'First sold to us as a voluntary scheme for government subsidies, Aadhaar has since sprouted multiple heads and tails, horns, fangs, warts, and a nasty case of halitosis.' 'It is unacceptably intrusive, our data is hilariously unsafe, and fraud, corruption, and criminality is rampant,' says Mitali Saran.
Since 2004, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, one of the commission's longest serving deputy chairmen, has been trying to mould it to fit into the new economic order, without much to show for his efforts.
The Aadhaar-enabled payment system, or AEPS, allows consumers who don't have smartphones or debit cards to perform basic banking transactions like cash deposit, cash withdrawal, intrabank or interbank fund transfer, balance enquiry and obtaining a mini statement through biometric authentication at micro-ATMs.
An all-out war had erupted on Twitter on Saturday after TRAI chief gave out his Aadhaar number, challenging anyone to show how mere knowledge of the number can be misused to harm him, triggering a deluge of tweets that claimed to disclose his personal details -- from PAN to mobile number.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget a little more than a month from now. Like any other FM, Sitharaman will depend on her team of bureaucrats and advisors to frame and present the Budget.
'A proposal to do away with labour laws is not feasible.' 'That's why we wanted to have a dialogue with the states.'
'The attempt to make Aadhaar mandatory has now emerged as an act of bullying by government agencies, turning citizens into subjects by making fundamental rights conditional on biometric identification,' says Gopal Krishna.
While the framework of service delivery and client-focused approach remains unchanged, Nilekani's suggestions, of taking start-ups with newer technologies to clients, are being implemented.
The project is expected to be activated by the end of this month.
Though some operators offer the facility of tag lanes, such tags can only be used at designated points.
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.
The need of the hour, as the Supreme Court readies to rule on the constitutionality of Aadhaar, is for the UIDAI to fix the bugs, says Geetanjali Krishna, in the second and final part of her series.
Digital-pay companies see 10x growth spurt after demonetisation, report Ayan Pramanik & Shine Jacob/Business Standard from Bengaluru.
India's Planning Commission has 31 divisions and seven attached offices, which include the Unique Identification Authority of India and Independent Evaluation Office.
More people will be literate, on the Internet, linked to the national identification scheme and likely to receive electricity, especially from alternative-energy sources.
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.
'People, whose sensitive information has been leaked by State agencies or companies having license from UIDAI to access the Aadhaar database, can file suits, collectively or individually.'
In a nation divided by many things, the 12-digit unique identity number is holding lives to ransom.
Senior counsel, Diwedi submitted that technology is advancing and we have limitations of understanding the technological developments.
In March 2014, Nilekani quit UIDAI to try his luck in politics.
Experts say the new security features will significantly ensure there is no 'large-scale theft of people's identity'.
Exchange rates play an important factor in international fund transfers
The new system will allow all government employees to mark their attendance from any central government department, by entering a six-digit unique number, besides finger prints or iris scan.
The amended bill also provides for a stiff Rs 1 crore penalty and a jail term for private entities for storing Aadhaar data.
Nilekani said new-age technology markets work on a winner-takes-all basis.
'Your phone number, your birth of date, your parent's name, your address, your photographs, I have everything with me.'
The apex court made it clear that banks and telecom service providers will have to indicate the last date of linking bank accounts and mobile numbers with Aadhaar in their communications with customers.
Some of the policy measures announced are expected to go a long way in removing current challenges on financing faced by businesses and also increasing economic activity, especially in areas of construction and manufacturing.
The Aam Aadmi Party's spectacular electoral debut in New Delhi is now creating ripples down south.
It is almost official: Unique Identification Authority of India chairman and former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from South Bangalore, the IT hub, against Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Ananth Kumar.
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 plan of UID/Aadhaar-based surveillance does not end with the collection of fingerprints and iris scan, it goes quite beyond it and poses a lethal threat to the idea of India, says Gopal Krishna.
Corruption in the scheme may have nothing to do with fake children being shown to siphon out money, says Somasekhar Sundaresan.
From your fingerprint to most private images and financial info -- all your privacy is under constant threat from hackers.
80% of beneficiaries in 300 districts to be linked with direct benefits transfer
After the publication of the final list of NRC, those people whose name will figure in it will be given usual Aadhaar number as applicable to legal residents in the country.
It is widely believed that Nandan Nilekani's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saved the ambitious Aadhaar project from oblivion or a takeover by the home ministry.
The agrarian crisis must be met with similarly speedy responses.
Policy lays out a 5-year road map seeking creation of 3.5 mn jobs and promoting 10,000 start-ups.
The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said Aadhaar is meant to help benefits reach the marginalised sections of the society and takes into account the dignity of people not only from personal but also from community point of view.
