Category Archives: NSA

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi took a dig at Pakistan for not attending the NSA-level meet hosted by India in New Delhi. (File Photo)

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for not attending a summit over the ongoing developments in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country.

On Wednesday, India hosted a regional summit in New Delhi on Afghanistan which was chaired by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. Pakistan was invited to the NSA-level meeting where Iran, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhtstan attended the summit. However, Pakistan decided to skip the meeting hosted by India over the situation Afghanistan.

Reacting to this, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said,"Pakistan was invited, they did not come. It shows their attitude over Afghanistan issue if they did not come to such important meetings."

The NSA-level summit hosted by India witnessed participation from Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. New Delhi had also invited China and Pakistan to join the talks, but the two countries chose not to accept the invitation.

At the summit, a joint declaration adopted by eight countries asserted that the Afghan territory must not be used for terror activities.

Russia's secretary of security council Nikolai Patrushev, Iran's secretary of the supreme national security council Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhaniand Chief of Kazakhstan's national security committee Karim Massimov were among the officials who were in Delhi to attend a regional dialogue on Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Taliban reacted positively to the NSA-level meet on Afghanistan and hoped that the dialogue contributes to peace and stability in the region.

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told News18 that he saw the meet as a positive development and hoped for it to contribute to "the peace and stability" of Afghanistan.

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Reality Winner has recently been with her parents in Georgia, USA, after the former NSA contract worker was moved to an open institution in June after five years in prison. In 2016, she was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of imprisonment under surveillance for sharing a secret report with the US portal The Intercept. But the 29-year-old doesnt feel free so far.

The former secret service analyst reported on Friday via video link on one of them that she went shopping twice in the past five months and went to dinner about as often Conference of the Disruption Network Lab in Berlin. Further excursions have so far been banned with reference to the pandemic. Her probation officer had generally explained to her that she would always have to be home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the next three years. Overnight trips and visits to family members who live further away are thus canceled.

A parent also had to drive her 100 miles back and forth to a facility where she had to undergo a drug and drug test, Winner said. Furthermore, she is only allowed to speak to the media to a limited extent. Interviews, for example, are incompatible with legal requirements, the probation officer said: I dont even know what the consequences of participating in a discussion like this are. If I speak openly, I could end up in prison.

She now has a job in the local community, but has to plan almost every step outside the home, explained the ex-informant. Overall, the requirements are very vague. Most of the ball lies with her supervisor, who does not have to show any restraint. There is no public pressure for that. Although she now has four dogs, four cats and a horse that thinks itself to be a dog around her in addition to her parents, it is difficult for her to recognize that it is a step forward. When she ventured too far into the living room shortly after she was released from the transition ward, it was classified as a risk of escape. Because of the constant drama she has already suffered two new panic attacks.

Billie Winner-Davis and Reality Winner (screenshot)

Even with criticism of her former media partner, Winner did not save. The Intercept had received an NSA paper from her accusing the Russian military intelligence service GRU of attacking US electoral authorities through spear phishing and influencing public opinion before Donald Trumps election to the presidency. Prior to the publication of the document and an extensive story about it, The Intercept asked the NSA and the US director of intelligence with a scan sent for comment. An included pressure detection quickly led to Winner, who was arrested by the FBI before the leak was published.

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NSA Case: Reality Winner Sues Hard Probation And The Intercept - Market Research Telecast

Says Thatcher asked Nigeria to ascertain SAfrican leaders commitment to majority rule

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A former National Security Adviser (NSA), Lieutenant General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd), has highlighted Nigerias role to end the apartheid regime in South Africa.

In a tribute to the former President of South Africa, the late Frederik Willem de Klerk, which was obtained by THISDAY, Gusau disclosed that the then British Prime Minister, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, had specifically asked the former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida to ascertain the commitment of De Klerk to majority rule.

De Klerk, who was the last minority president of South Africa, later became the late President Nelson Mandelas deputy under the majority rule.Gusau stated that Thatcher had in 1989 visited Nigeria twice within one week where he told Babangida that de Klerk was working to bring an end to minority rule in South Africa.

According to the former NSA, Thatcher also sought the help of Nigeria to ascertain the level of de Klerks commitment and also strengthen de Klerks efforts.

Gusau noted that while Babangida believed that Thatcher was an honest broker on the issue, the former military leader had doubts as to whether de Klerk meant business or that he would get the support of the white establishment in South Africa

The former NSA described the late former president of South African as a towering figure who was determined to right historical wrongs without minding the consequences.

Gusau said Nigerias strategic role to end apartheid started on March 28, 1989, when, on her way to South Africa, the then British Prime Minister, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher decided to do a stop-over in Lagos to see Babangida.

The former NSA quoted Thatcher as telling journalists at the airport that she was very happy to accept President Babangidas invitation to stop over in Lagos to have talks with him.I do this because I have great admiration for the leadership he is giving here and for the courageous way in which he is tackling the economic problems of the country, she had added.Thatcher had also disclosed that since she and Babangida would be attending the Commonwealth Conference CHOGM scheduled to hold in Malaysia in October of that year, her visit was an opportunity to chat with the Nigerian leader ahead of the conference.

Gusau said the former British Prime Minister also took a few questions after her brief remarks, which were all centred around the situation in South Africa and the role of Britain at the time.While she was evasive in her responses, Mrs. Thatcher alluded to a meeting between Soviet and British academics and the ANC in which they urged that the problems of South Africa be solved not by confrontation, not by violence, but by negotiation. That is our objective too. By her return itinerary, Mrs. Thatcher was to do a brief stop-over in Accra, to see President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, before heading for London. But she again routed her flight from South Africa through Lagos where she met President Babangida for a second time within a week, Gusau explained.

