HomeNewsletterEditorial
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008

Highs and Lows in February

The general elections (February 18, 2008) in Pakistan marked an important water-shed. Religious and fundamentalist parties have been largely wiped off. There was a change-over in Cuba after 49 years’ rule by Fidel Castro. Hamza, the youngest son of al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, is being groomed as his successor. While security analysts are seriously seized with nuclear threat from the terrorists, a nuclear scientist in Pakistan has been abducted. Serious undersea disruption in cable operations in the Persian Gulf badly affected internet connections all over. Maoist extremists in India struck a very serious blow against state power when they launched an attack on police armouries in Nayangarh town in the state of Orissa. Areas like Mauritania, East Timor and Morocco came under the scanner of the terrorists. The authorities in Germany expressed serious apprehension about attack from radical Islamist groups. Spain also sounded Pak terrorist alert. Female fidayeens virtually dominated suicide attacks in Iraq and Srilanka. Al Qaeda in Iraq came to notice for recruiting young boys to their cadres. While Pakistan was entering into negotiations with Taliban, there was report of the presence of 600 suicide bombers in Karachi. Traces of Islamist terrorism were reported in Goa. Terrorist training camp has been unearthed in the southern State of Karnataka. Security authorities detected plans to build mosques and madrasas along Indo-Nepal border to facilitate and enforce a Taliban-type system. Special security battalions were raised in Assam. The existing ban has been reimposed on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for two years. The Border Security Force (BSF) in India has decided to recruit women to guard borders.

Japan is on the brink of flying a “paper plane” and there are now distinct possibilities of “arms race” by robots. The British Council has allotted a budget of 6 million pounds for linking British Schools with Madrasas. The Darul-Uloom Seminary in Deoband (India) has issued a fatwa declaring terrorist activities as anti-Islamic. While you can measure long and short of it in human beings (7’ 9” as the tallest and 2’ 5” as the smallest), scientists have also actually started measuring “laughter”. The world’s most accurate atomic clock has been developed in the US. Dogs have displayed power to detect dangerous diseases. The German authorities have started training their dogs how to wear shoes. You can now fill in petrol while sitting in your car, and refrigerators in future will run on heat and not on electricity. You have to check twice how safe is your information. Techniques have been developed to steal encrypted information stored on computer hard disks after the machine has been switched off. You can read all these and more, as usual, in the General Information File.

We will also like to share with the readers the views expressed on two very significant aspects:

  • The Situation in Afghanistan.
  • The Naxalite Situation in India.


D. C. Nath, IPS (Retd.)
Former Special Director, IB (MHA), Govt. of India,
Executive President & CEO,
International Institute of Security and Safety Management,
New Delhi, India.

Go Top

That Other War – The Situation in Afghanistan is cause for alarm

Even as things unravel at an alarming pace in Afghanistan, NATO defence ministers who met earlier this week in Lithuania are trying hard to present a picture of solidarity. This after US defence Secretary Robert Gates kicked up a row recently by asking Germany and other European allies to send more troops to counter the growing Taliban insurgency in the southern part of the war-ravaged country.

Germany is in no mood to send more troops. Any further troop deployment will have to be passed through a reluctant German parliament. However, it is sending a 200-strong rapid reaction force to northern Afghanistan to replace Norwegian troops. That’s not going to be enough. The US-based Afghanistan Study Group has warned that the progress made since the end of the Taliban regime is under serious threat - thanks to resurgent violence and weakening international resolve. The Atlantic Council of the United States, a think tank, is more blunt. Its report says: “Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan”. Apart from the surge in violence and the Taliban tightening its grasp over the southern parts of the country, there is the problem of illegal opium trade.

It is in this context that US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and British foreign secretary David Miliband made an unannounced visit this week to assess the situation in Afghanistan and discuss the international community’s concern with President Hamid Karzai. Rice too called for greater troop commitments from NATO nor Afghanistan could afford to lose. It is a battle the world cannot afford to lose given the fact that Afghanistan is a haven for those who export terror globally.

If only the US had concentrated on Afghanistan, instead of starting an unnecessary and disastrous war in Iraq, things would perhaps not come to such a pass. But the Bush administration chose not to complete the job and went after imagined enemies in Iraq. The result is that the US is now overstretched and is losing the plot in both countries. It is only fair that the US, instead of questioning the commitment of allies, understands that losing complete control of the country has serious repercussions for the rest of the world. India, particularly, has cause for worry. The return of the Taliban would translate into an even more unstable Pakistan and that’s worrying.

The Times of India – February 9, 2009

Go Top

A way but no will

In the continuing asymmetrical war – of intent, purpose and result – between the Indian State and Naxal terrorists, Orissa finds itself as the latest victim. A ‘full-scale’ operation has been launched in retaliation of the successful Maoist raid on police establishments in Nayagarh district on Saturday. State authorities claimed on Sunday that 20 Maoists had been killed in the exercise. While one is not in a position to doubt the veracity of the success of the encounter-operation – the bodies of the slain terrorists were reportedly taken away by the Maoists – one is in a position to judge how serious the government and the Centre have been in fighting this menace. According to a Home Ministry report, posts have been lying vacant in the Orissa Police forces. Orissa had 10,839 armed police personnel, instead of the 14,891 that should be there. In terms of the number of police for every 10,000 residents, the ratio is below the national average of 122, and abysmally lower than the UN-recommended ‘peacetime norm’ of 222 policemen per 100,000 people.

