#FactCheck: Fake video falsely claims FM Sitharaman endorsed investment scheme

Overview of the India-UK Joint Tech Security Initiative

India and the UK have been deepening their technological and security ties through various initiatives and agreements. One of the key developments in this partnership is the India-UK Joint Tech Security Initiative, which focuses on enhancing collaboration in areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI),telecommunications, and critical technologies. Building upon the bilateral cooperation agenda set out in the India-UK Roadmap 2030, which seeks to bolster cooperation across various sectors, including trade, climate change, antidefense, the UK and India launched the Joint Tech Security Initiative (TSI) on July 24, 2024. This initiative will priorities collaboration in critical and emerging technologies across priority sectors. Coordinating with the national security agencies of both countries, the TSI will set priority areas and identify interdependencies for cooperation on critical and emerging technologies. This, in turn, will help build meaningful technology value chain partnerships between India & the UK.

The TSI will be coordinated by the National Security Advisors (NSAs) of both countries through existing and new dialogues. The NSAswill set priority areas and identify interdependencies for cooperation on critical and emerging tech, helping build meaningful technology value chain partnerships between the two countries. Progress made on the initiative will be reviewed on a half-yearly basis at the Deputy NSA level. A bilateral mechanism will be established led by India's Ministry of External Affairs and the UK government for promotion of trade in critical and emerging technologies, including resolution of relevant licensing or regulatory issues. Both countries view this TSI as a platform and a strong signal of intent to build and grow sustainable and tangible partnerships across priority tech sectors. They will explore how to build a deeper strategic partnership between UK and Indian research and technology centres and Incubators, enhance cooperation across UK and India tech and innovation ecosystems, and create a channel for industry and academia to help shape the TSI.

The UK and India are launching new bilateral initiatives to expand and deepen their technology security partnership. These initiatives will focus on various domains, including telecoms, critical minerals, semiconductors, and energy security.

In telecoms, the UK and India will build a new Future Telecoms Partnership, focusing on joint research on future telecoms, open RAN systems, testbed linkups, telecoms security, spectrum innovation, software and systems architecture. This will include collaboration between UK's SONIC Labs, India's Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), and Dot's Telecoms Startup Mission.

In critical minerals, the UK and India will expand their collaboration on critical minerals, working together to improve supply chain resilience, explore possible research and development and technology partnerships along the complete critical minerals value chain, and share best practices on ESG standards. They will establish a roadmap for cooperation and establish a UK-India ‘critical minerals’ community of academics, innovators, and industry.

Key Areas of Collaboration:

• Strengthening cybersecurity defense and enhancing resilience through joint cybersecurity exercises and information-sharing and developing common standards and best practices while collaborating with their respective organisations, ie, CERT-In and NCSC.
• Promotion of ethical AI development and deployment with AI ethics guidelines and frameworks, and efforts encouraging academic collaborations. Support for new partnerships between UK and Indian research organizations alongside existing joint programmes using AI to tackle global challenges.
• Building secure and resilient telecom infrastructure with a focus on security and exchange of expertise and regulatory cooperation. Collaboration on Open Radio Access Networks tech to name as an example.
• Critical and emerging technologies development by advancing research and innovation in the quantum, semiconductors and biotechnology niches. Promoting and investing in tech startups and innovation ecosystems. Engaging in policy dialogues on tech governance and standards.
• Digital economy and trade facilitation to promote economic growth by enhancing frameworks and agreements for it. Collaborating on digital payment systems and fintech solutions and most importantly promoting data protection and privacy standards.

Outlook and Impact on the Industry

The initiative sets out a new approach for how the UK and India work together on the defining technologies of this decade. These include areas such as telecoms, critical minerals, AI, quantum, health/biotechnology, advanced materials and semiconductors. While the initiative looks promising, several challenges need to be addressed such as the need to put robust regulatory frameworks in place, and develop a balanced approach for data privacy and information exchange in the cross-border data flows. It is imperative to install mechanisms that ensure that intellectual property is protected while the facilitation of technology transfer is not hampered. Above all, geopolitical risks need to be navigated in a manner that the tensions are reduced and a stable partnership grows. The Initiative builds on a series of partnerships between India and the UK, as well as between industry and academia.  Abilateral mechanism, led by India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the UK government, will promote trade in critical and emerging technologies, including the resolution of relevant licensing or regulatory issues.

Conclusion

This initiative, at its core, will drive forward a bilateral partnership that is framed on boosting economic growth and deepening cooperation across key issues including trade, technology, education, culture and climate.  By combining their strengths, the UK and India are poised to create a robust framework for technological innovation and security that could serve as a model for international cooperation in tech.

