Indian-origin NASA scientist detained in US, forced to unlock phone

February 14, 2017

Houston, Feb 14: An Indian-origin NASA scientist has said he was detained and forced to unlock his PIN-protected work phone at the US border by custom officials.

SiddBikkannavar

Sidd Bikkannavar, 35, said in a post on social media that US Customs and Border Protection officers wanted his cell phone and password -- before they would let him through at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

"On my way home to the US last weekend, I was detained by Homeland Security and held with others who were stranded under the Muslim ban," Bikkannavar wrote in a Facebook post.

"I initially refused, since it's a (NASA)-issued phone and I must protect access," Bikkannavar wrote.

Bikkannavar, bornin Pasadena,designs technology for space telescopes likethe enormous James Webb telescopethat's set to be launched into orbit in 2018.

"Just to be clear -- I'm a US-born citizen and NASA engineer, travelling with a valid US passport. Once they took both my phone and the access PIN, they returned me to the holding area with cots and other sleeping detainees until they finished copying my data."

Bikkannavar spent a few weeks away pursuing his hobby of racing solar-powered cars.

As a member of a Chilean team, he visited Patagonia in early January under the Obama administration.

Hereturned after Trump took office and issued the executive order on travel into the United States.

Nothing about Bikkannavar should have caused concern for CBP — he's a natural–born US citizen, enrolled in a programme that allows individuals who've already passed background checks to quickly enter the country.

In addition, he has never visited the countries on the immigration ban, and he's 10-year employee of a major US federal agency.

"I don't know what to think about this. I was caught a little off guard by the whole thing," Bikkannavar told media here in a phone call.Bikkannavar detailed his experience on Facebook, explaining his absence to friends and coworkers.

The episode, aside from the profiling it ostensibly involved, also put him in a fix with his employers, because he was required to protect access to the phone.

"I'm back home, and JPL has been running forensics on the phone to determine what CBP/homeland security might have taken, or whether they installed anything on the device," Bikkannavar explained in the post, adding that he has also been working with JPL legal counsel and the lab has issued him a new phone and new phone number.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)filed numerous complaints in Januaryagainst CBP for demanding that Muslim-American citizens give up their social media information when they return home from overseas.

Earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly issued a statement in response, tellingtheHouse Homeland Security Committee,"We want to get on their social media, with passwords: What do you do, what do you say? If they don’t want to cooperate then you don’t come in".

Clarification: Coastaldigest.com had initially called Sidd Bikkannavar a Muslim based on a report provided by a prominent Indian news agency that is usually reliable. However, it could not independently verify the claim. Even though the detained NASA scientist does not look very ‘foreign’, his last name is from the Hubli-Dharwad region in North Karnataka. In his social media post, he never mentioned his religion. He just stated that he was detained by Homeland Security and held with others who were stranded under the Muslim ban.

Comments

Naren kotian
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

cmon man ... jews believe in same prophet who founded ur faith :) biggest joke .. adakke jews kandre kolli antha heli kodu alva ...jews women na kandre rape maadi antha helodu... brothers and sisters anthe ... kumda ...

Fairmen , curiosity , wow ... we went to a madrasa in search of knowledge ... but came to know half boileds are more and particualrly common sense ilve illa antha ... maatu yettidre jihad ....victim conspiracy and sumne kaage haarsode ... hogappa ammi biryani tinnu hogu ... kabbadii aado time aithu :)

Naren kotian
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

hahaha lo maraya gut alla kano madrasa product , adakke helodu 'moojikaasda'?antha .... i like it .. i like it ... frustration nodrappa ... jingchak jigi jigi chak ...,mama gut andre enu gotta ... hahaha :) papa PFI and CFI ngo galige funds bartha illa ... vila vila antha oddatha irodu nodokke maja maams

Abu Naren
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

O Banghi sakka da Naren you do not know any thing your chaddi sakka has taught you only hatredness. Poor guy after sakka's training directly appointed in Singapore air port toilet cleaning. Your whole chaddi team,banghi pariwar & jews can not do any thing to Islam.When you get frustrated do not drink toilet cleaner with mullas urine. Cool down do not act like Foolish you are thinking you know every thing you are a Joker. Banghi pariwar member even u do not have a gut to show your own identity.

