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Varindar Singh alias Fauji, another alleged close associate of fugitive radical Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh, was arrested by the Punjab Police and sent to Dibrugarh central jail in Assam on Monday (27 March).

Hailing from Tarn Taran district in Punjab, Varindar Singh has been charged with the National Security Act (NSA), which enables the police to detain him for up to a year without any charge.

Along with Fauji, eight other aides of Amritpal Singh have been relocated to Dibrugarh central kail, all of whom have been charged under the NSA.

Fauji, the former army constable, was the bodyguard of "Waris Punjab De" leader Amritpal.

His arms licence, obtained from Jammu and Kashmir, was revoked after the Ajnala clash on 23 February.

Police stated that Varindar Singh was one of the 10 gunmen who accompanied the radical Khalistani preacher at all times.

Four Khalistan supporters - Daljeet Kalsi, Basant Singh, Gurmeet Singh Bhukhanwala, and Bhagwant Singh 'Pradhan Mantri' - were brought to the high-security Dibrugarh Central Jail on 19 March.

Three additional Khalistan members, Harjit Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, and Gurinder Pal Singh, were transferred to the same jail on 21 March.

The move comes as the Punjab Police is carrying out a large-scale hunt for members of 'Waris Punjab De', leading to over 100 arrests and detentions.

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Another Close Aide Of Amritpal Booked Under NSA, Sent To Dibrugarh Central Jail In Assam - Swarajya

Chandigarh:Stop hunting and defaming Sikhs this was the message from top Sikh clergyman during his Monday address from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, as he served a 24-hour ultimatum to the Punjab government to release all Sikh youth arrested during the polices hunt for Amritpal. Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh also slammed the national media for branding all Sikhs as terrorists.

The subtext behind his address was not hard to decode. In serving an ultimatum to the Punjab government, he accused the Aam Aadmi Party, which won state elections a year ago with a thumping majority, of overdoing police action in the name of a crackdown against Sikh hardliner Amritpal Singh and his supporters.

This, he believed, gave a handle to the national media to brand Sikhs as terrorists and defame the entire community.

Without naming anyone, Jathedar said while on the one hand, no action is taken against those making provocative statements about a Hindu nation, draconian laws like the National Security Act (NSA) were imposed on Sikh youth who were expressing their views democratically.

His address was followed by a Shiromani Akali Dal statement which claimed that the AAP government had become a party defaming Punjab and playing the politics of polarisation in league with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre to hide its failures on all fronts.

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In defence, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said while there was an ongoing screening of those who had been arrested and many were being released, the action on Amritpal was necessary and as per the law of land.

Mann said Amritpal was trying to disturb harmony and peace in Punjab, which is in line with what the Punjab police claimed before the Punjab and Haryana high court. The police said that Amritpal, now declared fugitive, was professing radical ideologies and secessionist demands, and propagating using all means including violent one for creating a separate nation called Khalistan.

Further, AAP chief spokesperson in Punjab Malvinder Singh Kang, according to the Indian Express, asked Jathedar to ensure that Sikh preachers worked honestly towards propagating the message of gurus and not mislead the youth.

While it remains to be seen if the Amritpal operation hurts AAP politically in the Sikh-dominated border state (the Jalandhar by-election is coming up), the Akal Takht Jathedars address appeared to have its own relevance for the community.

The situation is still developing, since the operation on fugitive Amritpal is not over yet. Even now, the police are searching for him and also arresting people close to him.

As per the latest news report by te Press Trust of India, Amritpal Singh is believed to be hiding in Nepal. The news report claimed that the Indian government has requested the Nepal government not to allow a pro-Khalistan activist to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

What did Jathedar say during his Monday address?

In a strongly worded message from the Akal Takht, acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said that nearly half of the close to 400 youth arrested during the police crackdown are still behind bars, and they must be immediately released by Tuesday.

He also demanded the immediate withdrawal of NSA charges invoked against Amritpals supporters.

He pointed out that symbols and flags recovered from Amritpals body guard, which were claimed to be those of Khalistan, were actually linked to Maharaja Ranjit Singhs Khalsa Raj and Sikh princely states.

