2021 Strategic and Political Analysis-1

[sanjaykumar]

Ahem... she got a raw deal.

This is an elaborate game plan to have her fall in the grave of her own hubris.

Maybe not by an intelligence agency (not how India operates) but by a Modi bhakt.

[vera_k]

The trail probably reads to Africa. Nigerian scammers have gotten quite good at using social engineering.

[sanjaykumar]

One needs to ask, as always, who benefits?

[vera_k]

Depends on what was involved, doesn't it? These scams start off by playing on hopes by floating something that is too good to be true. Some more back and forth ensues to prime the mark. Then comes some reasonable story of why some amount of money is needed to move things forward. The mark sends the money over and the process continues until it stops working.

[chetak]

Nupur J Sharma@UnSubtleDesi

As per credible sources, Nidhi Razdan has not travelled out of India in 2020. Could @nidhi please confirm.

[chetak]

One needs to ask, as always, who benefits?

maybe she was preggers and used this elaborately constructed scam so that she could pop the kid out and use the phishing ploy to play the victim to gain sympathy and salvage her tattered and battered image/reputation

if such is the case, don't ask who is the father because her current steed is often on SM

[chanakyaa]

On the Nidhi Razdan saga, here is an interesting video on UTube recorded in Sept. 2020 w/Nidhi. Video and the subject is NOT worthwhile, but listen to the first minutes of he video in which Nidhi talks about the Harvard opportunity and how she is going to start taking classes next week (i.e. October 2020) and what subject she is going to teach . So, if this distinguished Harvard Asst. professor did not take any classes in October, why make the announcement in January 2021?

Don't spend more than first 4 mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckPp-H5LFg

[AkshaySG]

The trail probably reads to Africa. Nigerian scammers have gotten quite good at using social engineering.

Tbf we're among the best at scamming too , Nigerian Princes may be more well known but the majority of scams/phishing jobs in US/Europe are now originating from India/Pak/Ban which is something we really to eliminate . Leads to a negative impact on the image of our country especially since most of these are targeted on vulnerable groups like retirees .

[KLNMurthy]

Ahem... she got a raw deal.

This is an elaborate game plan to have her fall in the grave of her own hubris.

Maybe not by an intelligence agency (not how India operates) but by a Modi bhakt.

If only.

What I have seen of Modi bhakts online, they are like froth on boiling milk, all emotion, get cooled down very fast once the flame is removed. Pulling off a scam like this requires cold hard determination and follow-through.

[KJo]

As someone who has studied for and worked at US universities I find it very unlikely that she was unaware for months about it being fake ... the amount of hoops you have to jump through (Applications, interviews , visa approval , I-20 or simiiar official paperwork etc etc ) is staggering and the US Consulate won't grant a work visa until you produce official docs and Letter of Recommendations .

I could believe it had she gotten confused bw a temporary/visiting/guest professor invite and a full time appointment but to get scammed like this with zero actual contact by Harvard is incredulous .Either she's extremely gullible or she did it on purpose both of which cast a huge shadow of doubt over her journalistic integrity

What's even worse is that she spent the last 6 months appearing on TV, interviews,webinars as " associate prof at Harvard" which is a very very misleading thing to claim until you actually started working there .

You are right.
Whenever I start a new job, I don't update my Linkedin profile for at least a month AFTER starting to work there and I feel secure in the job. Even then, I make sure updates don't go through to everybody as I don't want everyone to start liking or commenting. For Nidhi to bandy about her Assoc Prof status even before actually doing an hour of work is surprising.

It is more like I think that she found out in October or so, and then spent a few months trying to figure out how to break the news. She may have decided to rip out the band-aid.