Gusau stated that Babangida later invited him for a briefing after Thatchers visits and saddled him with what he (Gusau) described as a delicate assignment.Revealing what transpired between him and Babangida, the former NSA stated that the former military president informed him that Thatcher had told him (Babangida) in their two meetings that de Klerk was working to bring an end to minority rule in South Africa.

Gusau also disclosed that Babangida told him that the former British leader sought the help of Nigeria to ascertain the level de Klerks commitment and also see how Nigeria could strengthen de Klerks efforts.

While President Babangida said he believed Mrs. Thatcher as an honest broker on the issue, he had doubts as to whether President de Klerk meant business or that he would get the support of the white establishment in South Africa on such idea. The assignment President Babangida then gave me was to ascertain how serious President de Klerk was on ending apartheid in South Africa as well as what Nigeria could do to help that process, Gusau said.

The former NSA also disclosed that after Babangida had given him a list of contacts within the South African government, including close aides of President de Klerk, he decided to co-opt his Chief of Staff, Colonel Kayode Are into the assignment given to him by the former military ruler.Colonel Are was not only my chief of staff at the time but also a close friend whose opinion I deeply valued. The two of us embarked on this extraordinary mission with no time to spare. We first met with the then Director-General of South Africas National Intelligence Service (NIS), Dr. Niel Barnard, in London on 15th January 1990. That marked the beginning of a long and enduring partnership between our two institutions, and I visited South Africa several times thereafter to discuss the way forward. I also had direct sessions with President de Klerk who, in our first meeting, made it clear that he wanted to be the last minority president. I was a bit skeptical about that even though he sounded genuine, Gusau explained.

On 2nd February 1990, while we were still working underground with their security officials, President de Klerk took the world by surprise. In his address at the opening session of parliament, he announced the end of segregation of public facilities in South Africa, recognised the African National Congress (ANC) as a legitimate political party, and set a date for the release of Mr. Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of incarceration. Not surprisingly, as de Klerk made his speech, there were shouts of traitor from several MPs within his own Conservative Party, who staged a dramatic walk-out. One of them, Koos van der Merwe later addressed the media where he described de Klerk as a traitor to his people because, by the declaration, the then South African president was trying to kill the Afrikaner nation, Gusau added.

Gusau said de Klerks historic speech had led to far-reaching political reforms and had also marked the beginning of the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa.He said he visited de Klerk four weeks later in Cape Town with a letter from Babangida, adding that the culmination of their discussion was a meeting between both presidents in Windhoek on March 31, 1990, at the sidelines of Namibias Independence Day celebration.

Much more significantly, however, five senior Nigerian journalists were in Namibia for the event. When I sounded them out about whether they would like to visit South Africa, they were excited. I discussed the idea with South African officials, and it was agreed that they could undertake a visit. A vehicle was provided for the long journey that took almost 20 hours from Windhoek to Johannesburg. The reports filed by these top journalists when they returned to Nigeria validated most of what Colonel Are and I had witnessed which confirmed that De Klerk was moving in the direction of majority rule, Gusau said.

Gusau noted that at some point, he discovered that while Nigerias engagements with South African officials were cordial and fruitful, it was also necessary to brief the leader of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi.

He said he had received the feedback from reliable South African contacts that Buthelezi was aware of Nigerian mediation, stressing that as a critical factor in the country, Buthelezi needed to be carried along.

President Babangida wrote him a letter. Having welcomed the idea, the South African Government provided the plane that took me to Ulundi, capital of Zulu Kingdom where Chief Buthelezi was happy to receive me. He called his entire cabinet before reading President Babangidas letter. There and then he asked the Cabinet Secretary to draft a reply. I then drove with him to the statute of their ancestral warrior, Shaka Zulu where we took photographs before I flew back to Johannesburg, Gusau explained.

Gusau said although he and Colonel Are worked underground in their engagements with the South African government, some of their colleagues within the continent alleged that high-ranking Nigerian officials were collaborating with the apartheid regime, adding that a few African leaders were uncomfortable with the information.

He, however, stated that the problem was left for Babangida to handle with his colleagues.In April 1992, President de Klerk undertook a three-day State Visit to Nigeria at the invitation of President Babangida. The visit was the first by a South African head of state to our country, and President Babangidawho was at that period chairman of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union)signaled to the continent and the rest of the world that Nigeria supported President De Klerk in his efforts. This certainly was the key to South Africas acceptance by the rest of the continent.

Following President de Klerks death on 11th November this year, his office issued a prerecorded posthumous video where he tendered an apology for the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage that apartheid has done to black, brown and Indians in South Africa. I believe he genuinely meant what he said.

In their tribute, the Mandela Foundation said that President de Klerk would forever be linked to Nelson Mandela in the annals of South African history while President Cyril Ramaphosa said de Klerk took the courageous decision [as president] to unban political parties, release political prisoners and enter into negotiations with the liberation movement amid severe pressure to the contrary from many in his political constituency.

As I reflect on the legacy of the late President de Klerk, I am reminded of the extraordinary things ordinary people can achieve. It took great courage for President de Klerk to stand up to the white establishment in South Africa after which he accepted the position of a deputy in President Nelson Mandelas ANC-led Government of National Unity. He will therefore be remembered as a peacemaker who changed the course of history in his country. And I am grateful for the part that Nigeria played in supporting his efforts while I salute the courage of President Babangida for taking the right decision at the time, Gusau concluded.

