Sunday, May 3, 2015

#Net neutrality debate

Source:
http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/ten-cartoons-by-aseem-trivedi-explain-the-importance-of-net-neutrality-264382.html



                                  
                                         #Net Neutrality Debate
                                          By
                           tech2 News Staff /


Ten Cartoons By Aseem Trivedi Explain the Importance of Net Neutrality

 
                                                                                                               







   23 Apr 2015 .
 
 

With just two days to go before Trai’s deadline for comments by public on net neutrality ends, several creative minds are at work to spread the word to the masses. Aseem Trivedi, cartoonist and free speech activist has now come up with 10 cartoons on net neutrality and they are certainly worth a look.


Protesting against rules trying to redefine the Internet, a website called www.savetheinternet.in has been set up where anyone can send a mail directly to Trai, expressing their reluctance and discomfort about how telecom carriers are snatching away free Internet from them.  Those part of India’s startup ecosystem can also sign this letter asking PM Modi to preserve the open, competitive internet by enforcing net neutrality.



Here are 10 cartoons that cut through the jargon and explain the need for net neutrality in India.


01_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 02_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 03_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 04_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 05_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 06_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 07_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 08_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 09_Cartoons-on-Net-Neutrality 10_Cartoons-on-Net-NeutralityImage credit: Aseem Trivedi


Also read
Timeline: Airtel Zero to Internet.org, what fuelled the ongoing Net Neutrality debate in India



Strong plea made in Lok Sabha to ensure Net Neutrality



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DOCUMENTARY : American Terrorist David Coleman Headley

SOURCE :
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/american-terrorist/




CLICK & VIEW

http://www.timesnow.tv/Hidden-intelligence-breakdowns-behind-the-2611-Attacks/videoshow/4475883.cms



. speaks to Sebastian Rotella, the journalist behind the Documentary, 'American Terrorist'

Washington: Citing what it called "hidden intelligence breakdowns" behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, a new investigative report has described Mumbai "as a tragic case study in the strengths and limitations of high-tech surveillance".


An analysis of documents leaked by Edward Snowden contradicted the US government's claims that the National Security Agency had played a key role in preventing a follow-up plot against a Danish newspaper in 2009, says the report by Sebastian Rotella.



Rotella, who writes for investigative news site ProPublica, has extensively reported about key Pakistani-American plotter David Coleman Headley, "whose reconnaissance for Pakistani spymasters and terrorist chiefs was crucial to the 2008 terrorist attacks".


In a series of stories and in the 2011 Frontline documentary, "A Perfect Terrorist", ProPublica had "detailed multiple breakdowns in the US counter-terror system that allowed Headley to elude detection for years despite tips that could have prevented the attacks", he said.


"American Terrorist", a major update of the 2011 Frontline film, airing in the US Tuesday night details the story of Headley's eventual capture as well as the secret surveillance of Mumbai plotters that took place before and during the attacks.



The Snowden documents show that, months before Mumbai, British intelligence began spying on the online communications of Zarrar Shah, a key plotter who was the technology chief for the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, Rotella wrote.
Britain's General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had the ability to monitor many of Shah's digital activities, including web searches and emails, during weeks in which he did research on targets, handled reconnaissance data, and set up an internet phone system for the attack.



But based on documents and interviews, it appears that the British spy agency did not use its access to closely analyse data from Shah until a Lashkar attack squad invaded Mumbai on November 26, 2008.


Nor did the British tell the Americans they were watching Shah beforehand, despite the close alliance between GCHQ and the NSA, he wrote.



The British data could have complemented separate chatter that the NSA and CIA were collecting about a potential attack on Mumbai, none of it related to Headley, Rotella wrote.


Meanwhile, Indian intelligence had separately tracked Shah's communications before the attack, he wrote.


Once the shooting started, the spy agencies went into high gear, the report added.


"The British realised that prior targeting of Shah gave them real-time access to the Karachi control room from which Lashkar chiefs directed the three-day siege using phones and computers."


GCHQ and NSA pulled a haul of intelligence from the monitoring of Shah and others that enabled analysts to assemble a "complete operations plan" of the plot, according to an NSA document cited by ProPublica.



The evidence helped the Western and Indian governments push Pakistan to crack down on Lashkar.


US officials, the report said, emphasised that they had warned the Indians.


British officials disputed the idea that they had information that could have prevented an attack. They said they would have shared such intelligence with India, it said.