[nandakumar]

On the Nidhi Razdan case as far as I can see, anybody claiming to represent somebody else or some organisation or even pretending to offer employment does not constitute a cause in action for the victim (I emphasise, the victim) to complain of breach of civil or criminal codes. I recall an occasion in the early 90s, a friend of mine from Delhi came knocking at my door one late night (must be close to midnight). I asked from behind the door, "who is it?". He replied somewhat mischievously, "This is the LTTE!". This momentarily threw me into a confusion. Of course eventually the penny dropped, so to speak and I opened the door. Was he guilty of any offence? Of course not. If it were to be so reckoned, the entire April Fool prank industry would be a punishable offence and half the world population would have to be thrown into jail for a spell!
But if the person has been a victim of loss of money or some other valuable property then it is something else. In the instant case I can't see what the Delhi Police can do on Nidhi's complaint unless she has lost money. The entire H1B visa scams involve such an angle. But she doesn't say anything about having parted with some cash.

[Kati]

Things are not that simple to get appointed at a third grade US university, let alone Harvard, even if it is a visiting position.
The schools usually recommend to arrive at least a month ahead to go through huge amount of paperwork, orientation, to get adjusted with the surroundings, etc.

So if NR wanted to start her job in Oct (which is a bit late, since Fall semester starts in the third week of August), then she should have arrived by August. But then should have gotten visa by June/July. Actually that would have been the time to know the whole thing is a scam. Because for any foreigner to attend the US schools, the visa paperwork is uploaded by the school at the centralized SEVIS system which can be accessed by any US mission overseas to verify all the info. (This is one major change after 9-evelen.) Also, a visa applicant should make visa interview appointment online few months ahead of time using the assigned SEVIS number. To cut the long story short, if this was truly a scan, then she had known it by June/July....

So there must be some other gameplan in the making ...

[SandeepA]

It can well be how the ecosystem scams everyone by claiming some false degree/job/citation etc to boost credibility. In this lady's case her goose may have been cooked when the said institution got wind of it and may have threatened action. She only preempted it by claiming victimhood.
This ecosystem is evil..we will fool ourselves if we think the enemy is dumb.

[pgbhat]

Nidhi-ji probably does not know that there is something called application and interview process involved before one is offered a job. Even freshers out there are called for a zoom video interview, even during pandemic. This associate professor in journalism must have at least spoken to HOD no? Now I understand whole world knows Nidhi but does she know the HOD of Harvard School of Journalism. May be she thought that the HOD was not up to her journalistic standards to even introduce themselves to her.

[shaun]

The bad news is she will remain in India

[chetak]

The bad news is she will remain in India

+1008

[vimal]

The bad news is she will remain in India

On the contrary this is the best time to enter Unkil illegally. K mami has promised citizenship all the 11 million illegals, she can just slip through. She just needs to find a suitable name.

[vimal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px16p6ag-ug

Audrey Truschke's Love For Aurangzeb | Indian History | SSS Clips

Sham, Kushal, and Abhijit discuss Audrey Truschke's constant attempts to prove her love for Aurangzeb and to whitewash the many crimes of Aurangzeb through misquotations and outright lying. They also, discuss how every time she is challenged, she pulls either the"woman" card or the "expert" card.

They also discuss why these people are still relevant despite constantly lying about Indian history.

[Vips]

^ Nidhi Razdan had in a tweet some time back had claimed that "I am teaching in Harvard" (actually teaching) The twitter chat snap shot was shown in a you tube channel today

This self entitled Lutyens eco system bred congi lover has been shown her real auqat. Why just an "Associate professor" she can ask the pakistani's to make her Dean of one of the fake university that was established in the US.

[chetak]

[sudarshan]

^ "And I'm not some dumb bimbo"

Which means - you knew what you were doing?

[Ambar]

Here's the story straight from the horse's mouth. As usual BRF was way ahead of the curve by suspecting if the offer was indeed genuine it must have been for a program in Harvard's extension school.

Back in June 2020, I had announced on Twitter that I was moving on from NDTV after nearly 21 years to join Harvard University as an Associate Professor to teach journalism. I truly believed it was a terrific opportunity. But here I am, almost eight months later, devastated by the realisation that this entire process to "hire" me; my "appointment" to Harvard was all part of an elaborate and sophisticated phishing attack to access my bank account, personal data, my emails, my medical records, passport and my devices like my computer and phone. I wanted to write this piece to explain what happened to me and hope that it serves as a lesson to everyone else.

