Intelligence and National Security Discussion

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kmkraoind
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by kmkraoind »

Two attempts RAW made on the life of Dawood but Govt. balked it at last minute.

It seems the last attempts to tame Dawood had been done around 2003, from there onwards, he got a free hand in India. To break nexus of Mafia (hawala-RE-Bollywood-politics) nexus, Dharmic power like BJP coming to power in MH is very important.
ramana
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by ramana »

kmkraoind wrote:Two attempts RAW made on the life of Dawood but Govt. balked it at last minute.

It seems the last attempts to tame Dawood had been done around 2003, from there onwards, he got a free hand in India. To break nexus of Mafia (hawala-RE-Bollywood-politics) nexus, Dharmic power like BJP coming to power in MH is very important.

Does the writer understand English? If the govt nixed both times, how can he claim attemtps were made?
Meanwhile:
surinder wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/there ... story.html

Nehru had British intelligence stay in India after independence.

Sort of explains the mysterious fall from grace of Congress leaders during the Nehru era.....
bharats
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by bharats »

Agroterrorism – is the threat real?
by Robert A. Norton

"Are terrorists going to target the food we eat? In my professional estimation the likelihood is moderately high, but if proven a reality, I would seriously wager that it won’t come in the direction for which the government has planned (and spent) to respond."

Read complete story at http://southeastfarmpress.com/governmen ... hreat-real
Nikhil T
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Nikhil T »

Indian intelligence agency on the cheap hampers war on militants
(Reuters) - When a bomb went off last month in West Bengal state, police at India's leading counterterrorism organization had to hail taxis to get to the scene because they did not have enough cars.

The admission by two officers from the National Investigation Agency underlines how poorly equipped it is to fulfill its role of investigating the most serious terrorism cases, cutting off funding to militants and putting suspects on trial.

The NIA's woes are symptomatic of an overstretched intelligence network at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi must counter the growing threat of Islamist militants from al Qaeda, and possibly also Islamic State, gaining a foothold in the world's largest democracy.

The NIA has no officers specializing in cyber surveillance, explosives or tracing chemicals and has been forced to ask companies to decrypt computers recovered at crime scenes, officers said.

"The government has its budget constraints; we have done quite well in cracking cases with the resources at our disposal," NIA head Sharad Kumar told Reuters in an interview.

When NIA officers eventually arrived at the scene of the blast in West Bengal, bordering Bangladesh to India's east, what they discovered was important.

Two members of a banned Bangladeshi militant group had blown themselves up building bombs, and the NIA believes they were part of a series of plots to destabilize Bangladesh.

The NIA, which had only opened its West Bengal branch five days earlier, was caught by surprise by the blast, as were other Indian intelligence agencies.It is now investigating the case and says it is struggling to find a dozen senior militant leaders who it said had fled the area after the explosion.

SHOESTRING BUDGET

The NIA was created in response to the siege of Mumbai, India's financial capital, when Pakistani gunmen killed 166 people in a commando-style assault on two luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish center in 2008.

The agency is seen as India's answer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's counterterrorism wing, although, despite a population four times that of the United States, it has about 0.5 percent of the funding of its American counterpart.

Before the Mumbai attack, India's security agencies were so riven by conflict and miscommunication that they failed to process warnings about the threat of a sea-borne assault, the government said later, vowing to revamp the state machinery.

Six years later and Modi has yet to lay out plans to overhaul the structure of the security services or improve the information flow between agencies, according to police and intelligence officers.

Since winning power in May, his domestic security focus has been to boost surveillance of suspects in the Muslim community following the rise of Islamic State and to improve intelligence ties with the U.S. and Israel, government officials said.

So far his government has not responded to the NIA's request made months ago to double the staff, recruit more specialists and create a national center of excellence to train officers.

A home ministry spokesman declined to comment on those requests, part of a blueprint to overhaul the NIA.

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, said there had been "aggression from the new government in its statements and its posturing on terrorism.

"There is no sign of a dramatic transformation in its approach, and until we get that, then the best you can hope for is for the same people to do a little better."

INFIGHTING AMONG INTELLIGENCE GROUPS

Like many countries, India has several intelligence and investigation agencies.

The Intelligence Bureau is the domestic unit and the Research and Analysis Wing is an external spy agency. The military runs its own intelligence wing and so do paramilitary organizations like the Border Security Force.Infighting continues to hinder India's ability to prevent attacks and agencies are often reluctant to share information, according to intelligence officials at these organizations as well as experts.

"The Indian intelligence services have long been plagued by stove piping and failure to share information," said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA expert on South Asia who has advised President Barack Obama on policy in the region.

"Modi's new national security adviser, Ajit Doval, a long-time intelligence professional, will have the job of making the services perform at a higher level."

The NIA was supposed to be complemented by a National Counter Terrorism Centre that would sit above other agencies and sift through what they provided, as well as a national intelligence database accessible by other agencies.

But the plan has been stalled by opposition from Indian states concerned about giving up powers to central government.

India's constitution makes law and order primarily a state issue, and NIA officers say part of the problem is that they need help in intelligence gathering from local police, who are typically poorly trained and ill-equipped.

At present, when Indian police arrest suspects there is no way to check if they are wanted, a problem that has led to embarrassing blunders.

Police arrested Yasin Bhatkal, accused of orchestrating a series of deadly bomb blasts, as one of the co-founders of the militant Indian Mujahideen group.

