Delhi High Court has summoned senior journalist Sudhir Chaudhary in a defamation case brought by Vijay Sherawat, a volunteer of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), over an alleged broadcast maligning him as “anti-national”.

The case against Chaudhary arises from an alleged misidentification during a television programme he was hosting, with Sherawat claiming he was depicted as the one raising slogans such as, “Sansad Bhawan ukhad diya jayega... Nepal bana diya jayega.” Although Sherawat denied having made the statement, he alleged it was done by an unknown individual at a different event.

The complainant accused the respondent of publishing and displaying an image of a different person, as the difference between the two men could be discerned by anyone viewing the broadcast. He further complained of a lack of due diligence in verifying the details prior to its airing, as well as his absence of an opportunity to respond to the allegations.

CJP condemns alleged ‘anti-national’ remarks

The CJP has condemned the alleged misidentification, supporting Sherawat’s defamation lawsuit against the television channel and its host, Sudhir Chaudhary.

CJP Spokesperson Saurav Das posted a series of tweets stating that the organization would keep a close watch on developments in the case, questioning whether authorities would take action to ensure such “dutiful responsibility” in the future, and adding that it would be the youth who would ensure individuals occupying positions of power would be held accountable for similar actions.

Legal Affairs Committee Member of the CJP, Ratna Singh, called the alleged identification of Sherawat as “irresponsible and downright shameful”.

She added that it was obvious that the image used in the broadcast belonged to a different individual, and that it would be apparent to any viewer.

Defamation suit highlights threats made following broadcast

The defamation suit has also brought to light the alleged threats made to Sherawat after the broadcast went viral on social media.

According to the plaint, video clips of the defamatory remarks made by Chaudhary were shared on social media sites including X and Instagram immediately after the broadcast. Sherawat alleged that he was threatened, with one individual going as far as asking for his home address.

The complainant alleged that due to the lack of due diligence in the identification, the broadcast had defamed him, placed his life at risk, and caused him mental anguish and stress.

The Delhi High Court proceedings will determine the truth of the allegations made in the defamation suit and the actions of both the journalist and the organizations named in the case. The accusations made by the complainant must be viewed as allegations only, with due consideration given to the arguments made by the respondents.

The case has also raised questions in terms of due diligence, responsible reporting and the potential consequences of misidentifying an individual in a politically sensitive and emotionally charged environment.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested five more people in its ongoing probe into digital arrest frauds under Operation Chakra-VI, taking the total number of arrests across three cases to eight.

The latest arrests come after the agency conducted coordinated searches at 89 locations across 20 states in connection with three major digital arrest cases linked to BITS Pilani, Gujarat and Karnataka.

The cases involve victims who were allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for prolonged periods and forced to transfer large sums of money to accounts controlled or arranged by the accused.

In the BITS Pilani-linked case, the victim was allegedly kept under digital arrest for around three months and defrauded of Rs 7.67 crore by individuals posing as police officers. In a separate case registered in Gujarat, another victim was allegedly held under digital arrest for three months and lost Rs 19.24 crore.

The third case, registered in Karnataka, involves a victim who was allegedly subjected to digital arrest for nearly a month and defrauded of Rs 15.45 crore.

The CBI had earlier arrested three people following its searches. They were identified as Akash from Haryana, Raja Karmakar from Kolkata and Jyoti Rani.

According to the agency, Akash allegedly received Rs 1.95 crore of the fraud proceeds in a bank account and transferred the money onward on the same day. Raja Karmakar was allegedly involved in routing Rs 1.5 crore through his firm's account, while Jyoti Rani allegedly withdrew part of the money in cash and transferred the remaining funds to other accounts.

The CBI has now arrested Sanket Bastwar and Pankaj Damade, both from Itarsi, along with Arif alias King Bhai, Harish Purushottam Yadav alias Harry from New Delhi and Shashank Singh alias Ravi from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

The agency alleges that Bastwar and Damade arranged a bank account, received fraud proceeds and helped move the money through different channels. Arif, Harish and Shashank were allegedly involved in arranging another bank account used to receive money from a digital arrest victim and subsequently routing the funds through multiple accounts.

