ND Tiwari passes away: Only Indian to serve as CM of two states breathes his last on 93rd birthday
New Delhi, Oct 18: Former Union minister Nayaran Dutt Tiwari passed away on Thursday evening at the Max Hospital in Delhi’s Saket after a prolonged illness. Tiwari passed away on his 93rd birthday. He was hospitalised and put in intensive care at the same hospital in September last year after suffering from a brain stroke.
Tiwari had joined the Congress in 1963 and is the only Indian politician to serve as the chief minister of two states – Uttar Pradesh and later, Uttarakhand. He was considered close to the Gandhi family and was elected the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1976. He was elected as the state CM for the second time in 1984 and during this tenure, helped Congress win the state elections held months after Indira Gandhi’s assassination the same year.
His tenure lasted for a little over one year and in 1985, Tiwari was replaced. However, he returned to power for the third time in Uttar Pradesh in 1988 for a tenure that lasted about seven months.
During his time with Congress, Tiwari was elected to both the houses of Parliament. In 1980, he was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha and served as a union minister in several portfolios in the 1980s: starting with Planning, and also remained Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission.
Between 1985 and 1988 he served as a member of Rajya Sabha.
In 2002, the Congress stalwart became chief minister of Uttarakhand and till date, is the only chief minister in the state to complete a five-year term.
Tiwari has also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh between 2007 and 2009. However, he resigned after he was caught in a controversy after a sting operation at Raj Bhavan.
Tiwari was hit by controversy when lawyer Rohit Shekhar had filed a paternity suit claiming Tiwari was his biological father. In a petition to the Delhi court, Shekhar had claimed that he was born out of an illegitimate relationship between the Congress veteran and his mother Ujjwala.
The claims were dismissed by Tiwari but the Congress leader was asked to undergo DNA tests by the High Court. These tests confirmed that Rohit was his biological son and an order was passed by the Delhi High Court on the same in 2014.
Earlier this year, Rohit had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party president Amit Shah, ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
Courtesy: www.financialexpress.com
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Bill to regulate deepfakes tabled in Lok Sabha
New Delhi (PTI): A Private Member's Bill seeking a clear legal framework for regulation of deepfakes has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, introduced by Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde in the House on Friday, aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.
"Misuse of deepfakes for harassment, deception and misinformation has escalated, creating an urgent need for regulatory safeguards," Shinde said.
The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.
"With advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, deepfake technology has emerged as a significant tool for media manipulation. While the technology has potential applications in education, entertainment and creative fields, it also poses severe risks when misused, threatening individual privacy, national security and public trust," Shinde said in the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.
The proposed Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework to govern the creation, distribution and application of deepfakes in India, said Shinde, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Kalyan.
The Bill also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.
The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.
The Bill also proposes to establish a fund to support public and private sector initiatives in the detection and deterrence of advanced image manipulation.
A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.
