The Evening Wrap: Modi, Netanyahu signed deal for Pegasus spyware purchase in 2017: NYT

A new political storm erupted over an investigation by the New York Times that said the Indian government purchased Israeli NSO group’s Pegasus software in July 2017 in order to carry out targeted surveillance on citizens, claiming that high-level visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even a U.N. vote on a Palestinian organisation was part of a larger backroom deal. The revelations that come just two days before the budget session of Parliament has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties to corner the government on the issue. The Opposition parties attacked the government on Saturday, accusing it of “misleading” parliament and the Supreme Court on the issue, while the Congress said the alleged use of spyware on Opposition leaders, Supreme Court judges, journalists and activists was an “act of treason”, and said they would raise the issue in the upcoming budget session as well. In the report published on January 28, the New York Times said that ties between Mr. Modi and Mr. Netanyahu had “warmed” because of their agreement for the sale of “a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with Pegasus and a missile system as the center-pieces”. The NYT did not divulge sources for the claim that India had in fact bought the Pegasus system, and did not respond to an email from The Hindu asking for any details used to verify the story. In their detailed investigation, NYT’s reporters named several countries including India, UAE, Hungary, Poland and Mexico on the list of those who had purchased the spying software, and said that they had not just strengthened ties with the Netanyahu government, but had shifted on support to Palestine and muted Opposition to Israel at the United Nations. “In June 2019, India voted in support of Israel at the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization, a first for the nation,” it added. India’s Ambassador to the U.N. at the time Syed Akbaruddin denied the last claim however. “The vote was a decision taken by me locally (as U.N. Permanent Representative in New York). No one talked to me about it before or after,” Mr. Akbaruddin, now retired, said in response to a query from The Hindu, adding that “The NYT seems to have wrongly made an insinuation.” The government, including the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs did not respond to the NYT report. In August 2021, after the original revelations of the extent of Pegasus spyware found on thousands of telephones worldwide were published by The Wire and other international news agencies, the Ministry of Defence had said in parliament that the “Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO group technologies”. Launching an attack on the U.S. newspaper for the latest report, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) V.K.Singh called the New York Times a “supari” (hit-job) newspaper. SBI suspends circular on recruitment of pregnant women State Bank of India (SBI) has suspended its revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates after criticism by certain section of the media. “In view of the public sentiments, SBI has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance and continue with the existing instructions in the matter,” SBI said in a statement. SBI said it has recently reviewed the various ‘Fitness Standards for Recruitment’ in the bank, including norms for Pregnant Women candidates. “The revised guidelines were intended to provide clarity on various health parameters where instructions were not clear or were very old. In some sections of the media, the revision in norms in this regard has been interpreted as discriminatory against women,” it said. “SBI has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees who now constitute around 25% of our workforce,” it added. During the COVID period, as per Government instructions, pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office and allowed to Work From Home, the bank said. BSF, Pakistan Rangers revive talk After three years, the border guarding forces of India and Pakistan have revived sector commander-level talks. The Border Security Force (BSF) and the its counterpart-the Pakistan Rangers have held two meetings in the past six months. the recent one was held on January 5. A senior government official said that both meetings were on the request of Pakistan and that the first one was on July 24, 2021. The talks between the sector commanders were last held in August 2018. After 2017, the Director-General talks between the two forces have not taken place. The sector commander-level talks were led by a Deputy Inspector-General rank officer in the BSF and a Brigadier rank officer of the Pakistan Rangers. After the January 5 meeting, held at the octroi outpost in Jammu, the BSF said in a statement that “both sides agreed to conduct such meetings at regular intervals for better understanding and to maintain peace and tranquility on border”. It added, “BSF also strictly objected to the drone operationss carried out by Pakistan regularly violating the IB [International Boundary]”. In 2021, the BSF spotted more than 70 drones along the Pakistan border and two of them were shot down. Dropping of arms and ammunition through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is one of the biggest challenges being faced by the BSF along the border. At the meeting, BSF delegation emphasised on the infiltration attempts from the Pakistan side and regular recovery of arms, ammunition and narcotics on the international border. The official said the talks were revived to also ensure accountability. “If the senior officers communicate, then it helps in resolving many issues and any wrong can be pointed out,” he noted. No anti-incumbency against Congress, says CM Charanjit Singh Channi Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who was among the Congress leaders to revolt against former Chief Minister Captain (retd.) Amarinder Singh, asserts that there is no anti-incumbency against the Congress in Punjab. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Mr. Channi said the party has decided to announce a Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections because the people of Punjab wanted it. Taking credit for taking action against powerful Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, Mr. Channi says he has launched ‘Mission Clean’ to curb sand, drug, and liquor mafia in the State. He said that after becoming Chief Minister, he had constituted a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe sacrilege cases. He said the action was also taken against powerful people including Mr. Majithia, who he alleged had been sheltered by former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for four and half years. Hitting out at the Opposition, Mr. Channi said these parties were levelling allegations against him on sand mining etc. because they “are frustrated and don’t have anything to use against me as I had done such work in just four months which they couldn’t do in decades”. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 4,10,09,031 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,93,899. