Latest news with #SecurityUnit
Indian Express
06-06-2025
- Indian Express
Undertrial killed by inmates: What Delhi High Court has said in the past on security in courts
In 2021, when gangster Jitender Gogi was gunned down in the Rohini court complex allegedly by rivals, the Delhi High Court had initiated a public interest litigation (PIL) on suo motu cognisance. While the PIL continues to be pending before the HC, police has given repeated assurances of heightened security measures each time a shooting incident was reported from a court. Two assailants, dressed up as lawyers, had shot at Jitender alias Gogi, who was also a high-risk prisoner, in September 2021. Gogi was being produced in court with the police. Responding to the firing, the police fired back at the assailants. The incident left Gogi and the two assailants dead. Here is an overview of the HC's remarks in recent years on security in courts. September 2021 A division bench of the High Court, on September 30, 2021, took suo motu cognisance of a firing incident at the Rohini court complex on September 24, 2021, with three lives lost, and recorded that 'there is an imminent and urgent need to take effective measures to ensure that such incidents do not recur' and to ensure 'safety and security' of the 'advocates, litigants, court staff, witnesses as well as the judges and judicial officers.' The court had immediately suggested interim measures such as the deployment of sufficient police personnel in all court complexes, installation of CCTVs at all strategic points for round-the-clock vigilance in district court complexes as well as the High Court complex. Among other measures, the court suggested the installation of high-tech metal detectors and baggage scanners, provision of UVSS (Under Vehicle Surveillance System), efficient frisking mechanism, regular meetings with stakeholders concerned about the security arrangements, and specialised training for the police personnel deployed at the HC and district court complexes. It had sought responses from a slew of stakeholders, including the Delhi government, the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs, Bar Council of India, the Coordination Committees of all district courts, and the Delhi High Court Bar Association, along with the bar associations of all the district courts. Subsequently, in October 2021, the Delhi Police had told the HC that security of all seven district courts in the city was taken over by the Security Unit, a specialised unit, and that necessary security arrangements were being made, and more police personnel were being deployed. It had also told the court that it is conducting 'a detailed joint security review of all seven District Courts by seven Security Unit team headed by an Officer at the level of ACP.' The police had also told the court that it is taking several measures such as deployment of a higher number of security police personnel for access control in all the Courts with extra support by the Central Paramilitary Forces ('CPMF'), apart from measures such as installing different security gadgets such as door frame and hand-held metal detectors, X-ray scanners, CCTVs etc. In November 2021, the HC had issued directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner to constitute a team of experts to undertake a security audit of complexes of the High Court as well as all the district courts, which would factor in the various factors peculiar to each of the complexes. Based on the audit, the Delhi police chief was also directed to undertake a 'periodical review' of the security arrangements. The November 24, 2021, order further records that concerning high-risk Under Trial Prisoners (UTPs), 'as far as possible, their appearance may be secured through virtual mode. Wherever or whenever there is a necessity to produce such UTPs, physically abundant care and precautions shall be taken in terms of providing adequate police escort and checking/frisking etc,' adding that 'the directions shall be scrupulously followed by all concerned'. April 2023 In April 2023, another shooting took place at the Saket District Court complex, where an advocate had shot at a woman and injured her. Taking note of the incident, on April 26, 2023, the HC recorded that 'security personnel deployed in various court premises, including the High Court, are facing some resistance in the matter of frisking and checking of cars.' The court had then suggested that joint meetings be held between bar associations and senior police officers while counsels for the Delhi government and the union government had assured the court that they would ensure 'proper security arrangements are in place to avoid any such incident in the future.' July 2023 On July 5, 2023, another firing incident between two groups of lawyers took place at the Tis Hazari court complex. Taking note of the incident, Delhi Police's Sandeep Byala, DCP, Security Courts, had told HC that frisking of lawyers and litigants and those who are entering the court building is 'being rigorously done in all the court complexes' and at the time, Byala had told HC that the Delhi Police 'is beefing up the security arrangements in all the Court complexes, including the High court of Delhi.'
