PM Modi reaches Gujarat to review situation after cyclone
Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached Bhavnagar in Gujarat to review the situation in the state in the aftermath of cyclone Tauktae.
Modi landed at Bhavnagar from Delhi and proceeded for an aerial survey of Una, Diu, Jafarabad and Mahuva, an official said. After the survey, the PM is scheduled to hold a review meeting at Ahmedabad.
Thirteen people were killed in Gujarat as cyclone Tauktae pummelled parts of the state and left behind a trail of destruction along the coast, uprooting electric poles, trees and damaging thousands of houses and roads.
In what was one of the worst cyclones faced by the state, Tauktae triggered heavy rains in many parts along its way from the Saurashtra coast to North Gujarat with 46 talukas receiving over 100 mm of downpour, while 12 of them recorded 150 mm to 175 mm of rains.
Tauktae, characterised as an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Monday, has now weakened into a depression and lay centred over south Rajasthan and adjoining Gujarat region on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department said.
Over 16,000 houses were damaged, more than 40,000 trees and over 70,000 electric poles uprooted, while 5,951 villages faced total power blackout due to the cyclonic storm in Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.
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FIR filed after e-commerce platform linked tech firm alleges SMS spoofing fraud
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against unknown people for allegedly sending fraudulent messages in the name of an e-commerce platform with promises of cash rewards, further disrupting its operations, police said on Wednesday.
The offence is said to have taken place between April 23 and April 27, they said.
A representative of city-based technology company Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group (eB2B platform), has lodged a complaint alleging a large-scale SMS spoofing fraud following which a detailed investigation has been initiated into the matter, a senior police officer said.
According to the FIR, HTPL is a registered entity on the TRAI-mandated DLT platform, which permits only pre-approved SMS templates and whitelisted URLs to be sent through authorised sender IDs.
The issue came to light on April 23, when HTPL received alerts from buyers about fraudulent SMS messages appearing to originate from the company's sender ID "UDAANN". The messages reportedly contained Bitly links and falsely claimed a credit of Rs 10,001, urging recipients to withdraw money, it said.
On April 27, at around 12:49 pm, the DLT platform blacklisted HTPL's SMS templates, citing their alleged use in sending fraudulent messages. Within minutes, the company's sender ID was also blacklisted. Airtel's DLT system subsequently confirmed the action and shared details of the fraudulent messages that were circulated in HTPL's name without its knowledge or consent, the FIR stated.
Following this, the company's messaging operations were affected, and even legitimate communications such as one-time passwords to buyers began failing. Later, the DLT operator suspended HTPL's entire account following complaints raised on TRAI's Chakshu platform, bringing all SMS services of the company to a halt, it further stated.
HTPL has stated that neither it nor its authorised vendors sent the fraudulent messages. The links embedded in the messages reportedly redirected users to an online betting website, the FIR stated.
The company has claimed that the incident has resulted in a complete breakdown of SMS-based services, including buyer authentication, order updates and promotional communication, leading to significant financial losses.
At least 13 victims have been identified so far, with the possibility of more affected users. Victims were allegedly directed to an online betting platform, raising concerns of potential financial fraud, the FIR added.
