Mooney, Hemalatha fifties power Gujarat Giants to 190/7 against MI in WPL
New Delhi, Mar 9: Dynamic fifties by skipper Beth Mooney and D Hemalatha propelled Gujarat Giants to a competitive 190 for seven against defending champions Mumbai Indians in their Women's Premier League match here on Saturday.
Mooney (66, 35b, 8x4, 3x6) and Hemalatha (74, 40b, 9x4, 2x6) added 121 runs for an electrifying second-wicket alliance in a little over 11 overs after the Gujarat side elected to bat first.
Their power walk started after the early departure of opener Laura Wolvaardt (13), who was cleaned up by Hayley Matthews.
Both Mooney, who struck his second fifty in a row, and Hemalatha slipped into overdrive straightaway.
While Hemalatha was severe on MI spinners, the veteran Mooney focused on the opposition pacers.
A straight six of pacer Nat-Sciver Brunt and back-to-back fours off Shabnim Ismail, who recently breached the 130 kmph-barrier, helped Mooney to chug along at a scoring rate of over 200.
The introduction pacer Pooja Vastrakar prompted Mooney to take her batting to another level as two scoops behind wicketkeeper gave her as many maximums.
At the other end, Hemalatha picked up leg-spinner Amelia Kerr for punishment as the right-hander smashed her for 4, 6, 4 in the 10th over to collect 15 runs.
Mooney reached her fifty in 27 balls and minutes later Hemalatha too crossed the mark off 28 balls as the Giants moved ahead in a brisk clip.
But the dismissal of Mooney in the 14th over, right after the Strategic Time Out, applied breaks on Gujarat scoring.
The attempt to pull off-spinner Sajana Sajeevan made her hear the deathly clatter of stumps.
Hemalatha soon fell to Ismail as the Gujarat side lost four wickets while adding 28 runs but they have already reached a good position.
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Pegasus row: What's wrong if country using spyware against terrorists? SC asks
New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday wondered what was wrong in using Israeli spyware Pegasus "against terrorists" after a probe panel filed a report on the issue and said any finding that touches upon the country's "security and sovereignty" won't be made public.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh indicated it may address individual apprehensions of privacy breach but the report of the technical committee was no document to discuss "on the streets".
The bench said, "Any report which touches the security and sovereignty of the country will not be touched. But individuals who want to know whether they are included, that can be informed. Yes, individual apprehension must be addressed but it cannot be made a document for discussion on the streets."
The controversy surrounding the alleged use of Pegasus to surveil opposition leaders, journalists and activists came to light in 2021, prompting several persons to file petitions in the top court.
The apex court ordered a probe into the allegations and appointed technical and supervisory committees to examine the issue.
The top court added it will examine the extent to which the technical panel report could be shared in public.
Advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, appearing for one of the petitioners, said the question was whether the government had the spyware and used it.
"If they have it, there is nothing to prevent them from using it continuously even today," he added.
The bench responded, "Please make submissions with regard to disclosure regarding individuals. The kind of scenario we are facing nowadays, let us be slightly responsible...We will see to what extent the report can be shared."
The top court went on, "What is wrong if the country is using the spyware against the terrorists? To have spyware is not wrong, against whom you are using is the question. You can't compromise with the security of nation. Private civil individual who has right to privacy will be protected under the Constitution," the bench said.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, referred to a US district court judgment.
"WhatsApp itself has disclosed here. Not a third party. WhatsApp itself has disclosed that there was a hack. That time your lordships had not indicated whether hacking took place. Even experts didn't say so. Now you have evidence. Evidence by WhatsApp. We will circulate the judgment. The redacted portion should be given to concerned individuals so they know," Sibal said.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, however, suggested against any "roving enquiry".
There was nothing wrong, Mehta said, in using the spyware against terrorists and they cannot have right to privacy.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, for one of the petitioners, said the report of the technical committee should be disclosed without any redaction.
The apex court then posted the hearing on July 30.
On August 25, 2022, the technical panel appointed by the top court to probe the unauthorised use of Pegasus found malware in five of the 29 examined cell phones but it couldn't conclude Pegasus was used.
Following the report by former apex court Justice R V Raveendran, the top court recorded the Centre did not cooperate with the Pegasus probe.
The top court ordered the probe in 2021 into the allegations of the use of the Israeli spyware by government agencies for targeted surveillance of politicians, journalists, and activists and appointed technical and supervisory committees to examine the matter.
The overseeing panel submitted a "lengthy" three-part report, one of which suggested amending the law to protect citizens' right to privacy and ensure the nation's cyber security.
The technical panel, which included three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks, and hardware, was asked by the top court to "inquire, investigate and determine" whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens and their probe would be monitored by Raveendran.
The panel members were Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P, and Ashwin Anil Gumaste.
Justice Raveendran, who headed the panel, was assisted by former IPS officer Alok Joshi and cyber security expert Sundeep Oberoi in monitoring the inquiry of the technical panel.
The apex court order said the probe panel would be empowered to enquire and investigate the steps or actions taken by the Centre after reports in 2019 claimed the hacking of WhatsApp accounts of Indian citizens using the Pegasus suite of spyware.
It also directed the panel to ascertain if any Pegasus suite was acquired by the union of India, or any state government, or any central or state agency for use against the citizens of India.
An international media consortium reported over 300 verified Indian cell phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus spyware.
