IS hackers publish U.S. military ‘hitlist’ with a call to supporters

Islamic State (IS) hackers have published a “hitlist” of over 70 U.S. military personnel who have been involved in drone strikes against terror targets in Syria and asked their followers to “kill them wherever they are.”

According to The Sunday Times, the hackers have links with Britain and call themselves ‘Islamic State Hacking Division’ and circulated online the names, home addresses and photographs of more than 70 U.S. staff, including women and urged supporters: “Kill them wherever they are, knock on their doors and behead them, stab them, shoot them in the face or bomb them.”

Mole in U.K. Defence Ministry?

The group also claimed that it might have a mole in the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence and threatened to publish “secret intelligence” in the future that could identify Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) drone operators.

The new hitlist features the IS flag above the heading: ‘Target — United States Military’ and the document, circulated via Twitter and posted on the JustPaste website, states: “You crusaders that can only attack the soldiers of the Islamic State with joysticks and consoles, die in your rage!

Your military has no courage

“Your military has no courage, neither has your President as he still refuses to send troops. So instead you press buttons thousands of miles away in your feeble attempt to fight us.

“A nation of cowards that holds no bravery as you resort to sending your remote-controlled unmanned Reaper and Predator drones to attack us from the skies. So this is for you, America.

“These 75 crusaders are posted as targets for our brothers and sisters in America and worldwide to hunt down and kill.”

‘Secret intelligence in next leak’

The group also warned: “In our next leak, we may even disclose secret intelligence the Islamic State has just received from a source the brothers in the U.K. have spent some time acquiring from the Ministry of Defence in London as we slowly and secretly infiltrate England and the U.S. online and off.”

At the bottom of the IS document is an image of the Statue of Liberty with its head cut off.

British woman a IS foot-soldier

The IS hacking division was previously led by Junaid Hussain, a former British Muslim computer hacker from Birmingham who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria last August.

His wife, Sally Jones, a Muslim convert from Kent in the UK, is still believed to be involved in the organisation, which in the past has urged “lone wolf” attacks against RAF bases in the U.K.

All 70 names are genuine

Inquiries made by The Sunday Times found that the names on the American hitlist are genuine.

However, the information published by IS does not appear to be the result of a leak or genuine hack.

Instead, the group seems to have painstakingly gleaned the names of Reaper and Predator drone operators from news articles and military newsletters, before matching them to addresses, photos and other personal details from publicly available sources on the internet.

Some of the information appears to have been taken from social media sites, including Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Raid the kitchen for new medicines

The kitchen cabinet may be the lab of the future. Over the years, evidence is slowly accumulating that plants such as turmeric and gooseberry may not just be useful for healthy skin or tempering an upset stomach but be harnessed to solve globally intractable diseases such as malaria.

According to an estimate last week by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, malaria kills 7,25,000 people annually, making mosquitoes the “world’s deadliest animal”. Artemisinin, the mainline drug now used to treat malaria — and itself a plant extract — works by destroying the malarial parasite. Growing evidence from East Asia, however, suggests that the malarial parasite has found ways to beat artemisinin. That leads to recrudescence, or parasites lurking within the body and then launching a fresh infection, which is increasingly becoming a hallmark of malarial infections across the world.

Turmeric, a new weapon

Turmeric has been known for millennia as a spice and herbal medicine but chemical analysis suggests that it is rich in curcuminoids, molecules that are now known to be a potent source of anti-inflammatory compounds. Govindrajan Padmanabhan, 78, a former director of the Indian Institute of Science and biochemist at the institute, holds that curcumin — the main curcuminoid in turmeric and responsible for its yellow colour — has an as-yet-unexplained way of triggering the body’s immune system to produce antibodies (or ammunition) that can buffer damage by the malarial parasite.

Artemisinin is always administered in combination with older malaria drugs to delay resistance. Dr. Padmanabhan, based on decades of work, has found that curcumin, combined with artemisinin, can prevent malarial recrudescence. His team has tested this combination on animals and noted 100 per cent recovery in all those artificially infected in the lab with cerebral malaria. “Curcumin alone can’t save them but we found that the animals recovered with only half the artemisinin now present in standard dosage,” says Dr. Padmanabhan.

