Cong plans nationwide agitation on 'Pegasus Project' report
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Jul, 2021 12:00 AM
New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) After it emerged that former party President Rahul Gandhi, among others, was one of the potential targets of snooping using the Pegasus spyware developed by Israel's NSO Group, the Congress has planned nationwide agitation and has decided to raise the issue in Parliament.
At least two mobile phone accounts used by Rahul Gandhi were among the 300 verified Indian numbers listed as potential targets by an official Indian client of the Israeli surveillance technology vendor, NSO Group, The Wire has reported.
The Congress has asked its state units to march towards Raj Bhavan to lodge the protest and it will also hold press conference in each state capital.
In Parliament, the party has moved suspension notice in the Rajya Sabha by K.C. Venugopal and adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha.
On Monday, the Congress said, "Shouldn't Home Minister Amit Shah, in-charge of the country's internal security, be sacked forthwith? Does this not warrant a full investigation into the role of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and others involved?"
The Congress said that it's "shocking and sensational" that news reports disclosing illegal and unconstitutional hacking of cellphones of Constitutional functionaries, Union Cabinet ministers, present and former heads of security forces, senior leaders of the opposition, journalists, lawyers and activists reflect treasonous and inexcusable dismantling of national security by the BJP government.
Speaking to a newspaper, the 82-year-old Engineer, who played 46 Tests for India, ridiculed the credentials of India’s five-member selection panel, led by MSK Prasad and comprising Sarandeep Singh and Jatin Paranjpe, Gagan Khoda and Devang Gandhi.
In a bid to spread the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will organise an international youth seminar on teachings of the first Sikh guru and Sikhism on November 6.
By the middle of next year, the Modi government would have a direct connectivity with over 11.5 crore farmers and their families across India, making it a communication exercise hitherto unprecedented in scale. If all goes well, the massive data bank on the farmers would be ready for release by June 2020.
"Indian users were among those contacted by us this week," a WhatsApp Spokesperson told IANS, without revealing the numbers or names of those affected.
It is a historic Thursday as two new Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh came into being, putting into effect the reorganization of the erstwhile state.
