11193 - India needs a security and privacy law: Nandan Nilekani, former chairman, UIDAI - Economic Times

India needs a security and privacy law: Nandan Nilekani, former chairman, UIDAI

By Kunal Talgeri, ET Bureau | Updated: Apr 29, 2017, 10.31 AM IST

Demonetisation has reduced the time for digital migration from years to months, according to former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, who believes India needs an advanced data protection, security and privacy law to deal with the data deluge. The legislation is vital to also create digital literacy, so that citizens are aware of what digitisation means, Nilekani, 61, told ET in an interview on Thursday. 

The Goods and Services Tax, due to come into force on July 1, has already seen more than five million businesses register on its platform—GST network. This will generate around 2 billion electronic invoices every month. The demonetisation move in November 2016 and the BHIM app have similarly pushed people to transact online. 

"India has a unique opportunity to draft a very modern data protection and privacy Bill which can be superior to what is happening elsewhere in the world," he said 

Are you happy having an outside advisory position in governance? Or will there be a second calling from politics? 

I am very happy where I am and with what I am doing today as an independent private citizen. Most of my work is in non-profit, so I do philanthropy. I give inputs on some public policy issues. I am very keen and passionate about technology for transformation, and available to anyone... 

So there won't be a temptation to return to politics? 

No. 

Given this position, has the political will driving Digital India surprised you, especially demonetisation? 

The last few months have certainly seen an acceleration of pace, if for different reasons. One clear reason was demonetisation. I think the realisation that the long-term solution is to make India a less-cash and a more digital transaction economy, is driving this. Def .. 

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.comhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/india-needs-a-security-and-privacy-law-nandan-nilekani-chairman-former-uidai/printarticle/58424580.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

11192 - Banks mess up Aadhaar entry, relief delayed to 40,000 farmers - TNN

Banks mess up Aadhaar entry, relief delayed to 40,000 farmers

TNN | Apr 29, 2017, 12.30 AM IST

Bengaluru: More than 40,000 farmers who were to receive compensation for loss of their kharif crop did not get the money on time as their Aadhaar data was entered incorrectly by banks. 

T M Vijaya Bhaskar, Karnataka development commissioner and additional chief secretary, said, "We found as many as 40,000 cases where the actual beneficiary details were not matching and the subsidy went to somebody else. Though the number is only 3% of the total number of beneficiaries, the fact that there are loopholes that need to be fixed is important," he said. 

He was speaking at a workshop on Aadhaar-enabled applications organized by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The official, however, said the discrepancies were set right immediately and the amount transferred to wrong accounts was retrieved.

He epxlained that when the Karnataka government decided to deposit money directly into accounts of farmers whose kharif crop was devastated by severe drought a few months ago, it decided to use Aadhaar data to confirm their identities. After the deputy commissioners of drought-affected districts prepared the list of beneficiaries, the government developed an algorithm to compare the details of beneficiaries as per the revenue land records in the Bhoomi software with that of the Aadhaar database. While most of the data matched, there were cases of mismatch. 

Latest Comment

The UID has QR code. The banks should have used QR code scanners to capture the data.

Tatavarty V

MVS Rami Reddy, deputy director general, UIDAI regional office, Hyderabad, said wrong seeding of Aadhaar data at banks leads to such errors. "Even in Andhra Pradesh similar mistakes were witnessed during the benefit transfer under Indira Awaas Yojana. Some benefits got transferred to bank accounts of people in West Bengal, who were not the targeted beneficiaries. We have instructed banks to make sure they validate the demographic and other data with UIDAI before seeding Aadhaar numbers into bank accounts," he said.

UIDAI officials said they were also checking whether the wrong entries were made deliberately in banks. Some states have initiated action against banks for making wrong entries, they said.

11191 - Linking PAN with Aadhaar – Update from the Supreme Court Hearing (Day – III) - Legally India

Linking PAN with Aadhaar – Update from the Supreme Court Hearing (Day – III)

By CCG NLU Delhi

In the on-going case challenging the constitutionality of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act (‘IT Act’), the petitioners concluded their arguments today. Our coverage of the arguments made over the last two days can be found here and here.

