How Incompetent Are Indian Security Analyst?

By Sinlung

The recent banning of sites due to Northeast India Exodus shows how incompetent Indian IT Security Analysts are. Its 2012 and India claims itself to be an IT powerhouse - yet they can't even do a simple task of filtering traffic.

I would have fired these guys for sure... (its high time to privatize everything from foreign policy to National security at least someone is doing it for profit openly and can be held accountable - instead of corruption and incompetents running the show.)

Why wordpress.com or blogger.com amazes me...its beyond my comprehension. Do they even know what a domain and a sub domain is? My Goodness...

You can read an analysis by Prakash here.



A pie chart of India’s blocked site.

Mary Kom wants To Settle in Bangalore

India's boxing star MC Mary Kom said on Wednesday that she would love to relocate to Bangalore from Imphal in the future.

Bangalore, Aug 23 : Undeterred by attacks on people from the northeast that triggered an exodus, Manipur-born Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom said on Wednesday that Bangalore was a potential destination for her family, should the Koms decide to relocate from Imphal.

"I like Bangalore. The people are very nice and humble. The weather is good even during summer," said the 29-year-old. "I like it so much that I want to settle here after my career."

The champion said she was not comfortable raising her twin sons in insurgency-wracked Manipur, where she runs a boxing academy and serves in the police as a DSP.

Mary's husband K Onler confirmed that the family was looking at the city to settle down in the future.

"Right now, Mary cannot leave her post (police job). After her retirement, we will look at options that include Bangalore, Pune and New Delhi. As many as 15 members of my family live in Bangalore. That will be an advantage," Mary's husband K Onler said.

Onler was distressed by at least six of his kin heading back to Manipur, spooked by the attacks in Bangalore. "I have advised the others to stay back in Bangalore as there are no jobs for them in Manipur. They are all employed with corporate houses here. I feel they should not fall victim to the mischief of a few troublemakers," he said.

Mary, too, expressed shock. "When I got to know of this, I was upset. My humble request to everyone is that we all pray for love and peace. If the problem in Bangalore reduces, I hope the northeast people come back and restart their lives. I'm really upset at the happenings across the nation."

Onler, whose father was killed in an attack in his home state, said fear should not dictate actions of his people in the state, especially when the situation had improved. "I'm told there are volatile pockets in the city. But we have always shared a good relationship with our Muslim brethren, so I am certain things will get better," he said.

Karnataka sports minister Appachu Ranjan said the government would welcome Mary to the city.

Manipur To Set Up Health Clinics For Adolescents

Imphal, Aug 23 : For the first time in Manipur, adolescent-friendly clinics would be set up at the community health centre and primary health centre of every district for timely examination and treatment of health problems, official sources said today.

These AFCs would help reduce the health hazards faced by youngsters, which they may not disclose to their parents, particularly sexual problems.

The rate of transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C through sexual route is high and adolescents are shy about talking sexual health matters with their parents or elders in Manipuri society.

Sources said no effective policy could be implemented in Manipur which adolescents could be imparted proper knowledge about sexual-related matters, adding that AFCs would to some extent mitigate the problems after they are set up in November this year.

Deputy Director of state health service Ibemcha Devi said AFCs were part of the adolescent reproductive health programmes being implemented under reproductive child health and national rural health mission.

She said these programmes were taken up in view of the increasing cases of sexual problems before marriage, early marriage, infections in reproductive tract, abortions etc.

Mizoram Govt Gives Permit To 2 Internet Service Providers

Aizawl, Aug 22 : The meeting of the council of ministers chaired by Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla agreed to give free Right of Way to two mobile service providers - RAILTEL (Railtel Corporation of India Ltd) and the Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL).

An official statement today said the decision was made in the meeting of the council of ministers which went on till late last night.

The free Right of Way given to the two mobile service providers was for laying of optic fiber cable for implementation of e-governance, the statement said.

The cabinet also agreed to give pre-matriculate and post-matriculate scholarships for students pursuing medical, technical and professional courses.

Man in Bangalore Arrested For Sending More Than 20,000 HATE Messages

By Johnson T A

Bangalore, Aug 22 : Of the three arrested here last week for sending SMSes and MMSes inciting violence against people from the Northeast, the main accused, Anees Pasha, a 26-year-old cellphone repairman, alone forwarded controversial images and messages to 20,000 people using multiple SIM cards and cellphones, according to preliminary investigations.

The Bangalore police have sought the help of a cyber forensics lab at the Cyber Crimes Cell to retrieve details of all the messages sent by the trio.

Pasha has been accused of “spreading rumours through SMS and uploading videos through electronic means inciting hatred and emotional outrage against people of the Northeast”.

Police sources said Pasha is a highly-skilled cellphone repairman and that the police had often sought his assistance in retrieving cellphone data during their investigations in the past.

“We have given all the phones and the computer hard disk seized from Pasha’s shop to the cyber forensics laboratory to retrieve a log of all SMSes and MMSes sent and received on the phones. We hope to have a better understanding of the extent of the operation with this data,’’ said the sources.

Two of Pasha’s associates, Tahseen Nawaz, 32, and Shahid Salman Khan, 22, both residents of Bangalore, have been arrested on charges of disseminating false information among the Muslims in the city.

Police sources said they are looking for a fourth person from whom Pasha is suspected to have received the original SMSes and MMSes that were later forwarded in mass numbers. “Only the arrest of this fourth person who is also from Bangalore can throw light on how organised the disinformation campaign was and whether these people are linked to any disruptive elements,’’ said these sources.

“We think that only people somewhere in the middle of the links have been traced. We have to now examine the downward and upward links, going phone number by phone number,’’ said police sources.