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In a Tribute to De Klerk, Gusau Highlights Nigeria's Role to End Apartheid Regime - THISDAY Newspapers

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If my memory serves me right, the mighty Ajit Doval, Indias National Security Advisor of the Union Cabinet Minister rank and I, took the oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India on the same day 3/4 July 1968 at the salubrious campus of the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. On that day, Doval entered the Indian Police Service and me the Indian Administrative Service, both All India Services covenanted in Article 312 of the Constitution. As I have written earlier, standing by ones oath is a matter of honour. When I found it difficult to adhere to my oath, I bowed out of IAS way back in 1985 and, technically, was no longer bound by the oath. But Doval today is a top civil leader in the country for whom the oath still holds good.

Actually, it was the second time I was taking the oath, the first being my commissioning in the Indian Army on the Republic Day of 1964: I, . do swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established and that I will honestly and faithfully serve in the regular Army of the Union of India and go wherever ordered by land, sea or air, and that I will observe and obey all commands of the President of the Union of India and the commands of any officer set over me even to the peril of my life.

I did stand by this oath and, during the short span that I was in the olive-green uniform, participated in all three operations, which an Infantry Officer would have done in his entire career war in the Thar desert (1965), counter-insurgency in the Nagaland jungles and aid to civil authority in Assam and Tamil Nadu plains. In the first we treated the enemy as the enemy; in the second, we dealt with the underground Nagas as misguided hostiles, and in the third, we cherished civil society as our own that needed to be protected. Never could we imagine this bizarre doctrine: The new frontiers of war, what you call the fourth-generation warfare, is the civil society.

Also Read: Checking out the Doval detail: Some myth, some reality, and much folklore

A few months before Doval became NSA, he came out with this profound philosophy: You know, we engage [ones] enemy in three modes. One is a defensive mode. That is, you see what the chaukidars and chaprassies do, i.e., to prevent somebody from coming in. One is defensive-offensive. To defend ourselves, we go to the place from where the offence is coming. We are now in defensive mode. The last mode is called offensive mode.

The dictum in the game of power, the ultimate justice lies with the one who is strong, was the hallmark of Dovals military doctrine to be applied to Kashmir. In a Scroll.in article, social activist and author Harsh Mander said that under this doctrine, no weapon or strategy of offence is out of bounds bullets, pellet guns, human shields even if these outrage international and national legal and moral codes. Victory can only be assured by military might. The only objective is to win by any means. Even if blood flows, if children are felled or blinded, if mothers weep, if liberals are outraged, if people do not vote it does not matter. The State has to prevail by more and more military force, even over its own people.

Instead of such heady concoctions, national security should be dealt with under a well-thought-of and defined doctrine a set of national principles. It must act as a statement of government policy that takes into account social, economic and political spheres of the country like national security threats, military, public consensus, demands for development, etc. Such documents must guide leaders to make appropriate domestic and foreign policy decisions. Sadly, India has no such doctrine.

Though there is a National Security Council, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Strategic Policy Group, and the National Security Advisory Board, the NSA is the kingpin of Indias security structure. The office is not backed by any legislative provisions nor has parliamentary sanctions. So, there is a lot of power being exercised by this office without any oversight or responsibility. Only the concerned ministers and secretaries remain responsible and answerable to Parliament either in Committees (secretaries) or the House (ministers). Its because of this defect and the concomitant decline of formal arrangements that the structure appears to be ad hoc, arbitrary and, almost always, autocratic. Since there is no policy or doctrine to adhere to, the NSA can propound whatever he wants and call it national security. This is bizarre and not in consonance with democratic principles.

According to eminent lawyer AG Noorani, one of the key pillars of the Doval doctrine is the irrelevance of morality. This is what he wrote: Doval sought to explain the dilemma one faces between individual morality and the value system of the state. The state is necessary. If it is necessary, protecting itself will be its supreme role. Individual morality cannot be inflicted on the larger interest of society. The nation will have to take recourse to all means to protect itself. And in this, it cannot afford to subjugate what is in its long-term interest.

Also Read: On security front, Modis favourite Ajit Doval has the power ball

It is in this morality compass that Dovals new civil society doctrine needs to be looked at. Addressing the fresh police officers during the passing-out parade at the Police Academy in Hyderabad on 11 November, he said: The new frontiers of war, what you call the fourth-generation warfare, is the civil society. Wars have ceased to become an effective instrument for achieving their political or military objectives. They are too expensive and unaffordable and, at the same time, there is an uncertainty about their outcomes. But it is the civil society, that can be subverted, that can be suborned, that can be divided, that can be manipulated, to hurt the interests of a nation. And you are there to see that they stand fully protected. And he then dropped a rare pearl of wisdom: Quintessence of democracy does not lie in the ballot box. It lies in the laws which are made by the people who are elected through these ballot boxes. For Doval, the State is paramount and not the people.

These statements clearly mean that Doval has a different understanding of the Constitution, democracy and civil society. He seems to think that India is still a colonial monarchy, where people are subjects, and not a democracy wherein, they are citizens. Our Constitution opens with the words We the People and democracy is defined as a society in which the citizens are sovereign and command the State. There is an ocean of difference between subject and citizen. Subject is one who is placed under the authority or control of a monarch or government, whereas citizen is one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman. While it is the duty of a subject to obey the government, it is the right of a citizen to command the State because it is them who form that government by exercising the electoral franchise. In short, democracy in essence is peoples power and not State power.