Today, the petitioners’ counsel elaborated on the concept of informational self-determination, as propounded by the German Federal Constitutional Court in the landmark Census decision of 1983.[1] Relying on three scholarly pieces[2], he explained that informational self-determination stemmed from the fundamental rights of human dignity and personal liberty. Collectively, these two rights formed the constitutional right to personality under the German legal framework. Informational self-determination was therefore not just a necessary condition for the free development of one’s personality, but also an essential element of a democratic society. He argued that irrespective of whether this was a constitutional value under the Indian framework, it was a legitimate value and concern for the petitioners before the Court.

The petitioners, and others who object to the Aadhaar project must have the right to informational self-determination to not give their personal information to private entities empanelled by the Government. The counsel argued that UIDAI’s enrolment process was through a network of private entities and reiterated that more than 34,000 had been blacklisted for various reasons. This, in his view established the lack of control exercised by the government during the enrolment process. Further, he relied on UIDAI’s Handbook for Registrars[3] to show that even registrars (who may be state governments, or other public or private entities) are at liberty to retain biometrics and use them for other purposes. In his view, this represented a complete destruction of personal autonomy. He argued that the IT Act could not compel him to part with his biometrics under such circumstances.

The second main ground advanced by the petitioners’ counsel was ‘compelled speech’ as a violation of Article 19(1)(a). He distinguished giving demographic information to government authorities for a singular, defined purpose from information collection under Aadhaar. As per him, the state could not compel an individual to provide fingerprints and iris scans to private third parties. He cited Bijoe Emanuel v. State of Kerala (1986) 3 SCC 615 in support of this contention.

On proportionality, it was argued that the number of PAN cards for individuals (as per the Central Government’s figures) was 29 crore. When seen against the government’s figures for duplicates, this would only amount to 0.4% of all PANs. On the other hand, the intrusion caused by enrolling for Aadhaar would be tremendous.

The petitioner’s counsel reiterated his argument on the legislature lacking competence to enact Section 139AA. He stated that the doctrine of eminent domain was limited to land and could not be extended to one’s body, except under narrowly tailored circumstances under legitimate circumstances. 

Therefore, the legislature lacked competence under Entry 82 of List I or any residuary power to enact a statute compelling parting with such intimate information.

While summing up, he also reiterated the argument on voluntariness, relying on Lord Atkin’s dissent in Liversidge v. Anderson (1942 AC 206) to emphasise that voluntary could never be interpreted as mandatory.

Finally, he urged the Court to strike down Section 139AA of the IT Act, or alternatively, read down the mandatory nature of the provision to make it voluntary. He also suggested that if the bench thought issues such as informational self-determination and compelled speech are too intertwined or if it appeared not appropriate to decide this matter independently, they may be referred to a larger bench. However, considering the irreversible consequences created by the 1st July deadline, he pressed for interim relief to stay the application of the Act or restrain the government from taking coercive steps for non-compliance. He added that protecting against invalidating one’s PAN would also be essential.

A third petition, which was subsequently filed, was also argued in Court today. The counsel for this petitioner (Mr. Dashrathbhai Patel) contended that Section 139AA was a ‘confused, self-defeating and self-destructive’ provision. He pointed out that the Explanation to the section assigned meanings to several terms as per their definitions under the Aadhaar Act. In such a circumstance, borrowing the definition of ‘enrollemt’ from the Aadhaar Act (where it was a voluntary exercise), made it impermissible to make it mandatory under the IT Act. Secondly, it was contended that the definition of demographic information under the Aadhaar Act specifically prohibited collecting information related to income. By linking PAN with Aadhaar, Section 139AA was facilitating the convergence of income information, in direct contradiction with the Aadhaar Act. He argued that what was impermissible directly could not be permissible in an indirect manner.

With this, the petitioners concluded their arguments before the Supreme Court today. The Central Government will respond on 2nd May (Tuesday).

­­

Disclosure: The author assisted the petitioners’ (Maj. Gen. Vombatkere and Mr. Bezwada Wilson) lawyers for today’s arguments.

[1] BVerfGE 65, 1.

[2] Bernd R. Beier, Genetic Testing and the Right of Self- Determination: The Experience in the Federal Republic of Germany 16(3) Hofstra Law Review 601-614 (1988); and Susanne Baer, Dignity, Liberty, Equality: A Fundamental Rights Triangle of Constitutionalism 59(4) University of Toronto Law Journal 417-468 (2009); Gerrit Hornung and Christoph Schnabel, Data protection in Germany I: The population census decision and the right to informational self-determination 25(1) Computer Law & Security Report 84–88 (December 2009).

