AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10341 - Rating agencies have a reason to improve India’s rating: Shaktikanta Das

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, August 31, 2016

10341 - Rating agencies have a reason to improve India’s rating: Shaktikanta Das - Financial Express

Rating agencies have a reason to improve India’s rating: Shaktikanta Das

By: Prasanta Sahu | New Delhi | Updated: August 17, 2016 9:49 AM

The finance minister has said in his Budget speech if more capital is required, he will provide it. Banks have the choice of getting out of their non-core businesses. (Source: PTI)

With the clutch of reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi government (easing of foreign investment regulations and use of Aadhaar platform for delivery of subsidies) and the ones that will be put in place soon (like the goods & services tax and the bankruptcy code), the government strongly feels global rating agencies must consider improving their ratings and outlooks for the country. These agencies accord India the lowest investment grade. If they don’t factor in the recent spate of reforms, they will be missing out on the real India story, economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das tells Prasanta Sahu in an interview. Excerpts:

Will the monetary policy committee (MPC) be in place by September 4 (when RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s term ends)?

There is a process involved (in the formation of MPC) and that is underway. It has nothing to do with departure of the current (RBI) governor or any such thing. The next (monetary policy) review is due only after two months. We expect that the next policy review will be done by the MPC.

Will a separate railway Budget be done away with from FY18?

The matter is under examination. Several operational aspects will have to be worked out (before putting an end to rail Budget and merging it with the general Budget). The government is yet to take a final decision. But, technically or legally, we don’t see any problem in merging the two budgets. Even today, the railway Budget is part of the annual financial statement attached to the general Budget and this is a constitutional requirement.

Don’t you think the rating agencies should review their India ratings, given the spate of reforms the government has undertaken and the growth forecasts?

We are very clear that international rating agencies should give due weight to India’s reform steps; they usually pay attention to such developments in the developed countries. I think they have to change their mindset and accept and recognise the measures we have taken on the reform front. Which country in the current context has taken as many reform measures as India has over the past year? No country has. If rating agencies don’t recognise these changes, they would indeed be missing out on the real India story. (Before the GST Bill was passed by Parliament recently, Fitch reaffirmed its BBB- rating for India).

The yield on G-secs has been declining. How much has the government saved in terms of interest cost?

We have not quantified the savings. What is important is coming close on the heels of Brexit and the steep volatility in the various global markets, this is reflective of investor confidence on the macro-economic story of India. The Budget has made an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore for public sector bank capitalisation in FY17, but the banks obviously need more.

Do you think these banks should try to monetise their non-core assets?

The finance minister has said in his Budget speech if more capital is required, he will provide it. Banks have the choice of getting out of their non-core businesses. They could also monetise various kinds of assets they are holding.

What is the progress on National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)?

Our interactions with various investors have shown that their interest is more in specific sectors, not in investing in an all-purpose mother fund. Therefore, we are now restructuring and creating some avenues for translating that kind of interest into investments. To begin with, there could be two or three sectoral funds such as on roads and non-conventional energy.