So how did this happen? In November of 2019, I was invited to speak at an event organised by the Harvard Kennedy School in early 2020. One of the apparent organisers of this event contacted me separately to say there was a vacancy for a teaching position and would I be interested. I submitted my CV, thinking I had nothing to lose by trying. I never really expected anything to come of it. A few weeks later I was "interviewed" online for 90 minutes. It all seemed legitimate, the questions were thorough and professional. I did a basic google search and found a journalism degree programme being offered by the Harvard Extension School. Contrary to what many are tweeting, Harvard has a school called the Extension School offering a Journalism Degree Programme. The actual programme is called the Master of Liberal Arts, Journalism degree. The Extension School lists 500 faculty of whom 17 are categorised as journalism faculty. A number of these people are working journalists. I believed I fit this profile.

In January 2020, I got an email from an alleged Harvard Human Resources person from what appeared to be an official Harvard email ID, with an offer letter and agreement. The offer letter and the agreement appeared to be on a genuine letterhead with the University insignia, and contained the "signatures" of all senior Harvard University officials who actually do hold those positions even today. The emails from this individual were all marked to what appeared to be an official group university ID. They also separately emailed my former employers at NDTV and others for recommendation letters and official-looking acknowledgments were sent back to them. They too did not think anything was amiss.

Over the next few months, many emails were exchanged between me and these alleged Harvard email IDs where they sought my personal information for a "work visa". I was also sent an "official" invitation to attend a faculty orientation in March 2020 but that was called off due to the pandemic. I honestly didn't think anything of it since COVID had suddenly started disrupting all our lives and lockdowns were being announced the world over.

In June 2020, I quit NDTV and announced my decision to move to Harvard. Based on all the communication thus far, I had no doubts about the genuineness of the exercise. I was sent class schedules; details of the subjects I would be teaching; a detailed break up of my class. The classes were supposed to start online in September 2020 but were put off first till October and then January "due to COVID". Again, I didn't think anything was amiss. I had been told a work visa had been issued in the US for me which would be sent to me only when travel was required. I would have also needed a visa from Delhi but it never reached that stage since no travel was on the cards immediately.

However, I had started to get frustrated with the administrative processes and expressed the same repeatedly on email. I was also told my salary would be paid irrespective from September 2020 but no money ever came. It was all blamed on chaos due to COVID or IT failures. At one point they even sent me a bank transfer slip even though no money ever came.

By now I realised something wasn't right. I still didn't imagine this was a massive fraud but thought it was lack of coordination between university departments.

In December, I wrote to the head of HR at Harvard but didn't hear back. Then in January I wrote to the office of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. It was only earlier this week that I heard back from them telling me there was no record of my appointment and that the people claiming to be their HR staff do not exist! I wrote back to Harvard expressing shock at this and urged them to take this matter seriously since there are people impersonating their senior staff and even forging their signatures on fake letterheads, including the Vice President of HR and their Chief Financial Officer.

I also immediately wrote to those entities or organisations with whom I was associated and told them what had happened. My lawyer read all the emails and realised that this was a massive phishing exercise, in all likelihood aimed at stealing my money and taking my personal data to misuse it.

I have filed a police complaint and handed over all the documents and communication. This was a gross criminal act. I am very shaken by this and keep kicking myself for being such an idiot. With the benefit of hindsight, could I have done more due diligence? Absolutely, yes. But these scams succeed because they look so real. What these scamsters put together was good enough for me to throw away a 21-year career in TV.

In hindsight, I guess I never saw any cause for alarm because of the pandemic and the chaos and disruption it had caused the world over. Also, because no one ever asked me for money, this was a very sophisticated attack. And that there is a lesson for me and for us all - never trust anything online. I am angry, disappointed and upset but also relieved that I found out what was going on and alerted authorities including Harvard before any serious damage was done. If after all this the only thing I can be accused of is being stupid, then I'll take it on the chin, learn from it and move on.


(Nidhi Razdan is former Executive Editor, NDTV.)


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.



