Deepfakes and Everyday Fakes

CONCERNS ABOUT deepfakes and their ability to virtually falsify reality are a matter of increasing concern and Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently offered an example where he was the target. Speaking at the annual Diwali Milan with the media in Delhi recently, he said that he had seen a video where he is shown participating in a Garba dance. “Now, I did participate in Garba when I was in school which is a long time back,” he said, pointing out that the fake video had taken in many. He said he had asked Sam Altman (recently sacked and reinstated as CEO of OpenAI) how the technology could be monitored but did not receive a clear answer. While deepfakes require a degree of technological sophistication, fakes of the more ordinary kind where videos are either edited or spliced continue to proliferate. Soon after Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins received the ICC One Day International World Cup trophy from Modi and Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, a video began to circulate suggesting that the Indian prime minister had walked off, leaving the Aussie captain alone on stage. A handle on X (formerly Twitter) that identifies itself as a fan page of Cummins posted the full clip, stating “stop spreading hatred”. Images and the full video of the trophy presentation clearly show Modi shaking fists with Cummins and smilingly handing over the Cup. He then goes off stage and meets the rest of the Australian team. In other videos, Congress handles claimed Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were laughing as India lost. Again, this was deliberate misrepresentation as the visuals were taken when the Australian innings was still in progress. In any case, no one could possibly guess what the two leaders were discussing and appearing funereal would only have added to the speculation. The November 19 result, though deeply disappointing, is part of sport and Modi and Marles went on field and congratulated the Australian team and some of them could be seen clasping the Indian prime minister by the arm. By now, most social media users are aware of such fakes and who circulates them. It’s a wonder that Congress handles expend time and energy pushing the fake videos largely circulated within their echo chambers and among camp followers but fail to impress anyone else.

Ignoring Rahul’s Pitch

At almost every campaign rally Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi address, they target the Adani Group, claiming it has benefitted from the government’s “crony capitalism”. The fact that states run by Congress (and other members of the opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A.) have welcomed the group’s investments has not deterred the Gandhi siblings. Kerala, from where Rahul is an MP, recently witnessed the inauguration of an Adani-built port hailed by all parties, including Congress. But what stands out is the absence of the ‘Adani’ issue in the campaigns run by the state Congress leaderships. As in Karnataka—where, too, the issue was conspicuously missing from the state-level campaign—Congress leaders in Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh realised that there was little to be gained by spending time and resources on the Modi government’s alleged acts of crony capitalism. There was just no traction to the matter and the industrial group, or any other for that matter, is hardly a popular villain with the electorate in these states.

Poll Manager Vaishnaw

Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw got a real taste of planning and executing a political campaign in Madhya Pradesh where he was co-in-charge of BJP’s electioneering. By the looks of it, the immersive experience has done Vaishnaw a world of good and he took to his ‘political’ assignment like a natural. He spent long hours at the BJP office in Bhopal and methodically gathered and tallied feedback from party and other sources and pored over constituency reports provided by the agency hired to carry out surveys. On polling day, he spent the first half of the day speaking to BJP functionaries in various constituencies before he was satisfied that polling was progressing smoothly and, importantly, BJP voters were turning out to cast their votes. He returned to Delhi just a day ahead of polling but, as he told journalists, his heart and mind were in Bhopal and this was likely to be the case till December 3 when votes are counted and thousands of EVMs reveal the winners.

A Problem Of Plenty

There is encouraging news that the Centre’s procurement of paddy will leave it with excess stock. While managing stock has been a problem for FCI, this situation is better than some months ago in June when it stopped the sale of rice under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to states due to the slow progress of the monsoon and rising retail prices. Now that its buffer will be restored, the procured rice can be used to stabilise prices if necessary and it is also possible that the OMSS restrictions are lifted. This should help Karnataka which had sought to buy more than 13,000 tonnes of rice for its poll promise of 5kg free rice to every household member in addition to foodgrain supplied by the Centrally run PDS. The scheme is part of the populist promises Congress made ahead of winning the Karnataka election in May. It is a moot point as to how much rice a household requires. The rice under PDS and state government schemes might be in excess of normal requirement and foodgrain may find its way into the local market at a higher price. It might be worthwhile for states to consider using the money for other purposes even if it means quietly abandoning a poll pledge.

Copybook Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US and his meeting with President Joe Biden does not appear to have yielded any substantial progress in normalising ties beyond a promise to use military-to-military communication to ensure tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea do not spiral into unplanned conflict. Both sides read their gripes to the other. As has been noticed by Indian officials during Xi’s interactions, the leader goes by the script and is uneasy with any break in format. In their early interactions, Prime Minister Modi had urged Xi to consider the benefits of cooperation rather than opposing India’s interests by blocking its membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) or preventing UN sanctions against Pakistan-based terrorists. Xi was visibly uncomfortable with the personalised advocacy. Later, as India-China border tensions spiked, India’s tough response on the Line of Actual Control and decisions to ban Chinese apps surprised the Chinese leadership. While in the US, Xi reiterated China’s “red lines” over Taiwan but Biden looks determined not to ease any pressure on Beijing. He later repeated that he considered the Chinese president to be a dictator for all practical purposes.

Ashwini VaishnawFCIgood grainsgovernanceNarendra ModipoliticsRahul GandhiXi Jinping