The Asian Independent 01 - 15 Nov. 2019

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20 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 NEWS www.theasianindependent.co.uk MASS surveillance tech just needs a missed call to hack you New Delhi : As Indians break their heads over WhatsApp spygate where an Israeli bug infected select users smartphones to access their personal details, the mass surveillance technology has truly come of age and now the governments just need to make a missed call to install an "exploit link" into the device of a person they want to bug and listen in. From the days when surveillance methods involved bugging the phone or cable wires to tap phones (remember Radia tapes!) to track a person’s vehicle by installing a tracking device beneath the car, cyber criminals and hackers have devised modern and untraceable tools to hack into your systems. The most popular mass surveillance programme is ’PRISM’ -- under which the US National Security Agency (NSA) collects user’s personal communications from various US internet companies. ’PRISM’ allegedly collects stored Internet communications based on demands made to internet companies. The NSA can use PRISM requests to target communications that were encrypted when they traveled across the internet backbone, to focus on stored data that telecommunication filtering systems discarded earlier, and to get access to data. Its existence was leaked by NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who warned that the extent of mass data collection was far greater than the public knew. US President Barack Obama, during a visit to Germany, stated that the NSA’s Cupertino (California) : Riding once again on its Services and Wearable business even as iPhone sales dropped 9 per cent, Apple has posted a strong revenue of $64 billion -- an increase of 2 per cent from the year-ago quarter -- for its fiscal 2019 fourth quarter that ended on September 28. Services revenue hit an alltime high of $12.5 billion while global sales accounted for 60 per cent of the quarter’s revenue. For its full fiscal year, Apple generated over $46 billion in total services revenue. "We concluded a groundbreaking fiscal 2019 with our highest Q4 revenue ever, fueled by accelerating growth from Services, Wearables and iPad," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. Apple’s profit dipped 3 per cent to $13.7 billion, but the $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) met analyst projections. "With customers and reviewers raving about the new generation of iPhones, new, noise-cancelling AirPods Pro, the hotly-anticipated arrival of Apple TV+, and our best lineup of products and services, we’re very optimistic about what the holiday quarter has in store," Cook elaborated. "All told, outside of iPhone, our revenue grew by $17 billion to almost $118 billion," for the full fiscal year," he added. Apple forecasts revenue between $85.5 billion and $89.5 billion for its fiscal 2019 first quarter and operating expenses between $9.6 billion and $9.8 billion. "Our strong business performance drove record Q4 EPS of $3.03 and record Q4 operating cash flow of $19.9 billion," said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. "We also returned over $21 billion to shareholders, including almost $18 billion in share repurchases and $3.5 billion in dividends and equivalents, as we continue on our path to reaching a net cash neutral position over time," he added. According to Cook, the company set new Q4 revenue records in the Americas and data gathering practices constitute "a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people". According to Amnesty.org, NSA and UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) are monitoring you with code names. ’Muscular’ is one such project that "intercepts user data as it passes between Google servers". Yahoo! was also said to be affected. Between December 2012 and Despite iPhone decline, Apple logs record quarter growth Rest of Asia Pacific and saw further improvement in our revenue trends in Greater China. "Outside of iPhone, our September quarter revenue was up 17 per cent. We reached a new all-time high for Services with growth accelerating to 18 per cent. We generated well over 50 per cent revenue growth from Wearables," said Cook. iPhone revenue in the September quarter was $33 billion. "This 9 per cent decline over last year is a significant improvement over the 15 per cent decline we saw across the first three quarters," Cook noted. In the iPad segment, Apple generated 17 per cent growth driven by iPad Pro. Apple saw double-digit services revenue growth and all-time records in all five of its geographic segments. "We established new alltime highs for multiple services categories including the App Store, AppleCare, Music, cloud services and our App Store search ad business. We are well on our way to accomplishing our goal of doubling our fiscal year 2016 Services revenue during 2020," Cook told the analysts. For Apple Pay, revenue and transactions more than doubled year-over-year with over 3 billion transactions