Karnataka Home Minister To Vist Northeast States

Bangalore, Aug 22 : Asserting that there was no violence in the state, Karnataka Government today appealed to people from North East who fled the city for their home-towns following rumours of attacks, to return and promised to ensure their protection.

"The deadline of August 20 set by rumour-mongers to create violence and attack North East people has ended and there was no violence in parts of the state or the city. This itself should reassure these people about their safety and they should return to their work", State''s Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R Ashoka told reporters here.

The tight security cover deployed in the city, including deployment of Rapid Action Force, would continue for another week, he said.

As part of reaching out to Northeasterners and reassure their safety, Ashoka said he planned to visit NE states to meet those who had fled the city and seek their return.

"Leaders of Nagaland and Manipur have already invited me.
If Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi invites me, I will visit that state too", he said.

Ashoka said of the 3.5 lakh population from North East states who were living in parts of Karnataka and in Bangalore, only 25,000 have returned to their home towns and the remaining are living here.

He said of the 20 arrested so far in connection with spreading rumours, five have been detained for sending SMS threats and more arrests are likely in the coming days.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by Central Tibetan Administration Home Minister Gyari Dolma called on Ashoka to thank the state government for giving protection to Tibetans living in parts of Karnataka.

She said about 45,000 Tibetans are living in the state.

The exodus of NE people started on August 15 triggered by rumours of reprisals over Assam violence and continued for about four days with upto 30,000 people fleeing the country''s IT capital.

Press Functioning Under Police Guard in Manipur

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

Imphal, Aug 22 : Newspaper establishments in insurgency-afflicted Manipur resemble war offices, with heavily armed police guarding them. In addition to the State forces, the managements have engaged on a permanent basis private security men to guard the main gates and the offices.

Editors and high profile journalists are avoiding public appearances and almost all of them have changed their mobile numbers clandestinely. They talk over telephone only when the caller’s identity is established.

These precautions have become necessary since the death threat is palpable. In Manipur, five editors and two other journalists were shot dead and many others survived bullet injuries; a few escaped assassination attempts.

This State with a population of less than 27 lakh has 50 armed underground organisations and the number is increasing since new ones are formed or the existing ones are split into factions.

A. Mobi, president of the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU), who also edits a vernacular newspaper, Sanaleibak, says some outfits seek publicity using the local media for furtherance of their insurgency-related activities, especially extortions.

The media faces all kinds of pressure from rival factions. One faction would ask the editors to publish a particular news, while another would not want it published. The punishment for noncompliance is indefinite closure of the newspapers or sometimes death of the editors. Having no alternative, newspaper offices had gone on strike for weeks together in the past.

One Islamic militant outfit, the People’s United Liberation Front (P.M. Akber’s faction) threatened editors, journalists and newspaper distributors if its press releases were not published. Another faction of the Military Defence Force (MDF) was incensed when its press releases were not published. It named seven editors for execution for their refusal to publish the same.

On August 11, Mr. Mobi’s house was attacked at night with Chinese hand grenades. There was no casualty. After a day’s strike and a procession by journalists, the police were galvanised into action. They rearrested Nando Thokchom, said to be the mastermind, from the maximum security prison at Sajiwa.

There have been angry comments on the way an undertrial prisoner has been operating from inside the prison. In a scathing editorial, The Sangai Express deplored the nexus of politics and insurgency due to which the “criminal” Thokchom has been operating rather freely.

Newspaper offices and houses of some editors are guarded by armed policemen. But this cannot be a permanent arrangement. Besides, scribes who return home after midnight are easy targets. Once the dust settles down, the armed policemen will be withdrawn.

The Corcom, an apex body formed by seven underground organisations, has condemned the attacks and harassment of the scribes. In a statement, it said the presspersons should be given due respect in recognition of their services to society.

But the problem is that many other outfits do not take orders from Corcom. Mr. Mobi has said the AMWJU will resist any attempt to arm-twist the media. Past experience has shown that it is a matter of time before the insurgents make their presence felt in the newspaper houses.

In Assam, Over 2 Lakh People Are Still Refugees

By Abhinav Bhatt
Kokrajhar, Aug 22 : It has been more than a month since ethnic violence broke out in parts of lower Assam. Ever since then people there have been tense, angry and scared. Nearly two and a half lakh people, both Bodos and minorities, are still in 224 relief camps, although two lakh people have returned to their homes.

There is a sense of distrust running deep among people who were neighbours till a few weeks ago, and that is preventing them from returning to their villages. Large scale destruction is yet another reason that's keeping people away from their villages and in relief camps.

"Our biggest challenge is reconciliation. People have to realise the interdependence, that they need each other. We are organising meeting among leaders," said Jayant Narlikar, Deputy Commissioner, of Kokrajhar.

For now, there is safety in numbers in these camps. At the Hapsara relief camp in Bongaigaon district, the government has provided water filters, hand pumps and a mobile medical unit with doctors. This may blunt the attack on the state government, blamed for the poor hygiene in the relief camps, but camps continue to be over crowded, with people cramped in claustrophobic space.

"What improvement? We are all living here without any self-respect, women and children... There's no power and we live in darkness," said one of the inmates of the relief camp.

In Kokrajhar, one of the worst affected districts, the Titaguri relief camp just outside the Kokrajhar town now wears a deserted look. Some of the men have returned to their villages a few days back, but the women are still here. One of them wonders, why can't life be the way it was.

"So many leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Tarun Gogoi have come, and many others too. They said that they will help us find a solution to all these problems, but nothing has happened. We just want to live a normal life," said Chandana Goiyari, an inmate of the relief camp.

Different camps, different stories. But all have the same feeling - how soon can they return and why live as refugees in their own land?