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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Reel life in the dark room of Emergency
It didn't take even three decades for the sovereign democratic Republic of India to face a nation-wide internal Emergency (June 25, 1975–March 21, 1977), which in practice meant democratic despotism and electoral autocracy. Both paradoxical and contradictory-in-terms, when film producers, directors and artistes saw how their freedom was clipped while the censorial scissors became extra-constitutionally sharper in the hands of an elected despot. After the Emergency got over, the newly elected Janata Party government at the Centre published a White Paper on Misuse of Mass Media During the Internal Emergency in August 1977, that listed all branches of mass media (including cinema) and examined how their rights were violated through the reckless abuse of power. Playback singer Kishore Kumar was another artiste who fell out with the authorities during the Emergency. (HT Photo) My story begins with two instances from Southern India that the White Paper did not mention. Incidentally, on the very day of the clamping of the draconian Emergency, i.e. June 25, 1975, a Kannada film was winding up its shooting while a Malayalam film project was being launched in Bengaluru; the Malayalam film crew was in the Karnataka capital because at that time the State government was offering a subsidy of ₹ 50,000 to producers who made films in that state. The Malayalam film was Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol (When the Kabani River Turned Red, 1975). The director of the film, PA Backer, and its producer, Pavithran, are no more, but I spoke with TV Chandran, who debuted as an actor in Kabani (Chandran is better known as a screenwriter and director in Kerala today). Chandran recalled how they were harassed during the shoot because the film dealt with the theme of student revolt against the establishment. Later, the censors asked the producer to chop off nearly 1,000 feet of the footage. Parts of the film were reshot and was resubmitted to two central representatives. The film was screened for the two men at the massive Kalaivanar Arangam theatre in Madras (Chennai), who did not find anything objectionable in it. However, Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol was withdrawn from a cinema hall in Thiruvananthapuram a couple of weeks after its release under government instruction. This time, the police ordered further cuts. The second story is about the Kannada film, Chanda Maruta (Rogue Winds, 1975) starring Snehalatha Reddy and directed by her husband Pattabhi Rama Reddy. The film, inspired by P Lankesh's play Kranthi Bantu Kranthi had, in fact, prophesied the Emergency. The censors banned the film. On June 25, 1975, Snehalata Reddy, who was one part of the lead pair (along with Girish Karnad) in Samskara (1970), Pattabhi Rama Reddy's adaptation of UR Ananthamurthy's celebrated novel, was imprisoned on false charges. She was tortured in Bangalore Central Prison and passed away while on parole on January 20, 1977. She was only 45. Eminent Malayalam writer-director MT Vasudevan Nair had planned to make a film about her, which, unfortunately, didn't happen. However, Uma Chakravarti's documentary Prison Diaries (2019) provides us an invaluable document about the imprisonment of a number of women who resisted the Emergency through the life of Snehalatha Reddy. Anand Patwardhan's 1978 film Prisoners of Conscience is a chronicle of how, under the Emergency, dissenters were detained and tortured in prisons. Among the films the White Paper mentions is Aandhi (Storm, 1975) directed by Gulzar and starring Sanjiv Kumar and Suchitra Sen. The film's heroine was to be modelled on Indira Gandhi but that idea was dropped. Permission was granted only after the producer revised the film. Kissa Kursi Ka, directed by Amrit Nahata in 1975, fared worse. The film was a satire on the politics of that time. It was first banned and later, its prints were confiscated. The film as well as its negative were destroyed. Andolan, directed by Lekh Tandon (1975) dealt with the 1942 movement. It could not be released because the producer was ordered to cut all the portions dealing with underground activities that were contextualised around the story. Even the blockbuster Sholay wasn't spared. The censors asked the producer to change the end scenes. Playback singer Kishore Kumar was another artiste who fell out with the authorities during the Emergency. As a result, his songs were banned from the radio and television, both controlled by the government, and the sale of gramophone records with his songs was made unlawful! Such bullying and arm-twisting by the central government were commonplace during the 21 months of the Emergency. Like Snehalatha Reddy and Kishore Kumar, not everyone meekly surrendered. Actor Dev Anand opposed the Emergency publicly and described it as a 'dark night, a nightmare, an insult to the people'. He even formed a political party – the National Party of India – which had to be disbanded when he failed to find suitable candidates to fight elections after the Emergency was lifted in 1977. As the nation commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, these instances of pushback should be remembered. Amrit Gangar is a Mumbai-based author, curator and historian. The views expressed are personal.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Gemini Forged like Achilles: Google Shields Gemini, with Powerful Security Advancements.
