'It was not just Israeli spyware Pegasus that was used to digitally spy on human rights defenders and journalists in India. A clear pattern of another well-coordinated and effectively designed digital attack has now emerged – this time through emails. These emails, all tailor-made to suit the interests of the individual receiver, were sent out between September and October 2019. The Wire is in possession of several of these emails, which human rights organisation Amnesty International has studied to come up with some startling revelations.
'WhatsApp accounts belonging to Kashmiri users have begun to expire as the region completed 120 days of an internet blockade on Tuesday. The social media platform deletes accounts that have stayed inactive for that long. Several Twitter users shared screenshots showing that friends and family members based in Kashmir had exited WhatsApp groups they had been part of – most likely without their knowledge. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the disappearances from WhatsApp groups were the result of the company’s policy on inactive accounts.
'Over three months after he was first arrested by the CBI, former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The bail is in the case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate. He is expected to come out of prison shortly... According to reports, Chidambaram reiterated in court that others named in the case have either not been arrested or had received bail. In October, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Chidambaram in connection with the INX Media case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
'The huge stone wall, reportedly built to isolate the arunthathiyar community, collapsed early Monday after incessant rains in Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu... Seventeen people, including three children and 11 women of A T Colony in Mettupalayam of Coimbatore district, were crushed to death after a huge wall constructed by a local textile shop owner belonging to a dominant caste fell down on the houses on the early hours of Monday. Four houses were totally damaged in the incident.
'...The Wire spoke to over a dozen minors, who had been detained for weeks, and their parents, to understand the result of the action on their future. Most of them opined contrary to the claims of the central government that younger Kashmiri will be better off now. Mustafa, while recalling the day he was picked by the J-K police, said, “They had cordoned me and were forcefully trying to bundle me inside the vehicle. While resisting, a cop hit me on the back of my neck and I fell unconscious”...'
'In a private event held in New York City on Saturday, 23rd November, the consul general of India in New York, Sandeep Chakravorty, made the outrageous remarks of following Israel’s model in Kashmir, in the context of return of Kashmiri Pandits [members of the Hindu Brahmin community who were forced to leave the State in the late 80s due to religious violence]. While he did not specify whether he is referring to Israel as such or the settlements in the West Bank, in his capacity as an Indian diplomat, Mr Chakravorty advocated for Israel’s policies i.e.
'The Madhya Pradesh police has conducted raids at the office of an Indore-based evening newspaper run by a local entrepreneur, along with other business concerns that he and his family own. The newspaper, Sanjha Lokswami, owned by Jitendra Soni, had reportedly published photographs of a former BJP minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and the state principal secretary, considered a close confidant of the former chief minister, in a compromising position with some women, and simultaneously also released their video clips on YouTube.
'It has been 100 days since the made-for-television arrest of former home and finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram in the INX-Media matter... So after 100 days of ‘rigorous custodial interrogation’, what have the CBI and the ED been able to prove? How have their cases improved? Is custodial interrogation relevant for cases which largely rely on documentary evidence where fear of tampering is unsubstantiated? These are logical questions that must be raised and answered...'
'...The two candidates with the highest number of cases filed against them are both from the BJP. Both face murder charges. BJP’s Panki candidate Kushwaha Shashi Bhushan Mehta has 11 cases filed against him, including murder, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, evidence tampering, and undue influence and personation at an election.
