Category: India News

Categories
-Top News INDIA 2024 India News

‘BJP targeting opposition, fearing losing polls’

Bengaluru, Feb 27 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar casts his vote for the Rajya Sabha elections, in Bengaluru on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

Shivakumar informed that he was also served with notice despite case against him is closed….reports Asian Lite News

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said the BJP was tormenting the Opposition parties as it feared losing the elections.

Speaking to reporters at the KPCC office on the IT notice to AICC, he said, “BJP is targeting the Opposition parties, especially the Congress and Left, as it knows it is losing the election.”

“We are a democracy, but the BJP is abusing the Opposition parties through IT officials. Nothing is permanent in politics. India alliance will come to power and the BJP is aware of it and hence it is resorting to these things,” he added.

Shivakumar informed that he was also served with notice despite case against him is closed.

“The case against me is closed and yet the IT department has sent me a notice last night. There are many BJP leaders who are facing charges but no investigation has been carried out against them or notices served. The BJP is targeting only the Opposition leaders. They file a B report and close the cases if one joins the BJP,” he said.

Asked if Union Home Minister Amit Shash was targeting the DK brothers by holding a mega rally in Channapattana, Shivakumar said, “The stronger we become, the more the opponents we have. The stronger we emerge, the more power we will have. Let the prime minister also come. We are used to fighting bigwigs. There is no leader who has performed last rites of Covid victims. Where were the Central leaders when Suresh was helping people affected by the pandemic?”

Further, when asked about announcement of candidate for Kolar constituency, he said, “I have had discussions with Muniyappa and other leaders and they have given their opinions. There is no scope for groupism in the party. We have given clear instructions to the leaders that they have to work for the party. We have given the ticket to an ordinary party worker and all the leaders have to work for his victory.”

“Everyone will work for the party. There was a demand for the ticket to left hand among Dalits, there is nothing wrong in it. We have to look at the overall picture of the State as left hand is stronger in 10 constituencies. We have taken all these things into consideration,” he added.

In mounting troubles for Congress amid the Lok Sabha poll campaign, the Income Tax Department has issued a demand notice of about Rs 1700 crore to the party, sources said.

They said the fresh demand notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest. (ANI)

Priyanka attacks BJP over Reddy’s re-entry 

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) over former minister and MLA Gali Janardhan Reddy’s re-entry into the BJP.

Taking to social media platform X, she wrote, “Janardhan Reddy, accused in the Rs 35,000 crore scam, joined the BJP. 20 different cases are against him, including 9 CBI cases. There are allegations of destroying forests and mines. There are allegations of an attempt to buy the judge for Rs 40 crore instead of bail.”

Lashing out at the Prime Minister and the BJP, she said, “The BJP is welcoming him with open arms. Modiji is selectively washing corrupt people from across the country in the washing machine named BJP.”

Further slamming the BJP over Praful Patel, she stated that yesterday there were reports in the media that the CBI had filed a closure report in the case of a Maharashtra leader who had joined the BJP eight months ago.

“The Prime Minister, who once accused him of a scam worth thousands of crores, is now taking the same person with him and washing away all his ‘taints’,” she added.

Alleging the misuse of central agencies, she said that on one hand, giving protection to the notoriously corrupt people, intimidating the opposition leaders by agencies, taking them under their wing and getting the cases closed and on the other hand, weakening the opposition by implicating them in fake cases, sealing their bank accounts–this is what the government is doing, she added.

Earlier, former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the re-entry of Janardhan Reddy has added new strength to the BJP. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Indian economy in distress, BJP unaware: Chidambaram

Categories
INDIA 2024 India News Politics

Rajnath Singh to lead BJP’s manifesto committee

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister Piyush Goyal will be convenor and co-convenors, respectively….reports Asian Lite News

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced the Election Manifesto Committee for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. BJP president JP Nadda announced the 27-member committee which will be headed by defence minister and former BJP chief Rajnath Singh.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister Piyush Goyal will be convenor and co-convenors, respectively.