What are these threats that AI has grown vulnerable to? Live Events How does Google protect their Gemini models from such threats? Delving a bit deeper into these methods of increasing security: Automated Red Teaming (ART) and Adversarial Fine Tuning: Instruction-Data Separation: Constant Evaluation: As AI expands itself into more industries, the need for AI to be forged like a modern-day Achilles becomes increasingly necessary. For, the more its branches extend into various sectors, the more vulnerable it shall become to the ever-evolving minefield of digital threats. Google DeepMind has unveiled an upgrade to the security safeguards, with a goal to protect its Gemini its newly launched 'White Paper,' Google has laid down its strategic blueprint for combating 'indirect prompt injections' that make agentic AI tools supported by advanced large language models vulnerable to attacks of such kind. Google has made its wants clear to the public, wherein they choose to create AI tools that aren't just capable but also tools that are agents are known for their ability to fulfill straightforward tasks in a moment's time; completion of said tasks, however, involves garnering access to information from various means, such as documents, calendars, or external websites. 'Indirect prompt injection' infects these data sources with 'malicious instructions designed to trick AI into sharing private data or misusing its permissions.'Indirect prompt Injection has become an emerging cybersecurity challenge, AI falls short on identifying the difference between instructions from a genuine user and manipulative commands embedded within the data they prompt injection attacks tend to be complex and often require constant surveillance with the requirement of multiple layers of defense. Rather than combatting these challenges manually, evoking a slow and inefficient result, Google has built an automated system that relentlessly strengthens Gemini's strategy essentially involves the internal team constantly attacking Gemini in relevant ways to pinpoint security weaknesses that Gemini possesses. This technique, in comparison to the others elaborately mentioned in the 'white paper,' helped significantly to increase Gemini's protection rate against 'indirect prompt injection' attacks while the tool is being used by the makes modern-day cyberattacks malicious is their adaptive nature. Upon being struck once by the security safeguards, they return again, with adaptive measures, ensuring they make palpable damage. Hence, basic security measures work well against non-adaptive cyberattacks, the kind that stands in contrast to the one explained to combat complex attacks such as this, Gemini's security enhancements ensure focus on both proactive and reactive strategies:'ART generates effective indirect prompt injections targeting sensitive information.' This essentially mimics the tactics of real-world adversaries, which in turn teaches Gemini to ignore such malicious embedded instructions and follow the original user request, resulting in the model only providing the correct and secure answer it is meant to provide. Further, this form of training lets the model innately understand how it must handle compromised information that evolves over time as part of adaptive safeguard helps Gemini differentiate between a command fed to the model by the genuine user and prompts that are embedded with malicious instructions. This is deemed to be an essential defense line against prompt the attacks' adaptive capabilities, it asks for constant surveillance; therefore, the system is tested using a dynamic feedback loop of continuous understands that this isn't a 'solved' problem but merely a step forward into the minefield. As generative AI becomes a pivot to search, productivity tools, assistance, and more, the stakes for secure and trustworthy AI are higher than ever. Therefore, Gemini's upgrade marks a key milestone in this AI race, where they ensure that powerful tools such as these remain loyal to their wielder.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
You're wasting your breath Mr Swinney: who needs another conversation?
