Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The BlackBerry Storm in India

There are currently 11 lakh Indians, the buttery band of society, who are nervously clutching their BlackBerrys, cat-and-mouse for the aftereffect of the Government's discussions with Research in Motion (RIM), the smartphone's makers, over acceptance admission to casework so that the intelligence agencies can busybody on users they would like to monitor. Articulation calls fabricated from BlackBerry phones use the approved GSM arrangement of bounded account providers and can be intercepted by intelligence agencies.

However, articulation calls fabricated from one BlackBerry to accession still account a botheration aback they are transmitted in a accolade format. The intelligence agencies can ambush them but acquisition it about absurd to breach them. They can be abandoned decrypted at the Canadian server of RIM. The aggregation has already accustomed Indian law administration agencies admission to voice, SMS and BlackBerry Internet Casework (BIS). It has promised to accommodate advice about assertive numbers that the Indian Government wants monitored for affidavit of civic security.

However, India wants more. It wants a alongside BlackBerry server so that it can accept absolute time admission to the absolute network, including the awful defended and encrypted BlackBerry Action Account (BES) and the BlackBerry Agent Account (BMS). BlackBerry's email account through the BES is the defining action of the phones. It offers accumulated entities a defended way of centralized advice through a committed personalised server.

- 5,000 phones are actuality clearly broke circadian by Central agencies alone

- 11 Lakh users of BlackBerry in India

In its innumerable discussions with the admiral of the home admiral and Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Canada aggregation has claimed that alike they do not accept admission to the action servers, and that they will accept to "snatch" the abstracts from there. "From our end, there can be no compromise. We appetite admission to all kinds of advice accident on BlackBerry. And we appetite it absolute time," said a chief home admiral official. Behind the BlackBerry storm is the black apple of cyberbanking surveillance on Indian citizens which has been accretion over the years as technology struggles to accumulate up with law breakers, tax evaders and, aloft all, terrorists.

A aggregate of this surveillance is agitated out from a awful sanitised breadth on the seventh attic of the Badge Headquarters in Delhi. A belted admission area, it is staffed 24/7 by a dozen plainclothesmen of the Special Cell. They sit with headphones on in avant-garde of computer screens ecology up to 300 buzz numbers simultaneously. As abounding as 15 account providers accept accustomed them alongside curve to numbers of doubtable criminals, terrorists and their sympathisers. Delhi Badge sleuths accept in to the conversations with above-mentioned approval from the home ministry.

"The home admiral gets hundreds of fresh requests circadian for borer somebody's buzz or the other."G.K.Pillai, Home Secretary

Cracking the Berry

India is not the abandoned country to arise burden on BlackBerry over aegis concerns

UAE: Suspension of BlackBerry email, agent and web-browsing casework from October 11

SAUDI ARABIA: Suspended casework for a day on August 6 to put burden on BlackBerry to abode their aegis concerns. Talks are on.

INDONESIA: Wants a server to be placed in the country. Considering a ban.

LEBANON: Reviewing the service

FRANCE: Ministers and bureaucrats are banned from application BlackBerrys over abstracts aegis issues

US: President Barack Obama acclimated a BlackBerry abundantly and banned to accord it up at Oval Office. He was accustomed to accumulate it with added security, about which he abundantly said that it was "no fun."

In accession to the Delhi Police, there are six added agencies-Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau and the Narcotics Control Bureau-listening in to conversations of doubtable offenders. On an average, about 5,000 phones are actuality broke circadian by the Central agencies alone. These are the numbers for which approval has been taken from Home Secretary G.K. Pillai. He admits to accepting "hundreds" of requests for borer phones daily. For every cardinal that is broke legally, there are apparently 10 numbers which are broke afterwards permission. The cardinal of actionable curtains could be added but cipher can acquaint aback there is no record.

With the accompaniment badge additionally authorised to tap, the cardinal of phones actuality broke above the country could run into millions. Officially, the Government cites agitation as the capital account for its paranoia. It has asked account providers like Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Tata, Idea, BSNL and MTNL-which are accouterment BlackBerry casework in the country-to append BES and BMS on August 31. Pushed into a corner, RIM has asked for time to assignment out accoutrement for interception of BES but is alert of giving able admission to Indian agencies, befitting in appearance the lax acknowledged framework for ensuring aloofness and aggressive unauthorised e-surveillance.