Arjun Munda, Bhupender Yadav, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Kiren Rijiju, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Bhupender Patel are included as members in the committee.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai and Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav are also included in the list.

Along with them, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje, Smriti Irani, Jual Oram, Ravishankar Prasad, Sushil Modi, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Vinod Tawde, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, OP Dhankar, Anil Antony and Tariq Mansoor are also there.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday announced the candidates for the by-election to be held in the Gandey Assembly seat of Jharkhand and Bagidora Assembly seat in Rajasthan.

The party has fielded Dilip Kumar Verma from the Gandey Assembly, while Subhash Tamboliya has been given a ticket from the Bagidora Assembly in Rajasthan. The bypoll will be held at Bagidora Assemby in Rajasthan on April 26, while the Gandey Assembly will undergo a bypoll on May 20.

Bypolls on 26 Assembly seats will also be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19. Nearly 96.8 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming polls at over 12 lakh polling stations.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 282 seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) managed to get only 44 seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 303 seats, while the Indian National Congress (INC) managed to get only 52 seats. (ANI)

BJP releases 8th list of 11 candidates

The BJP Saturday named 11 more Lok Sabha candidates, four of whom had jumped ship from other parties — including former BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab and former Congress leader Preneet Kaur.

The party’s eighth list of nominees comprised two candidates from West Bengal, three from Odisha and six from Punjab, taking its total number of announced candidates to 411 so far. All four defecting leaders have been fielded from the seats they represent in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

A notable inclusion in the list was that of former IPS officer Debashish Dhar from West Bengal’s Birbhum seat, where he will contest against three-time TMC MP Satabdi Roy. Dhar was suspended as Cooch Behar SP after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections during which four people were killed in Sitalkuchi area in alleged firing by central forces. On March 20, the IPS officer resigned from service citing “personal reasons”. The other candidate from Bengal is Pranat Tudu, a doctor who will be pitted against TMC’s Kalipada Soren in Jhargram.

The BJP has so far named candidates to 40 out of the 42 seats in West Bengal. The Diamond Harbour seat, which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee represents, is one of the two seats it is yet to name candidates for.

In Odisha, Mahtab will contest from the prestigious Cuttack constituency, which he has been representing since 1998 as part of the BJD. The son of Odisha’s first chief minister Harekrushna Mahtab, he recently resigned from the regional party expressing displeasure over its functioning. Mahtab will take on BJD’s Santrupt Misra, former HR head of Aditya Birla Group.

In the communally-sensitive Kandhamal, the BJP fielded Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi, who has a strong RSS background. The BJD has been winning the seat since 2009, when it broke off ties with the BJP. Panigrahi will face BJD’s Achyuta Samanta, who won the seat in 2019. The BJP has named Rabindra Narayan Behera, a technocrat, from Jajpur, a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. He will contest against the current MP, BJD’s Sarmishta Sethi. With these three names, BJP has announced candidates for all 21 seats in Odisha.

In Punjab, the BJP’s inaugural list of six candidates includes three turncoats. Among them is Preneet, who is former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh’s wife. Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha seats. While Ravneet Singh Bittu, who defected from Congress to BJP on March 26, will contest from Ludhiana where he is the current MP, Sushil Kumar Rinku, a former AAP leader who joined BJP on March 27, has been fielded from Jalandhar. Rinku won the Lok Sabha bypolls from the same seat last year.

Preneet, a former Congress MP from Patiala who switched to the BJP in March, has been fielded from Patiala again.

Hans Raj Hans, a Sufi singer-turned-politician, and retired diplomat Taranjeet Singh Sandhu will contest from Faridkot and Amritsar, respectively. Hans Raj Hans is pitted against Karamjit Anmol, a singer and actor close to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. The party also decided to field Dinesh Singh ‘Babbu’, a seasoned MLA, from Gurdaspur in place of actor Sunny Deol.



