The government would have to assure the Supreme Court that collection of biometric data under Aadhaar does not violate privacy.
The contentious bill providing for legal sanction to police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and detainees for investigation in criminal matters was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday, with Home Minister Amit Shah asserting it will act as a defender of human rights of law-abiding citizens.
In a first, the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) officers reached out to several ministries in the last week of April as part of a confidence-boosting measure. The meeting brought the CAG officials and those from the ministries across the table to discuss the pain points in their relations. CAG of India Girish Chandra Murmu took this novel step because of growing tensions between those audited and the auditor.
The committee has shared an online form consisting of 11 questions seeking comments of lay persons until March 31.
The US on Thursday raised concerns over India's Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill and draft non-personal data governance framework, claiming these could potentially threaten innovation and economic growth. In its latest 'Special 301' Report, the US Trade Representative (USTR) kept India on the priority watch list, maintaining the country remains one of the world's most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP). In December 2021, a joint parliamentary committee released a report recommending changes to the PDP Bill, 2019, that could undermine important IP protections in India.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
The renaming will take place on September 12 at a function where a stand at the Kotla will be named after India captain Virat Kohli as announced earlier.
Moreover, Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramkrishna -- who had served as MD and CEO of the exchange -- have been asked to disgorge 25 per cent of respective salaries drawn during a certain period.
India has signed a deal worth over Rs 2,600 crore with Russia to procure 66,000 anti-tank shells to meet the shortfall of critical ammunition faced by its armoured fleet, including the latest T-90 tanks.
This is likely to put a brake on the fast pace at which Aadhaar cards have been issued so far to more than 400 million people.
India is one of the largest manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in the world with the annual production valued at over Rs 2 lakh crore.
Three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware were roped in by the Supreme Court on Wednesday to "enquire, investigate and determine" whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens and their probe would be monitored by former apex court judge R V Raveendran.
'We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form'
Stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions as well as their top officials are liable to face penalties for lapses in handling and recitfying technical glitches, with Sebi putting in a place a stricter compliance system driven by "financial disincentives". The markets watchdog has come out with a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) less than five months after a technical glitch halted trading at the country's largest bourse NSE for nearly four hours. There will be a "financial disincentives" structure for MIIs -- stock exchanges, clearing corporation and depositories -- for any business disruption beyond pre-defined time, according to a circular issued on Monday.
Admittedly, EVMs too have a UID number and any convergence of data can make the secret ballot system a party of history, warns Dr Gopal Krishna in the 5th part of his series against Aadhaar.
Here's the full text of address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of the Republic Day 2023.
The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in Rajya Sabha by a voice vote, although many parties including the Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham opposed it citing various reasons, including apprehensions data theft.
He also claimed that the people were asking are all the jobs under Kerala government reserved for cadres and the university jobs for powerful people in Thiruvananthapuram.
The speed at which he led the central bank in different areas -- ranging from internal reorganisation to inflation fighting, stabilising the currency, taking on rogue corporations, cleaning up bank balance sheets, and opening the sector -- makes one believe that Rajan knew he had only three years to do his job. A fascinating excerpt from Tamal Bandyopadhyay's MUST-READ Roller Coaster: An Affair with Banking.
'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.
Operationalising the ban is being fleshed out: it will entail which cryptocurrencies will be banned and how.
The session, which will continue till August 11, is likely to discuss issues like lynching incidents and vigilantism, the Kashmir situation and the border stand-off with China.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on home in its report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, took stock of overall performance of ministry of home affairs.
Twitter on Friday temporarily blocked IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's account for alleged violation of the US Copyright Act, a move that the minister slammed as being arbitrary and gross violation of IT rules.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday claimed that a few retired judges and some activists who are 'part of the anti-India gang' are trying to make the Indian judiciary play the role of the opposition party.
A Goan youth who had allegedly posted comments against Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi on his Facebook account during the Lok Sabha election campaign, is likely to face arrest after a local court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in Panaji on Friday.
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.
The decision marks first successful policy intervention.
Unless the judges factor in the ungovernability of technologies and their beneficial owners, present and future Presidents, prime ministers, judges, legislators and officials handling sensitive assignments may become redundant with reference to their age-old roles for securing 'national resources and assets', warns Dr Gopal Krishna.
Earlier, while presenting the Budget on February 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to cap cash transactions at Rs 300,000 with effect from April 1.
Madras HC said the platform should not be used to host obscene videos.
In all this, the political establishment -- and especially the finance ministry -- appears the weakest link, and worse still, the possible reason for the political backing to Narain and Ramkrishna that emboldened them to defy all the sentinels -- the independent board, the auditors, top management persons like the chief compliance officer, the company secretary, and unbelievably the super-regulator Sebi, observes V Ranganathan.
The Internet is too important to let a few private telecom players decide what the rules will be for consumers, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, independent member of Parliament who was one of the key petitioners seeking the scrapping of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
The Bill neither plans to make the Aadhar mandatory or limit its issuance to citizens.
'Significant reductions in the compliance obligations mean businesses earlier struggling to comply will now have enough time to prepare and comply within the extended timelines.'
Digital campaigns compared to billboards or even print ads not only have the power to reach wider audiences but also reduce the campaign costs. The focus on social media by political parties at election time, therefore, is hardly misplaced.
Its governing allies are not happy on the economy and complain of ignored concerns but find themselves unable to be assertive.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed banks and financial institutions to provide services related to cryptocurrencies by setting aside the RBI's 2018 circular which had prohibited them. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice R F Nariman, said the Reserve Bank of India circular is liable to be set aside on the ground of "proportionality". "Accordingly, the writ petitions are allowed and the circular dated April 6, 2018 is set aside," said the bench, also comprising justices Aniruddha Bose and V Ramasubramanian.
The government claims the existing safeguards under the law are adequate, lawful, towards a legitimate purpose and provide for a "proportionate interference" in citizens' right to privacy, reports Nitin Sethi.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances