In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Friday, August 28, 2015

8617 - Financial Literacy key Trigger to Inclusive Growth, Says Indian Teenager Ayuj Saraf = PR News Wire

Financial Literacy key Trigger to Inclusive Growth, Says Indian Teenager Ayuj Saraf


MUMBAI, August 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
- Study on Financial Literacy in Tier II - III Cities and Beyond 
- Interacts With Respondents Across Diverse Backgrounds 

A 17-year-old Indian teenager Ayuj Saraf, studying in BD Somani International School, Mumbai under the guidance of IIM Lucknow Professor A. Vinay Kumar, has researched an article on financial literacy. His research sums up the importance of educating semi-urban and rural population on the nuances of financial products and benefits accrued across the spectrum, which holds the key to inclusive growth in India.

In the last two decades, India has made rapid progress on macro and socio-economic fronts with financial literacy following suit. However, in terms of penetration and awareness, there is a long way to go for financial literacy, especially in Tier II cities and beyond. At a time when Indian financial markets are doing well; financial inclusion initiatives are being pursued vigorously. 

The central and state governments are unleashing financial schemes for women and rural India, the relevance and importance of financial literacy needs no exaggeration. Financial literacy refers to the understanding and knowledge about financial products - savings, credit, insurance and investment - and concepts - real and nominal interest rates, primary and secondary markets, inflation, simple and compound interest, tax planning, etc. - which the study analyses and draws some interesting and encouraging conclusions.

General awareness:
There is a high level of awareness about (a) the consequences of inflation; (b) benefits and avenues for savings; and (c) performance of equity markets. Slightly complex issues like real and nominal interest rates are only understood by the educated. Most respondents have a bank account and Aadhaar card, but not many know the concept of 'no frill' account and the utility of Aadhaar card beyond producing it for address or identification proof.

The NDA government launched financial and welfare schemes such as 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' (opening of bank accounts to provide basic financial services to poor) and 'Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana' (empowering girl child by requiring parents to make periodic deposits carrying higher interest rate) with fanfare, but awareness levels about the scheme and its features is quite low, especially for the latter.

Awareness about Investment products and opportunities:
Over 45% of the respondents save more than 10% of their annual income but the propensity to save are very low among the youth and the middle-aged. Awareness of different forms of bank deposits and their features is very high across respondents and therefore, bank deposits are the preferred avenue for savings followed by equities and real estate. Gold remains a very popular saving instrument and it is widely perceived to be inflation hedge. Interestingly, some respondents keep their savings locked at home and have no inkling of the interest loss.
Awareness of market indices - Nifty and Sensex - and functioning of the equity markets is reasonably high, and some respondents invest a sizeable portion of their annual income in the equity markets. However, the same cannot be said of the debt markets - for instance, over 60% of the respondents do not know the relationship between bond yields and bond prices and the significance of bond ratings for corporate bonds. Investment in debt instruments is popular only with salaried employees, who for tax saving purpose, invest mostly in tax-free bonds, PPF and CPF. Insurance, surprisingly, is perceived as an investment option rather than as a pure risk indemnity instrument and the level of awareness is found to be high among only the high income groups.

Access to Credit:
The informal or shadow credit market and the lengthy procedures to access credit influence credit disbursal in India. In case of emergencies, respondents mostly dig into savings or borrow from friends and relatives. Bank credit comes third, followed very distantly by moneylenders. Borrowing is mostly for medical emergencies, followed by education and asset creation and this defies the long-held belief that Indians borrow money to splurge on weddings. The awareness and use of plastic cards is widespread among the youth and middle-aged respondents due to rising consumerism, emergence of e-commerce companies and hypermarkets.

In sum, there are good reasons to believe that financial literacy is making good progress in most of Tier II cities in terms of financial knowledge and reach. Only when many more people enter the equity and debt markets and also move away from the conventional sources of borrowing, we can conclude that financial literacy is a huge success.

Media Contact:
Edriech De Souza
edriech@conceptpr.com
+91-22-40558900
Concept Public Relations India Limited



SOURCE Ayuj Saraf
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