ALSO READ: Indian economy in distress, BJP unaware: Chidambaram

Categories
INDIA 2024 India News Politics

BJP’s drama will not work in TN, says Stalin

The DMK leader claimed that the Prime Minister is in ‘fear of losing the elections’, adding that all Indians are angry….reports Asian Lite News

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader MK Stalin said that PM Modi and the BJP will not find traction in Tamil Nadu even if they contest in elections 100 times in the state.

“Not only this election; even if 100 elections come, your (PM Modi and BJP) drama will not work in Tamil Nadu,” CM Stalin said while addressing a public meeting in Krishnagiri.

“It’s the BJP, the only party, that thinks to divide the people living peacefully in Tamil Nadu in the name of religion and caste,” he added.

The DMK leader claimed that the Prime Minister is in ‘fear of losing the elections’, adding that all Indians are angry.

“In the election, EC, CBI, and IT are used by PM, which shows he is in fear of losing the election. Among the Indians all over, there is anger against the PM. That’s why senior leaders like the finance minister are in fear and not facing elections. BJP’s is at least they do not go below NoTA. That’s why they are praising Jayalalithaa and MGR. He has criticised Jayalalithaa since she was alive and he said the Jayalalithaa government was corrupt. Has he forgotten what he said,” Stalin said.

Stalin further criticised the Prime Minister while listing protests by women wrestlers, harassment faced by women in Manipur, pointing out that this contradicts the central government’s ‘Nari Shakti’ tagline.

“He spoke about Nari Shakthi. Under BJP government rule, the Nirbaya fund was not allotted properly. Women wrestlers were sexually harassed. In PM Modi’s governance, the Bilkis Bano case accused were released. Our MPs crew went to Manipur and took stock of what happened there against women, It’s PM Modi’s government that silently watched the violence. A woman who was sexually assaulted went to court and was lit on fire by the BJP government. Is there any reply to all this news from PM Modi? At least he has expressed his grief for name sake. In such a situation, what moral rights do he (PM Modi) and the BJP have to talk about?” Stalin said.

He further criticised PM Modi for not supporting the state when it suffered huge losses due to floods.

“He has said to make TN as ‘puniya bhoomi’. When TN suffered floods, why has he not come to this ‘puniya bhoomi’? Why is not even a single paise given as a natural calamity fund? Why has AIIMS hospital not been constructed for the last 10 years in Tamil Nadu?” he said.

“PM Modi, already Tamil Nadu is puniya bhoomi. We are all living here peacefully, equally in brotherhood,” the Chief Minister said.

A total of 26 candidates have filed their papers for the Krishnagiri parliamentary constituency.

DMK and Congress are contesting together in the seat. Congress has announced three-time Hosur MLA K Gopinath as the alliance candidate.

The daughter of slained forest brigand Veerappan is also contesting the seat as a candidate for Naam Tamilar Katchi.

The AIADMK candidate, the NDA candidate from BJP and 23 independents are in the poll fray in Krishnagiri.

All 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 19 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.

In the 2019 elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance secured an overwhelming victory, winning 38 out of 39 seats.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19. (ANI)

New Delhi, Feb 05 (ANI): MDMK MP Vaiko speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Interim Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Monday. (ANI Photo/Sansad TV)

MDMK allocated ‘matchbox’ symbol

The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Durai Vaiko on Saturday announced that the party had been allocated the ‘matchbox’ symbol ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

“I am happy to inform that MDMK has been allocated the ‘matchbox’ symbol,” he said.

Exuding confidence in the party faring well in the upcoming elections, the MDMK chief added, “The people of Trichy have already decided to vote for the INDIA bloc. With the blessings and leadership of our CM, MK Stalin, we are very confident of winning the elections. “

The MDMK supremo also came down heavily on the BJP-led Centre for using probe agencies at its disposal to crush the opposition in the country.

“The ruling BJP has been using central agencies like the I-T, ED and CBI against Opposition leaders and parties. Now, they have added the Election Commission to the list of agencies that are trying to crush the opposition in the country,” he said.