There is a lot of confusion as to the definition of civil society. The World Bank has attempted one: Civil society refers to a wide array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations, labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations. In my view, this is not complete because these are only the elements of civil society like Parliament and State legislatures described as the elements of the electorate.

Also Read: The new Doval Durbar reduces Indias layered security system to a top-down Caliphate

The real definition of civil society would be the entire people of India, who have the Constitutional privilege of claiming fundamental rights (Articles 32 and 226) except those in the Armed Forces, whose constitutional rights are restricted. Incidentally, the millions of protesting farmers, who forced the repeal of the farm laws, are all a part of civil society. How then, can Doval ask the young police officers to consider We the People as the enemy and wage war against them?

Ajit Doval was appointed as the NSA by PM Modi in 2014. A former Director of the Intelligence Bureau, he is known to be one of PM Modis closest confidantes according to Mander, who claims that after his retirement, he headed the Vivekananda Foundation, which has a strong affiliation Hindutva ideology, and has become one of the main recruiting grounds for senior appointments in the Prime Ministers Office. However, historically, this role has been played by more neutral individuals. The position of National Security Advisor of India was created by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government back in 1998. Brijesh Mishra, of the Indian Foreign Service who served as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, was the first NSA. In 2004, when Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister, the NSA office was separated into foreign and internal with two NSAs former Foreign Secretary J.N. Dixit and former Director, IB M.K. Narayanan heading them respectively. After the death of Dixit in 2005, the office was again fused and Narayanan became the full-time NSA. He was then succeeded by former Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in 2010.

As would be seen among Dovals predecessors, three were diplomats and one was a policeman. Diplomats had their own style and the policeman was mature and they functioned in an independent manner. None of them were loyal to any polarising ideology and a mindset of considering dissenters as enemies. It would be good if, even at this late stage, Doval follows the footpath of his predecessors. If he has any special fourth-generation warfare skills, he better apply them against the big guns occupying territories within India, instead of targeting the civil society.

M.G. Devasahayam is a retired IAS officer and chairman of People-First. He also served in the Indian Army. Views are personal.

(Edited by Srinjoy Dey)

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Ajit Doval was my batchmate, but his understanding of Constitution, civil society is flawed - ThePrint

The National Society of Accountants has sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service commissioner Charles Rettig and leaders of Congresss main tax committees asking the IRS to speed up the refunds for 2019 and 2020 tax returns and communicate better.

The group cited a recent op-ed by Rettig in the Washington Post in which he pleaded for more funding from Congress. But the NSA also asked for the IRS to do more with the funds its been receiving.

NSA strongly agrees with the commissioner that there is, indeed, a crisis occurring involving the IRS, taxpayers and practitioners, much of which can be attributed to insufficient funding, wrote NSA president Marchelle Foshee and managing director of public policy Jessica Jeane in a letter Monday. Therefore, we strongly encourage Congress to fund the IRS more adequately and consistently. The steady increase of responsibility that Congress continues to legislatively place upon the IRS year-after-year greatly exceeds the declining and often stagnant appropriations for the agency. That said, however, the IRS must also do its part to rectify the situation. To that end, it is equally vital for the IRS to recognize its own shortcomings in communication during this ongoing crisis. Taxpayers and practitioners need the IRS to be more transparent and forthright about the status of its operations. Reporting out that the agency is caught up on mail, for example, does not equate to such correspondence being processed and resolved. And while providing general backlog estimates may help paint a picture of the problem, it shines little to no light on taxpayers specific concerns.

The NSA pointed out that the IRS is continuing to lag in its processing and issuing of refunds for 2019 and 2020 returns and it called for more transparency and improved communication from the IRS to alleviate the growing frustrations and fears among tax and accounting professionals about the 2022 tax filing season.

Often, taxpayers and practitioners either cannot reach the IRS or receive confusing and inaccurate information, they wrote. Frustrations within the tax and accounting professional community are at an all-time high, and fears among practitioners about how the upcoming 2022 tax filing season will unfold, when many 2019 and 2020 tax returns remain unresolved, are based firmly in reality.

Stefani Reynolds/Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/B

Until the IRS can more efficiently communicate with taxpayers, the NSA is asking the IRS to stop all automatic collection notices and actions of liens and levies (at least for certain categories that have low compliance risk) until the agency has completed its backlog of opened yet unprocessed mail; as well as provide taxpayers with targeted, automatic relief from the underpayment of estimated tax penalties and late payment penalties for the 2020 tax year. They also want the IRS to use its IRS.gov website to more frequently and specifically provide updates on the status of operations for taxpayers and practitioners. These updates would include current processing times for various categories of returns and replies to correspondence and notices, said Foshee and Jeane.

The American Institute of CPAs also has been asking the IRS to improve its processing and responsiveness. During an online meeting Monday of the AICPA Tax Division, AICPA officials made the case directly to several IRS officials, including Holly Paz, deputy commissioner of the Large Business and International division, and Fred Schindler, director of collection policy at the IRSs Small Business/Self-Employed division, and National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins.

One sore point has been the automated collection notices. We know that as folks are living through the pandemic that there are a lot of financial difficulties there, said Schindler. One of the things that weve been doing is to be very conscious of other relief programs that have been going on in government. You see some guidance out there asking our employees, particularly our field employees, to be very conscious of that and make sure that they are being very thoughtful and deliberate about their collection activity.

