HM Amit Shah slams Rahul Gandhi over trade deals, says farmers and fishermen fully protected

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Puducherry, Feb 14 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Saturday, launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of misleading farmers and fishermen over the Centre’s recent free trade agreements (FTAs) and trade deals signed under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a public gathering at Karaikkal in Puducherry, Union Minister Shah asserted that India’s fishermen stand to gain significantly from the trade agreements concluded with the European Union, the UK, and the US.

He claimed that the trade deals were structured to expand export opportunities for Indian marine products while safeguarding domestic interests.

“Our country’s fishermen will benefit the most from the free trade agreements signed by Prime Minister Modi with the European Union and England, and the trade deal with the United States,” Union Minister Shah said.

He accused Rahul Gandhi of attempting to spread “falsehoods” among fishermen and farmers by alleging that these agreements would harm their livelihoods.

Responding directly to the Congress leader, Union Minister Shah said, “Rahul Gandhi should carefully examine the details of the trade deal and the free trade agreement. Prime Minister Modi has provided 100 per cent protection to the country’s farmers and livestock farmers. These agreements will not harm our farmers in any way.”

The Union Home Minister also alleged that during the tenure of former Prime Minister late Manmohan Singh, several global agreements were signed that compromised the interests of Indian farmers.

In contrast, Union Minister Shah said that the current BJP-led Union government has ensured complete protection for farmers, livestock rearers, and fishing communities while negotiating international trade pacts.

He also accused Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly spreading misinformation for political gain.

“Rahul Gandhi’s policy is to lie, speak loudly, publicly, and repeatedly. But the people of this country have recognised his lie-manufacturing factory,” he said.

Expressing confidence about the future, Union Minister Shah declared that a BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would return to power under PM Modi’s leadership in 2029.

“In 2029, a BJP-led NDA government under PM Modi’s leadership will be formed; your turn will not come,” he said, in a pointed political remark aimed at the Congress leadership.

The remarks signal an intensifying political battle over trade policy and its impact on key voter groups ahead of future electoral contests.

–IANS

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World gears up from digital to quantum economy shift: India’s cyber agency

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The world is standing at the edge of a major transformation — from digital economy to becoming a quantum economy, a new report led by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) said on Friday.

The data compiled by India’s national cyber agency. in collaboration with global cybersecurity firm SISA, highlights how quantum computing is no longer a futuristic idea but a fast-approaching reality with deep implications for cybersecurity and digital infrastructure.

Titled ‘Transitioning to Quantum Cyber Readiness’, the report points out that quantum computers, which work using the principles of quantum mechanics, are now moving out of research labs into real-world use.

Several global tech companies have already made significant progress. Google’s Willow chip, launched in December 2024, achieved a breakthrough in error correction with 105 qubits.

Microsoft introduced its Majorana-1 processor in February 2025, with a vision to scale up to a million qubits.

IBM aims to build fault-tolerant quantum systems by 2029, and Quantinuum has built a 56-qubit trapped-ion quantum computer with record-breaking precision.

Even Nokia is pushing forward in the area of quantum networking, as per the report.

The report comes at a time when the United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, showing how seriously the global community is taking this shift.

The ecosystem around quantum computing — from semiconductors to system software — is growing rapidly.

While the potential of quantum computing is enormous, it also comes with serious cybersecurity risks, the report noted.

Quantum computers can solve complex problems much faster than today’s machines, which also means they can break current encryption methods.

Encryption algorithms like RSA, which are widely used for securing financial transactions, messaging apps, digital signatures, and even blockchain systems, could be easily cracked.

This could lead to massive data breaches and threaten the very backbone of the digital economy.

The report warns of a particularly dangerous threat: “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks.

In these cases, cybercriminals collect encrypted data today and wait until quantum computers can decrypt it in the future.

Such vulnerabilities put financial data, health records, secure communications, and cryptocurrencies at serious risk.

Another challenge, according to the report, is that many organisations still do not have clear visibility into their current cryptographic systems.

In a future that demands post-quantum cryptography, these blind spots could be disastrous.

