China, Russia listening to Trump phone calls: Report
Washington, Oct 25 : US spy agencies have determined that China and Russia are "eavesdropping" on President Donald Trump's phone calls, according to a news report by a prominent American daily.
"Chinese spies are often listening these phone calls and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy," The New York Times said citing unnamed current and former US officials.
Trump, the daily said, uses iPhone to make calls to his friends. He has refused to give this up, despite repeated requests by his officials, who have been asking him to make more use of the secure land lines.
"American spy agencies, the officials said, had learned that China and Russia were eavesdropping on the president's cell phone calls from human sources inside foreign governments and intercepting communications between foreign officials," the daily said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a question regarding the report.
According to the daily, US intelligence officials have determined that China is seeking to use what it is learning from the calls how Trump thinks, what arguments tend to sway him and to whom he is inclined to listen to keep a trade war with the United States from escalating further.
"In what amounts to a marriage of lobbying and espionage, the Chinese have pieced together a list of the people with whom Mr Trump regularly speaks in hopes of using them to influence the president," the officials said, according to the newspaper.
"Russia is not believed to be running as sophisticated an influence effort as China because of Trump's apparent affinity for President Vladimir Putin," a former official told the daily.
The New York Times said Trump typically relies on his cellphones when he does not want a call going through the White House switchboard and logged for senior aides to see.
"Many of those Mr Trump speaks with, most often on one of his cellphones, such as hosts at Fox News, share the president's political views, or simply enable his sense of grievance about any number of subjects," the daily said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka panel backs move to grant second official language status to Tulu
Mangaluru (PTI): A high-level committee constituted by the Karnataka government to study the framework adopted by Andhra Pradesh for recognising Urdu as a second official language has submitted its report, backing the state’s move to accord similar status to Tulu.
The six-member panel, headed by K M Gayatri, former Director of the Kannada and Culture Department, examined the procedures followed by the Andhra Pradesh government before granting second official language status to Urdu, officials said on Wednesday.
The committee undertook a field visit to the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat on January 19 and 20 and held consultations with senior officials to understand the legal provisions, administrative mechanisms, and implementation benchmarks involved, they said.
The panel also included Tharanatha Gatti Kapikad, president of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, in an advisory capacity.
The report, along with a detailed note outlining Tulu’s historical, linguistic, and cultural significance, was submitted to J Manjunath, Secretary, Kannada and Culture Department, at Vikas Soudha here.
According to official sources, the study was aimed at gathering inputs to help Karnataka frame criteria and procedural guidelines if it decides to grant second official language status to Tulu.
Senior officials present at the submission included B S Manjunath Swami, Director of the Kannada and Culture Department; representatives of the Law Department and the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department; and office-bearers of various state academies.
Tulu is predominantly spoken in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, and in parts of Kasaragod in neighbouring Kerala.
The demand to accord it second official language status in Karnataka has been raised by cultural organisations for several years.