The Naxal situation is worst in Chhattisgarh, followed by Jharkhand. But in these two states too, one finds gaping holes in terms of police recruitment. In the face of such asymmetry, is it such a surprise that Maoist violence has little chance of being stubbed out or even challenged? The earlier problem of states and regions not sharing forces and intelligence may have improved. But what use is the semblance of unity against terrorism if there are simply not enough hands on the ground?

Add the Keystone Cops nature of the way the State conducts its ‘anti-Naxal’ operation to the statement of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil after the Nayagarh episode – “It is very difficult to provide security to every individual and house. It is necessary that individuals take some steps to protect themselves….” – and we realise the magnitude of the disaster brewing. Mr. Patil has, for all purposes washed his hands of his ‘day job’. The irony is that Indians across large swathes of the country – in Jhakhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal – are indeed taking “some steps to protect themselves” against Naxals. Unfortunately, with little to choose from, these protective steps are to ‘sympathise’ with the Maoists. For the State seems to be the last entity that can – or is willing – to do that job for them.

Hindustan Times – February 19, 2008.

Go Top
 


HomeNewsletterIISSM News
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008



Terrorism File

Gunfire on Israel embassy in Mauritania
Six gunmen have traded fire with officials in front of Israeli Embassy in Islamic Republic of Mauritania's capital city...






Security File

Assam rebels abduct 5 businessmen, kill 1.
Guwahati – February 1, 2008 – Black Widow militants kidnapped five businessmen, killed one of them and released two ...






Cyber Crime

A way to steal data even after comp is switched off
San Francisco – A group led by a Princeton University computer security researcher has developed a simple method...






Science and Technology

Your mobile charge can last ten times longer, thanks to new chip
New York – February 5, 2008 – A team of researchers led by a scientist of Indian origin, has unveiled a new energy ...






Legal File

Employer can choose whom to retire: SC
New Delhi – Conferring unbridled power on governments to prune employee strength in overstaffed loss-making concerns...






Industry News

The First CSP Programme of 2008
The first Professional Certification Programme for “Certified Security Professional” was held at Safdarjung Club in Safdarjung Enclave...






General Information

Does Air Conditioning really affect your health?
Who would be without air conditioning. In hot, humid climates it is more than a modern comfort – it is an essential element ...



HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsTerrorism File
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008
 

Gunfire on Israel embassy in Mauritania
Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:09:55

Six gunmen have traded fire with officials in front of Israeli Embassy in Islamic Republic of Mauritania's capital city of Nouakhott, and fled on foot, before jumping into a car.

Email dated 1.2.2008 from Mr.Mayer Nudell, CSC, USA.

Go Top

72 killed in twin Iraq blasts

Baghdad – February 1, 2008 – Bomb blasts ripped through two popular pet markets in Baghdad on Friday, killing 72 people. Police said a female suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded 82 at the Ghazil pet market in central Baghdad. Another blast shortly after, caused either by a roadside bomb or a second female suicide bomber, killed 27 people and wounded 67 at a bird market kin southern Baghdad, they said.

Paul Tait and Aws Quasay / Reuters
Hindustan Times – February 2, 2008.

Go Top

Senior Al Qaeda leader killed: US

Washington – February 1, 2008 – A senior Al Qaeda leader who ran operations in Afghanistan and was an expert in guerrilla warfare, Abu Laith al-Libi, has been killed in a “serious blow” to the terrorist network, a western official said. The official described him as a top al Qaeda operative of Libyan descent who specialised in paramilitary activities along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

DPA
Hindustan Times – February 2, 2008.

Go Top

Female bombers kill 64 in Iraq

Baghdad – February 1, 2008 – Powerful blasts, both triggered by female suicide bombers, killed at least 64 people and wounded another 60 they ripped through two Baghdad pet markets on Friday, officials said.

(AFP)
The Asian Age – February 2, 2008.

Go Top

Islamist terrorists planned blasts in Goa

Hyderabad – Islamist fundamentalists planned serial blasts in the Goa beaches, interrogation of Hyderabad resident Raziuddin Nasir has revealed. The arrival of foreign tourists, especially Israelis, seemed to have put the beaches on the cross-wires of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ulJihadi-al-Islami operatives. The police seized 11 stolen motorcycles on the basis of the statements of Nasir and his accomplice Abubakar.

K. Srinivas Reddy
The Hindu – February 2, 2008/

Go Top

20 die in Lanka blast

Colombo – A powerful bomb ripped through a passenger bus in sri Lanka killing at lesat 20 people and injuring 50 on Saturday. The blast book place in a bus parked at the main bus stand at Dambulla, nearly 150 KMs northeast of Colombo.

P.K. Balachandran / IANS
Sunday Hindustan Times – February 3, 2008.