Investigators have also alleged that the three installed a malicious APK file on the account holder's mobile phone. The application was allegedly used to intercept bank SMS alerts and facilitate control over the account.

With these arrests, the number of accused apprehended in the three cases has risen to eight. The CBI said its investigation is continuing to identify and apprehend other members of the alleged network, while further investigation into the cases remains underway.

 Teachers across Uttar Pradesh will have to complete 10 sensitisation videos before participating in the screening of children under the Prashast 2.0 initiative, as the state seeks to help educators better understand the educational needs of Gen Alpha students.

The videos, with a combined duration of around 40 minutes, will familiarise teachers with the characteristics and learning requirements of Gen Alpha children, explain the screening process and outline the support that may be required after students are identified.

Teachers must complete videos before screening

Teachers will have to watch all 10 videos through the Prashast App or online portal and complete the prescribed onboarding process before taking part in the screening exercise.

The state government has made the sensitisation programme compulsory to ensure that teachers have a common understanding of the screening process and can assess students in a more informed and sensitive manner.

The training material will guide teachers on understanding children's educational requirements and identifying areas where additional support may be needed.

Government and private schools covered

The initiative will cover teachers from government, private-aided and private-unaided schools, bringing different categories of schools under the same preparation process.

Once teachers complete the videos and onboarding, the screening of students under Prashast 2.0 will begin.

Officials asked to monitor compliance

The state has directed Divisional Assistant Directors of Education and District Basic Education Officers to ensure that teachers under their jurisdiction complete the mandatory sensitisation programme.

The directions follow instructions issued by Director General of School Education Monika Rani.

Education officials have also been asked to monitor the onboarding and completion process before screening begins.

The initiative is aimed at ensuring that children's educational needs are identified at an early stage and that teachers are better equipped to provide appropriate support.

As artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT become increasingly common in education, concerns over students using them to complete assignments have grown. However, Johns Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke believes identifying AI-generated work is often easier than students expect.

Hanke, a professor of applied economics who has taught at Johns Hopkins University for nearly six decades, told Business Insider that he can distinguish between a student's own work and AI-generated writing by looking at how closely an assignment matches the student's usual abilities.

Sudden improvement can raise questions

According to Hanke, one of the clearest indicators is a sudden change in a student's writing quality.

A student who normally struggles with writing but submits an unusually polished, sophisticated or technically advanced assignment may immediately attract attention. Hanke said his long experience teaching students gives him a useful benchmark for assessing their normal writing and understanding.

He described himself as an “old fox” when it comes to identifying work that does not match a student's established abilities.

Knowing students helps teachers spot AI use

Hanke's approach does not depend solely on identifying characteristics of AI-generated text. Instead, he believes teachers' familiarity with their students can be an important factor.

After teaching students over a period of time, professors develop an understanding of how they write, reason and explain concepts. A submission that appears significantly beyond that student's demonstrated knowledge or writing ability can therefore raise questions.

Hanke does not consider AI itself the problem

Despite his concerns about academic misuse, Hanke said he does not view AI as inherently harmful to education.

Instead, he believes the widespread use of AI requires teachers to become more vigilant and pay greater attention to their students' individual abilities.

As AI tools become increasingly embedded in classrooms, the challenge for educators may therefore be less about detecting a particular technology and more about understanding how students normally think, write and learn.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that banning or restricting children's access to social media is a policy matter for the Central government and not something the court can mandate through judicial directions. The court disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking restrictions on children's social media use and stronger measures against Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).

A bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Manmeet PS Arora directed the Centre to treat the PIL as a representation and consider the concerns and suggestions raised by the petitioners. The court also said the government should consult all relevant stakeholders, including social media intermediaries, before taking a decision.

The bench, however, declined to prescribe a deadline for the Centre to complete the exercise.

“Those views have to be taken and then it is in the realm of a policy. It is not for a court to give a direction that you should ban this, or that you should ban that,” the bench observed.

What Did the PIL Seek?

The petitioner sought directions to the Centre to consider framing a law or guidelines to restrict social media access for children below 13 years of age.