Bhatkal spent months in a West Bengal jail for handling forged currency before he was released four years ago because police were unaware he was on the NIA's most wanted list.

He was finally re-captured in a hideout on India's border with Nepal last year.

The Indian government is working to build a national computer database linking the country's 14,000 police stations. This will allow officers for the first time to check a suspect's background based on fingerprints or iris scans.

WARNING SIGNS

One major concern is that Islamic State and a new branch of al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent may start to recruit from the world's third-biggest Muslim population, which has largely stayed away from global jihad.

When the NIA's director was asked about local media reports that suggested up to 150 Indians had joined Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, he shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't know, it could be more, it could be less," Kumar said. "We really don't know."

Alarmed by intelligence reports warning of an imminent attack in the eastern city of Kolkata, India's navy withdrew two warships on Tuesday.

A suicide bomb attack at the weekend near the India-Pakistan border, which killed at least 57 people, was designed to stir tension between the rival countries, intelligence sources said.

Over the last six years, officers working at the NIA have secured 31 convictions and more cases are working their way through the courts, India's junior minister of home affairs told parliament in July.

The agency has an annual budget of $16 million and only three quarters of the sanctioned strength of 865 officers.

When the NIA started out it was headquartered at the Centaur Hotel in New Delhi, then ranked the dirtiest hotel in India for three consecutive years by the TripAdvisor website.

The agency moved to a makeshift office in a shopping center on the outskirts of the capital in 2011 before moving into an office close to parliament last year.

"I always felt vulnerable there because it was in a commercial complex and it could have been attacked," said a senior officer at the agency.

"We are slowly building up our capabilities," he said. "It is going to take time. We are doing the best with what we have."

(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in WASHINGTON; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Frank Jack Daniel)
vasu raya
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by vasu raya »

Nikhil T wrote:The Indian government is working to build a national computer database linking the country's 14,000 police stations. This will allow officers for the first time to check a suspect's background based on fingerprints or iris scans
On top of that,

Narrate to camera: ATM-like kiosks to file complaints
Walk into an ATM-like kiosk in the neighbourhood and narrate your complaint to the video camera installed there. The complaint-receiving station will send the clip to the police control room, which will forward it to the jurisdictional police. The audio-visual complaint will be converted into an FIR, and the complainant will receive an acknowledgement and updates on the investigation.
and then ...

On the lines of WiMax where city wide wifi deployments are being done, cell phones much like ham radios can operate in lower frequency bands so as to cover larger distances, but with limited bandwidth good enough for emergency signals at the lower end, then moving to using morse code/SMS followed by voice and then data as the distance to the nearest tower decreases. As these communications need to span multiple frequency bands shifting from lower frequencies to higher to gain bandwidth, the USP of software defined radios become apparent in the civilian domain, and given the demand for volume there, these new gen cell phones can prove to be very helpful in our infra challenged state.

in the coastal scenario, small boats with their cell phones should be able to connect to near coast guard assets and coastal police stations which in turn are connected to the telecom network. if they can pass along their IRNSS derived GPS coordinates with the same handset, the CG assets can easily be vectored. Similar to this but perhaps less expensive to the end user courtesy BEL?

Global_Maritime_Distress_and_Safety_System
ramana
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by ramana »

Bokwas by Reidel. There is a study by some agency that US needs a domestic intel agency based on IB!!!!
VinodTK
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by VinodTK »

NSA Ajit Doval's new status effectively dwarfs many in Cabinet
NEW DELHI: He is omnipresent in New Delhi, but you may not recognise him if you run into him in Lutyen's power corridors. Over the past months, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has quietly cut through political and bureaucratic blockages to become an overarching presence in decision making. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is the go-to-man, much to the chagrin of many in the administration who complain that he is overriding them and acting as a one-man army.

The former spy's new status effectively dwarfs many even in the Cabinet. He exercises considerable influence, cutting across ministries, in defence purchases, foreign policy and his own domain of intelligence and internal security, say sources in the government and people associated with him. He was the key government representative dealing with the hostage crisis in Iraq and the flare up of tensions with Pakistan. He was Modi's envoy to Beijing before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India earlier this year.

Doval's Deceptive Demeanour

Doval was also the representative to hold talks with the US about cooperation on terrorism and with Israel on strengthening defence ties. The NSA is advising the Prime Minister on the black money issue, too, say sources. "It is not a mere coincidence that the Defence Acquisition Committee of the government cleared purchases worth over $525 million from Israel on October 25, three days after Doval met Joseph Cohen, his Israeli counterpart," said an official from the security establishment, pointing to his influence on decision-making.

"The NSA has always been an advocate of closer defence ties with Israel." Doval is quick and doesn't wait for clearances from ministries and departments to act. He operates quietly and his actions often go unnoticed in the surface, and this stealthy skill bodes well for his relationship with a Prime Minister who wants his officials to stay away from the spotlight. The quiet demeanour of Doval contrasts with that of the NSA in the previous BJP-led government, the high-profile Brijesh Mishra who had loomed over the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mishra was a career diplomat who liked to be in the limelight, while Doval was a police officer and India's top spy.


"Doval's laid back demeanour is extremely deceptive," said a person who has worked closely with him. When he was Intelligence Bureau chief, the joke was that his brain functions faster than his mouth, he said, referring to Doval's habit of talking extremely fast, sometimes skipping words as he articulated his thoughts. During the recent stand-off with Pakistan, with frequent ceasefire violations reported, Doval was in direct touch with the Border Security Force director general and the home secretary.