Go Top

Lanka suicide blast kills 11, injures 100

Colombo – At least 11 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded today when an LTTE woman suicide bomber blew herself up at a railway station here on the eve of Sri Lanka’s 60th Independence Day. The suspected LTTE woman cadre had travelled on a train and blew herself up at Fort railway station when the security forces personnel were carrying out random checking.

PTI
The Times of India – February 4, 2008.

Go Top

‘600 suicide bombers present in Karachi’

Karachi – February 4, 2008 – As many as 600 suicide bombers are present in the Pakistani port city of Karachi where they are planning to carry out a major attack, arrested militants of an Al Qaeda linked banned outfit have told the police. Most of the suicide bombers were former students of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid which was stormed by the military last July to flush out extremists, the source told the Daily Times. The militants confessed that they had robbed foreign banks and dispatched the money to their headquarters in Wana. They also added that they were planning to target several key leaders of Altaf Hussein-led MQM and some high-profile government officials before the February 18 general elections.

(PTI)
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

Qaeda threatens fresh Iraq offensive

Cairo – February 4, 1008 – An Al Qaeda front group for northern Iraq said in a statement posted on Monday on the Internet that it was launching its own campaign in the northern city of Mosul and urged volunteers to join them to carry out suicide attacks on US troops, Iraqi Shias and the Kurdish peshmerga troops. The Sunni militant group, known as Mosul’s regional command of the Islamic State of Iraq, said their own campaign woulod be a “vengeance raid”, but provided no details.

Maamoun Youssef / (AP)
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

Ten killed as bomber rams into Pak Army bus

Rawalpindi – February 4, 2008 – Ten people were killed and more than 20 injured on Monday when a suicide bomber rammed his motorbike into a Pakistan Army bus taking paramedic staff to work in killed instantly and five died in the nearby military hospital. “Twenty people were injured, some of them critically,” said city police officer Basharat Abbasi.

Muhammad Najeeb / IANS
Hindustan Times – February 5, 2008

Go Top

12 die in blast as Lanka marks I-Day

Colombo – At least 12 people were killed and 17 injured on Monday when a bus hit a mine planted by suspected Tamil rebels in a town in North-Central Sri Lanka. “We suspect the hand of the LTTE. The death toll in the passenger bus explosion has touched 12, while 17 others have been injured,” a senior police official said.

PTI
Hindustan Times – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

7 killed in Gaza clashes

Gaza City – Gaza Strip: Israeli ground forces backed by warplanes exchanged fire with Hamas gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip early on Thursday, killing a teacher and six militants in escalating violence. The teacher died and two other staffers were hurt when an Israeli surface-to-surface missile struck an agricultural school in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 8, 2008.

Go Top

Bomb blast kills l2 in Pak, says police

Quetta (Pakistan) – A bomb blast at a bus stand in Pakistan’s troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan on Thursday killed two people and injured eight others, the police said. The device exploded in the town of Dera Murad Jamali and the police arrested the bomber. Nobody has claimed the responsibility.

(AFP)
The Asian Age – February 8, 2008.

Go Top

20 killed in suicide bombing

Islamabad – February 9, 2008 – At least 16 people were killed and 35 others injured in a suspected suicide bomb attack on an election rally in northwestern Pakistan today. The blast occurred at a rally in Nakai near the town of Charsadda. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said, “I have been told that most probably it was a suicide attack.”

Sunday Hindustan Times – February 10, 2008.

Go Top

East Timor prez shot at, critical

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta was shot and critically wounded at his home in Dili on Monday in an assassination bid by rebel soldiers, Horta, who won a 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent resistance to the decades-long Indonesian occupation, was being rated for serious injuries.

Bay Ismoyo/AFP
Hindustan Times – February 12, 2008.

Go Top

14 dead, 45 hurt in Iraq car blasts

Baghdad – February 11, 2008 – Twin car bombs targeted a meeting of US-allied Sunni tribal leaders on Monday in Baghdad, killing at least 14 civilians and wounding 45, a military spokesman said. The attack occurred near the heavily fortified offices of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the country’s largest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 12, 2008.

Go Top

Terrorist network plotting to bomb Metro Manila

Philippines: The Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist network is plotting to bomb certain key areas in Metro Manila to retaliate for the death of Indonesian bomber Dulmatin, the military claimed Friday.

Extract from email dated 24.2.2008 of Mr. Mayer Nudell.

Go Top

Suicide blast kills 12 in Pak

Islamabad – February 11, 2008 – At least 12 people died in a suicide attack and 20 more were injured in Miranshah town of the Pakistan’s tribal North Waziristan district on Monday, the police said. The attacker rammed a car laden with explosives into the candidate’s convoy as it headed to a rally ahead of the general elections.

Pakistan Correspondent
The Asian Age – February 12, 2008.

Go Top

6 killed in Lanka church attack

Colombo – February 12, 2008 – Artillery fired by Tamil separatists hit a Roman Catholic Church near a military base in Sri Lanka’s embattled north on Tuesday, killing six soldiers who were cleaning the building, the military said. About 15 shells hit St. Anthony’s Church and the nearby area in the village of Thalladi in the Mannar district, a military spokesman said.