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 29 JANUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Modi-Netanyahu signed deal for Pegasus spyware purchase in 2017, amended U.N. vote: New York Times A new political storm erupted over [an investigation by the New York Times]( that said the [Indian government purchased Israeli NSO group’s Pegasus software in July 2017]( in order to carry out targeted surveillance on citizens, claiming that high-level visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even a U.N. vote on a Palestinian organisation was part of a larger backroom deal. The revelations that come just two days before the budget session of Parliament has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties to corner the government on the issue. The Opposition parties attacked the government on Saturday, accusing it of “misleading” parliament and the Supreme Court on the issue, while [the Congress said]( the alleged use of spyware on Opposition leaders, Supreme Court judges, journalists and activists was an “act of treason”, and said they would raise the issue in the upcoming budget session as well. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes a stroll with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the Olga Beach near Hadera on Thursday]  In the report published on January 28, the New York Times said that ties between Mr. Modi and Mr. Netanyahu had “warmed” because of their agreement for the sale of  “a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with [Pegasus]( and a missile system as the center-pieces”. The NYT did not divulge sources for the claim that India had in fact bought the Pegasus system, and did not respond to an email from The Hindu asking for any details used to verify the story. In their detailed investigation, NYT’s reporters named several countries including India, UAE, Hungary, Poland and Mexico on the list of those who had purchased the spying software, and said that they had not just strengthened ties with the Netanyahu government, but had shifted on support to Palestine and muted Opposition to Israel at the United Nations. “In June 2019, India voted in support of Israel at the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization, a first for the nation,” it added. India’s Ambassador to the U.N. at the time Syed Akbaruddin denied the last claim however. “The vote was a decision taken by me locally (as U.N. Permanent Representative in New York). No one talked to me about it before or after,” Mr. Akbaruddin, now retired, said in response to a query from The Hindu, adding that “The NYT seems to have wrongly made an insinuation.” The government, including the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs did not respond to the NYT report. In August 2021, after the original revelations of the extent of Pegasus spyware found on thousands of telephones worldwide were published by The Wire and other international news agencies, the Ministry of Defence had said in parliament that the “Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO group technologies”. Launching an attack on the U.S. newspaper for the latest report, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation Gen (Retd) V.K.Singh called the New York Times [a “supari” (hit-job) newspaper](. [underlineimg] SBI suspends circular on recruitment of pregnant women State Bank of India (SBI) has [suspended its revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates]( after criticism by certain section of the media. “In view of the public sentiments, SBI has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance and continue with the existing instructions in the matter,” SBI said in a statement. [SBI said that the revised guidelines were intended to provide clarity on various health parameters where instructions were not clear or were very old. File image.]  SBI said it has recently reviewed the various ‘Fitness Standards for Recruitment’ in the bank, including norms for Pregnant Women candidates. “The revised guidelines were intended to provide clarity on various health parameters where instructions were not clear or were very old. In some sections of the media, the revision in norms in this regard has been interpreted as discriminatory against women,” it said. “SBI has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees who now constitute around 25% of our workforce,” it added. During the COVID period, as per Government instructions, pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office and allowed to Work From Home, the bank said. [underlineimg] BSF, Pakistan Rangers revive talk After three years, the border guarding forces of India and Pakistan have [revived sector commander-level talks](. The Border Security Force (BSF) and the its counterpart-the Pakistan Rangers have held two meetings in the past six months. the recent one was held on January 5. A senior government official said that both meetings were on the request of Pakistan and that the first one was on July 24, 2021. The talks between the sector commanders were last held in August 2018. After 2017, the Director-General talks between the two forces have not taken place. The sector commander-level talks were led by a Deputy Inspector-General rank officer in the BSF and a Brigadier rank officer of the Pakistan Rangers. After the January 5 meeting, held at the octroi outpost in Jammu, the BSF said in a statement that “both sides agreed to conduct such meetings at regular intervals for better understanding and to maintain peace and tranquility on border”. It added, “BSF also strictly objected to the drone operationss carried out by Pakistan regularly violating the IB [International Boundary]”. In 2021, the BSF spotted more than 70 drones along the Pakistan border and two of them were shot down. Dropping of arms and ammunition through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is one of the biggest challenges being faced by the BSF along the border. At the meeting, BSF delegation emphasised on the infiltration attempts from the Pakistan side and regular recovery of arms, ammunition and narcotics on the international border. The official said the talks were revived to also ensure accountability. “If the senior officers communicate, then it helps in resolving many issues and any wrong can be pointed out,” he noted. [underlineimg] No anti-incumbency against Congress, says CM Charanjit Singh Channi Ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who was among the Congress leaders to revolt against former Chief Minister Captain (retd.) Amarinder Singh, [asserts that there is no anti-incumbency against the Congress in Punjab](. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Mr. Channi said the party has decided to announce a Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections because the people of Punjab wanted it. Taking credit for taking action against powerful Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, Mr. Channi says he has launched ‘Mission Clean’ to curb sand, drug, and liquor mafia in the State. He said that after becoming Chief Minister, he had constituted a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe sacrilege cases. He said the action was also taken against powerful people including Mr. Majithia, who he alleged had been sheltered by former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for four and half years. Hitting out at the Opposition, Mr. Channi said these parties were levelling allegations against him on sand mining etc. because they “are frustrated and don’t have anything to use against me as I had done such work in just four months which they couldn’t do in decades”. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 4,10,09,031 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,93,899. 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