CBSE papers circulated 'out of friendship' on WhatsApp groups, say police

Agencies
March 31, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 31: In the wake of the CBSE mathematics paper leak, the police have interrogated more than 60 people including the admins of over 10 WhatsApp groups on which the leaked question papers were circulated.

The initial investigation revealed that most of the papers were shared "out of friendship", police said. On being questioned, the students and tutors revealed that they got the papers from someone else.

The police have also sought the details of the e-mail address from Google to identify the source from where the Central Board of Secondary Education chairperson was sent a mail on the Class 10 mathematics paper being leaked.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch had sought details of the examination centres, their superintendents and the contacts of banks where the papers were kept for safekeeping and these have been furnished by the board, the official said.

"The papers (economics and mathematics) were shared on over 10 WhatsApp groups, comprising 50-60 members. These groups were active in outer Delhi and border areas of Delhi and Haryana. Four numbers that the CBSE had mentioned in their complaint were used to circulate the Class 12 economics paper were traced and through them the police traced these WhatsApp groups and their admins," the official said.

The WhatsApp groups mostly comprise students and tutors and some of them had common members, the official said.

"If we are able to establish the link of any of these WhatsApp group members with those connected to officials related to the examination process, we might question the latter as we have got their details from the board," the official added.

The CBSE also informed the police that they had received five complaints informing them that the two papers were leaked, another official said, adding that the contents of these complaints have been shared with them and will be examined.

In the complaint pertaining to the mathematics paper, the board has said that a day before the exam, an e-mail was received on the CBSE chairperson's official ID informing about the leak, the officials said.

In the email, the sender had stated that the mathematics paper was leaked on WhatsApp and that it should be cancelled, they said.

The mail also contained 12 images of the handwritten mathematics paper allegedly leaked on WhatsApp, according to the complaint.

In its complaint to the police, the board had said that they received a complaint by fax on March 23 from an "unknown source" that a man running a coaching institute in Rajendra Nagar was involved in leaking the economics paper.

The complaint also named two schools in Rajendra Nagar for their involvement in the alleged leak.

The police said that so far, they have not found any clue to indicate that the schools were involved and it appears that it was an act of mischief. They have also asked the board to share the fax number from which the anonymous fax was received.

Yesterday, the police "interacted" with three officials of the Board -- the Controller of Examinations, Regional director CBSE, Delhi and secretary to understand the examination process and other details pertaining to papers being set.

On March 26, when the students sat for the economics paper, the CBSE Academic unit at Rouse Avenue received an unaddressed envelope in the evening containing four sheets of hand written answers of the economics paper.

The Delhi Police has registered two cases in connection with the leaks. The first case relating to the leak of the economics paper was lodged on March 27 and the other pertaining to the mathematics paper was lodged on March 28, following a complaint by the regional director of the CBSE.

The cases were registered on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising two deputy commissioners of police, four assistant commissioners and five inspectors has been set up to investigate the matter.

The team is being supervised by the joint commissioner of police (crime).

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News Network
February 13,2020

Guwahati, Feb 13: Hours after Assam's updated citizenship data disappeared from the website 'nrcassam.nic.in', an FIR was filed against a former NRC official for allegedly failing to submit the password to the sensitive document before quitting her job.

Talking to news agency on Thursday, NRC state coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma said the complaint against former NRC project officer was filed under Official Secrets Act in Paltan Bazar police station here, as she "did not provide the password to the document, despite written reminders".

"She failed to surrender the password even after tendering her resignation on November 11 last year. She was a contractual employee and no longer authorised to hold the password, after quitting her job. An FIR has been filed against the former NRC project officer on Wednesday for violating the Official Secrets Act," he said.

Sarma also stated that the NRC office had written to her on several occasions for submitting the password, but did not get any response.

"We knew (she had resigned) and, therefore, sent several letters to her for handing over the password. But as she did not respond all these months, we filed a complaint against her yesterday for violating the Official Secrets Act.

