28 oct 2015 The Hindu: October 28, 2015 00:05 IST Dealing with a fugitive ................................................................... 2

The Hindu: October 28, 2015 00:05 IST ........................................................................................................ 4

A daughter comes home ............................................................................................................................... 4

Business Standard ......................................................................................................................................... 6

Behind the excitement .................................................................................................................................. 6

Indian Express ............................................................................................................................................... 8

The meat of health ........................................................................................................................................ 8

oct 28 2015 : The Times of India (Ahmedabad) .......................................................................................... 10

Underwater Games ..................................................................................................................................... 10

Oct 28 2015 : The Economic Times (Bangalore) ......................................................................................... 11

Will the Penny Drop Over Call Drops? ........................................................................................................ 11

The Guardian ............................................................................................................................................... 13

view on the South China Sea: cool heads must prevail .............................................................................. 13

The Dawn(pakistan) .................................................................................................................................... 16

Jolted again ................................................................................................................................................. 16

the NewYOrk Times .................................................................................................................................... 19

Europe Is Spying on You .............................................................................................................................. 19

The moscow Times ...................................................................................................................................... 23

Rooting Out Corruption Can Be Murder (Op-Ed) ........................................................................................ 23

The economist ............................................................................................................................................. 28

Cracking the vault ....................................................................................................................................... 28

Facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/564222613734934/

Read online: http://ashokeditorial.wordpress.com/

The Hindu: October 28, 2015 00:05 IST Dealing with a fugitive

In the shadowy world where organised crime and intelligence agencies

have their interplay all the time, nothing is what it might appear to be.

The arrest of Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, or Chhota Rajan, may not just

be an important achievement for the Indian security establishment; it

may be part of a larger narrative from a world where the activities of

intelligence agencies, police organisations, and the criminal underworld

all overlap. It is the latest twist in the bizarre story of the Mumbai

underworld that started off in the realms of smuggling and black-

marketing, moved on to controlling real estate and the world of movies

with its financial clout, then wreaked havoc in the very city that was its

playground, before dispersing globally. Those underworld gangs have

hardly disappeared; in fact, they have grown in strength and stealth

capabilities. Rajan’s arrest in Bali upon his arrival there from Australia,

which had become his home for many years after his being in South East

Asia and Africa, symbolises the global tentacles of the Mumbai

underworld. His mentor-turned-archrival Dawood Ibrahim reportedly lives

in Karachi, and both have financial interests spanning different

continents. While such criminal syndicates have operated on a global

scale, Indian intelligence agencies and the police have had to remain

mere onlookers, unable to do much to counter them. In the wake of the

1993 Mumbai serial blasts, while Dawood was blamed for it all, Rajan

emerged as a ‘Hindu don’ and a hero to even some in the security

establishment. Thanks largely to the official patronage extended to him,

Rajan was able to survive, and flourish even while in alien territories.

Rajan may have been of use to both the Mumbai police and Indian

intelligence to a limited extent in their efforts to deal with the Dawood

Ibrahim gang. However, his entire career, especially his activities during

the period since he split from the Dawood gang, raises serious questions

not just about him but also about the official patronage he enjoyed. There

have been murmurs about Rajan aiding the partisan agenda of sections of

the security establishment. The February 2010 killing of advocate Shahid

Azmi, who represented Muslims who were allegedly framed in various

terror cases, raised disturbing questions about the exact role that Rajan

played in covering up certain unprofessional acts of the Mumbai police

and the intelligence agencies while investigating terror cases. Dawood’s

role in aiding anti-India terror has been proven in Indian courts and

acknowledged by foreign governments and United Nations agencies.

Rajan is no angel either. He is wanted for long in India for running an

organised crime syndicate, conspiracy, murders and other serious

criminal acts. He has been part of the criminal underground that

challenged the Indian state for years, weakened its institutions and

poisoned the body politic. The government must take every possible step

to ensure that Chhota Rajan is brought back to India and tried under the

laws of the land. He should be dealt with as a criminal and as a fugitive,

no less.

fu·gi·tive

A person who has escaped from a place or is in hiding, especially to avoid

arrest or persecution.

clout

>informal power or the authority to influence other people's decisions

wreak

Cause (a large amount of damage or harm).

hav·oc

Widespread destruction.

ten·ta·cle

A slender flexible limb or appendage in an animal, especially around the

mouth of an invertebrate, used for grasping, moving about, or bearing

sense organs.

on·look·er

A nonparticipating observer; a spectator.

