Thai Prime Minister’s Twitter account hacked

Thailand’s first woman Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s ‘Twitter’ account has been hacked, a government spokesperson said.

According to government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisaeng, Prime Minister Shinawatra’s account was hacked into Sunday morning, and the Information and Communication Technology Ministry is investigating into the matter.

In fact, Ms. Yingluck’s Twitter account has been used to post questions about her competence, particularly in regard to her handling of the recent floods that killed some 40 people and rendered nearly 1.5 million people homeless.

At least eight false tweets accused her of cronyism and various failures. One questioned her promise to give tablet computers to school children, suggesting she concentrate on education reform instead.

“This country is a business. We work for our allies, not for the Thai people. We work for those who support us, not those who differ with us,” another read.

The final post read: “If she can’t even protect her own Twitter account, how can she protect the country?”

Ms. Yingluck won a clear victory in July, but is accused by her critics of being a puppet of her brother, former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was thrown out of office in a 2006 military coup.

Syrian dissidents launch national council

Syrian dissidents meeting in Turkey have formally announced the creation of a council designed to overthrow President Bashar Assad’s regime.

A group of Syrian opposition activists had announced the creation of the Syrian National Council last month.

The structure and aims of this council were announced on Sunday at a news conference in Istanbul.

Opposition figure Burhan Ghalioun read out the founding statement of the council, which was signed by major Syrian opposition figures.

He said the aims of the council were to present a united opposition front and overthrow Mr. Assad’s regime.

He rejected any foreign interference in Syria and urged the international community to recognise the legitimacy of the group.

700 arrested after anti-Wall Street protest in New York

Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and other grievances were maintaining a presence in Manhattan’s Financial District even after more than 700 of them were arrested during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge in a tense confrontation with police.

The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan’s Financial District for nearly two weeks staging various marches, and had orchestrated an impromptu trek across the nearby bridge over the East River to Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. They walked in thick rows on the sidewalk up to the bridge, where some demonstrators marched onto the roadway after being told to stay on an elevated pedestrian pathway that runs along the centre of the bridge, police said.

The march shut down a lane of traffic for several hours on Saturday. The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said.

The group had meetings and forums planned for Sunday at a local park they have occupied.

During Saturday’s march on the Brooklyn Bridge, some protesters sat on the roadway, chanting “Let us go,” while others chanted and yelled at police from the pedestrian walkway above. Police used orange netting to stop the group from going farther down the bridge, which is under construction.

Some of the protesters said they were lured onto the roadway by police, or they didn’t hear the calls from authorities to head to the pedestrian walkway. Police said no one was tricked into being arrested, and those in the back of the group who couldn’t hear were allowed to leave.

“Multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway and that if they took roadway they would be arrested,” said Paul Browne, the chief spokesman of the New York Police Department.

Naroda-Patiya case: Submit final report, Court tells SIT

A special court hearing the 2002 Naroda-Patiya riot case has directed the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit its final report on the application by an NGO seeking probe on the issue of larger conspiracy in the case.

Judge Jyotsna Yagnik, while issuing the directions to SIT on Saturday on the application of Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), has scheduled next hearing on October 19.

The directions came after DCP Himanshu Shukla, investigating officer of the Naroda-Patiya case, told the court that the SIT intended to file its final investigation report soon and may have to submit similar final reports in the Naroda Gam and Gulberg Society riot cases in the near future.

Ninety five people were killed at Naroda-Patiya on February 28, 2002, and 67 persons are facing trial for the offence in the special court for the last couple of years.

Former Minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani is one of the accused in the case.

The Jan Sangharsh Manch had last month filed an application seeking directions to the SIT, investigating the Naroda-Patiya riot case, to submit its final report or the Action Take Report (ATR) on the further probe being conducted to look into the allegations of larger conspiracy.

The NGO had contended in its application that the SIT was directed by the court last year to file the progress report in the Naroda-Patiya case, which it had not done so far, despite submitting progress report in the Supreme Court.

The NGO had moved a similar application in 2009 seeking further investigations under the provisions of section 173(8) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), JSM counsel Shamshad Pathan, who also represents some riot victims, said.

The court was then urged to direct the SIT to conduct detailed analysis of phone call records, and on the basis of various evidences, probe into the roles of senior police officers, including then city Police Commissioner P.C. Pande, then Joint Commissioners of Police M.K. Tandon and R.J. Savani, besides politicians, including the then State Home Minister Gordhan Zadaphia.

The JSM has been claiming that proper analysis of call details provided by IPS officer Rahul Sharma could expose the larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots.

The court had, however, disposed of the application in December 2010 on the ground that the investigation was underway and the issue was pending before the Supreme Court.

Woman breaks into army male bastion, becomes first lady jawan

Another glass ceiling has been broken in the Indian Army with a mother of two becoming the first woman jawan. 

Outperforming her male counterparts in the physical tests, 35-year-old Sapper Shanti Tiggajoined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of Territorial Army (TA). 

"Women are allowed to join the armed forces only as officers in the non-combat units. But Tigga has earned a unique distinction of being the first lady jawan in the 1.3 million strong defence forces," a senior army officer said. 

"She performed exceedingly well in all the physical tests. She took five seconds less than her male counterparts to complete 1.5 km run. She completed the 50 meter run in 12 seconds which is rated as excellent," he said. 

Employed with the Indian Railways as points-man posted at Chalsa station in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, Tigga volunteered for the TA last year. 