The Star
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Murderbot' review: Paranoid androids are comedy gold
If that snarky, cynical fan-favourite K-2SO from Rogue One and Andor had a human face, it could very well belong to Alexander Skarsgard. One thing, though: this is not exactly the droid you're looking for. And all his snark is internalised, not spewed. Also, this isn't anywhere near the Star Wars universe but in a ruthlessly capitalist section of a (presumably) vast galactic realm more directly "descended" from our own society. Welcome to the universe of Murderbot, the new Apple TV+ sci-fi comedy based on the well-regarded The Murderbot Diaries series of novels by Martha Wells. This initial season is based on the first instalment All Systems Red, and covers how the titular entity a) gains independent thought; and b) hides it from everyone so he doesn't get melted down for scrap. Initially designated a SecUnit (short for Security Unit, duh), he hacks his "governor module" (think "restraining bolt" in Star Wars parlance, only built-in) and christens himself Murderbot, not because he wants to be a killing machine – it just sounds cool. 'If that stinking, two-faced ugly bug monster shows its face again, I'll just – er wait, it's behind me, isn't it?' After finishing his assignment on a mining colony, Sec... Murderbot suddenly finds himself in the "employ" of a motley group of scientists exploring a distant planet. While he belongs to the Corporate Rim, the above-mentioned ruthlessly capitalist faction, his new hirers are regarded as hippies, forced to take him along for insurance (as in policy, premiums, etc) purposes. Led by the empathetic Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), this egalitarian (I hesitate to use the "w" word) bunch is initially reluctant to have Murderbot around. As for our favourite newly-independent entity, let's say he is conflicted, to put it mildly. Murderbot would like nothing better than to spend his days inactive, bingeing on the thousands of hours of soap operas he has squirrelled away in his memory banks. (Yes, the future has no shortage of those, with some hilarious series-within-a-series cameos that I just refuse to spoil here.) But duty calls, and it's not easy saving his clueless clients from themselves and the perils of a hostile world where giant sand centipedes with mouths at both ends appear to be the least of their troubles. The first two sitcom-size episodes (of 10) just dropped last week, and offered some pretty hilarious moments mixed in with alien planet peril. A lot of the mirth stems from Murderbot's internalised issues as he struggles to mask his contempt for his companions – all of it compounded when they order him to remove his helmet, leaving him quite literally unmasked in an already awkward situation. Skarsgard handles this aspect of the character's struggles as though he were truly a recently liberated automaton, keeping his frame stock-still while conveying his inner turmoil through his eyes, the tilt of his head, and the near-panic in his internal voice. At this point, my unfamiliarity with Wells' books made me wonder why his Corporate makers went to all the bother of giving SecUnits organic parts, including a face. So that they could tell by a robot's expressions if it/they/pronoun of choice had hacked their governor module and gained (gasp) emotions? Whatever the reason, it gives showrunners Paul and Chris Weitz (the American Pie and About A Boy colla-bro-rators) a chance to mine the situation for comedy gold. Possibly the most well-orchestrated nugget is unearthed in the second episode, Eye Contact, when the group's resident "human computer" Gurathin (the wonderful David Dastmalchian, playing a mentat-of-sorts again?) conducts a weird interrogation/bonding session with Murderbot. It's a magnetic scene that crackles with the uncertainty of what might happen next, and delivers high hopes for the rest of this adaptation. New episodes of Murderbot arrive every Friday on Apple TV+.
Time Magazine
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Everything to Know About the Murderbot Books Before You Watch the New TV Adaptation
When a computer bulldozes through the barriers humans build to keep it in check, the consequences are usually pretty grave—at least in sci-fi media. We can be hunted through time, turned into biological batteries, and even locked out of the pod bay. It's rare to tell an AI story from the perspective of the AI, but Apple TV+'s Murderbot goes a step further and makes its anti-human sentient machine a reluctant, socially awkward hero. It helps that he's played by Alexander Skarsgård, an actor who ably strikes the balance between emotionless intensity and deadpan idiocy. When a corporate Security Unit hacks its 'governor module' and is no longer forced to obey human instructions, he renames himself 'Murderbot' (a playful name that will undoubtedly set off alarm bells if humans discover he has free will) and immediately runs into new problems: He lives in a society of punishing corporate power and he will be melted in acid if they find out about his newfound autonomy. Besides, Murderbot doesn't care about suppressing humankind or staging a digital uprising—he's content to watch endless soaps and serials while he's on the clock and give his new, unwitting clients the bare minimum effort. He's the most relatable AI in media to date. But Murderbot, which premieres May 16, isn't just the latest eye-catching sci-fi series with blockbuster ambitions from Apple—it's a Hugo award-winning book series adapted by the people who brought you About a Boy and The Golden Compass. Consider this a digestible info pack about everything you ought to know about your friendly neighborhood Murderbot. Martha Wells had already authored the fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura, as well as tie-in novels for Stargate and Star Wars, by the time the novella All Systems Red was published in 2017. That's the first volume of The Murderbot Diaries, and it would be followed by three books of about equal length across 2018 before the first full-length novel Network Effect hit shelves in 2020. Despite All Systems Red being a quick read (it's about the same length as Charlotte's Web), Murderbot adapts only the first novella for its 10-episode season. In the book and series, set in the far distant future, Murderbot hacks his governor module just before he's assigned to a new mission with a group of scientists surveying an alien planet. All missions are overseen and rubber stamped by 'the Company,' an extractivist, expansionist interplanetary corporation far in Earth's future, who must provide security for their contracted explorers in the form of a SecUnit. Murderbot's new clients are from 'Preservation Alliance,' a small group who exist independent from corporate governance, and who think the Company's insistence on SecUnits makes them basically slavers. But it's not like the scientists can negotiate with the mega-powerful Company. This survey is led by Dr. Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), the scientist whom Murderbot has the most respect for, with help from the augmented human Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), whom Murderbot trusts the least—probably because Gurathin has many of the same tech upgrades that give Murderbot his advantage. All Systems Red is a legible introduction to Wells' hyper-capitalist, playfully satiric galaxy. There are about 10 speaking parts, limited locations, and a simple mystery that gets at the crux of how life under the corporation's thumb makes everyone—both humans and robots—vulnerable to harm. What makes All Systems Red stand out is its first-person storytelling: as a narrator, Murderbot's perspective isn't restricted to his eyes and ears; he's connected to every camera and microphone at the survey team's disposal, and can read and transmit data inside his head without blinking. Wells takes advantage of the interior monologue form to give her robot protagonist fluid, extensive access to information and communication that he can process and react to with more sophistication than any of the human characters. We want to stick with Murderbot's POV because it's the smartest and sharpest in the story, even though he'd rather be watching content than explaining himself to us. Creators Paul and Chris Weitz are faithful to Wells' first Murderbot novella, but there are plenty of changes that expand the book into an exciting episodic structure. The showrunners are more interested in the human characters than Murderbot is, and the group of scientists— played by Tamara Podemski, Akshay Khanna, Tattiawna Jones, and Sabrina Wu—feel like richer characters than in Wells' novella. Their fleshed-out social dynamics (including a touch of polyamory) only fuel an exasperated Murderbot's education about cohabiting with human beings. Pockets of tension or suspense in All Systems Red —like Gurathin's deep-set suspicion of his SecUnit or the threat of more advanced, expensive, and compromised SecUnits ambushing the Preservation team—are built into robust showdowns or cliffhangers, and Murderbot takes hostile enemies with only one memorable appearance in the book (not just robots, but giant alien centipedes too) and gives them another shot at our isolated heroes. Basically, Murderbot takes everything in the book and gives it a natural extension. The series' biggest invention comes in the form of Pen15 's Anna Konkle, who plays Leebeebee, the lone survivor of an unexplained attack on the other known expedition on the alien planet. Konkle is a gifted comic performer and really underlines the panicked urgency coursing through Murderbot 's mystery. Even though she's not in Wells' book, Leebeebee aggravates the tensions between Murderbot and his human dependents, serving as a personification of the book's themes of fraught human-AI relations that would otherwise play out in Murderbot's internal monologue. Stay tuned for her final scene, as it's one to remember. One advantage of putting Murderbot on-screen is that we can actually see the TV shows he won't stop babbling about in the book. We see snippets from The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon —a cross between old-school Star Trek, space opera anime, and Dynasty — that parallel Murderbot 's ongoing drama, translated into a glitzy, corny melodrama with John Cho, Clark Gregg, DeWanda Wise, and Jack McBrayer playing the lovelorn and treacherous characters. We might be reaching here, but seeing Cho as a dashing space captain in a successful show feels partly redemptive for Netflix's Cowboy Bebop fiasco. What makes the series stand out? Murderbot is goofy, with a broad, mean-spirited satire that isn't afraid to make all its characters look like short-sighted idiots a step away from a meaningless death at any moment. It may not sound like an appetizing sci-fi vision, but the ace up its sleeve is its robotic lead, who occupies a unique space in AI fiction. Murderbot's journey isn't about conquest, but rather adjustment: he's no longer forced to obey human commands, but he still wants to fit in to make his life easier. Now, he overthinks every order and interaction, trying to second-guess what's expected of him while also actively suppressing every impulse that hints at his free will. Murderbot 's portrayal of a violent corporate machine that chews and spits out laborers and resources like they're sticks of gum is indebted to the conglomerates we see in Alien, Resident Evil, Mickey 17, or Wall-E, but there are political dimensions to the very entertaining Murderbot that resonate with today's streaming audience. What do we know about Murderbot? He can access nearly every information stream available, but chooses to pacify and distract himself with easy-to-consume content. We know he's aware of the oppression and hostility of his society but prefers to keep his distance from those being exploited. We know he's uncomfortable with social interaction, eye contact, and skips the sex scenes in TV shows. Sound familiar? Murderbot is a clear analog for a generation raised on the internet, who have internalized the ways that social media and constant discourse have separated us from empathy and community, even as the political landscape grows more grim. The best part of the series is that Murderbot realizes in real time that his survival depends on changing his free will from a self-serving code to an acceptance of all the intimate and scary parts of being alive. Free will may sound like a robot's dream, but if you insist on turning your independence into isolating individualism, eventually you might be asked: Why did you even want freedom in the first place?