Durai Vaiko is the MDMK’s candidate for the Tiruchirappalli constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The elections to 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the general elections. All 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 19 and the counting of votes in all phases has been scheduled for June 4. Tamil Nadu sends 39 members to the Lok Sabha, with 7 reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

ALSO READ: Indian economy in distress, BJP unaware: Chidambaram

Categories
India News Lite Blogs London News

Multilingual presentations at House of Lords for World Poetry Day

All presenters at HoL_Jalaanjali_World Poetry Day

The event titled ‘Jalaanjali’ celebrated cultural and linguistic expressions of India and South Asia, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals and marking World Water Day simultaneously.

Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence has organised World Poetry Day at the House of Lords recently. Poems, songs, and dances in 20 languages were presented on the occasion, as the day fosters the convergence between poetry and arts.  Hosted by Rt. Hon. Lord Dholakia, Deputy Leader of the House, the event titled Jalaanjali celebrated cultural and linguistic expressions of India and South Asia, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals and marking World Water Day simultaneously.

Opening words were rendered by Lord Dholakia, who reiterated on the importance of celebrating different aspects of culture. Concept Note was presented by Ragasudha Vinjamuri, Founder of Sanskruti Centre, followed by dance on Sanskrit lyrics by young artists (Meera, Shravani, Sai Samruddhi, Sucheta and Yoshita) and by Medhavini, a Post-Graduate in dance from Bangalore University who danced on a composition which asks to bring rain to drought affected areas.

Poems, Songs and Dances were presented by Gita Cox (Assamese), Sreyashi Deb Roy (Bengali-Rabindra Nritya), Isra Abdulla (Divehi- Maldivian), Yasha Bhan (Dogri), Vibhuti Shah (Gujarati Garba), Dr Krishna Patel (Gujarati poem), Richa Jain(Hindi), Virender Choudhry (Himachali), Yashas Iyengar (Kannada), Dr Bernadette Pereira (Konkani-accompanied by Leonardo on Ghumot and Paulo on Guitar), Cllr. Sharad Kumar Jha (Maithili), Lakshmi Pillai (Malayalam), Swapnil Jagtap (Marathi), Leina Moirangthem (Meitei), Acharya Durga Pokhrel (Nepalese), Bhagyashree Singh (Odia), Manpreet Maycock (Punjabi poem written by Major Munish Chauhan), Sushil Rapatwar (Sanskrit), Renu Gidoomal (Sindhi), Dr Chandeera Gunawardena (Sinhalese), and Ragasudha Vinjamuri (Telugu).

Categories
-Top News India News Science

ESA Chief Praises ISRO for ‘Astonishing’ Space Achievements

Josef Aschbacher said, “What India is accomplishing in space – especially in Lunar exploration – is astonishing.”

Director General of European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher, heaped praise on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its recent successful launches and said that India’s accomplishments in space and especially in lunar exploration is ‘astonishing’.

Aschbacher posted an appreciation post on X, after ESA hosted its 323rd Council meeting in Paris which was attended by the ISRO Chairman, S Somanath.

ESA Member States met in Paris, France, for the 323rd session of the ESA Council on March 26 and 27, 2024.

The European scientist also underscored that the significance of strengthening ties and deepening cooperation with international partners cannot be underestimated.

“What India is accomplishing in space – especially in Lunar exploration – is astonishing. We hosted ISRO’s Chairman, Dr. S. Somanath at ESA Council today. It was a milestone occasion for Delegates to learn more about current and future plans for ESA-ISRO cooperation,” he posted on X.

“The strategic importance of strengthening ties and deepening cooperation with international partners cannot be underestimated,” he added.

Additionally, Astronaut Thomas Pesquet also shared about meeting with the ISRO chairman and the ESA Director and said that the they witnessed enthusiastic exchanges between the two leaders.

