Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurates lab to certify air pollution monitoring equipment
New Delhi (PTI): Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday inaugurated a laboratory to test and calibrate equipment to monitor air pollution, one of the very few such facilities in the world.
Singh inaugurated the National Environmental Standard Laboratory at the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL) premises here, and described it as a critical step towards strengthening India's environmental governance framework.
Singh said the facility will reduce India's dependence on foreign certification agencies, save foreign exchange, shorten turnaround time for calibration, and enhance investor confidence in the country's rapidly expanding solar sector.
The minister also inaugurated the National Primary Standard Facility for Solar Cell Calibration (Solar Energy Complex), terming it a "future-ready facility" that places India among a select group of global leaders in photovoltaic measurement standards.
Addressing the 80th Foundation Day celebrations of Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research–NPL here, the minister said, while the "National Environmental Standard Laboratory” marks for India a major leap in Environmental Governance, the "National Primary Standard Facility" makes India a member of Elite Global League in Solar Metrology.
He said that reliable, India-specific calibration and certification of air pollution monitoring systems was long overdue and would now enable transparent, traceable, and accurate environment data.
The facility will support regulatory bodies, industries, and startups by ensuring that monitoring instruments are tested under Indian climatic conditions, thereby improving policy enforcement under programmes such as the National Clean Air Programme.
The Environment Ministry has designated the CSIR-NPL as verification and certification agency for emission and ambient air pollution monitoring equipment in India.
The NSEL will measure the performance of various air ambient and emission pollution monitoring equipment such as Online Continuous Emission Monitoring Equipment (OCEMS), Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS).
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
ALSO READ: Israeli PM Netanyahu calls PM Modi; briefs on Gaza Peace Plan status
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.
