π¦ π Is democracy now "backsliding" in the US? | πͺπ WhatsApp hints at leaving India | π€π Ai could kill centres
As the US uses brute force to disperse protesting students, many are asking: "Is democracy backsliding in the US?"; WhatsApp is opposed to India's IT rules; and, AI is coming for call centres.
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Market Watch
Indian benchmark indices ended the day in the red with the Sensex down 609.28 points at 73,730.16, and the Nifty down 150.30 points at 22,420.
Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Private Bank are the biggest losers, while Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Media, and Nifty Pharma were the biggest gainers.
US university protests: Now that the shoe is on the other foot, is democracy backsliding in the US?
The United States has never missed an opportunity to lecture countries like India about freedom of speech and expression. Today when dealing with mass anti-war protests across campuses, the world is showing the mirror to the United States for allowing police to use excessive force to evict protesting students.
The context: Protests have occurred at multiple universities nationwide, including Indiana University, Ohio State University, UCLA, Princeton University, and others, with several arrests and demands for divestment from companies with Israeli ties.
The crackdown on university protest camps across the United States led to hundreds of arrests.
Law enforcement officers used pepper spray and pepper balls to disperse demonstrators with students and activists on social media accusing the police of brutality.
Professors and demonstrators were arrested with a professor being tackled to the ground and detained, and another tasered.
Snipers have been spotted at Ohio and Indiana universities.
An Indian-origin student was arrested and evicted from Princeton University for defiantly continuing with the camped sit-in protests.
The University of Southern California cancelled its main commencement ceremony due to safety concerns linked to the protests, with individual school ceremonies to proceed as planned.
Hypocrisy? Yesterday, India's Ministry of External Affairs on a rare occasion, stated the protests saying that it is closely monitoring the situation. This is how the international press covered the Indian governmentβs response to student protests:
Hereβs how they covered the US protests now: The coverage now largely seems focused on the protests and not on the brutal force used by the police or questioning the universities for ordering mass arrests and detention. The New York Times has even carried an opinion on why the protests do not resonate with everyone at the campus. None of the headlines have the word crackdown or brutal or crushing of dissent:
Even Vox has finally found a semblance of so-called βbalanceβ in their reportage now that it comes to the US:
Did WhatsApp just threaten to leave India?
Not exactly, but WhatsAppβs counsel appearing on behalf at the Delhi High Court insinuated as much. βAs a platform, we are saying, if we are told to break encryption, then WhatsApp goes,β counsel Tejas Karia, appearing for WhatsApp, told a Division Bench of the Delhi HC.
The context: WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, are challenging Rule 4(2) of the 2021 IT Rules, which mandates the identification of the first originator of information, a requirement that WhatsApp's counsel argues is disproportionate and lacks basis in the IT Act.
The company stresses that the platform's commitment to user privacy and encryption is why people use the service.
WhatsApp's main concern is that complying with the IT Rules would mean storing billions of messages for several years - because they could be required to bring it up by Indian enforcement agencies at any time - a requirement not seen anywhere else in the world.
The response: The Indian government contended that the ability to trace message originators is necessary for addressing issues of national security and public order.
The Delhi High Court contended that the right to privacy is not absolute and that it is essential for WhatsApp and the Indian government to strike a balance. The next hearing has been scheduled for August 2024.
Clip du jour
This video of BJP corporators dancing at Delhiβs MCD Sadan:
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AI could kill off most call centres, says Tata Consultancy Services CEO
According to Tata Consultancy Services CEO K Krithivasan, AI advancements could significantly reduce the need for call centres within a year.
The context: AI is set to transform the call centre industry by enabling proactive systems to predict and resolve customer issues, which could lead to a βminimalβ need for traditional call centres, especially in countries like India and the Philippines.
What theyβre saying: Krithivasan predicts that chatbots will soon handle tasks typically managed by call centre agents by analyzing customer transaction histories and other data, with significant progress expected within a year.
Despite the transformative impact of AI, Krithivasan argues that the demand for tech talent will increase, not decrease, necessitating more workforce training to harness this potential, especially in India where a large number of engineering graduates remain underemployed.
Krithivasan cautions against overestimating the immediate benefits of AI and believes that the impact will be more long-term, highlighting the need for more employment and tech talent to meet the growing global industry demand.
ICYMI
π£ The CBI has reportedly recovered arms and ammunition from Sandeshkhali and has now deployed NSG commandos to the area.
π©π»βπ»πβπ» Does the UPSC need an overhaul?
π³οΈ The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the EC regarding repolling at places where NOTA has got the most votes.
π₯ A UK vlogger and her husband were groped at the Thrissur Pooram festival in Kerala.
π’π The Adani Group will now run Indiaβs first transshipment port.
π± Bytedance has said it would rather shut down TikTok in the US than comply with court orders to sell their operations.