"Doval does not believe in wasting time, trying to go through the right channel. Protocol is not something that he will let come in the way of acting fast," said this person. Doval declined comment for this story. According to sources, Doval has complete control over the country's intelligence apparatus, including the Intelligence Bureau that he once headed and the Research and Analysis Wing. All decisions related to internal security, including many appointments, are being made by Doval, they say.

The next chiefs of the intelligence agencies are bound to be selected only with Doval's consent. He has already shown his clout in the appointment of key security officials. Chief of Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) RN Ravi is believed to be Doval's protege, having worked under him at the IB. Given his expertise in Northeast, Doval prevailed over Home Minister Rajnath Singh to name Ravi the chief interlocutor for Naga talks too, instead of former JIC Ajit Lal whom the minister had preferred.
member_28579
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by member_28579 »

Breaking News:

Key master mind & JUM Chief Sajid khan arrested by NIA

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/burdwan-blas ... 3-231.html
pushkar.bhat
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by pushkar.bhat »

RaviKR wrote:Breaking News:

Key master mind & JUM Chief Sajid khan arrested by NIA

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/burdwan-blas ... 3-231.html
Are they being just turned in by didi's cadre..
chetak
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by chetak »

pushkar.bhat wrote:
RaviKR wrote:Breaking News:

Key master mind & JUM Chief Sajid khan arrested by NIA

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/burdwan-blas ... 3-231.html
Are they being just turned in by didi's cadre..
various bearded malsi gents are coming on teevee and slyly (and oh so innocently!!) alleging the usual Hindu BJP conspiracy onlee, conveniently brushing aside, and as usual, ignoring all hard evidence on the ground.
chetak
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by chetak »

The amrekis and monsanto will bring BT seeds to India, despite our best efforts. We need to kick monsanto out ASAP

After terror, Bangladesh sends Bt seeds into India



November 10, 2014

Terror is not the only commodity that is entering Bengal through the Bangladesh border. At a time when controversies and debates over the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops are raging in the country and the scientific community is yet to give its opinion, Bt Brinjal seeds are being smuggled into West Bengal and farmers in the state are believed to have sown the crop in several districts.

Unlike in India, which has only recently allowed field trials of some GM crops, Bt Brinjal has been introduced in Bangladesh in 2013 and seeds are freely available.

“We have received information that seeds of Bt Brinjal are being smuggled into the country through the Indo-Bangla border in West Bengal... We are concerned about it as GM crops could have disastrous effect on both human beings and our biodiversity in the years to come. The smuggling is being reported from bordering districts such as Nadia and Murshidabad. We have asked district officials to remain alert and investigate the matter,” state’s agriculture minister Purnendu Basu told HT.

“We are aware of the problem and have submitted a deputation to the governor in September. Bt Brinjal, from seeds brought in from Bangladesh, is now being cultivated on the banks of river Ajoy that flows between Birbhum and Burdwan,” said Nandalal Kat, general secretary of the Bengal chapter of All India Kisan Sangha.

Despite the moratorium on Bt Brinjal in India, Bangladesh became the first country in South Asia to allow its cultivation last year.
schinnas
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by schinnas »

The track record of Modi sarkar w.r.to Monsanto or genetically modified crops is not great. While there is no doubt that the PM will want what is best for India, it seems his advisors in this area seem to be in favor of BT crops. Hope the right recommendation reaches the PMO. Monsanto is one of the most evil western MNCs.
chetak
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by chetak »

schinnas wrote:The track record of Modi sarkar w.r.to Monsanto or genetically modified crops is not great. While there is no doubt that the PM will want what is best for India, it seems his advisors in this area seem to be in favor of BT crops. Hope the right recommendation reaches the PMO. Monsanto is one of the most evil western MNCs.
At last, we agree on something. Good going. :)
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by vasu raya »

US spies on mobile phones from the sky
Small aircraft deployed by the US Marshals Service from at least five major airports have been taking to the skies with "dirtbox" equipment designed to mimic signals from cell towers, according to the Journal.

That in turn tricks mobile phones into revealing unique identifying numbers and general locations, according to the report.
Mobile phones are programmed to connect with the closest signal tower, but trust signals from towers or imposters when it comes to making decisions, hackers have demonstrated.

Boxes in planes could automatically assure mobile phones they are the optimal signal tower, then accept identifying information from handsets seeking connections.

Fake cell towers could then pass connections onto real signal towers, remaining as a conduit with the ability to tune into or block digital transmissions.
After sifting through data collected, investigators could determine the location of a targeted mobile phone to within about three meters, the report indicated.

Similar devices are used by US military and intelligence officials operating in other countries to locate terrorist suspects, according to the Journal.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by shaun »

How Google's Mapathon May Have Compromised India's National Security
A national security strategy that relies on classified maps might not be the best idea.
By
Kelsey D. Atherton
Image
Detail From Top 10 Mapathon India Winners The number one is in Pathankot, which is very near the disputed territory of Kashmir. Google

India's Central Bureau of Investigation is questioning an open-source map project sponsored by Google. Google's possible crime: Revealing information about sensitive military installations. Relying on locals to document the area around them, Google's contest may have documented what was known to locals but unavailable on previous maps of India.

India, like most countries engaged in a long and frustrating military stalemate over territory disputed by a nuclear-armed neighbor, wants to keep details about its own military installations out of the public eye. The government's Survey of India is responsible for maps, and that responsibility includes making sure the Open Series Maps, designed for general consumption, don't contain information from the classified Defense Series Maps.