Hindustan Hamara
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

Hehehe'Kave you met any Israelis in US? In Israel they do not have any option but to like you otherwise who will clean their toilets? Jews & Muslims are brothers because they believe in same prophets but where you are fitting in except cleaning toilets. Hindustan belongs to every Hindu, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs but not belongs to RSS criminals. Hindustan belongs to Indians not to Nagpur Colonialist.

Naren kotian
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

hahaha ... jews dont like hindus ? cool go and meet any jewish organisation ... then u will ... have u visited israel ? or have u interacted with isrelis? dont talk like madrasa product . sorry we see israelis as our own brothers than others .we feel both of them are in same page ... we dont give damn about palestanians ...if they do problem , israel has the right to brutally kill ... Hindustan hamara ? hahaha hindustan belongs to nationalist true lovers of India , not for jihadists ... nationalist indians can be anyone , may be christians , hindus or sikhs or even muslims ... hogappa ... camel toliyakke illandre nimma shake bandu toilet tolilikekke heltane ... haha

Viren Kotian
 - 
Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017

I think US security agencies mistook him for a Muslim just like Indian news agencies mistook him for a Muslim. When US authorities realised that he was a Hindu, they immediately released him! Good development.

Hindustan Hamara
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

There are thousands of people who are converted to Islam in US and have not changed their names. If Anwar is the reason for his detention then I can'? help Naren. It is just that US police force is most effective unlike Indian police where Babri Masjid demolition gay Advani and his mafia gang still roaming free without any trial and responsible for gujarat genocide gay becomes PM. In US Jews do not like Indians. Stop licking their feet in Israel just because they are killing Palestinians...Such hatred towards Muslims will destroy your heart beyond any repair. We want you to study and accept beautiful religion of Islam and enter paradise.

N S Mohammed
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

CD i requested many times you to improve quality. Today lots of space errors in your compose. Pls.......

Fairman
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

This makes a positive change as follows.

This will prompt the common citizens of their curiosity to know deeply about Islam, which ultimately make them inseparable from it as happened after 9/11 of 2001.

naren kotian
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

good .. CD at last accepted your mistake , he is native of north karnataka . bikkanavar ... may be police thought anwar ... so they detained him thats all .. got it ?, this type of security arrangement is quiet common in israel , even though 2 indian passports HOLDER enters , they will check if indian national is hindu , christian or buddhist or jain .. if not there is a mandotory verification BY 5 ARMY officers 5 levels .before landing itself they will ask plenty questions . even muslims with canada passports and US passports are not spared . its good for the safety . thats why israel is safe .good decision USA

Rikaz
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

As a matter of fact more then 50% of US people voted for Trump to initiate this law.....because of that reason Trump won election...and it was his election slogan, people should have defeated his slogan...but they did not....Muslims should avoid going US as long as is sitting up there....

Rikaz
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

Naren, his passport says his religion is Islam, may be he has deceived US authority or converted to Islam.....

Rizwan
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

on the day of judgement while getting entry to paradise, it will be opposite . All the non believers will regret , had i been gone through or followed the quran, seing at Muslims entering paradise with the warm welcome.

shaji
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

US is adopting policty which is take it to ruin. its well said \Vinasha kaala vipareeta budhi\". Trump will put USA in troubled water and US citizens will kick him out sooner or later. Let us hope for this at the earliest to save US and US citizens from distruction."

Rikaz
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

Mr. Unknown, you should read Quran with meaning so that you will come to know and understand that if Quran teaches Muslims violence....no where in the Quran it is mentioned anything about it......simply commenting for the sake of commenting that wont take you anywhere.....

