Pregnant Indian-origin techie, unborn baby killed in road accident in Australia
Melbourne (PTI): An Indian-origin techie who was eight months pregnant has died along with her unborn baby after she was hit by a car in Australia's Sydney city.
Samanvitha Dhareshwar, 33, was walking with her husband and their three-year-old son along George St in Hornsby shortly after 8 pm local time on Friday last week when a Kia car slowed at the entrance of a carpark to let the family pass.
Moments later, the Kia was rear-ended by a BMW, causing it to surge forward and hit the woman, according to a report by 7news.com, quoting police.
Emergency services treated Dhareshwar, who was just weeks away from giving birth to her second child, at the scene before she was rushed to Westmead Hospital in a critical and unstable condition, where she and her unborn baby died a short time later, police said.
According to Dhareshwar's LinkedIn profile, she was an IT systems analyst who worked for Alsco Uniforms.
The 19-year-old BMW driver and the 48-year-old Kia driver were uninjured. No other passengers were in either vehicle.
Police later arrested the teenage BMW driver, identified as Aaron Papazoglu, on Saturday. He has been charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death, and causing the loss of a foetus.
At a bail hearing, Magistrate Ray Plibersek refused Papazoglu’s application, describing the incident as “an absolutely tragic case”.
“It’s a terrible outcome for two families,” he said. “The community’s heart goes out to the victim’s family for the tragic loss.”
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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.