Google's 2013 India Mapathon project came with no such military purpose behind it. Instead, the internet giant provided mapping tools to contest entrants. Top prizes included Samsung Galaxy Note tablets and cash. Notable in the terms of the contest are the specific features Google wanted map makers to label:

The drawing and annotation tools enable an Entrant to draw roads and features that are visible in the imagery, and label these items based on personal knowledge of a region, city, or town. Additionally, Entrant may use it to create points of interest, such as a school, business, or community feature, and to locate and describe points of interest.

The top ten winners of the contest are shown on the home page for Mapathon 2013. Vishal Saini, ranked number one in the contest, mapped the city of Pathankot, in the northern part of Punjab province. Pathankot is the last Indian city on the national highway to the contested state of Jammu and Kashmir, and has come under military attack before. During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, while the two countries fought over control of Kashmir, Pakistan bombed the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot and attempted to attack it with paratroopers.

Now, if you look up Pathankot on Google Maps, in addition to the city, there's a large section of land labeled "military area." The Survey of India claims Google didn't ask for permission before launching their map project. Crucially, the Survey of India claims a monopoly on mapping sensitive and restricted areas, and the appearance of places like Pathankot Military Area on an open map undermine that monopoly, and the national security interest behind it.

Image
Pathankot Military Area Google
Link :http://www.popsci.com/article/technolog ... l-security
kit
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by kit »

http://www.janes.com/article/45871/cpi- ... a-s-kerala


IN A STATEMENT released on 14 November, Communist Party of India - Maoist (CPI-M) claimed responsibility for attacked the Nitta Gelatin India Limited (NGIL) corporate offices in Kochi in India's Kerala state on 10 November, The Hindu reported. The statement was issued by the Western Ghats Zonal Committee of CPI-M and said that the attack was a symbolic protest.


Apparently a registered electoral party committing a terrorist act ?
SagarAg
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by SagarAg »

^Its a banned organization.
You are confusing it with CPI-Marxist
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Sachin »

kit wrote:IN A STATEMENT released on 14 November, Communist Party of India - Maoist (CPI-M) claimed responsibility for attacked the Nitta Gelatin India Limited (NGIL) corporate offices in Kochi in India's Kerala state on 10 November, The Hindu reported. The statement was issued by the Western Ghats Zonal Committee of CPI-M and said that the attack was a symbolic protest.
These worthies are Communist Party of India - Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML). Yesterday a gang had attacked a tourist resort in Wayanad district and ransacked the place. The gang members were speaking Kannada & Tamil. In a vernacular news report, I read that a leader of this gang has said that "armed units" have now been deployed in the area. K.P's intelligence wing now has some good job to do. K.P in 1960s and early 1970s had finished of the naxal gang quite ruthlessly.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by sunnyP »

British spooks were given access to a reliance communications internet cable. Were reliance complicit in this? Even if they were not Cable & Wireless now Vodafone certainly were and have questions to answer. GCHQ works in tandem with the Americans so this information was available to Uncle Sam too.
Spy cable revealed: how telecoms firm worked with GCHQ
One of the UK's largest communications firms had a leading role in creating the surveillance system exposed by Edward Snowden, it can be revealed.

Cable and Wireless even went as far as providing traffic from a rival foreign communications company, handing information sent by millions of internet users worldwide over to spies.

The firm, which was bought by Vodafone in July 2012, was part of a programme called Mastering the Internet, under which British spies used private companies to help them gather and store swathes of internet traffic; a quarter of which passes through the UK. Top secret documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden and seen by Channel 4 News show that GCHQ developed what it called "partnerships" with private companies under codenames. Cable and Wireless was called Gerontic.

Under the moniker, the company carried out tests on equipment used to carry out the surveillance, it came up with suggestions on how the spies could go about tapping its network, and even had a GCHQ employee working full-time within the company.

And a 2011 document reveals that Cable and Wireless went further. The company rented space on a cable owned by Indian telecoms company Reliance Communications that stretched from Asia across the Middle East and landed in Porthcurno in Cornwall. Reliance's transatlantic cable lands in Sennen Cove six miles to the north. And the two cables come together at nearby Skewjack Farm. Documents show that in 2011, this allowed Britain's spies to access all traffic from Reliance's main cable and send it to the GCHQ base up the coast in Bude.
http://www.channel4.com/news/spy-cable- ... -with-gchq
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Post by NRao »

India in talks with 24 countries to boost maritime security
The Indian Navy had earlier this year rolled out its National Command Control Communication and Intelligence Network (NC3I) that allows surveillance of waters around India and can even track ships in South China Sea.
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India has to be ready for two-front war: NSA Ajit Doval
India has two neighbours, both nuclear powers (which) share a strategic relationship and a shared adversarial view of India,” Doval told a packed audience of policy-makers, diplomats and industrialists.

Taking a cue from former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, who was chairing the talk, Doval expressed concern at Pakistan’s continued use of terrorism as a part of its foreign policy.

“Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) can bleed India but it cannot degrade a strong civilisational nation like us,” he said.

Doval also said the government had received reports of Chinese personnel working in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to build infrastructure and New Delhi had expressed concern to Beijing and Islamabad.

However, the NSA expressed optimism that India had been able to engage both countries and “economic inter-dependence” can prove to be a framework to build peace in South Asia.

“Economic development is the best way to ensure security and 9% growth will make us totally secure,” Doval said. “A strong economy is the surest means of protecting the country and creates vested interests which will ensure India’s protection.”