Why do we have the system continuing to spit out notices and move forward if, for example, something there is favorable to taxpayers, said Collins. Not every collection notice is there a request for the taxpayers to do something, but when there is you can reach out to a revenue officer or the 800 number or something else. We should be able to put a suspension for a lot longer than six, eight, nine weeks, whether it be six months or until some action takes place. Its been discussed, but they havent agreed to that yet, needless to say. Its the same thing on the IRS side. Its what I call the one and done. Theyll send you a notice and if you dont respond, theyre done with you. With the phones and the issues that have come out with taxpayers, we need to give people a little more flexibility before we take that next step. We need to give people, especially the IRS, time to process whatever the request is, before they move forward on collections.

Excerpt from:
Accountants press IRS for faster refunds and responses - Accounting Today

Drivers no longer have to worry about passing a narrow street or facing a car ahead at a dead end even when they are inexperienced. Hyundai Mobis says it has developed the worlds first urban Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) called the Mobis Parking System (MPS).

The Mobis Parking System integrates Narrow Space Assistance (NSA), Reverse Assistance (RA), and Remote Smart Parking Assistance (RSPA). Researchers are testing related technologies at the Hyundai Mobis Seosan Proving Ground.

With the Mobis Parking System, the car is able to drive itself through a narrow street by avoiding obstructions, drive through the revolving gate of an underground parking lot, or drive backwards at a dead end where two cars are facing each other. All this at the press of a button.

Hyundai Mobis says it developed this technology using its own software logic and mass-produced ultrasonic sensors. This technology is based on the fact that, while RADAR and LiDAR sensors are useful for recognising objects located far away or in high-speed driving, ultrasonic sensors are rather more suitable for narrow streets or underground parking lots. The ultrasonic sensors recognize objects over a short distance, while the software logic and the control system perform self-driving.Core technologies usedOne of the core technologies of this system is Narrow Space Assistance (NSA). The car needs only 16 inches of extra space on both sides to drive through a narrow street by itself.

There is also Reverse Assistance (RA) which records the cars travel route on a real-time basis and creates the reverse route by itself at the press of a button. The steering wheel and vehicle speed are controlled automatically.Aside from the Mobis Parking System, various other technologies for safety and convenience have been integrated into the system, thereby further enhancing the competitiveness of the driver assistance solution.

The Remote Smart Parking Assistance (RSPA) system is capable of parking a car at a right angle or in parallel by finding an empty space when the driver is out of the car and presses the remote. 3D Surround View Monitor (SVM) provides a better parking experience by showing the area 360 degrees around the car three-dimensionally. Rear-autonomous Emergency Braking (R-AEB) is also noticeable.Hyundai Mobis says it will pre-emptively suggest global automakers to apply related technologies. The application scope will be expanded to purpose-built vehicles (PBV) as well as large SUVs whose popularity is now growing rapidly.ALSO READHyundai Mobis develops foldable steering system

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Hyundai Mobis' innovative HLED integrates tail and stop light in a single LED

/news-international/hyundai-mobis-develops-automated-system-for-parking-in-tight-spaces-80542 Hyundai Mobis develops automated system for parking in tight spaces Operates even with just 16 inches on both sides in a narrow street, with autonomous driving tech specialised for urban areas with many side streets https://www.autocarpro.in/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=http://img.haymarketsac.in/autocarpro/844b2fd9-35f0-4849-929b-968a89149556.jpg

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Hyundai Mobis develops automated system for parking in tight spaces - Autocar Professional

A pair of national sports association (NSA) chiefs shared that it is not standard practice within their own federations to get athletes involved in the financial side of their operations.

Cynthia Carrion of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) and Monico Puentevella of the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) both said their associations are the ones processing everything to do with money and that payments to foreign coaches are not coursed through their athletes.

This is amid the issue surrounding pole vault ace EJ Obiena and the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) where the athletics body accused the Olympian of falsified liquidation and failure of payment to Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.

Similar to PATAFA, both the GAP and SWP have their share of dealings with foreign coaches. Gymnastics wunderkind Carlos Yulo is currently under the tutelage of Japanese mentor Munehiro Kugimiya while 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and weightlifting champion Hidilyn Diaz was trained by Chinese mentor Gao Kaiwen until he returned to his homeland recently.

Unlike Obiena's case, however, where the payment for his coach was coursed through him, their athletes aren't involved in the process.

"Of course not, we give it directly to Coach Mune," Carrion told GMA News Online when asked whether payments for Kugimiya go through Yulo.

Carrion even disclosed that Kugimiya did not receive his full eight-month salary this year as they had trouble with completing his correct contract paperwork.

Kugimiya's contract, according to Carrion, is renewed every year but due to the pandemic, they had a hard time completing the required documents. He only received his full salary in September of 2021.

"He did not get his salary for eight months because the contract was not done so we had to go back and forth until the contract was correct. Then he got the whole salary for eight months. Coach Mune didn't complain because he knows he's going to get paid by PSC (Philippine Sports Commission)," Carrion added.

She believes PATAFA and their chief, Philip Juico, encountered a similar problem, but may have handled it differently.

"Popoy Juico said it (the funding issue) also happened because of the contract, they didn't have the contract because of the pandemic. So the coach was in a hurry to be paid so they just gave it to Obiena [but] they shouldn't have."