Krishan Francis / (AP)
The Asian Age – February 13, 2008.

Go Top

3 killed in Pakistan

Islamabad – February 14, 2008 – A bomb exploded on Thursday near a military convoy in the tribal region of northwest Pakistan, killing three security personnel and wounding another, the Army spokesperson said. The blat struck when the convoy was heading from a post along the Afghanistan border to Khar.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 15, 2008.

Go Top

4 troops killed in mine blast

Quetta (Pakistan) – February 17, 2008 – A military pickup struck a land mine in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit Baluchistan province on Sunday, killing four troops and wounding two others, the police said. The explosion occurred near the tribal town of Dera Bugti where the troops were on a routine security patrol guarding a gas well.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 18, 2008.

Go Top

37 killed in suicide attack

Islamabad – February 16, 2008 – At least 37 people were killed and over 90 injured in a suicide attack on Saturday on the office of a Pakistan People’s Party candidate in northwestern Pakistan, heightening security fears for Monday’s crucial parliamentary elections. The suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the office of PPP candidate Riaz Hussain Shah at a market in Parachinar.

PTI
Sunday Hindustan Times – February 17, 2008.

Go Top

Suicide blast kills 80 in Afghanistan

Kandahar – February 17, 2008 – A suicide blast tore through a crowd of men watching dog fighting in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Sunday, killing 80 people and wounding dozens more, a provincial governor said. Officials blamed Taliban insurgents for Sunday’s blast, but the extremist group did not immediately claim responsibility.

Nasraf Shoaib / AFP
Hindustan Times – February 18, 2008.

Go Top

Baghdad: Woman suicide bomber kills 2

Baghdad – A woman suicide bomber triggered her explosives-laden vest inside an electrical shop in central Baghdad near the National Theatre in Karrada on Sunday, killing two people and wounding 10, security officials said.

Hindustan Times – February 18, 2008.

Go Top

Six jawans, 13 Naxals killed

Jagdalpur/Raipur – February 18, 2008 – Thirteen Naxalites and six CRPF jawans were killed on Monday afternoon in two different encounters in Bijapur district of Bastar region. All six CRPF jawans along with three Naxalites perished in an encounter when the Maoists ambushed the police party near village Tarkel under Mirtur police station area in Bijapur district. The Naxals snatched away the deceased jawans’ rifles. In the other encounter, 10 Naxalites were killed.

S. Karimuddin and Ejaz Kaiser
Hindustan Times – February 19, 2008.

Go Top

Suicide bomber kills 37 in fresh Afghanistan attack

Kandahar – February 18, 2008 - A suicide bomber targeting a foreign military convoy in Afghanistan killed 37 civilians in an attack near the Pakistan border on Monday, the interior ministry said. Kandahar’s governor told a news conference the bomber was in a car and had attacked a convoy of Canadian troops serving under NATO’s command. Four Canadians were wounded.

Reuters
Hindustan Times – February 19, 2008.

Go Top

Morocco says terror network busted

Paris – February 21, 2008 - Morocco’s government said it has dismantled a terrorist network that had plotted to assassinate cabinet ministers and members of the North African kingdom’s Jewish community. Authorities believe the net work has links to al-Qaeda and local terror groups. A total of 32 people were arrested in sweep this week. Morocco has also banned an Islamist political party, al Badil Al Hadari, because some members were linked to the network. The network raised money by waging holdups, selling stolen goods and taking contribution from its members, the report said.

Associated Press
The Indian Express – February 22, 2008.

Go Top

Bomb blasts kill 4 in Iraq

Baghdad – A bomb hidden under a cart exploded in downtown Baghdad on Friday, killing two civilians and wounding six, the police said. The cart was left near a building, and the explosives apparently were detonated by remote-control at about 7.30 A.M., the police said. A booby-trapped car being towed by the police also blew up in Tikrit.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 23, 2008.

Go Top

Bomber killed, 19 held in Swat

Islamabad – A security force man and a suspected suicide bomber were killed in an operation in Swat in Pakistan that resulted in the arrest of 19 militants. A security force man was killed in an attack late on Friday night by a group of suicide bombers while troops were conducting a search at Kabal.

The Sunday Express – February 24, 2008.

Go Top

Six killed in Kabul roadside bomb blast

Asadabad – A roadside bomb killed six Afghan security employees of a construction firm on Saturday in the eastern province of Kunar, an official said. The blast happened on a road in Sarkano district which lies to the south of Asadabad, the provincial capital of Kunar near the border with Pakistan.

Hindustan Times – February 24, 2008.

Go Top

Blast kills 40 Shia pilgrims in Iraq

Karbala (Iraq) – A suicide bomber targeting pilgrims heading to one of Shia Islams holiest festivals killed 40 persons, including women and children, south of Baghdad on Sunday, the police said.

Reuters
The Hindu – February 25, 2008.