The Hindu: October 28, 2015 00:05 IST

A daughter comes home

Far from having a fairytale ending, the story of Geeta turned into a reality

television show as she returned to India after a decade in Pakistan. Since

the time she was separated from her family and appeared in Lahore, she

has had an extraordinary life, learning to live with her disabilities, at the

Edhi Foundation in Karachi, before diplomats negotiated the labyrinth of

strained India-Pakistan ties to ensure her comeback. But the kind of

homecoming that Geeta would have been praying for is hardly what she

faces today; she will be handed over by the family that she knows and

that took care of her well in Pakistan, to a welfare home in Indore. There

she must now live until her real family is identified. The most difficult of it

all is that her real-life agonies and the quest for her family are playing

out in the glare of the arc-lights. Ever since the government decided to

take up her case and have Geeta repatriated — she had made formal

representations to come to India for at least five years — it has made a

spectacle of its efforts. While External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, to

her credit, took a humane and personal interest in her welfare, the

question is whether the intense publicity this young, frail girl has faced

was required at all. Would it not have been easier if, once the Indian High

Commissioner had formally identified Geeta as an Indian citizen (the High

Commission had been in touch with her for years), she could have been

brought to India along with the Edhi family on a private trip, or if

necessary, several trips, to try and get a positive identification of her

family before every move of hers was publicised? That way, when Geeta

was transferred back, it would not be to a set of strangers at a halfway

house that she would be handed over to, but to her own family.

Instead of treating Geeta as a victim of the most tragic circumstances,

not to mention her speech and hearing impairment, the government has

made her a poster-girl for its commitment to Indians in need everywhere.

She was paraded at a stiff media conference addressed by the Minister

and the Foreign Secretary, while the media subjected her to some

atrocious questions including on her age, what she ate, and whether she

was converted while she lived in Pakistan. The hope is that from this

point on the government will take its trusteeship of Geeta to a more

private space, and ensure that she is reunited with her family at the

earliest opportunity, be given an education, and made the master of her

own future. Rather than being a time for flag-waving, this is a time for

privacy, and sensitive and caring handling, away from the attentions of

politicians and the media, for the young child who lost her way over the

international border years ago, and has returned as Bharat ki beti.

lab·y·rinth

A complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is

difficult to find one's way; a maze.

strained

(of an atmosphere, situation, or relationship) not relaxed or comfortable;

tense or uneasy.

ag·o·ny

Extreme physical or mental suffering.

quest

A long or arduous search for something.

re·pa·tri·ate

Send (someone) back to their own country.

frail

(of a person) weak and delicate.

a·tro·cious

Horrifyingly wicked.

Business Standard

Behind the excitement

Few places outside Silicon Valley and Beijing seem as exciting for an

entrepreneur founding a start-up as India today. Angel investor events

happen seemingly every week where youngsters connect with investors,

sometimes raising crores of rupees on the strength of a five-minute

presentation. The big question: Will all this excitement and hype lead to a

comparable spurt in jobs? Companies like Flipkart have already created

33,000 jobs, Snapdeal some 7,000 and counting. Taxi aggregators such

as Ola and Uber have not only taken India a world away from black and

yellow taxis with a dirty dustcloth over the meter, but created tens of

thousands of jobs for drivers who have the happy experience of being

their own bosses and are able to obtain the financing required to own the

cars they drive.

Only time will tell how many new jobs are being created, after deducting

how many are substitutions from the old economy. Bigbasket's online

grocery store may seem extraordinary with their punctual delivery to

your front door but it is impossible to guess whether the helpers at the

local grocery store are being dismissed as a result of a dip in sales. So

many me-too online grocery stores have come into existence - 25 or so -

that rumours are already swirling about some entrants exiting the

business, with consequent job losses.

Nonetheless, these are asset-light models, which is a boon for a capital-

scarce country like India. By getting the attention of international titans

in e-commerce such as Amazon, Softbank and Uber, the startup universe

constitutes the purest transfer of wealth from the developed world to the

developing world. Unlike loans from the World Bank, seed money

invested does not need to be paid back if a venture fails. If the bubble

bursts, the price will be paid by very wealthy, very savvy investors rather

than middle-class shareholders. The apparent transformation of business

processes is another unalloyed good, but the transformation of sections

of India's economy in the manner that information technology giants like

TCS and Infosys accomplished both in terms of generating jobs and

exports seems far in the future, if not impossible. The information

technology sector is estimated to account for three million middle-class

jobs today. Each such job is estimated to support an additional four in

other sectors. Without IT exports, services trade would look quite

gloomy. Few of these start-ups have presented radically new ideas in

their rush to an impressive valuation, and are Indian variations on the

theme of e-retailing or transport rather than a whole new opportunity in

the way that business process outsourcing by General Electric, say, to

Bengaluru or Gurgaon was. India will likely need to see much more

innovation in the old and new economy before it sees millions of new

jobs.

hype

Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion.

spurt

Gush out in a sudden and forceful stream.

swirl

Move in a twisting or spiraling pattern.