 

DOCUMENTARY :American Terrorist

                David Coleman Headley

April 21, 2015

FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate American-born terrorist David Coleman Headley.






(83:46) FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate American-born terrorist David Coleman Headley.

FEATURED FROM THIS REPORT

(A)April 21, 2015, 7:14 pm

  • The Memoir of an “American Terrorist”




(B)December 21, 2014, 9:54 pm



(C)November 29, 2012, 11:14 am





THE LATEST



The Hidden Intelligence Breakdowns Behind the Mumbai Attacks

After Edward Snowden, the government said its controversial surveillance programs had stopped a terrorist – David Coleman Headley. In ‘American Terrorist”, ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigate that claim.




Five Surprising Facts About the American Behind “India’s 9/11″

Inside David Coleman Headley’s journey from heroin smuggler to DEA informant to terrorist.






In 2008 Mumbai Attacks, Piles of Spy Data, but an Uncompleted Puzzle

Indian and British intelligence agencies were both spying on the online activities of one of the alleged plotters, but couldn’t connect the dots.






Did NSA Surveillance Help Thwart Plotter of Mumbai Attack?

Officials have credited the program with helping to capture David Coleman Headley, but a closer examination shows the U.S. only caught up with him after a tip from British intelligence.







Terror Group Recruits From Pakistan’s “Best and Brightest”

A new study released today helps explain how Lashkar-i-Taiba, one of the world’s most dangerous militant organizations, is integrated into Pakistani society.






Four Disturbing Questions About the Mumbai Terror Attack

Sebastian Rotella examines new information and materials about the Mumbai terror attacks.








Judge Gives American 35 Years For Plotting Mumbai Attacks

Although David Coleman Headley avoided the death penalty, Judge Harry Leinenweber says the sentence “will keep him under lock and key for the rest of his natural life.”








Mumbai Massacre Accomplice Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

A federal judge Thursday sentenced a Chicago immigration consultant to 14 years in prison for his role in supporting the Pakistani terrorist group that worked with Pakistan’s intelligence service to carry out the 2008 Mumbai attacks and plot a follow-up strike in Denmark.









U.S. Pressures Pakistan on Mumbai Terror Group

The Obama administration’s decision to designate the leadership of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba group as terrorists last week sends a pointed, if largely symbolic, message to a Pakistani government that remains unable or unwilling to crack down on the organization.


Captured Militant Reaffirms Role of Pakistan in Mumbai Attacks

Zabiuddin Ansari’s statements to Indian police have reinforced evidence of Pakistani intelligence’s role in a terror plot that killed six Americans at the same time Pakistan was receiving billions of dollars in U.S. aid.









Building and Rebuilding the Chabad House

It’s the tucked-away target that David Coleman Headley cased for the terrorist group Lashkar-i-Taiba. Here’s more on the history of Chabad House, what happened there during the 2008 attack on Mumbai and how the family members of those killed are moving forward.










Slideshow: An American’s Path to the Mumbai Attacks

David Coleman Headley isn’t a household name in the United States, but given his role in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai he is now as well known to Indians as Osama bin Laden is to Americans.









Retracing the Steps of a Confessed Mumbai Terrorist

Mumbai police crime chief Deven Bharti recounts what he learned while investigating the movements of David Coleman Headley as he scouted targets in Mumbai.









Did the U.S. Know More Than It Let On About Mumbai Attacks Suspect?

U.S. officials say David Coleman Headley slipped through the cracks, but ex-wives and Indian authorities say the government had information about the his activities before the 2008 siege that killed
166 people.









Could This Man’s Warnings Have Prevented the Mumbai Attacks?

It took the 2008 Mumbai attacks for much of the world to recognize Lashkar-i-Taiba’s threat, but renowned French investigative judge Jean-Louis Bruguière had for years warned of the Pakistan-based terrorist group’s evolving international ambitions.









Watch a Confessed Terrorist Scramble to Save Himself

After years of criminality and deception that included scouting targets for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks — a slaughter that left 166 people dead — Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley was arrested by U.S. authorities in October 2009.











Trial Testimony Reveals Mindset of Confessed Mumbai Terrorist

During five days as the star witness in a federal terrorism trial in Chicago, David Coleman Headley revealed details of what he described as his links to both Pakistan’s intelligence service — the ISI — and the terrorist organization Lashkar-i-Taiba.