Go Top

‘Disabled’ bomber kills top Iraqi cop

Baghdad: A suicide bomber in a wheelchair killed a top policeman and wounded four others in an attack on the police operations centre in the Iraqi city of Samarra on Monday, the police said. The bomber entered the operations centre and asked to speak to assistant police chief Abdul-Jabbar Rabee Muttar, said an official.

Reuters
The Times of India – February 26, 2008.

Go Top

Blast kills top army doctor in Rawalpindi

Islamabad – February 25, 2008 – A suicide bomber struck a car carrying an army general on a busy road near Pakistan’s capital on Monday, killing him and at least seven others, the army said.

AP
Hindustan Times – February 26, 2008.

Go Top

9 killed in Mosul suicide bus attack

Baghdad – A suicide bomber struck a bus on Tuesday outside the city of Mosul, killing nine people and wounding three, the Iraqi army said. According to a preliminary report, the Army said that the suicide bomber ordered the bus driver to take a route away from the highway to dodge army check points. But the driver refused and the bomber blew himself up.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 27, 2008.

Go Top

Five cops, 1 kid killed in Afghan blast

Kabul – A roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying five policemen and a child in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing all six, an official said.

(AP)
The Asian Age – February 27, 2008.

Go Top

Food for Thought

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

- Galileo Galilei

Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.

- Arnold Bennett

I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

- Isaac Newton

Go Top

  

HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsSecurity File
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008
   
 

Assam rebels abduct 5 businessmen, kill 1.

Guwahati – February 1, 2008 – Black Widow militants kidnapped five businessmen, killed one of them and released two others with bullet injuries. The incident took place on Thursday evening at Jirkading under the Kheroni police station of Karbi Anglong. The rebels had earlier served extortion notices to all the businessmen of the area who jointly decided to oppose it.

Manoj Anand
The Asian Age – February 2, 2008.

Go Top

4 CRPF men killed in Naxal attack

Raipur - February 2, 2008 – Four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in a powerful landmine blast this evening in Maoist-infested Narayanpur district of Bastar region in Chhattisgarh. “The deceased were on two motorcycles and were conducting routine road-opening exercise. When the two motorcycles approached a culvert in the area, the Naxalite cadres exploded the landmine, killing the four on the spot,” said the DIG.

Express News Service
The Sunday Express – February 3, 2008.

Go Top

2 killed, 5 hurt in attack in Assam

Guwahati – February 4, 2008 – Two people were killed and five wounded when rebels of a tribal militant outfit opened indiscriminate fire in a village in North Cachar Hills district of Assam. The police said that rebels of the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the outlawed Dima Halam Daoga (DHD), also known as the Black Widow, started indiscriminate firing in Manderdisa village in the North Cachar Hills district on Sunday night.

Special Correspondent
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

37 Tigers, 6 troops die in Lanka

Colombo – February 6, 2008 – At least 37 Tamil Tigers and six soldiers were killed in fierce clashes in Sri Lanka’s embattled north on Wednesday. War planes hit a location near Iranamadu on Wednesday morning after government forces destroyed some 30 bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along front lines in the Jafna peninsula, the ministry said.

(AFP)
The Asian Age – February 7, 2008.

Go Top

Maoist den in Maharashtra

Mumbai – February 15, 2008 – Documents that the Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh police seized from arrested Maoists during recent joint anti-insurgency operations and made available to HT showed that the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) had established more than 22 units all over Gadchiroli. In Gadchiroli, the 22 Maoist units consist of 206 “office-bearers”, 162 men and 38 women, the documents recovered by the police reveal.

Stavan Desai
Hindustan Times – February 16, 2008.

Go Top

Naxals storm Orissa town, kill 15

Nayagarh/Bhubeneswar – Hundreds of armed guerrillas stormed Nayagarh town, barely 90 km from Bhubenswar, and overran three police stations and two outposts on Friday night. 13 police personnel and two civilians were killed kin the attack that lasted over four hours. The Naxals looted two armouries and took away arms and ammunition. There was no opposition from the police personnel who ran to save their lives.

Sandeep Mishra & Rajaram Satapathy/TNN
Sunday Times of India – February 17, 2008.

Go Top

Cop, 4 Naxalites killed in Gadchiroli encounter

Gadchiroli – February 22, 2008 – The Gadchiroli police on Friday swooped down on another Dalam killing four of its members, one of them suspected to be a commander. A constable was also killed in the operation. Incidentally, three of the Naxalites killed were women. With Friday’s encounter, the Gadchiroli police have eliminated three Dalam commanders since November.

Vivek Deshpande / Shekhar Soni
The Indian Express – February 23, 2008.

Go Top

3 police officials killed by Maoists

Bhubaneswar – February 23, 2008 – Three police personnel who were killed in an exchange of fire with Maoists in Ganjam district of Orissa. They had been killed during the combing operation against the Maoists who had raided police establishments in Nayagarh on February 15.

Rabindra Nath Choudhury
The Asian Age – February 24, 2008.

Go Top

Two Hindi-speaking people gunned down

Guwahati – Suspected KLNLF (Karbi Longri North Cachar Liberation Front) militants shot dead two Hindi speaking men on Sunday at Rongpur village in Karbi Anglong district.

Hindustan Times – February 25, 2008.