Indian Express

The meat of health

even as Kerala MPs revolt against the ham-handedness of Delhi Police in

raiding Kerala House and demand the reinstatement of their beloved beef

(sorry, buffalo) fry, the WHO — or rather, the International Agency for

Research on Cancer (IARC) — is playing spoilsport. According to new

research, red and processed meats (so long, sausages) are approximately

as carcinogenic for humans as noted cancer-causing substances like

asbestos, plutonium and tobacco. So, yes, bacon can make everything

taste better — and help you shuffle off the mortal coil a tad quicker.

Befitting news for Halloween week!

But those with a beef against beef might want to hold their celebrations.

Science is also bent on ruining cheese and sugar, which are apparently as

addictive as drugs.

And before vegetarians get too smug, also verboten for a long life, it

seems, is too much milk and dairy.

Piling on the painful food restrictions, just like rashers of crispy, salty

bacon loaded on to a juicy double cheeseburger: white bread, artificial

sweetener, the cola Baba Ramdev insists will rot your teeth off, Chinese-

style salted fish, caffeine (not as bad as cigarettes but in the same

category as petrol and petrol exhaust fumes — so the morning cuppa has

more in common with gasoline than just taste) and fried food.

Sometimes, though, certain foods have staged comebacks as the

scientific consensus has evolved.

Butter was once item-non-grata in a health-conscious household; now, it

is a source of good fat. Dark chocolate has been imbued with all manner

of mystical healing properties, and even the general embargo on alcohol

has room for one exception — red wine. Still, meat lovers probably

shouldn’t hold out hope for when, say, Parma ham makes its big return,

because even if it doesn’t cause cancer, it does clog up the ol’ arteries.

The IARC’s vendetta against yummy food also caused some collateral

damage to the internet, where bacon memes rival cats in silly costumes

for popularity. Whatever will become of the kid who claimed “Bacon is

good for me” to the tune of a few million YouTube hits?

re·volt

Rise in rebellion.

spoil·sport

A person who behaves in a way that spoils others' pleasure, especially by

not joining in an activity

ba·con

Cured meat from the sides and belly of a pig, having distinct strips of fat

and typically served in thin slices.

shuffle off this mortal coil (humorous)

to die

smug

Having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one's achievements.

ver·bo·ten

Forbidden, especially by an authority.

im·bue

Inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality

em·bar·go

An official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular

country.

oct 28 2015 : The Times of India (Ahmedabad)

Underwater Games

A Cold War hangover may explain reports of Putin's plans to destroy the

internet

Russian subs are cruising alarmingly close to undersea fibre optic cables

that form the backbone of the global internet. Or so say some US officials

reportedly worried about increased Russian activity along these undersea

cable routes which transmit more than 95% of global internet traffic and

on which hinge financial transactions worth trillions of dollars. Or, goes an

alternative theory, instead of attempting a dramatic assault on the entire

internet, these Russian subs are hunting the secret cables operated by

US security agencies. But all this alarmism smells of a Cold War

hangover.

It's true that Russia has long been trying and failing to isolate its own

internet from the rest of the world. There have even been reports that

President Vladimir Putin ordered tests to see if a natio nal intranet of local

domain names could continue running if cut off from the global internet!

He has called the internet a CIA plot and his desire for a walled internet

has grown with western sanctions. Would Putin revenge the internet that

he has failed to control by destroying it? Consider that the strategic and

business costs to Russia would also be humongous. But more pertinently

, even if he wanted to, it's technologically troublesome for him to succeed

in this goal.

The internet's designed as a network that does not depend on all its

connection points, and can reroute traffic via alternative cables when

some become unavailable. Remember when a few undersea cables were

damaged in 2008 and much of western India lost its outbound capacity?

Well, cable operators found new routes quite quickly.Since then the

undersea cable network has grown even more and it now boasts enough

redundancy for us to sleep (or surf) peacefully

hu·mon·gous

Huge; enormous.

Oct 28 2015 : The Economic Times (Bangalore)

Will the Penny Drop Over Call Drops?

Blame too little spectrum and its restricted sharing

If you put a child on a near-starvation diet, would you blame it for not

gaining weight or height as it normally should? Would you, further, order

corporal punishment for the child's refusal to grow? If you are the

government of India, you would. The government's proposed remedy for

frequent call drops -fines on the telecom operators (telcos) -permits no

other inference. This is ridiculous.Because of the government's

incompetence, the total spectrum assigned for use by telcos is

ridiculously small in India: 0.1 MHz per-million population, half the figure

for China and 136th of Germany's. This has to go up and what is

available must be allowed to be fully shared, shedding the restrictions

imposed now.

Of course, spectrum scarcity is not a creation of the present government.

