An Indian defence agency has been purchasing equipment from an Israeli spyware firm that is being billed as a potential Pegasus alternative, according to trade data reviewed by The Hindu. The firm in question is Cognyte Software Ltd, which faces a class action lawsuit in the U.S. from investors.
“Cognyte regularly targeted journalists, dissidents, critics of authoritarian regimes, families of opposition, and human rights activists around the world, without their knowledge, and collected intelligence on these people by manipulating them to reveal information and/or by compromising their devices and accounts,” the U.S. law firm Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP said on Monday, pointing to a ‘threat report’ by Facebook parent Meta Platforms on the “Surveillance for Hire” industry.
Defence sources said on condition of anonymity that there is no equipment held with the Indian Army which can monitor end point communication like smartphones.
For over three years, Cognyte and its then-parent firm Verint Systems Inc., have been supplying computer gear to the Signal Intelligence Directorate (SID), which comes under the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). No other imports of any kind have been logged in customs data by the SID in the last few years. One product from the firm was brought in as recently as January this year. On the trade data, sources said the equipment is cards for communication equipment in use and not related to encrypted equipment.
Cognyte did not respond to queries on the imports sent by The Hindu. A recent article by the Financial Times reported that the Indian government was seeking bids from spyware that rivals the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, and Cognyte was one of the firms that the government was reportedly considering.
The Pegasus spyware was reportedly used on Indian activists, journalists, and politicians, among others, according to reporting from the Forbidden Stories consortium of journalists.
Supreme Court directs renewal of Malayalam news channel Media One in four weeks
The Supreme Court on April 5 directed the renewal of broadcast permission to Media One channel in four weeks, chastising the Centre for imposing a telecast ban by claiming “national security” threats out of “thin air”.
A judgment authored by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud also issued detailed guidelines against the misuse of “sealed cover” by the government. The CJI held the concept is against both natural justice and open justice and concluded that the Centre’s push to produce intelligence reports in a sealed cover in the High Court and garner an adverse decision against Media One was against natural justice.
The top court also held that the government has to accept criticism, and cannot expect all sections of the media to take a “homogenised view”. It added, “An independent Press is vital for democracy. The right to speak truth to power is the duty of every section of the Press. The critical views aired by Media One cannot be termed anti-national. The telecast ban produced a chilling effect on free speech.”
The court said the government’s allegations of links between Media One and Jamaat e Islami Hind were fallacious. “Blanket immunity from transparency and an open court system in national security cannot be granted,” it said.
Row over removal of portions on Gandhiji in Class XII textbook: ‘Oversight’, says NCERT chief; ‘whitewashing with a vengeance’, says Congress
“Gandhiji’s death had magical effect on communal situation in the country”, “Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists” and “Organisations like RSS were banned for some time” are among the texts missing from the Class 12 political science textbook for the new academic session.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), however, claims that no curriculum trimming has taken place this year and the syllabus was rationalised in June, last year.
As part of its “syllabus rationalisation” exercise last year, the NCERT, citing “overlapping” and “irrelevant” as reasons, dropped certain portions from the course including lessons on Gujarat riots, Mughal courts, Emergency, Cold War, Naxalite movement, among others from its textbooks.
The rationalisation note had no mention of excerpts about Mahatma Gandhi.
A note by NCERT on its website reads, “in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was felt imperative to reduce content load on students. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also emphasises reducing the content load and providing opportunities for experiential learning with creative mindset. In this background, the NCERT had undertaken the exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes and all subjects”.
“The present edition is a reformatted version after carrying out the changes. The present textbooks are rationalised textbooks. These were rationalised for the session 2022-23 and will continue in 2023-24,” it adds.
Subjects easily accessible to students without much interventions from teachers and can be learned by children through self-learning or peer learning and content which is “irrelevant” in the present context were also dropped from the curriculum.
An official from the Education Ministry, who did not wish to be identified, said the new curriculum framework as per the NEP is still being worked out and the new textbooks as per the updated curriculum will only be introduced from the 2024 academic session.
The Congress hit out at the government over the issue, calling it “whitewashing with a vengeance”. Tagging a media report on it, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, “Whitewashing with a vengeance.” Tagging another report which claimed that chapters related to the Mughals and Dalit writers have also been axed from the textbooks, he said, “This reveals the ruling regime’s TRUE mindset. After all, the RSS had not only attacked Gandhi but had been bitterly opposed to Dr Ambedkar as well.”
Amid controversy over certain content related to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination being dropped from its textbooks without any notification, NCERT chief Dinesh Saklani said it could have been an “oversight” that some deletions were not announced in its rationalisation exercise last year.