Go Top

Food for Thought

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act, but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.

- G.K. Chesterton

Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.

- Eric Hoffer

A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.

– Arthur Golden

Go Top

  

HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsCyber Crime
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008
   
 

A way to steal data even after comp is switched off

San Francisco – A group led by a Princeton University computer security researcher has developed a simple method to steal encrypted information stored on computer hard disks. The technique, which could undermine security software protecting critical data on computers, is as easy as chilling a computer memory chip with a blast of frigid air from a can of dust remover. The development, which was described on the group’s website on Thursday, could also have implications for the protection of encrypted personal data from prosecutors. The move, which cannot be carried out remotely, exploits a little-known vulnerability of the dynamic random access or DRAM chip. Those chips temporarily hold data, including the keys to modern data-scrambling algorithms. When the computer’s electrical power is shut off, the data, including the keys, is supposed to disappear. When the chips were chilled using an inexpensive can of air, the data was frozen in place, permitting the researchers to easily read the keys – long strings of ones and zeros – out of the chip’s memory.

NYT News Service
The Times of India – February 23, 2008.

Go Top

Food for Thought

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.

- Mark Twain

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.

- John Aughey

Unless we think of others and do something for them, we miss one of the greatest sources of happiness.

- Ray Lyman Wilbur

Go Top

  

HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsScience & Technology
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008
 

Your mobile charge can last ten times longer, thanks to new chip

New York – February 5, 2008 – A team of researchers led by a scientist of Indian origin, has unveiled a new energy efficient microchip design for portable electronics that could result in cell phones staying charged ten times as long. Reducing the operating voltage, however, is not as simple as it might sound, because existing microchips have been optimized for may years to operate at the higher standard-voltage level. Memory and logic circuits have to be redesigned to operate at very low power supply voltage.

PTI
Hindustan Times – February 6, 2008

Go Top

The Third Dimension
Security Technology & Design (01/08) Vol. 18, No. 1, P. 42 ; Bogart, Matthew

Three-dimensional face recognition technology has several advantages, including utilization of its own near-infrared light source, which allows for correct identification matches even in bad lighting conditions. In addition, a larger number of data points can be obtained with 3D, and the kinds of data points acquired are more valuable. A 2D system might confirm a match employing such data points as a forehead's curvature, but 3D is more effective because it can make matches even if a face changes due to scars or additional visual features. Since structured light 3D face scanners employ their own source of light, they can function in bad lighting conditions. In addition, they can accommodate different facial positions, making it simpler for users to confirm who they are as they stop in front of the face reader.

Security Management Daily February 7, 2008

Go Top

Food for Thought

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them you confidence.

- George Washington

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.

- Vernon Law

The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has.

- Confucius

Go Top

  

HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsLegal File
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008
   
 

Employer can choose whom to retire: SC

New Delhi – Conferring unbridled power on governments to prune employee strength in overstaffed loss-making concerns, the Supreme Court has ruled that an employer has the absolute discretion in compulsorily retiring the staff. The courts had no role to play in deciding which among the employees were to be compulsorily retired and those who should be allowed to continue in service, a bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and H.S. Bedi said in an important judgement on Thursday.

Dhananjay Mahapatra/TNN
The Times of India – February 23, 2008.

Go Top

Food for Thought

“I refused to attend the funeral, but I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it.”

- Mark Twain

He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.

- Forrest Tucker

Learn all that you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.

- Alfred Sheinwold

Go Top

  

HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsIndustry News
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,  March 2008
   
 

The First CSP Programme of 2008

The first Professional Certification Programme for “Certified Security Professional” was held at Safdarjung Club in Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi – 110029 on March 12-15, 2008. The twelve participants in the programme came from Reserve Bank of India, Radisson Resort, Hindalco Industries Limited, Kuwait Oil Company, Crompton Greaves, ITC Limited, AXIS Bank and ACE Detectives. Mr. Ismail Ahmad Alkandari from Kuwait had earlier done the IISSM’s CSS Certification Programme in Kuwait itself.

As before, the thrust in the CSP programme was to give coverage of basic security theories and practices, backed up by experience-based deliberations. The specialsied aspects, covered were Principles of Threat Analysis and Planning Countermeasures, Information Security, Application of Science and Technology in Industrial Security, Disaster Management, HRD in Security, Supervision in Security, Investigation and Report Writing, Laws relevant to Security Industry, BPO Security, Loss Prevention and Intelligence. Separate sessions were kept for discussing the PSAR Act also to analyse the problems of security management as brought out by the participants.

The faculties in the programme were: S/Shri B.G. Gupta, Maj. (Retd.) Avtar Singh, Sanjeev Sehgal, Col. (Retd.) T. Saikia, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Prem Sagar and D.C. Nath.

By all standards, it was a batch of very bright security executives interacting with the faculties in depth – both during the formal sessions and outside during tea / coffee / lunch breaks. The bonhomie developed among the participants was commendable.

Mr. R.K. Sinha, Executive Chairman of IISSM addressed the participants in the valedictory session on March 15, 2008. Bringing out the ever-increasing scope and exponential growth of the security industry in the country, he laid emphasis on how to successfully face the ongoing challenges before the security executives.