It flows from the systemic inertia that has our bureaucracy in thrall,

whoever holds political office. The historical legacy of spectrum allocation

across sectors determined in the prehistory of modern telecom continues

unchanged. Large swathes of spectrum are reserved for analogue

terrestrial TV broadcast.

Much of it can be released by switch ing to digital broadcast. But this is

not a priority for anyone. Defence has been assigned large chunks suited

for a time when communications hogged spectrum. This can be trimmed

and released for civilian use. Large chunks of spectrum lie unusable

because they lie scattered among different users, and await consolidation

as contiguous bands for the same user class.

The worst part of policy is obtuse refusal to let telcos share the sliver of

spectrum at their disposal. Trading norms are a misnomer: spectrum can

be sold, not traded.One telco cannot have more than 25% of the

spectrum in a service area and not more than 50% of the spectrum in a

particular band. These caps and the ban on continuous trading are

restrictive. Unrestricted trading will create a common pool of spectrum

that all companies dip into, permitting maximum use of this scarce

resource. Scrap caps on the quantum and frequency of trading and widen

the spectrum pool.

cor·po·ral

A low-ranking noncommissioned officer in the armed forces, in particular

(in the US Army) an NCO ranking above private first class and below

sergeant or (in the US Marine Corps) an NCO ranking above lance

corporal and below sergeant.

thrall

The state of being in someone's power or having great power over

someone.

swathe

Wrap in several layers of fabric.

ter·res·tri·al

Of, on, or relating to the earth.

ob·tuse

Annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand.

The Guardian

view on the South China Sea: cool heads must prevail

ensions flared up in one of Asia’s strategic hotspots on Tuesday when a

US warship entered a 12-mile zone off one of China’s artificial islands in

the disputed South China Sea, drawing an angry reaction. The Chinese

foreign ministry said the move was a “deliberate provocation” and called

in the US ambassador in Beijing. It was the first time in the three years

since China started pushing its territorial claim to a huge stretch of the

sea bordering the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia that the US had

chosen to demonstrate what it calls “the exercise of freedom of

navigation”.

In this new balance of power between China and the US, there were

certainly reasons to worry about how the incident would unfold. As it

turns out, although rhetoric was heightened, there seemed to be a clear if

unspoken intention on both sides to keep the confrontation within certain

limits. But it was nevertheless a striking gambit in the region’s complex

and unpredictable geopolitics, where there are too few mechanisms to

prevent escalation.

The incursion made by the US navy destroyer USS Lassen near the

disputed Spratly Islands was hardly a surprise. Washington had indicated

weeks in advance that it would act. In a region of huge importance for

global trade routes, the US wants to push back against China’s policy of

placing great swaths of sea within its “sovereignty”. Nor was it a

coincidence that the American show of strength came one month after

the Chinese president Xi Jinping had visited Washington: the symbolism

was strong, but without the added insult of a warship sailing while Xi was

being toasted in the White House. This time, no incident occurred,

something that can probably be put down to careful planning and early

warnings.

For the last two years, China has been alarming many of its neighbours

by claiming most of the South China Sea for itself, and accelerating a

large-scale programme aimed at transforming underwater reefs into

islands. It then builds them up as deep-draught harbours suitable for

warships and runways that can handle almost any aircraft. This policy of

creating facts on the ground violates international law. China’s claim to

new 12-mile zones runs counter to UN conventions which only recognise

natural islands, defined as ones that exist even when the tide is high.

For these reasons, the US move can hardly be called reckless. The US is

upholding a fundamental principle essential for the global economy. It is

sending a signal that Chinese unilateral moves will not be accepted as a

fait accompli. It has equally pointed out that illegal 12-mile zones will not

be recognised, no matter who sets claim to them (Vietnam and the

Philippines have also built artificial structures in the Spratly area.)

Yet there is always a danger of miscalculation. Washington may have

avoided the kind of “red line” talk that has harmed its international

credibility in the past, where it ended up being seen as empty language.

But now that the USS Lassen has set a precedent, questions remain.

China’s new assertiveness is being tested as much as America’s resilience

and its capacity to deploy shrewd diplomacy. Keeping channels of

communication open, showing restraint and careful management of a

tricky strategic relationship will be key if things are to be prevented from

ever getting out of hand.

flare–up

: a sudden occurrence of flame

: a sudden occurrence or expression of anger

: an occurrence in which something (such as violence or a disease)

suddenly begins or becomes worse

gam·bit

(in chess) an opening in which a player makes a sacrifice, typically of a

pawn, for the sake of some compensating advantage.

in·cur·sion

An invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one.

put down put someone/something on a surface

criticize someone publicly

kill an old animal

write something

pay part of cost

let out of car

when a plane lands

put a baby in bed

ask someone to consider something

stop a protest using force

fait

Common misspelling of fate

The Dawn(pakistan)

Jolted again

As if on cue, the earth shook one more time in October, 10 years to the

month after the devastating quake of 2005. The great jolt of 2015 may

compare with the quake of 2005 on the Richter scale, but on ground its

aftermath has been very different.

