Manmohan Singh will call a Cabinet meeting on Friday to take final call on extension of the Unique Identification Authority of India project, under which national identity cards are issued to entire population.
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
"The UID project involves huge database. We at Yahoo have expertise in handling such huge amount of data. We met the PM today morning and discussed, among other things, how Yahoo can help the government in the project."
MindTree, the Bangalore-based information technology services provider, has bagged the application development services segment of the Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification (UID) project, renamed as 'Aadhaar'. This is the first of the many IT projects that has come up for bidding till date.
Professional services firm Ernst & Young has bagged the contract from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to become a consulting partner for the project.
Domestic information technology services majors Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Technologies and Tech Mahindra and global players like IBM and Japan-based NEC are among the 10 shortlisted companies for the Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification Authority of India biometrics job.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been given the responsibility of promoting the Unique Identification Number project, officials said here on Friday.
Internet search giant Google on Thursday said it will be "happy to help" India in implementing a project to provide unique identity numbers to citizens, if asked.
The statement came after a media report saying that the finance ministry had slashed the authority's budget from Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) to Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion).
Infosys Technologies on Friday said it would bid for multi-crore rupee projects under the Unique Identification Database Authority, which would be headed by the company's former co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, as it sees no conflict of interest.
Social activists, legal researchers and academicians have demanded a nationwide public debate and discussion on the Centre's plan to issue an Unique Identification Number for Indians and its consequences.They have also questioned the claim of the Unique Identification Authority of India -- the nodal agency responsible for implementing the ambitious project -- that it will make every citizen, particularly the poor, visible to the state.
It is reliably learnt that the Congress is clear that such a historical project cannot be kicked off without the presence of Sonia Gandhi and there is a mo ve afoot to ensure that she is also part of the function.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro were eliminated from the selection process for the project on technical grounds. Another IT major, HCL Technologies, was also rejected. The size of the project is not yet known.
Nandan Nilekani and his UID/Aadhaar project appear quite complicit in unconstitutional act of surrendering the country's interest in favour of a global system led by ungovernable and undemocratic business enterprises not by democratic legislatures, says Gopal Krishna
It's one tender that could usher in an era of partnership between domestic and global IT service providers, who compete fiercely for deals in India and abroad.
Nandan M Nilekani will take charge as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India on Thursday and has sought the cooperation of all the ministries for the success of the project.
The committee's objections are a curious mixture; some attack the very basis of the project, others question its implementation.
The committee's objections are a curious mixture; some attack the very basis of the project, others question its implementation.
'Why does a State that sees a national security issue at every turn not recognise the seriousness of the data from sensitive databases being breached?'
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Unique Identity (UID) project, or Aadhaar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is testing a mobile-based payments system linked to this platform.
Last September, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government chose Tembhli, a small village in the predominantly tribal Nandurbar district, to launch its ambitious Unique Identification (UID) project - now known as Aadhaar - giving it a special mention in history.
'The Aadhaar project has grave civil liberty implications. It will enable the government to profile citizens and track their movements and transactions.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch Aadhaar, the Unique Identification (UID) project, in Maharashtra's tribal-dominated Nanduarbar district on September 29.
Silently, resolutely, 'Aadhaar' -- as the UID project has now been christened -- and Nilekani have succeeded in attracting some of the best and brightest that the IT world can offer, both from within India and from overseas.
The government on Monday said it will provide all the funds necessary for the implementation of its unique identification number project, dismissing media reports to the contrary.
Over 100 people, including 20 senior consultants and at least six VPs, have quit Infosys in 6 months.
Sources said bank chiefs would discuss the challenges of taking the UID project ahead by accessing the data available with the branch network (for corroborate identity). Bank branches have extensive nationwide data about their customers. Unique identity envisages authentication -- "Are you who you claim to be?
The government on Tuesday gave in-principle approval for adoption of standardised approach for collection of demographic and biometric attributes, including iris scan, of residents by various bodies for the UID project.
The Unique Identification Authority of India, the apex agency managing the UID project, which aims to give every resident of the country a unique identity, has initiated the process to make this happen, according to chairman Nandan Nilekani.
Adoption of technology will lead to increase in employment opportunities.
People can now use their imagination and creative ability to give a boost to the brand image of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by designing a logo which will fetch 'instant public recognition' for the massive project.
Big brother has come to India, the government wants to network 21 available databases across government and private agencies to 'flag potential terrorist threats.' In less than two years, these databases will be linked to enable security and intelligence agencies get any information at the press of a button under the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), a brainchild of Home Minister P Chidambaram.
The co-founder of Infosys said that they plan to start issuing UID number within 18 months time.
At least 60 crore people would get their Unique Identification Numbers (UIDs), a much-touted initiative of the government, in the next 4-5 years, its project chief Nandan Nilekani said.
Nearly two months into his new job as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nandan Nilekani says the real beneficiary of the project will be the poor who have no identity at present.He is in a hurry because "the next 12-18 months are very critical in getting this project off the ground," by when the first set of identity numbers will be issued. If all goes well, five years from now the UID data base will cover a few hundred million people.
The first batch of the Unique Identification number is expected to be ready by 2010 end, chairman of the national project Nandan Nilekani said.
UID project was launched by the UPA government in 2009.
'The government's proposal to store citizens' data including Aadhaar data under its Digital India initiative on cloud is violative of the citizens' human rights because the cloud is admittedly beyond India's jurisdiction.'
'Bureaucrats have transformed a project meant to empower the poorest Indians into one that empowers only babus and disempowers everyone else,' says Mihir S Sharma.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
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