"Me, I said no. Until Coach Mune's contract is ready, we will not touch the money."

Carrion also shared that GAP has its own accountant to make sure everything is in place.

"Yes, we are paying our own accountant. We have a secretary, we have everything. We need to," she shared.

"I make sure that I don't liquidate those things. Athletes should not do any liquidation. All the liquidation should be coming from the NSAs. We are the one doing the liquidation and we do the liquidation beautifully [and] clearly."

The same goes with the weightlifting federation.

Puentevella said payments for Gao were made directly to the coach.

"We deal directly with the coaches and Hidilyn. And all of them go through me for recommendations for PSC and PSC gives the salary directly, not like what happened with EJ," said Puentevella.

He added, though, that the logistics of Obiena's situation could have made this more difficult for the parties.

"The problem is EJ is in Europe and he's training there, there are banking difficulties sometimes because I understand they are being paid in peso."

Obiena, in an earlier statement, said that he had asked PATAFA to pay his coach and team directly but the request was refused.

"I am a pole vaulter and not a corporate accountant. I am alone and trying to handle this in a foreign country. I have requested many times for my coaches and team to be paid directly - I have no desire to play middleman - but this has been refused, somehow."

He admitted that some of his paperwork was "sloppy" and submitted late, but denied allegations of wrongdoing or that he did not pay his coach.

The PSC has called for a dialogue between Obiena and PATAFA and has offered to mediate between the two sides. Both the PATAFA and the Philippine Olympic Committee have ordered investigations into the matter as well.

JMB, GMA News

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Gymnastics and weightlifting chiefs: Coaches' payments not coursed through our athletes - GMA News Online

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Agencies with big campuses often have parking thats either not enough, or people have long hikes from distant spaces. Thats the case at the National Security Agencys big headquarters campus at Fort Meade, Maryland. For decades its been a source of angst for employees. The Office of Inspector General took a look at the parking situation. IG Robert Storch joinedFederal Drive with Tom Temin with details.

Tom Temin: Mr. Storch, always good to have you on.

Robert Storch: Its always great to be on Tom, appreciate the interest in our work.

Tom Temin: And lets talk about parking at the NSA. When you say NSA Washington in the report, that means pretty much Fort Meade, correct?

Robert Storch: Correct. We were looking at the NSA facilities at Fort Meade. And its a place where there have been concerns expressed about parking, frankly, for decades. And then we focused in on a number of initiatives, one of which was the construction and then destruction of a parking garage that had to be destroyed without ever being used.

Tom Temin: But in general, there are more parking requirements than there are parking spaces. Is that a good way to put it?

Robert Storch: Well there have been a number of concerns expressed about parking over the years. One does relate to lack of spaces, although were talking about a number of different facilities at Fort Meade. And so there are a total number of spaces that may be adequate, but then you look at the distribution of spaces and where they are and whether theyre conveniently located to the facilities where people work. And then another concern that has been expressed over the years really goes more to the equity issue. And theres certain groups, seniors, executives, that sort of thing, that may have one type of parking and whether theres abuse of that, and fairness in parking allocation.

Tom Temin: Okay, well talk about all of those issues. We should point out Fort Meade is a self enclosed, very large piece of property. Theres no Metro there, there might be buses, but if you get to the front gate, you could have a long, long drive to the specific office or building that you are actually going to enter correct?

Robert Storch: Right, thats correct. And thats one of the things we do talk about in the report is while the agency may be meeting the overall parking requirements for NSA Washington, the absence of convenient transportation makes it problematic when the parking is dispersed in the way it is.

Tom Temin: Yes, and the first you have to get through the front gat,e and having been a visitor there a couple of times, thats no easy task either. But once youre through, it would be nice to, I guess, park close to where your building is. So lets talk about the distribution of spaces. If there are sufficient numbers, say 20,000 people a day, and theres 20,000 spaces, the issue is that in the large concentrations of people, there are not adequate spaces.

Robert Storch: So it depends a little bit upon which location youre looking at. But for instance, we looked at what are considered the big four buildings. And theres actually a nice drawing in the report of this with some concentric circles, that shows that the majority of those spaces are located in places that dont meet the standards for current new construction as to how close spaces are supposed to be to where people enter their workplace. Now, the agency does have shuttles and uses overflow a lot to try to ameliorate that. But one of the big themes of the report is that it does not have overall goals, plans and strategies to achieve them with regard to parking and transportation. So these initiatives are really done in more of an ad hoc way.

Tom Temin: Yeah. So if youre in the far north corner of WCPS lot one, and youre going into the big main building, youve got a heck of a hike.

Robert Storch: You may have a heck of hake, thats true.

Tom Temin: Right. And primarily, you looked at the management of parking and the way that the people, the powers that be that run Fort Meade, look at this and deal with it, and it has not been an effective process, has it?

Robert Storch: Right. This has been an issue that has been around here at NSA-W for a long time. We look back at newsletters, very interesting way to look at it, going back to 1954 and found that more than half of them reference parking with the earliest back in 54. So literally for decades, this has been coming up. And when we looked at this, we found that in fact, the agency does have a master plan, it does do what they call fiscal year development plans every five years, but that parking was not really prioritized. And in fact, we chose five initiatives, parking and transportation initiatives to examine. And only one of those was even included in one of the fiscal year development plans. So really, while the agency, as I say, has made efforts through overflow parking and shuttles, we found that it has not either designated a single organization to be responsible in this area, or that it had not really gone through and strategically looked at the parking and transportation needs, tried to develop a plan and then strategies to achieve it.

