tirupati l friday l april 12, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION Apple warns of sophisticated spyware attacks on iphone users 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 The US firm has warned its users in India and 91 other countries of a “mercenary spyware attack” targeting a select few influential individuals ■ 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 PMLA adjudicating authority upholds 2023 order to attach properties worth `751.90 cr Ex press News se rvice @ 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 uphold 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 YSRC-TDP scuffle triggers tension in Ongole, CEO seeks report from police E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Ongole Tension flared up when the supporters of the YSRC candidate for Ongole Assembly seat Balineni Srinivasa Reddy clashed with those of the TDP at an apartment in Ongole on Wednesday night and at the government general hospital on Thursday morning. The bone contention was the participation of a village volunteer in the election campaign in the apartment by the relative of Balineni Srinivas Reddy . The situation came under control after the intervention of the police. They registered cases against the activists of both YSRC and the TDP based , on complaints lodged by the rival factions, according to District Superintendent of Police (SP) Garud Sumith Sunil. Meanwhile, State Chief Elec- toral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena, reacting to the issue, directed the district police to submit a comprehensive report on the incident for a review by the Election Commission. According to police, on Wednesday night, Balineni’s daughter in-law Kavya went to Samatha Nagar to conduct a campaign on his behalf. When she was about to enter an apartment, one TDP activist asked her and her supporters to go back. It is said that a village volunteer, who resigned from Govt invites Tesla to set up shop in Andhra Pradesh 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. S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The State government is understood to have sent proposals to the management of Tesla, the US-based electric vehicles major, inviting it to set up a manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh. Sources said two mails have already been sent to the management of Tesla, inviting a team to inspect a suitable site for the location of their plant. As Tesla founder Elon Musk is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 22, the State government has stepped up its efforts to bag the prestigious project. Additionally, the State has infor med Tesla that it has enough land banks in various districts. The government also offered help if Tesla chooses to acquire private land. “We invited Tesla to visit the State and see the sites required for locating their unit. We are waiting for their response. As we have land banks in all districts, we are offering land wherever they want to set up their plant. However, keeping in mind the proximity to Chennai and Bangalore and Krishnapatnam Port, we have proposed lands at Kia plant in Anantapur district, which closer to Bangaluru, near Naidupet and Sri City if they want to be close to Chennai and Krishnapatnam Port,” a senior official told TNIE. If a team from Tesla comes to the State and selects any location suitable for their requirements, the government is ready to offer them the land even if it meant purchasing it from the private parties, the official explained. P3 eid mubarak Two children exchange greetings on the occasion of Ramzan, in Tirupati on Thursday | Madhav K Main segment ‘All We Imagine as Light’ first Indian film in 30 years to compete at Cannes 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). British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s Santosh 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 Televi- Poster of All We Imagine As Light sion Institute of India in Pune. All We Imagine As Light will compete against 19 other films, including Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola, The Apprentice by Ali Abbasi, Kind of Kindness by Yorgos Lanthimos, and The Shrouds by David Cronenberg. Director Greta Gerwig, best known for films like Lady Bird and Barbie, will lead the juries of the competition section. Veteran filmmaker George Lucas will receive an Honorary Palme d’Or this year. Top award Neecha Nagar is the only Indian film ever to win the top honour at Cannes back in 1946. At the time, the award was known as Grand Prix du Festival International du Film service, was part of the campaign for which the TDP took objection. Soon, heated arguments took place between the two groups and the situation quickly deteriorated. Balineni too reached the spot, but by then the police had already ar rived and brought the situation under control. They shifted the injured persons to the GGH. On learning about the incident, TDP leader Damacharla Janardhan Rao and Balineni rushed to the GGH to inquire about the health condition of the injured which led to tension peaking once again. Supporters of the two parties raised slogans and began clashing with one another. The police immediately swung into action and cleared the premises by chasing them P4 away . Officials have seized unaccounted cash, liquor drugs and freebies meant for distribution worth `100 crore in the State since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force on March 16. Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena said, “Apart from inter-State checkposts, several checkposts are being set up to crack down on illegal transportation of any inducement material. Police, I-T and officials of 20 enforcement agencies are keeping a vigil since the MCC came into force.” MAJOR CRACKDOWN Undocumented cash SEIZED ITEMS Decks cleared for ED to take over Herald assets `2,503.13 lakh 68,73,891.25 grams drugs worth `205.94 lakh 6,14,837.76 litres liquor worth `1,249.68 lakh 4,71,020 freebies worth `242.94 lakh 9,84,148.09 other articles worth `704.66 lakh express read Israel launches ops against Hamas in central Gaza After ED, now CBI arrests BRS leader K Kavitha Lokesh campaigns for Annamalai in Coimbatore Gaza: Israel launched a “targeted operation” against Hamas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, pushing into an area on the outskirts of the Nuseirat refugee camp largely left untouched by troops, The Times of Israel reported on Thursday | P11 New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday arrested already embattled BRS leader K Kavitha after questioning her in Tihar Jail, where she has been lodged in connection with an ED case under provisions of the PMLA linked to alleged Delhi excise policy ‘scam’ | P5 Vijayawada: TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh addressed a public meeting at Peelamedu in Tamil Nadu while campaigning for BJP’s Coimbatore MP candidate Annamalai. He said Modi means self-respect and self-confidence | P6
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