“Very proud to welcome ISRO chairman Shri. S. Somanath at ESA HQ in Paris yesterday, with our director Josef Aschbacher. Enthusiastic exchanges between the two men, and abounding cooperation opportunities between the two organisations. Let’s co-travel to space together!,” he posted on X.

In a stellar display of prowess, India soared to new heights in 2023 with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon and the launch of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission.

These milestones not only secured India’s standing in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India.

On August 23, 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission created history with the successful soft landing on Moon’s surface.

India is now the first nation to reach near the Moon’s unexplored South Pole and ranks amongst the top four nations to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface.

Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third lunar mission and the second attempt to land softly on the moon’s surface. It’s part of the Chandrayaan program, a series of missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to explore the moon. The mission consists of a Vikram lunar lander, a Pragyan lunar rover, and a propulsion module that carries the spacecraft from Earth orbit to lunar orbit.

Additionally, in a major milestone, India placed its first dedicated solar mission, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, in the Halo orbit. The country went gaga over this historic achievement, especially since this mission came at the back of India’s moon landing, the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Aditya-L1 reached Lagrange Point L1 which is about 1.5 million km from earth. The PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, in September. (ANI)

Categories
-Top News India News Politics

‘India Doesn’t Need Lessons From Any Country On Rule Of Law’

This was after recent observations by the US and other countries in connection with the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said that India is a democratic nation with a robust judiciary which can not be compromised by any individual or any group.

Describing Indian democracy as unique, Vice President Dhankhar said India does not need lessons from anyone on the rule of law, in an oblique reference to recent observations by the US in connection with the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case.

The Vice President made the remarks while attending a programme to inaugurate the renovated premises of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).

Addressing the 70th Founders’ Day celebrations of the IIPA here, Dhankhar said that “equality before law is a new norm” in India today and the law is holding those accountable who think themselves beyond the law.

“But what do we see? The moment the law takes its course, they take to streets, high decibel debates, camouflaging culpability of the worst nature by human rights. This is happening under our nose,” he added.

Describing the Indian judiciary as robust, pro-people and independent, he questioned: “What is justification for a person or an institution or an organisation to take to the streets when the law is set in motion?”

Calling for deeper deliberations on this issue, Dhankhar asked: “Can people orchestrate, in complaining mode, a pernicious tendency to get away from the rule of law? How can one engaging in transgression of the law play the victim card?”

Saying that corruption is no longer rewarding, Vice President Dhankhar said: “Corruption is not a passage to opportunity, employment or a contract anymore. It is a passage to jail. The system is securing it.”

Praising the pro-people stand of the Indian judiciary, the Vice President said: “It is that institution of judiciary that has met at midnight, met on a holiday, and imparted relief.”

Further advocating India’s case for the UNSC seat, he said that “United Nations cannot be as protective and effective unless you have representation of a country like India that has a unique position of being the only country in the world to have constitutionally structured democracy at all levels”.

ALSO READ: No relief for Arvind Kejriwal from High Court  

Categories
-Top News Asia News India News

Muizzu Alleges Solih Operated on ‘Foreign Envoy’s Orders’

President Muizzu noted that the main opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), failed to protect the Maldives independence, leaving it in hands of foreign country despite having supermajority in the Parliament

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has alleged his predecessor and the opposition leader, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, of operating on orders from the foreign ambassador, Maldives-based Maldives News Network reported.

In an interview with Public Service Media (PSM), President Muizzu responded to criticism regarding the recent procurement of military drones.

President Muizzu noted that the main opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), when it held office from 2018-2023 failed to protect the Maldives independence, leaving it in hands of foreign country despite having supermajority in the Parliament.

He said that President Solih had operated on orders from a foreign ambassador, which resulted in extensive damage, reported MNN.

However, he did not specify which foreign country he was referring to.

“We had lost independence in all sense of the word, including economically. After having done all this, they would naturally not accept our efforts to remedy all this and put the country on a track that the Maldivian people want, towards a ‘Dhiveheenge Raajje’,” he said.