Each delegate received a Certificate of Participation, one year complimentary Affiliate Membership of IISSM and of course, the CSP Certificate. And as per IISSM convention, CD containing all the presentation materials, was also given to all.

IISSM will like to take this opportunity to compliment all the participants and wish them great success in their future career.

Go Top

SIS (India) clinches cleaning services deal with US major ServiceMaster

New Delhi (India), March 7, 2008 – ServiceMaster Clean, a worldwide leader in commercial and residential cleaning and disaster restoration, announced here on Friday it had entered into a master license agreement with Security and Intelligence Services (SIS) India Ltd, a pioneer in the Indian private security industry that provides a comprehensive range of security products and services.

The announcement followed the signing of the license agreement at the US embassy in New Delhi between R K Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of SIS (India) and Bisher M Mufti, President of ServiceMaster Clean’s international business. ServiceMaster, a USD 4 bn multinational Company with its headquarters at Memphis (United States), is acknowledged as leading service provider in field of cleaning, pest control and disaster restoration services.

The deal with ServiceMaster comes on the back of the news that top international hedge fund D E Shaw, which controls assets with over USD 36 bn globally, had picked up a 14 per cent stake in SIS (India) at a market estimated price of over Rs 500 crore.

ServiceMaster Clean serves customers in more than 40 countries through a global network of more than 4,500 franchises that provide residential carpet cleaning, upholstery and disaster restoration services, and commercial carpet cleaning, hard surface floor care and janitorial services. ServiceMaster, founded in 1947, is a privately held company of Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, Inc. (CD&R).

“This agreement represents a continuation of our pursuit of international expansion and creates exciting new growth opportunities for ServiceMaster Clean,” said Mike Isakson, president and chief operating officer, ServiceMaster Clean. “SIS is a large, successful company and we believe that this will be a great partnership, based on its commitment to quality, state-of-the-art technology solutions and an excellent customer service model. We are excited to welcome them to the ServiceMaster team.”

ServiceMaster Clean’s international business head Bisher Mufti said the all-India network of SIS, its training facilities and value system were the deciding factors for ServiceMaster to decide on its partner in India. “For SIS the choice was simple -- it wanted to offer the best and most modern facilities to its customer in India in the field of Cleaning services- in both Industrial and Residential segments. Only ServiceMaster Clean could fit the bill”, said SIS CMD R K Sinha.

Sinha said the diversification held compelling value for SIS (India), considering cleaning was the new sunrise industry with a wealth of new shopping malls, residential complexes and commercial buildings coming up across India. “Maintaining all this infrastructure will be as important as creating them. SIS, with its first move advantage, is poised for leadership in what will soon be a multi-thousand crore cleaning and house-keeping business in India”, he added.

Under the terms of the service agreement, ServiceMaster Clean will provide the expertise, intellectual property and technical knowhow for the business. “The SIS, with its expertise in raising trained man power through its five residential training academies located across India, will run the business in this country”, Sinha explained.

Ranked among the top two private security companies in India, SIS has a workforce of over 25,000 serving a network of 40 branches, eight regional offices and operations spread across 24 states. Its over 2,500 corporate customers include banks, retail outlets, hotels and residential communities. The partnership with ServiceMaster Clean offers SIS an opportunity to broaden its service offerings using its existing customer base and geographical footprint.

An ISO 9001:2000 certified public limited company with CRISIL’s ‘SME-1’ credit rating, SIS offers a complete range of security solutions ranging from Manned Guarding, Cash in Transit and Consulting & Investigations to Electronic Security Systems and Security Training. It has reported a CAGR of 50 per cent or more for the past three years and has the vision of becoming the leading player in Asia Pacific region in all the above services.

ServiceMaster Clean is part of the ServiceMaster family that includes international brands like TruGreen ChemLawn, TruGreen LandCare, Terminix, American Home Shield, InStar Services Group, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec.

Go Top

Specialised battalions for industrial houses

Guwahati – February 4, 2008 – In view of the increasing demand of security, the Assam2 government is going to raise two battalions of the Assam Industrial Security Force to provide security to the industrial houses and the plantation industries. Besides two specialised battalions of AISF, the home ministry has granted permission to the Assam government for raising two more India Reserve Battalions for counter-insurgency operations in Assam.

Manoj Anand
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

ASIS European Security Conference

ASIS International will be holding 7th European Security Conference on April 13-16, 2008, at Barcelons, Spain. For further details, please contact ASIS International, Email: asisinternational@asisonline.org

Email dated 13.2.2008 from ASIS International.

Go Top

Rs 70L stolen from bank’s treasury van

New Delhi – In a suspected case of misappropriation of bank money, four employees of a security agency had reported that a bag containing Rs.70 lakhs was stolen from their van in Model Town area on Tuesday evening while they were having their lunch. The police said the four, who were inside the van, work for Security Trans India Private Limited, they might be involved in the theft as the van’s locks were not tampered with or broken.

Times News Network
The Times of India – February 20, 2008.

Go Top

Food for Thought

Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.