He said during his address that if the deadline is not met, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee would form a legal team and challenge the police arrest in the courts.

He also gave a call to start Khalsa Vaheer, a religious procession, from Akal Takht to highlight atrocities against Sikhs and to let the world know how Sikhs are being treated.

His address came after members of over 50 Sikh organisations gathered at his invitation to discuss the prevailing tension in Punjab.

While a section of Sikhs raised slogans in favour of Amritpal Singh during the Monday meeting, Giani Harpeet Singh asked security agencies to clarify if Amritpal was in their custody, even as the Punjab police continues to claim that he is on the run and has not yet been arrested.

Giani Harpeet suggested that if he is evading police arrest, he must immediately appear before police.

National media defamed us

Another strong message to emerge from the meeting was on the portrayal of the Sikh community and Punjabis in recent national media coverage .

Giani Harpeet Singh came down heavily on the national media for defaming Punjab and even branding Sikhs as terrorists. Are we terrorists? he asked.

He asked the SGPC and other Sikh bodies to take a strong stand on the agenda of national media and drag them to courts for criminal action since their conduct was not only deplorable but intolerable.

He also said that while the national media was defaming Sikhs, Sikh reporters and Sikh channels were censored in Punjab, indicating a deep-rooted conspiracy.

He told the Punjab government to stop targeting and harassing Sikh journalists and their news channels. He said their channels must be immediately resumed.

In his concluding remark, he said that the entire Sikh community stands by the innocent people arrested and will give all possible help to their family members for their speedy release.

After the meeting, SGPC head Harjinder Singh Dhami also released a set of decisions taken by them during the meeting.

He told the media that a Khalsa Vaheer will be carried out against drugs and patit lifestyle under the leadership of the Akal Takht to promote the movement of Amrit Sachar.

He added that financial assistance will be given to families whose members have been charged under the NSA by the Punjab government.

He also announced a legal team to challenge the detention and arrests of Sikh youth.

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In an 'Ultimatum', Akal Takht Head Asks Punjab Govt to Release Arrested Youth, Revoke NSA Charges - The Wire

The latest figures from the National Sheep Association reveal that incidents of sheep worrying are on the rise, with fears that penalties are too weak to act as deterrents.

The survey was completed by more than 300 National Sheep Association (NSA) members, and found that 70% had been victims of dog attacks.

See also: Sheep worrying advice for lambing time

Worse still, of the reported attacks, only 14% of farmers were notified by the owners of the offending dogs, leaving the remaining 86% to discover the attack themselves, or be notified by others, making it near impossible to pursue legal prosecution.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: It is really frustrating and upsetting.

The industry is on the verge of accepting that we are going to have to live with the consequences of dog attacks on sheep on a permanent basis.

So many people now are just blindly putting sheep worrying by dogs in the too difficult to deal with box and we are really struggling to find solutions.

The survey results also showed that the general feeling among farmers was that the attacks are expected and becoming the norm, and that 82% of respondents saw a need for additional powers or legislation to counter the issue.

Mr Stocker said: The proposed level of maximum fine in the Kept Animals Bill is completely inadequate at 1,000 similar legislation went through in Scotland a year ago and saw the penalty raised to 40,000 or a prison sentence.

This is a real deterrent and sends out a real marker to the dog-owning community that this is a serious issue.

I still feel there is a need for legislation for dogs having to be kept on leads in the vicinity of sheep.

But keeping dogs on leads has proven problematic in itself, as 70% of farmers reported facing abuse, intimidation, refusal and general negativity when they approached dog owners to request dogs be put on leads.

Mr Stocker added: I have today sent a letter to Therese Coffey and Mark Spencer, airing our frustration about the slowness of passage through parliament of the Kept Animals Bill, and opening the conversation about making it more fit for purpose.

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NSA report reveals 70% of farmers abused and intimidated by dog ... - FarmersWeekly

Exciting plans are underway for a National Sheep Association (NSA) event this autumn that will bring together the nations sheep farmers for a fresh style of enjoyable and informative farming conference.