Doval is a former Intelligence Bureau director who provided key background for the Prime Minister’s trips to the US, Australia, Myanmar and Fiji and the engagement with South Asia.

“In a changing world order India is engaging powers who have conflicting views. So we engage China and Japan as well as Russia and the United States.”

Covering a slew of issues that have dominated India’s security concerns, the NSA also underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s focus on emerging technological threats from cyberspace.

“We are seized of it, we have huge experience, scientific capabilities but we have lost out on technical issues. Root servers are in other countries, mostly in the US and even private corporations have become very powerful,” he said.

With cyber space emerging as an engine for powerful economic growth, the government will continue to keep a sharp eye on it, the NSA said.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Paul »

India’s Intelligence War in Kashmir
November 30, 2014

The intelligence war in Jammu and Kashmir

Mandeep Singh

Hindustan Times

November 30, 2014

Counter-insurgency operations rely heavily on sustained intelligence efforts since insurgents are always hidden from view and embedded with the population.

The turn-around in the security situation in Jammu & Kashmir has, to a great extent, been brought about through timely intelligence inputs. The external intelligence agency, R&AW, and the army’s intelligence acquisition arm, the I&FS Group, have contributed a wealth of information on terrorist plans, infiltration routes and timings of such attempts as well as penetrated their training camps in Pakistan.

These combined efforts have resulted in a growing number of infiltrating terrorists being intercepted on the Line of Control (LOC) itself. Personnel of the Intelligence Bureau operating at great personal risk provide high-grade intelligence on terrorist gangs and overground workers through their source network. Communications intercepts supply real-time information.

A major role is played by the army’s intelligence and surveillance units. Well-equipped with the tools of the trade, they have a large number of personnel and vehicles, and are provided with huge unaccounted funds for buying information and running agents. Very good results have been obtained by them through placing overground workers, terrorist harbourers and sympathisers under electronic surveillance.

Information provided by them in real-time through electronic shadowing and observation has resulted in a great number of terrorist catches and eliminations. On the ground, the police’s ability to place agents within terrorist groups is unrivalled. Since they remain in close touch with the people, they’re able to generate a significant amount of intelligence.

Infantry and Rashtriya Rifles battalions deployed on the counter-insurgency grid maintain a vigil on villages in their area of responsibility (AOR) through low-level sources. Patrols keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. It could be new faces in a village, a household buying extra food, new found affluence or even extra clothes hung out to dry — all clues to terrorist presence. Painstaking and dogged pursuit by intelligence personnel has played a decisive role in the elimination of many terrorist networks.

3 minutes ago / 0 notes
http://www.matthewaid.com/post/10398984 ... in-kashmir
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VinodTK
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Post by VinodTK »

From dna: 22 ITBP border posts opened to fortify security along China border
Twenty-two ITBP border posts have been opened and green signal given for erection of 123 mobile towers to strengthen security along the Indo-China border, Government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

"Out of 5 newly sanctioned Border Out Post (BOPs), 22 BOPs have already been opened along the Indo­China border for strengthening existing border security. Remaining BOPs will be established by 2016. At present, ITBP is manning 163 BOPs," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply.

In order to improve the existing road connectivity and to enhance the troop's mobility, he said 27 ITBP priority roads are being constructed along Indo­China border.

"With the aim to achieve connectivity to all ITBP BOPs and patrolling points/international passes, government has approved 34 roads. 123 mobile towers have been approved by the government along the Indo-China border to enhance the connectivity and border vigil.

"The critical infrastructre in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh are also being strengthend to enhance troop's mobilty and border security in those areas," he said. Rijiju added that the government has accorded sanction to ITBP to obtain two helicopters on wet lease to meet its operational requirements.

"With a view to provide dedicated air suport to Indo­Tibetan Border Police, the government has accorded approval to ITBP for wet leasing of two light helicopters to meet its operational air support requirements in J and K and Uttarkhand through tendering process.

"The total expenditure likely to be incurred for wet leasing of two helicopters is approximately Rs 40 crore per annum.

Besides, dedicated air support is provided to ITBP through BSF MI­17 helicopters as well as IAF helicopters based on the availability of helicopters to meet the operational requirement of the force on Indo­China border including Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarkhand," the Minister said.
ramana
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by ramana »

SaiK wrote:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 336422.cms

we can't let this happen!

In future please use the url format to give a title and not just post the link.

Thanks,

ramana
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by member_28539 »

VinodTK wrote:From dna: 22 ITBP border posts opened to fortify security along China border
Twenty-two ITBP border posts have been opened and green signal given for erection of 123 mobile towers to strengthen security along the Indo-China border, Government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

"Out of 5 newly sanctioned Border Out Post (BOPs), 22 BOPs have already been opened along the Indo­China border for strengthening existing border security. Remaining BOPs will be established by 2016. At present, ITBP is manning 163 BOPs," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply.

In order to improve the existing road connectivity and to enhance the troop's mobility, he said 27 ITBP priority roads are being constructed along Indo­China border.

"With the aim to achieve connectivity to all ITBP BOPs and patrolling points/international passes, government has approved 34 roads. 123 mobile towers have been approved by the government along the Indo-China border to enhance the connectivity and border vigil.

"The critical infrastructre in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh are also being strengthend to enhance troop's mobilty and border security in those areas," he said. Rijiju added that the government has accorded sanction to ITBP to obtain two helicopters on wet lease to meet its operational requirements.

