China moving ahead, talking about temples and mosques will waste our time: Ex-Navy chief

Agencies
August 12, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 12: China is moving ahead in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics and it would be a waste of time if India distracts itself by talking about temples and mosques, former Navy chief Arun Prakash said on Sunday.

However, Arun Prakash expressed hope that the abrogation provision of Article 370 and the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir will bring peace and help foster integration and economic development in the region.

"For our whole existence as an independent nation, we have seen and suffered from these fissures - linguistic, religious, caste, etc. These conflicts have continued throughout our independent existence," Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd), while delivering Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, said.

"What we need to do is to try and tamp them rather than to exploit them. China is talking about artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning and all that. And if we are going to talk about temples and mosques and so on, then obviously we are going to waste time," Arun Prakash added.

Curious to know whether anyone from the 'Raghuvansha' (descendants of Lord Ram) was still residing in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court on Friday had put this query to 'Ram Lalla Virajman', the deity and one of the parties in the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

Arun Prakash, who served as the chief of Naval staff from July 2004 to October 2006, said on Sunday, "It is in key interest of national security to ensure peace and tranquillity domestically before even looking outside."

"So to take away the half front, which the Army Chief [Bipin Rawat] mentions, we need to ensure domestic peace, harmony, etc. Therefore, the issues that are of a divisive nature need to be minimised rather than exploited," Arun Prakash added.

In June this year, Army Chief Bipin Rawat said that Indian armed forces are ready for a "two-and-a-half-front war". Bipin Rawat was referring to Pakistan and China as two fronts and internal security threats as the half front.

Arun Prakash said Sunday, "Our actual preparation should have been to ward off Chinese pressure. They don't have to fire a bullet. There are many other ways of pushing India. And if we prepare to counter China, then Pakistan would automatically be taken care of."

Talking about recent situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Arun Prakash said, "One hopes that the recent abrogation of Article 370 and the changes in the status of erstwhile J&K [Jammu and Kashmir] will bring peace and help foster integration and economic development."

Earlier this week, the government revoked provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, withdrawing special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and split the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

"If we are to debunk Jinnah's two-nation theory and convince the Muslim majority Union Territory (UT) of J&K that they made the right choice in 1947, then we need to reflect seriously on some larger issues," Arun Prakash said.

"One, whether the pursuit of majoritarianism of any kind is a good idea for a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country like India. Two, whether in generating insecurity amongst any section of our people will enhance India's security or undermine it," Arun Prakash added.

Comments

Mr Frank
 - 
Tuesday, 13 Aug 2019

When china products in every field available globally India is lagging far behind filled with hate crime and polarisation and rapings..development remains only a slogan.

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News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has alleged that the varsity administration has blocked the registration of 300 students on the basis of 'fake Proctor inquiries'.

The union had on Saturday asked students of the university to pay their academic tuition fee but not the hiked hostel fee.

"Today the Vice Chancellor first blocked the fee payment portal and then blocked the payment of tuition fees. It is clear that the VC was lying through the teeth when he said students want to register but are not being allowed to by protesters," JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.

She said the VC has also blocked the registration of 300 students based on fake proctor enquiries which are not even completed.

"The truth is that it is the administration which does not want students to register and is blocking their registration," she said.

JNUSU vice president Saket Moon said that in the meetings held in HRD ministry, it was decided that the administration would take a lenient view on the students' protest and not take action against them.

He said many students, who opened the portal for registration found they had been academically suspended and could not register.

He said the JNUSU had softened its stand by saying that they would register by paying the old fees but that has been kept on hold.

On Sunday, the administration extended the date for the winter semester registration till January 15.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Stranded for over 50 days due to the lockdown and suspension of passenger train services, many people in the national capital will finally be able to reach their destinations in different parts of the country after the railways resumed services on Tuesday.

Three special AC trains will leave the New Delhi railway station for Dibrugarh, Bengaluru and Bilaspur.

The train to Dibrugarh in Assam will leave at 4.45 p.m, while the one leaving for Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and Bengaluru in Karnataka will leave the New Delhi station at 5.30 p.m and 9.15 p.m respectively.

Entry to the station has been facilitated from the Paharganj side for all confirmed ticket holders. No entry for passengers holding such tickets will be permitted from the Ajmeri Gate side, the railways said.

Railway authorities have put barricades outside the station premises and only those with confirmed tickets are being allowed to enter.

All passengers are undergoing thermal screening before entering the station premises. For this purpose, they have also been asked to reach the station 90 minutes prior to the departure of the train.

A senior Railway Police Force officer said every passenger is being subjected to thermal screening. Hand sanitiser machines have also been placed at the entrance and the passengers are being advised to sanitise their hands before entering the station premises.

Syed Yasir, a private retail sector executive, said due to the resumption of services he will now be able to go to Nagpur to be with his family on Eid. 

Surendra, an engineer with a PSU, was on an assignment in Agra when the lockdown was announced. After the Railways decided to resume passenger train services, he came to Delhi in a private vehicle to board the train to Bengaluru.

"I was on an assignment in Agra where I was stuck. I have come from Agra in a private vehicle and now going to board the train to Bengaluru," Surendra, who identified himself with his first name, said.

Five more trains bound for Delhi will leave from Patna, Bengaluru, Howrah, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the railways said.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Bengaluru, May 21: The COVID-19-induced lockdown saw a spurt in crybercrimes in India with Kerala recording the highest number during the period, according to an analysis of IT security solutions provider K7 Computing.

The report analyses various cyberattacks within India during the pandemic and reveals that threat actors targeted the States with COVID-19-themed attacks aimed at exploiting user trust.

The sudden surge in the frequency of attacks witnessed from February 2020 to mid-April 2020 indicates that scamsters across the world were exploiting the widespread panic around coronavirus at both the individual and corporate level, the company said in a statement.

These attacks aimed to compromise computers and mobile devices to gain access to users confidential data, banking details and cryptocurrency accounts.

The key threats seen during this period ranged from phishing attacks to rogue apps disguised as COVID-19 information apps that targeted users sensitive data.

Phishing attacks were noticed more in Tier-II and Tier-III cities while the metros fared better.

Smaller cities saw over 250 attacks being blocked per 10,000 users.

Users from Ghaziabad and Lucknow seem to have faced almost six and four times the number of attacks, respectively, as Bengaluru users.

In Kerala, regions like Kottayam, Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi saw the highest hits with 462, 374, 236, and 147 attacks respectively, while the state as a whole saw around 2,000 attacks during the period, the highest thus far in the country.

This was followed by Punjab with 207 attacks and Tamil Nadu at 184 attacks, the statement said.

A majority of the recorded attacks were phishing attacks with sophisticated campaigns that could easily snare even the most educated users, it said.

These attacks were aimed at heightening users fears and creating a sense of urgency to take action.

The report noted phishing attacks where scamsters posed as representatives of the United States Department of the Treasury, the World Health Organisation, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Users were encouraged to visit links that would automatically download malware on the host computer such as the Agent Tesla keylogger or Lokibot information-stealing malware, infamous banking Trojans such as Trickbot or Zeus Sphinx, and even disastrous ransomware.

Other attacks included infected COVID-19 Android apps like CoronaSafetyMask that scam users with promises of masks for an upfront payment; the spyware app Project Spy; and seemingly genuine apps that are infected with dangerous malware like banking Trojans such as Ginp, Anubis and Cerberus, it was stated.

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