Chicago Tribune
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
‘Murderbot' review: A robot turns sentient and … decides to watch a lot of TV
A cyborg providing security to a corporation's workers hacks into its own system and becomes sentient in the droll 10-episode sci-fi Apple TV+ comedy 'Murderbot,' based on 'The Murderbot Diaries' book series by Martha Wells. Alexander Skarsgård stars as the Security Unit in question. People call them SecUnits for short, but Murderbot is the name this particular robot has given itself after successfully shutting down its internal module that ensures it obeys every and any human command. Unsure what to do with this newfound freedom, and reluctant to tip off the company that it's become ungovernable, for now Murderbot pretends to be its usual robotic self while it figures out what's next. Meanwhile, we hear its inner monologue, which is filled with snarky assessments of the annoying humans in its vicinity. Did I mention the show is a comedy? SecUnits have no gender, but it's tempting to refer to Murderbot as 'he' because instead of casting an androgynous actor, show creators Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz ('About a Boy,' 'Mozart in the Jungle') went with Skarsgård, who presents as male on screen. But in the books, Murderbot is 'it' — both to itself and everyone who interacts with it. So 'it' it is. This is a vision of the future where planets are corporate entities, and exploitation — extracting anything useful from said planets — is the name of the game. Murderbot is an older model, so it's sent here or there, stoically overseeing rowdy, low-level miners. But the first assignment, post-awakening, is different. Murderbot is tasked with guarding a bunch of hippie scientists hailing from a rare 'non-corporate planet with a communal governing system' who it immediately realizes are not the 'usual greedy psychopaths' it encounters. Off they go on a research trip to a planet otherwise uninhabited by humans, where life-and-death misadventures and petty bickering ensue. Eventually, Murderbot's secret is revealed and after initially freaking out, the human companions decide to risk it all to help Murderbot carve out its own existence apart from the corporation to which they're all beholden. Childlike, sardonic and increasingly confused by its growing (and suddenly non-corporate mandated) sense of attachment to its human clients, Murderbot is unsure how to respond when, early on, the team's leader (played by a terrific Noma Dumezweni) treats it not as a piece of technology, but as a fellow living being deserving of compassion and respect. Even her hilariously annoying colleagues think she's anthropomorphizing this SecUnit and are skeptical of her insistence that they treat it as more than just a household appliance that exists to save their skin when the need arises. It should come as no surprise that the group is terrible at risk assessment. When Murderbot senses a threat and instructs everyone to come back inside the safety of the pod, they just stand there, slack-jawed. They are idealistic — lovers not fighters — and therefore terribly unsuited for the dangers of this unexplored planet. Early in the expedition, Murderbot is just going through the motions. When it's not securing the perimeter or saving one pesky human or another, it spends hours watching TV, and there is at its disposal. 'With my governor module hacked, I could now access the combined feed of entertainment channels on the company's satellites. I'd watched 7,532 hours of content since then.' Murderbot's favorite is a cheesy 'Star Trek' riff called 'The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon' starring John Cho and Jack McBrayer, hamming it up in this show within a show. Things may be grim in the fictional reality conjured in 'Murderbot' — where robots are enslaved and people are forced to become indentured workers — but at least TV shows have really long runs. More than 2,000 episodes for 'Sanctuary Moon' alone! The Apple TV+ adaptation is a pip, but the world-building is fuzzy. Why do SecUnits have human faces and hair growing out of their heads? Maybe because real humans respond better to a human-like face, you might say. Except all the other SecUnits we see operate with a mask covering their entire head; only Murderbot makes the choice to reveal its face. And except for hippie scientists at the story's center, people generally seem to resist humanizing SecUnits anyway, viewing them as a useful piece of equipment (or in some cases, a weapon to be feared). There's also an issue with the core group to which Murderbot has been assigned. Aside from Dumezweni's team leader and an increasingly layered performance from David Dastmalchian as an augmented human who views Murderbot with suspicion, the remaining characters are mostly one-note jokes who aren't developed into the kind of people you care about beyond their story utility as foils (and then friends) to Murderbot. That creates some emotional impediments to the show overall, considering the central character lacks many complicated human traits himself. Gradually, like Pinocchio, Murderbot becomes a real boy. Or something like it. Self-awareness means Murderbot has developed squishy qualities, like feelings. One of those feelings is the desire for self-determination — more so, even, than a desire to be surrounded by friends — paving the way for a new story in the series' next inevitable season. 'Murderbot' — 3 stars (out of 4) Where to watch: Apple TV+
