well, a big focus this morning. The Maharashtra government has called for an all party meeting over the Maratha quota protests at 11 a.m. this morning. Now the meeting will take place two days after violence and arson was reported from Maharashtra's be. But the Ikin government has said it is adopting measures that will pacify the agitators who want reservation in government jobs as well as education under the other backward classes category. But activist Mano Jang had been on an indefinite hunger strike at his native village in Jala district since the 25th of October to demand reservation for the Maratha community. He ended his hunger strike after a discussion with the chief minister over the phone. But Maratha community members, as we have been reporting on ND TV, have been staging protests in different parts of Maharashtra, seeking reservation in government jobs as well as education. My colleague Ron joins us with a quick update over the phone line Ronak. We are aware that the Maharashtra government has called for an all party meeting at 11 a.m. but you were mentioning that Av Tak's faction has not been invited for this meeting. Thanks so much as always for joining us on that story. Do stick on with us for the next update from Maharashtra as well. We have reports now. The Maharashtra government has declared a drought in 43 taluk cars that have been hit by the insufficient rainfall for the Cardiff crop season of 2023. Now, in view of this decision, special assistance will be requested from the centre to give relief to these affected areas in Maharashtra. Ron is with us for an update on this story as well. Ron. Now a drought has been declared in 43 taluk in Maharashtra. Thanks Ronald, for joining us with that update. Let's turn our attention now to Jammu and Kashmir. There have been three instances of targeted attacks by terrorists in the past three days. A policeman was shot dead by terrorists inside his home in Jammu and Kashmir's Ba Laura district on Tuesday, and on Monday a migrant labourer, Kuldeep Singh from Uttar Pradesh, was killed in Pulwama. On Sunday, a police inspector was shot and and he was injured in Srinagar, Masrur Ahmad Wani was actually shot thrice on Sunday while he was playing cricket in the Igar area. Nazir Masudi has further details for us within three days, three attacks and two targeted attacks and also in three different parts of the valley. Yesterday evening, gunman barged into the house of GLAAD head constable of Jammu and Kashmir police in Wu K district. They shot him from point blank and he was taken to hospital in a critical condition by doctors declared brought dead. So early on Monday there was a migrant worker who was killed in Pulwama and on Sunday police inspector Masood Rahni was critically injured after he was attacked in Iga area of Srinagar. So clearly these target attacks surface Militants are trying to send a message that they can carry out such attacks at a time when the police and the government have been seeing that militants at its last leg. Very few boys have joined militancy over the last one year, which is the huge, huge change in the ground situation that police have been seeing. But it is a challenge for the security forces to know how to deal with this new wave of targeted attacks in the valley where now we see two policemen were targeted in the last three days and then migrant labour are also being killed. It is a tragedy for the families. Besides, you know what we talk about Militancy, counter militancy. Look at the family of the Gula Muhammad had Constable. He is survived by his wife and six daughters and he was a sole breadwinner for the family whole family. So imagine the tragedy. Imagine then, of the the difficulties the family is going to face. One precious life has been cut short in this tragic attack. There you know condemnation from all you know sides Every political party leader They have condemned and police have vowed to track down the Attackers. But the attacks have resurfaced now three attacks within three days and the latest one is the police head Constable was killed inside his home and now to Manipur, where reinforcement of state forces have reached more. A town right on the border with Myanmar in the Tegal district after fragile peace in the state was disrupted when suspected militants shot dead a sub divisional police officer in Moray. Now in the evening, a large number of state forces, along with a column of Assam rifles which had left him far for Moray came under attack. The combined team, which was led by an IG AD IG and two SP rank officers, came under fire at two locations along the Indo Myanmar road, leaving at least three police personnel injured. Meanwhile, to prevent spreading of harmful messages, photos and videos, the money for government has extended the mobile Internet ban for another five days till the fifth of November. Rade Choudhury has the latest details for US civil society groups have hit back at the state government, saying that the police commandos of Manipur police have been harassing the tribals in that area. Remember more is a vulnerable area, not only the fact that it is a border area, it is an entry point into the country and therefore for the internal security of the country, it is a very prime location. Therefore always there is a heavy security presence there. Assam rifles, guards, the porous border and BSF had been deployed there in the last one month. We did not see any major escalation and the strategy was to build helipads in vulnerable areas so that it becomes easier for the force movement. Given the fact that we have seen often that the women