The true test will begin late this year, he says, when nearly 100 patients will be part of a study. This will make it one of the rare full-fledged trials to follow the clinical drug-testing regime for testing a herbal extract in India.

All eyes on gooseberry

Turmeric — also being tested as a potential treatment for cancer and other ailments — is not the only potential herbal anti-malarial weapon. The C. Abdul Hakeem College, Melvisharam, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi and Vellore Institute of Technology University have been studying various medicinal plants and are zeroing in on gooseberry leaves. Crude extracts of leaves of Phyllanthus acidus and Phyllanthus emblica (variants of the gooseberry family) showed “significant anti-plasmodial potency and the extracts are being characterized and standardized for bioactive constituents,” says a report of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)-funded project.

Later this week, India pharma major Sun Pharma will formally announce a partnership with ICGEB to test a herbal drug that can potentially treat dengue, another mosquito-borne disease. The drug has been developed from Cissampelos pareira, a plant that is well known in Ayurveda and Chinese herbology.

K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, DBT, says the interest in plant trials comes from a more lenient view, in terms of the kind of tests required to prove a drug is safe and effective, by drug regulators towards plant-derived chemicals. Better technology over the last few decades also means well-known compounds can be tested more widely for their use as potential drug. “That gives a significant incentive for companies to patent and invest in developing drugs based on plant compounds,

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No takers for brand Kingfisher, trademarks

Auction of brands and trademarks of Kingfisher Airlines turned out to be a damp squib today as lenders failed to attract a single bidder for sale of these pledged assets at a reserve price of Rs. 366.70 crore in their efforts to recover unpaid loans from beleaguered Vijay Mallya.

This is the second failed attempt by the 17-bank consortium led by state-run behemoth SBI to recover some money from Mr. Mallya, after an earlier auction of Kingfisher House — the erstwhile headquarters of the long-defunct airline — met with a similar fate, with no bidder coming forward.

The items on sale during today’s e-auction included the Kingfisher logo as also the once-famous tagline ‘Fly the Good Times’ The other trademarks on sale included Flying Models, Funliner, Fly Kingfisher and Flying Bird Device.

Reserve price

The reserve price for the trademarks was kept at Rs. 366.70 crore, which is not even one-tenth of the price at which it was pledged as a collateral for the loan. Sources, however, said the reserve price was “too high” for any bidder to come in.

“There were no bids, possibly because the reserve price was considered very high. Though the reserve price was set much lower than its original valuation at the time of taking the brand as collateral, people still found it to be high,” a banking source said.

The online auction began at 11:30 a.m. and lasted for an hour without any success. It was conducted by SBICAP Trustee Company on behalf of lenders under the Sarfaesi Act.

The Kingfisher brand itself was valued at over Rs. 4,000 crore by Grant Thornton when the airline was at its peak.

In its annual report for 2012-13, KFA said that at its peak, it was the largest airline in India, with a five-star rating from Skytrax. The airline’s brand had been registered separately from the Kingfisher beer trademarks.

"Better to start a new airline company"

A senior banker said, “The interest for this auction could have been from existing airline operators, but no one will come. It is better to start a new airline company than to buy this brand and revive it.”

In a previous attempt at recovery of dues, which have ballooned to over Rs. 9,000 crore after taking into account the interest component, the banks had conducted an auction of Kingfisher House last month, but did not find any takers at a reserve price of Rs. 150 crore.

Sources said the lenders might now try to lower the reserve price in both the cases in their future efforts to sell these pledged assets.

The Kingfisher House property has a built-up area of over 17,000 square feet in posh Vile Parle near domestic airport here.

Mallya in London

Mr. Mallya, who left India on March 2 and is currently in London, has a non-bailable warrant against him in a money-laundering investigation. His passport has also been revoked. Earlier this week, the government said it has written to the British government seeking Mr. Mallya’s deportation.

