NEW DELHI, July 25:
Government will not accept breach of any Indian law relating to privacy of people by US agencies under their surveillance programmes and the same has been conveyed to US Government, Parliament was informed today.
“Government has expressed concern over reported US monitoring of internet traffic from India.
“The violation of any of Indian law relating to privacy of information or ordinary Indian citizen by such programmes is unacceptable,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in written reply to Rajya Sabha.
The Minister was replying to a question on Government awareness about snooping by “US agencies through Google or such US based internet channels”
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has said that US Government agency National Security Agency monitors all kind of information globally with the help of US based companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others.
All the companies have denied the allegations.
Prasad said that  taking note of disclosure by foreign media reports in June 2013 about US agencies’ extensive electronic surveillance programmes to collect internet and telephpny data, India Government has expressed concerns over reported US monitoring of internet traffic from India.
“It would be a matter of concern for Government if intrusive data capture has been deployed against Indian citizens or Government infrastructure. Government has clearly conveyed these concerns to the US Government,” Prasad said.
The Minister said that Government is enhancing capacity to protect data and information flows by building better cyber and telephony infrastructure.
“Government is promoting Indian players in the IT field to develop and offer internet services by having their servers located in India…Already Refiff and Indiatimes have set up servers and accessories in the country to provide e-mail and other services to Indian citizens,” Prasad said.
In a separate reply to a question on cyber attacks on India, the Minister said that there has been increase in cyber security incidents.
“During the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 (till May), a total number of 21,699, 27,605, 28,481 and 9,174 Indian websites were hacked by various hacker groups spread worldwide,” he said.
Prasad said that attackers use masquerading techniques to hide identity of actual system and it is difficult to attribute the origin of attacks.
“The majority of these attacks have been observed to be originating from the cyber space of a number of countries including USA, Europe, Brazil, Turkey, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Algeria and UAE,” Prasad said.
Apart from incidents of hacking, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team has reported 13301, 22060, 71780 and 62189 security incidents in  2011,2012,2013 and 2014 (till May) respectively.
This included cyber crimes like phishing, scanning, malicious code and denial of service, Prasad added. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, July 25:
Six Navy personnel, including five officers, are facing disciplinary action after they were found culpable by a Board of Inquiry (BoI) for a fire incident onboard aircraft INS Virat in September last year, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Answering written queries in the House, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said disciplinary action was also being taken against three officers and four sailors for a fire incident onboard fast patrol vessel INS Tarasa in July last year.
“Disciplinary action is being taken against five officers and one sailor found culpable by a BoI into the fire incident on INS Virat,” he said.
The fire incident had taken place near the officers’ compartment of INS Virat on September 30 last year. The vessel is 50 years old and has undergone several refurbishments to extend its life in view of the delay in induction of INS Vikramaditya, which is now in service.
The fire incident had taken place on INS Tarasa on July 14 and is part of the 17 reported mishaps involving naval assets since August last year.
The INS Tarasa is a Trinkat Class vessel and is part of family of warships named after islands from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands or the Lakshadweep Islands.
The Navy is also taking action against four officers and two sailors for a collision between naval warship INS Talwar and fishing trawler in December last year off the coast of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.
On the biggest mishap of the Navy involving submarine INS Sindhurakshak, which sunk with 18 personnel on board in August 14 last year, the Defence Minister said the “BoI has been reconvened and is under progress at the Western Command.”
The submarine has now been taken out of water and navy officers are trying to ascertain the main reasons behind the mishap.
Answering another query, the Defence Minister said there are 81 firing ranges in the country including “long range, field firing range and air to ground firing ranges.” (PTI)

NEW DELHI, July 25:
Amid a brewing confrontation, Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and said the Haryana decision on forming a parallel SGPC is an “attack” on the country’s integrity.
“The Government of Haryana has taken a decision which will basically harm the national integration of the country. It is an attack on India’s unity,” he told reporters here after raising the issue with the two central ministers.
“They have challenged the authority of the Government of India, they have violated every Article, every word of the Indian Constitution. And they have done something which is unimaginable in the history of this country,” the Akali Dal leader said.
His comments came against the backdrop of Haryana’s decision to form a parallel SGPC and its defiance to the Centre’s missive that it cannot do so.
Akali Dal sources said that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has expressed readiness to take out a “morcha” over the issue and possibly may even resign to lead the protest if the need arose.
