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The Hindu
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Gujar youth was killed in cold blood: Mehbooba
Former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday (July 31, 2025) visited the residence of a 21-year-old Gujjar youth who was killed during a police shoot-out in Satwari, Jammu and condemned his 'cold blooded murder.' 'Mohammad Parvez was executed in a fake encounter by those meant to protect him. This is state-sponsored terror targeting the Gujjar-Bakerwal community. I demand a time-bound judicial probe to expose the culprits and ensure justice,' Ms. Mufti said. She warned that 'such killings deepen alienation and erode trust in democratic institutions.' The Gujjar youth was shot dead during a shoot-out on July 24, 2025, in Surey Chak under Satwari Police Station. The family accused the police of staging the encounter. Omar govt. failed Ms. Mufti said despite the high expectations, the elected government of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has failed to stop abuse of the populace. 'The killing of Parvez is part of a chilling pattern of violence, with over a dozen Gujjar-Bakerwal men dying in suspicious circumstances in 2024-25,' Ms. Mufti said. The former chief minister commented on other such cases: in February 2025 Makhan Din, a 25-year-old Gujjar from Kathua Bhilawar, committed suicide after recording a video alleging torture by the security forces. In March 2025, three Gujjar youths — Showkat Ahmad Bhajad, Riyaz Ahmad Bhajad, and Mukhtar Ahmad Awan — from Kulgam, who went missing on their way to a wedding, were found dead in the Vishaw River, with families alleging torture marks contradicting police claims of drowning. In April 2025, Altaf Hussain Lali, a Gujjar from Bandipora, branded an 'overground worker' (OGW) for militants, was killed in what his family claims was a staged encounter. On May 4, 2025, Imtiyaz Ahmad Magray, a 23-year-old from Tangmarg, Kulgam, reportedly in army custody, allegedly jumped into the Vishaw Nallah stream in Kulgam's Aharbal Wattoo area during a search operation, resulting in his death. Missing shepherd 'Besides, Manzoor Ahmad Tedwa from Marhwa, Kishtawar, has been missing from his pasture for two months, with police failing to locate him. Muddasir Ahmad Dhakad, a tribal madrasa student from Devsar, Kulgam, has been missing since June 22, 2025, with his family pleading for justice. Kathua and Samba police have detained thousands of community members, releasing them after investigations that found no guilt, further fueling distrust,' Ms. Mufti said. She said the nomadic Gujjar-Bakerwal communities face relentless harassment during their seasonal cattle migrations. 'Reports from 2025 document arbitrary accusations of drug peddling and cattle smuggling, obstruction of migration routes, and forced evictions, such as the 2020 demolition of Bakerwal dhoks in Pahalgam,' she said.
Morocco World
14-07-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Morocco's OCP Achieves Water Autonomy Two Years Early with Historic 203-Kilometer Desalinated Water Pipeline
Rabat — Morocco's OCP Group reached today a significant milestone in water sovereignty with the commissioning of the country's longest water pipeline. The 203-kilometer engineering feat transports desalinated water from the Atlantic coast to the heart of the country's phosphate mining region. The Jorf Lasfar-Khouribga (J2K) pipeline, operated by OCP Green Water (OGW), marks a decisive step toward Morocco's water independence while simultaneously addressing the country's ongoing water stress challenges that have persisted since 2018. A strategic response to national water crisis The ambitious project emerged from Morocco's urgent need to combat water scarcity. In 2022, the Moroccan government called upon OCP Group to contribute to national water security efforts, prompting the launch of an extensive non-conventional water program. In an interview with Morocco World News (MWN), the Member of the Strategic Committee and Chief Sustainability & Innovation Officer at OCP Group Hanane Mourchid said: 'We started this in 2008. By 2015, we used to have the biggest desalination platform in Morocco, producing 25 million cubic metres per year.' She pointed to the company's long-term commitment to water innovation. The J2K pipeline represents the culmination of this strategy, connecting the Jorf Lasfar desalination plant to Khouribga, home to the world's largest phosphate mine. In a statement to the press, Ahmed Zniber, Director General of OCP Green Water, described the project as both 'singular and structuring,' stressing its role within the green investment program launched in 2022 under the leadership of King Mohammed VI. Engineering excellence in record time The pipeline's technical specifications point up the complexity of the undertaking. Stretching 203 kilometers with an elevation difference of 800 meters, the infrastructure required sophisticated engineering solutions to transport up to 80 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually. 'This project was designed by our joint venture JESA,' Zniber noted, crediting the engineering expertise that enabled the project's completion. The construction was awarded to Moroccan consortium GTM STAM following an international tender process, with completion achieved in just 24 months. The pipeline infrastructure includes 187 kilometers of 1,300-millimeter diameter pipes and 16 kilometers of 600-millimeter sections, supported by pumping stations with a capacity of 25,000 cubic meters per hour. This makes it the first infrastructure of its kind in Morocco capable of transporting desalinated water over such an extensive distance. Economic and social impact Beyond its technical achievements, the project delivered substantial socio-economic benefits to the region. During construction, the pipeline created approximately one million man-days of employment, equivalent to an average of 1,300 jobs per day over two years, with 85% of the workforce sourced locally. 'This project allowed us to create 1,300 jobs on average per day for two years during the construction phase,' Zniber said, adding that the operational phase has generated 100 permanent positions, including roles in desalination operations. The project's MAD 5 billion ($ 556 million) investment represents a significant commitment to Morocco's water infrastructure, with implications extending far beyond OCP's industrial needs. OCP's broader water strategy success The J2K pipeline launch coincides with another major achievement, as OCP Group's Benguerir operations have achieved full water autonomy through treated wastewater transported from Marrakech's treatment plant since June 15, 2025. This dual success means OCP Group has reached its target of complete non-conventional water autonomy by 2025, two years ahead of the original 2027 deadline. 'We are very proud today to achieve this very important milestone as part of OCP Sustainability Strategy,' Mourchid told MWN, pointing to water as a core component of the company's sustainability engagement. The company's water positivity approach has evolved significantly since its inception. As Mourchid explained, 'We started by deciding to move from what we call conventional water to unconventional water use means all the desalinated water and wastewater treated and we used in our mines.' National water security contribution The pipeline's impact extends beyond OCP's industrial operations. In less than three years, OCP Green Water has successfully secured drinking water supplies for Safi, El Jadida, and southern Casablanca. The new pipeline will eventually provide potable water to Khouribga and support high-value agricultural projects. 'Almost 30% of Casablanca needs are covered today from Jorf Lasfar platform,' Mourchid noted, pointing out the project's contribution to Morocco's largest economic hub. For his part, Zniber explained the broader environmental benefits, stating that the project will 'liberate a volume of water from dams of more than 80 million cubic meters per year, which will serve agriculture and will have a very favorable impact on the population of the Oum Rabia region.'
The Wire
20-06-2025
- The Wire
J&K Police Confirms Use of Face Recognition Tech in Detention of Carpenter at Pahalgam
Authorities have detained a carpenter who is listed in police records as an overground worker of militants (OGW) after he was flagged by a facial recognition system near Pahalgam where 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were gunned down in a terror attack in April this year. This is the first time that J&K police have officially confirmed that it was using the controversial technology which was long rumoured to have helped the security agencies in profiling Kashmiri militants and their suspected sympathisers for counter-intelligence operations. A J&K police official said on Thursday (June 20) that the suspect who hails from Seer Hamdan village of south Kashmir's Anantnag district was apprehended after being flagged by the facial recognition system at the Langanbal security checkpoint near Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam ahead of the commencement of the pilgrimage to the cave shrine. Amarnath Yatra Nunwan base camp is one of the two starting points for the annual Hindu pilgrimage which will begin from July 3 under the shadow of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and culminate on August 9. 'The individual is in custody; investigation underway. Safety of #AmarnathYatra2025 remains our top priority,' the official said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Sources said that the system has been pre-fed with the database of all the suspected OGWs of Kashmir and it has been deployed near at least two checkpoints along the road to Pahalgam. A suspected OGW, who spoke with , said that he was recently asked to furnish his Aadhaar details at his concerned police station. It was not immediately clear whether the system works by recognising a suspect's facial features or their biometrics. A similar system is also being installed on the second and shortest route to the Himalayan cave shrine which commences from Baltal area of central Kashmir's Sonmarg health resort. The J&K Police have kept a database of hundreds of OGWs who have been named or formally charged in militancy-related First Information Reports (FIR) in Kashmir. These Kashmiri suspects are often summoned to police stations and detained on important national holidays such as Republic Day and Independence Day, or whenever the prime minister or union home minister are visiting the Valley. Although most of the suspects named in the FIRs have been granted bail by the courts, police has kept them on its watch list amid apprehensions of their continuing involvement in militancy. The controversial system would effectively make them criminals in the eyes of law and liable for detention or arrest without any sound legal backing. 