AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8178 - New technologies pose challenge to Infosys: R Seshasayee

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

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

8178 - New technologies pose challenge to Infosys: R Seshasayee

New technologies pose challenge to Infosys: R Seshasayee

Seshesayee, 67, who took over the top post on June 5 from K.V. Kamath, has been an independent director of the global software major since January 2011 and its audit committee chairman.

IANS | 22 June 2015, 6:01 PM IST

BENGALURU: Traditional business models were being disrupted by new technologies and new ideas, which pose challenges and opportunities, Infosys' non-executive chairman R. Seshasayee said on Monday.

"We are in the midst of tremendous changes in the IT industry and our company. (Chief Executive) Vishal Sikka and his management team have articulated a clear strategy to exploit these emerging opportunities," he told investors at the company's 34th annual general meeting here.

Seshesayee, 67, who took over the top post on June 5 from K.V. Kamath, has been an independent director of the global software major since January 2011 and its audit committee chairman.

"The board fully supports the strategic direction taken by the new management and we are confident of desired outcomes in the coming years," Seshasayee said in his first address to about 1,000 investors at a college auditorium in the city.

Noting that 2014-15 was a landmark year for the outsourcing firm during which three of the seven co-founders bid farewell and Sikka became the first non-founder executive, he said their vision, selfless efforts and fundamental values to build an institution had become the country's pride.

"The board of this company was chaired by two iconic leaders - co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy and Kamath, who had set very high benchmarks in corporate governance and shareholder value creation," he said.

Kamath stepped down from the top post following his nomination as president of the $50-billion BRICS' development bank at Shanghai,

"Kamath has been a great source of guidance to all of on the board, bringing clarity of purpose and speed in execution, which helped in steering the troubled company through a time of change," Seshesayee noted.

Besides, Murthy, who was chairman, vice-chairman S.Gopalakrishnan and chief executive S.D. Shibulal were the three co-founders who relinquished their executive posts in October and July last fiscal. The other four are Nandan Nilekani, N.S. Raghavan, K. Dinesh and Ashok Arora.

Though Raghavan retired in 2000 as joint managing director, and Arora, who was on the board till 1989, left for the US later, four co-founders steered the company from a $100 million to $8.7-billion IT behemoth as successive chief executives, with Shibulal being the last.

Nilekani, who was chief executive from 2002-07, quit the company as co-chairman in 2009 on becoming chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar card to citizens.

Dinesh retired in 2011 as the company's head of quality, information systems and the communication design group.

Acknowledging the efforts of the 1.76-lakh employees in shaping and growing the $8.7-billion company, the chairman said their dedication, hard work and sense of values had differentiated the company from others.