The Punjab Government has been maintaining that Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC)–which manages key Sikh shrines–was formed under the Central Gurdwara Act, 1925, during the British rule and Haryana had no legal authority to enact a law for a separate SGPC to manage gurdwaras in the state.
The Centre had last week asked the Haryana Governor to withdraw the assent granted to a Bill aimed at creating a separate Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, saying the state Assembly did not have legal authority to enact such a law and it was thus ‘void’.
However, the Haryana Government has asked MHA to withdraw its letter.
But the Law Ministry told MHA that it has all the rights to give directions to any state Government on the issue of legislation.
The Law Ministry opinion comes against the backdrop of Haryana insisting that it is the right of the state Government, and the state legislature to enact law on creating a separate Gurudwara management committee for the state.
Earlier in its letter to Haryana Chief Secretary S C Choudhary, Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami had said the ‘Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Bill, 2014’ passed by the state Assembly on July 11, to which the Governor accorded his assent on July 14, has “no legal effect” and be withdrawn before any further complications arise.
“Accordingly, the state Government of Haryana may kindly bring the above facts to the notice of the Governor and request the Governor to withdraw the assent given by him to the bill in view of the fact that the state legislature had no legislative competence and the bill passed is void and of no legal effect before any or further complications arise,” Goswami had said in his letter to Choudhary.
The Centre had also sought legal opinion from the Attorney General who opined that Haryana state legislature had no jurisdiction to pass such a law.
“The state legislature is, therefore, denuded of any jurisdiction to pass any bill in respect of which only Parliament has exclusive power to enact a law,” the Attorney General had said in his opinion.
The Attorney General’s opinion, which has been sent to the Haryana Government for necessary action, stated, “The law is already in place since 1925 and there is no justificiation for Haryana legislature to have passed a law on the same subject matter, taking away the jurisdiction of the Board/ Corporation on the basis of 1925 Act.” (PTI)

DEHRADUN, July 25:
After the setback in Lok Sabha election, the ruling Congress today recorded a big win in the bypoll to three assembly seats in Uttarakhand retaining Dharchula seat which went to Chief Minister Harish Rawat and wresting Doiwala and Someshwar seats from BJP.
While Rawat won Dharchula seat by over 20,000 votes, Congress’s Hira Singh Bisht won from Doiwala by over 6000 votes whereas Congress’ Rekha Arya won Someshwar (reserved) seat by over 9000 votes, Uttarakhand’s Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi said.
Doiwala and Someshwar seats fell vacant after their sitting MLAs Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank and Ajay Tamta respectively were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Congress’ bypoll victory in Uttarakhand is a shot in the arm for the party which had lost all five seats to BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
Rawat got 31,214 votes against his nearest rival BJP’s BD Joshi who garnered 10,610 in Dharchula.
In Doiwala, Hira Singh Bisht of the Congress polled 35,980 votes against BJP’s Trivendra Singh Rawat who got 29,465 votes.
Congress’ Rekha Arya bagged 22,996 votes in Someshwar against BJP’s Mohan Ram Arya who got 13,091 votes, she said.
Bypoll to these seats was held on July 21 after Dharchula was vacated by Congress MLA Harish Dhami for the chief minister to help him fulfil the constitutional requirement of entering the state assembly as an MLA.
Further consolidating the party’s position in the state assembly, victory in these seats helps the Congress reach the half-way mark on its own in the 70-member House by raising the number of party MLAs from 32 to 35.
The party had failed to muster a majority in the 2012 assembly elections and existed on the prop of the seven-member PDF, a front consisting of BSP, UKD and Independent MLAs.
Elated at its bypoll performance which comes after the Lok Sabha poll rout at the hands of BJP which was riding high on a Modi wave, Congress leaders here said it was an indication that the “so-called Modi wave is on the ebb”.
“Uttarakhand bypoll results, which have been overwhelmingly in favour of the Congress, show that the Modi magic has begun to fade,” PCC spokesman Dhirendra Pratap claimed.
Soon after the party’s triumph, Rawat who had sought votes on the plank of stability, thanked the people of the state and promised to meet their expectations.
Another significant victory was recorded by Congress in the high-profile Doiwala seat which traditionally belonged to BJP and was held by former chief minister Nishank. Congress has now penetrated a BJP citadel winning the seat for the first time in 20 years.
The bypoll outcome deals a blow to BJP in the state reducing the number of its MLAs in the state assembly from 30 to 28. (PTI)