This time, even though more than 100 precious lives were lost, there was

mercifully no catastrophic damage and no calamitous loss of life on the

scale we saw in 2005.

Of course, the main reason for this is that the epicentre of yesterday’s

temblor lay further away from densely populated urban centres, as well

as the far greater depth at which it occurred. But there is no escaping the

memories of 2005 it seems, and certainly no escaping the lessons that

those memories left behind for us.

Our country is built atop a zone of “heightened seismic hazard”, to use

the language of geologists, and even after 2005, geologists had warned

that only a fraction of the massive pent-up energy that has built up in the

labyrinthine network of fault lines that we live on, had been released. The

risk of more large earthquakes persists they said, and building codes

needed to be strictly enforced to ensure concrete structures could

withstand another shock. The jolt of 2015 is a reminder that this was no

idle talk.

The scale of the devastation may have been lesser this time, but

nevertheless it cannot be ignored. In some cases, we had a narrow miss,

as the footage that showed the elevated portions of the Rawalpindi metro

bus route shaking, made clear.

Landslides were reported in some parts of the Northern Areas, with a

particularly big one at Nagar, but fortunately none near habitable areas

and no glacial lake outburst floods were caused by the quake.

We were lucky, in spite of the considerable damage and hardship for

untold numbers of people, but one is inevitably left wondering whether

the structures built since 2005 have been constructed specifically to

withstand a stronger shock.

Sadly, some channels chose to bring religious scholars on air and ask

them what people could do to better prepare themselves for natural

disasters. The response, predictably enough, was that people ought to

become more pious and pray harder.

The jolt of 2015 is an unambiguous reminder that an earthquake can

strike again at any moment, and that little can be done to prevent this in

a zone of heightened seismic hazard.

An earthquake can strike at almost any place in the country. And if its

epicentre should be any nearer, or its depth any shallower — factors that

are entirely up to nature — then the consequences could be far more

devastating than they were this time.

Let this episode jolt us into the awareness that it is high time we woke up

and took disaster preparedness and response more seriously.

jolt

>past tense: jolted; past participle: jolted

push or shake (someone or something) abruptly and roughly.

"a surge in the crowd behind him jolted him forwards"

cue

A thing said or done that serves as a signal to an actor or other

performer to enter or to begin their speech or performance

af·ter·math

The consequences or aftereffects of a significant unpleasant event

tem·blor

An earthquake.

. idle talk - idle or foolish and irrelevant talkidle talk - idle or foolish

and irrelevant talk

pi·ous

Devoutly religious.

the NewYOrk Times

Europe Is Spying on You

STRASBOURG, France — When Edward Snowden disclosed details of

America’s huge surveillance program two years ago, many in Europe

thought that the response would be increased transparency and stronger

oversight of security services. European countries, however, are moving

in the opposite direction. Instead of more public scrutiny, we are getting

more snooping.

Pushed to respond to the atrocious attacks in Paris and Copenhagen and

by the threats posed by the Islamic State to Europe’s internal security,

several countries are amending their counterterrorism legislation to grant

more intrusive powers to security services, especially in terms of mass

electronic surveillance.

France recently adopted a controversial law on surveillance that permits

major intrusions, without prior judicial authorization, into the private lives

of suspects and those who communicate with them, live or work in the

same place or even just happen to be near them.

The German Parliament adopted a new data retention law on Oct. 16 that

requires telecommunications operators and Internet service providers to

retain connection data for up to 10 weeks. And the British government

intends to increase the authorities’ powers to carry out mass surveillance

and bulk collection of intercepted data.

Meanwhile, Austria is set to discuss a draft law that would allow a new

security agency to operate with reduced external control and to collect

and store communication data for up to six years. The Netherlands is

considering legislation allowing dragnet surveillance of all

telecommunications, indiscriminate gathering of metadata, decryption

and intrusion into the computers of non-suspects. And in Finland, the

government is even considering changing the Constitution to weaken

privacy protections in order to ease the adoption of a bill granting the

military and intelligence services the power to conduct electronic mass

surveillance with little oversight.

Governments now argue that to guarantee our security we have to

sacrifice some rights. This is a specious argument. By shifting from

targeted to mass surveillance, governments risk undermining democracy

while pretending to protect it.

