'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.
'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.
'Biocon Chairperson and Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Sunday said the government did not want to hear any criticism on the economy while expressing hope that it reaches out to India Inc. to work out solutions to revive growth. Shaw’s remarks came a day after veteran industrialist Rahul Bajaj said the people were afraid to criticise the government...'
'Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar, who has been issued a show-cause notice by the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Mumbai, for allegedly not revealing criminal cases against her, said it’s an attempt to defame her. Patkar told ThePrint Friday that she has responded to the notice. “I was acquitted from all the cases before applying for a passport. The cases were not registered against me alone…in Barwani (a town in Madhya Pradesh) we were charged for violating Section 144 during a peaceful protest called ‘mook rally’ (silent rally).
'Over 200 economists, academics and journalists on November 21 issued a statement demanding the release of NSSO consumption survey data. The government had on November 15 put the report on hold citing data quality issues, after a media report said consumer spending had slowed down for the first time in more than 40 years. Here is the full statement...'
'Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a week-old wave of online threats and hate messages targeting this well-known Indian journalist and calls on the authorities to shed light on the possible complicity of members of the police force... It began when Rana Ayyub, who is nowadays a Washington Post columnist, posted a cryptic message on Twitter on 8 November about the ruling that India’s supreme court was due to issue the next day on a fraught 30-year-old dispute between Hindus and Muslims over a religious site in the northern city of Ayodhya.
'Of all the laughable – and they are laughable – charges levelled by the Indian government against Kannan Gopinathan, the most preposterous is the one that says he failed to apply in time for a prime ministerial award on innovation in public administration. “I think I’ll be the only officer in history who has been chargesheeted for not applying for an award,” he said this week.
'A former Indian Administrative Service officer who quit the service in August in protest against the “denial of freedom of expression to the people of Jammu and Kashmir” on Wednesday lashed out at the Union Home Ministry for filing a chargesheet against him. Kannan Gopinathan, who was the collector of Dadra and Nagar Haveli when he resigned, has been accused of insubordination. On Tuesday, he tweeted that an official from Daman had called him and asked him for his address. The official reportedly told him that he would receive a chargesheet.
'A rebellion is brewing within the ranks of the Press Council of India over the way chairman Justice C.K. Prasad has allegedly stymied all efforts by a fact-finding team to visit Jammu and Kashmir. Soon after the Union government ended the constitutional autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir and decided to bifurcate the state, the PCI on August 22 held a meeting and decided to send a fact-finding team to understand the impact of the communication lockdown on the press. However, even after three months, the team has still not been able to visit the state...'
'The Indian government wrote to 11 public sector undertakings asking them to verify their records to check if Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa had exercised “undue influence” during his tenure as special secretary in the Ministry of Power between 2009 and 2013, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday... Lavasa made headlines in May when he disagreed with the Election Commission’s decisions with regard to violations of the Model Code of Conduct during the Lok Sabha elections.
