There was no pressure to release IAF pilot Abhinandan: Pakistan

Agencies
March 3, 2019

Lahore, Mar 3: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the decision to release IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was not taken under any external pressure or compulsion.

“We wanted to send a message to India. We don’t want to increase your grief, we don’t want to mistreat your citizens, we just want peace,” he told BBC Urdu in an interview.

The pilot was captured by Pakistani troops after his jet crashed on the other side of the border on Wednesday.

In a separate interview with BBC, the Foreign Minister said both countries were still in a very serious situation. “We still are... it isn’t over!... We are on high alert.” Both India and Pakistan have issues, “but how do we resolve these issues? By firing missiles at each other? No!” he said.

Mr. Qureshi said Pakistan never wanted a crisis and was ready to cooperate with India. “We said share evidence with us; we said we are willing to cooperate; we said let’s sit and talk. That’s the only sensible way forward. Two neighbours, two atomic powers, can they afford going to war? Suicidal!”

Asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent any message to Pakistan, Mr. Qureshi said he did not. “We have made the overtures but he seems under a lot of domestic pressure, he seems in a very tight position.”

Mr. Qureshi also cast doubt on the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s role in the February 14 Pulwama attack that killed at least 40 CRPF soldiers. “We are not sure of that... They [the Jaish] have not [claimed responsibility]... There is confusion on that. The confusion is that the leadership, when contacted, said no.”

Asked who contacted the Jaish leadership, the Minister said: “By people over here who are known to them. They deny that [attack]. That’s the confusion...they claimed no responsibility. What I am saying is there is confusion, there are conflicting reports on it.”

Regarding the anti-India militant groups, Mr. Qureshi said: “We have proscribed the JuD [Jamaat-ud-Dawah], and the so-called nerve centre of the Jaish-e-Mohammad at Bahawalpur has been taken over by the Punjab government.”

Asked about India’s February 26 air strikes, he said there was a madrasa in Jaba Top in Balakot, which “the world and Indians have been talking about as a training camp.” “Now the media were taken there and what did they see is in front of you. India claims that they have hit three terrorist camps. Where are they? They claimed that they killed 350 terrorists. Where are the bodies?”

Mr. Qureshi added that the government of Imran Khan would not allow “Pakistani soil to be used by any group, any organisation for terrorist activity against anyone, including India. That’s our policy. What I am saying is I don’t want to go in the past. At this stage, we want to de-escalate.”

As for Jaish chief Masood Azhar, Mr. Qureshi said: “We are willing to listen to any reasonable proposal. Now we have courts in this country, and the courts are independent. When you take action against an individual, no matter who he is, you will have to prove your point in the court of law. What we are saying to the Indians: if you have something, please share it with us. And if you do, we can articulate a case in court and we can justify action against that individual and that organisation to the people of Pakistan.”

On the dossier India has sent, he said: “It was received and we are studying the dossier... If India wants to initiate a dialogue based on this dossier, we are willing to engage with them.”

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police will file 12 chargesheets against 536 Tablighi Jamaat members from three countries, officials said on Thursday.

Till now, the police has already filed chargesheets against 374 foreigners from 32 countries.

The officials said the charges against the Tablighi Jamaat members pertain to violation of visa rules, government guidelines regarding the Epidemic Disease Act and acting negligently in a way that was likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life.

The Tablighi Jamaat, a religious organisation in Nizamuddin in South Delhi, had allegedly organised a congregation in March in violation of mass gatherings.

The Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin Markaz (centre) had become a coroavirus hotspot in the national capital.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Over 1 lakh scanned copies of Indians' national IDs, including Aadhaar, PAN card and passport, have been put on dark web for sale, cyber intelligence firm Cyble said on Wednesday.

The leaked data seems to have originated from a third party and not from the government system, according to a report by Cyble.

"We came across a non-reputed actor who is currently selling over 1 lakh Indian National IDs on the dark net. With such a low reputation, ideally, we would have skipped this; however, the samples shared by the actor intrigued our interest -- and also the volume. The actor is alleged to have access to over 1 lakh IDs from different places in India," Cyble said.

The personal data leaked by cyber criminals leads to various nefarious activities such as identity thefts, scams, and corporate espionage. Many criminals use the personal details in the IDs to win trust of the people over a phone call for fraudulent activities.

Cyber criminals leak personal data of 2.9 cr job-seeking Indians on dark web for free

The Cyble researchers acquired around 1,000 IDs from the seller and confirmed that the scanned IDs belong to Indians.

"Preliminary analysis suggests that the data originated from a third party, and no indication or artefact is indicating that it came from a government system. At this point, Cyble researchers are still investigating this further -- we are hoping to share an update soon," Cyble said.

The scanned ID documents indicate that the data may have been leaked from a company's data base in the segment where they have to comply with 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) norms.

"Cyble researchers have also learned about a surge in KYC and banking scams -- leaks such as this are often used by scammers to target individuals, especially elderlies," Cyble said.

The cyber intelligence firm has recommended people to refrain from sharing personal information especially financial information over phone, e-mail or SMS.

"Regularly monitor your financial transaction, if you notice any suspicious transaction, contact your bank immediately," the company said.

In May, Cyble showed two instances where personal data of 7.65 crore Indians have been put on sale in the dark web. In one instance, the seller claimed to have sourced data of 4.75 crore Indians from online directory Truecaller and in other, the seller claimed to have sourced from job websites.

Truecaller, however, had denied the claim of breach in its database.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Muzaffarpur, May 27: A toddler's vain attempt to wake up his dead mother from eternal sleep on a railway platform in Bihar's Muzaffarpur on Wednesday presented the most poignant picture of the massive migrant tragedy unfolding across several states.

A video tweeted by Sanjay Yadav, an aide to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, shows the child walking unsteadily up to his mother's body, tugging at the blanket placed over her, and when failing to wake her up, covering his own head with it.

As the mother still lay still, he wobbles away from her, announcements continuing in the background about the arrival and departure of trains that would bring in tens of thousands of people in a rush to get away from hunger and hardship they face in large cities that could sustain them no more.

"This small child doesn't know that the bedsheet with which he is playing is the shroud of his mother who has gone into eternal sleep. This mother died of hunger and thirst after being on a train for four days. Who is responsible for these deaths on trains? Shouldn't the opposition ask uncomfortable questions?" tweeted Yadav.

However, police had a different story to tell.

Ramakant Upadhyay, the Dy SP of the Government Railway Police in Muzaffarpur, said the incident occurred on May 25 when the migrant woman was on way to Muzaffarpur from Ahmedabad by a Shramik Special train.

He told reporters the woman, who was accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law, had died on the Madhubani bound train.

"My sister-in-law died suddenly on the train. We did not face any problem getting food or water," the officer said, quoting the deceased's brother-in-law who he did not name.

He said on getting information, poice brought down the body and sent it for postmortem.

Citing the brother-in-law of the deceased, Upadhyay said she was aged 35 years and was undergoing treatment for "some disease" for the last one year in Ahmedabad. "She was also mentally unstable," he said.

When persistently queried about the cause of death, he said,"Only doctors can tell".

A massive exodus of migrant workers is on in several parts of the country, unprecedented in magnitude since Partition.

The humanitarian crisis still unfolding on highways and railway platforms has shone light on disturbing tales of entire families walking hundreds of kilometres with little children on foot in a seemingly endless march to escape hunger.

People have been found travelling on trucks and in the hollow of concrete mixing plants, and in many cases, dying from hunger and exhaustion before reaching their destinations.

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