–IANS

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Liquor shop auctions fetch J&K govt Rs 2,152 crore in two years

Jammu, Feb 8 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir government has earned revenue worth Rs 2,152 crore from the auction of liquor shops during the past two financial years, and the Union Territory government does not intend to open new liquor shops during the current financial year.

Official data show that revenue of Rs 1,03,462.49 lakh was generated in 2023–24, while Rs 1,11,816.07 lakh was earned by the government in 2024–25.

The Jammu region contributed the bulk of the revenue, generating Rs 1,96,830.06 lakh over the last two years, while the Kashmir region accounted for Rs 18,448.50 lakh, officials said.

The government further stated that no new JKEL-2 liquor licences are proposed to be issued during the present financial year.

Sharing district-wise details, the government said existing wine shops generated substantial revenue in the last two years.

In Jammu district, revenue stood at Rs 48,350.15 lakh in 2023–24 and increased to Rs 50,913.93 lakh in 2024–25. Udhampur recorded Rs 11,322 lakh in 2023–24 and Rs 12,061.50 lakh in 2024–25, while Kathua generated Rs 10,653 lakh and Rs 11,272 lakh during the same period.

In the Kashmir region, Srinagar reported revenue of Rs 5,489.67 lakh in 2023–24, which rose to Rs 6,557.66 lakh in 2024–25.

Anantnag’s revenue increased from Rs 1,403.50 lakh to Rs 1,999.50 lakh, while Baramulla recorded Rs 872.23 lakh in 2023–24 and Rs 1,139.84 lakh in 2024–25.

Officials said all liquor licences are issued strictly to domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the J&K Excise Act, 1958, and the Excise Policy notified from time to time.

It may be recalled that when separatist violence began in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s, terrorists forced the closure of all cinema halls, wine shops and beauty parlours in the Kashmir Valley.

Hundreds of people earning their livelihood from these establishments were left jobless, and their families had to endure the hardship without being able to speak out against the terrorist diktats.

As the security situation improved over the years, some cinema halls, beauty parlours and wine shops have reopened.

–IANS

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SC discharges hostel in-charge of abetting student’s suicide

New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) The Supreme Court has discharged a Tamil Nadu school hostel in-charge, who was accused of abetting a student’s suicide.

A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra was dealing with an appeal challenging a decision of the Madras High Court, which had rejected the prayer to discharge the appellant for the offence of abetment to suicide under the Indian Penal Code’s Section 306.

The appellant’s counsel contended before the apex court that the appellant had scolded the deceased, due to which the latter had locked himself in a room and hanged himself with a nylon rope. It was argued that the response of the appellant, being the correspondent and in charge of running a school and hostel, was justified, and it was just a chiding as a guardian to ensure that the deceased did not repeat the offence, and there was peace and tranquillity in the hostel.

It was further submitted that there was nothing personal between the appellant and the deceased, and such reprimanding was meted out to the deceased only on a complaint by another student.

The appellant was accused in an FIR registered by the state police CB-CID for the offences punishable under Sections 306 IPC (abetment to suicide) and 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, charges were framed against him under Section 306.

Before the apex court, the counsel representing the Tamil Nadu government “fairly” stated that there did not appear to be any valid ground for charging the appellant for abetment to suicide.

In its order, the Supreme Court noted that despite valid service of notice, the complainant, the father of the deceased student, did not appear in the proceedings before the top court.

“Having considered the matter in its entirety, we find it a fit case for interference. As has rightly been submitted by learned senior counsel for the appellant, no normal person could have imagined that a scolding, that too based on a complaint by a student, would result in such tragedy due to the student so scolded taking his own life,” it said.

The apex court added that such scolding was the least a correspondent was required to do, to ensure that the complaint made against the deceased by another student was taken note of and remedial measures effected.

After considering the factual position, the top court, in its considered opinion, found that no mens rea can be attributed to the appellant with regard to the abetment of suicide committed by the deceased.

Allowing the appeal, it directed that “the order framing charge against the appellant under Section 306 of the IPC in connection with FIR No.01/2024 registered by CBCID stands set aside. The appellant stands discharged in the said case”.

–IANS

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