Was it a Security drill just before the arrival of US President?
Last night as a violent message floated to turn off your cell phones because of cosmic rays entering the Earth from Mars?
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The Indian sky is captured by United States of America and NASA rules our Digital biometric Desh nowadays! Everything that New Delhi is planning, from snipers to sniffers to satellite surveillance, Washington is doubling up on - that's the huge and unprecedented involvement by American security agencies in Barack Obama's three-day visit to Delhi and Agra starting this Sunday, January 25. An advance team of US Secret Service agents who are in the capital to ensure the security of President Barack Obama during his three-day India visit are reportedly "bullying" their Indian counterparts on every aspect of the security.
What timing for a misinformation campaign pressing the panic button! Well, it should not be a refined joke at all and some meat should be there. Expect technical expertise to decode the NASA gimmick! Meanwhile, Indian airports have stepped up security measures ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to the country. Obama is expected to land in India on January 25, a day before the Republic Day celebrations, in which he will be the chief guest.
It happened yet again last night as a violent message floated to turn off your cell phones because of cosmic rays entering the Earth from Mars? Professionally we have to be awake till almost dawn and we did witness the panic flowing just before the arrival of US President Barack Obama. As the ritual has always been, the formal contradiction from NASA followed just after midnight and FACEBOOK blocked all such messages immediately.
I am amused and not sure whether it was a security drill to revamp digital India and activating a misinformation drive and controlling it with robotic blocking!
Just mind you, top security and intelligence officials in India told ET that the scale of security will be far bigger — 50,000 security personnel, 15,000 CCTV cameras, 3-day traffic lockdown in key south and central Delhi areas — than anything seen, even for other visiting US presidents. These officials spoke on the condition they not be identified.
Among the firsts in security arrangement are US satellites being deployed for watching Rajpath - the key road in the Republic Day parade route that hosts - the key road in the Republic Day parade route that hosts the VVIP podium?
Also, for the first time, US Secret Service (the agency that guards American political VVIPs) snipers will be posted alongside sharpshooters from India's NSG ( National Security Guard) at all relevant venues, including Rajpath and Maurya Sheraton, the Delhi luxury hotel President Obama will be staying in.
Our internal security, our sky and our space have been captured by United States of America ironically on the occasion of the biggest celebration of our own republic day!
All security arrangements are in place for the three-day visit of US President Barack Obama beginning Sunday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday.
According to Media reports a seven-layer security ring will be thrown around the VVIP enclosure on Rajpath for the Republic Day parade, where Obama will be chief guest, and the airspace over the area would be monitored by a radar to be specially set up.
This will be part of the ground-to-air security drill during Obama visit, which will take him to Agra too.
Asked about the security preparation for Obama’s visit, Singh told reporters here that “All security arrangements are in place. There will be no problem anywhere.”
A multiagency control room will monitor the surveillance operations in every area of the national capital which has been put on the highest alert because of the visit of the US President.
BSF, which comes under the Home Ministry, has stepped up security along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, deploying close to 1,200 additional personnel there in view of the US President’s visit to India.
The timing this time was said to be between 12.30 to 3.30 with a warning that the rays would hit India and may play havoc damage. One easy way to establish the veracity of such reports circulating in the social media is to see if there is a link to a reputed website attached. Many users when circulating a story also prefer to add the link to the website they found it on, for added information and credibility. If the news sounds big but the news media isn't reporting it, chances are, it is another of those hoaxes circulating.
Social media is the playground of hoaxes and many of these just refuse to fade away. The 'Cosmo rays from Mars' rumour (and also its rebuttal) has been doing the rounds for long and has again reappeared with renewed gusto on our timelines.
The hoax message with information attributed to NASA and BBC says, "Tonight 12:30 am to 3:30 am Cosmo rays entering Earth from Mars. So switch off your mobile at night." The fact is that, as many less gullible users have pointed out, that Mars doesn't emit the said rays and neither NASA has issued any such advice nor the BBC has reported the story.
Palash Biswas

Hastakshep