[3] p. 16

First published here.

Author: kritikaccg

11190 - Aadhaar for I-T returns: CBDT backs data safety - TNN

Aadhaar for I-T returns: CBDT backs data safety

TNN | Updated: Apr 29, 2017, 01.08 AM IST

Mumbai: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently issued a memorandum refraining income tax officials from publishing Aadhaar numbers, demographic details or personal sensitive information such as bank details. 

In other words, it has asked its officials to ensure that sensitive data of taxpayers, including their Aadhaar number, is not available in public domain. Such disclosure, the memo points out, is in contravention of the Aadhaar Act and the Information Technology Act. I-T officials have also been asked to furnish a compliance report. "Any such content already published and still appearing publicly must be discontinued with immediate effect," adds the memo. 

It is the salaried employees who will be the first to file their income tax after the implementation of the new requirement to provide Aadhaar or Aadhaar enrolment number in I-T returns. The filing due date is July 31 for the income earned during financial year 2016-17. For businessmen the due date is much later.

The Finance Act has made Aadhaar mandatory for filing of the I-T returns as well as for obtaining and retaining the permanent account number (PAN). "Leakage of Aadhaar details, in some instances, which were available in the public domain, including the much publicized instance of cricketer M S Dhoni has caused anxiety among taxpayers. The memo sends the right signals to both tax officials and the public on protection of sensitive information," says a government official. "Thus, even as the hearing on mandatory usage of Aadhaar is ongoing at the apex court, CBDT's circular may quell some anxieties," says a chartered accountant. Tax experts, however, hasten to point out the challenges in linking Aadhaar with PAN, including the fact that in the absence of providing Aadhaar or Aadhaar enrolment number, PAN will be considered as invalid. 

CBDT's memo comes in the wake of a circular issued by the ministry of information technology (E-governance group). The IT ministry had noted that sensitive details, including Aadhaar, collected by various ministries, departments, state government departments, in the administration of its various welfare schemes has been reportedly published online and is accessible through an easy online search. Besides pointing out that such publication is in contravention of various Acts, the circular also added that the offending parties are liable to compensate the persons affected and carries a punishment of imprisonment of up to three years.

The IT ministry had issued this circular on April 25, soon following reports in media of leakage of Aadhaar numbers and other details of lakhs of pension beneficiaries in Jharkhand.