Confessed American Terrorist Details Plans for Chilling Plot

David Coleman Headley, an American who has confessed to helping plan the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, told a court that he plotted a similar attack against a Danish newspaper with the support of a Pakistani terror group and the country’s intelligence agency, the ISI.




RELATED PROGRAMS



1:54:11United States of Secrets05/13/2014
 
53:40A Perfect Terrorist11/22/2011
 
54:34The Fight for Yemen04/07/2015












 

Shourie's Critique Offers Pointers On What Modi Must Fix In His Remaining 4 Years

Source:
http://www.msn.com/en-in/news/national/shouries-critique-offers-pointers-on-what-modi-must-fix-in-his-remaining-4-years/ar-BBj3v5g




Shourie's Critique Offers Pointers On What Modi Must Fix In His Remaining 4 Years







Arun Shourie, Disinvestment Minister and later Communications Minister in Atal Behari Vajpayee's cabinet, has offered a devastating critique of the Modi government's performance so far . While he has noted Modi's achievements in diplomacy and other areas, but his criticism of the Modi-Arun Jaitley-Amit Shah power troika is ultimately a critique of Modi's own style of functioning.
 
 
Is Shourie right?
 
 
 
I have no doubt that Modi is the best person to be PM today. The government has considerable achievements to its credit. But when he looks back on his own performance over the last year, he will find that he could have done better. He should use the Shourie critique to recalibrate his government and reorient it towards better results in the remaining four years of his tenure.

The following are some pointers for Modi on where things may have gone wrong, and where he needs to fix things.



#1: Modi's discomfort with empowering competent people beyond a chosen few is worrying.
 
The failure to put Arun Shourie in any job last year does not do him credit. Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari have strong credentials, and are competent administrators. Modi has to allow them to grow further and cultivate a higher profile in the interests of the nation. On the other hand, bringing in Manohar Parrikar in defence and Suresh Prabhu in railways are inspired choices. Piyush Goyal is probably doing a good job in power and coal, if one excludes his goof-up in trying to deny Jindal his win in the last coal block auction.
 
Dharmendra Pradhan has done a good job at petroleum, and is clearly competent for the job. But if Modi is to make his next four years noteworthy, he needs to bring in five or ten more competent ministers, both at the cabinet level and minister of state, especially in critical areas like HRD, finance, etc.





#2: He has to focus on delivering what is within the centre's capability to deliver and leave the rest.
 
Most governments cannot realistically achieve all goals; they do best if they can change things for good in one or two important areas. Modi is spreading his efforts too thinly in too many places. The centre can definitely deliver in areas like defence, diplomacy, intelligence and internal security, macro-economic policy, communications, energy, environment and resource use. It can also simplify the rules of doing business (to the extent it is central rules that need tweaking). The rest of Modi's job is exhortation and encouragement. Modi should encourage states ruled by his own party to ease the rules for doing business, and not stand in the way of law-making by them. He can't do much if they don't listen. His job is to provide leadership and vision (as in Swachch Bharat), but he cannot directly deliver in some areas.
 


#3: Modi has to understand the importance of compromise to get the opposition to pass important legislation.
 
The fact is the Land Bill and GST cannot pass without opposition support. This means accepting delay as part of the process and working with the Congress and other parties to get a reasonable bill through. Here again, Jaitley has been a problem. The current GST bill is a moth-eaten one, and delay cannot make it worse, but possibly make it better. A moth-eaten GST bill may be better than no GST at all, but for a bill that has been more than 10 years in the making, surely another couple of months can't do it harm? Ego cannot drive success for the Modi government. Humility will get more bills passed than machismo.
 
 
 

#4: For a man who said government should not be in business, Modi seems unconvinced on the benefits of privatisation. Granted, the current state of relationship with the opposition will not help him get privatisation bills through easily, but surely the articulation of a vision is important? Legislation to privatise banks and other public sector companies that are not strategic in nature can come later, possibly when the BJP's Rajya Sabha numbers improve after 2016, but direction is almost as important as speed in some areas. Shourie is certainly right if he says the government is directionless in some areas - and public sector policy is one of them. Another inexplicable thing is the delay in deregulating LPG: having decided that direct cash transfer is the way to go, Modi can easily freeze subsidy levels at specific amounts and free LPG and kerosene prices. But he has been slow to move on this. With oil prices benign, this is the best time to deregulate. He cannot afford to miss this chance.