References

• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-uk-launch-joint-tech-security-initiative-101721876539784.html
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-india-technology-security-initiative-factsheet/uk-india-technology-security-initiative-factsheet
• https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/india-uk-unveil-futuristic-technology-security-initiative-to-seal-fta-soon-124072500014_1.htm
• https://bharatshakti.in/india-uk-technology-security-initiative/

Introduction

Misinformation has the potential to impact people, communities and institutions alike, and the ramifications can be far-ranging. From influencing voter behaviours and consumer choices to shaping personal beliefs and community dynamics, the information we consume in our daily lives affects every aspect of our existence. And so, when this very information is flawed or incomplete, whether accidentally or deliberately so, it has the potential to confuse and mislead people. 

‘Debunking’ is the process of exposing false information or countering inaccuracies and manipulation by presenting actual facts. The goal is to minimise the harmful effects of misinformation by informing and educating people. Debunking initiatives work hard to expose false information and cut down conspiracies, catalogue evidence of false information, clearly identify sources of misinformation vs. accurate information, and assert the truth. Debunking looks at building capacity and educating people both as a strategy and goal. 

Debunking is most effective when it comes from trusted sources, provides detailed explanations, and offers guidance and verifiable advice. Debunking is reactive in nature and it focuses on specific instances of misinformation and is closely tied to fact-checking. Debunking aims to mitigate the impact of misinformation that has already spread. As such, the approach is to contain and correct, post-occurrence. The most common method of debunking is collaboration between fact-checking groups and social media companies. When journalists or other fact-checkers identify false or misleading content, social media sites flag or label it such, so that audiences are alerted. Debunking is an essential method for reducing the impact and incidence of misinformation by providing real facts and increasing overall  accuracy of content  in the digital information ecosystem.

Role of Debunking the Misinformation 

Debunking fights against false or misleading information by correcting false claims, myths, and misinformation with evidence-based rebuttals. It combats untruths and the spread of misinformation by providing and disseminating debunked evidence to the public. Debunking by presenting evidence that contradicts misleading facts and encourages individuals to develop fact-checking habits and proactively check for authenticated sources. Debunking plays a vital role in boosting trust in credible sources by offering evidence-based corrections and enhancing the credibility of online information. By exposing falsehoods and endorsing qualities like information completeness and evidence-backed data and logic, debunking efforts help create a culture of well-informed and constructive public conversations and analytical exchanges. Effectively dispelling myths and misinformation can help create communities and societies that are more educated, resilient, and goal-oriented.

Debunking as a tailoring Strategy to counter Misinformation 

Understanding the information environment and source trustworthiness is critical for developing effective debunking techniques. Successful debunking efforts use clear messages, appealing forms, and targeted distribution to reach a wide range of netizens.  Debunking as an effective method for combating misinformation includes analysing successful efforts, using fact-checking, relying on reputable sources for corrections, and using scientific communication. Fact-checking plays a critical role in ensuring information accuracy and holding people accountable for making misleading claims. Collaborative efforts and transparent techniques can boost the credibility and efficacy of fact-checking activities and boost the legitimacy and effectiveness of debunking initiatives at a larger scale. Scientific communication is also critical for debunking myths about different topics/concerns by giving evidence-based information. Clear and understandable framing of scientific knowledge is critical for engaging broad audiences and effectively refuting misinformation. 

CyberPeace Policy Recommendations

1. It is recommended that debunking initiatives must highlight core facts, emphasising what is true over what is wrong and establishing a clear contrast between the two. This is crucial as people are more likely to believe familiar information even if they learn later that it is incorrect. Debunking must provide a comprehensive explanation, filling the ‘information gap’ created by the myth. This can be done by explaining things as clearly as possible, as people may stop paying attention if they are faced with an overload of competing information. The use of visuals to illustrate core facts is an effective way to help people understand the issue and clearly tell the difference between information and misinformation.
2. Individuals can play a role in debunking misinformation on social media by highlighting inconsistencies, recommending related articles with corrections or sharing trusted sources and debunking reports in their communities. 
3. Governments and regulatory agencies can improve information openness by demanding explicit source labelling and technical measures to be implemented on platforms. This can increase confidence in information sources and equip people to practice discernment when they consume content online. Governments should also support and encourage independent fact-checking organisations that are working to disprove misinformation. Digital literacy programmes may teach the public how to critically assess information online and spot any misinformation.
4. Tech businesses may enhance algorithms for detecting and flagging misinformation, therefore reducing the propagation of misleading information. Offering options for people to report suspicious/doubtful information and misinformation can empower them and help them play an active role in identifying and rectifying inaccurate information online and foster a more responsible information environment on the platforms.
   

