HYDERABAD FRIDAY APRIL 12, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 38 LATE CITY EDITION APPLE WARNS OF SOPHISTICATED SPYWARE ATTACKS ON IPHONE USERS The US firm has warned its users in India and 91 other countries of a “mercenary spyware attack” targeting a select few influential individuals POLITICIANS, DIPLOMATS, SCRIBES TARGETED In its latest alert, Apple has dropped the term ‘state-sponsored’ it used to describe such malware attacks in the past. The latest notification has also come at a time when around 60 countries, including India, are in election mode. The targets are usually politicians, diplomats, activists and senior journalists. Apple said these attacks are very hard to detect | P12 ■ 2021 ENABLE ‘LOCKDOWN MODE’ TO SECURE PHONE ■ Apple has recommended the notified users to enable the ‘lockdown’ mode, which offers extreme protection but disables certain features According to a 2023 survey by cyber security firm Check Point, 49% of global organisations are unable to detect a breach on employee-owned devices. The threat actors execute malicious codes and take control of devices, it said WHEN APPLE STARTED SENDING OUT ALERTS TO ITS USERS ABOUT SECURITY BREACHES CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Decks cleared for Delhi excise policy case: After Kamma leader likely to ED to take over ED, CBI arrests Kavitha now get Congress LS ticket Herald assets KHAMMAM CONUNDRUM was asked about the WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu’s phone and documents related to a land deal after which `100 crore was allegedly paid to AAP in kickbacks to swing the nowscrapped excise policy in favour of a liquor lobby . M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi PMLA adjudicating authority upholds 2023 order to attach properties worth `751.90 cr EX PRESS N EWS SERVICE @ New Delhi IN a big blow to the Congress, the decks have just been cleared for the Enforcement Directorate to take possession of assets worth `751.90 crore belonging to the party-owned Associated Journal Ltd (AJL) and Young Indian. For, the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) Adjudicating Authority has upheld the provisional attachment order issued last year in connection with a money laundering probe against AJL. The ED had provisionally attached these properties last year. It had also interrogated several individuals, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, in connection with the case. The two Congress leaders together held 76% of shares in Young India, the holding company of AJL, which publishes The National Herald newspaper. According to the ED, the AJL had to repay a loan of `90.21 crore to AICC, which, however, treated the said loan as nonrecoverable and sold it for a mere `50 lakh to Young Indian. In its order, the adjudicating authority said it believes the movable assets and equity shares attached by the ED are proceeds of crime. The ED had initiated the money-laundering probe following a process initiated by PRIME PROPERTIES The assets to be taken into possession by the Enforcement Directorate include the Herald House at ITO in New Delhi, land as well as buildings in Mumbai, Lucknow and some other prime location the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, which took cognisance of a private complaint against irregularities in the affairs of National Herald. The court had held that seven accused persons and entities, including Young Indian, prima facie committed offences of criminal breach of trust under various IPC sections, including cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, dishonest misappropriation of property and criminal conspiracy . The ED probe revealed AJL is in possession of proceeds of crime in the form of properties in many cities worth `661.69 crore and Young Indian `90.21 crore in the form of investment in equity shares of AJL. BLESSED GATHERING The Muslim community offers prayers at the eidgah in Masab Tank on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr in Hyderabad on Thursday | VINAY MADAPU THE CBI on Thursday arrested BRS MLC K Kavitha for her alleged involvement in criminal conspiracy and bribing a public servant in the Delhi excise policy case. Kavitha, 46, who is the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was housed in Tihar jail since her arrest by the ED on March 15 under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case. Officials said the CBI questioned Kavitha inside the prison on Saturday evening after obtaining permission from a special court here. The BRS leader To be produced in court today The CBI carried out the arrest formalities in jail number 6 of Tihar prison around 12 noon on Thursday under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 477-A (falsification of accounts) of the IPC, along with Section 7 (offence relating to public servant being bribed) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, AT CANNES EXPRESS READ ‘All We Imagine as Light’ first Indian film in 30 years to compete CM lauds official for quick action P RAS H A N T H VA L L AVA N MUMBAI-BASED filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light is all set to premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it will compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or award. The announcement was made on Thursday by Iris Knobloch, president of the Cannes Festival, along with Thierry Fremaux, General Delegate. This year’s Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to be held from May 14 to 25. The last Indian film to enter the competition section at Cannes is the 1994 Malayalam film Swaham, by director Shaji N Karun, which lost to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. All We Imagine As Light is an Indo-French co-production, and revolves around two nurses from Kerala who work at a nursing home in Mumbai. The film stars Kani Kusruti (Biriyaani) and Divya Prabha (Ariyippu). BritishIndian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s S a n tosh