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[chetak]

^ "And I'm not some dumb bimbo"

Which means - you knew what you were doing?

for the kind of journo that she is, she should have used this

It's more targeted than burnol and very much more specific for people who don't seem to know their ahole from their elbow.

havard indeed

It was richard nixon's favourite go to solace

[chetak]

Aarti Tikoo Singh@AartiTikoo · Jan 14

Fraudsters like @Twitter @Facebook @Google WhatsApp have been the biggest mobilizers of violent protests in democracies. Their platforms unleashed lynch mobs, stone-pelters & rioters across India. Yet our clueless Government has neither held them accountable nor penalized them!

[sudarshan]

for the kind of journo that she is, she should have used this

It's more targeted than burnol and very much more specific for people who don't seem to know their ahole from their elbow.

havard indeed

It was richard nixon's favourite go to solace

LOL!

But assuming her account above (Ambar's post) is truthful - or at least - loosely based on a true incident (as they say about movies), then somebody could be in a lot of trouble for impersonation. It was clever, but prosecutable. Even if it is not technically prosecutable, certain well-connected parties could make sure that prosecution does occur.

I doubt this will die down as just an "amusing incident."

Having said that - this "COVID situation" is admittedly a great excuse to hide away any irregularities, but regardless of COVID, there's still snail mail, and that is still the official communication channel over email. If there was nothing in writing (hard copy) that should have triggered a red flag right there.

[kit]

Aarti Tikoo Singh@AartiTikoo · Jan 14
Fraudsters like @Twitter @Facebook @Google WhatsApp have been the biggest mobilizers of violent protests in democracies. Their platforms unleashed lynch mobs, stone-pelters & rioters across India. Yet our clueless Government has neither held them accountable nor penalized them!

Quite true that., now that the CIA is also in the bandwagon for subversive activities, expect FB,WA,Twitter to go oveboard., past time to regulate or ban them , First tax them like hell !!

[kit]

Here's the story straight from the horse's mouth.

Back in June 2020, I had announced on Twitter that I was moving on from NDTV after nearly 21 years to join Harvard University as an Associate Professor to teach journalism. I truly believed it was a terrific opportunity. But here I am, almost eight months later, devastated by the realisation that this entire process to "hire" me; my "appointment" to Harvard was all part of an elaborate and sophisticated phishing attack to access my bank account, personal data, my emails, my medical records, passport and my devices like my computer and phone. I wanted to write this piece to explain what happened to me and hope that it serves as a lesson to everyone else.

So how did this happen? In November of 2019, I was invited to speak at an event organised by the Harvard Kennedy School in early 2020. One of the apparent organisers of this event contacted me separately to say there was a vacancy for a teaching position and would I be interested. I submitted my CV, thinking I had nothing to lose by trying. I never really expected anything to come of it. A few weeks later I was "interviewed" online for 90 minutes. It all seemed legitimate, the questions were thorough and professional. I did a basic google search and found a journalism degree programme being offered by the Harvard Extension School. Contrary to what many are tweeting, Harvard has a school called the Extension School offering a Journalism Degree Programme. The actual programme is called the Master of Liberal Arts, Journalism degree. The Extension School lists 500 faculty of whom 17 are categorised as journalism faculty. A number of these people are working journalists. I believed I fit this profile.

They also separately emailed my former employers at NDTV and others for recommendation letters and official-looking acknowledgments were sent back to them. They too did not think anything was amiss.

.

Well then this lady and her erstwhile worthy employer has been making " authoritative" comments on how the PMO and India should be run , and she could not verify a job offer

[chetak]

^^^^^^^

The woke and lootyens industrial scale laundry machine is on the heavy wash cycle trying to wash clean an essentially grimy, unwashable politically red colored entitled naxal and jehadi piece of work.

she is progressively embellishing her "story" in an attempt to force fit the story to the fast changing and contrived facts

konsa vala nasha karte ho aunty ji

[Ramu]

This was a gross criminal act. I am very shaken by this and keep kicking myself for being such an idiot. With the benefit of hindsight, could I have done more due diligence? Absolutely, yes. But these scams succeed because they look so real. What these scamsters put together was good enough for me to throw away a 21-year career in TV.

She explained eloquently how a mango man must have felt after falling for her journalism in the last 21 years.