"With a view to provide dedicated air suport to Indo­Tibetan Border Police, the government has accorded approval to ITBP for wet leasing of two light helicopters to meet its operational air support requirements in J and K and Uttarkhand through tendering process.

"The total expenditure likely to be incurred for wet leasing of two helicopters is approximately Rs 40 crore per annum.

Besides, dedicated air support is provided to ITBP through BSF MI­17 helicopters as well as IAF helicopters based on the availability of helicopters to meet the operational requirement of the force on Indo­China border including Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarkhand," the Minister said.
Opened? Is this a case of classic DDM? Anyways...good things are happening all around..better to be happy about them.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by SBajwa »

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation ... 13668.html

Experts call for all-inclusive security policy

The imperative to address multi-dimensional security challenges India faces in the wake of ever-altering landscape and the need to evolve a national policy to meet the emerging threats was today underlined by eminent speakers at the first Roundtable organised by the Tribune National Security Forum in association with the Indian Council of World Affairs.

The accent was on approaching the issue in a holistic and inclusive manner in which life and security of every citizen was secure and not just in the strict confines of defence and security.

In his keynote address, Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu sought to know the definition of national security and impressed upon the need to have a strategic threat assessment agency that monitors and assesses the problem in all its dimensions on a regular basis and draws response accordingly.

He said the national security parameters were no longer confined to the traditional military and security establishments but interconnected in the form of energy, leading to food, water and soil, all of which was inter-dependent.

For instance, he said, to have energy security would mean having to secure sea lanes of communication which in turn would require a strong navy. In the case of providing food security, the impact on environment could be seen since excess use of water for irrigation led to questions on soil security.

India, he said, needed an institution that could assess strategic threats the country would face in the next 15 years and build its response accordingly. He suggested that the task of national security required active interaction with the states since they faced major problems on daily basis.

Advocating the urgent need to evolve a national security policy, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra emphasised that there was a need for a specialised and dedicated cadre of trained officers drawn from various sectors to effectively run the national security management system.

Vohra told the select gathering, including a galaxy of diplomats, intellectuals, academicians and bureaucrats, that such a policy should be drawn by the Centre in cooperation with the states. President of The Tribune Trust Justice SS Sodhi (retd) and Trustee Naresh Mohan were also present among the distinguished audience.

After the inauguration, the Roundtable on “National Security: Key Challenges Ahead” was split into two sessions. The opening session was chaired by Governor Vohra and Lt Gen SS Mehta (retd), who in his concluding remarks identified six priorities of security — water, energy, health, education not linked to employment, environment and technology — that would be fought in six dimensions — water, land, air, underwater, space and cyber space.

Lt Gen Mehta, who is also a member of the Tribune Trust, said India should develop its own lexicon and grammar in nuclear debate and quoted former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who in his book devoted several pages to Kautilya not as a philosophical disputation but a tactical statecraft.

In his welcome address, The Tribune Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa outlined the thought behind setting up the Forum as to bringing depth into the discourse on a vital area that affected everyone. “With a country at a critical crossroads and a new government in the saddle, there are hard questions that we need to face about India's national security: Do we, for instance, have a

national security policy or a doctrine in a fullest sense? Is our national security only about national defence? Or do we need to take a more holistic and inclusive concept of national security?” he said.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by schinnas »

Dineshwar Sharma to be the new IB Chief
Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Dineshwar Sharma will be the appointed the director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), a government official privy to the information said on Friday.

Sharma, who belongs to Bihar and is a Kerala cadre 1979-batch IPS officer, will succeed Syed Asif Ibrahim whose tenure ends this month.

Ibrahim, a 1977-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer, had taken charge as IB director on January 1, 2013.

Ibrahim - the first Muslim to hold the top post in IB - had taken over from Nehchal Sandhu.

Before becoming the IB chief, Ibrahim had served as the special director in the organisation after his return from London where he held the post of minister (coordination) in the Indian high commission.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by James B »

I don't know if anyone has read Carvan story on Shekar Gupta, it says that P Chidambaram & former IB Chief Nehchal Sandhu pushed the Coup story in Indian Express.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Sachin »

Naxal activities in Kerala have increased manifold: Union Home Ministry (Mathrubhumi: English)
New Delhi: Activities of the Naxals in Kerala have increased manifold and situation in the state has the potential of becoming more serious if immediate preventive measures are not taken, according to a note prepared by the Home Ministry.

In the 17-page note on CPI (Maoist), the Ministry said in recent times, the outfit is focusing on a southern theatre in the tri-junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by ramana »

Dileep is right.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by GopiD »

http://week.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/ ... Id=-222461

Indian Army's Top Covert unit TSD members in Dismay - Mr Bond, is it? Or, Mr Bean-counter?

Depressing depressing read.........
When elephants fight, the grass is crushed. The Swahili proverb has come painfully true for half a dozen officers who were part of the Indian Army's top covert operations unit.

They were recruited in the wake of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008, to stage counter-attacks on enemy targets. But, they were soon caught in the crossfire between the Army's top brass, which included three chiefs. Today, the super spies who sneaked into terrorist hideouts, blasted their depots and did such covert jobs are serving time in sinecure jobs—counting blankets and shoes, checking accounts, and overseeing repair work to residential quarters.

The story of the top-secret spy unit, officially the Technical Support Division, goes back to the days immediately after 26/11. Rattled by the audacity of the attack, the then National Security Adviser, M.K Narayanan, met heads of all spy and security agencies individually to find out if they had the capability to attack home bases of terror groups in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. None had. Narayanan asked them to raise a team, if they could.

