The Evening Wrap: Vinesh Phogat to return Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award

World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat on December 26 said she is returning her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards to the government protesting against the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh-loyalist Sanjay Singh as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, the wrestler wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vinesh’s decision comes days after Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and Deafylmpics champion Virender Singh Yadav returned their Padma Shri awards. “I am returning my Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award,” Vinesh announced through a letter that she posted in her X (formerly Twitter) account. On December 21, Sanjay Singh was elected as WFI president after the panel led by the close aide of Brij Bhushan won 13 of the 15 posts. The wrestlers had demanded that no close associate of Brij Bhushan should enter the WFI administration. Following the election, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announced that she would quit the sport. Despite gazette notification, confusion over implementation of three criminal laws A day after the three criminal laws received President’s assent, and were notified in the official gazette, confusion prevailed in police stations and courts regarding its implementation, according to several police officials. The three legislations replace the British-era laws but in the absence of the required paraphernalia on the ground and adequate training of police officials, it will be several months for the Acts to be effective. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Chandigarh on December 22 that the framework to implement the laws in all the union territories would be ready by December 2024. A senior government official said the laws would have to be simultaneously implemented in States and Union Territories and there could not be different dates. The December 25 notification said the laws “shall come into force on such date as the Central government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.” “Several magistrates asked on Tuesday why the police are still registering cases under the IPC when the new laws are in place. Till now, no training of officials has been held nor there is a change in the software used to register the cases,” a Delhi police official said. Presently, over 95% police stations across the country register FIR through a common application software under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, a project started in 2009. Out of 17,379 sanctioned police stations, as many as 16,733 police stations are linked to CCTNS, which is under the ambit of the National Crime Records Bureau. The official added that there is confusion regarding supplementary charge sheets too. “What will be the fate of supplementary charge sheets for cases filed under the IPC after the Sanhita is implemented. All this requires further clarity,” the official said. Deepfake concerns | Government issues advisory to all social media platforms to comply with IT rules The government has issued an advisory to all platforms to comply with IT rules amid growing concerns around deepfakes and misinformation powered by AI, according to an official release. The advisory mandates that intermediaries (digital and social media platforms) communicate prohibited content specified under IT Rules clearly and precisely to users. “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has issued an advisory to all intermediaries, ensuring compliance with the existing IT rules,” it said. The directive specifically targets growing concerns around misinformation powered by AI-Deepfakes. This advisory is the culmination of discussions held by Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar with intermediaries. “The content not permitted under the IT Rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b) must be clearly communicated to the users in clear and precise language including through its terms of service and user agreements and the same must be expressly informed to the user at the time of first-registration and also as regular reminders, in particular, at every instance of login and while uploading/sharing information onto the platform,” according to the advisory. The advisory emphasises that digital intermediaries must ensure users are informed about penal provisions, including those in the IPC and the IT Act 2000. In addition, the advisory says that terms of service and user agreements must clearly highlight that intermediaries/platforms are under obligation to report legal violations to the law enforcement agencies under the relevant Indian laws applicable to the context. Platforms are obliged to ensure reasonable efforts to prevent users from hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating, or sharing any information related to the 11 listed user harms or content prohibited on digital intermediaries. Delhi Police get call about blast near Israel Embassy, search under way The Delhi Police on December 26 received a call about a blast near the Israel Embassy located in the New Delhi district, officials said. “Yes, there was an incident here. Not sure what it is exactly yet. The police and our security team are still investigating,” the spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy. According to Delhi Fire Services officials, the call was received at 5.47 p.m. and was transferred from the PCR (police control room) of the Delhi Police. Police and fire department officials are at the spot and a search operation is underway, they said. Bomb blast threat to RBI and other locations in Mumbai; no suspicious object found, say police A threat mail sent to the Reserve Bank in Mumbai about 