11189 - Aadhaar Articles Dated 29th April 2017

	Mobile phones, Aadhaar might soon be gateway for air travel Economic Times NEW DELHI: You might soon be using just your mobile phone and Aadhaar for air travel minus all that paper work, with the government looking to roll ...
	Aadhaar for IT returns: CBDT backs data safety Times of India Mumbai: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently issued a memorandum refraining income tax officials from publishing Aadhaar numbers, ... Aadhaar PAN Right To Life Includes Maintaining Personal Autonomy Through Informational Self ... - Live Law SC to resume hearing on plea against linking Aadhaar with PAN cards on May 2nd - Zee News Linking PAN with Aadhaar – Update from the Supreme Court Hearing (Day – III) - Legally India
	Bankers' errors in Aadhaar seeding hurting beneficiaries: Officials The New Indian Express BENGALURU: Even though Aadhaar based transfer of subsidies and other benefits is gaining traction across the country, errors have crept into the ... 40000 'erroneous' payments in Aadhaar-linked subsidy disbursal in Karnataka - The Hindu Banks mess up Aadhaar entry, relief delayed to 40000 farmers - Times of India
	Don't publish Aadhaar number of students on website, UGC tells varsities Hindustan Times The UGC had earlier asked all universities to upload data regarding PhD on their websites on various parameters such as names, Aadhaar numbers ...
	In Defence Of Aadhaar - Nandan Nilekani BloombergQuint Privacy activists accuse Aadhaar of enabling 'big brother' type surveillance. Security activists fear large-scale data violation and the irrevocability of ... India needs a security and privacy law: Nandan Nilekani, former chairman, UIDAI - Economic Times
	Aadhaar must for property registration The Hans India He further said that Aadhaar linked property registration system would be introduced from next month on a pilot basis in one of the sub registrar offices ...
	Now, Aadhaar card mandatory for applying scholarships under UGC, AICTE Zee News New Delhi: Students applying for government scholarships will need to produce Aadhaar cards to avail the same, according to new HRD rules. Without Aadhaar, no scholarships can be taken from UGC and AICTE - Brainbuxa
	PDS foodgrains cannot be denied to all those eligible: HC Daily News & Analysis It also sought to know the details of families which have been denied subsidised foodgrains in the absence of Aadhaar cards, which have been made ...
	“When we say it's voluntary, it means compulsory. Please do not allow the government to canvas a ... Moneylife In his fiery and impassioned arguments against that the government's attempt to forcibly link Permanent Account Number (PAN) to Aadhaar, Mr Divan ...
	Aadhar card: SC to resume hearing on May 2nd Web India 123 Referring to this, the court said, "How can you make Aadhaar card ... amendments to the Finance Bill 2017, making Aadhaar mandatory for filing taxes.
	India needs a security and privacy law: Nandan Nilekani ETtech.com Aadhaar is also becoming an important foundation — not only for benefits from government schemes. There is the proposal to use Aadhaar eKYC ...
	Flying to become paperless soon The Hindu The Centre is looking to make either Aadhaar or passport mandatory to book air tickets so that passengers needn't carry a printout of the ticket or ...
	Nagaland news in brief Eastern Mirror The University Grants Commission (UGC) in a notification has informed that “The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Services) Act, ...
	LPG subsidy fiasco: Subsidy not credited E-Pao.net They pointed out that they have already linked their Aadhaar cards, LPG ID and bank account information in order to avail the subsidies but their ...
	Absence of timely legal help to poor affects credibility: Chief Justice of India The New Indian Express He said 113 crore people have Aadhaar cards but refused to speak on it further saying the matter was sub-judice. Noting that good governance can be ...
	Hostels buildings to be repaired during vacations The Hindu Answering a question, the Collector said that almost 75% of the bank accounts in the district were already linked with Aadhaar and work was on to ...
	RTE applications more than double in Rajasthan in 2017 Hindustan Times The state education department has made Aadhaar card compulsory for students applying for admission in private schools under the 25% RTE quota. Lottery process for 1.29 lakh RTE seats begins - Deccan Herald
	Prasad quotes Rajiv Gandhi to highlight NDA govt's achievement Daily News & Analysis Noting that 28 crore Jan Dhan accounts for the poor have been opened, he said these have connected to their mobile phones and Aadhaar cards.
	Munger lawyer's killer arrested Times of India He is working for an NGO engaged in processing Aadhaar card applications. Rajan had gone to Hapur in Uttar Pradesh in search of a job. On demand ...

11188 - 40,000 ‘erroneous’ payments in Aadhaar-linked subsidy disbursal in Karnataka - The Hindu

40,000 ‘erroneous’ payments in Aadhaar-linked subsidy disbursal in Karnataka

STAFF REPORTER

APRIL 29, 2017 00:10 IST

‘Banks told to re-verify and retrieve these payments if found to be erroneous’

The input subsidy that the State government paid to a farmer, Venkatamma, has been debited to one Vincent Rajkumar’s account. This is one of the nearly 40,000 suspected erroneous payments in the first-ever Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) disbursal of input subsides — given as part of drought relief — to around 18 lakh farmers in the State, this year.

While the State government that opted for AEPS — billed as the best platform for fool-proof direct benefit transfer — has streamlined subsidy payments integrating it with Bhoomi platform, this may also have resulted in payments of input subsidy to wrong beneficiaries, depriving deserving farmers of their rightful subsidies in these 40,000 cases.

“Suspected erroneous transactions may seem small, since they account for just over 2% of the total transactions. But 40,000 is a huge number. We have now written to the banks asking them to re-verify and retrieve these payments if found to be erroneous,” said Rajeev Chawla, Additional Chief Secretary, e-governance, Karnataka. He was speaking at a south zone workshop on ‘Aadhaar Enabled Applications’, here.

The State government developed a software, Parihara, for the purpose and a special tool to reconcile Kannada names on Bhoomi platform and Aadhaar database.