groups blocked the roads of security forces as they move in. Now what has happened yesterday is that according to police sources, what we have picked up is that police officer who was known to be a daredevil police officer. He was there in that area. He was a subdivision police officer. He was in a non combat duty, guarding and supervising the work of the helipad which was being constructed when, according to police sources, suspected militants fired using snipers and after his death within hours after his death. When the reinforcement was sent at least in two places, the reinforcement came under fire. Three police commandos have sustained serious bullet injuries. They have been rushed back to and admitted in hospital. Assam rifles is manning the area now. In fact, reinforcement had finally reached Mo town around 3 a.m. in the morning. And in fact the state government, as you have rightly pointed out, have now extended the mobile Internet ban until fifth of November. Now, what is important here to note is that yesterday, in yet another development, the State Cabinet, in an urgent meeting, has decided to book tribal civil Society organisation World Cookie Intellectual Council under U. It has been declared unlawful and it has been booked under UAP A. However, the organisation has hit back and said that their press statement on which this action has been taken by the government was a fake press statement and they have issued an advisory that it was a fake statement. In fact, you know the epic body of the cookie community. The king have alleged that the government, particularly the state forces, have been harassing the tribals. The indigenous tribal leaders forum had racked up an issue that while in September another police official who on duty he was a tribal, was shot dead by suspected militants and we had reported that story in ND TV as well. The state government had kept mum at that point of time, so according to the indigenous tribal forum. But when a non tribal officer has been shot dead now the state government is talking about it. So what? The tribal groups are saying that there are two ways that the state follows when it comes to even state personnels who are getting killed in action. However, all this boils down to the fact that there is a fresh tension in Manipur. In fact, last night in the areas in certain areas, there were protests against the killing. There has been a joint action committee formed against the killing of the police officers. They are saying that they would intensify their protest if the perpetrators of the crime the person behind the attack on the police team in which the police officer who got killed are not arrested. Now all this boils down to a situation where the state government and the centre have to take control over the situation which is developing in more, which is a border town along the Myanmar border. News now from the national capital and the NCR region well in view of increasing pollution and deteriorating air quality in the national capital. Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai has called a review meeting with the concerned departments. He's also set to address a press conference around 2 p.m. for the latest on the government's action plan. We're joined by Shari over the phone line at the moment, Sharad, how bad is the situation As far as Delhi NCR region is concerned this morning and the government is meeting to look at solutions air quality index Very poor category. Gopal Emergency Meeting Department officials is meeting senior officials Commission for Air Quality Management, Construction activities or invite air quality or air quality. Sha as always, Thanks so much for joining us with that update from New Delhi. Well, unfortunately, the situation is expected to get worse for the Delhi NCR region. In fact, several people suffering from respiratory disorders like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also experiencing deterioration in their condition despite being on medication due to the city's rising pollution levels. We'll, of course, keep tracking the latest developments for you for now is stepping into a very short break. Welcome back in historic move, Bangladesh and northeast India will re-establish rail connectivity through Tripura after a gap of nearly 7.5 decades. And the much awaited Akara Galla rail connection will be inaugurated virtually by our prime minister and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at 11 a.m. today. Now it is understood that the link will boost India Bangladesh trade in agriculture products, tea, sugar, construction items as well iron and steel and consumer items, as well as boost people to people relationships. My colleague sort of Gupta is tracking the latest developments for us. He joins us live at the moment, sort of. Now, apart from the rail link, the two leaders also expected to inaugurate the Kula MLA port rail line and the second unit of the maitre super thermal power plant. Yes, these are extremely important projects, especially if you look at India's foreign policy, which is the Act East policy and in the Act East policy. The Bay of Bengal region is an extremely extremely important factor and all these projects are also aimed at boosting bilateral ties with Bangladesh and you mentioned people to people contact. Now let's, for example, take the Agartala ahora rail link eventually when the entire project is functional. There are also plans to run trains to Agartala from Kolkata, which will really cut the distance and enable you know, timely travel between the two cities by railways. And if I can give you an example currently, if