Fraudsters pose as genuine sellers online, dupe buyers
With no direct interaction with victims, they operate from far-off places like Delhi

13/02/2020, R. SIVARAMAN, CHENNAI

A businessman in Mandaveli was tempted by an advertisement for the sale of a used car on an online portal. According to the ad, the car was on sale for ₹1.8 lakh, way lower than its market price. The seller, claiming to be an army personnel, had posted that he was selling the car since he was moving to Delhi.

As soon as the buyer evinced interest to buy the car, the seller sent a picture of the car, without its registration number, RC book or insurance records, through WhatsApp. He asked the buyer to pay an advance through mobile wallet or link-based payments. The seller promptly sent a gate pass for the vehicle from an army camp, so that the buyer could drive it away. Convinced, the businessman transferred the entire amount and the seller vanished. His mobile phone was switched off.

Likewise, another victim from Porur was keen on buying a high-end bike and checked online. A seller, who claimed to be from the Central security services, had advertised a picture of a his bike for sale, quoting ₹50,000 on an online portal. The market price for the bike was over ₹ 1.5 lakh. As he was attracted by the offer and showed interest, the fraudster sent him vehicle details over WhatsApp, and asked him to send an advance through mobile wallet. The seller sent a fake receipt of a courier company, indicating that the product had been shipped. After collecting all the money from the buyer, he switched off his mobile phone and vanished.

These are not isolated cases. In the last two months, the Cyber Crime Unit of the Central Crime Branch has received more than 60 complaints of such frauds.

A senior police officer said, “We are receiving too many complaints from victims who lost their money to fraudsters who posed as genuine sellers on sites such as OLX, Quikr and others, by listing goods at very cheap prices.”

Similar pattern

Fraudsters usually pose as armed forces personnel or personnel from central security forces and post fake or stolen identity cards and documents relating to cars/ two-wheelers.

They share fake Aadhaar and other identification details and ask buyers to pay the initial advance, and then the entire amount.

Another senior officer said, “All communication is through WhatsApp or other messaging platforms. There is no face-to-face interaction between the buyer and the seller. Overenthusiastic buyers are not ready to verify the credentials of the sellers and get cheated quickly.”

Sometimes, sellers who post their products for sale too are cheated by fraudsters. On seeing an ad posted by a genuine seller, the fraudsters come forward to pay the quoted price. Then they get the sellers to share the OTP for money transfer under the pretext of mobile wallet transfer and swindle the entire money, the police said.

In most cases, the fraudsters operate from far-off places such as Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. “It is tough to crack these cases and trace the money trail, since all transactions are done through mobile wallets or the UPI mode. Online sale portal representatives also said that transactions were done outside the portal and so they had no control,” the police said.

Soon, data may be sent 1,000 times faster

13.02.2020

Data could be transmitted a thousand times faster than current internet cables after a breakthrough, scientists have said. The new research uses terahertz quantum cascade lasers that could send data around the world at speeds unimaginable using current technology. The study, was published in the journal Nature Communications this week.

The study saw researchers make a breakthrough in the control of terahertz quantum cascade lasers, which they say could be used to transmit data at a speed of 100 gigabits. Current ethernet connections work at 100 megabits a second, a thousand times less quick.

To be used to send to data, the lasers need to be switched off about 100 billion times every second. That requires precise control, and engineers have so far been unable to do it. Now researchers think they have found a way of controlling that very fast modulation, using sound and light.

“At the moment, the system for modulating a quantum cascade laser is electrically driven. But the electronics that delivers the modulation put a brake on the speed of the modulation. The mechanism we are developing relies instead on acoustic waves,” said John Cunningham, a professor of Nanoelectronics.

When an electron passes through the optical part of the laser, it travels through a host of “quantum wells” that throw out a pulse of light energy. An electron can emit a number of those photons, and that is controlled — using soundwaves to vibrate those quantum wells — in the new experiment. But, the research is not perfect yet. THE INDEPENDENT

THE SPEAKING TREE

Knowledge Is Often Mistaken For Wisdom

Jaya Row  13.02.2020

Knowledge is accumulation of facts and data. It is to be well informed. Wisdom is application of the information. It is transformational. Society esteems the wise for their virtuosity. Subject matter experts number in the thousands, but rare are the wise. You may know recipes but not know how to make a delicious meal.