However, this could not prevent the suspected erroneous transactions. “These are due to errors in seeding of Aadhaar data with the bank accounts of the beneficiaries at the banker’s end,” Mr. Chawla said.

M.V.S. Rami Reddy, Deputy Director-General, UIDAI, Hyderabad, said 40,000 suspected erroneous transactions were a cause for concern and the matter would be taken up by the head office. He expressed concern over the gaps at the banker’s end in the AEPS process.

“As per the standard operating procedure, bankers while they seed Aadhaar data with bank accounts have to cross-verify both the databases. Some of them are lax about doing this, leading to errors,” he said, and added that the good thing was that these erroneous transactions could be easily tracked down.

Another area where the bankers are accused of laxity is in updating the Aadhaar-seeded bank account data to the National Payments Corporation of India. “We have asked them to update it once in three days, but in many banks, there is a time lag of over two to three weeks,” Mr. Reddy said.

Despite these suspected erroneous transactions, deploying AEPS for disbursal of input subsidy to farmers has brought about a sea change to the whole process in the State. Earlier, the waiting time for farmers was around 12 to 15 months, which has now come down to a single day, officials said. “There was no accountability in the selection of farmers for input subsidy and also no verification of his/her landholdings. With Bhoomi and Aadhaar being linked, over 10 lakh landholdings have been linked to Aadhaar of the landowners, bringing in accountability,” Mr. Chawla said.

11187 - PDS foodgrains cannot be denied to all those eligible: High Court - Financial Express

PDS foodgrains cannot be denied to all those eligible: High Court

It also sought to know the details of families which have been denied subsidised foodgrains in the absence of Aadhaar cards, which have been made mandatory by the government to avail benefits under the PDS.

By: PTI | New Delhi | Published: April 28, 2017 7:11 PM

The Delhi High Court today made it clear to the Centre that persons entitled under the public distribution system scheme cannot be denied subsidised foodgrains. (PTI)

The Delhi High Court today made it clear to the Centre that persons entitled under the public distribution system (PDS) scheme cannot be denied subsidised foodgrains. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra said the “persons entitled under the scheme cannot be denied subsidised foodgrains” and it wanted to ensure that “not only the poor” but all those “eligible” should avail the benefits of the PDS. “However, before extending the benefit, first we need to know that how many are eligible for the scheme and how many of them have been denied the same, in the absence of requisite identity cards,” the bench said. It asked the Centre, the Delhi government and the concerned authorities to produce data on persons covered under the PDS scheme in Delhi.

It also sought to know the details of families which have been denied subsidised foodgrains in the absence of Aadhaar cards, which have been made mandatory by the government to avail benefits under the PDS. The bench further said that unless the details are available, it would not be able to pass any direction. “We also want to ensure that the subsidised foodgrains reach to every poor and needy people of our society,” the bench said and directed the authorities to produce the data in this regard before the next date of hearing on May 25. The court was hearing a PIL seeking quashing of the Centre’s February 8 notification making Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The plea has alleged that the notification violated the basic principle of law enshrined in Article 14 (equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. The Centre has sought dismissal of the PIL, saying a similar plea was pending in the Supreme Court. Terming PDS as a “misused system”, the Centre had told the court that through Aadhaar, its endeavour was to ensure that the real beneficiaries get foodgrains.

The Centre had said it has given time till June 30 to all those who do not have the biometric-based unique identification number to apply for Aadhaar cards. Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) after collecting biometric data of citizens.

The notification came into effect from February 8 in all states and Union Territories (UTs), except Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir. Under the NFSA, which was rolled out across the country in November last year, five kilograms of foodgrains per person is provided each month at Rs 1-3 per kg to over 80 crore people in the country.

A social organisation — Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan — had moved the high court seeking enforcement of the fundamental right to food to the residents of Delhi, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups which are dependent on subsidised foodgrains distributed by the Delhi government through the PDS, which it claimed was severely impaired by the notification. Challenging the constitutional vires of the Aadhaar/UID project, the plea has said that due to the enforcement of the notification, people were being deprived of their rightful entitlement under the NFSA.

It said the apex court in an interim order in October 2015 had allowed voluntary use of Aadhaar and ruled that no citizen can be denied a service or subsidy for want of it. The plea further alleged that the Centre’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for subsidised food goes against the apex court’s interim order and places the most vulnerable at the risk of being left out of the food security net.