in the September quarter exceeding PayPal’s number of transactions and growing four times as fast. Apple Pay is now live in 49 markets around the world with over 6,000 issuers on the platform. Apple Card was launched in August in the US. "Users kind of apply for Apple Card through the wallet app on iPhone in minutes and start using it right away in stores, in apps and on websites. They’ve told us they love Apple Card’s simplicity, privacy, security and transparency, which has helped them make healthier financial choices," Cook mentioned. Later this year, the company is adding another feature to simply manage payments right in the Apple Wallet app on iPhone. January 2013, ’Muscular’ collected 181 million records but "Google has now strengthened security between their servers since then. Another tool called ’Optic Nerve’ allowed secret access to Yahoo! webcam chats. In a six-month period, it spied on 1.8 million Yahoo! users and took one still image every five minutes of video per user. "GCHQ targeted Belgacom, Belgium’s largest telecommunications provider with spyware called Regin, a malicious piece of software designed to break into Belgaom’s networks. The purpose of the GCHQ hack was to spy on phones and internet users using the Belgacom network". Since then, the technology has evolved to such an extent that just a missed call is enough to snoop on anyone, anywhere. Citizen Lab, a laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy of the University of Toronto, has identified over 100 cases of abusive targeting of human rights’ defenders and journalists in at least 20 countries across the globe via the new piece of Israeli spyware called Pegasus. Once Pegasus is installed, it begins contacting the operator’s command and control (C&C) servers to receive and execute operators’ commands, and send back the target’s private data, including passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, and live voice calls from popular mobile messaging apps. "The operator can even turn on the phone’s camera and microphone to capture activity in the phone’s vicinity, and use the GPS function to track a target’s location and movements," said Citizen Lab. The spyware can be placed on phones using multiple vectors, or means of infection. The WhatsApp exploit from May 2019 was one such vector. In 2017, the wife of a murdered Mexican journalist was sent alarming text messages concerning her husband’s murder, designed to trick her into clicking on a link and infecting her phone with the Pegasus spyware. In 2018, a close confidant of Jamal Khashoggi was targeted in Canada with a fake package notification, resulting in the infection of his iPhone. Citizen Lab has tracked more than two dozen cases using similar techniques. Indian-American White House official caught in impeachment crossfire New York : An Indian-American White House official has been caught in the crossfire of internal politics arising from the Ukraine controversy that has engulfed President Donald Trump in an impeachment. The expertise of Kashyap Patel, the National Security Council’s (NSC) senior Director of counter-terrorism, on Ukraine has been questioned by another NSC official, Lt Col Alexander Vindman, during the impeachment inquiry hearings, Politico reported on Wednesday. The sniping brings to the open the conflicts inside the Trump administration between those like Patel, who are considered his loyalists, and those opposed to him. Vindman told the secret inquiry that Patel had "misrepresented" his expertise on Ukraine to Trump, Politico reported. He said that had been prevented from participating in a briefing for Trump on Ukraine because the President believed Patel was the expert on that country instead of himself, Politico reported. Vindman said that the NSC Senior Director for European and Russian affairs, Fiona Hill, told him that she and then-National Security Adviser John Bolton felt that his presence at the briefing would create "an uncomfortable situation," according to Politico. The Washington Post also gave an account matching it in major details. Politico had earlier reported that Hill testified before the impeachment inquiry that Trump thought Patel was in charge of Ukraine policy for the NSC. Vindman, who was born in Ukraine and came to the US as a refugee when he was a child, is a decorated veteran of the Iraq war. He was on the line listening to Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in July during which he asked for help in investigating former Vice President Joe Biden’ son’s connections to a Ukrainian gas company and if his father had interfered in an investigation of the company. Vindman has been hailed a hero by the Democrats and the media for his testimony against Trump. He had asserted that Trump had undermined national security by asking Ukraine for a favour against the Bidens because that could undermine the bipartisan support for Kyiv. While he said that he was not allowed to make some changes to the reconstruction of the Trump-Zelensky phone conversation that was made public, it did not appear from leaked accounts of his impeachment testimony that he had established that Trump had made the Ukrainian probe of the Bidens a condition for releasing aid, as has been alleged.