In an interview to the Financial Times, the liquor baron, however, said he is in a “forced exile” and has no plans at the moment to return to India where things are flying at him “fast and furious”.

“I definitely would like to return to India. Right now, things are flying at me fast and furious. My passport has been revoked. I don’t know what the government is going to do next,” he said.

Mr. Mallya said he wanted a “reasonable” settlement with creditor banks for his defunct airline, but they “are not getting any money” by taking his passport or arresting him.

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Barack Obama is funny, charming: Priyanka Chopra

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra is glad to meet U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as she attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner here.

The 33-year-old “Quantico” star, who is currently shooting in the U.S. for the bigscreen “Baywatch” reboot, dazzled the last evening’s affair in a deep-cut, black and sheer-stripe gown.

Ms. Priyanka took to Twitter to share about her meeting with the Obamas.

“Lovely to meet the very funny and charming @barackobama and the beautiful @flotus. Thank you...,” she wrote along with a picture.

At the Washington-insider event, attended by journalists, celebrities, politicians and advertisers, Mr. Obama did not hold back and he took jibes at Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, CNN’s Jake Tapper among others.

The 2016 White House Correspondents’ dinner, which was President Obama’s last in office, was hosted by comedian Larry Wilmore.

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Rajinikanth's 'Kabali' teaser is out

The much-awaited teaser trailer for superstar Rajinikanth's Kabali was released on Sunday morning.

Within minutes of the teaser hitting YouTube, it had garnered nearly 50,000 views. The hashtag #KabaliTeaser immediately started trending and kept inching up the Worldwide trend list.

Sporting a smart beard and in a sharp three-piece suit, the actor emerges with the neruppu da (he is fire).

When there's Rajini, can a punch dialogue stay behind? When Kishore, presumably playing Rajini's opponent, asks who is this Kabali, the superstar responds in style: I'm not that typical Kabali, playing villain Nambiar's sidekick. This is the Kabali. Kabali da.

And at another place, the superstar comes up with his trademark laughter when someone asks him why he became a gangster.

The surprise element seems to be Radhika Apte. In the single shot she was seen in, she looked very demure and traditional in a saree.

There were also glimpses of what looked like the 1970s right at the end of the trailer. The superstar walks out of a restaurant, flipping his hair back — reminding us of the good old Rajinikanth days.

The release date of the movie, directed by Pa. Ranjith, is not out yet. Besides Radhika Apte, the film also stars Kishore, Kalaiarasan, Dhansikaa, Dinesh and Ritwika.

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Uttarakhand blaze, a man-made disaster

Two years of drought and a rise in the average temperature, low relative humidity and strong winds have all contributed to the fires raging in Uttarakhand.

“It’s known in these parts that forest fires follow a general five year cycle, and the intensity this year can be seen in this light. The drought and low humidity over two years have played a big role,” Ashwani Kumar, Director-General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, told The Hindu.

The Forest Survey of India warns State governments about the probability of forest fires and preparations are usually taken up in February to contain them.

Apart from the threat to life, forest fires are ecologically damaging depending on whether they are ground fires or crown fires.

When fires spread at the level of treetops — the crown — they irreversibly damage trees. The fires in Uttarakhand this year, according to Mr. Kumar are largely ground fires.

‘Need more manpower’

Using helicopters to pour water and put out the fires is not a feasible option in the affected area because there are not enough lakes or large water sources nearby. The best way is to recruit more manpower to do the job, he added.

Compared to the United States and Australia, forest fires in India occur largely due to human actions.

Forest dwellers often start fires to create new ground to get a fresh crop of grass for livestock. Mr. Kumar said such activities went out of control on many occasions and there should be greater awareness.

Nearly 55 per cent of India’s forests are prone to fires and they emit aerosols in copious quantities that are damaging the environment, according to a study by the University of Freiburg on the causes and patterns of Indian forest fires.

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It doesn’t matter whether I am for or against it: Kohli on Salman issue

India’s star batsman Virat Kohli says that his opinion on whether film star Salman Khan should be the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent for the coming Rio Olympics or not has no significance.

