BILL IN WORKS, BIG TECH TO PAY FOR NEWS

In a major development, the govt has prepared a new draft legislation that seeks to regulate the Internet, prevent online user harm and, in a first, create provisions to make big tech pay news publishers for the content they funnel on their platforms.

The Digital India Bill, to be opened for public consultations this month, will aim at creating mechanisms whereby social media giants who make money by funnelling news into their feed would need to share their revenue with the original publishers of that news.

Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology, says the matter would be dealt with as part of the Digital India Bill consultations.

The Digital News Publishers Association has long sought its share in the revenue that social media players like Google and Facebook generate by funnelling their content.

The Australian Parliament had in February 2021 enacted the “News Media and Digital Platform Mandatory Bargaining Code” requiring global digital companies to pay for local news content.

NO NEED FOR UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME, IT BRINGS PERVERSE INCENTIVES: CEA

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran Friday said the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) was not necessary for India since natural economic growth would take care of the country’s many aspirations.

At an interaction organised by the CII, he ruled out a UBI scheme and said it may create ground for “perverse incentives” and dissuade people from seeking income-generating opportunities.

Nageswaran said support should be confined to those who may not be able to participate in economic activities and bring them up to a point where they can meaningfully engage in the economy.

India has not reached the stage where it is a moral or economic necessity to have universal social security, he said. For a developed country, which doesn’t have income-generating opportunities and employment-generating opportunities, the state may have to step in and provide the universal basic income kind of coverage.

During the first term of the NDA govt, Arvind Subramanian, who was the CEA then, had proposed the idea of universal basic income to citizens. In the Economic Survey 2016-17, he advocated UBI to cover every citizen’s basic needs, making it easier to administer compared with the many existing anti-poverty schemes.

CHATGPT CREATOR MEETS MODI, DISCUSSES GLOBAL REGULATION FOR AI

Creator of ChatGPT and CEO of Open AI Sam Altman called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and talked about its downside and why it is important to look into it.

“The potential of AI in enhancing India’s tech ecosystem is indeed vast and that too among the youth in particular. We welcome all collaborations that can accelerate our digital transformation for empowering our citizens,” tweeted PM Modi on Friday.

Altman is on a global tour to discuss artificial intelligence during which he has spoken on its disruptive nature and the need for govts to factor in the impact of the rapid pace of change it is beginning to usher.

During his stopover in Dubai, he had said the AI posed an “existential risk” to humanity and felt an international agency like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should oversee its evolution.

“Every tech revolution leads to job change. In two generations, we can adapt to any amount of labour market change and there are new jobs and they are usually better. That is going to happen here, too. Some jobs are going to go away. There will be new, better ones that are difficult to imagine today,” he had said.

“The challenge that the world facing is how we’re going to manage those risks and make sure we still get to enjoy those tremendous benefits. No one wants to destroy the world,” he had said. Predicting massive job losses, he has called for extensive reskilling of workers to meet the demands of the evolving job market.

PENTAGON: MODI’S US VISIT TO SET NEW BENCHMARKS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US this month will set new benchmarks for bilateral ties and some “really big, historic and exciting” announcements are likely to be made on defence cooperation and boosting India’s indigenous military industrial base, the Pentagon has said.

Modi will embark on his first state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden this month.

“When Prime Minister Modi comes to Washington on a state visit, I think it will set new benchmarks for the relationship,” Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said during a panel discussion at the Centre for New American Security.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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DONALD TRUMP TOOK US' NUCLEAR SECRETS WHILE LEAVING WHITE HOUSE

Federal prosecutors unsealed a wide-ranging indictment of Donald Trump on Friday, accusing the former US president of endangering national security by holding on to top secret nuclear and defense documents after leaving the White House.

The 76-year-old Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, took "hundreds" of classified govt documents in cardboard boxes to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the 49-page charge sheet said.

Trump kept the files -- which included records from the Pentagon, CIA and National Security Agency -- unsecured at Mar-a-Lago, which regularly hosted large social events involving tens of thousands of guests over time, the indictment said. On at least two occasions, Trump showed classified documents on US military operations and plans to people not cleared to see them at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, it said.

Trump faces 37 separate counts in the indictment including 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information" relating to specific documents. A conviction on each count carries up to 10 years in prison.

CASH-STRAPPED PAK TO SPEND RS 1.8TN ON DEFENCE, UP 15.5% FROM LAST YEAR

Cash-strapped Pakistan on Friday hiked defence spending by 15.5% and allocated over Rs 1.8 trillion, as the govt unveiled a Rs 14. 4 trillion budget for 2023-24 as it battled to fend off a looming default due to shrinking foreign reserves.

Finance minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the govt will target a growth rate of 3.5% in the coming fiscal year.

“This budget should not be seen as an ‘election budget’ — it should be seen as a ‘responsible budget’,” Dar said as the political parties were getting ready for the next general elections scheduled for later this year.