Naren kotian
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017

FYI ,...cd have some common sense and give proper heading ... he is not muslim ... his full name sidharth bikkanavar ... and also he originally hails from karnataka .nonsense journalism

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News Network
June 15,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 15: After a three-month delay, seven-time MLA and former state minister DK Shivakumar, who has been appointed as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, will take charge on July 2 at a simple function at the new party office here.

Mr Shivakumar was appointed as KPCC president on March 11.

Party sources said on Monday that Shivakumar plans to take charge of the party through a “pratijna dina” (pledge day) ceremony that would be telecast live to 7,800 locations across the state and over 10 lakh party workers are expected to attend it virtually.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 4,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 4: The Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy has announced the names of the winners of its annual honorary awards (Gaurava Prashasti and Gaurava Puraskara) for the years 2019 and 2020.

Rahim Uchil, the president of the Academy announced the names at a press conference in the city today. Beary Academy registrar Poornima and member Shamsheer Budoli were also present in the press meet. 

Gaurava Prasasthi-2020 winners are: Basheer Ahmed Kinya (Beary literature), Veena Mangaluru (Beary cinema, drama and art) and Siddique Manjeshwara (Beary organisation and social service) 

Gaurava Puraskara-2020 winners are: Dr Mohammed Ismail (medicine), T A Mohammed Asif (education), Iliyas Mangaluru (social service), Abdul Rasheed aka Rash Beary (Beary organisation) and Safwan Shah Bahrain (young talent). 

Gaurava Prashasti-2019 winners are: Abdul Rehman Kutthethur (Beary literature), Ismail Tannirbhavi (Beary art) and M Ahmed Bava Moidin (Beary organisation and social service).

Gaurava Puraskara-2019 winners are: Abdul Razzak Ananthady (Beary education), T S Hussain (Beary literature), Abdul Majeed Suralpady (General), Asif Karnad (social service) and Ali Kunhi Paare (Beary organisation). 

The Academy’s "Gaurava Prashasti consists of Rs 50,000 cash prize, shawl, garland and citation, while "Gaurava Puraskara" consists of Rs 10,000 cash prize, shawl, garland and citation.

Mr Uchil said that the awards will be conferred in a formal function after discussing the dates with chief minister once the covid-19 situation comes under control. Even though the winners for the year 2018 were announced, they weren’t conferred on the achievers. Hence those awards also will be conferred in the same ceremony, he said.

About the winners:

Basheer Ahmed Kinya: He has been involved with the Beary music sector since the last 21 years in the form of singer, and poet. He has provided lyrics for over 150 Beary audio cassettes and also sang them. His first audio cassette, Maskattoru Kallas' had created a record by getting sold out within four to five days. He has also created several non-stop cassettes and Duf songs. 
 
Veena Mangaluru: She has acted in the first Beary cinema. She has acted in over a thousand plays in different languages. 'Mami Marmolu', Kurfat Katte/Amadakaro Chiri, and Shamimarabal are some of the plays she has acted in. 
 
Siddique Manjeshwar: A social worker and activist. Through social media, he led a blood donation campaign and thereby helped thousands of people.  There are over 10,000 members in his 54 WhatsApp groups who are ready for blood donation. His ‘Blood Donate Mangaluru’ drive has been able to collect over 26,000 units of blood and conducting over 250 blood donation camps so far. He was honoured with a special award of the chief minister of Kerala. 

Dr Muhammed Ismail: Dr Muhammed Ismail completed his medical education in 1989 and has been serving different hospitals since the last 30 years being a highly respected doctor. He also is an honorary medical officer of the Wenlock Hospital Mangaluru. He has served as an office-bearer of Indian Medical Association, Karnataka Medico-legal Society etc.
 