one has to take a train from Kolkata to Agata, the train goes right up to North Bengal, crosses the chicken's leg, passes through Guwahati and then again comes downwards southwards into Tripura. That, of course, is one thing and the thermal power project is also very, very important because, you know, India has already established a relationship in the power sector with Bangladesh. We are already supplying power from Goa to Bangladesh. We also you know today the prime minister, along with the honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, will inaugurate this Mari Super Thermal power plant which is again being built under an Indian concessional financing financing scheme. And this is located in Rampal in Kulna Division of Bangladesh. So and then you have, of course, the Kulna Mangla Port line project. Also again Remember, our Cooper operation in the port sector with Bangladesh is also extremely, extremely important. And Bangladesh is an extremely important partner for India, especially when it comes to the binte. Remember, the Secretariat of the BINTE is located in Dhaka and therefore this is an extremely important event today in terms of not just India's foreign relations but also local. You know, sentiments as well. You know, there's a lot of movement between, you know, Tripura and Bangladesh Agartala through the Yarra border. And once this Nin TAPUR you know, international railway station is complete. It of course, makes this an extremely important line of connectivity for the people of Bangladesh, for the people of India and all these projects are extremely important in terms of not just bilateral ties but like you said people to people connectivity as well, which is something that is extremely important for both India and Bangladesh, as always, sort of thank you so much for joining us with the latest updates and a quick update for you on the ongoing Israel Hamas war well, An Israeli airstrike is reported to have killed dozens of people at Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. In fact, Gaza's Hamas run Health Ministry said 50 people were killed and around 150 others were wounded in the largest refugee camp in Gaza. But a nearby hospital said it received 400 casualties, including 120 dead. As you can see on your screens, pictures show several large craters surrounded by shattered buildings, and the Israeli military said the strike had killed a senior Hamas commander and underground terror infrastructure beneath buildings had collapsed afterwards. Meanwhile, Palestinian telecommunications company Pal Tel has said there is another complete interruption of all communications as well as Internet services within the Gaza Strip. listen to what the ID F has to say regarding the latest airstrikes, Aib B, Meanwhile, the military wing of the Hamas, said the group plans to release some non Israeli hostages they have been holding in the coming days. Some 240 people have been held by Hamas terrorists since their brutal incursion on the seventh of October. In fact, in a video statement, an al Qassam Brigade spokesman said the release had been arranged through mediation by some countries that he did not name and top US diplomat Anthony Lincoln will begin a new Middle East trip this week, as per his spokesperson as president, Joe Biden seeks urgent mechanisms to reduce regional tensions over the Israel Hamas war. Also, the White House said later that Joe Biden had spoken with the leader of key US partner Jordan on Tuesday, where Lincoln has visited multiple times since the October 7th incursion, and the US president received a commitment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to increase the flow of aid into Gaza. Biden actually spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday as Israeli forces expanded their ground operations in Gaza in what was called the second phase of its war on Hamas after the terrorist groups attacks earlier this last month. Now National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in that that the call with Biden did receive a commitment that Israelis will endeavour to support a significant increase in the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. So that means additional trucks. In fact, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, all American citizens who are in Gaza should continue to register with the State Department and look out for further announcements. Listen in around 45 went in yesterday. I think it was actually at least 45 might have been a few more than that. That made it through um for a total. As of yesterday of at least 175 trucks that moved through Rafa Crossing by end of day yesterday, another 59 have moved today. That was since they reopened, which I think was the 21st since Rafa reopened. Um, another 59 have gone through today, which of course means more went through today than went through yesterday. We are continuing to try to increase the number that make it through Rafah every day, so we have sustained deliveries of humanitarian assistance to the innocent civilians in Gaza with and are trying. As the secretary said on the hill, they'd get up to 100 trucks a day. As always, news and updates continue here on ND TV 24 7. For now, we are slipping into a very short break. Welcome back, Let's get to the violators. And with just a week left for crucial elections to the 14 member Misra Assembly, the B GP, which opened its account in the state in 2018 polls winning one seat would like to not only win more but play a key role as far as the formation the government is concerned. But there are many challenges, including relations with Ruling a miso