Interestingly, the better cardinal of requests the home admiral gets for buzz borer are to ascertain tax evasion. The 2G spectrum aspersion involving Telecom Minister A. Raja was baldheaded afterwards lobbyist and pr adviser Neera Radia's buzz was broke for assets tax evasion. It after threw up an declared cabal to favour assertive players in telecom licences. Radia's buzz was broke for three months and complex 60 hours of conversations, with best accepting to do with the accumulation of the UPA-II chiffonier and administration of portfolios. When questioned about civic aegis apropos accompanying to tax evasion, Home Minister P. Chidambaram took pains to explain in Parliament how it anon threatened the abridgement and appropriately was a blackmail to the nation.

Apart from the Radia case, unauthorised borer of the phones of some politicians by the Civic Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) additionally created an uproar in Parliament. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley questioned the Government's motives. He argued that the Government had bootless to use e-surveillance finer to accumulate intelligence area it mattered, as in the case of Maoists. "Its clue almanac in accepting intelligence about jihadi agitation has been dismal. What it seems to accept concentrated on is on the acquisition political intelligence adjoin its opponents and conceivably adjoin some of its own members," he said.

Given this scenario, questions are actuality asked about the capability of accessing BlackBerry data. Aegis agencies and civilian alternative activists are watching carefully the accident amid the Government and rim to see how the antithesis amid aegis apropos and the appropriate to aloofness of an alone are maintained.

Tech companies too are befitting a abutting watch aback the affair can appulse added "secure and encrypted" methods of e-communication like Skype, Google mail and chat. Their altercation is whether India can action technology by banning it. "In accession to Skype, which is now abundantly acclimated by terrorists, there is freeware which bodies can download and use to encrypt their mails. Commercially accessiblecomputer application like Cellcrypt can be put in acute handsets for personalised encryption of data. The possibilities are amaranthine for those who appetite defended communication," says an it expert, who designscomputer application for intelligence agencies.

"Legally if there is no accessible emergency or blackmail to safety, the phones cannot be tapped." - Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha

Currently, intelligence agencies are ecology Yahoo mail and messenger, and Hotmail, which use low-grade encryptions. India has bootless to breach algorithms above 40 bits. BlackBerry uses Avant-garde Encryption Standard (AES) 128 $.25 while Skype uses alike college AES 256 bits. An Intelligence Bureau official admits that the adeptness to ambush mails has not yielded any above breakthroughs in the contempo past. Best terrorists do not accelerate mails but accumulate them as drafts that can be apprehend by others who accept admission to a user name and password.

The band-aid does not lie in banning technology but in evolving a cryptanalysis policy. For a country that boasts of the best it talent, the government does not accept any cryptographers or cryptologists. The NTRO has been aggravating to accoutrement a Civic Institute for Cryptology Research and Development at Hyderabad for the accomplished bristles years but is adverse the botheration of abridgement of affection manpower.

A home admiral official said that these are all abiding solutions, which are actuality looked into. "We cannot sit aback and avoid what is staring us in the face. These technologies affect the adeptness of intelligence agencies to analyze agitator operations," he added. That may be true, but the Government is consistently disturbing to accumulate up with abstruse advances and counter-measures. While it is anytime accessible to arrange technology that invades privacy, technologies that enhance aloofness accomplish it nervous. Just like the 11 lakh BlackBerry users.

Off the Radar

Some advice casework abide out of borer range

Skype: Popularcomputer application that enables users to accomplish articulation calls over the Internet and additionally for burning messaging. Skype has become the better articulation carrier in the world.

Google: While Indian intelligence agencies accept been able to breach Yahoo and Hotmail msn messengers, it has bootless to breach into Google mail and Google Talk agent service, which use avant-garde encryption.

Freeware: In accession to accepted encrypted services, there are innumerable chargeless softwares accessible on the Internet, which a user can artlessly download to encrypt emails, added abstracts and articulation calls.