11 bomb blasts in Mumbai on December 26 sent police into a tizzy but no suspicious object was found at these locations, including the RBI central office building and two other banks. The e-mail was sent from the id khilafat.india@gmail.com to the RBI governor’s email id at around 10:50 a.m. threatening bomb blasts at the RBI new Central Office building, Fort, HDFC House in Churchgate, and ICICI Bank Tower in Bandra-Kurla Complex at 1:30 p.m., a police official said. Threatening execution of blasts, the sender demanded that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI governor Shaktikanta Das resign from their posts immediately and release a full statement about the disclosure of the “banking scam”, as per the FIR. Police conducted searches at all the locations mentioned in the e-mail with Bomb Detection and Disposal (BDDS) personnel, but nothing suspicious was found at these spots, the official said. He said a case has been registered against an unidentified person on the complaint of the RBI head guard under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 505-1 b (Making or circulating a false alarm or warning as to disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic), 502-2 (Statements conducting public mischief) and 506- 2 (Criminal intimidation). ‘Non-European’ client chartered flight for 303 Indians, claims Paris-based lawyer A “non-European” entity had facilitated the journey of 303 Indian citizens who were grounded in Vatry airport near Paris for five days after the French authorities got an “anonymous signal”, said the lawyer of the Romanian Legend Airlines whose chartered flight was flying the passengers from Dubai to Nicaragua. Speaking to The Hindu over phone Liliana Bakayoko, advocate for the airlines, said that the French authorities converted the airport into a tribunal and the passengers were summoned before a judge before they were allowed to return to India. “The French authorities got an anonymous signal and they took the signal extremely seriously as they suspected human trafficking to be involved behind the flight. All 303 passengers were Indian citizens and they had boarded the flight in the United Arab Emirates,” Bakayoko said without explaining if the “anonymous signal” came from a third country or an agency that has friendly ties with France. During the interrogation, French officials discovered that several passengers had booked hotel rooms in Nicaragua and a few even had confirmed tickets to return to the United Arab Emirates. These discoveries further intrigued the French authorities as they tried to ascertain what the Indian passengers wanted to do in the central American country which is known for being a gateway to the North America. The Legend Airlines aircraft landed in Mumbai earlier on December 26 and the passengers were allowed to leave the airport after routine questioning. Perpetrators of drone attacks on merchant vessels will soon be brought to justice, says Rajnath Singh India’s growing power has filled some forces with jealousy and hatred and perpetrators of attacks on merchant vessels ‘Chem Pluto’ and ‘Sai Baba’ will soon be brought to justice, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on December 26. He was speaking at the commissioning of P-15B class stealth guided missile destroyer Imphal, the first warship to have been named after a city from the North East, at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. “The recent drone attacks... have been taken very seriously by the Indian Government... Whoever masterminded the attack, we will find them from the bottom of the sea and strict action will be taken against them,” Singh said. “India plays the role of a net security provider in the entire Indian Ocean Region. We will ensure that maritime trade in this region touches greater heights. For this, together with our friendly countries, we will keep the sea lanes secure. We have full confidence in the ability and strength of our Navy,” he said. Singh said that with the Himalayas in the north and the hostile behaviour of Pakistan in the west, most of India’s goods trade comes through sea, which makes it an island country from ‘trade’ perspective and stressed on the need to continuously develop the Navy’s capabilities as global trade is of great importance to India to secure its national interests. INS Imphal is the third of four indigenous ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers, designed by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai. In Brief:YouTube launches Hindi auto-captioning feature after 13 years YouTube has started rolling out automatic captions for Hindi videos, a much delayed expansion of its speech recognition-aided subtitles since the feature was launched in 2010. The automated subtitles could open up millions of Hindi language videos to viewers who are hearing impaired. Hindi subtitles have been available on the platform on videos where creators have specifically chosen to add them; but YouTube hasn’t offered a convenient way to automatically caption Hindi videos. Since creators on YouTube have to pay for professionally created and timed subtitles, many do not commission them. Delhi court extends by two days ED custody of three Vivo-India executives A Delhi court on December 26 extended by two days the ED custody of three Vivo-India executives in connection with a money laundering probe against the Chinese smartphone-maker and others. Additional Sessions Judge Aparna Swami extended the custody of Interim CEO of Vivo-India Hong Xuquan alias Terry, chief financial officer Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal on an application moved by the ED. The accused were produced before the court on the expiry of their three-day ED custody granted earlier. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 26 December 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Returning my Khel Ratna, Arjuna awards: Vinesh Phogat writes to PM Modi [World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat on December 26 said she is returning her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards]( to the government protesting against the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh-loyalist Sanjay Singh as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, the wrestler wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vinesh’s decision comes days after Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and Deafylmpics champion Virender Singh Yadav returned their Padma Shri awards. “I am returning my Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award,” Vinesh announced through a letter that she posted in her X (formerly Twitter) account. On December 21, Sanjay Singh was elected as WFI president after the panel led by the close aide of Brij Bhushan won 13 of the 15 posts. The wrestlers had demanded that no close associate of Brij Bhushan should enter the WFI administration. Following the election, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announced that she would quit the sport. Despite gazette notification, confusion over implementation of three criminal laws [A day after the three criminal laws received President’s assent, and were notified in the official gazette, confusion prevailed in police stations and courts regarding its implementation, according to several police officials](. The three legislations replace the British-era laws but in the absence of the required paraphernalia on the ground and adequate training of police officials, it will be several months for the Acts to be effective. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Chandigarh on December 22 that the framework to implement the laws in all the union territories would be ready by December 2024. A senior government official said the laws would have to be simultaneously implemented in States and Union Territories and there could not be different dates. The December 25 notification said the laws “shall come into force on such date as the Central government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.” “Several magistrates asked on Tuesday why the police are still registering cases under the IPC when the new laws are in place. Till now, no training of officials has been held nor there is a change in the software used to register the cases,” a Delhi police official said. Presently, over 95% police stations across the country register FIR through a common application software under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, a project started in 2009. Out of 17,379 sanctioned police stations, as many as 16,733 police stations are linked to CCTNS, which is under the ambit of the National Crime Records Bureau. The official added that there is confusion regarding supplementary charge sheets too. “What will be the fate of supplementary charge sheets for cases filed under the IPC after the Sanhita is implemented. All this requires further clarity,” the official said. Deepfake concerns | Government issues advisory to all social media platforms to comply with IT rules [The government has issued an advisory to all platforms to comply with IT rules amid growing concerns around deepfakes and misinformation powered by AI, according to an official release.]( The advisory mandates that intermediaries (digital and social media platforms) communicate prohibited content specified under IT Rules clearly and precisely to users. “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has issued an advisory to all intermediaries, ensuring compliance with the existing IT rules,” it said. The directive specifically targets growing concerns around misinformation powered by AI-Deepfakes. This advisory is the culmination of discussions held by Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar with intermediaries. “The content not permitted under the IT Rules, in particular those listed under Rule 3(1)(b) must be clearly communicated to the users in clear and precise language including through its terms of service and user agreements and the same must be expressly informed to the user at the time of first-registration and also as regular reminders, in particular, at every instance of login and while uploading/sharing information onto the platform,” according to the advisory. The advisory emphasises that digital intermediaries must ensure users are informed about penal provisions, including those in the IPC and the IT Act 2000. In addition, the advisory says that terms of service and user agreements must clearly highlight that intermediaries/platforms are under obligation to report legal violations to the law enforcement agencies under the relevant Indian laws applicable to the context. Platforms are obliged to ensure reasonable efforts to prevent users from hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating, or sharing any information related to the 11 listed user harms or content prohibited on digital intermediaries. Delhi Police get call about blast near Israel Embassy, search under way [The Delhi Police on December 26 received a call about a blast near the Israel Embassy located in the New Delhi district, officials said.]( “Yes, there was an incident here. Not sure what it is exactly yet. The police and our security team are still investigating,” the spokesperson of the Israeli Embassy. According to Delhi Fire Services officials, the call was received at 5.47 p.m. and was transferred from the PCR (police control room) of the Delhi Police. Police and fire department officials are at the spot and a search operation is underway, they said. Bomb blast threat to RBI and other locations in Mumbai; no suspicious object found, say police [A threat mail sent to the Reserve Bank in Mumbai about 11 bomb blasts in Mumbai on December 26 sent police into a tizzy but no suspicious object was found at these locations, including the RBI central office building and two other banks.]