National Front, Bjp's long term ND a ally and the Manipur violence fallout. And even as the party campaigns hard in the Christian majority state, my colleague Rata reports a big ticket ₹20,000 crore roast project among the BJP's biggest poll promises for Mizoram. This comes at a time when the ruling Mizo National Front, or the MF, has been criticised by the opposition in the run up to the polls for poor road infrastructure in the landlocked state that is from Myanmar international border. And this road is going to connect nine districts of Miam along international border of my man. But the big question will announcements like these work for the BJP, especially at a time relations between the BJP and its Misura ally, the ruling M and F, are soaring over the issue of ethnic conflict in Manipur. Nearly 80% of Mizar's population is Christian. They share a common ethnic heritage with the Kiso tribes of Manipur, who are in conflict with the majority mates. In Manipur, where the government is led by BJP, thousands of tribals displaced from Manipur are sheltered in Mizoram and Misra. Chief Minister Zam Tanga has repeatedly hit out at the BJP over its handling of the Manipur crisis, even refusing to share stage with Prime Minister Modi during Misra campaign rallies, forcing the unprecedented cancellation of P M's rally in the state. Well, certainly it will play a big role, the same families, so they have the same affinity and they know that we have done a great thing for the displaced person coming from man. B JP is, uh, making its presence this time in Misura and I'm very hopeful that we will be able to win some good numbers of seats and play important role in the formation of the government this time. Ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, Bjp's political march in the northeast has been fast and furious. In 2016, they were able to win the first state in northeast when they won Assam for the first time, and to that there was no looking back. Even in 2018 Misra elections in the Christian dominated state, BJP was able to open its account, winning one seat. But at that point of time, old time ally the MF did not share power with the BJP. The tension between the allies is such that BJP President JP Nadda strongly criticised the MF led government last week and said that if his party comes to power in the state, it would set up a special investigation team or sit to probe corruption allegations. With the Congress not at its strongest in Misra anymore. The Zoran People's Movement, or ZP MA regional party that won seven of the state's 40 seats in the last election is looking at a much stronger performance and it is targeting the BJP over Manipur. BJP should see that people from Manipur should not be displaced, that they should be in Manipur in their rightful place. They should not be talking about displaced people of Manipur when they are the very reason why they are displaced. But regarding education, of course, is that should be the manifesto of everyone that whoever is coming into our state, they should be given free education. The BJP is eyeing minority ethnic groups in Mizoram and pushing hard in three seats in maid district that have a significant chunk of voters from the minority Brew and Chakma groups. In Guwahati, Rak Chaudhury find the TV switching tracks to rattan and election news from the state where Congress leader Sachin Pilot filed his nomination yesterday. For the moment, the Congress leadership, the tale has been set aside as pirate is set to face several parties to during this election. Meanwhile, the BJP is facing trouble from within in both jalo as well as chittor. The BJP is facing trouble after sending in MP Dave J Patil on the Jalur seat and adjusting son in law of former chief minister Bero Singh Sachin Pilot filing his nomination from Tonk a seat. The former deputy CM won last time around with a margin of over 54,000 votes. But this time the going may not be that easy. Controversial B JP MP Ramesh Bei is overseeing the BJP's campaign in Tonk Oasis, a I I also makes an entry into tonk and the guja support base could be diminished. Last time, the Guja had swung en masse to the congress in the hope that Sachin would be chief minister. Smaller parties like the SDP Chandra Shekhar Azad candidate and the RLP could cut into crucial votes and the leadership tussle that marked pilots from tonk has been set aside, at least for the moment. But the leadership tussle is also very real for the BJP in this election. Opposition to MP Devji Patel, fighting as M from Jalo, refuses to die down and Chittor has become another flashpoint. Singh Raj, son in law of the late bro Singh Shekhawat, has been adjusted in Chittor after being denied a ticket in Jaipur with the AAR Nagar, much to the dismay of sitting EH and R Singh, aka who is now threatening to go solo. Rajvi, who reached Chittor for campaigning, says he has been sent here on the party's directions and as Rajasthan heads into elections clearly for leaders within the BJP and the Congress, the fight is as much within as without with Hersha Kumari Singh bureau Report ND TV Welcome back, Minister, Said IT. Uh, Minister Raji Cha Shekhar spoke with my colleague Vishnu. So regarding the apple hack alert messages, let's listen in to what he had to say overnight. For us, here in India issued a new executive order to ensure that a I artificial intelligence doesn't do public harm. Do you believe that developers who do pose a potential risk must share the results of safety tests with the government? Now America wants their industry to do this. Do you want Indian developers to do something like this as