In a first, Karnataka cops to deploy agentic AI to combat fake news: Report
Bengaluru: Karnataka police are set to deploy a cutting-edge artificial intelligence system in a landmark move to tackle online misinformation, fake news, and cybercrimes.
The new system will be powered by "agentic AI" — advanced AI technology capable of independently identifying and flagging harmful content on the internet, as reported by Deccan Herald on Monday.
The initiative builds on the earlier work of the Information Disorder Tackling Unit (IDTU) under the Department of Electronics, IT and BT. That unit has now been integrated into the newly established Cyber Command Unit (CCU) under the Home Department.
At the core of the CCU's strategy is the deployment of agentic AI systems. Unlike traditional AI models that rely heavily on human supervision, agentic AI can perform complex tasks autonomously and make real-time decisions, functioning as digital assistants for police officers.
"These agents are deployed across public parts of the internet to identify and flag harmful content. They do not access private messages or personal conversations," DH quoted a senior police official involved in the project as saying.
Once flagged, this content will be reviewed by human operators. If deemed relevant to the public, particularly in the case of misinformation, the content will be published on an interactive government platform — satya.gov.in — where it will be reframed in simple, easy-to-understand language. Citizens will also be able to participate by submitting verified information or reporting suspicious content, making the system more collaborative.
To build the capabilities of agentic AI, the police have begun working with both Large Language Models (LLMs) and Small Language Models (SLMs) — machine learning systems capable of handling specific tasks with minimal input, DH added.
"These models are currently being used to complete targeted tasks. Over time, as we gather more data, we'll use it to train our agentic systems," the officer mentioned.
All development work is being carried out in-house at the IDTU. So far, the unit has been relying on traditional AI to monitor misinformation online and had achieved strong results with high accuracy. However, those systems were limited in scope and required substantial human oversight. The shift to agentic AI is expected to reduce that dependency and scale up operations.
Meanwhile, the officer cautioned that even the most advanced AI systems are still capable of producing false or misleading conclusions, a phenomenon known as "hallucination." As a result, human oversight will remain essential even after these systems are deployed. "Developing and refining such high-tech systems requires continuous observation, research, and testing," the officer added.
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LoP Ashoka accuses Karnataka govt of 'diverting' SC/ST funds for guarantees
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, on Tuesday accused the state government of "diverting funds" meant for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the SCSP and TSP components to finance its guarantee schemes. He also alleged that the budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has undermined the principle of social justice.
During the discussion on the 2026–27 state budget in the assembly, the BJP leader claimed that substantial portions of funds earmarked for Dalit welfare had been diverted for other schemes over the past four years.
He also questioned the implementation of allocations under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), saying the government has "failed" to ensure that the money actually reached the intended communities.
“Today, the money here has been diverted. In this diversion of funds, social justice has been ignored. If the money meant for Dalits is looted, can that be called social justice?” he asked while criticising the government’s handling of SC/ST allocations.
According to the opposition leader, around Rs 14,198 crore had been diverted in the current financial year alone from SCSP and TSP allocations to various guarantee schemes announced by the government.
Listing the expenditure under these programmes, the former Deputy CM said Rs 8,296.32 crore had been allocated for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, Rs 1,537 crore for Shakti, Rs 1,612 crore for Anna Bhagya, Rs 2,591.6 crore for Gruha Jyothi and Rs 1,062 crore for Yuva Nidhi.
“In total, Rs 14,198 crore has been diverted this year,” he said.
He further claimed that the diversion of funds had increased over the years.
“In 2023–24, Rs 11,144 crore was taken from SC/ST funds. In 2024–25, Rs 14,282.68 crore was taken. In 2025–26, Rs 13,343.84 crore was taken. In 2026–27, Rs 14,198.97 crore has been taken.”
“This amount keeps increasing year after year. In total, Rs 53,059.45 crore belonging to SC/ST communities has been taken during Siddaramaiah’s tenure,” he added.
Ashoka said that although the budget documents projected large allocations for Dalit welfare, the actual funds reaching the beneficiaries were significantly lower.
The government had earmarked Rs 44,632 crore for SC/ST communities in 2026–27, but once the diversion towards guarantee schemes was removed, the effective amount available was much less, he added.
The BJP leader also referred to a review meeting on January 31 to examine the utilisation of SCSP and TSP funds.
As per the review, Ashoka said only a part of the sanctioned amount had actually been released and spent.
“For SCSP, Rs 29,872 crore was allocated, but by January 27, only Rs 16,699 crore had been released, and the expenditure was Rs 15,391 crore."
Similarly, under the Tribal Sub-Plan, he alleged that Rs 11,900 crore had been allocated, but only Rs 6,521 crore was released and Rs 6,002 crore spent by the end of January.
“Even after eleven months, only about 50 per cent of the funds were released by the Finance department.”
Ashoka also criticised the allocation of SC/ST funds to departments and schemes that he said had little direct relevance to the welfare of those communities.
These included wildlife conservation programmes in the forest department, the tiger conservation project, maintenance of hospital buildings, and IT policy formulation.
“How are Dalits related to wildlife conservation? Are there SC tigers and ST elephants? How can funds meant for Dalits be used for tiger conservation?” he asked.
He also objected to funds being allocated from SC/ST components to institutions such as the Sanjay Gandhi Trauma and Orthopaedic Institute in Bengaluru and for Public Works Department buildings.
The opposition leader also charged that the government hiked taxes and prices of various commodities and services ranging from milk to petrol, vehicles, drinking water, sewerage cess, electricity, metro rail and bus fare, school and college fees, property taxes in Bengaluru, property e-Khata fee, A-Khata conversion, exam fee and birth and death certificate issuance.
“People are being taxed for digging cellar. The mines and geology department has issued notices to people. This is unheard of for me,” Ashoka said.