Independence activists are right to be worried. There's no economic plan. The White Paper is long forgotten, the Growth Commission dumped, and nothing credible has taken their place. Meanwhile, they rage at Brexit for damaging 17% of Scottish trade, while pushing for separation from the UK, which accounts for over 60%. The hypocrisy would be comic if the consequences weren't so serious. And then there was the toxic alliance with the Scottish Greens, a partnership that's alienated voters and dragged the Government into the mire of money-losing projects and culture wars. No wonder turnout among independence supporters is collapsing. People have switched off. The truth is, the movement is exhausted. The SNP has run out of ideas, out of talent, and – soon – out of time. Even its most loyal backers are beginning to see it. Scotland doesn't need another 'conversation'. It needs a government focused on real priorities, not constitutional daydreams. Voters are waking up to that and not bothering to vote and those who do are switching to Reform and Labour. It's time for Mr Swinney to find his slippers and put his feet up before he is unceremoniously shown the door. Ian Lakin, Aberdeen. Pretence from the First Minister Presenting you and your party as an attractive proposition after 18 years of questionable performance in power is no easy feat. What you most need is some standout out successes that stick in the public consciousness ('Bid to oust Swinney just self-indulgent rubbish, says ex-MP', The Herald, June 18). Yet for the SNP's own core supporters as well as undecided voters and those committed to countering nationalist rhetoric, what stands out most about the SNP's time in power are largely the negatives. Missing the targets they set for themselves in healthcare, education and the environment. Wasting huge amounts of public funds on mismanaged forays into running businesses. Failing to make meaningful progress in critical areas of concern from drug deaths to the attainment gap in education. Read more letters As for independence, John Swinney chose to return to it at the Scotland 2050 conference as his preferred go-to solution for all that is wrong in Scotland. Otherwise, he would be left with having to try to defend the indefensible, namely the SNP's numerous mistakes and missteps in over 18 years of trying to run Scotland. In his two keynote speeches over the last couple of days John Swinney has effectively asked the people of Scotland to join him in pretending that the SNP is not the main problem, but rather that he and his government are going to start doing things so much better in the future and that in any case most problems would be eased if only we would turn our backs on our fellow UK citizens. The difficulties encountered in leaving the EU have provided an abject lesson of how problematic it can be to achieve the many claims of those promoting walking away from a union. Leaving the much deeper and longer-standing interdependence within the UK holds greater risks and challenges. John Swinney hopes we do not think too much about all of that and instead join him in his comforting pretence. Keith Howell, West Linton. • After the 2024 General Election, in which the SNP lost heavily, Stephen Flynn said: 'It's a time for reflection, it's a time to listen'. John Swinney said 'the party failed to convince people". But lo and behold, less than a year after this defeat they are now saying 'independence is within reach' and 'we want to be a nation state in our own right'. They obviously haven't reflected very much or listened if they are now churning out the same old mantra on independence again. Jim Robertson, Glasgow. Decolonise Scotland How is Scotland's return to being a sovereign nation to be achieved and its preferences tested? In April Kathleen Nutt stated that a border poll for Ireland would be triggered by opinion polling, quoting a Northern Ireland minister. We know that in Scotland no matter how many seats Scottish pro-independence parties win, that senior (English) politicians have repeatedly proclaimed a referendum would not be granted by them while in office. Why wouldn't polling in Scotland mandate an independence referendum just as it does in that other part of the UK, and would the judiciary agree that Scotland being prohibited amounted to discrimination? Scotland is already at 54% in favour of independence and rising, just as the UK appears to be heading for a period of political chaos and instability. I personally now think a new referendum would not be helpful to anyone, given the constitutionally partisan nature of the vast majority of the media which operates in Scotland: it would engender long-lasting angst and outrage over perceptions about bias and fairness. Perhaps, like many other components of the Empire, Scotland could simply morph into independence if it wanted to, with a reasonable proportion of our citizens in favour. We can also look at the recent argument from distinguished historians in England which claims no union ever took place; 'Scotland' was extinguished and a Greater England was formed (or Scotland was added to the English Empire). So we need to decolonise Scotland. GR Weir, Ochiltree. What planet is CalMac on? Once again I do not know whether I should write to the Editor or the Diary, as you report today that an engineer is being flown in from Norway to fix the ailing MV Caledonian Isles' troublesome gearboxes ("Caledonian Isles return delayed as specialist flies in from Norway", heraldscotland, June 18). He will wonder what planet he has arrived on or perhaps think he has ventured into a working museum. He will return to Norway with lots of stories about overcrowding on CalMac