Regarding the cost of the drones, President Muizzu said that, while he believes in transparency, such military secrets aren’t disclosed by any country, Maldives News Network reported.

“In such matters that is crucial to national security, I am heavily reliant on counsel from our chief of defense force and our generals. Therefore, I will follow their counsel, and I will listen to them,” he said.

President Muizzu said that no value can be attached to the independence of Maldives, and that it is in fact “priceless.” (ANI)

ALSO READ: Indian Troops in Civilian Clothing Should Leave Maldives: Muizzu

Categories
-Top News Asia News India News

Pakistan Officials Signal Trade Restart with India

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed that the Foreign Office was reviewing a proposal for resumption of trade with India…reports Asian Lite News

In quick succession, official voices are emerging from Pakistan on resumption of trade with India.

Within a week, first Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and now the Pakistan Foreign Office have talked about a proposal for resuming trade with India.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed that the Foreign Office was reviewing a proposal for resumption of trade with India, Dawn reported.

Recalling a statement by Dar about the business community expressing interest in review of restrictions on trade with India, the spokesperson said, “Examination of such proposals is a regular exercise in the government of Pakistan, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we continue to consider all such requests and assess our policy.”

The spokesperson said that so far there was no change in Pakistan’s position on the issue.

On March 24, Dar said that the relevant stakeholders would “seriously examine” the trade situation with India as he highlighted the concerns of the business community.

In December, last year, former Pakistan PM and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had stressed the need to improve relationships with Pakistan’s neighbours, stating, “We have to fix our affairs with India and Afghanistan as well, [and] strengthen them further with Iran and China.”

Dar highlighted that the business community often made appeals and demands with regards to the trade situation with India.

ALSO READ: BLA Claims Over 30 Pakistani Soldier Deaths, Warns China

Categories
Business India News Tech Lite

Wipro, IISc Partner for AI Education Program

As part of this collaboration, selected Wipro employees will have full access to IISc faculty members, online lectures, libraries and alumni networks….reports Asian Lite news

Amid the government’s call to bridge the skill gap in emerging technologies, IT major Wipro on Thursday announced a collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to offer eligible employees a higher education programme in artificial intelligence (AI).

The online Master’s in Technology (MTech) course will emphasise upon key areas such as AI, foundations of ML/AI, data science and business analytics, addressing the growing demand for skilled professionals in these domains, the company said in a statement.

“GenAI is evolving at a rapid pace, and we are confident that selected employees will gain immensely from the knowledge at IISc and develop capabilities for the opportunities ahead delivering strong business outcomes,” said Sanjeev Jain, SVP and Global Head, Business Operations, Wipro.

As part of this collaboration, selected Wipro employees will have full access to IISc faculty members, online lectures, libraries and alumni networks.

They will also benefit from mentorship by seasoned professionals from the data, analytics and AI practice at Wipro.

The acceptance of the programme will be subject to rigorous entrance tests and evaluations designed by IISc, said the company.

“The programme curriculum for working professionals has been designed with the same high standards as our full-time programmes, with our faculty members delivering content online to train students on foundational concepts and real-world applications,” said Professor Rajesh Sundaresan, Dean, Division of EECS, IISc.

Considering that more than 60 countries, including India, are entering election mode this year, it is vital that we remain vigilant on recent trends in the dynamic digital landscape, especially deepfakes, says Ivana Bartoletti, Global Chief Privacy and AI Governance Officer at Wipro.

With the widespread use of generative AI, we face a new and concerning threat: deepfakes.

“Deepfakes have become accessible to everyone, posing a significant risk as these manipulations allow the creation and dissemination of realistic audio and video content featuring individuals saying and doing things they never actually said or did,” emphasised Bartoletti, also the founder of the ‘Women Leading in AI Network’.

The consequences extend beyond the digital realm, as online disinformation and coordination can spill over into real-world violence.

In India, the government has issued an update to its AI advisory, saying that the big digital companies do not need the government’s permission anymore before launching any AI model in the country.

