Terrorism Watch

  Relations between India and Canada have been strained ever since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister. But it is, perhaps, Trudeau’s most dubious achievement to have deteriorated relations with India to a point where Canada is now being seen by most Indians as a new Pakistan. If the India-Canada bilateral readouts after the brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi reflected a relationship that’s destined to head the Pakistan way, then the diplomatic war that has been declared by Trudeau and joined by India has ended all pretence of normal ties and reduced Canada to the status of a new Pakistan. Both India and Canada have a lot that binds them together—democracy, diaspora (excluding the pernicious parts of it), defence and strategic ties, and, of course, a mutually beneficial economic relationship. Matters should have never reached such a pass. Both India and Canada have a lot that binds them together—democracy, diaspora (excluding the pernicious parts of it), def

  Financial frauds accounted for over 75 per cent of cyber crimes in India from January 2020 till June 2023, with nearly 50 per cent cases related to UPI and internet banking, according to a new study by an IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up. Social media-related crimes such as cheating by impersonation, cyber-bullying, sexting and email phishing accounted for 12 per cent of the online offences during the period, the study showed. The findings have been mentioned by the Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, in its latest comprehensive whitepaper 'A Deep Dive into Cybercrime Trends Impacting India'. For online financial frauds, which accounted for the maximum 77.41 per cent offences during the period, the FCRF noted that "this category is a dominant concern, covering fraudulent activities related to online financial transactions". "Subcategories include debit/credit card fraud, busin

Christian aid organization says it is not and defends former director sentenced to prison in Israel. Senator Chuck Grassley is concerned that World Vision International may have funded terrorism with US taxpayers’ money. The long-serving legislator from Iowa sent the Christian humanitarian aid organization  a letter  last month asking for answers to a number of questions about funding, current programs, and accountability. World Vision received $491 million from US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2022. “Congress and the American people deserve transparency with respect to the steps World Vision has taken to ensure taxpayer money is used as intended and not for illegal activity,” Grassley wrote. “Please provide answers.” The humanitarian organization told CT that it sent a reply to Grassley on September 9. On the larger point, the group is unequivocal: “World Vision does not support any form of terrorism.” The senator’s inquiry comes a year after a World Vision employee

  On August 29, a Thai police officer and two local defense volunteers were killed in an ambush in Yarang district in Pattani province, southern Thailand, where ethnic Malay Muslim militants have been waging an insurgency for decades. While the attack has not been claimed by any group so far, this may be explained by the secretive nature of the militant factions and their lack of formal media units. The tactics used and choice of target resemble what has been seen by the same militant groups in the past. To the extent that the ambush differed from those previous, it appeared to show growing sophistication: the militants ambushed the patrol near a relatively hard target—Yarang’s municipal office—and were able to flee the scene without being captured. The attackers’ escape was partially facilitated by the bombing of five utility poles in the area, which caused minor local blackouts and hampered attempts at pursuing the militants ( bangkokpost.com , August 29). One possible theory is that