THE REST

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NEW FLARE-UP IN MANIPUR: 3 SHOT DEAD IN KUKI VILLAGE

Three persons, including an elderly woman, were killed early Friday in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, with villagers alleging that the assailants were dressed in police and IRB (India Reserve Battalion) uniform.

The attack came not long after Kuldiep Singh, security advisor to the Manipur govt, said that the state had not seen violence for 48 hours. Ethnic clashes have roiled the state for more than a month now.

Residents of Khoken village, inhabited by Kukis, alleged that armed men came around 4 am and opened fire in the village, staying there for around two hours.

ODISHA TRAIN TRAGEDY: 82 BODIES UNIDENTIFIED AS RELATIVES AWAIT DNA REPORTS

A week after the train tragedy in Balasore district, which claimed 288 lives, as many as 82 bodies were still unidentified, officials said Friday. Yet to get the DNA reports that would help in the identification of the bodies, the families of the victims have begun returning home.

AIIMS authorities said the DNA profiling of the bodies has been completed. They have also collected blood samples from more than 50 relatives which will be sent to New Delhi in a day or two.

Sources in the state govt said any further decision on disposing of any unclaimed bodies will be taken only after the DNA reports arrive.

WRESTLERS DID NOT MAKE ANY HATE SPEECH: POLICE TO COURT

The police on Friday told a city court that wrestlers did not make any hate speech during their protest seeking arrest of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly molesting and sexually harassing them.

In an action taken report (ATR) filed in a Delhi court on a plea seeking an FIR against wrestlers for allegedly making “false allegations” against the WFI president and making hate speeches, the police said in the video provided by the complainant, wrestlers were not seen raising slogans again Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singh.

The police have urged the court to dismiss the complaint filed against wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik by ‘Atal Jan Party’ national chief Bam Bam Maharaj Nauhatiya.

While taking the ATR on record, Metropolitan Magistrate Anamika posted the matter for further hearing on July 7, agencies reported.

The court had on May 25 directed the police to file an ATR on Nauhatiya’s complaint against the wrestlers for alleged hate speech during the protest and using unparliamentary language against PM Modi and Singh.

HC DENIES BAIL TO MAN WHO UPLOADED ‘OBJECTIONABLE POSTS’ ON FB AGAINST PM, HIS MOTHER

The Gujarat High Court on June 6 refused to grant bail to a man who had allegedly uploaded objectionable posts on Facebook against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his mother, late Hiraba Modi. The man, Afsal Lakhani, had also been accused of uploading “offending, objectionable and abusive” posts, which may have disturbed communal harmony.

Lakhani, who had moved HC for bail, created a Facebook page in the name of ‘Gujarat Trast Bhajpa Mast’ and posted certain videos, quotes and other materials.

The court of Justice Nirzar Desai, while rejecting Lakhani’s bail plea, observed, “One can understand that a person may have like or dislike against any person but it does not mean that he may start using derogatory and abusive language for the hon’ble Prime Minister of the country and his late mother. The language used in those post is so insulting and derogatory, that it is not possible for this court to reproduce any of those post in this order and therefore, only general observations are made by this court rather than reproducing the contents of any of the post…”

The court noted that if released on bail, “he may commit such offence again by using another name and by creating fake IDs”. “…if such person is permitted to roam freely in the society, they may do damage by his post on social media and once the damage is done, there is no point in arresting that person and punish him because by the time such person is identified, larger damage would already be done in form of disturbance of peace, harmony and brotherhood in the society, as social media is a very powerful tool to influence people.”

CUTS IN TEXTBOOKS ARBITRARY, DROP OUR NAMES, PALSHIKAR, YADAV TELL NCERT

Political scientists Suhas Palshikar and Yogendra Yadav have asked the NCERT to drop their names as chief advisors from all political science textbooks, saying a rationalisation exercise has "mutilated" the books beyond recognition and rendered them "academically dysfunctional".

Stating that they were embarrassed to be mentioned as chief advisors, Palshikar and Yadav have written to the NCERT, saying the cuts in the textbooks were arbitrary and irrational.

The NCERT, however, said the withdrawal of anyone's association is out of question as textbooks at the school level are developed on the basis of knowledge and understanding on a given subject and at no stage, individual authorship is claimed.

Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original political science books for Classes 9 to 12, said, "While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created."

"We were never consulted or even informed of these changes. If NCERT did consult other experts for deciding on these cuts and deletions, we explicitly state that we fully disagree with them in this regard," according to the letter sent to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani.

Palshikar, an academician and political scientist, and Yadav, political scientist and Swaraj India leader, were chief advisors for the Political Science books for classes 9 to 12 originally published in 2006-07 based on the 2005 version of the National Curriculum Framework.

PETROL, DIESEL CONSUMPTION HITS NEW RECORD IN MAY

India’s consumption of petrol and diesel hit another record in May, highlighting robust demand for transportation fuels in one of the world’s top consumers of crude oil, official data shows.