However, big tech companies are advised to label “under-tested and unreliable AI models to inform users of their potential fallibility or unreliability.”

“Under-tested/unreliable Artificial Intelligence foundational models)/ LLM/Generative Al, software(s) or algorithm(s) or further development on such models should be made available to users in India only after appropriately labelling the possible inherent fallibility or unreliability of the output generated,” according to the new MeitY advisory.

All intermediaries or platforms must ensure that the use of AI models /LLM/Generative AI, software or algorithms “does not permit its users to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any unlawful content as outlined in Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules or violate any other provision of the IT Act.”

The digital platforms have been asked to comply with new AI guidelines with immediate effect.

According to Bartoletti, to ensure public safety, companies must take responsibility and implement measures to combat deepfakes and disinformation.

“This includes investing in advanced detection technologies to identify and flag deepfake content, as well as collaborating with experts to develop effective debunking methods,” she noted.

Additionally, promoting media literacy and critical thinking among the public is crucial.

“By taking proactive steps to address the risks of deepfakes, we can protect the integrity of elections and uphold the democratic process,” said Bartoletti.

ALSO READ: Morgan Stanley: India GDP Growth 6.8% by 2025

Categories
Economy INDIA 2024 India News

‘25% of YouTube Shorts Creators Earn’

YouTube has paid $70 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the last three years….reports Asian Lite News

More than one in four YouTube creators, who are part of its ad sharing programme, are now earning money with the short-form video service Shorts, the company said on Thursday.

Since introducing revenue sharing on Shorts last year, more than 25 per cent of channels in YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) are now earning through the revenue stream.

The Google-owned platform said that of the creators who joined YPP by meeting the Shorts eligibility thresholds, more than 80 per cent are now also earning through other YPP monetisation features on YouTube, “be it long-form advertising, fan funding, YouTube Premium, BrandConnect, Shopping and more”.

“This means that Shorts is opening the door for creators to earn in other ways on the platform, and they’re seeing the dividends,” the company informed.

YouTube has paid $70 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the last three years.

“With an average of over 70 billion daily views on Shorts and new avenues to earn money, the Shorts community is beginning to thrive, both with new forms of creativity and fresh voices to the platform,” said YouTube.

Alan Chikin Chow (who has 38.7 million subscribers) said that revenue sharing on Shorts has really changed the game.

“As a Shorts-first creator and one of the most-viewed channels in the US, I’ve seen what’s possible creatively through the format. But revenue sharing has delivered a sustainable way to continue to build my business,” Chow said in a statement.

The company introduced YPP 16 years ago.

“Beginning with just a handful of creators, it’s grown to more than 3 million creators globally,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Google-owned YouTube has removed over 2.25 million videos in India for violating its community guidelines in the fourth quarter of 2023, the popular video streaming platform said in a report on Tuesday.

The number of videos removed from the platform between October and December 2023 in India is the highest among 30 nations, YouTube said in the report.

Singapore (1,243,871) and the US (788,354) had the second and third-highest number of videos removed. Iraq emerged the last with 41,176 videos removed.

Globally, 9 million videos were removed by YouTube during the same period, and a whopping 96 per cent of videos were first flagged by machines.

Of these 53.46 per cent were removed before they received a single view and 27.07 per cent received between 1 and 10 views before removal, Youtube said in a statement.

“YouTube’s Community Guidelines are enforced consistently across the globe, regardless of the uploader, where the content is uploaded, or how the content was generated. When content is removed for violating our guidelines, it is removed globally and policies are enforced using a combination of machine learning and human reviewers,” the social media platform said.

Further, YouTube also removed over 20 million channels in Q4 2023 for violating “spam policies, including but not restricted to scams, misleading metadata or thumbnails, video and comments spam”.

More than 1.1 billion comments were also weeded out, the majority of which were spam. Over 99 per cent of removed comments were detected automatically, YouTube said.

ALSO READ: Baltimore Bridge Collapse Hits Indian Markets