#5: For a man with great communication powers, the astonishing thing is how, in less than a year, Modi has lost the narrative on many issues.
 From land bill to secularism, the opposition is setting the agenda now.
 
 Shourie wrongly blames Modi for not addressing minority fears, but the fact is Modi's statements reassuring Christians - once at a function in Delhi and another at the recent Unesco meeting in France - have clearly not changed the narrative.
 
This is because the media is focusing on nonsensical statements by Sangh loud-mouths, neutralising his efforts, but it is Modi's reticence to take control where it matters is also a problem. He simply has to be more forceful on this, and needs to finesse the Sangh by giving it some cultural space in return for reining in its recalcitrants. Reaching out to minorities does not mean Modi has to play to the usual pseudo-secular gallery. For example, why not propose an amendment to Article 30 - which guarantees minorities the right to run their own institutions - to give the exact same rights to majority-run institutions? Who can oppose this right to equal treatment under the law? Being intelligently pro-majority is better than being dragged into the usual tokenisms like offering chadders at Ajmer.

Arun Shourie may have done himself out of a future job with the Modi government with this interview, but Modi will be painting himself into a corner - and possibly setting himself up for failure - by refusing to listen to Shourie's critique
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Modi Does Not Need a Palaniappan Jaitley as FM

SOURCE:
http://www.firstpost.com/business/arun-shouries-critique-is-simple-modi-does-not-need-a-palaniappan-jaitley-as-fm-2223644.html






             Arun Shourie's Critique Is Simple:
                            Modi Does Not
             Need a Palaniappan Jaitley as FM
                                    By
                        R Jagannathan 






CLICK TO VIEW THE VIDEO




-------------------------------------------------------------


May 2, 2015

The sharp critique of the NDA government's achievements (or, rather, non-achievements) in a Headlines Today interview of Arun Shourie, probably the most competent minister in the Vajpayee government, is something that Narendra Modi can ill afford to ignore. Even though Shourie has been a bit too uncharitable in his assessment of the government's performance - perhaps some of his bitterness stems from his inexplicable exclusion from the Modi cabinet when most observers thought he was a shoo-in - the broad thrust of his criticism is right.


The NDA government has some – and not inconsiderable - achievements to its credit. Among them: the passage of the insurance, coal and minerals bills, the small factories bill that will end inspector raj for small units, the successful holding of the coal and spectrum auctions, the NJAC bill, the rollout of the Jan Dhan Yojana, the decontrol of diesel pricing, and building further on the UPA’s Aadhaar-based and direct cash transfers scheme. The PM’s own contributions to foreign policy and efforts to highlight cleanliness through Swachch   Bharat are surely commendable.










However, the perception that the NDA government has under-delivered will persist, not just because its achievements are nowhere close to the sky-high expectations from it, but also because it is performing well below its true potential even given the constraints. If the economy is slow to turn around, and reform efforts are struggling to surmount opposition roadblocks, it is because the Modi government has hamstrung itself needlessly by alienating friends, old allies and potential new allies. The NDA can today write an authoritative book on "How to Lose Friends and Put Off People." Even outside areas that need legislation, the Modi government has been simply too timid in deregulation and administrative reform - two areas that don’t require parliamentary numbers and are perfectly amenable to Modi’s decisive actions.




Arun Shourie's core criticisms of the Modi government are the following: that it is directionless, that it is too centralised at the PMO, that the power the troika of Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah has simply alienated people inside and outside the party, and that the fears of minorities are not being addressed.


His most scathing indictment was of Arun Jaitley, who has simply not justified Modi's decision to place him in the all-too-crucial finance ministry.



Arun Jaitley is, in fact, the key explanation for the Modi government's failure to break free from
 Pranab Mukherjee’s and P Chidambaram's disastrous policies. For a man who was brought in to reverse the economic follies of the UPA, Jaitley has instead chosen to make NDA a pale copy of UPA. His first budget was a flop, being a cut-and-paste job from his predecessor’s proposals; the second one was much better, focused and reformist, but he cannot deliver on it without more luck and sharper execution abilities than he has displayed so far. His met his fiscal deficit targets using the same growth-destroying methods of Mukherjee and Chidambaram – which was to cut down on plan and capital spending. One does not need extraordinary ability to shoot oneself in the foot, but Jaitley did just that.