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk NEWS 01-11-2019 to 15-11-2019 21 Dushyant Chautala Factor Frank Hebert rightly said, “Absolute power attracts the corruptible.” The fractured assembly election 2019 result in Haryana shows that the foundation of collapse in the BJP turf has been laid down by the Congress Party. The result also shows that Congress has emerged as a strong opposition party with 30 MLAs despite the NDA`s government anticongress, anti-dynasty 24×7 feisty & marooned corporate media propaganda & meager financial resources. There is no denying the fact that Modi`s popularity has been dropped obliquely. The Congress party has succeeded in making a dent in the Modi turf within five years. It will be quite difficult for the Modi 2.0 in the coming years to rebound after Haryana assembly election plummet to win a clear cut majority in the upcoming elections in two states: Jharkhand & Delhi, as happened in 2019 provided the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) do not tamper. Enough entertainment has been made by Modi 1.0 to befool the people of the super-poor country. Now the people of India understand subterfuges of the BJP. Sunday is always a holiday. No government department works for the welfare of the people on Sunday. The BJP is so greedy, insecure & desperate to hold power that even the top party leadership could not wait till Monday for Swearing-in-Ceremony of Manohar Lal Khattar as the Chief Minister of Haryana for the second inning. It reflects the sneaky mentality of the BJP. It is really disgusting to think. Post-poll alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) shows that the BJP can stoop to any sneaky level to retain & sustain political power. It does not make any difference for the BJP if a leader of a political party, who is willing to extend support, is a corrupt, lacerated, squinted, black or white, deaf or dumb. The legacy that Dushyant Chautala will follow is reprehensible. His great- grandfather Om Prakash Chautala & his father Ajay Chautala both have been convicted in the 2000 Junior Basic Teachers recruitment scam[i] and were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. Dushyant Chautala`s love for his father, who is already on 15 days furlough from Tihar jail, strikes the right political cord with two purposes in mind while shaking hands with the BJP. One is to rule the state & the other is to protect his family. A young, tall, smart, US-educated Dushyant Chautala, Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana understands better how he can protect his beloved and respected father Ajay Chautala under the thumb of the BJP. He also understands that the BJP is a ‘Nirma Washing Powder ’now- a -days for all the corrupt political leaders in India. Some of the erstwhile exceedingly corrupt Congress party leaders and other various political party leaders have joined the BJP to save their skin in HARYANA POLITICS from the law-enforcing agencies. For instance, BJP Mukul Roy, BJP Narayan Rane, BJP Sushil Modi, BJP Giriraj Singh, BJP Janardhan Reddy are facing charges due to financial scams. They all defected their parent political party & joined the BJP. It is also a fact that the BJP that claims a party with difference seems to be a Heaven for all the corrupt political leaders. Social critics assert that whosoever will embrace the BJP, his or her sins will be washed away in the Maili Ganga. His or her corruption cases will be withdrawn or partially closed or no CBI or ED will be sent to his or her house to make a raid in the future. The NDA government under Prime Minister Modi did not dare to touch these BJP corrupt leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not get tired of blaming Gandhi Family until today for all ills of the country. Of course, there is a vast difference between speech and action. Dushyant Chautala, 31, having Business Administration degree from California University will be the first young, dynamic Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana who earned unhappiness of the voters of Haryana by taking a stupid decision to shake hands with the BJP. The young, inexperienced Dushyant Chautala is not fully aware of the dirty, divisive politics of the BJP. Two things are certain, one is that Dushyant Chautala`s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) will be treated as a Junior Partner and the other is that the JJP`s MLAs will be co-opted by the BJP sooner or later. – Dr. Rahul Kumar, PhD It is certain that the BJP will encourage factionalism within the JJP. Past track record of the BJP shows that the Regional political party Chiefs are not treated well by the BJP. Two examples are pertinent to refer here; Ram Das Athawale, President of Republican Party of India (A) once a loyal dog to Sharad Pawar, President of Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra and Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) swallowed by the BJP. Both