They are also betraying a long political and judicial tradition affording

broad protection to privacy in Europe, where democratic legal systems

have evolved to protect individuals from arbitrary interference by the

state in their private and family life. The European Court of Human Rights

has long upheld the principle that surveillance interferes with the right to

privacy. Although the court accepts that the use of confidential

information is essential in combating terrorist threats, it has held that the

collection, use and storage of such information should be authorized only

under exceptional and precise conditions, and must be accompanied by

adequate legal safeguards and independent supervision. The court has

consistently applied this principle for decades when it was called to judge

the conduct of several European countries, which were combating

domestic terrorist groups.

More recently, as new technologies have offered more avenues to

increase surveillance and data collection, the court has reiterated its

position in a number of leading cases against several countries, including

France, Romania, Russia and Britain, condemned for having infringed the

right to private and family life that in the interpretation of the court

covers also “the physical and psychological integrity of a person.”

Last year, the European Court of Justice set limits on telecommunication

data retention. By invalidating a European Union directive for its

unnecessary “wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the

fundamental right to respect for private life” and personal data, this court

reaffirmed the outstanding place privacy holds in Europe. This judgment

echoed a 2006 German Constitutional Court ruling that the German police

had breached the individual right to self-determination and human dignity

after they conducted a computerized search of suspected terrorists.

Regrettably, these judgments are often ignored by key decision-makers.

Many of the surveillance policies that have recently been adopted in

Europe fail to abide by these legal standards. Worse, many of the new

intrusive measures would be applied without any prior judicial review

establishing their legality, proportionality or necessity. This gives

excessive power to governments and creates a clear risk of arbitrary

application and abuse.

If European governments and parliaments do not respect fundamental

principles and judicial obligations, our lives will become much less

private. Our ability to participate effectively in public life is threatened,

too, because these measures curtail our freedom of speech and our right

to receive information — including that of public interest. Not all

whistleblowers have the technical knowledge Mr. Snowden possessed.

Many would fear discovery if they communicated with journalists, who in

turn would lose valuable sources, jeopardizing their ability to reveal

unlawful conduct in both the public and private spheres. Watergates can

only happen when whistleblowers feel protected

Indiscriminate mass surveillance can also impinge on attorney-client

privilege and medical confidentiality. You might think twice before seeing

a lawyer or a doctor, knowing that the authorities — and private

companies — are aware of your communications and movements.

It is essential that European countries pause and consider the damage

they have done. At a minimum, three core safeguards should be

provided.

First, legislation should limit surveillance and the use of data in a way

that strictly respects the right to privacy as spelled out in the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights, European data protection standards, the case law of the

European Court of Human Rights and that of the European Court of

Justice. These norms oblige states to respect human rights when they

gather and store information relating to our private lives and to protect

individuals from unlawful surveillance, including when carried out by

foreign agencies.Second, there must be rigorous procedures for the

examination, use and storage of all data obtained, and those subjected to

surveillance should be given a chance to exercise their legal rights to

appeal.

Third, security agencies must operate under independent scrutiny and

judicial review. This will require intrusive oversight powers for

parliaments and a judiciary that is involved in the decision-making

process to ensure accountability. Countries that have adopted

controversial surveillance laws should reconsider or amend them. And

those considering new surveillance legislation should do so with great

caution.

Terrorism is a real threat and it requires an effective response. But

adopting surveillance measures that undermine human rights and the

rule of law is not the solution.

snoop

Investigate or look around furtively in an attempt to find out something,

especially information about someone's private affairs

in·tru·sive

Causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome or uninvited.

spe·cious

Superficially plausible, but actually wrong

jeop·ard·ize

Put (someone or something) into a situation in which there is a danger of

loss, harm, or failure.

The moscow Times

Rooting Out Corruption Can Be Murder (Op-Ed)

It was clear to everyone from the start that the authorities would not

take the "Krasnogorsk shooter," Amiran Georgadze, alive. In the end, he

was found dead from gunshots wounds in an apparent suicide. He was

like the main character in a typical mafia movie, someone whom nobody

wanted to see live — not the chance survivors of his violence, not

investigators whom he might have been chummy with only days before,

and certainly not anyone from the Moscow regional administration.

It is easy to dream up various scenarios. Perhaps Georgadze hid

documents in a safe deposit box that, in the event of his death, would

incriminate his many accomplices among the political elite. After all, at

the time of his death he had his international passport with him for some

reason. Did he have an escape plan? Georgadze was apparently an

impulsive person and did not hide any "dirt" on his friends beforehand.

However, rumors have it that incriminating documents mysteriously

disappeared from Georgadze's numerous companies during the four days

that a police manhunt combed the Krasnogorsk region and found his body

purely by chance in a Timoshkino village dacha next door to the dacha of

the head of the Krasnogorsk region — who seems to have luckily escaped

becoming Georgadze's next victim.