- Sam Walton

The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.

– Robert J. Shiller

Go Top

  

HomeNewsletterIISSM NewsGeneral Information
Volume No. 6,   Issue No. 10,   March 2008
   
 

Air conditioning and your health

Does Air Conditioning really affect your health? Find out how you can enjoy the benefits of air conditioning without the problems.

Who would be without air conditioning. In hot, humid climates it is more than a modern comfort – it is an essential element in getting through those sweltering, sticky days. But, like most modern conveniences, air conditioning has its down-sides. Are they sufficient to make you think twice about having an air conditioner at your place? Many researchers believe they are. Let’s find out why. The problems associated with air conditioners arise out of overuse. With the ease of fingertip control many people assume that the more they use their unit the better it will be. This, however, is not the case. Air conditioning aggravates the effects of arthritis and neuritis. It also causes trouble for those with sinus trouble, causing their heads to become blocked. In addition to these obvious reactions to an air conditioned environment there are many far more subtle reactions that can adversely affect a person’s health. Studies between those who have worked for prolonged periods in air conditioned offices and those who work outdoors, have consistently shown that the people exposed to air conditioning are more susceptible to colds, flu and other minor ailments. It has also been proven that the body undergoes a certain amount of stress when it is forced to go from a boiling hot environment into an air conditioned one. Over time this, too can cause problems.

It is also apparent that those who spend an inordinate amount of time in an air conditioned environment are not able to readily cope with hot summer temperatures. As a result, severe heat waves are now taking a higher death toll. In addition to this many people have been made sick by extreme variances between outside and inside temperatures. Going from an outside temperature of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit to an inside one of less than 78 degrees F (26 degree C) is, for example, bound to play havoc with one’s health. Air conditioners in cars also have their problems. Micro-organisms have been found within the units that may cause breathing problems. Researchers at Louisiana State Medical Center identified eight different types of mould living inside of 22 of 25 cars tested. Air conditioning units can also circulate air-borne diseases, most famously Legionairre’s Disease. If the unit has cheap filters or is not properly maintained it will simply recalculate pollutants. Cutting back on air conditioning is also a way to conserve energy. It takes 60 % more energy to cool a home to 72 degree F (22 degree C) than it does to 78 degree F. In fact, as an energy saving measure, the United States Government issued a directive in 1980 making it illegal to cool public buildings below 78 degree F (26 degree C). Of course there are also positives to air conditioning. It creates a pleasant atmosphere inside, regardless of what is going on outside. It may eliminate heat rash and help hay fever sufferers by removing pollens from the air. The removal of dirty and dry air is also accomplished by air conditioning. The decision to use air conditioning is, of course, yours. Having weighed up the pros and cons, you may decide that the best option is to use it, but do so sparingly, not going below 78 degrees (26 degree C), and not becoming reliant on it. Then, you’ll get the benefits while, hopefully, avoiding the detriments of air conditioning.

Email dated January 29, 2008 from Sysman Computer Ltd., Mumbai.

Go Top

‘UK planned training camp for Taliban'

London – February 4, 2008 – Britain planned a camp to train 2000 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan as part of a deal to make them swap sides and fight against the remaining insurgents, it was claimed. “The camp would provide military training for 1800 ordinary Taliban fighters and 200 low-level commanders,” an unnamed Afghan government official was quoted by the Independent as saying.

(PTI)
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

Pound 6m for linking UK schools with madrasas

Islamabad – February 4, 2008 – The British Council is to put Pound 6 million into linking British schools with madrasas (religious seminaries) in countries where children may be at risk of being groomed by Muslim extremists, a British media report said. The aim is to combat extreme Islamist ideology, a British TV channel reported. The programme will operate in Afghanistan, Iraq, Indonesia and Pakistan, including NWFP, regarded s a stronghold for the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the report said.

Pakistan Correspondent
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

‘Birds can detect latitude, longitude’

New York – A team of international researchers has found that the migratory birds are true navigators, meaning they can identify at least two coordinates that roughly correspond to latitudes and longitudes. The findings challenge the notion held by some that birds might be limited to navigation in the north-south direction. But the team still don’t know how they do it.

(PTI)
The Asian Age – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

Experts: future refrigerators to run on heat, not electricity

Hamburg – According to a team of innovative scientists in Germany, the refrigerator of the future will run on heat, not costly electricity. They have developed a prototype, which very soon could be cooling a cold storage plant in Morocco this way.

Agencies
The Times of India – February 5, 2008.

Go Top

Maoists acquire latest weapons

New Delhi – February 4, 2008 – Maoists have acquired state-of-the-art weapons, which is giving nightmares to the security agencies. Equipped with the latest LMGs, mortar launchers, SLRs and AK-47s, and having at their disposal inflated budgets to carry out attacks, the Maoists managed to target vital government buildings in the recent past, raiding CRPF camps, looting banks, an ex-MP and a zamindar, attacking police personnel besides snatching their weaponry in states like Bihar land Jharkhand. As per the latest information with then home ministry, a particular Maoist group, which is at large in Bihar, had decided to conduct a major raid on the police headqua