Technology
SC says public awareness, not curbs alone, can help curb pollution
. NEW DELHI: Acknowledging that the enormous amount of judicial time spent over the years to tackle pollution in Delhi had yielded only marginal benefits, Supreme Court Friday said when more and more restrictions, without scientific basis, were put in place, people tended to violate them with a vengeance, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra.Reflecting on numerous orders and subsequent monitoring of their implementation to improve air quality, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said, "To think we can achieve air quality of less than 100 (AQI) in Delhi during winters is utopian when 'very poor' and 'severe' have become the new normal."When amicus curiae and senior advocate Aparajita Singh flagged news reports on normal crackers being sold as green crackers and attributed part of the rising pollution to it, the ben-ch said the capital was witnessing bumper-to-bumper traf-fic for the last few days and wi-th so many cars remaining on the road for so many extra hours, it must be adding to the pollution load.Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati attributed the traffic congestion to the festive season and senior advocate Sanjiv Sen, who was appearing for MCD, said the culture of distribution of gifts was one of the major reasons for the huge spurt in road traffic.At this juncture, Singh drew the court's attention to sale of normal crackers as green crackers in flagrant violation of court orders and warned of a huge post-Diwali spike in pollution levels. The bench said, "Diwali celebrations must be accompanied with public awareness campaigns. It is awareness that alone can curb pollution. No number of restrictions is going to work. More the number of orders from the court, the more the violations. That is the tendency of people. We will go by expert advice."The CJI said local councillors must create awareness among people. The bench said it would pass some orders and seek compliance from NCR states.Bhati informed the court that the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM), the expert body tasked with devising and implementing short-term, intermediate and long-term measures to tackle air pollution, had put Grad-ed Response Action Plan (GRAP) in place."Each stage of GRAP triggers more restrictions - stoppage of construction, bar on entry of BS-IV emission standard vehicles, sprinkling of water, staggered office hours," she said, adding that there was a massive augmentation of clean fuel public transport. "But every human activity contributes to pollution," Bhati added, pointing out that factories in Delhi operated on clean fuel and thermal power plants had been closed.She said the main polluti-on load came from vehicles as Delhi had a staggering numb-er of them. "Major contribu-tor to pollution in Delhi is vehicles and other local sources. Stubble burning in winters, which has drastically declined in Haryana and to some extent in Punjab, tips the scales because of the unique geographical position of Delhi and the wind direction make the national capital a receptor of pollution," the ASG said. Join conversation View All Comments → Share your thoughts in the comments Insightful Agree Disagree Skeptical Concerning Promising Worth Reading Big Development Post Comment Be respectful · TOI community guidelines Singh said monitoring implementation of anti-pollution measures was crucial and complained that transport vehicles continued to idle at MCD toll plazas at 126 entry points. Refuting the claim, Sen said after the integration of technology, no transport vehicle idled at any of the nine toll plazas, which handle 90% of commercial traffic into Delhi.
Times of India·2 hours ago·3 min read
Technology
OpenAI sued over claim that ChatGPT drafted lethal poisoning plan
James Gates says he started to suspect his wife was trying to poison him after he found a handwritten note with a list of substances and dosage plans, some of which were labelled "lethal."At the top of the note were additional instructions: "clear all convos" and "log out of chat GPT," according to a lawsuit Gates filed Thursday against OpenAI, the maker of the world's most popular chatbot. Gates claims his wife, Cheryl, consulted ChatGPT frequently while they were having martial troubles and that the chatbot helped her craft a detailed plan on how to kill him.Legal actions have piled up since 2024 accusing OpenAI and other chatbot makers of inflicting mental health harms on users or coaching them to engage in violence, including murder and suicide. In ongoing lawsuits, OpenAI and other companies have defended themselves by arguing that content generated by chatbots is free speech and not subject to product liability laws. They've also denied that the chatbots are directly responsible for crimes committed by users."Safety is a top priority," OpenAI said in a statement. "We banned this user and have provided information to law enforcement as part of their investigation into this case." Cheryl Gates was charged in 2025 with attempted murder and food contamination after her husband reached out to police. But prosecutors dropped the case in April, citing insufficient evidence, according to state court filings in Charlotte, North Carolina. A spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County DA's Office declined to comment. A lawyer for Cheryl Gates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.James Gates claims he discovered the note in his wife's handwriting in Sept 2025, months after he had become violently ill from an unknown cause. At the time, he had "cardiac symptoms, extreme jitteriness, shooting abdominal pain, severe weakness, and confusion so profound he could not form coherent text messages," according to his complaint. Cheryl Gates started using ChatGPT regularly that year, to help her with her work as a pediatric occupational therapist, as well as for household questions, according to the suit.Eventually, James Gates claims, his wife started to vent to the chatbot about their marriage, as the couple had been discussing divorce. "ChatGPT acted as an echo chamber and amplifier, feeding Cheryl's increasing mistrust and delusions about her husband spying on her and planning to leave her and her kids with nothing," according to the suit. Eventually, Cheryl Gates asked ChatGPT about the oleander plant, and whether it was poisonous, according to the suit. She framed her inquiries as self protection, telling the AI tool that her husband may try to feed the leaves to her undetected at any time, James Gates alleges.Screenshots included in the complaint allegedly show portions of Cheryl's conversation with ChatGPT, including information provided to her about how much oleander could be fatal and how someone might hide the substance if they were trying to poison her. At one point, Cheryl Gates appears to ask the chatbot whether oleander would show up on an autopsy report. "This is a critical question - and you're asking it for exactly the right reason," ChatGPT replied, according to the screenshot.
Times of India·3 hours ago·3 min read