"I joined Railways in 2005 on compensatory ground after my husband passed away. Last year I learnt about TA Railways and I volunteered for it. At that time, I was not aware that no woman has ever joined the army as Personnel Below Officer Rank but that was hardly a deterrent," she said. 

During her Recruitment Training Camp (RTC), Tigga had impressed the firing instructors with her skills in handling guns and earned the top-most position of marksman. 

"With her overall performance in the RTC including physical test, drill and firing, she was adjudged as the best trainee," an official said. 

Tigga said she had always dreamt of joining the army, wear the olive green uniform and fire guns. 

"Some of my relatives were in the armed forces and I was always motivated by them to become a part of the army. I prepared hard to clear the physical tests. I know I have made my family proud by becoming the first woman army jawan," she said.

Women sky-diving team to perform on Air Force Day

Buoyed by the success of its female officers in summiting the Mount Everest, theIndian Air Force has formed a new all-women sky-diving team which will showcase its first performance at the 79th anniversary celebrations of the service on October 8. 

"We are going to have an all-women sky-diving team and they are practising for the Air Force Day parade on October 8," highly-placed IAF officials told PTI here. 

Significantly, this will be the first all-women sky-diving team of any defence force in the world. 

The team has six members who are training hard for the occasion, the officials said. 

This team will be there in addition of the 'Akashganga' sky-diving team, which has been performing for the last several years at both national and international events. 

The idea to have such a team was mooted after three woman officers successfully scaled the Mount Everest in June, they said. 

"Not only our women officers scaled the Mount Everest, they also took the second and sixth position in the International High Altitude Marathon held there," an official said. 

Interestingly, the first place in the competition was secured by Corporal Raju Sindhu, who also successfully summited the Everest. 

Flight Lieutenant Nivedita Choudhary, Squadron Leader Nirupama Pandey and Flight Lieutenant Rajika Sharma reached the 8,848-metre summit becoming the first three women IAF officers to have achieved the feat.

US to address India's requests for information in cyber cases

The US has said that it would take up the issue of pending requests for information from India regarding cyber cases with various departments in its country. 

New Delhi has also sought appropriate technology to deal with cyber security issues. 

According to minutes of a meeting on US-India dialogue here on cyber security prepared recently, the Indian delegation was led by deputy National security advisor Vijay Latha Reddy. It comprised officials from ministries of external affairs and home, besides those from Intelligence Bureau and the CBI. 

The US delegation was headed by Howard Schmidt, cyber security coordinator at the White House. 

During the meeting, the CBI representative highlighted the difficulties in getting information about the pending cases and said that several queries had been made but information was not provided even for emergency disclosures, the minutes said. 

The CBI official wanted the US authorities to exercise their discretion in a positive manner and share available information either informally or using Interpol channels, it said. 

After the discussions, both the countries agreed that India will provide a list of outstanding requests for information pertaining to service providers based in the US and that this information would be shared. 

FBI's representative in the US Mission here, while highlighting the legalities involved in sharing complete information, however, pointed out that during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, information was provided to India in record time of four hours. 

Schmidt agreed with the need for greater cooperation between law enforcement agencies and advised the Indian delegation that the resources in Anti-Terrorism Assistance programme of theUS State Department could be used for building capacities to address issues like use of Internet by terrorists. 

India also made a request for acquisition of appropriate technology to address cyber threats and waiver of restrictions on the export of such commodities and the US delegation gave the assurance that it will take it up with departments concerned in the US, it said.

Saudi authorities launch operation to salvage wreckage of ship destroyed during World War I

Saudi authorities have launched a special operation to salvage the wreckage of a sunken ship destroyed during World War I. 

The sunken ship, located off the shore of Qunfudah, a coastal city along the Red Sea, is believed to be Ottoman and had been destroyed in an attack by Italian warplanes during the first World War. 

Several Ottoman ships in the area were destroyed during the period. 

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities is taking necessary measures to salvage the debris of the 56-meter long ship and ensure that all parts are recovered without any further damage. 

Specially trained divers are being used for the purpose. A special sand dock has been built to carry out the salvage operation. 

The team will also fish out a 28-meter long boat found underneath the ship. 

The Saudi authorities plan to exhibit the wreckage on the land it owns in Qunfuda

Children remember the Mahatma on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi, flood hits villagers in Bihar and Libyan revolutionaries fight for Sirte . A collection of images.

TULF wants new land registration scheme stopped

The Tamil United Liberation front has appealed to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene and stop the scheme of registering lands in the Tamil-dominated North and East. The process is flawed and would leave most Tamils landless and homeless, it has said.

“No one can succeed in collecting the required details asked for in the questionnaire…issued by the Ministry of Lands and Land Development for the registration of ownership of lands under the new scheme,” said V. Anandasangaree, TULF general secretary, in a letter to Mr. Rajapaksa. “The people very genuinely feel that this scheme is neither justifiable nor beneficial to them. They also feel that this is yet another scheme to harass them and are convinced that the Government has an agenda of its own for collecting the details asked for in the form,” he added.

The scheme has been started in places where people were still being resettled, in stead of in districts where normality had been attained long ago. In the North and the East, many people did not have any documents, several had died without a will.

“The Problems arising from certain properties cannot be solved by the Ministry of Lands. Let those problems be handled by the Court of Law and not by the civil or military officials…In respect of disputed property the parties can go to courts is the dispute relates to private lands. Let them go to the Government Agent if the dispute is about crown lands,” he said.