| An investigation by The New York Times, which said that the Indian government had purchased the Israeli NSO Group's Pegasus software in July 2017 to carry out targeted surveillance on citizens, led to a political storm on Saturday. The story on Pegasus was first published last year, when an international group of publications reported that a spyware known as Pegasus was being used to snoop on politicians, journalists, activists and those holding constitutional positions, primarily in 10 countries including India. The government then published a blanket denial of these claims and responded that the reports had "no factual basis" and were intended to "malign Indian democracy and its institutions". The Supreme Court later intervened, instituting an independent probe into the possible use of Pegasus. The court said the issue was of "Orwellian concern". The panel's report is awaited. The NYT in its recent report claimed that the meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year were part of a larger backroom deal. Pegasus, it claimed, was one of the central pieces of an agreement for the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth about $2 billion between India and Israel. Apart from India, Pegasus was sold to countries such as UAE, Hungary, Poland and Mexico, the report said. It further claimed that the sale of Pegasus strengthened the ties of all these countries with the Netanyahu government and led them to shift their position on Palestine. India's Ambassador to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, denied the claim that India voted in support of Israel at the UN because of this. While the government did not respond to the allegations this time, the Opposition seized the opportunity to attack the government. The Congress said that the "targeting" of certain individuals was an "act of treason", the CPI(M) called it a "serious subversion of democracy" and the Trinamool Congress called it "proof of state-sponsored surveillance" that "blatantly abused the rights of Indians". As these allegations refuse to die down and the use of Pegasus involves a possible violation of citizens' rights, as this The Hindu editorial pointed out, this is the top story of the day.  Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click hereThe Hindu Explainers  Explained | How is U.S. tackling discrimination on campuses? Explained | Can a recipient decline a Padma award? Try out The Hindu's daily news quizIn 2020, Google acquired a 7.73% stake in which Indian telecom company? 1. Vodafone-Idea 2. BSNL 3. Jio Platforms 4. Bharti Airtel To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here. | 
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