[chetak]

This was a gross criminal act. I am very shaken by this and keep kicking myself for being such an idiot. With the benefit of hindsight, could I have done more due diligence? Absolutely, yes. But these scams succeed because they look so real. What these scamsters put together was good enough for me to throw away a 21-year career in TV.

She explained eloquently how a mango man must have felt after falling for her journalism in the last 21 years.

her so called "career" is safe

per twitter, james roy the legendary stockbroker, the acclaimed investor and fabled media baron, is going to start a new tv show just for her and hosted on runditeevee.

called "Center, Forward & Harvard"

to replace her "left right and center" shyte show that she used to crap out earlier

[Santosh]

Quite true that., now that the CIA is also in the bandwagon for subversive activities, expect FB,WA,Twitter to go oveboard., past time to regulate or ban them , First tax them like hell !!

https://www.opindia.com/2021/01/sameera ... m-j-burns/

Excerpts -
William J Burns, the president of the Carnegie Endowment, has been picked to head the CIA. His views on Narendra Modi and Kashmir are worth taking into consideration.

As recently as February 2020, Burns wrote in an article for The Atlantic, “After a resounding reelection last spring, Modi has struggled with India’s most severe economic slowdown in three decades. Lacking a compelling strategy for the economy, he has doubled down on the one set of issues for which the BJP has a very clear and unified vision: Hindu majoritarianism. With coercive force and scant regard for constitutional limits, Modi’s government has put its Hindu chauvinism on full display.”

He continued, “His government has pushed a new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims seeking refuge in India, and has fed tensions over disputed religious sites. Pressures against critical journalists and academics have increased. The BJP has run into political difficulties in state and local elections, but its national opposition, the Congress Party, is a shell of its former self, and the courts and civil society are on the defensive.”

Burns went so far as to say that a “battle for the idea of India is under way” between the “tolerant constitutional convictions of its founders and the harsher Hindu majoritarianism that has lurked beneath the surface.”

[chetak]

and her former colleagues are rooting for her

a journalistic yorker by another entitled patrakari bimbo

Saba Naqvi@_sabanaqvi · 5h

I feel sorry for Nidhi Razdan but how does one expect to be hired by Harvard with one interview and then no salary for months. And months spent without pay but title of Harvard professor! Extraordinary tale of naïveté .. all good wishes to her.

[Kati]

https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/w ... ing-attack

'What an embarrassment!': Twitter stunned as Nidhi Razdan's move to Harvard turns out to be 'phishing attack'

[Zynda]

Me thinks that there was a bigger act at play involving Nidhi for whatever reason didn't pan out or was shut down early on. Was she out to US in 2020? If yes, on what visa? (probably tourist because it is not so easy to phish USCIS & DHS in getting a work permit and a subsequent visa). I am sure its not the first time she has flown to US & must be a little familiar with US visa travel rules. So if a Univ is asking an "employee" to travel on visitor's visa to formally enroll, that itself should have set off major alarm bells.

And in Boston, she never bothered to visit Harvard campus and formally check-in. Many dots are not being connected and to believe her statement saying she was a victim of Phishing attack.

If it was up to her, she would have disclosed on her own terms & timing that she is no longer associated with Harvard. Once Harvard threatened legal action, she had no choice but to come out clean...at least on her teaching position if not on other things.

Of course, read one tweet that she never left India in 2020. So, I still think there was something bigger planned involving her which fortunately never got executed.

[chetak]

Me thinks that there was a bigger act at play involving Nidhi for whatever reason didn't pan out or was shut down early on. Was she out to US in 2020? If yes, on what visa? (probably tourist because it is not so easy to phish USCIS & DHS in getting a work permit and a subsequent visa). I am sure its not the first time she has flown to US & must be a little familiar with US visa travel rules. So if a Univ is asking an "employee" to travel on visitor's visa to formally enroll, that itself should have set off major alarm bells.

And in Boston, she never bothered to visit Harvard campus and formally check-in. Many dots are not being connected and to believe her statement saying she was a victim of Phishing attack.

If it was up to her, she would have disclosed on her own terms & timing that she is no longer associated with Harvard. Once Harvard threatened legal action, she had no choice but to come out clean...at least on her teaching position if not on other things.