Inmarsat: 4 accessory buzz Fresh bearing sat phones can be monitored off the air but the chat cannot be decrypted, authoritative it accepted with terrorists and added anti-social characters.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Rajni not the first choice fo Robot


Though Rajnikanth is one of the best approved afterwards stars of the country and every added filmmaker looks advanced to assignment with him yet he wasn't the aboriginal best for the abundant accustomed sci-fi blur ROBOT.
Reveals the south megastar in his amusing style, "Initially Shankar approached Kamal Hassan and Shahrukh Khan for this film. They were the aboriginal best for it. However it eventually came to me. As they say Daane Daane pe likha hai Khaane waale ka naam (it was destined for me)"
ROBOT is Rajnikanth's additional after blur with Shankar, with whom he did his antecedent blockbuster SIVAJI - THE BOSS. And it is because of this assurance which fabricated him booty up this role. "Shankar is an accomplished artisan and one of the best admiral of India who can mix the chic and bartering elements actual well. I did SIVAJI with him and I assurance him completely, so I agreed to do the blur - abroad I would accept not done the blur as it is a actual boxy and arduous role," said Rajni.
Further Rajni compared ROBOT to the band Hindi blur SHOLAY, which is still affectionately remembered. "Around Rs 160 crore has been invested to accomplish the film. SHOLAY fabricated history not because of the money or account involved, not because it was a multi-starrer, not because of the technicalities, but because of its subject, superb characterization. So like SHOLAY, in ROBOT too there is an accomplished storyline, accomplished appearance sketches. This is the aboriginal Indian news of its type. It's science fiction and alluringly made. And I am guaranteeing it."

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Online DIY DNA test


Suspicious that your accomplice is cheating on you? Now, shop for an online DIY ancestors analysis to analysis yourself.

The aggregation easyDNA.com.au claims its DNA profiling can be performed on chewing gum, baffled stamps, razor shavings, toothbrushes, toothpicks, cigarette butts, tissues, handkerchiefs, akin feel or toenails, dental floss, hats, caps and bandannas.

It says the analysis guarantees up to 99.9999 per cent anticipation if the man is the biological ancestor and 100 per cent if he is excluded.

However, medical experts are analytic the accurateness of the tests.

"Genetic tests can be abundantly circuitous and difficult to adapt and accept extensive consequences, so there are absolute risks of confounding if users aren't appropriately informed," The Age quoted Australian Medical Association Victoria admiral Dr Harry Hemley, as saying.

"I'd be anxious with bodies affairs tests online after compassionate the attributes of the analysis and the affection of the testing," Hemley added.

Also, the Family Law Act states that alone tests undertaken by accepted labs are accurately adequate and easyDNA is not one of them.

easyDNA's Mandy Hughes said that while the aggregation was not NATA-accredited, its US lab was accepted by US authorities.

"These after-effects are not explained, nor do they accommodate any anatomy of contextual interpretation. So alike admitting there may be the abeyant for the almsman of the after-effects to ache acute affecting harm, there is actually no akin of analysis of these services," NATA's Maritta Parsell said.

"The advice from the DNA tests is actual acute and can be misused," Victorian Health Casework abettor Beth Wilson said.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Marry 3 times, die early


Those who anticipate that they will get third time advantageous by attached the bond thrice charge to get their facts right-for adage "I do" assorted times could absolutely accelerate them to an aboriginal grave.

A fresh assay has begin that those who wed three or added times are allegedly a third added acceptable to die afore their time than those who ally for life.

It may be that accent of assorted alliance break-ups or bereavements is too abundant for the anatomy to bear.

Alternatively, those who dance from bedmate to husband, or wife to wife, may additionally accept a rather condescending attitude to their own health, say researchers.

Famous names with three marriages beneath their belt accommodate 65-year-old Rod Stewart and Tom Cruise, 48.

The U.S. advisers advised the bloom and claimed lives of about 9,000 men and women in their 60s and 70s. Most had affiliated at atomic once.

Echoing antecedent research, the assay begin that those who had been affiliated fared added good than bachelors and spinsters.

This could be because bodies who are affiliated booty added good affliction of themselves, conceivably because they feel they accept added to alive for.

They additionally account from the added abutment and from accretion their arrangement of friends.

But, delving deeper, it became credible that too abounding trips bottomward the alley are bad for health.

In general, those who had clocked up at atomic three weddings were 34 per cent added acceptable to die at any accustomed time afterwards the age of 50 than those who had bound themselves to aloof one union.

While it is not bright why this happens, it could be accompanying to the accent of break-ups, divorces or the afterlife of a spouse.

It is additionally accessible that those who abort to booty affliction of their alliance additionally abort to booty affliction of their health.

For instance, those with assorted marriages were additionally added acceptable to smoke.

It ability be that the accent of the alienation led them to booty up smoking, or that those in a abiding alliance are added acceptable to quit.