The country stands out as one of the bright spots in terms of demand outlook amid apprehensions over global fuel demand, partly due to recessionary concerns.

Consumption of diesel, the most consumed refined petroleum product in India, rose 12.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 5 per cent month-on-month (MoM) to 8.22 million tonnes in May, as per an analysis of data released by the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. Diesel accounts for a little over 40 per cent of all petroleum products consumed in India, followed by petrol, which has a share of around 17 per cent. Petrol consumption in May was 3.35 million tonnes, up 11 per cent YoY and 16.4 per cent MoM. The previous record for diesel consumption was as recent as April; in the case of petrol, it was in March. This trend of frequent highs reflects sustained robustness in India’s fuel demand.

LENDERS CALL BYJU’S LAWSUIT ‘MERITLESS’

A group of lenders, who claim to collectively own more than 85% of a $1. 2 billion term loan taken by Byju’s, has termed the suit filed by the edtech company against their demand for an “accelerated” repayment “meritless”.

The group, comprising “21 highly respected global institutional investors”, said it has sought to work “constructively with the company over the past nine months to cure its numerous defaults” and will continue to do so in good faith. “However, in the event Byju’s intentionally remains in default, the lender group reserves all rights available to it to enforce the credit agreement,” the media statement by the group said.

These investors, who participated in the syndicated Term Loan B (TLB) facility provided to Byju’s in November 2021, said the lawsuit wasan effort by the company “to avoid complying with its obligations, including making contractually required payments”. A Byju's spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesperson for the lenders’ group did not respond to ET’s email query till press time Friday.

Earlier this week, Byju’s said the lenders’ demands were “high-handed”, while filing its suit in the New York Supreme Court against American investment management firm Redwood and its entities over the TLB. Byju’s has missed its quarterly interest payment of about $40 million on the TLB, which was due by June 5.

FRENCH OPEN: CASPER RUUD BOOKS A FINAL DATE AGAINST NOVAK DJOKOVIC

World number one Carlos Alcaraz' effort in tightly-contested first and second sets of his French Open semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic on Friday caused cramping in his entire body, forcing him to shift down and eventually lose the match.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who was beaten 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, lost the first set to the Serbian after an hour-long fight.

He bounced back to win the second needing more than an hour before cramps forced him to take a medical timeout at 1-1 in the third. His game, however, collapsed, allowing his opponent to book his final spot.

"I disappointed myself honestly, and in a match like this, coming to this match with great feeling, feeling great physically, and cramping at the end of the second set, beginning of the third set, it was really disappointing," Alcaraz said.

Until that stage Alcaraz had played his exciting brand of tennis, chasing down points that seemed lost, drop shots that looked like winners and lobs that touched the baseline.

In the other semi-final, a flawless Casper Ruud reached the final for a second year running by dismantling German 22nd seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in a battle of big-hitters.

In Women's singles final today, Iga Swiatek, of Poland, the No. 1 seed, will take on teh unseeded Czech player Karolina Muchova.

WTC FINAL, DAY 3: INDIA FIGHT BACK, BUT AUS STILL IN CONTROL

India's Ajinkya Rahane revived his international career with a courageous effort in seaming conditions but it could not prevent Australia from extending their supremacy in the World Test Championship final at The Oval, in London, on Friday.

Ajinkya Rahane (89 off 129 balls) and Shardul Thakur  (51 off 109) kept India in the game with a rearguard 109-run stand but Australia still managed to take a massive 173-run first innings lead. Having reached 260 for six at lunch, India could only 36 runs in the afternoon session to end with 296 all out in 69.4 overs.

At stumps, Australia extended their lead to 296 runs by reaching 123 for four in 44 overs in their second innings. A rare positive from India's point of view was that Australia's first innings centurions Steve Smith (34) and Travis Head (18) departed in quick succession.

The pitch offers seam movement but the spinners also came into play on Friday with Ravindra Jadeja taking two wickets and reigniting the debate on R Ashwin's non-selection for the title clash.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The essence of a culture is in its performance, not its proclamations. - Andrew Vachss

OFF TRACK

A really HUGE muscular guy with a bad stutter goes to a counter in a department store and asks, "W-w-w-where's the  m-m-m-men's dep-p-p-partment?"

The clerk behind the counter just looks at him and says nothing.

The man repeats himself: "W-w-w-where's the m-m-m-men's  dep-p-p-partment?" Again, the clerk doesn't answer him.

The guy asks several more times: "W-w-w-where's the  m-m-m-men's dep-p-p-partment?"

And the clerk just seems to ignore him. Finally, the guy storms off in anger.

The customer who was waiting in line behind the guy asks the clerk, "Why wouldn't you answer that guy's question?"

The clerk answers, "D-d-d-do you th-th-th-think I w-w-w-want to  get the s-s-shit b-b-b-beaten out of m-m-m-me?"