His comments come after the new NCERT textbooks hit the market and it was found that more contents than the ones notified in the curriculum rationalisation booklet last year are missing.
“Subject expert panel had recommended dropping certain texts on Gandhi. It was accepted last year only. It was not mentioned in the list of rationalised content may be due to oversight. It should not be blown out of proportion,” Saklani told PTI.
“Nothing can be omitted overnight, there are proper procedures and professional ethics have to be followed. There is nothing intentional behind it,” he added.
Saklani claimed that no curriculum trimming has taken place this year and the syllabus was rationalised in June 2022.
SC refuses to entertain plea of 14 Opposition parties alleging misuse of Central probe agencies
The Supreme Court on April 5 refused to entertain a plea by 14 parties, led by the Congress, alleging arbitrary use of Central probe agencies against opposition leaders and seeking guidelines for the future.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and Justice J. B. Pardiwala said that “laying down general guidelines without having relation to facts of a case will be dangerous”.
Sensing the disinclination on the part of the top court in entertaining the plea, senior advocate A. M. Sighvi, appearing for the political parties, sought permission to withdraw the petition. “Learned counsel seeks permission to withdraw the plea at this stage. The petition is accordingly dismissed as withdrawn,” the Bench ordered.
“You please come back to us when you have an individual criminal case or group of cases,” the Bench said. The plea alleged an alarming rise in the use of coercive criminal processes against Opposition political leaders and other citizens exercising their fundamental right to dissent.
Besides the Congress, the parties that are part of the joint move are the DMK, RJD, BRS, Trinamool Congress, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, JD(U), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party and the J-K National Conference.
Renaming of Aurangabad: Supreme Court junks plea, says issue in realm of govt
The Supreme Court on April 5 refused to entertain a petition challenging the decision to rename Aurangabad city in Maharashtra as ‘Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar’, saying the issue lay in the democratic realm of the government.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice J.B. Pardiwala also pointed out the Bombay High Court is seized of the matter. “We are not inclined to entertain this SLP since the matter is pending before the High Court. Whether we like it or not, this lies in the democratic realm of the government. Who are we to choose the name of cities, roads etc? This is the power of the elected executive,” the Bench said.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the petitioner, submitted the notifications issued by authority are being implemented now and the names of talukas (smaller administrative units) are also being changed.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by Mohammad Hisham Osmani and others challenging the approval granted by the State and the Central Governments to a proposal to change the name of the Maharashtra city.
The Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner, in a letter dated March 4, 2020, proposed that the city’s name be changed to ‘Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar’.
Monopolies in various sectors pushing prices higher: Jairam Ramesh
The Congress on April 5 said growing concentration of economic power is having a negative effect on people’s lives as monopolies in various sectors are pushing prices higher.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed that profit margins across all sectors have doubled from 18% in 2015 to 36% in 2021 due to growing market concentrations created by the Modi dispensation.
He said a research paper by top economist, Dr. Viral Acharya has substantiated this concern about higher profit margins due to monopolies in several sectors.
Evidence by the ex-RBI Deputy Governor Acharya shows that Modi Government’s alleged “monopolistic” friends are a big cause of price rise in India, the Congress leader said.
“As the Adani ‘megascam’ has shown, PM Modi’s ‘suit-boot ki sarkaar’ has systematically helped his cronies build large, concentrated monopolies across various sectors since he took office. Now we have fresh and credible evidence that these monopolies are driving price rise in the country by misusing their market power to systematically charge 10-30% higher prices than their competitors,” he alleged in a statement.
Ramesh said this evidence comes to us from the internationally renowned financial economist Acharya, who served as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 2017 to 2019.
“This fresh evidence supports the Congress party’s stand that the Modi Government, by handing out favours to its crony friends, is hurting consumers, small businesses and even those large businesses trying to compete with these monopolies. In return for these favours, PM Modi and the BJP are rewarded with funding from electoral bonds,” he alleged.
“Right through Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi kept drawing attention to growing concentration of economic power in India and its effects on our daily lives. Now, there’s a solid research paper by top economist, Dr. Viral Acharya, substantiating this concern,” Ramesh also tweeted.
“PM Modi’s ‘enabling of monopolies’ is part of his ‘disastrous’ economic policies which have inflicted a price on Indians, such as a badly designed GST, sky-high prices for petrol and gas, indiscriminate privatisation of agriculture and PSUs,” he said.
The Congress MP said rising prices are being driven by five major groups, including the Adani Group, that are building “monopolies” in 40 sectors, including cement, chemicals, petrol, construction, telecom and retail trade. These groups, called the Big 5, now own 18% of all assets.