shook hands with the BJP. Ram Das Athwale is an agent of BJP-Shiv Sena in Maharastra. Mayawati not only lost Dalit vote bank but also respect among the Dalit communities. The BJP powerful machinery backed by the rich businessmen and corporate houses in connivance with the RSS workers works day & night to use acid to destroy the roots of an opposition political party. Today both are a political trophy to be kept in the corner of a home. The state of Haryana is sui generis, a sociological term used by Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, in itself. The Jat community dominates the sociocultural, socio-economic & socio-political spheres in the state. The Jat caste has a reasonable representation in almost all sectors like education, government services, police, etc. Agriculture landholding by the Jat community in Haryana rules the roost. Literacy among women in Haryana is still an issue to ponder over. Only 29 percent of women age 15-49 in the state have completed 12[ii]. 34 percent of women age 15-49 in Haryana have experienced physical or sexual violence[iii]. There is a substantial increase in crime under the Khattar BJP government in the state. According to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), the state recorded 57.1 percent increase in crime rate in 2016(The Tribune, 23 Oct 2019). The practice of patriarchy in the state poses several challenges to the state social harmony. Honor killings in the state are quite prevalent. “Even marriages into the same gotra(same descendants & same lineage clan) have emerged as the causes of honor killings in the state. The role of community members, community elders & particularly the community Councils (such as Khap Panchayats) can be observed as patronizing the honor killings & protecting the killers. Honor Killings are majorly executed by the Jats in the state”[iv]. Despite, Betti Padhao, Betti bachao flagship programme, the girl child is not at all welcome by the members of the Jat community in New India of Narendra Modi. The state of Haryana has been always in the headlines due to atrocities by the Jats against the Scheduled castes. The socio-economic conditions of the Scheduled Castes in the state of Haryana are worsening day by day. According to NCRB 2017report, a 19.24 percent increase has been reported in crimes against Scheduled Castes in Haryana. Surinder Singh Jodhka, teaching Sociology at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University explains, “Politically also the locally dominant communities did not care for support of Dalits. A Jat leader from the Haryana region, Sir Chhotu Ram of the Unionist Party, who acquired quite a prominence in the regional politics of Punjab during the pre-independence period, had once told some Dalits that he could not do anything for their welfare as it might offend the landowning Jats. He reportedly said: I cannot annoy my own brothers to benefit you. If the zamindars do not stop these practices, I cannot do anything. If on this basis you want to deprive us of your votes do so, for it does not matter. The zamindars are numerically stronger than you in the villages[v]. The members of the Jat community practice caste discrimination against religious minorities. The communal threat, particularly to Muslims in the state, has increased manifold due to the existence of several Gau Rakshak Dals aided and abetted by the Bajrang Dal, VHP and the RSS. On 10 June 2016 in Faridabad district, Haryana, two Muslim men allegedly found transporting beef were forced to consume dung, urine, milk & curd by vigilantes who uploaded footage of the incident[vi]. Khattar during his first tenure, implemented Hindu holy text, the Bhagwad Gita in the Haryana school curriculum. The BJP under the Khattar government in the state succeeded to a larger extent to suppress the Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs & Christians in the state and pampered the vigilantes. Brahmins, Khatris get social preferences under the Khattar government in the state. Unemployment is high among the members of the religious minorities. Haryana is not a safe place for the poor Dalits, Muslims & Christians. Real Estate market is quite volatile in the state of Haryana. The land prices in Gurugram are comparatively higher than in other districts of the state. The presence of multinational companies (MNCs), chain of foreign Five Star Hotels attracts the attention of wealthy people across India & abroad to invest money in the real estate market. In contemporary times, the Real Estate market in Gurugram especially get stuck up because of a larger number of court cases against Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) filed by the farmers.Due to a perpetual rise in land prices, the farmers who sold their land to the HUDA 10 years back or their land acquired by the HUDA to redevelop the city of Gurugram, are coming back to reclaim more financial compensation for their land. See Page 23
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The Asian Independent 01 - 15 Nov. 2019

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