'No one with an FIR or with an adverse police record can walk or travel on Khanabal-Pahalgam road particularly beyond Mattan (in Anantnag district) till the time the is over,' sources said. A controversial technology The use of facial recognition surveillance in law enforcement has been a source of raging debate across the world with human rights groups and legal experts seeking a complete ban on its use in public places over the fears of privacy violation and human rights concerns. According to a Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) analysis, India has about 170 facial recognition systems with a collective expenditure of around Rs 15.13 billion of which Rs 7.7 billion have been spent by the central government and Rs 7.43 billion by the state governments. However, only 20 of these systems are reportedly operational in Delhi, Maharashtra and Telangana, the IFF analysis states, adding that the police, army and other security agencies made more use of the technology than any other government departments. In 2018, police told the Delhi high court that the software used by the facial recognition system in the national capital was accurate only 2% of the time and 'not good'. The National Crime Records Bureau is developing the National Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) to use facial recognition technology for assisting law enforcement agencies in crime investigations by identifying criminals from a bank of photographs and videos. The Supreme Court has ruled that any intrusion by the State into people's right to privacy, which is protected as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, must conform to the thresholds of legality, necessity, proportionality and procedural safeguards. However, the IFF has said that the AFRS proposal fails to meet any of these thresholds, citing manifest arbitrariness and the absence of legality, accountability and other safeguards. Legal experts have also said that there was no law in place to keep track of how this technology was being used. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International among 180 global defenders of human rights have called on the governments across the world to stop using facial recognition surveillance technology in public spaces, terming it as a tool of 'mass surveillance' as concerns prevail over the use and storage of data gathered by the systems. 'The use of facial recognition by the police and security/intelligence agencies will not only lead to violation of the rights to privacy and freedom of speech and expression but also lead to human rights violations by helping to increase systemic bias against already marginalised communities,' Amnesty has said in a letter to the prime minister Narendra Modi.
The Hindu
19-06-2025
- The Hindu
In a first, suspect apprehended by using facial recognition technology: J&K Police
In a first, the J&K Police on Thursday (June 19, 2025) said the facial recognition system set up by the security forces in Anantnag's Langanbal checkpoint flagged a suspected over-ground worker (OGW), who was 'apprehended immediately for questioning'. 'The Anantnag Police, using the newly installed Facial Recognition System at Langanbal Naka, apprehended a suspected OGW flagged by the system. The individual is in custody. An investigation is under way,' a police spokesman said. It's for the first time the J&K Police held a suspect by using the high-end technology of facial recognition. The suspect was held near Pahalgam, which is one of the main yatra routes. The Amarnath yatra will start from July 3 from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Sonamarg in Kashmir. 'Safety of the Amarnath Yatra remains our top priority,' the police said. The latest move comes days after the Lieutenant Governor administration declared the twin routes as 'No Flying Zones' between July 1 and August 10 this year. According to the order, any kind of aviation platforms and devices including UAVs, drones, balloons, etc., is prohibited on both the Pahalgam axis (in south Kashmir) and Baltal axis (in central Kashmir). This year, the annual yatra comes in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 civilians dead on April 22. The Baisaran meadow where the attack took place is adjacent to the yatra route in Pahalgam. Additional companies of the central reserve force have been deployed for the yatra this year.
News18
05-06-2025
- Politics
- News18
Pakistan's New Spying & Infiltration Strategy Set To Take Off On The Back Of Drones: Intel Report
Last Updated: Drones will be used for advanced surveillance and situational assessment along the LoC before any infiltration attempts, News18 has learnt Pakistan's spy agency ISI plans to enhance infiltration attempts along the Line of Control (LoC) by utilising drone technology, an Indian intelligence report has revealed. Specifically, drones will be used for advanced surveillance and situational assessment before any infiltration attempts, CNN-News18 has learnt. This includes tracking the movement and deployment of Indian security forces, identifying gaps or weaknesses in border patrol routes, and analysing terrain conditions in real-time to aid terrorist movements, the report says. The strategic use of drones aims to minimise the risk of detection by employing technology-enabled methods for cross-border penetration. On May 14, a credible input revealed that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) held a meeting with various Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) training camp commanders and guides in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The discussion focused on increasing the recruitment of new terrorists into the LeT and emphasising the importance of drone surveillance along the LoC to monitor the situation prior to infiltration attempts. Further discussions included plans to relocate training camps and launching pads in PoK, as well as constructing underground bunkers in preparation for potential armed conflict with India, says the report. According to the intelligence inputs, a detailed plan was also discussed to attack Indian security forces in the coming days while upgrading and activating the old overground worker (OGW) network in Kashmir.