ferries, and that's just the crew. It will be something like the spacemen in Cadbury's Smash advert from the 1970s. "And they take their ferries... and they run them until they rust away... hahahaha... and they fill them with more crew than passengers... hahahahaha... and they build them too big for their harbours... hahahahaha... and they paint windows on them... hahahahaha... and then launch them with wooden funnels... hahahahaha... and they take eight years to build... hahahaha... and they cost £250 million each... hahahahahaha... and they are building electric ferries that can't be charged... hahahaha..." Peter Wright, West Kilbride. The MV Caledonian Isles (Image: Newsquest) How to stop the boats You report that French Police Nationale, apparently tooled up in riot gear, fired tear gas at migrants waiting on sand dunes for small boats to appear ("Tear gas deployed against migrants", The Herald, June 18 ). This is both unpleasant and pointless as these police then simply stand around watching the migrants as they wade waist-deep into the shallows to wait there for a small boat to appear to take them across the Channel. Keir Starmer has said it is the 'duty" of his government to stop the small boats, but these half-hearted procedures by the French will never achieve that. Nor will faffing about trying and failing to 'smash the gangs" through ineffective international cooperation. What the PM is faced with is essentially a matter of supply (the gangs) and demand (the migrants). The solution is to remove the demand and the supply will go also. All Keir Starmer needs to do is to take resolute action here in the UK by legislating that anyone breaking our law by arriving here illegally would be disqualified automatically from staying here. They would be detained securely until deported, presumably back to France. That would send a clear message that attempting to cross the Channel in the small boats would be pointless, removing both demand and supply. Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop.
Rhyl Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
ECHR must be reformed to restore ‘fraying' public confidence
Shabana Mahmood told the Council of Europe in a speech in Strasbourg the ECHR 'must evolve' to respond to new realities. It comes as the Government also seeks to tighten the interpretation of the human rights laws in the UK. On Wednesday, the Lord Chancellor said: 'Across Europe, public confidence in the rule of law is fraying 'There is a growing perception – sometimes mistaken, sometimes grounded in reality – that human rights are no longer a shield for the vulnerable, but a tool for criminals to avoid responsibility. 'That the law too often protects those who break the rules, rather than those who follow them.' 'This tension is not new. But in today's world, the threats to justice and liberty are more complex. They can come from technology, transnational crime, uncontrolled migration, or legal systems that drift away from public consent.' Ms Mahmood told European ambassadors the UK was committed to the ECHR, but that was 'not the same as complacency'. She added that when the application of rights 'begins to feel out of step with common sense', that is where trust begins to erode. Her call for change comes as the Government plans to tighten the use of Article 8 of the ECHR, the right to private and family life, in immigration cases in the UK. This includes cases involving foreign criminals. Under the plans unveiled in the immigration White Paper last month, the Home Office will bring forward legislation to try to reduce the number of people claiming 'exceptional circumstances' under Article 8 to stay in the UK. Ms Mahmood said: 'The right to family life is fundamental. But it has too often been used in ways that frustrate deportation, even where there are serious concerns about credibility, fairness, and risk to the public. 'We're bringing clarity back to the distinction between what the law protects and what policy permits.' She also said judges cannot be asked to solve political problems and so reform must be a 'shared political endeavour' among member states. The Lord Chancellor added: 'The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the great achievements of post-war politics. It has endured because it has evolved. Now, it must do so again.' Following Ms Mahmood's speech, a No 10 spokesman said it should be for Parliament and the Government to decide who has the right to remain in the country. 'We want to ensure the right balance is made in migration cases in relation to the national interest,' the spokesman said. The Lord Chancellor was making a broader point that 'now is the time for countries to work together to ensure the ECHR can evolve to meet the challenges facing modern democracies'. But, he added: 'The Government has been clear that Britain will remain a member of the ECHR, it underpins key international agreements on trade, security, on migration, on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.' A Tory spokesman said Kemi Badenoch had been clear that 'we would do whatever is necessary to ensure the supremacy of UK laws, and set a number of clear tests, including the deportation test, and made clear that if necessary, we would leave the ECHR'. But responding to the speech Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said that any reform of the ECHR must 'shore up universal protections, not chip away at them'. He said: 'If the UK starts picking and choosing who merits protection from torture, family separation or arbitrary removal, it will undermine not just its moral authority but the rule of law itself, weakening its hand when speaking out against rights abuses abroad.'
