How Gandhigiri won Mangalore International Airport its name back from Adanis
The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) stormed into power with an absolute majority in 2014, ousting the ruling UPA government in the Parliamentary polls. One of the agendas that the NDA rode on, to acquire power at the Centre was the vilifying the previous government’s privatization and liberalization policies stating that they were harmful to the people of the country.
But the NDA changed its stance on the privatization of public assets and inclined more in its favor in the later years of its first tenure that ended in 2019. The move came as a shock to many of its own supporters and voters as it appeared to be a continuation of the previous UPA government, to an extent that the political pundits joked about NDA by calling it UPA III.
As NDA came into power yet again in 2019 with another majority, India buckled up for what was a series of privatization of public assets of the country. This also resulted in several protests and demonstrations against the government. Although the privatization of PSUs and banks did not garner the attention it deserved, thanks to media apathy, the privatization of railways and airports has not gone down well with the sentiments of the people.
In 2019, the center privatized airports at Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram. The Adani group won the bidding process and has received operational rights for the next 50 years. In July this year, the Adani Group also took control over Mumbai airport from the GVK group. Today Adani Group is the largest infrastructure company in India.
The overzealous Adani Group also changed the signage of the acquired airports with their brand name irking the general public against both, the government and the Adanis.
The members of the union Bhartiya Kamgar Sena, an affiliation of Shiv Sena, resorted to vandalism on 2nd August and wrecked the Adani signboard erected before the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). The removal of the name of the Maratha warrior was the reason for the chaos caused in the city.
While in the Maharashtra case, the cadre of the Shiv Sena opted for a radical way of protesting; in Assam, Cheif Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma himself had to convince the media and people regarding the changing the name of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport.
"The name of LGBI Airport will not be changed till I serve as the chief minister and till Narendra Modi serve as the Prime Minister," the CM said while addressing the media.
In all this conundrum, Mangalore and its civil society appeared to have set an example by following a civilized way of protest to get their demands fulfilled.
The Adani Group replaced the AAI signage at the Mangalore airport with its brand name soon after receiving operational rights in 2020. Social activist Dilraj Alva took the responsibility to restore the AAI signage and alleged that changing the name was not part of the procedure. Activist Alva secured a copy of the agreement signed between the Adani Group and the Airports Authority of India.
While addressing a press conference in Mangalore he said, “The change of boards and on Google Maps was in contravention of Article 5.15 of agreement that bars concessionaire from branding itself or its shareholders in any manner, including through advertisement, and display boards.”
Dilraj Alva later sent a legal notice to AAI Mangalore and AAI Delhi, seeking restoration of the AAI signage at the Mangalore Airport. The activist's effort soon bore fruit after the AAI signage was restored on 10th September this year.
In conclusion, there are protests, and there are dissenting voices in every democracy. Mahatma Gandhi led a protest, so did Anna Hazare, so did Rakesh Tikait. In all the protests, there has been a different socio-cultural approach and different background while many of them got good national attention, activist Alva's protest was both unique and commendable and needs a mention. It often happens that activists that take a pragmatic approach and rely more on the executive and judiciary to get their demands met remain unsung; even Mahatma Gandhi’s approach of non-violence would not have garnered public attention if it was not for the South-African media to bring forth his movements. These unsung heroes need to be lauded and commended for their works for these sorts of protests and activism to be kept alive.
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Grok obscene AI content: X submits response, IT Ministry examining it, say sources
New Delhi (PTI): The IT Ministry is examining the response and submissions made by X following a government directive to crack down on misuse of artificial intelligence chatbot Grok by users for the creation of sexualised and obscene images of women and minors, sources said.
X had been given extended time until Wednesday, 5 PM to submit a detailed Action Taken Report to the ministry, after a stern warning was issued to the Elon Musk-led social media platform over indecent and sexually-explicit content being generated through misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and other tools.
Sources told PTI that X has submitted their response, and it is under examination.
The details of X's submission were, however, not immediately known.
On Sunday, X's 'Safety' handle said it takes action against illegal content on its platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
"Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X had said, reiterating the stance taken by Musk on illegal content.
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On January 2, the IT Ministry pulled up X and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially generated by Grok (X's built-in artificial intelligence interface) or face action under the law.
In the directive on Friday, the ministry asked the US-based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours, spelling out specific technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application; the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer; actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under Indian laws.
The IT Ministry, in the ultimatum issued, noted that Grok AI, developed by X and integrated on the platform, is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner.
"Importantly, this is not limited to creation of fake accounts but also targets women who host or publish their images or videos, through prompts, image manipulation and synthetic outputs," the ministry said, asserting that such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms, and amounts to gross misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in violation of stipulated laws.
The government made it clear to X that compliance with the IT Act and rules is not optional, and that the statutory exemptions under section 79 of the IT Act (which deals with safe harbour and immunity from liability for online intermediaries) are conditional upon strict observance of due diligence obligations.
"Accordingly, you are advised to strictly desist from the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content on your platform that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law...," the ministry said.
The government warned X in clear terms that any failure to observe due diligence obligations shall result in the loss of the exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act, and that the platform will also be liable for consequential action under other laws, including the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It asked X to enforce user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including ensuring strong deterrent measures such as suspension, termination and other enforcement actions against violating users and accounts.
X has also been asked to remove or disable access "without delay" to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without, as such, vitiating the evidence.
Besides India, the platform has drawn flak in the UK and Malaysia too. Ofcom, the UK's independent communications regulator, in a recent social media post, said: "We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children".
"We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation," Ofcom said.