"We must know if she has tampered with the sensitive information, after resigning," he added. The NRC state coordinator, however, refuted allegations of "malafide intent" involved in the matter.

"...this (cloud service provided by IT major Wipro) was not renewed by the earlier coordinator. So, the data went offline from December 15 last year. I assumed charge only on December 24," Sarma, who had gone on leave for a weeks after being appointed as the NRC state coordinator, clarified.

He also said that the state coordination committee had discussed the issue in its meeting on January 30 and wrote to Wipro during the first week of February.

"Once Wipro makes the data live, it will be available to the public. We hope that people will be able to access it in the next 2-3 days," Sarma claimed.

Reacting to the development, Wipro had said: "The IT Services Contract was not renewed by the authorities upon its expiry in October, 2019. However, as a gesture of goodwill, the company continued to pay the hosting service fee until January-end, 2020."

In another FIR filed with state criminal investigation department on Wednesday, NGO Assam Public Works (APW) alleged that former NRC Assam coordinator Prateek Hajela tampered with the final NRC list - published on August 31, 2019.

APW member Rajib Deka, in his complaint, accused Hajela of disobeying orders and directions of the Supreme Court, forgery of public register and committed offences under cyber laws for altering or changing public records by misusing his powers and position.

The NGO also said that after publication of the final list, several social networks and sections of the media had reported anomalies, insisting that many 'doubtful' persons were able to insert their names in the final list.

The Centre on Wednesday asserted that NRC data in Assam was safe even though some technical issues have been detected, which would be resolved soon.

Senior journalist-cum-RTI activist Saket Gokhale had sent an application to the NIC, the IT wing of the government, seeking a copy of the contract with Wipro.

"The Assam NRC data suddenly vanishing from the website (& the lack of data security) is incredibly shady. I've filed an RTI with the NIC specifically asking about details of the contract with Wipro, name of the cloud service provider, & all contracts signed for hosting this," he tweeted, while attaching a copy of the RTI application.

Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly and Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has also written to the Registrar General of India, requesting him to look into the fiasco urgently.

"It is a mystery as to why the online data should vanish all of a sudden, especially as the process to file appeals was yet to begin, all because of the go-slow attitude adopted by the NRC Authority. There is, therefore, ample scope to suspect that disappearance of online data is a malafide act," he had insisted.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Nagpur, Feb 21: Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday condemned AIMIM leader Waris Pathan's reported remarks that 15 crore Muslims are more than a match for the country's 100 crore Hindus, and asked the latter not to mistake the majority community's tolerance for weakness.

Pathan has been widely condemned for reportedly stating that "15 crore hain lekin 100 crore pe bhari hain".

He purportedly made these comments while addressing an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in Kalaburagi in north Karnataka on February 16. The AIMIM leader has claimed he was quoted out of context.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis demanded an apology from Pathan and asked the Uddhav Thackeray government to take action.

"We condemn the statement made by Waris Pathan and demand an apology. In case he does not apologise, the state government must take action against him," he said.

Fadnavis said Pathan should understand that minorities were safe and enjoyed full freedom in India because 100 crore Hindus live in the country.

He said no one would dare utter such a statement in a Muslim-majority nation, adding that the "Hindu community is tolerant but its tolerance should not be mistaken for weakness".

"Pathan should apologise to the nation and the Hindu community," he said.

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News Network
March 10,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 10: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on monday thanked PM Narendra Modi  for extending birthday wishes to him in malayalam.

"Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for this elaborate birthday greeting in shudh sahitya Malayalam! Am touched by your thoughtfulness," Tharoor tweeted with a picture of the letter from Modi.

In another tweet, the Congress MP also posted its translation, that reads,

Tharoor, who is an MP from Thiruvananthapuram, turned 64 on march 9.

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SmR
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Mar 2020

Is he next Scindia waiting to board the BJP ship?

 

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