will also be screened at the Cannes this year — under the Un Certain Regard section. Payal Kapadia’s A Night of Knowing Nothing won the Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. The film revolves around a college student who writes a letter to her estranged boyfriend. In 2017, the director’s Afternoon Clouds, was the only film to be selected for screening at Cannes. Born and raised in Mumbai, Kapadia went on to study film direction at Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. FIREBRAND ANNAMALAI’S DUEL IN COIMBATORE IS TN HEAD-TURNER S M A N N A R M A N N A N @ Coimbatore constituency Even the victory of the . BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan from Coimbatore South — the sixth Assembly seat — after a three-cornered contest in which she handed actor-turnedneta Kamal Haasan a drubbing, could be attributed to the alliance with the AIADMK. The firebrand Annamalai, initially reluctant to enter the Lok Sabha race, later fell in line with the party high command’s decision. Having previously lost to the DMK in the Aravaku- ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR AS the summer peaks, the battlefield in Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency sparkles in an unfamiliar glow. There are two reasons. For one, BJP’s Tamil Nadu state president, K Annamalai, an IPS officer-turned-politician, has entered the poll fray Sec. ond, the DMK took over the constituency from CPM after a gap of a decade and fielded a softspoken Ganapathy P Rajkumar, former Mayor of Coimbatore Corporation, with the sole aim of trouncing the BJP with all its might. The fact that in 2019, CPM’s P R Natarajan romped home with over 1.79 lakh votes may portray the constituency as a hopeless trek for any debutant. But in the 2021 assembly elections, it changed colour from tip to toe in favour of AIADMK in the five segments under this LS the officials said. It is learnt that Kavitha will remain in Tihar jail on Thursday as the agency plans to pro, duce her before a special court here on Friday to seek her custody. “If the CBI gets her remand, Kavitha will be moved to a lockup at the agency headquarters where she will be questioned by officers of the Anti-Corruption Branch, which is probing the case,” a senior CBI official said. The ED had arrested Kavitha from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad. The agency has alleged that one of the accused, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks worth at least `100 crore from the “South Group” (controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy) on behalf of AAP leadCONTINUED ON P6 ers. richi assembly seat in 2021 by 24,816 votes, he is leaving no stone unturned by touring every nook and cranny of the constituency amidst his busy schedule of campaigning for candidates of the BJP and its allies across the state. He is seen as a fearless, corruption-free leader by the youth and people who are looking for an alternative for the two Dravidian parties. But will it be enough to cross the line? While the BJP eyes the support of a sizable North Indian population and votes from Hindu outfits, the DMK hopes to lap up minority votes and the support of allies like the CPI and CPM, which hold sway over the working class. On the other hand, the AIADMK enjoys a traditional vote bank. While Singai G Ramachandran, AIADMK’s IT wing president, is banking on party strongman S P Velumani and five MLAs, the DMK will definitely miss the presence of jailed ex-minister V Senthil Balaji, who played a vital role in the party’s victory in the local body polls in the Kongu belt. CONTINUED ON P6 Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy commended Jangaon Additional Collector Rohit Singh for taking prompt action in suspending a market secretary, who was allegedly colluding with traders and causing trouble to the farmers during the paddy procurement process. The chief minister warned officials that the government will not tolerate corrupt practices | P4 I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @ Hyderabad WITH the Congress yet to announce candidates for the three Lok Sabha constituency, including Khammam, it is learnt that Cabinet members Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Thummala Nageswara Rao are lobbying to get the ticket for their close relatives. The party high command has already decided to field a senior leader from the Kamma community from the seat. Sources said the party leadership is open to fielding a local or a senior leader from another district. They added that for mer minister Mandava Venkateshwara Rao and VVC Rajendra Prasad are being seriously considered for the nomination. Discussions within the party revolve around the potential consequences of awarding the ticket to a member of any minister’s family, which could cause rifts within the party and unnecessary turmoil ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Such a decision may also affect other constituencies and raise concerns among the party cadre. To avoid this, the high com- New frontrunners Congress has already decided to field a senior leader from the Kamma community from the seat Ministers Mallu Bhatti, Ponguleti and Thummala are trying to get the ticket for their family members Mandava Venkateshwara Rao and VVC Rajendra Prasad are being considered for the seat, said sources mand plans to nominate another Kamma community leader. Given his familiarity with Khammam and a strong supp o r t b a s e, M a n d ava h a s emerged as a frontrunner for the Lok Sabha elections ticket. The leadership has discussed this with senior leaders, signalling a probable candidacy for him in the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency . However, the party also feels that nominating former MP Renuka Chowdhury as a Rajya Sabha member and nominating another Kamma candidate for the Lok Sabha seat could lead to backlash from the Reddy and SC communities. CONTINUED ON P5
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