We know we should exercise, eat healthy and be positive. How many are able to actually follow through and achieve it? Across time and throughout history many have been exposed to the spiritual dimension. But seldom has it been acted upon.

Instant gratification leads to long term misery while real happiness appears in the garb of pain. Anything that is in our long term interests is unpleasant in the beginning. But due to ignorance, we run after the rapture of the moment.

There are three stages of gaining wisdom – sravana, listening/ reading; manana, reflection; and nidhidhyasana, application. Sravana is the intake of knowledge. Having listened, we need to mull over it, contemplate on it, and look at it from different angles. Only then will the knowledge get integrated into our system. This is called manana. When knowledge is internalised we live it. Nidhidhyasana is meditation which leads to Realisation, the last step to gaining knowledge of Self.

In the Bhagwad Gita, Arjuna speaks words of wisdom but is unable to live them. Krishna bridges the knowing-doing gap in Chapter 7 by guided reflection. He presents knowledge from a fresh perspective and ignites original thinking.

Krishna begins with an analysis of the world and shows how Spirit permeates the universe. As humans, we have the choice of staying with the world or penetrating through to the Force. Pursue limited, myopic goals or rise above the obvious and seek the Eternal. The choice is ours. Krishna supports us in our chosen path and ensures we obtain what we strive for. All paths eventually lead to him. In the end, everyone seeks happiness, infinite bliss. Some look for it in the world, some through different religious practices.

Krishna respects all paths. In this lies the open-mindedness of the Indian tradition. Not only do we respect all faiths but we accept agnostics and atheists too in our fold.

The onus is on us to figure out the quickest and most effective path to the goal of total fulfilment. The ignorant, unaware of the higher, seek and obtain trivial, finite ends. A few visualise that which transcends the material plane – they belong to four categories. Some turn to God only to enhance their wealth. They believe that will bestow riches on them. The distressed, who meet with tragic circumstances and are agitated, seek solace. Others are curious and look for answers to questions. But the jnanis, the wise, excel. They see the futility of worldly pursuits and abide in the transcendental. They are not carried away by the glitter of transitory joys. They seek permanent happiness. They experience enlightenment.

The Spirit is hidden, unmanifest, shrouded by maya, illusion. We see the manifestations and get carried away by them. The deluded world does not know the Truth – the Unborn, the Imperishable – says Krishna. But the virtuous who have freed themselves from worldly enticements seek the Higher with determination.

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Hours after wedding, man disappears from dhaba, found hanging from tree
Pankul.Sharma@timesgroup.com

Bareilly:13.02.2020

A salesman at a petrol pump in Meerut fought his way to marry the girl of his choice in Bareilly. Both families bowed to the wishes of the lovebirds and they got married on Monday.

On his way home along with his bride and brother on Tuesday, he mysteriously disappeared from a roadside dhaba, where they had halted for refreshment, only to be found hanging from a tree two kilometres away. Police said Dushyant Giri, 22, committed suicide.

Station house officer (SHO) of Pakbada police station inspector Surendra Pal Singh told TOI, “When we were sending the body for an autopsy, Giri’s family members told us that they didn’t want any further action, including the postmortem. But, following the standard procedure, we sent the body to a mortuary for an autopsy. The evidence collected from the spot suggests that it was a case of suicide.”

A native of Kuandali village under Saidnagali police station limits in Amroha district, Dushyant tied the knot with his girlfriend Asha, 20, on Monday. On Tuesday, Dushyant was on his way home along with his bride, brother and two photographers in a car, when they halted at a roadside dhaba for refreshment in the afternoon, said police.

However, people accompanying the couple found Dushyant missing from the dhaba all of sudden. After his brother and others failed to trace him, they informed police and sent the bride back to her parent’s house in Bareilly.

During the search operation, police found Giri hanging from a tree in a field in Pakbada area, around two kilometres from the highway.

Full report on www.toi.in


WAS ON HIS WAY HOME:

Dushyant Giri with his bride Asha

Kejriwal likely to retain old cabinet, swearing-in ceremony on February16
New Delhi:13.02.2020

Arvind Kejriwal’s new cabinet is unlikely to have fresh faces as he is expected to retain all six incumbent ministers, top sources in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Wednesday.