Tom Temin: Because that location has been dynamic over the years. I think the Defense Information Systems Agency moved from somewhere else and parked right in there. And then you also mentioned in the report that a lot of people were cleared out of leased buildings and consolidated into government-owned on that site. I mean, the population has been growing, and so the traffic has been growing.

Robert Storch: Right. And one of the things we do talk about in the report is the additional stresses on parking here from potential growth, both because as you say, of the move from lease to government-owned space, and because of the elevation of US Cyber Command, which may require more people in more parking as well. And so this has been a significant issue here. And one that of course is of importance to the workforce as is reflected in the newsletters I mentioned. We also quoted in the report from a number of internal blogs and social media that are available to personnel here and a number of instances where theres significant frustration, I think its fair to say, regarding the parking situation.

Tom Temin: Were speaking with Robert Storch, hes inspector general of the National Security Agency. And there have been some sadly failed gambits, you mentioned a modular parking structure that was built and demolished. What happened there?

Robert Storch: Yeah. So back in 2014, the agency identified a proprietary modular parking structure. And its something that had not been built in the United States before, basically, it didnt require a foundation, it would go on top of the asphalt. And for your listeners who may be interested, we actually have pictures in our report of the patent owners rendering of what it would look like and then what was actually constructed here at Fort Meade. And it was supposed to add 150 to 250 spaces as constructed, it ended up that only added 87 spaces, and the cost per space went up from 25,000 to 34,000 each. And so they constructed this, but then what followed was a period of about a year of testing, testing by internal firms selected by the contractor and then testing by three independent firms that address safety concerns that have been expressed. Ultimately, all three of the independent reviews, which themselves cost about $120,000, found significant concerns, and ultimately determined that the structure, at least absent more testing, could not be determined safe to one of the architectural firms recommended. And this is a quote, that the structure remain closed to personnel until it is verified as meeting all code requirements specified in the contract. Failure to resolve the deficiencies and identified issues prior to occupancy could result in structural collapse and loss of life. So faced with that, the agency ultimately determined to demolish the structure, it went ahead and paid in full because it determined that having to go through and fight and potential legal fees would be even greater. And then it paid another $500,000 to actually demolish the structure as well. So we ended up determining that all of that, totaling $3.6 million, ended up being wasted, a significant amount of money, maybe not huge in the context of some budgets, but on the other hand, we found it to be reflective of some of the lack of internal controls and processes to identify and address these issues, to assess risk and either accepted or mitigated.

Tom Temin: Yeah, I wonder if any of those things have been built and are operating anywhere else.

Robert Storch: We did not identify this specific contractor involved. But we do say in the report that it had not been built anywhere in the United States.

Tom Temin: Oh, great, probably in Afghanistan, but thats a different inspector general. And to the key to park program, which was I guess, supposed to have lights or something to tell people where they could find the space. That was, again, not a gigantic expenditure, but must be frustrating, because it doesnt work.

Robert Storch: Right. Yeah, thats one of the five initiatives that we looked at, in which we found there were significant management and control deficiencies. That one, as you say, was one of these parker space counter systems, you may have seen them at airports or the like. This one was a little different, all designed to help people locate open spaces, as opposed to having sensors in each space, the way this one was designed is it would have sensors or mechanisms to detect traffic going in and leaving. And there were questions raised about the accuracy of that. Theres some testing, which actually did pretty well, but there were other technical problems that arose over time. And ultimately, it was dismantled in 20, last year, as part of other construction. So thats one initiative where there were a number of issues really throughout and ultimately it was dismantled.

Tom Temin: And they tried bicycles to be available for people to get from point A to point B within the campus.

Robert Storch: They did, and in fact they do. Thats one that actually is still operating of the initiatives that we examined. That is operating, but as a result of that, we looked at the effectiveness and had a number of concerns. And we looked at the cost that was being spent on these bicycles. And the idea is people can use these to go from building to building, and we found that the cost of the bicycles went up by almost three quarters by 74% from 2016 when its started to 2019. And the agency continue to buy bikes, even though as when you looked at the number of new users, the cost per user went up from $608 per user to over $1000 to $1,019. So the costs were going up significantly. We actually went out and our folks visited the racks over a period of a week to see how much traffic these bikes got, how much they were being used. And we found that 17% of them didnt move at all, and 14% move less than three times, so almost a third of them moving less than three times in total. Additionally, we found that most of the movement that did occur was during the sort of rush hour periods at the beginning and the end of the day, which suggested to us that the bikes being used more to address the issue we talked about at the outset about some of the distances that folks have to walk in from parking, as opposed to being used for the intended purpose of going from building to building. One additional thing we found, which we thought was interesting was that there have been a total of 140 of these bikes bought in this program. And of those 50 of those were in storage. And we inquired about that, and they were in storage, because they have tires that go flat, more recent bikes have been bought with no flat tires. And the agency told us that it may move these bikes out to the field. But as we say in the report, it really was unclear to us why they had been put in storage as opposed to simply buying no flat tires, or just re-inflating the tires.

Tom Temin: Yeah, golly, the things you dont think about. But overall, this report mentions in several occasions, that the morale and that this is something that affects employee morale, and its extremely frustrating for employees, and as you mentioned, has been for 60 years, theyve been complaining about it. So that gets to the issue of the equity of who can park where, and there are reserved spaces may be in abundance, Did you find?

