AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8807 - India the next driver in innovation and PM right man in charge:

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

Monday, October 5, 2015

8807 - India the next driver in innovation and PM right man in charge:

India the next driver in innovation and PM right man in charge: Top US IT CEOs

PTI Sep 27, 2015, 10.02AM IST

(Along with Nadella, and…)

Tags:

SILICON VALLEY: Top CEOs of American companies, which have played a key role in IT revolution the world is experiencing now, have endorsed ambitious 'Digital India' programme, describing it as a vision that would bring India technologically at par with the rest of the world.

"Digital India will bring about solutions for the challenge of digital divide," said Satya Nadella, who took over as Microsoft CEO last year, at a dinner interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Let's empower people from Nanyuki to Srikakulam," Indian-American Nadella said as he detailed out how digital technology can empower people across the world as he talks about Skype for students between schools to exchange ideas.

Speaking at a Digital India dinner in San Jose, he said that next week Microsoft will announce cloud computing from data centers in India. The dinner was attended by who's who of Silicon Valley's corporate world.

Modi has accelerated effort to make India the next driver in innovation, said Sunder Pichai, CEO of Google. He said India is the fastest growing startups in the world.

"We are proud of what is happening in India and share Prime Minister's vision of digital India," he said.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan said that the Digital India initiative would "transform India into a digitally empowered" knowledge economy. Prime Minister's vision of Digital India is exciting, he said.

And a Digital Technology dinner to end the day, serving to take @_DigitalIndia to greater heights

It has the potential to uplift the while of society in India, he said, with top IT CEOs seated on the dais along with Prime Minister Modi at a dinner hosted in his honour.

"I am sure Prime Minister Modi will take Digital India to greater heights," Narayen said, who moderated the discussion.

Along with Nadella, and Narayen, others seated on the dais were John Chambers, CEO of Cisco and next Chairman of US India Business Council (USIBC) and Google CEO Sunder Pichai.

Describing Modi as "amazing ambassador" of India, Chambers endorsed Digital India, saying it has the potential to bring about great changes in India. The US and India would be "very strong together under your leadership", it said.

Chambers said one has to compete against one's ability to innovate, and not against other companies or countries.

"If you can change India, you will change the world," he said, adding that internet is the second equalizer in life after education.

Paul Jacobs executive chairman of Qualcomm said, "we are extremely excited and motivated" by the Prime Minister's Digital India initiative.

Observing that mobile technology is changing everybody's life, he said India is poised to be leader in digital technology.

Jacobs announced $150 million funds to fuel innovation in Indian startups. He also announced Design India initiative and labs, saying it would help in 'Make in India' program.

Sharing Modi's vision of using mobile phone as a key instrument of governance, he said: "India under Prime Minister Modi's leadership is moving in the right direction."

Ahead of the dinner, Apple CEO Tim Cook; Nadella and Pichai met Prime Minister Modi at his hotel in San Jose. Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Silicon Valley in more than three decades.