Sources said that neither the heads of agencies nor the director-general of military operations went back to the NSA on this issue. Then Army chief General Deepak Kapoor also did not give much thought to the idea. In March 2010, Lt Gen R.K. Loomba, then director-general of Military Intelligence, approached the new chief, General V.K. Singh, saying that he could raise and train a special ops team. Singh gave his go-ahead.

Loomba then handpicked one of his finest spies, Colonel Hunny Bakshi, to raise and train the unit. Bakshi is among the few officers who joined the directorate-general of Military Intelligence directly from the Indian Military Academy. While serving in Jammu and Kashmir he risked his life to save a Brigadier who was ambushed by terrorists.

Bakshi's first pick was Lt Col Vinay B. aka Birdie, who had served in the Research and Analysis Wing, the external intelligence agency. He was awarded a gallantry award for his role in a classified operation. He was Bakshi's point man against terrorist groups in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

Lt Col Sarvesh D. was the second man to be picked. The veteran skydiver with 3,000 jumps under his belt commanded an Army company during the Kargil war. Later, he was part of a special action group of the National Security Guard. During a counter-terrorist operation in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, Sarvesh sensed that his men were in danger and barged into a house where Afghan terrorists were holed up. He killed them all and saved his men.

No 3 was Lt Col Alfred B., a seasoned negotiator. While serving with 28 Assam Rifles, he created assets in the dreaded United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). These assets were later used to persuade the ULFA leadership to come to a truce with the Army, which ensured peace in Assam for quite a while.

Lt Col Zir was the fourth. Known for his wide network among terror groups in the northeast, Zir had brought about the cease-fire deal with the Dima Halim Daogah ultras of Assam. He had played a key role in the arrest of some DHD leaders. Zir gathered crucial intelligence on arms trafficking into India from Myanmar and helped intercept consignments.

Bakshi's best pick, perhaps, was Lt Col Anurag aka Naughty. Diabetic and overweight, he looked quite unlike an Army spy. A training injury meant that he could not work out and, thus, he gained weight. Many laughed when Bakshi picked him. But, they soon found that he could walk for miles through the hilly Jammu and Kashmir terrain with a walking stick for support. A master in cultivating assets among the terrorist groups, he was the one who helped the Army identify the real troublemakers during the stone-pelting protests in Kashmir in the summer of 2010.

The going was good for a short while. The team was following the likes of Syed Salahuddin, the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief, in occupied Kashmir. A board of officers' report confirmed this and the Army had forwarded the report to the defence ministry. The report also mentioned other operations done by the team, including ones in the northeast and in Pakistan. Especially highlighted was one in an Inter-Services Intelligence office in Faisalabad, Pakistan. “The unit was working very efficiently. It was an asset for the Army and the country,” said Loomba, about the TSD.

While the group was establishing contacts and assets in occupied Kashmir, the weather was getting rough in the Army HQ. General V.K. Singh and the defence ministry were slugging it out over his age. A.K. Antony was defence minister. It was perceived that Singh wanted to scuttle the chances of General Bikram Singh and the incumbent General Dalbir Singh Suhag succeeding him.

The ministry started questioning V.K. Singh's initiatives, and top among them was the TSD. Singh's detractors alleged that TSD was snooping on Antony and defence ministry officials. Army sources to whom this reporter talked for this story said the equipment alleged to have been used by the TSD for snooping could not zero-in on a particular mobile number. So, it would have been very difficult to track Antony's number using off-the-air interceptors. Moreover, all classified communication goes through encrypted RAX lines and not through regular service providers or devices.

As soon as he took over as Army chief, Bikram Singh ordered a probe into the activities of the TSD. He suspended its operations and virtually disbanded it. The Army HQ also wanted an inquiry into the TSD by the Central Bureau of Investigation.Antony rejected the demand fearing that this would affect India's relations with countries where TSD operatives had been active.

Once Bikram Singh pulled the plug on the TSD, it was a free for all. Some alleged that auditors had found Rs8 crore missing from TSD accounts. V.K. Singh used the money, others alleged, to bribe ministers and destabilise the Omar Abdullah-led government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The TSD was also blamed for the public interest litigation that alleged that Bikram Singh was awarded a gallantry medal for a fake encounter which happened in 2001. The general was injured in the firefight. The Army said that a Pakistani militant was killed in the encounter, while his family claimed that he was Kashmiri and a labourer. In April 2012, the Supreme Court dismissed the PIL and cleared the decks for Bikram Singh's promotion as Army chief.

As the fight intensified, allegations and counter-charges were leaked to the media, and names of TSD officers were bandied about. In the midst of this came the Tatra truck scam, where V.K. Singh alleged that Lt Gen Tejinder Singh, former chief of the defence intelligence agency, had offered him Rs14 crore for clearing the procurement of 614 Tatra heavy-duty trucks.

The covert team got more bad press when Tejinder Singh, who was then facing a CBI probe in the scam, allegedly barged into the TSD premises in Delhi cantonment area for “collecting evidence”. Reports said that the lieutenant general and a journalist were apprehended by sentries on duty.

Strangely, instead of moving against Tejinder Singh, the Army moved against Birdie, who was the officiating commander of the TSD then. A court of inquiry was set up to look into Birdie leaking a “sensitive document”. The document was a questionnaire sent by a TV channel to the Army's public relations wing, seeking information about the TSD.