Speculation was rife over inclusion of Oxford-educated Atishi and Rajiv Chadha, a prominent young face of the party, in the new cabinet.

However, sources told PTI that the AAP chief is unlikely to tinker with the existing combination and is set to retain all the incumbent ministers.

Kejriwal will take oath as chief minister of Delhi for a second straight five-year term at the Ramlila Ground on February 16.

At a press conference, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said all the cabinet ministers of the new government will take oath along with Kejriwal.

“The Aam Aadmi Party chief feels that retaining ministers in the outgoing dispensation, whose works have won the party a second term, is the best thing to do,” a source said.

Apart from Kejriwal and Sisodia, the other members in the outgoing cabinet are Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Imran Hussain and Kailash Gahlot.

Chadha and Atishi will have a bigger role in the party in the future and they might also be given charges of some government-run bodies, an AAP functionary said. PTI

SMILE OF SUCCESS: Delhi CM-designate Arvind Kejriwal along with Manish Sisodia during a meeting with newly elected party MLAs in New Delhi on Wednesday

Death row convict in Nirbhaya case entitled to legal aid: Court

New Delhi:13.02.2020

A Delhi court on Wednesday offered a counsel to Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, saying a condemned convict is entitled to legal aid till his last breath.

Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana expressed displeasure over delay from Pawan’s side who said he has removed his earlier lawyer and will need time to engage a new one. District legal services authority (DLSA) provided Pawan’s father with a list of its empanelled advocates to choose from.

Pawan has not yet filed a curative petition — the last and final legal remedy available to a person — which is decided in-chamber. He also has the option of filing a mercy plea.

Nirbhaya’s parents and the Delhi government had moved the court on Tuesday seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was postponed for 6am on February 1 by a January 17 court order. The trial court later, on January 31 stayed, “till further orders” the execution of the four convicts in the case, who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

The Tihar jail authorities had filed a status report on Tuesday before the trial court stating that no legal option was preferred by any convicts — Mukesh Kumar Singh, 32, Pawan Gupta, 25, Vinay Kumar Sharma, 26, and Akshay Kumar, 31— in last sevenday period granted by the Delhi high court. PTI

Govt: Only recommended early release of Rajiv convicts
Guv Deciding Authority, State Tells HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:13.02.2020

The state government on Wednesday clarified to the Madras high court that it has only recommended the release of all seven life convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case as it lacks power to order such release.

“The state cabinet has only made a recommendation to the governor. The governor has to take a decision. He cannot be questioned by the state for not acting on its recommendation,” public prosecutor A Natarajan said.

The prosecutor made the submission on a plea moved by Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts, seeking to declare her detention as illegal since the governor has failed to order her release based on the recommendation of the state cabinet dated September 9, 2018.

When the plea moved as a habeas corpus plea came up for hearing before a division bench of R Subbiah and R Pongiappan, the court directed the prosecutor to file the reply as an affidavit by February 18 as to whether Nalini’s imprisonment after the state’s recommendation for release would amount to illegal detention.

According to the petitioner, as per the Supreme Court judgment in Maru Rams case, the advice of the state government under Article 161 of the Constitution would be binding on the head of the state the governor. She contended that as the power under Article 161 (power of the governor to grant pardons and suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases) has already been exercised by the government of Tamil Nadu, the governor has no discretion but to act on the advice of the council of ministers. Since she has not been released as per the advice of the council of ministers, the continuous detention was illegal and violative of Article 14 and 21of the Constitution, she claimed.

Behind the bars for more than 27 years, Nalini is the longest serving woman prisoner in the country.

Purohit will take a good decision: Min

Opposition DMK, which during its tenure passed a resolution in the cabinet to punish all convicts barring Nalini in the assassination case of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, is not worthy enough to criticise the AIADMK dispensation which has been working for the release of the convicts, said state minister for law, prison and courts C Ve Shanmugam. Speaking to reporters at Villupuram on Wednesday, Shanmugam, citing the Supreme Court direction that the TN government may request governor Banwarilal Purohit regarding the premature release of the convicts, said, “We, the AIADMK government, believe that the governor will take a good decision regarding the release of Nalini, Sriharan, Perarivalan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran and Robert Payas.” TNN