Of course, read one tweet that she never left India in 2020. So, I still think there was something bigger planned involving her which fortunately never got executed.

a lot of journos have long term multiple entry gratis visas to multiple countries.

many paki and beedi ministers also have such visas to India given out by the congis and mindlessly and routinely renewed by the current dispensation.

haven't a few beedi journos also taken part in anti CAA protests in kolkata

many paki journos enter India routinely because they have the SAARC multiple country long term visas

surely with her woke and sickular BIF views the bimbo already has a US business visa for sure.

[RCase]

^ Nidhi Razdan had in a tweet some time back had claimed that "I am teaching in Harvard" (actually teaching) The twitter chat snap shot was shown in a you tube channel today

This self entitled Lutyens eco system bred congi lover has been shown her real auqat. Why just an "Associate professor" she can ask the pakistani's to make her Dean of one of the fake university that was established in the US.

Axactly!!!
How can this bimbo be teaching journalism if she cannot distinguish present tense vs. future tense?

[morem]

In June 2020, I quit NDTV and announced my decision to move to Harvard. Based on all the communication thus far, I had no doubts about the genuineness of the exercise. I was sent class schedules; details of the subjects I would be teaching; a detailed break up of my class. The classes were supposed to start online in September 2020 but were put off first till October and then January "due to COVID". Again, I didn't think anything was amiss. I had been told a work visa had been issued in the US for me which would be sent to me only when travel was required. I would have also needed a visa from Delhi but it never reached that stage since no travel was on the cards immediately.

A work visa had been issued for me - just look at the sense of entitlement. These ppl never had to walk to a Government office in India and so think a visa had been issued for them.

[Suraj]

If her description has any credence, the matter has criminal implications under Indian law and US law. Mail fraud is a US federal crime, ie FBI gets involved.

[chetak]

Quite true that., now that the CIA is also in the bandwagon for subversive activities, expect FB,WA,Twitter to go oveboard., past time to regulate or ban them , First tax them like hell !!

https://www.opindia.com/2021/01/sameera ... m-j-burns/

Excerpts -
William J Burns, the president of the Carnegie Endowment, has been picked to head the CIA. His views on Narendra Modi and Kashmir are worth taking into consideration.

As recently as February 2020, Burns wrote in an article for The Atlantic, “After a resounding reelection last spring, Modi has struggled with India’s most severe economic slowdown in three decades. Lacking a compelling strategy for the economy, he has doubled down on the one set of issues for which the BJP has a very clear and unified vision: Hindu majoritarianism. With coercive force and scant regard for constitutional limits, Modi’s government has put its Hindu chauvinism on full display.”

He continued, “His government has pushed a new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims seeking refuge in India, and has fed tensions over disputed religious sites. Pressures against critical journalists and academics have increased. The BJP has run into political difficulties in state and local elections, but its national opposition, the Congress Party, is a shell of its former self, and the courts and civil society are on the defensive.”

Burns went so far as to say that a “battle for the idea of India is under way” between the “tolerant constitutional convictions of its founders and the harsher Hindu majoritarianism that has lurked beneath the surface.”

I have a very strong feeling that there is a long standing plan to move and resettle muslim refugees from many many countries world wide in to India by simply bulldozing the docile Hindu population to accept such a solution by default.

Brexit was essentially a fight against foreign powers interfering with local control of unwanted immigration

otherwise, there is no justification for such a huge, prolonged, sustained and global support to such a concerted move against the CAA laws passed by India in what is essentially an internal matter of India and the right of her democratically elected govt

carnegie endowment, just like the ford foundation and some other soros NGOs is in the business of destabilizing elected govts in foreign countries and precipitating regime changes as desired by the BIF and particularly the US deep state.

such people would be adversely affected by the CAA laws passed by India as it would hit at the root of their methodology of control after regime changes.

Demonitization may have also followed a similar threat neutralization strategy

[kit]

If her description has any credence, the matter has criminal implications under Indian law and US law. Mail fraud is a US federal crime, ie FBI gets involved.

Wonder which case they would take up., the lady in question has been already been " Associate Professor at Harvard" for a while now dishing out gyan to everyone under the sun !