The new NSA Sheep Farmers Conference will take place on Wednesday 25th October 2023 and, in its inaugural year, will focus on sheep health and its links to sustainability, production and welfare. It will offer a line up of the most experienced and knowledgeable experts from the UK sheep sector, ready to pass on valuable information through various interactive sessions and networking opportunities. Held at the convenient location of the National Conference Centre, Birmingham, very close to road, rail and air links, the day will be relevant and accessible to delegates from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The new event will be the headline feature of NSAs Health and Welfare week, starting Monday 23rd October.

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker says: Given the importance of livestock within the one health agenda, and how vital healthy sheep are to productive farming businesses with an eye on sustainability, lower emissions and a wide range of other public goods, we are bursting with plans for the first ever Sheep Health Week. In addition to the face-to-face conference there will be a range of free-to-access web-based activities from Monday 23rd October, including three SHWAP online webinars.

Sheep Health, Wealth and Production (SHWAP) is an online activity organised by NSA South East Region, with three topics covered over three evenings on Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24thand Thursday 26th October. These will complement the conference, picking up additional topics and themes.

Tickets for the conference will be priced to be affordable for all to attend but will be limited in number so farmers are urged to put the date in the diary now and book as soon as tickets are made available in early summer. NSA members will be informed first and get a preferential rate.

Further detail on the conference will be announced soon so keep an eye on our events page.

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New conference for the nation's sheep farmers launching this autumn - Farmers Guide

Digital identity compromises are a growing concern and have been tied to massive hacks such as the Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident and the Reddit breach last month.

Coupled with an uptick in reliance on digital transformation and the ubiquity of cloud platforms, the National Security Agency (NSA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) believe it is time to push framework guidance on identity access management (IAM).

On Tuesday, the two agencies released recommended best practices for infosec professionals who manage digital identities. The 31-page report outlines business processes, policies, and technologies to help shore up government and private-sector security postures. The practice guide, part of the NSA's Enduring Security Framework initiative, was developed through a public-private partnership to help thwart threats facing critical infrastructure and national security systems.

Americas critical infrastructure is a prime target for a broad spectrum of threat sources including advanced and ongoing attacks from nation states and terrorist organizations attacks, according to the paper. IAM weaknesses are frequently exploited in the most insidious threats, APTs, which have led to catastrophic data breaches.

Citing the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, the paper notes that 80% of web applications attacks and 40% of breaches leverage stolen credentials, a tactic used by a wide range of threat actors, including nation-state hacking groups, terrorist organizations, hacktivists, and individual operators. In addition, identity management company Okta reported record-high credential-stuffing attacks in its 2022 State of Security Identity Report, detecting almost 10 billion credential-stuffing events across its Auth0 access management platforms in the first 90 days of 2022.

To counter the growing risks, the IAM framework provides practice guidance and mitigations to address threats related to the following five areas: identity governance, environmental hardening, identity federation/single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and auditing and monitoring around identity access and management tools.

Grant Dasher from the office of the technical director for cybersecurity at CISA, said the release of the practice guide is "a valuable first step to aid critical infrastructure organizations' effort to assess and strengthen their IAM solutions and processes," and plan for further collaborations to improve the IAM ecosystem.

Besides the Colonial Pipeline incident, there have been several recent and notable attacks that highlight the importance of addressing the digital identity threats against critical infrastructure.

In February 2021, an attacker compromised a computer system in a Florida water treatment plant and tried to increase the levels of certain chemicals in the water supply which would have posed serious public health and safety concerns. In 2022, a ransomware gang leveraged stolen credentials and targeted another water treatment plant in South Staffordshire, UK, affecting 1.6 million customers and 35,000 businesses.

While SSO and MFA are widely adopted to strengthen and simplify the authentication process, Murali Palanisamy, chief solution officer at AppViewX, said that critical infrastructure should take extra precautions when monitoring implementations as a compromised SSO system in one area can make it easier for an attacker to gain access in other parts of the network.

"This is especially true for critical infrastructure where you would need access using Secure Shell to troubleshoot an access failure. Leveraging Privilege Accessed Management and SSH access using SSH certificates instead of passwords or keys enables the out-of-band authentication for admins and security teams," Palanisamy said.

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CISA, NSA push identity and access management framework as risks grow - SC Media