well? So one of the things that I would I would certainly like to draw your attention to is that the the the wording. First of all, I welcome what President Biden and the US government have done. I think this open this is in the wake of the historic mou between the US and India when the honourable prime minister visited the US, where the US and India have agreed to collaborate on in a I and in semiconductor and in high performance computing and in quantum computing. So a I is certainly an area where India and the US are going to work very closely together. And I think our basic principles in how we view the Internet and in general and tech in particular I mean tech in general and Internet and a I in particular is similar because we have been saying for almost now 24 months that our policies and our approach to regulation is about safety and trust and accountability, safety and trust of our digital res and accountability of all the platforms that serve our digital. And that is exactly the language that we have used for the last 24 30 months. And it is good to see that now the US is essentially talking about safety and trust and accountability. Albeit, you know, one or two words may be different, but effectively that talking about safety and trust of the users and I think that convergence of the leading nations of the world and leading tech nations of the world around making the consumer or the user safety being the primary public policy objective for any tech policy making is a good forward step Now. In my opinion, different countries will approach this differently in terms of whether there will be disclosure of risks from platforms. Or there is a need for sand boxing platforms and having sandboxes validate some technologies in a I before it is actually made commercially available to a mass market. Or in our case, as India is proposing. And we will certainly strongly propose it in tomorrow's discussion. Here in the UK is that we think we need to create an overall framework of user harm, which is the reciprocal of safety and trust. What kinds of user harm are not permitted by any platform? Whether that's an A I platform, whether it's a consumer tech platform, whether it's a social media platform, that we start regulating the Internet in general and a I in particular through the prism of the safety and trust of those who use it, because, you know, when we talk about a I Sorry, I'm going to ramble on this A. I is is a technology that is going to enable us to do more with less. So do more good with less. We will certainly become a force multiplier and a kinetic of a digital economy. That is the good news. But the same principle applies to the bad and the harm, which is that a. I will be able to amplify and compound in very significant manners the harm and the criminality elements of the Internet as we know today. Now the key point made by opposition MPs is that even if they were, who knows dodgy algorithms that work in Apple, why is it that only opposition MPs have been targeted? How would you respond to that? No, that's factually untrue. Vishnu, a gentleman Samir Saran, who is not a member of Parliament at all by any such of man has got that notification. So I think it is. And Apple has seemingly put out that people from many countries have seemed to have got this notification over the last 24 hours or 48 hours. So I think this is more a question that Apple should answer because, as we have said today, my colleague Ash Vaishno has said. And I have said this is something that Apple, who have always stressed that their platforms are secure, designed for privacy, et cetera, et cetera. They must explain whether their platform and devices are really secure or not, because if they are, either they are secure and this is a false alarm or if they are not secure and this is something real, then they have to explain what this is. And what is the so called state actor that they are notifying. So either way, I think there is a need for an investigation, which is what Vaishno has said in the press conference. I'm unfortunately not in Delhi today. Uh, and I think there is. There is a certain need because this is a government that takes the business and the duty of privacy of our citizens. Uh, very seriously we have. We are the ones who brought the Digital Personal data protection bill. The Supreme Court found that privacy is a fundamental right when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji was in prime minister in 2017. So we think Apple has to answer a number of questions about these devices that they claim are secure to whether they are secure or not, and if they are not secured, then we have a different kind of a problem. But if they are secure and these notifications are going out and alarming people and the the phraseology, the verbage that the notification implies that there are some state actors who are these are there state actors within India? Are there state actors outside the country? Is there some effort to try and disrupt the India apple relationship? So there are several questions that arise naturally from what we have heard in the last 24 hours and that I think a lot. A lot of that has to do with Apple explaining what is really going on because they have been in their reply, in my opinion, slightly vague. Bottom line. Since you will be speaking to Apple, I'm sure the government is. Would it be correct to say that the government of India has no role whatsoever in spying on opposition leaders? I just wanted a clear statement from you, given the allegations that we've been seeing on Twitter look 101 100,000% this was said even during those