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Politics
- Leader Live
ECHR must be reformed to restore ‘fraying' public confidence
Shabana Mahmood told the Council of Europe in a speech in Strasbourg the ECHR 'must evolve' to respond to new realities. It comes as the Government also seeks to tighten the interpretation of the human rights laws in the UK. On Wednesday, the Lord Chancellor said: 'Across Europe, public confidence in the rule of law is fraying 'There is a growing perception – sometimes mistaken, sometimes grounded in reality – that human rights are no longer a shield for the vulnerable, but a tool for criminals to avoid responsibility. 'That the law too often protects those who break the rules, rather than those who follow them.' 'This tension is not new. But in today's world, the threats to justice and liberty are more complex. They can come from technology, transnational crime, uncontrolled migration, or legal systems that drift away from public consent.' Ms Mahmood told European ambassadors the UK was committed to the ECHR, but that was 'not the same as complacency'. She added that when the application of rights 'begins to feel out of step with common sense', that is where trust begins to erode. Her call for change comes as the Government plans to tighten the use of Article 8 of the ECHR, the right to private and family life, in immigration cases in the UK. This includes cases involving foreign criminals. Under the plans unveiled in the immigration White Paper last month, the Home Office will bring forward legislation to try to reduce the number of people claiming 'exceptional circumstances' under Article 8 to stay in the UK. Ms Mahmood said: 'The right to family life is fundamental. But it has too often been used in ways that frustrate deportation, even where there are serious concerns about credibility, fairness, and risk to the public. 'We're bringing clarity back to the distinction between what the law protects and what policy permits.' She also said judges cannot be asked to solve political problems and so reform must be a 'shared political endeavour' among member states. The Lord Chancellor added: 'The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the great achievements of post-war politics. It has endured because it has evolved. Now, it must do so again.' Following Ms Mahmood's speech, a No 10 spokesman said it should be for Parliament and the Government to decide who has the right to remain in the country. 'We want to ensure the right balance is made in migration cases in relation to the national interest,' the spokesman said. The Lord Chancellor was making a broader point that 'now is the time for countries to work together to ensure the ECHR can evolve to meet the challenges facing modern democracies'. But, he added: 'The Government has been clear that Britain will remain a member of the ECHR, it underpins key international agreements on trade, security, on migration, on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.' A Tory spokesman said Kemi Badenoch had been clear that 'we would do whatever is necessary to ensure the supremacy of UK laws, and set a number of clear tests, including the deportation test, and made clear that if necessary, we would leave the ECHR'. But responding to the speech Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said that any reform of the ECHR must 'shore up universal protections, not chip away at them'. He said: 'If the UK starts picking and choosing who merits protection from torture, family separation or arbitrary removal, it will undermine not just its moral authority but the rule of law itself, weakening its hand when speaking out against rights abuses abroad.'