“According to Dr. Acharya’s analysis, this contributes to price rise in three steps: Since 2015, the Big 5 have entered many new sectors by acquiring smaller companies, and have also expanded this market share within these sectors; the Modi Government has favoured Big 5 monopolists by preferentially allocating them projects, allowing predatory pricing and shielding them from international competition by raising import tariffs. In cases such as Adani we have also seen public sector institutions like SBI and LIC being ‘forced’ to provide loans and investment to them,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi disqualification: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accuses Centre of double standards
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on April 5 accused the Centre of double standards, saying while it disqualified Rahul Gandhi with lightning speed, a Gujarat MP who was convicted in a criminal case did not face the same action.
Kharge was referring to the BJP’s Amreli MP Naranbhai Bhikhabhai Kachhadia, who was awarded a three-year jail term by a court. Kachhadia’s conviction was later quashed by the Supreme Court.
Gandhi was convicted by a lower court in Gujarat’s Surat and sentenced to prison for two years on March 23 for a speech in which he linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last name with two fugitive businessmen, remarking how the “thieves” shared the same last name. A day later, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.
Kharge said the Gujarat MP was allowed to attend the Parliament but a person who speaks the truth has been kept out of Parliament. “The height of the Modi government’s hypocrisy and double standards — a BJP MP from Gujarat is awarded a three-year imprisonment by a local court, sessions court and high court but there was no disqualification till 16 days. “But Rahul Gandhi was disqualified with lightning speed,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.
Wedding gift explodes in Chhattisgarh: Ex-lover of newly married woman held for planting bomb
Chhattisgarh Police have solved the case of a home theatre music system explosion in Kabirdham district and arrested the former lover of a newly married woman for allegedly planting a bomb in the electronic device with an intention to kill the couple, an official said on Wednesday.
The woman’s husband Hemendra Merawi (30) and his brother Rajkumar (32) were killed following the explosion in the music system, gifted by accused Sarju Markam (33), a married man from Chhapla village in Balaghat district of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, they said.
Markam was arrested from Balaghat on Tuesday after his involvement in the crime surfaced during the investigation, Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh told PTI.
“The accused told the police that he had planted the explosive in the home theatre and gifted it to the newly married couple in a bid to kill them,” he said. Merawi, a resident of Chamari village under Rengakhar police station limits, got married to a 29-year-old woman from nearby Anjana village on March 31 and the wedding reception was held in his house on April 1, he said.
On Monday, when Merawi was trying to switch on the home theatre received as the wedding gift, it exploded. Merawi died on the spot and five others including his elder brother suffered injuries, the official said.
His brother later succumbed during treatment at the district hospital, he added.
The forensic team spotted traces of gunpowder during investigation of the spot following which family members of the bride and groom were questioned, he said.
The questioning and call details revealed that Merawi’s wife was in constant touch with Markam. The duo had an affair and Markam was unhappy since the woman stopped talking to him after her marriage got fixed with Merawi, the official said.
Merawi’s call details also revealed that he spoke to Markam on March 30, the day when the former’s wedding rituals began, he said.
Based on the investigation, police reached a shop in Mandai area of Balaghat from where the music system, which had Sony brand name printed on it, was purchased and questioned the shop owner who confirmed that Markam had bought it, he said.
The police subsequently zeroed-in on Markam, who worked as an auto mechanic in Birsa (Balaghat), and arrested him, the official said.
Markam told the police that he “committed the crime and revealed that he used ammonium nitrate, petrol and gunpowder retrieved from firecrackers, weighing about 2 kg, to make the bomb and fitted it inside the home theatre.” He used the device power supply as a mechanism to trigger the blast, the police official said.
Markam came on a motorcycle to Chamari on April 1, the reception day, and placed the wrapped music system along with other gifts and went from there, he said. Singh said Markam had worked in a stone crusher plant in 2015-16 in Indore and learnt from there how to make bombs using ammonium nitrate. The accused had collected ammonium nitrate from the same crusher plant and kept it with him, the official said.
After the woman refused to break up her marriage and stopped talking to Markam, he hatched a conspiracy to kill the couple, he added. The accused has been booked under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Explosives Substances Act, he added.
In Brief:
A total of 11,025 vehicles (7,750 private and 3,275 government vehicles) have been scrapped till March 31 this year by the registered vehicle scrapping facilities, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari further said 24 states/UTs have reported 2,56,935 government-owned vehicles older than 15 years. The central government has provided incentives to state governments for implementation of the Vehicle Scrapping Policy, he added.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
