since decades, was “adequately qualified” for the top post since he has also headed the BJP as National President, besides ministerial capacities in Maharashtra and now at the Centre.

We don’t deny shelter to the needy: Mamata on Bengal

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Kolkata,  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her government is equally considerate towards all minorities and the state never denies shelter to anyone.

On the issue of migration, she said: “Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants.

“In Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our state, to the best of our abilities.”

She added that her government does not differentiate between people in their hour of need. 

“Today is Minority Rights Day. We are all equal and united. Unity in diversity is our strength,” Banerjee tweeted.

Highlighting her Trinamool Congress’ contribution towards the minorities, she said: “You will be happy to know that in Bangla, we have distributed scholarships to over 1.7 crore minority students, the highest in the country.”

Chinese university cancels Aamir Khan event for not seeking prior permission

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Beijing,  A Chinese university had reportedly cancelled Bollywood’s actor Aamir Khan’s fan meet, citing the organiser’s failure to seek permission to use the campus.

Khan is currently in China to promote his latest movie “Thugs of Hindustan”. 

The event, which was to take plac eon Monday, in Guangdong University of Finance and Economics (GUFE) in Guangzhou was for the promotion of the movie which is slated to release in China next week.

According to the Chinese media, the school did not know about the promotional event until Monday.

“The message was spread only among a small group of students through social media. The school only knew about it when students talked about the event hours before it was about to take place,” the Global Times quoted an employee of the varsity as saying.

However, the Weibo account that promotes Khan’s films announced the school had cancelled the event “unilaterally” as the “the students were overly enthusiastic”.

The post angered many students, who said the university did not know about the event at all before Monday.

Many students said they waited outside the event site for over an hour.

“It is obviously the organiser’s fault for not applying to the school to use an on-campus building,” net user Swim Xinzhu, a student from GUFE, said.

“We have held similar events before and there would be no issue if the organiser had reported in advance,” an employee of the varsity said.

The organiser’s deputy manager, a Beijing-based film-promoting company, reposted the Weibo post by Khan’s film account, saying they were contacting the film crew and the school to figure out what caused the poor communication.

The fan meet was soon relocated to a Four Seasons hotel not far from the campus and ended at around 11 p.m. on Monday night.


Legendary classical singer Arun Bhaduri dead

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Kolkata, Legendary classical singer Pandit Arun Bhaduri, known for his deep and sonorous voice, passed away at a city hospital on Monday following age-related ailments and respiratory distress, family sources said.

Bhaduri, 75, is survived by wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

Born in West Bengal’s Murshidabad on October 7, 1943, Bhaduri received his initial lessons in Indian music from Mohammed Abu Daud, before fine-tuning his knowledge on the nuances and embellishments of the Hindustani Classical Music from Mohammed Sagiruddin Khan.

Later, he was also taught by the late Ustad Ishtiaq Hussain Khan of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh.

Greatly influenced by Ustad Ameer Khan, Bhaduri imbibed his aesthetic qualities, and successfully created a style of his own by fusing the various styles he learnt from the stalwarts.

He joined the ITC Sangeet Research Academy as a musician scholar and rose to become one of its most venerated Gurus.

A top grade radio and television artiste, Bhaduri received invitations from music festivals in the UK, the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Bhaduri is also known for his excellent rendering of Bengali songs and bhajans.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed grief at Bhaduri’s demise.

Recalling that the state government had conferred on him the state’s highest civilian award, Banga Bibhusan, in 2014 for his outstanding contribution to music, Banerjee said his passing away would “create a big void in the world of music and culture”.

Australia defeat India in second Test

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Perth,  Australia defeated India by 146 runs in the second Test to level the four-match series at 1-1 here on Tuesday.

India were dismissed for 140 runs in their second innings on the fifth and final day.

Starting the final day at the overnight score of 112/5, the visitors seemed over-awed by the daunting challenge of getting 170-odd runs in difficult conditions against the formidable Australian bowling.

The Indians needed at least one big partnership but none of their batsmen could stick around for too long and were bundled out pretty quickly.

Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc was the most successful among the Australian bowlers with three wickets each.

Although the pitch did not have too much turn, Lyon did well to outfox the Indian batsmen with his variations and richly deserved his match haul of eight wickets.

The visitors lost their first wicket of the day soon after the start when Hanuma Vihari was dismissed by Starc.

Pant was dismissed by Lyon a short while later when he went for a drive and the inside edge went to Peter Handscomb on the onside.

The Indian tail did not wag too much and the Australians cleaned up the remaining wickets to clinch a well deserved victory.

Brief Scores 

India: 283 and 140 (Ajinkya Rahane 30, Rishabh Pant 30; Nathan Lyon 3/39, Mitchell Starc 3/46) vs Australia: 326 and 243

4 transgenders complete Sabarimala darshan

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Sabarimala, Four transgenders draped in sarees, who were earlier denied permission to visit the Sabarimala temple on Sunday, completed their darshan of the Lord Ayyappa shrine on Tuesday after securing permission a day ago.

Arriving at Erumely early in the day, the four devotees from Ernakulam draped in their choice of attire — saree — were given security cover as they started their climb from Pamba at 8 a.m.

By 9.45 a.m. amidst tight security they were on the hallowed 18-steps and completed paying their obeisance to the deity. There were no protest from any quarter.

The four devotees were on Sunday prevented by the police at Erumely from completing their climb to the hilltop temple after they wished to perform their darshan in sarees.

They had then complained to Kottayam Superintendent of Police. Later on Monday they even approached Kerala High Court-appointed Director General of Police A. Hemachandran who is part of a three member committee overseeing the pilgrimage.

Later in the day, one of the transgenders, Ananya told the media they have secured permission.

The Kerala High Court on November 27 had set up the three-member observer panel to oversee the Sabarimala pilgrimage season, after numerous complaints surfaced against the manner in which the police were acting in the temple town.

Besides Hemachandran, the panel also consisted of P.R. Raman and S. Sirijagan, both retired high court judges.

The Committee got in touch with the Sabarimala tantri and the Pandalam Royal family, who gave their nod for it.

This particular group got the nod as in the past too, transgenders have prayed at the temple.

The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups since a September 28 Supreme Court verdict allowed women of all ages to enter the temple, including those hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.

Himachal CM seeks release of Indians stranded in Saudi Arabia

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Shimla, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday spoke with Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over phone regarding bringing back 14 Indians stranded in Saudi Arabia due to visa problems.

According to reports, 12 persons belonged to Himachal Pradesh and two were from Punjab. They are currently lodged in a police station in Riyadh.

Thakur urged the Union Minister to personally take up the matter with the authorities for their release as they had gone to Saudi Arabia for earning their livelihood, an official statement said.

The Chief Minister said he has also written a letter to Swaraj, requesting her to ensure their safe passage to India at the earliest.

Thakur assured the families of the stranded persons that the state government would make all-out efforts for bringing them back home at the earliest.

He said the Union Minister has assured him that the Central government would extend all possible help for their early evacuation.

Two travel agents were booked by Himachal Pradesh Police for allegedly defrauding 14 youths from Mandi district.

The agents had allegedly charged Rs 90,000 from each youth, promising a job on a tourist visa.


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