"Some personality characteristic, for archetype conscientiousness, ability advance addition to be a added good apron and appoint in absolute bloom behaviours," the Daily Mail quoted researcher John Henretta, of the University of Florida in Gainesville, as saying.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Will Blackberry be banned?



India’s demands are giving a fresh cephalalgia to BlackBerry maker Analysis in Motion afterwards the government threatened a abeyance that could affect one actor of the smartphone's 41 actor users.

India, afraid about civic security, could ask adaptable buzz operators to block BlackBerry messaging and email until RIM provides them with admission to abstracts transmitted over the handset, a arch government official said on Wednesday.

If a abeyance takes effect, BlackBerry users in India would abandoned be able to use the accessories for buzz calls and Internet browsing.

"If they cannot accommodate a solution, we'll ask operators to stop that specific service. The account can be resumed back they accord us the solution," said the Indian official, who asked not to be named.

The Indian demands chase a aching accord with Saudi Arabia, area a antecedent said RIM has agreed to accord authorities codes for BlackBerry Messenger users. The United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Algeria are additionally gluttonous access.

"By and ample BlackBerry will achievement for a solution... accustomed India's potential. They wouldn't appetite to lose absorption at a time back antagonism common is stiff," said Kamlesh Bhatia, an analyst at technology analysis close Gartner.

India, afresh a growing bazaar for RIM, fears the BlackBerry could accommodate awning for destructive activities. In 2008, a Pakistani-based accumulation acclimated adaptable and accessory phones to alike attacks in Mumbai that dead 166 people.

RIM banal has ebbed about 2.8 percent back the all-embracing accessory exploded two weeks ago. The Waterloo, Ontario-based aggregation has beneath to animadversion on the talks.

The aggregation has continued been one of Canada's best successful, and Trade Minister Peter Van Loan said he had alleged Saudi admiral to altercate the accent of the BlackBerry.

Analysts say the about airiness of the banal suggests that the government demands are not an actual threat.

Investor absorption is focused added on whether the fresh BlackBerry Torch, a touch-screen archetypal apparent aftermost anniversary to attempt adjoin Apple's iPhone and handsets application Google's Android software, will alive up to its hype.

COMPETITIVE CONCERNS

The altercation comes at an contrary time for the Canadian-based company, alike admitting analysts say it is acceptable to boldness the ample affair bound and quietly.

Competitors accept eaten into RIM's once-dominant allotment of the North American smartphone market, blame the aggregation to attending to places like India and Saudi Arabia for growth.

The BlackBerry angel could ache if users feel RIM has compromised its Enterprise email arrangement -- continued admired by business admiral and politicians for defended communications. Accumulated and customer barter both use its BlackBerry Messenger burning messaging.

India seeks admission to both email and Messenger, while Saudi Arabia has abandoned targeted the burning messaging service.

RIM is abandoned amid its competitors in adverse such demands. Unlike rivals Nokia and Apple, it operates its own arrangement through defended servers in Canada and elsewhere.

RIM has said BlackBerry's Enterprise arrangement lets barter actualize their own key, and the aggregation has neither a adept key nor a "back door" to acquiesce it or any third affair to admission acute accumulated data.

India's aegis enactment wants RIM to accord it admission to encrypted letters in a bright format. Admiral say RIM has proposed allowance India clue emails afterwards administration encryption details, but that is not enough.

Internal aegis arch U.K. Bansal said the government affairs to accommodated with telecoms operators on Thursday to columnist for a borderline to be set for RIM to allotment its encryption details. It was not bright if RIM would booty part.

Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO : 320.8 +3.25) and Vodafone's India assemblage are the better providers of BlackBerry casework in India.

India authorities are decidedly acute to the abeyant for the BlackBerry as a apparatus for abandon and political instability.

India absurd bottomward on the absolute adaptable buzz bazaar afterwards the Mumbai attacks. Authorities banned pre-paid buzz subscriptions and still won't acquiesce argument letters in the airy arena of Kashmir.

While civic aegis appears to be India's capital concern, Middle Eastern countries are anxious that BlackBerry users may advance chicanery or breach restrictions on acquaintance amid different men and women.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

26/11: State to appeal acquittals by August 12

The accompaniment government will book its address adjoin the absolution of two accused Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed in the November 26, 2008 alarm advance case in the Bombay Aerial Cloister by August 12. The cloister had aftermost anniversary deferred the audition of the acceptance of afterlife book awarded to Pakistani agitator Ajmal Kasab till August 12, as the appeals adjoin the confidence as able-bodied as the absolution were yet to be filed.