“It doesn’t matter whether I am for or against it. It is for the people (IOA) who made the decision to comment. I cannot say anything on this issue for obvious reasons,” Kohli said on the sidelines of a promotional event here on Friday.

Kohli, who is in the City to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL match on Saturday, said the decision to name Salman Khan for the assignment does give some masala for the news media.

“I repeat that I cannot say whether a sports personality or someone else should have been there instead of Salman,” he said when asked someone like Sachin Tendulkar or any other sporting legend would have been more appropriate. Questioned which has been a bigger challenge for him – being on the cricket field or handling these business assignments, Kohli said he is nervous with these kind of promotional events where he is directly connected to the fans.

“I am grateful for all the millions of fans who love me so much. Honestly, it is only after another 10 years that I can think of being a serious entrepreneur. Right now, my focus is on cricket and nothing else,” Kohli commented.

“Well, once I am on the field, I stay focussed on the action out there and don’t think of anything else,” he added.

Kohli also made a style statement saying that he would advise his fans or for that matter anyone to wear clothes in which they feel comfortable, confident. “I personally would love to keep things pretty simple, be practical and try to pick something different too,” he concluded.

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Saina Nehwal loses in semis at ABC

Indian challenge ended at the Asian Badminton Championship after Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat against local favourite Yihan Wang in the semifinals of women’s singles, here on Saturday.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina lost 160-21 14-21 to sixth seed Wang in a 41-minute match to registered her 11th defeat against the Chinese.

It was yet another semifinal finish for the World No. 8 Indian, having made it to the final four in the Swiss Grand Prix Gold, India Super Series and Malaysia Super Series Premier Open earlier in the year.

Saina was leading 3-0 in the beginning and despite a challenge from Wang, she managed to hang on to a 9-6 lead before the Chinese turned the tables and marched ahead after the interval, and then never looked back.

In the second game, Wang dished out a dominating performance as she opened up a 5-0 lead and continued to surge ahead even as Saina’s game crumbled.

This was the last tournament before the Olympic qualification deadline of May 3rd.

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Non-subsidised LPG, kerosene, ATF prices hiked

After petrol and diesel, rates of non-subsidised cooking gas, non-PDS kerosene and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were today raised in line with global trends.

Petrol price was late last night hiked by Rs. 1.06 a litre to Rs. 62.19 per litre in Delhi and diesel by Rs. 2.94 to Rs. 50.95 a litre.

The increase was followed up today with nearly Rs. 3 per litre hike in price of non-PDS kerosene, according to state-owned oil companies.

Kerosene sold to non-ration card segment outside the subsidised public distribution system (PDS) will cost Rs. 49,109.05 per kilolitre (kl) or Rs. 49.1 a litre in Delhi as against Rs. 46,172.13 per kl previously.

Simultaneously, the oil firms raised prices of non-subsidised LPG, which consumers buy after exhausting their quota of 12, by Rs. 18 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) now costs Rs. 527.50 in Delhi as against Rs. 509.50 previously. The hike comes on back of three straight monthly reductions. Prices were last cut by Rs. 4 on April 1. Rates were reduced by Rs. 61.50 on March 1 and Rs. 82.5 per 14.2-kg bottle on February 1.

Subsidised LPG costs Rs. 419.15 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.

Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, price was today hiked by 1.5 per cent.

ATF price in Delhi was raised by Rs. 627 per kilolitre, or 1.48 pr cent, to Rs. 42,784.01 per kl. The hike comes on the back of a steep 8.7 per cent or Rs. 3,371.55 per kl hike on April 1.

Prior to that, rates were hiked by steep 12 per cent, or Rs. 4,174.49, on March 1.

Rates vary at different airports because of differential local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT).

Jet fuel constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline’s operating cost and the price increase will add to the financial burden of cash-strapped carriers.

No immediate comment was available from airlines on the impact of the price increase on passenger fares.

The three fuel retailers — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum — revise jet fuel and non-subsidised LPG prices on the first day of every month, based on the average international price in the preceding month.

The ATF price cut on March 10 was on account of change in taxation.

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