The PIL also sought a regulatory framework for social media content accessible to children aged 13 to 16 years, citing concerns over children's online safety and exposure to harmful content, including CSAM.

Central government counsel Nidhi Raman told the court that regulating or restricting children's access to social media is a policy issue that may require a new law. Such a decision would have wider implications and therefore requires consultation with stakeholders, she submitted.

The Centre said the petition could be treated as a representation and that the appropriate authorities could take a decision after considering the issues raised.

Digital Personal Data Protection Act Cited

During the hearing, the court asked whether any steps had been taken following an earlier Supreme Court order concerning children's online safety.

The Centre's counsel pointed to the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which includes provisions aimed at protecting children's personal data and privacy online.

The petitioner's counsel, however, highlighted the continuing availability of Child Sexual Abuse Material on social media platforms and urged the government to take a decision on the representation within a reasonable timeframe.

The court reiterated that these matters involve broader policy considerations and declined to impose a specific timeline.

Meta Reports Removal of More Than 8 Lakh CSAM Posts

During the hearing, Meta's senior counsel informed the court that the company had taken measures to detect and remove CSAM from its platforms.

According to the submission, more than six lakh CSAM posts were removed from Facebook last year, while more than two lakh such posts were removed from Instagram.

Meta also claimed a 99% proactive detection rate for CSAM on both platforms.

The company's counsel said a large number of accounts associated with such content had also been removed, while acknowledging that despite technological safeguards, some harmful material can still evade detection and subsequently circulate online.

The hearing comes amid growing global debate over children's social media use, online safety, age restrictions and platform accountability.

For now, the Delhi High Court has made it clear that any decision to impose a social media ban or age-based restrictions on children in India must come through the government's policy and legislative process, following consultation with affected stakeholders.

A political speech delivered by Kiara Aggarwal, a Class 11 student of Springdales School in Delhi, at an inter-school competition in Jaipur has gone viral on social media, drawing widespread attention for its sharp criticism of the Narendra Modi-led government.

Aggarwal delivered the speech at an inter-school competition hosted by Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya in Jaipur. Beginning with a reference to the promise of “ache din”, she told the audience in Hindi that she had been looking for the promised “good days”, drawing loud applause.

The student went on to compare political slogans from India's freedom struggle with those used in contemporary politics. Referring to slogans such as “Simon, Go Back” and “Inquilab Zindabad”, she argued that historical slogans had inspired movements and revolutions rather than merely serving electoral purposes.

“These slogans didn’t just create vote banks, they created revolutions,” she said, while contrasting them with what she described as the current generation’s preoccupation with social media reels.

‘Uncle Padhao, Beti Bachao’

One of the most notable portions of Aggarwal’s speech was her reworking of government slogans and initiatives.

Taking a swipe at the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign, she suggested renaming it “Uncle Padhao, Beti Bachao.” She also used the phrase “Leak in India” while referring to allegations surrounding recurring examination paper leaks and questioned government spending on public relations and marketing.

“If you spent as much on work, as you do on PR and marketing, at least I would have had evidence to hold up for my speech,” she said.

Aggarwal also discussed what she described as the “illusory truth effect”, arguing that repeated political messaging can make claims appear true through familiarity while important public issues remain unresolved.

References to Films and Social Media

The Class 11 student also touched upon the intersection of politics, cinema and social media. Referring to the film Dhurandhar, she made remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and actor Ranveer Singh, while arguing that films and popular culture can sometimes become vehicles for political messaging.

She also referred to Modi’s engagement with Gen Z through Instagram reels and said, “Today we are not just citizens, we are the audience in a play.”

Aggarwal further raised questions about the police action involving a 15-year-old girl who was reportedly made to issue a public apology following allegations that she raised derogatory slogans against the Prime Minister during a protest.

Speech Draws Social Media Attention

Clips from Aggarwal’s speech have since circulated widely across social media platforms. The video also received attention from a former Rajya Sabha MP and former Congress general secretary, who shared the clip on Facebook and praised the student for questioning the political narrative.

The viral video has triggered discussions online about political expression by young students, freedom of speech and the role of school-level public speaking competitions in encouraging students to engage with contemporary political and social issues.