Bill Gates specifically complimented India's Aadhaar identity system and the country's performance in the financial services and pharma sectors.
It emerges that not only does the CIDR project fails the test of fairness, justness and reasonableness besides the test of not being fanciful, oppressive or arbitrary; it also fails the test of Arthashastra, Hadith and the Bible.
He also made an appeal not to 'overblow' the issue of data breach.
Aadhaar-related schemes and the Aadhaar Act exist on the assumption that Right to Privacy is not a Fundamental Right.
So far, 758 million Aadhaar numbers have been generated.
"Since beginning, I am hearing this that if I am not with you, then I am an Aadhaar judge. I don't care," the judge said.
Passengers in 200 railway stations across India will soon be able to recharge their mobiles, pay electricity bills, fill up Aadhaar and Pan card forms and even file taxes with help from Common Service Centre (CSC) kiosks to be set up by RailTel. The scheme has been operationalised in partnership with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited' (CSC-SPV) and the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, RailTel said in a statement. The kiosks will be run by village level entrepreneurs (VLEs).
A key argument against the Aadhaar scheme was that it was violative of the nine-judge bench verdict that had held that Right to Privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution.
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Besides giving statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India, the Bill seeks to provide legal backing to Aadhaar, which is used to disburse subsidies.
Biometric authentication is based on the unscientific and questionable assumption that there are parts of human body that does not age, wither and decay with the passage of time.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday backed the proposed data privacy and cryptocurrency bills, saying India is putting in place the most forward-looking policies and regulations. Ambani, who has been a votary of Indians owning and controlling their own data and the nation drafting strict rules around how digital information is stored and shared, said nations have the right to build and protect strategic digital infrastructure. Stating that data is the 'new oil', he said every citizen's right to privacy has to be safeguarded. "India is putting in place the most forward-looking policies and regulations," he said at the Infinity Forum, hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
80% of beneficiaries in 300 districts to be linked with direct benefits transfer
The Centre needs to have dialogue with the Opposition instead of letting politics come in the way; it needs to stoop to conquer, says Aditi Phadnis.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday put a poser as to why there was no objection from lawmakers on the government's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for making PAN cards, a move which was given effect by the latest budget from July 1.
The amendments were adopted with a significant margin, with the difference of votes ranging between 27 and 34 votes.
Aadhar is set to be a preferred tool for various people- focussed initiatives of the government in the new year.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked the Centre and the Delhi government to present their stand on a plea seeking recall of all currency notes above Rs 100, restricting cash transactions above Rs 10,000 and linking assets worth more than Rs 50,000 with Aadhaar to check corruption.
Applicants for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) can submit any of nine documents, including valid or expired passport, ID cards and land tenancy records, to prove he or she is a national of Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan.
The idea that every citizen in this country is to be numbered is the primary thing in the project.
'The linking of Aadhaar to births and deaths will revive the debate around citizenship.'
The Bill proposes to constitute a statutory authority to be called the National Identification Authority of India and lays down the powers and functions of the Authority, the framework for issuing unique identification numbers (aadhaar numbers), major penalties and other related matters through an Act of Parliament.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday is learnt to have cleared a bill on electoral reforms, including the one to link electoral roll with Aadhaar on a voluntary basis to root out multiple enrolments.
The announcement came after the chief minister held a high level meeting with senior government officials on Thursday to discuss the implementation of both schemes, which are part of five poll guarantees of the Congress.
India is on track to register its entire 1.25 billion population using its Aadhaar digital ID.
Under the provision of the Constitution, bills passed by the Lok Sabha during the course of its five year term and pending in the Rajya Sabha get lapsed with the dissolution of the House of the People. Separately, any bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha remained a property of the House irrespective of the fate of Lok Sabha.
The stalemate between the opposition and the government over the issue of suspension of 12 MPs continues.
'Biometric Aadhaar-based surveillance is not only about violation of privacy, but also about the treasure hunt for unprecedented financial surveillance and economic intelligence in the economic history of mankind,' asks Gopal Krishna.
The Opposition on Monday charged the government with trying to promote crony capitalism, creating fear by giving "unbridled power" to taxmen, trying to snoop into people's lives through increased use of Aadhaar through the provisions of the Finance Bill.
'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?'
Lok Sabha will take up general discussion on the Union Budget for 2019-2020 on Monday.
The Karnataka government issued orders to implement the 'Gruha Jyoti' and 'Shakti' schemes.
'Today, we being the majority pass a law and if the Opposition parties do not like it, they throw files at the Chair, and beat up women marshals.'
We are certainly for digitisation. I do not have opinion about demonetisation. I still don't, says Bill Gates.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday launched payment of cash in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to beneficiaries under the government's 'Anna Bhagya' scheme.
'In the long run, I don't foresee major ramifications [about Trudeau's allegations].' 'There's just enough hypocrisy among Western nations for India to douse the outrage.'
Jaitley remained steadfast in not caving in to sustained Opposition pressure.
This whirlwind of activity only confirms that rushing around creating an impression of pompous busy-ness is not the same thing as solving problems, argues Mitali Saran.
Gaurav Mohta, chief marketing officer, Home First Finance Company, answers home loan queries.
The report touches on variety of issues including consent, rights of children, data protection authority and right to recall data.
'Just the amount of work which is there just to become more and more successful in banking. For this to happen you need to have leaders who understand technology.'
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