I&B Ministry
Don Salem proposes media ban, I&B ministry disposes
MUMBAI: Agreed that the Indian media has become more aggressive compared to yesteryears, but a petition filed by underworld don Abu Salem takes the cake for its sheer incongruity.
Thankfully, the Indian government is making the right noises.
Information and broadcasting ministry today urged a special court to dismiss a petition filed by extradited Salem seeking a media ban on reports about investigations relating to him and his girl friend Monica Bedi.
According to a report filed by the Press Trust of India (PTI), additional solicitor general B A Desai, appearing for the ministry, urged the court to dismiss the petition as the applicant’s lawyers were absent during the hearing of the case.
However, designated TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Act under which people carrying out anti-national activities are tried) judge P D Kode adjourned the matter till 3 December for arguments.
Salem had prayed for an inquiry by I & B secretary into media reports about him and his girl friend which, he said, were “totally baseless”.He also prayed that the inquiry should also find out on what basis such reports were put out.
According to Salems prayer before the court, the respondents (including the government) be directed to impose a total ban on such reports appearing in the media, which talk about investigations being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), the PTI report stated.
Salem had pointed out that “objectionable” materials about him appeared in the media such as seizure of fake passports, Monica Bedi helping him in financial deals and bank accounts being sealed. Dismissing these reports as “entirely baseless”, he said this would prejudice the investigations.
Salem was recently extradited from Portugal under inter-governmental agreements and is presently being tried for a host of anti-India activities, including his alleged involvement in serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993 and cricket match fixing.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