Jaitley's strengths are articulation, a good understanding of the art of political repartee, and a sound legal mind, as befits a lawyer. But his inadequacies are blighting the possibility of success. He does not seem to have an eye for detail, as a result of which his babus are leading him by the nose (consider the disastrous Rs 40,000 crore MAT demand on foreign investors and the complicated ITR form dished out by his taxman that would have taken

               tax terrorism to every home).

 His stringent black money bill will, if passed, make corruption worse, as mistrust rises to new levels in tax administration.




Jaitley’s political judgment can also be questioned. Not only did he misjudge his own chances of being elected MP by deciding to fight from Amritsar (where he lost, when he could have easily won from Delhi, his home base), he also led his party to defeat (along with Amit Shah) in the Delhi assembly polls. Worse, he completely misjudged the political opposition to the land acquisition law by provoking a counter-consolidation through the second-time issue of the ordinance. Bills are not passed by riding roughshod over opposition sentiment, but by smartly finessing their ability to do damage.



For a man who Modi trusts, Jaitley has been particularly ineffective in getting his boss to change him mind on critical things like bank privatisation. He has also been unable to get nationalised banks to perform - both by capitalising them and by giving them clear managerial autonomy. His bankers did a great job of rolling out Modi's Jan Dhan Yojana to almost every household, but this trophy achievement will be little more than a framed drawing room certificate if his banks are unable to get the newly-acquired account-holders to transact regularly. This can't be done without strengthening nationalised banks' ability to move to the next stage of Jan Dhan, which is about educating the poor on the use of banking facilities cost-effectively. Also, Jaitley has failed to realise that without recapitalising banks he cannot really revive the investment cycle. Instead, he expects poorly performing banks to raise capital in a rapidly falling stock market.



Jaitley's real problem is that he is a Delhi insider and hence less suitable to lead a revolutionary change in economic thinking under the Modi government. He would have been very good in I&B, Defence { MR SHOURIE HE HAS FAILED EVEN IN DEFENCE- Vasundhra} or External Affairs or Law, even education, but is probably the wrong man for the crucial finance ministry.



Modi does not need a Palaniappan Jaitley in the finance ministry. To be sure, shifting Jaitley now would be a political blunder, but Modi clearly needs to give him three effective junior ministers who are all about execution and delivery. That would be more effective than trying to shift Jaitley now.


Shourie's criticism of Amit Shah is equally valid – though, again, a bit too uncharitable. Shah delivered big for Modi in Uttar Pradesh, but as party president his role has to go beyond being Modi's sidekick. He has to build the party both at the grassroots and at the level of practical, everyday politics. Without the latter he can't really help his boss govern effectively.



It would be unfair to critique Shah without praising him for his obvious strengths and successes. He seems to have a strong sense of the nitty-gritty in managing elections, and has also used Modi's popularity to take his party's membership to more than 10 crore. Even if half the numbers are doubtful, the achievement is huge.



Also see
 


 


 



But these 10 crore plus members did not translate to anything tangible in any election – including the latest West Bengal local-body elections, where the BJP just about retained its 15 percent popular vote without gaining power anywhere. Mamata Banerjee walked all over Shah in Kolkata.

Shah must ask himself: how is his membership drive going to help the BJP win elections? How do numbers matter if they only get him into the Guinness Book and not into legislatures?



Shah’s handling of allies has also been poor, if not disastrous.

He has alienated the Shiv Sena by humiliating it after the BJP emerged as the biggest party in Maharashtra in the October assembly elections. He may be doing the same in Punjab, where the Akali Dal is trying to distance itself from the BJP. The party is losing allies in Tamil Nadu, which may not matter, but even parties who were not anti-Modi (BJD and AIADMK) are now playing hard-to-get. Only N Chandrababu Naidu and Ram Vilas Paswan remain strongly in the NDA camp, but they too cannot be taken for granted.



The question to raise is simple:

 Shah may be a great election manager, but is he a great party president? His real job should be chief election manager who can be given extensive powers – as was the case when he won UP – but his current job profile needs him to grow out of his mentor’s shadow and develop his own leadership skills. Maybe, just maybe, it is the Peter Principle at work: he may have been promoted to a level of his incompetence.



Which brings us to Modi himself. Is he making more mistakes than needed? Is he aware of his own shortcomings, and choosing the right people to cover for them?



For more on this, read           here.