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Aviation watchdog DGCA on Tuesday said surveillance conducted at major airports revealed several defects in the aviation ecosystem, including multiple cases wherein the defects reappeared on aircraft and centre line marking faded on runway. The surveillance, which comes against the backdrop of the fatal Air India plane crash at Ahmedabad on June 12, covered critical areas such as flight operations, airworthiness, ramp safety, air traffic control, communication, navigation systems, and pre-flight medical evaluations. Without disclosing names of airlines or any other entities in the ecosystem, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in a statement said the findings have been communicated to those concerned for taking corrective actions within seven days. Two teams led by DGCA Joint Director General carried out comprehensive surveillance during night and early morning hours at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai. During the surveillance, domestic flight of a scheduled
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government is deploying an electronic surveillance system to safeguard the country's borders and that technology will be used to detect and dismantle underground cross-border tunnels to thwart infiltration by terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing BSF personnel during a visit to Border Outpost Vinay' near the International Border in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district, Shah said more than 26 technology-related initiatives are currently being tested which also include anti-drone technology. The minister, who interacted with BSF personnel, lauded the contribution of the force and praised the troops for performing their duties in challenging circumstances. He asserted that the central government is fully committed to the welfare of security forces and their families. Jammu and Kashmir'Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director of the Intelligence Bureau and ...
The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC), the Union law ministry has amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of "papers" or documents open to public inspection. According to Rule 93, all "papers" related to elections shall be open to public inspection. The amendment inserts "as specified in these rules" after "papers". Law ministry and EC officials separately explained that a court case was the "trigger" behind the amendment. While documents such as nomination forms, appointment of election agents, results and election account statements are mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules, electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcasting footage and video recording of candidates during the Model Code of Cond
Australia's highest court ruled Wednesday that migrants can't be forced by law to wear electronic tracking bracelets or to comply with curfews. The ruling is a blow to the government, whose lawyers have unsuccessfully argued that laws imposing curfews and tracking technology are justified to protect the community. Five of the seven High Court judges ruled that the tough restrictions placed on more than 100 migrants, usually because of their criminal records, were unconstitutional because the conditions amounted to punishment. The constitution states that punishment must be imposed by judges, not lawmakers. The restrictions were part of emergency laws hastily passed in December in response to another High Court ruling that non-citizens could no longer be detained indefinitely as an alternative to deportation. That ruling in the case of a stateless Rohingya man reversed a 28-year-old High Court precedent that allowed indefinite detention where there were security concerns. Wednesday'
The CIA wants to make it easier -- and safer -- for people in Iran, China and North Korea to share information with the US's premier spy agency. The agency on Wednesday posted online instructions in Korean, Mandarin and Farsi detailing steps that potential informants can take to contact US intelligence officials without putting themselves in danger. The instructions include ways to reach the CIA on its public website or on the darknet, a part of the Internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide the user's identity. The CIA posted similar instructions in Russian two years ago following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "People are trying to reach out to us from around the world and we are offering them instructions for how to do that safely," the agency said in a statement. "Our efforts on this front have been successful in Russia, and we want to make sure individuals in other authoritarian regimes know that we're open for business." The tips, presented in ...
The Indian Navy has enhanced deployment of ships and aerial surveillance in the central Arabian Sea and off east Coast of Somalia in restoring maritime security in the region, the government said on Friday, amid rising global concerns over Houthi militants targeting merchant ships in the Red Sea and adjoining areas. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt also said Indian Navy units are being deployed in strategic waters in Djibouti, Gulf of Aden as well as in the North Arabian Sea to provide security to merchant vessels. The comments by Bhatt, while responding to separate questions in Lok Sabha, came as the Houthi militants continued to attack various cargo vessels in the Red Sea and other strategic waterways in the region apparently in response to Israel's military offensive in Gaza. Bhatt said the Navy deployed its units in the Gulf of Aden and East coast of Africa in anti-piracy patrols since 2008 and a total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been "safely ...