T A Mohammed Asif: He has been providing education to over 360 students from LKG to the eighth standard through Adarsh Group of educational institutions. He is also active in the social sector and has distributed school bags and books to poor students. During the lockdown, he distributed free food items worth about Rs 10 lac.
 
Ilyas Mangaluru: He had fought against the menace of dowry. He has got over 500 girls married through an organization, 'Dowry Free Nikah'. He has also created an app, Free Nikah, which helps boys and girls to find suitable matches. 
 
Rash Beary: Abdul Rasheed aka Rash Beary is known for using social media to help the people. By establishing 'Beary Nikah Helpline' he has helped several poor Beary women to get married. He also provides free counselling services to couples from all religions. With the help of donors, he keeps distributing clothes and food among needy.

Safwan Shah Bahrain: A well-known Beary singer, he has sung several songs in past one decade. He has been organizing various Beary programmes in Bahrain for past eight years. He had undertaken the adventure of jumping from the air from a height of 13,000 feet with the Indian flag in hand. 

Abdul Razack Ananantady: A PU college lecturer by profession, he has conducted over 500 pre-exam training camps and functioned as a resource person in leadership and personality development training. He has been conducting training and lectures for students and their parents on learning nutrition, and life values. His addresses on education and cultural aspects have been aired by Akashvani.

Abdul Rahiman Kuthethur: He was the co-editor or Beary Kannada - English dictionary and editor of the first-ever Beary grammar book released in 2019. He also is a member of the experts' committee on the Beary language textbook. He has translated Panchatantra stories, Sarvajna Vachanas etc into Beary language and published collection of poems.

Ismail Tannirbavi: He is known as a Beary theatre personality, who started acting at the age of 17. He has acted in over 300 plays including Beary, Tulu and Kannada. He has been in the theatre since the last 55 year and his plays have been presented in countries like Muscat and Kuwait. 
 
Ahmed Bawa Moidin: A social worker and member of the Beary Study chair. He also is the life member of Beary Sahitya Parishad and member of Human Ethical Committee of Mangalore University. He was the founder vice president of Mangalore Merchant Associate and member of divisional railway users consultative/committee. He has donated blood 53 times. 

 T S Hussain: Hussain is a veteran Beary writer who has defied blindness. He faced many difficulties and challenges in life and also met with an accident in 2008. Because of this accident, his eyesight had become very weak. He continued with the creation of works with determination in spite of failing eyesight with help from friends. He has authored two works and was appreciated for their content. Thereafter, he authored two more works. In 2018, he wrote another work.
 
Abdul Majeed Suralpady: A social worker and activist, he has served in various organizations. He served as the president of Suralpady government higher primary school for 21 years. He also served as the president of the educational committee of South Karnataka Sunni Centre's Al Ihsan English Medium School and got government recognition for the school. He set up PU college for girls and laid two-way road at Kaikamba besides bus shelter, toilet, drinking water system and building for police check post.
 
Apatbandhava Asif Karnad: He has been serving as an ambulance driver for the last ten years. He readily carries dead bodies and performs funeral. and done so for over a thousand bodies so far. Whenever he comes across mentally unsound people on the road, he gives them a wash and admits them to Ashrams. He has also been maintaining Maimoon Foundation Apatbhandhava Sycho Rehabilitation Centre.
 
Alikunhi Pare: He is the founder president of 'Melthene', a forum of Beary writers and artists. He has also served social, literary, organizational and religious sectors. He has been identified with several organizations including Mangaluru taluk Yuvajana Okkota and Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Muslim Central Committee.

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News Network
January 5,2020

Mysuru, Jan 5: The ongoing pilot project on documentation of all unprotected monuments in Mysuru taluk has yielded significant results with over 100 sculptures recovered from the rural hinterland.

Launched by the Karnataka Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, the project will help map and document the number of monuments in the Taluk. Based on their importance, they will be added to the protected list.

Sources in the Archaeology department said so far the team has completed mapping of monuments in two Hoblis--Varuna and Jayapura.

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