( The e-mail was sent from the id khilafat.india@gmail.com to the RBI governor’s email id at around 10:50 a.m. threatening bomb blasts at the RBI new Central Office building, Fort, HDFC House in Churchgate, and ICICI Bank Tower in Bandra-Kurla Complex at 1:30 p.m., a police official said. Threatening execution of blasts, the sender demanded that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI governor Shaktikanta Das resign from their posts immediately and release a full statement about the disclosure of the “banking scam”, as per the FIR. Police conducted searches at all the locations mentioned in the e-mail with Bomb Detection and Disposal (BDDS) personnel, but nothing suspicious was found at these spots, the official said. He said a case has been registered against an unidentified person on the complaint of the RBI head guard under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 505-1 b (Making or circulating a false alarm or warning as to disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic), 502-2 (Statements conducting public mischief) and 506- 2 (Criminal intimidation). ‘Non-European’ client chartered flight for 303 Indians, claims Paris-based lawyer [A “non-European” entity had facilitated the journey of 303 Indian citizens who were grounded in Vatry airport near Paris for five days after the French authorities got an “anonymous signal”, said the lawyer of the Romanian Legend Airlines whose chartered flight was flying the passengers from Dubai to Nicaragua.]( Speaking to The Hindu over phone Liliana Bakayoko, advocate for the airlines, said that the French authorities converted the airport into a tribunal and the passengers were summoned before a judge before they were allowed to return to India. “The French authorities got an anonymous signal and they took the signal extremely seriously as they suspected human trafficking to be involved behind the flight. All 303 passengers were Indian citizens and they had boarded the flight in the United Arab Emirates,” Bakayoko said without explaining if the “anonymous signal” came from a third country or an agency that has friendly ties with France. During the interrogation, French officials discovered that several passengers had booked hotel rooms in Nicaragua and a few even had confirmed tickets to return to the United Arab Emirates. These discoveries further intrigued the French authorities as they tried to ascertain what the Indian passengers wanted to do in the central American country which is known for being a gateway to the North America. The Legend Airlines aircraft landed in Mumbai earlier on December 26 and the passengers were allowed to leave the airport after routine questioning. Perpetrators of drone attacks on merchant vessels will soon be brought to justice, says Rajnath Singh [India’s growing power has filled some forces with jealousy and hatred and perpetrators of attacks on merchant vessels ‘Chem Pluto’ and ‘Sai Baba’ will soon be brought to justice, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said]( on December 26. He was speaking at the commissioning of P-15B class stealth guided missile destroyer Imphal, the first warship to have been named after a city from the North East, at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. “The recent drone attacks... have been taken very seriously by the Indian Government... Whoever masterminded the attack, we will find them from the bottom of the sea and strict action will be taken against them,” Singh said. “India plays the role of a net security provider in the entire Indian Ocean Region. We will ensure that maritime trade in this region touches greater heights. For this, together with our friendly countries, we will keep the sea lanes secure. We have full confidence in the ability and strength of our Navy,” he said. Singh said that with the Himalayas in the north and the hostile behaviour of Pakistan in the west, most of India’s goods trade comes through sea, which makes it an island country from ‘trade’ perspective and stressed on the need to continuously develop the Navy’s capabilities as global trade is of great importance to India to secure its national interests. INS Imphal is the third of four indigenous ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers, designed by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai. In Brief: YouTube launches Hindi auto-captioning feature after 13 years [YouTube has started rolling out automatic captions for Hindi videos]( a much delayed expansion of its speech recognition-aided subtitles since the feature was launched in 2010. The automated subtitles could open up millions of Hindi language videos to viewers who are hearing impaired. Hindi subtitles have been available on the platform on videos where creators have specifically chosen to add them; but YouTube hasn’t offered a convenient way to automatically caption Hindi videos. Since creators on YouTube have to pay for professionally created and timed subtitles, many do not commission them. Delhi court extends by two days ED custody of three Vivo-India executives [A Delhi court on December 26 extended by two days the ED custody of three Vivo-India executives in connection with a money laundering probe against the Chinese smartphone-maker and others](. Additional Sessions Judge Aparna Swami extended the custody of Interim CEO of Vivo-India Hong Xuquan alias Terry, chief financial officer Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal on an application moved by the ED. The accused were produced before the court on the expiry of their three-day ED custody granted earlier. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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