The West Bengal government has challenged the provision which said that without Aadhaar, the benefits of social welfare schemes would not be extended.
An agency which helps Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) enroll citizens for Aadhar has over enthusiastic shared the personal details of ace cricket Mahendra Singh Dhoni on social media.
The government has amended Aadhaar regulations, specifying that supporting documents need to be updated "at least once" by Aadhaar holders on completion of 10 years from enrolment date.
'Individual beneficiary desirous of availing the benefits under the scheme (PMUY) is hereby required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication,' said a gazette notification issued by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.
There is no word on extending the February 6, 2018 deadline for linking mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar.
'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.
The last date for linking Aadhaar for mobile services will remain February 6 as per the Supreme Court order.
The Aadhaar issuing authority, Unique Identification Authority Of India, has no data on those who have been denied benefits for want of the 12-digit biometric identification number, the Supreme Court was informed on Thursday.
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.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Centre along with states is making efforts to control lumpy skin disease in cattle.
'The most valuable personal sensitive information of present and future citizens has been made available to foreign data firms and governments and non-State actors for all time to come,' says Gopal Krishna.
A division bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the Al Qadir trust corruption case, a day after the Supreme Court termed Khan's arrest from the IHC premises on Tuesday as 'invalid and unlawful'.
According to officials aware of the matter, restarting the project could mean inviting the court's 'contempt' as the case -- in which the Supreme Court has held that biometric identification cannot be a criterion for a citizen's access to welfare -- has still not been closed yet.
Finance ministry asks bank, insurance & market regulators to issue notifications
Aadhaar is falling behind on technology, missing out on confidentiality and has gaps in its data archiving policy and preserving confidentiality in delivery of the cards to people, says a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The performance report, 'Functioning Of Unique Identification Authority Of India', tabled in Parliament on the last day of the budget session notes, assigning a unique identity to all resident Indians was supposed to be the key feature of Aadhaar. But "There were instances of issue of Aadhaar with the same biometric data to different residents indicating flaws in the de-duplication process and issue of Aadhaar on faulty biometrics and documents". It says close to half a million such records had to be cancelled by the Unique Identification Authority of India up to 2016.
Govt expects to save Rs 10,000 crore through this move.
'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.'
The transition to UPI-based ATMs will be gradual, and consumers will not immediately switch to using standalone UPI ATMs overnight.
Aadhaar-related schemes and the Aadhaar Act exist on the assumption that Right to Privacy is not a Fundamental Right.
The banks argue since the scale of credits is unforeseen, they will have to bear an unknown cost of servicing these accounts.
According to a legal expert, the clause of 'reasonable restriction' could still mean the government can make Aadhaar mandatory for monetary transactions and therefore, for banking.
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.
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.
The government had projected the GDP growth to be at 8.5%.
Since the first Aadhaar number was issued in September 2010, more than 1.33 billion Aadhaar cards have been generated till June 2022. With the Aadhaar enrolment of adult Indians nearing 100 per cent, the main objective of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which was to give Unique Identification numbers (UID) to all residents of India, is almost achieved, said a senior government official. "Enrolment will now be much more update-based, because people keep updating their mobile numbers and addresses.
With terror groups misusing Aadhaar to camouflage the identity of their Pakistani cadres, the Jammu and Kashmir police will request the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to strengthen safety features of the biometric ID, officials have said.
The linking of biometric UID/Aadhaar number to all public services makes "We, the People of India" worse than slaves, says Gopal Krishna.
PDS: Smart ration cards need to be smarter
Surat-based company in talks with banks, insurance cos, manufacturing cos etc for their iris scanner machine.
The DoT is wrongly asking subscribers to link their mobile numbers to Aadhaar in order to keep them active, says Gopal Krishna.
India will extend the visa-on-arrival facility to all countries except eight with effect from September. The countries not covered under this single-entry e-visa facility, meant for purposes other than paid employment and education with a one-month time limit, are Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia. The facility is currently available to 11 countries, including New Zealand, Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan and Finland.
'We have to go through the process of obtaining informed consent.'
Radio taxi service provider Meru Cabs is planning to put in place the next level of driver verification, one liked to biometric identification tool Aadhaar.
The bill was passed by a voice vote after Shah sought to allay concerns raised by the Opposition, which claimed the draft law was "draconian".
The top court asked how a state can challenge the mandate of Parliament.
Through this mobile application, the handset will be used for authenticating biometrics of customers making Aadhaar enabled payment.
Sources said the two Acts will be amended to provide for voluntary sharing of the 12-digit identification number for obtaining new mobile phone connections and for the opening of bank accounts.
The much publicised Unique Identification number may not be as infallible as it is touted to be. Though Aadhaar -- the implementation programme of the UID -- records both the biometric and iris scan data of the individual, it is solely dependent on biometrics for application. The government aims to have biometric authentication readers at ration shops to ensure that only eligible candidates get access to food subsidy and other benefits.
Observing that it does not propose to run the administration in Manipur, the apex court said necessary verifications shall be carried out before issuing the Aadhaar cards expeditiously.