Conclusion

Debunking is an effective strategy to counter widespread misinformation through a combination of fact-checking, scientific evidence, factual explanations, verified facts and corrections. Debunking can play an important role in fostering a culture where people look for authenticity while consuming the information and place a high value on trusted and verified information. A collaborative strategy can increase the legitimacy and reach of debunking efforts, making them more effective in reaching larger audiences and being easy-to-understand for a wide range of demographics. In a complex and ever-evolving digital ecosystem, it is important to build information resilience both at the macro level for the ecosystem as a whole and at the micro level, with the individual consumer. Only then can we ensure a culture of mindful, responsible content creation and consumption. 

References

1. https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/nato_stratcom_coe_fact-checking_and_debunking_02-02-2021-1.pdf

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Introduction:

CDR is a term that refers to Call detail records, The Telecom Industries holds the call details data of the users. As it amounts to a large amount of data, the telecom companies retain the data for a period of 6 months. CDR plays a significant role in investigations and cases in the courts. It can be used as pivotal evidence in court proceedings to prove or disprove certain facts & circumstances. Power of Interception of Call detail records is allowed for reasonable grounds and only by the authorized authority as per the laws. 

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Admissibility of CDR’s in Courts:

Call Details Records (CDRs) can be used as effective pieces of evidence to assist the court in ascertaining the facts of the particular case and inquiring about the commission of an offence, and according to the judicial pronouncements, it is made clear that CDRs can be used supporting or secondary evidence in the court. However, it cannot be the sole basis of the conviction. Section 92 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973 provides procedure and empowers certain authorities to apply for court or competent authority intervention to seek the CDR. 

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Legal provisions to obtain CDR:

The CDR can be obtained under the statutory provisions of law contained in section 92 Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. Or under section 5(2) of Indian Telegraph Act 1885, read with rule 419(A) Indian Telegraph Amendment rule 2007. The guidelines were also issued in 2016 by Ministry of Ministry of Home Affairs for seeking Call details records (CDRs)

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How long is CDR stored with telecom Companies (Data Retention)

Call Data is retained by telecom companies for a period of 6 months. As the data amounts to high storage, almost several Petabytes per year, telecom companies store the call details data for a period of 6 months and archive the rest of it to tapes. 

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New Delhi 25Cr jewellery heist 

Recently, an incident took place where a 25-crore jewellery theft was carried out in a jewellery shop in Delhi, It was planned and executed by a man from Chhattisgarh. After committing the crime, the criminal went back to Chhattisgarh. It was a case of a 25Cr heist, and the police started their search & investigation. Police used technology and analysed the mobile numbers which were active at the crime scene. Delhi police used advanced software to analyse data. The police were able to trace the mobile number of thieves or suspects active at the crime scene. They discovered suspected contacts who were active within the range of the crime scene, and it helped in the arrest of the main suspects.  From around 5,000 mobile numbers active around the crime scene, police have used advanced software that analyses huge data, and then police found a number registered outside of Delhi.  The surveillance on the number has revealed that the suspected criminal has moved to the MP from Delhi, then moved further to Bhilai Chattisgarh. Police have successfully arrested the suspected criminal. This incident highlights how technology or call data can assist law enforcement agencies in investigating and finding the real culprits.

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Conclusion: 

CDR refers to call detail records retained by telecom companies for a period of 6 months, it can be obtained through lawful procedure and by competent authorities only. CDR can be helpful in cases before the court or law enforcement agencies, to assist the court and law enforcement agencies in ascertaining the facts of the case or to prove or disprove certain things. It is important to reiterated that unauthorized seeking of CDR is not allowed; the intervention of the court or competent authority is required to seek the CDR from the telecom companies. CDRs cannot be unauthorizedly obtained, and there has to be a directive from the court or competent authority to do so.

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References:

• https://indianlegalsystem.org/cdr-the-wonder-word/#:~:text=CDR%20is%20admissible%20as%20secondary,the%20Indian%20Evidence%20Act%2C%201872.
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/needle-in-a-haystack-how-cops-scanned-5k-mobile-numbers-to-crack-rs-25cr-heist/articleshow/104055687.cms?from=mdr
• https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/just-one-man-planned-executed-rs-25-crore-delhi-heist-another-thief-did-him-in-4436494

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