Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
A day after he was sworn in as President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu “formally requested” the Indian government to “withdraw its military personnel” from the island nation.
Muizzu sought the Indian withdrawal when Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju, India’s representative at the swearing-in ceremony, called on him.
President Muizzu, his office said, “acknowledged the significant role” of two helicopters – and an aircraft provided by India to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) – “in numerous emergency medical evacuations”.
In fact, the MNDF, in a post on X Saturday evening, said, “A medical evacuation of a 36-year-old female in critical condition was carried out from Th. Atoll Hospital to Male City by MNDF Central Area Command via MNDF Dornier Aircraft.” It also put out a photograph of the medical evacuation.
Govt & Politics
Tamil Nadu Assembly readopts 10 bills returned by Gov, again sent for his nod (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Tamil Nadu Assembly, in a special sitting, readopted 10 Bills that were recently returned by Governor R N Ravi. The Bills cover various departments, including law, agriculture, and higher education among others.
The main Opposition AIADMK and the BJP separately walked out of the Assembly before the readoption of the Bills, asking why a special meeting was being held when the government has already taken the matter to the Supreme Court. The readopted Bills were later sent to the Governor for his assent.
Governor Ravi had returned the Bills on November 13, stirring yet another political row in the state. Chief Minister M K Stalin said in the Assembly that the Governor had only mentioned “I withhold assent” to the Bills, but did not give any reason for his decision.
He criticised the Governor’s action as an affront to the state’s elected representatives and an undermining of democratic principles.
Opinion
How deepfakes shrink online space for women (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
A deepfake video was widely shared recently, in which a popular Indian actress’s face was imposed on another woman’s body.
The video aimed to hook viewers in through the likeness of a popular star – someone totally unaware of and non-consenting of such depictions.
Several tips on spotting fake videos have been shared since, but I wonder what kind of advice can be shared with women who become the targets of such videos.
Because while the technology might be novel, this is neither the first nor the last time women have become subjects of digital manipulation.
A recent Washington Post article quoted an industry analyst to say how on the top 10 websites that host AI-generated porn photos, “fake nudes have ballooned by more than 290 per cent since 2018”.
It also cited a 2019 study by Sensity AI, a company that monitors deepfakes, which said that 96 per cent of deepfake images are pornography and 99 per cent of those photos target women.
World
Australia slams China over unprofessional naval interaction (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Australia’s government said it had expressed serious concerns to China after an “unsafe and unprofessional” interaction between an Australian navy vessel and Chinese warship left Australian military divers injured.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the HMAS Toowoomba – a long-range frigate – was conducting a diving operation in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone on Nov. 14 to clear fishing nets from its propellers when the incident occurred.
While diving operations were underway a PLA-N destroyer (DDG-139) operating in the vicinity closed towards HMAS Toowoomba,” Marles said in a statement, referring to a ship of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
He said despite the Australian vessel notifying the Chinese warship of the diving operation and requesting that it keep clear, the destroyer approached “at a closer range”.
Soon after, it was detected operating its hull-mounted sonar in a manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers who were forced to exit the water.
The conduct was “unsafe and unprofessional. The Chinese embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Economy
Govt investigating whether China-linked agencies are behind Apple spyware attack (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
As part of its investigation into claims that several Indian Opposition politicians and journalists received threat notifications from Apple, the government’s nodal cybersecurity agency has shifted its focus on a predictable foe – it is exploring whether agencies linked to the Chinese government were behind the attempted breach.
Most of the iPhones that were targeted were made in China, as per preliminary inputs we have received from Apple. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is investigating if the place of production has something to do with a vulnerability in the iPhones, and whether the hack was attempted by agencies linked to China.
In October, Opposition leaders across parties — from Congress’s Shashi Tharoor to AAP’s Raghav Chadha to TMC’s Mahua Moitra — received a “threat notification” from Apple warning of a “potential state-sponsored spyware attack” on their iPhones. They hit out at the Centre, and suggested that it was behind the spyware attack attempt.