As for the investigation into the possible suicide, one famous Russian

lawyer posted the following comment on Facebook: "Court-appointed

forensic specialists typically first ask: 'Which conclusion did you say I

should reach in this case?'"

Will the "Krasnogorsk shooter" case come under scrutiny by at least the

regional authorities? Will they look into conflict of interest claims against

the officials who grant building permits and land grants and pay closer

heed to complaints coming from citizens? Regarding the latter, Moscow

region activists have posted a great deal of evidence on social networks

detailing misconduct in construction and land allotment. This includes

lucrative rights to forests that very suddenly and conveniently became

infested with bark beetles.

Citizens' complaints reached the district and regional heads, and probably

the offices of the Federal Security Service that stand only one floor above

the crime scene. Thankfully, none of those workers were hurt in the

attack.

Now officials are checking into claims on social networks that an entire

high-rise apartment building was erected and sold to new residents

without having been hooked up to the central water line and sewage

system. And whereas regional officials previously had no time to check

into such rumors, now they are determined to get to the bottom of

things.

Of course, senior officials had no idea what schemes their subordinates

had hatched, and in order to find out, they had to take over authority for

land allotments from the head of the Krasnogorsk region. And apparently

as a result, local officials could not honor their illegal promises to

Georgadze, or return his $20 million and the "advance" they had earlier

received. It was a force majeure situation.

It is easy to imagine that investigators will now closely examine those

areas where business intersects with officials who are on the take — land

allotment, building permits and connections to the power mains; how tax

officials will diligently check every single businessperson to confirm that

their real expenses do not exceed their declared incomes; how officials

will go back and question activists to obtain useful information and

resurrect and look into all the Moscow region scandals that had been

successfully hushed up in recent years; and how they will go after every

person who signed off on a building that was never connected to the

city's sewage system.

However, none of that will happen. At most, one person will get

dismissed: Krasnogorsk regional head Boris Rasskazov, who has served

as his post for decades and who narrowly escaped death at the hands of

the "unlucky" businessman.

Admittedly, this system has learned how to limit the negative fallout from

such "unusual situations" in which one such excess can uncover a gaping

hole of corruption so huge that anyone gazing into its depths would

spontaneously exclaim, "This whole system is rotten to the core!" The

Moscow region is not unusual in this regard, but the authorities are

skilled at explaining away such incidents as the result of a personal feud

between the killer and two of his victims — and nothing more.

The system works in this way for its self-preservation. Any attempt to

thoroughly "clean house" could lead to such brutal internal feuding that

the system would simply collapse — especially if any outside "bloggers"

are allowed to have their say about such revelations of misconduct. After

all, anyone outside the system is, by definition, unmanageable and

therefore "politically irresponsible."

Better not to let that anti-corruption genie out of the bottle because

there's no telling where it will end. That risks implanting a dangerous idea

into the brainwashed minds of the population — namely, that the

authorities not only steal, as people already know, but that they could be

dismissed for such minor misdoings.

Putin alone has the right to decide who stays and who goes, and not

because this one stole or didn't steal, but because "that's how it's done"

in the backroom battle between economic entities for an ever-shrinking

cut of the financial and material resources available. And if people get

this idea into their heads, they begin thinking of themselves as the

arbiters of the political process. And rulers consider that more dangerous

than even the most monstrous corruption.

root out >to remove altogether

chum·my

On friendly terms; friendly.

in·crim·i·nate

Make (someone) appear guilty of a crime or wrongdoing; strongly imply

the guilt of (someone).

im·pul·sive

Acting or done without forethought.

be·fore·hand

Before an action or event; in advance.

hatch

(of a young bird, fish, or reptile) emerge from its egg.

res·ur·rect

Restore (a dead person) to life.

feud

Take part in a prolonged quarrel or conflict.

The economist

Cracking the vault

A FEW dollars spent at Starbucks, a monthly mortgage payment, a Netflix

fee, Starbucks again: bank-account statements are not exactly exciting

stuff. But there is gold hidden in this by-product of our financial lives, or

so many budding technology firms believe. A host of startups crave

access to the data and are pitching services, from budgeting apps to

cheaper loans, to those who open their books to them. Yet banks worry

that co-operating is the first step towards losing the lucrative grip they

have on their customers.

Squeezing insights out of a bank statement is hardly at the cutting edge

of big data. Years of salary payments confirm stable employment;

bounced cheques hint at carelessness; regular green fees suggest an

interest in golf. Banks implicitly use balance and income information

when making loan decisions. That has typically given them a leg up over

such rivals as consumer-lending companies, which have to base offers of

credit on less detailed information.

Add the fact that switching bank accounts is seen as a chore, and

incumbents are in effect shielded from competition. But three things have

changed in recent years. The first is the plethora of “fintech” competitors

trying to take on banks. The second is internet banking, which has given

nearly everyone access to reams of their own financial information in

handy digital form. The third is regulation, which is swinging in favour of

the upstarts by forcing banks to share the data generated by all those

trips to the coffee shop.