meaningless allegations in the past, you know, And you know, as we are getting closer to election, we understand it's political season and people will pull out things out of the hat, imaginary and even more imaginary, as bizarre as they can get. But this is a government that takes the business and the duty of protecting the rights of citizens, all citizens, including those in the opposition and those who are not in the opposition. The right to privacy is a fundamental right, and we take that duty very seriously. And, you know, when we've legislated, we've legislated in a very clear manner about what that means to citizens of fundamental right to privacy in terms of data protection. And that applies to all platforms, whether they are apple or, uh, you know, the social media platforms, we've made it very clear. And this is an issue certainly for a platform that claims to be secure a platform and a manufacturer that claims that its devices are designed for privacy. They are the ones who have to answer. What they you know, is is their platform really compromisable? Whether it's a state actor within or outside the country, it is for Apple to explain whether this is really possible and if so, who's doing it or what is what is done There is. You know, I mean in the in the in the press note that Apple is put out, which I've just seen as I landed here for when I'm here to attend the A I Safety Summit. The press note starts with a statement that says that there is no evidence of any state sponsored actors or there's no evidence. That's the first sentence. And then they go on to say usual corporate language about ABC, DFG and so on and so forth. And I still think that they need to be much clearer about what that notification really means, because they are the ones sending that notification and and in my opinion, there are only two scenarios. Either their platform is compromised and therefore they have sent a notification or the platform is secure and that notification was sent by their own language. It could be false, and it could be, you know, unreliable. So they've said that in their own website that it is possible that these notifications are false, so either way, they have to take this position whether the platform is compromised, in which case the investigation will throw up where the platform is compromised and what kind of compromise the weaknesses they have on the platform. But if what they have been saying is true that they are designing their phones designed for privacy, these are secure platforms. Then they must explain what this notification really means and why people all across the spectrum, including in many countries, are getting this notification. The other thing which has happened of late in terms of leaks is allegations that perhaps ADHA data is not as secure. Some reports suggesting that some aha details have been leaked. In fact, considerable volumes of it telephone numbers, uh, people, those who have had their covid vaccinations and therefore some data attached to people. What is, uh what? What has happened over there? Is it true? You know, I I during the consultations of the Digital Personal Data protection bill, I was asked, and even after the bill was enacted and it became an act, uh, there was this conversation and discussion and consultation about what should be the transition period. And I said then and I say today that it is very clear that in the government ecosystem, and that the government ecosystem is a huge ecosystem that consists of central government ministries, departments, state government departments and ministries where there is a lot of data that has been collected legacy data over the years, which peaked during Covid, that there is a lot of time that is going to be required for government to transition in an orderly, non disruptive manner to being a responsible trustee and keeper of citizens' data. And I am still not privy to the exact details. I only understand that it's some leak or a breach alleged leak or a breach from. I think we have to recognise that the government ecosystem will take a little longer to transition to this absolutely bulletproof ecosystem which manages the data and keep it because we are now talking about legacy data that has been collected over several years and several almost decades in many cases, in many cases there are data that has been digitised and made been made machine readable as the digitization process is going on. So I think this is it is certainly not something that I'm very happy about and I'm sure Sirte is investigating it as it is, as is the mandate. But it is something that we will we must accept will take a little bit of time for the government ecosystem. And by the way, this applies to the M, SME, S and small businesses in the country as well, who are also custodians of large amounts of consumer and citizen data that they will take a bit of time to adjust to this new framework. This new paradigm, if you want to call it that where there is a lot more responsibility and accountability about how they collect store and access data, do we have any idea of the extent of this leak? No, I certainly don't, and I don't want to speculate. I think these are things that where there are institutional responses, sir, is the institution that always swings into action and investigates. It understands what is being leaked, where it's being leaked, what has caused the vulnerability? Is it a hack? Is it a system and operating procedure vulnerability? So they are the ones who swing into action for that, and I think I will just wait until they decide to submit the report and when they submit the report
