CURRENT AFFAIRS
11 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Bhima Koregaon case: Key evidence against accused was planted using malware, says digital forensics report.
A report by Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensic analyst from Chelsea, U.S., has debunked the electronic evidence gathered by the investigating agency against 42-year-old Rona Wilson and 15 others arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, including Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale, Arun Ferriera, Vernon Gonslaves, Sudha Bharadwaj and P. Varavara Rao. Arsenal Consulting, which was roped in by the American Bar Association to examine the clone copy of the hard disc of Wilson’s computer, has stated that a hacker controlled his computer for a period of 22 months to plant documents, which led to an investigation that supposedly unravelled a Communist Party of India (Maoist) conspiracy to eliminate Prime Minister Narendra Modi in another Rajiv Gandhi type incident. Wilson has filed a writ petition before the Bombay High Court seeking a quashing of the FIR and chargesheet against him in the light of this report. His petition explains how a hacker exploited the IP addresses provided by one ‘Host Sailor’ and used proxy servers to plant a trojan horse NetWire. This initially subjected Wilson to surveillance, and later on, remotely through the malware, delivered various files, including the incriminating correspondence with other accused. It was this correspondence that was used, first by the Pune Police and later by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), as incriminating evidence against the activists, read the petition. This is one of the most serious cases involving evidence-tampering that Arsenal has ever encountered, the report said. It concludes that ten crucial documents, along with various others used to incriminate all the accused in the case, were planted through malware on Wilson’s device by an unknown person.
B) Twitter withholds some accounts after govt. orders, says in a blog that it won’t block media accounts.
Twitter on Wednesday said in a blog post that it has withheld a portion of accounts which the Indian government had directed it to block for allegedly spreading misinformation about the farmers’ protest. It, however, added that actions were taken only against selected accounts as Twitter did not believe that the government’s orders were consistent with Indian law. Twitter has been served with several separate blocking orders by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the company said in a blog. Out of these, two were emergency blocking orders that we temporarily complied with but subsequently restored access to the content in a manner that we believe was consistent with Indian law. Twitter said that since the government had sent it a notice for non-compliance, it wanted to clarify the steps it took to censor harmful content. The platform had unblocked 250 accounts tweeting with an alleged objectionable hashtag on February 1, just hours after withholding them. In a blog post, the micro-blogging platform said it took a range of enforcement measures, including permanent suspension in certain cases, against more than 500 accounts escalated across all Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) orders for clear violations of Twitter rules.
C) Govt responds to Twitter’s blog post on Koo.
Amid the ongoing tussle between the government and Twitter, Union Ministers and government departments have been setting up accounts on Koo, a made-in-India alternative to Twitter. Union Minister Piyush Goyal, for instance, on Tuesday announced on Twitter that he is now on Koo. Connect with me on this Indian micro-blogging platform for real-time, exciting and exclusive updates. Let us exchange our thoughts and ideas on Koo. Today, in response to the blog post by Twitter, the government said in a post on Koo, Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the Govt., the Secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual. Govt. will share its response soon.
D) Parliamentary proceedings: PM staunchly defends three farm sector laws.
Replying in Lok Sabha to the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi staunchly defended the three contentious farms laws and attacked the Opposition for misleading farmers, saying those who are disrupting the House are doing so as per a well-planned strategy as they are unable to digest that people can see the truth. Through their games, the trust of the people can never be won, he said, amidst protests by the Opposition members. During his over 90-minute address, the Prime Minister slammed the Congress as a divided and confused party for its different stands in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the debate. Seeking to allay apprehensions on the farm laws, Modi said neither any agriculture ‘mandi’ (market) has shut down after the three laws were enacted nor has the MSP stopped, rather the MSP has only increased, which no one can deny. The Congress walked out of the Lok Sabha as PM Modi explained the government’s stand on the three farm laws. Noting that the kind of investment farming needs was not happening, Modi said there is a need to bring investment and modernise agriculture to empower the sector. During the discussion the Union Budget, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asserted that the government has deceived the people. Government has deceived us in terms of health care allocation. FM said the allocation was 137% on the previous year but she didn’t keep her word. Betrayal of our health care workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic, he said, adding, No relief in tax rates for middle class. As for the poor, young, aspirational, they too have been failed. MGNREGA allocation slashed by 35% at a time of record unemployment levels. Education budget sees a 6% cut. Sainik Schools are in desperate shape. Any dreams Indians had of good days, was cremated at the altar of the disastrous decision of demonetisation.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) China’s military claims both sides have begun disengagement from Pangong lake.
China’s military announced on Wednesday that frontline troops from India and China had begun disengaging from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, where both sides have been locked in a stand-off for months.At the time of writing, the Indian Army was yet to release a statement on the development. The statement from China’s Ministry of Defence said this followed a consensus reached at the last round of talks between Corps Commanders on January 24. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said in a statement issued in Beijing, According to the consensus reached by the ninth round of the commander-level talks between China and India, the frontline units of the Chinese and Indian armed forces on the south and north banks of Pangong Lake started to disengage synchronously in a planned manner. The Indian Army has, however, not yet confirmed the development.
B) India is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific region, says U.S.
Describing India as one of the most important partners ofthe U.S. in the Indo-Pacific region, the Joe Biden administration on Tuesday said it welcomes India’s emergence as a leading global power. India is one of the most important partners in the lndo-Pacific region for us. We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and its role as a net security provider in the region, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference. Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Tony Blinken spoke with his Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, for the second time in less than a fortnight, Mr. Price added, During the call, the two leaders reaffirmed the strength ofthe U.SAndia partnership and discussed issues of mutual concern, including the situation in Myanmar. Mr. Blinken expressed concern over the military coup and the importance of the democratic process in Myanmar. Regional developments They also discussed regional developments, including the value of U.S.-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. Both sides look forward to expanded regional cooperation, including through the Quad, and to address the challenges related to COVID-19 and climate change, he said. Responding to a question, Mr. Price said the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership is both broad as well as multifaceted. The U.S., he said, also remains India’s largest and most important trading partner, with the total bilateral trade increasing to $146 billion in 2019. U.S. companies are a large source of India’s foreign direct investment, he added.
C) Trump’s trial begins with footage of siege.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial began on Tuesday with harrowing video footage of his supporters’ assault on Congress, but Republican Senators made clear how difficult it will be to win a conviction. Senators voted 56-44 in favour ofthe constitutionality of the historic trial, rejecting a bid by Mr. Trump’s Iawyers to throw it out on grounds that a former President cannot be tried by lawmakers. The vote, held before the main part of the trial was to get under way on Wednesday, saw six Republicans join all 50 Democrats in the evenly-divided Senate. Despite this modest show of bipartisanship, the result highlighted the nearly impossible task of getting the two-thirds majority requiring 17 Republicans to join the Democrats that would be needed to convict Mr. Trump of inciting insurrection. Earlier, both sides presented their opening cases, with Democrats arguing that Mr. Trump broke his oath in a naked bid to retain power after losing the November election to Joe Biden. If Congress were to just stand completely aside in the face of such an extraordinary crime against the Republic, it would invite future Presidents to use their power without any fear of accountability, Democratic impeachment manager Joe Neguse said. Video from the January 6 mayhem played back inside the Senate packed the biggest punch. Senators watched footage of Mr. Trump’s speech and the crowd’s siege on the Capitol.