Data are already seeping out of banks’ digital vaults and, in the process,

giving a sense of why such leaks are damaging. A slew of firms, such as

Mint in America, offer to aggregate the data from customers’ various

bank accounts, credit-card statements and retirement-savings plans in a

single place. This gives customers a comprehensive view of their

finances. Because these firms have a startup’s focus on being easy and

appealing to use, their apps make most banks’ mobile offerings look

clunky.

Worse, banks’ efforts to sell multiple products to current-account holders

are being undercut by the financial aggregators, which pitch financial

products to customers using the data they have accumulated. “If we see

you are paying 4% on your mortgage and there is a product in the

market that would let you pay 2%, we think you will want to know about

it,” says Joan Burkovic of Bankin’, a French aggregator. Your bank would

rather you didn’t.

Among the keenest potential users of personal bank data are peer-to-

peer lenders, platforms that match those wanting to borrow money with

those wanting to lend it. The likes of Zopa in Britain and Lending Club in

America boast about their algorithms’ ability to sift good credit risks from

bad ones. But the computer programs are only as good as the data fed

into them. Information from credit bureaus is useful but limited. “Bank-

account information is probably the most valuable data source for

underwriting credit that isn’t in widespread use,” says Martin Kissinger

from Lendable, a peer-to-peer firm.

Not only the balance and cashflow are interesting; individual transactions

can be revealing, too. How much a small business pays in taxes, say, can

give insight into its profitability months before it files its accounts, says

Anil Stocker of MarketInvoice, a lending platform. Payments to and from

directors, or refunds to customers, can also help gauge its financial

health.

Banks are understandably hesitant to send their customers’ information

to potential competitors, even with the customer’s consent. In America

banks have long allowed customers to download their data to compile tax

returns; that capability is now being jerry-rigged to feed into other

services (Mint belongs to Intuit, a purveyor of tax software). Regulators

compel British banks to allow customers to download data in a standard-

format spreadsheet.

If banks are not willing or obliged to share, there are services that will

retrieve current-account data without the bank’s approval. These startups

ask customers to share their online banking passwords, in order to log

into their accounts and copy and paste page upon page of online

statements. Such “scraping” happens in a legal grey area. Banks moan

about their terms of service being breached. British regulators frown

upon it, for security reasons, making life difficult for would-be Mints;

American regulators are said to be unhappy as well. Services such as

Yodlee, a Californian outfit, offer to scrape or download bank records,

whichever is least inconvenient.

Online lending platforms are wary of scraping: customers are

understandably reluctant to hand over their passwords. Only people

turned away for credit elsewhere (often for a reason) are likely to do so.

Instead, aggregators often make do with data which are patchy or

delayed. The likes of Zopa and Lending Club, for example, merely ask for

smartphone snapshots of bank statements—a retrograde step, by

fintech’s standards, and one that limits the insights they can gather.

Policymakers in Europe have concluded that forcing banks to share data

at consumers’ request will yield big benefits for the banking public. Earlier

this month the European Union adopted a directive on payment services,

which will in effect force banks to impart data to third parties in a

convenient format. Customers will also be able to authorise fintech firms

to make payments from their bank accounts.

Banks say publicly they are open to the idea of more competition. Some

are starting to release data more readily. But many fear they are fighting

fintech with one hand tied behind their backs. Startups operate with the

privacy mores of the technology sector; consumers opt in to their

products, and so expect to be bombarded with ads. Banks are more like

utilities, trusted to safeguard information rather than use it. When ING, a

Dutch bank, last year mulled offering advertisers the opportunity to pitch

to its customers based on their spending data, an outcry forced a quick

reversal.

Having seen consumers desert their branches, banks now worry that

customers will desert their apps and websites, too. Bosses glimpse a

future where customers use banks merely as a utility, depositing their

money there but using unregulated startups to manage it. Smoother

data-sharing would make that a reality. It is a prospect that should

indeed frighten bankers as much as it delights their customers.

lu·cra·tive

Producing a great deal of profit.

chore

A routine task, especially a household one.

in·cum·bent

The holder of an office or post.

pleth·o·ra

A large or excessive amount of (something).

ream

500 (formerly 480) sheets of paper.

seep out (of something)

[for a fluid] to trickle or leak out of something. A lot of oil has seeped out

of the car onto the driveway. There is oil seeping out. There must be a

leak.

frown

Furrow one's brow in an expression of disapproval, displeasure, or

concentration.

war·y

Feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems

mull

Think about (a fact, proposal, or request) deeply and at length

out·cry

An exclamation or shout.