That was just the first inquiry. Officers and troops of the TSD have since been subjected to several inquiries, but nothing unlawful has been established to date. As no charge held water, the officers were shunted out to nondescript jobs. The ill-treatment of these officers continues under the present chief.

V.K. Singh has since joined politics, contested polls, and is now a minister, but these men continue to suffer the indignities heaped on them.

The leader of the team, Bakshi, is with a unit in Ladakh, where his job is to count snow-jackets and shoes being stocked for the winter. Despite being close to the Chinese border, the super spy has no role in monitoring activities of Chinese troops. Shattered by the hostility shown to him by colleagues and seniors, Bakshi underwent psychiatric treatment in a Delhi hospital. His wife told the defence ministry and the prime minister that he has developed suicidal tendencies.

His son, an engineering student in a college outside Delhi, fears payback from those his father took on, while in the TSD. On his mother's instructions, he now skips the direct bus from home to college; he changes three buses every day. His mother had written to Antony, requesting security. Antony instructed the Army to provide security, but she says she has not received any.

Instead, the Army asked her to appear before a court of inquiry ordered by a formation under its western command. Its mandate was never disclosed to her, and she was never told what it was trying to find out. When she filed an RTI application, she was informed that the court of inquiry had been called off. She alleged that a senior officer had warned her that it was dangerous to dodge the military court. Coming from a military background—her father and brother were officers—she wonders how information on something as secret as the TSD was leaked.

She has now written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking justice for her husband. She wrote that he has been subjected to “extreme humiliation, indignity and fear by the hands of the top-most hierarchy of country's Army”, despite not having any cases against him.

All top guns of the TSD are in Bakshi's shoes. Birdie is with the Military Engineering Services in Shillong, where he oversees plumbers and masons who maintain the official quarters of Air Force officers. Sarvesh, the skydiver, maintains land records of a small formation in Jharkhand. Alfred used to manage a poly-clinic in Deolali in Maharashtra. After his father, a retired Major, wrote to the Army that his son was threatening to kill himself, Alfred was posted closer to home—as a National Cadet Corps officer in Rajasthan. Zir is at a poly-clinic in Karnataka, clearing medical bills of retired officers and jawans. Naughty, too, is with a medical facility in Madhya Pradesh.

More than the humiliation of these postings, the officers are tormented by the strain on their families. Two are facing divorce proceedings, with their wives alleging prolonged years of separation.

What should be worrying the country more is that the Army today has hardly any capability for covert ops. When he took over from V.K. Singh, Bikram Singh instituted a board of inquiry to look into the operations of the TSD. It was headed by Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, then director-general of military operations. “The panel went beyond its actual brief of reviewing the functioning of the unit and started investigating its activities, which were clandestine in nature,” said an officer in the directorate-general of military intelligence. “Covert capability is supposed to be covert and there is always the factor of deniability. But, if our own people start documenting the deeds of intelligence officers and start feeding it to the media, then we are destroying our present and future assets.”

Covert units have been similarly shut down in the 1977-1979 Janata period, and, later, during the 1996-1998 United Front period, when, under the spell of I.K. Gujral's namesake doctrine, all covert operations were called off. “In the earlier two instances, the covert strike capabilities suffered due to politicians,” said a Military Intelligence officer. “But, in this case, they have suffered due to military people who are supposed to order these people. Not only that, they have even resorted to leaking information about the operations carried out by such units, compromising the country's standing at the international level.”
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Akshay Kapoor »

Which is why I have said before that Bikram Singh was a disaster. This article should find its way to Parikkar and Modi. Lets see if they do anything. Or if nothing changes and it remains business as usual.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by ravip »

Dont know whether to shoot the traitors or myself...no point in dreaming that this country will pay back those pigs in my lifetime!!!
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Inder Sharma »

^^ tweet the above article to the one's in the know. Gaurav sawant may also pick it up
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Inder Sharma »

Somebody had highlighted that UPA went after intelligence and investigation community with a vengeance.

They silenced MI using Hindu terror, enslaved CBI, investigated IB, bureaucratised RAW, installed corrupt CVCs, dismantled TSD. Effectively almost all intelligence institutions were placed on notice.

What were they trying to achieve?
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by chetak »

Inder Sharma wrote:Somebody had highlighted that UPA went after intelligence and investigation community with a vengeance.

They silenced MI using Hindu terror, enslaved CBI, investigated IB, bureaucratised RAW, installed corrupt CVCs, dismantled TSD. Effectively almost all intelligence institutions were placed on notice.

What were they trying to achieve?
The termite queen's pax romana
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by sum »

^^ Only silver lining ( if any) is that these things would ahve started reversing by now!
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Akshay Kapoor »

Gentlemen, if these things have started reversing and the officers are given their due I will give a huge party. Even if the intent is there the people in power may not even know these things have happened. When you are in power a wall of deference and jee huzuri surrounds you. The state of affairs has to reach people through layers of secretariats and secretaries.

I am writing to Parrikar, COAS and NSA. Please support the effort by writing independently to them as well. We need to put in the effort for the reversal, not just wait for it to happen.
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Re: Intelligence and National Security Discussion

Post by Akshay Kapoor »

ravip wrote:Dont know whether to shoot the traitors or myself...no point in dreaming that this country will pay back those pigs in my lifetime!!!
Don't dream, make it happen. Use social media, letters to the people in power etc. At least you will have had the satisfaction that you did your bit.
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