Robert Storch: In the report that released we dont go through and identify the numbers there. But we do identify that there were concerns expressed by people regarding access to spaces. And one of the things that we recommended to the agency was that it do a study and in fact, include in that a workforce survey, so that it can help to address those issues and identify strategies that helps to ameliorate those concerns in the future.

Tom Temin: So other than the director, maybe nobody should have a reserve space.

Robert Storch: Well, I wouldnt say that. And again, thats not something we get into in the report regarding who exactly has access to what spaces. But one of the concerns that is expressed is whether theres abuse of reserved spaces. So whatever the purpose is, whether theyre for leadership, whether theyre for medical, what theyre for is whether those spaces are being used properly or not. And thats something that we suggest the agency look into.

Tom Temin: And your main recommendation is this has got to rise in terms of managements concern and having an organized approach to it. Correct?

Robert Storch: Absolutely. One of the things that we say on number occasions in the report is that we found that the agency had not sufficiently prioritized parking and transportation, at one point calling a nice to have, things like that at least one of the individuals that we spoke with. And this is something that really matters to people, right, and not just here, I think across the federal workforce. And so one of the things we found was that theyre not sufficiently prioritize this. And as I mentioned, the sources that we examined, supported that. So thats why we thought it was really important in our recommendation that the agency develop comprehensive strategies that include the workforce survey to gather information so that its able to take that into account.

Tom Temin: And by the way, are you able to park reasonably close to your office on a normal day?

Robert Storch: Yes, Tom, fortunately, I am. But as our report found, there are significant concerns among the workforce and that many people do not have convenient parking, and hopefully our report will help the agency to address that.

Tom Temin: Robert Storch is inspector general of the National Security Agency. Thanks so much.

Robert Storch: Always a pleasure, Tom, thank you for your interest.

Original post:
Car parking is a bugaboo across government, and the NSA is a case in point - Federal News Network

Former CIA agent and whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed on Sunday that he used Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to aid the process of leaking classified government documents in 2013.

What Happened: You know that whole NSA story from almost TEN YEARS AGO? I paid for the servers that made that possible using Bitcoin, revealed Snowden to his 5 million Twitter followers.

Without mentioning any specific names, Snowden called out wealthy VC investors who issue caution against investing in Bitcoin while hyping up centralized garbage-coins in which they own a significant stake.

If you ever make it, don't be that guy. If you are that guy, change, he said.

Snowdens comments drew in responses from a number of market participants, including Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) co-founder Billy Markus,who stated, anyone who isnt an idiot in the space respects bitcoin for what it is.

I've never been a fan of any flavor of dog money, said Snowden, reasoning that it was partly due to his nature of being a humorless scold and partly because he believed a lot of earnest people will mistake it for an investment and get hurt.

Still, Snowden went on to note that he has significantly more respect for people like Markus, who concedes he created Dogecoin as a joke, rather than those who consider it to be extremely serious and launch DOGE-funded missions to the moon.

Snowden was presumably referring to Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who announced in May that SpaceX would launch a Doge-1 satellite to the moon next year.

Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $57,787, down 3.88% in the last 24 hours.

Photo byExecutiumon Unsplash.

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Edward Snowden Reveals He Used Bitcoin To Leak NSA Documents Nearly 10 Years Ago - Benzinga - Benzinga

Following recent media campaigns the National Sheep Association (NSA) is highlighting the risk this poses to the UK livestock sector believing further that these messages can create confusion undermining the public understanding of sustainable food production systems employed in the UK.

Recent promotional literature from Waitrose has suggested that customers can reduce their carbon footprint by eating pork rather than lamb, and Sainsburys is encouraging customers to eke out high quality British red meat by replacing it with lentils.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker commented: People are being bombarded with all sorts of messaging about how diets can help combat climate change and there is no doubt that the data being used to substantiate these messages is flawed. Its not full life cycle, its not holistic in its structure, and as the National Food Strategy report points out, the overseas part of the carbon footprint often isnt taken into account. It is completely misleading not to reflect the true picture, we must be considering broader sustainability metrics.

NSA is now calling upon leading supermarkets and stakeholders to be very clear with their commentary and bring more logic, evidence and reason to the debate. Globally livestock may contribute 14% of all greenhouse gases (GHG), however, here in the UK, GHG from livestock production totals 6%, making it one of the smallest contributors and showing that our approach to livestock production is very different to world agriculture. Transport has the highest emissions at 27%, with energy supply at 21%, business at 17%, the residential sector at 15% and all agricultural sectors at 10%.

The adoption of regenerative agriculture, which in many instances is a modern form of traditional farming practices, with rotational cropping incorporating grass breaks and a harmonic balance with nature, supports a conventional and a holistic approach to delivering a healthy planet and a healthy food system, and there are many examples of where sheep play a central role.

There are also other key areas to address, where major retailers can support a common goal, such as reducing food-waste (which globally accounts for 10% of GHG), reducing the consumption of too many hyper-processed foods and support for those suffering a lack of vital micronutrients in their diet; many of which are only available in sufficient quantities through the consumption of foods from animal origin.

Mr Stocker adds: Ensuring food and farming plays its part in climate change through diets and farming practices is right and proper - but we absolutely need to make sure that people are making properly informed decisions with more accurate data, and we also need all our industries to play their part. Agriculture and food can be part of the solution, but it mustnt be the scapegoat.

See the article here:
NSA calls for accurate and balanced information in consumer communications - Farming Life