No serious impact in India due to ransomware: Govt

May 15, 2017

New Delhi, May 15: The government today said there was no serious impact in the country due to a global ransomware cyber attack, except for a few isolated incidents in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the systems run by the National Informatics Centre were secured and running smoothly. "There is no major impact in India unlike other countries. We are keeping a close watch.

As per the information received so far, there have been isolated incidents in limited areas in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh," Prasad told reporters here.

India is on high alert, monitoring critical networks across sectors like banking, telecom, power and aviation to ensure that systems are protected in the wake of reports of possible cyber attack by ransomware 'WannaCry' on the country's vital networks.

'WannaCry' has disrupted networks in over 150 countries, including Russia and the UK, and is being termed as one of the most widespread cyber attacks in the history.

Reports suggest that over two lakh systems globally could have been infected by the malicious software.

India's cyber security unit CERT-In earlier said it has not received any formal report of cyber attack on India's vital networks.

"Everything seems to be normal, so far. No reports have come to Cert-In. We have been in touch with Microsoft and others...even they have not got any reports," Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) director general Sanjay Bahl told PTI.

Ransomware is a malicious software that blocks access to data unless a ransom is paid.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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