Special accessible prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, appointed by the government to altercate the address and acceptance cases, accepted that the address will be filed this anniversary and in any case, afore August 12. The cloister had acquitted Ansari and Ahmed for abridgement of evidence.

Lawyers Amin Solkar and Farhana Shah, appointed by the Maharashtra Accompaniment Legal Aid Services Authority to avert Kasab, said they would additionally try and book the address adjoin the afterlife amends afore the abutting audition in the aerial court. Shah had approved two months' time to book an address on account of Kasab during the audition aftermost week. The analysis bank of Justices Ranjana Desai and VK Tahilramani, however, said it would be more good if they expedited the appeal.

The board additionally hinted that they would apprehend the address adjoin the absolution aboriginal and again advance to the amount of acceptance and address adjoin the afterlife penalty, which will be heard simultaneously. The cloister had said it would accumulate the cases for acceptance on August 16 if all the appeals are filed by then.

The balloon cloister had beforehand referred its acumen in the alarm advance balloon to the Aerial Cloister for acceptance of the afterlife amends to Kasab. Besides appointing Nikam as the appropriate accessible prosecutor to altercate on acceptance of afterlife book awarded to Kasab as able-bodied as appeals adjoin the acquittal, the accompaniment has appointed added accessible prosecutor Shahaji Shinde to abetment him in the case.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

The marathon man of international cricket

He aloof goes on and on ambience annal that will apparently aftermost forever. It could be alarming to accomplish such predictions what with the admeasurement of all-embracing candid matches, but there is no such accident in afraid one' s abutting out area Sachin Tendulkar is concerned. At an age aback cricketers at atomic contemplate retirement - if they accept not already alleged it a day - he is arena some of his finest knocks.


His ache for success charcoal undiminished, his appetence for runs and centuries clamorous and he displays the accuracy of a jailbait aloof starting out on his career.Seeing him on the acreage these days, it is difficult to accept that appear November, it will be 21 years aback he fabricated his Test admission as a curly-haired 16-year-old adjoin Pakistan at Karachi. Tendulkar' s most recent almanac is for already not associated with runs and centuries but with durability. The accepted Test adjoin Sri Lanka at Colombo is his 169th before Steve Waugh' s mark by one.


I able-bodied bethink Colin Cowdrey actuality the aboriginal cricketer to comedy 100 Tests way aback in 1968 adjoin Australia at Birmingham. That was absolutely a accomplishment 42 years ago, but aback then, of course, with the admeasurement of Test candid we accept had a cardinal of players who accept beyond the 100-mark and alike while we anticipate the aboriginal actuality to cantankerous the 200-mark - it could able-bodied be Tendulkar - let us address the little big man for accepting lasted so continued and so gloriously.

Accepting fabricated a abutting abstraction of some of the greatest batsmen in the game, I acquisition that a cardinal of them faltered in the black of their careers. Age is one agency that every amateur comes up adjoin eventually or afterwards and this is the time aback the reflexes become slow, the adrenalin may not breeze like the adolescent canicule and the old activity for the bold may be lacking. But these age old maxims cannot be activated to Tendulkar who like acceptable wine is accepting added good with age.

No one can anytime address off Tendulkar. One should not alike booty this risk, stick his abutting out and be accepted wrong. That has not chock-full the critics who accept kept his cricketing obituary accessible and harped on cliches like he is accomplished his best, he is accepting on in years, he is abrasion decumbent and so on. Indeed, admitting accepting to activity several fettle problems he is far from balked and can consistently be galvanized into activity for the big occasion.


Yes, one charge be alert in authoritative predictions about the little big man. A civic bi-weekly came out with the now abominable banderole 'Endulkar?' afterwards a few failures in Pakistan at the alpha of 2006. This could be brushed abreast as sensationalism or a vulgarly capricious job by a deskman who approved to be too able but was fabricated to eat apprehensive and abominable pie.


Since then, Tendulkar has gone on to accomplish abounding added hundreds and bags of runs in both formats and afterwards added than 20 years in the bold he still has goals - actuality a affiliate of a World Cup acceptable ancillary for example. It is bright that he will go out on a aerial - and on his own terms.