11186 - HRD Ministry seeks Aadhaar numbers from college, university teachers: Report - Scroll.In

AADHAAR CARD

HRD Ministry seeks Aadhaar numbers from college, university teachers: Report

The move is said to be aimed at removing ‘ghost’ teachers from the ministry’s database.

Scroll Staff

Published Apr 27, 2017.  

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has sought the Aadhaar numbers and details of caste, religion and phone numbers from 60% of more than 15 lakh university and college teachers of the country, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. The remaining teachers will be covered under the project within a month.

The move is aimed at removing “ghost” teachers from the ministry’s database. “We believe there are a lot of ghost lecturers. These are teachers who show up in multiple institutes, the ones not run by the government. Individual details such as Aadhaar numbers will help us identify such duplication,” the English daily quoted R Subrahmanyan, Additional Secretary of the HRD Ministry, as saying.

The ministry has been profiling teachers as part of the annual All India Survey on Higher Education but, until last year, the data would be provided by each institute. For the survey this year, a new Teacher Information Format has been introduced to create the teachers’ portal ‘Gurujan’.

Subrahmanyan allayed fears that collecting the Aadhaar numbers of teachers would leave them vulnerable to a security threat. “Initially, we may not make gurujan.gov.in open to public. We will not make any personal information public. The data will be absolutely safe,” he told The Indian Express.

We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.

11185 - Storing Aadhaar Number Punishable under the Aadhaar Act Dr Anupam Saraph - Money Life

Storing Aadhaar Number Punishable under the Aadhaar Act

Dr Anupam Saraph

28 April 2017

Asking for linking the Aadhaar number, for it to be quoted on forms, displaying it on certificates and documents, storing it in registers or databases is completely illegal and punishable with a fine and imprisonment under the Aadhaar Act 2016. 

Read Full Article at Money Life

11184 - Arun Jaitley at CII meet says debate over Aadhaar and EVM or other 'obsolete' ideas are diversions- First Post

Arun Jaitley at CII meet says debate over Aadhaar and EVM or other 'obsolete' ideas are diversions

IndiaPTIApr, 28 2017 15:31:42 IST

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the debate on "obsolete" ideas like paper ballot versus electronic voting machines and cash as opposed to digital payment, saying they are diversionary tactics. Speaking at CII's annual meeting in New Delhi, he said there is a need to take the debates on use of Unique Identity Number and electronic voting machines (EVMs) head on as the world has moved forward.

"We need to worry about the shrillness and the diversion in the nature of debate," he said, referring to the call by opposition parties against use of EVMs for casting votes in elections.

The opposition attack got shriller after the results of Assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh. "In (my) budget speech I quoted (Mahatma) Gandhiji that a right cause never fails. And therefore there is going to be a debate on obsolete ideas that cash is better than digitisation, paper is better than EVMs, arbitrary selection of individuals is better than a unique identity," he said.

These debates "are all diversions of going back to obsolete ideas", he said.

Giving citizens a 12-digit unique identification number or Aadhaar, which can be verified biometrically, is one of the greatest reforms in India, he said.

"We must have broad shoulders to encounter this debate but we must eventually realise that as the world moves forward, it is the unique identity which will be one of the greatest reforms in India," he said.

He said EVM with all its additionalities being preferred over paper ballot would mean "much better proposition and a digitised economy will be much better than a cash economy".

"And therefore those who argue going back to the obsolete ideas, eventually is not a cause which is likely to ever succeed," Jaitley added.

Published Date: Apr 28, 2017 03:31 pm | Updated Date: Apr 28, 2017 03:31 pm

11183 - SC to hear plea against linking Aadhaar with PAN cards - DNA

SC to hear plea against linking Aadhaar with PAN cards

Fri, 28 Apr 2017-07:04am , ANI

The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a plea, challenging the government?s decision to link Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN) card for filing of income tax returns and to apply for new PAN.

Earlier yesterday, the government clarified to the apex court that the PAN will be made invalid from July 1 and not from when a person had applied for it.

The court had asked the government to justify the notification in this regard.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Centre told the apex court that the decision taken by it was made with the intention of curbing tax evasion and to keep check on circulation of black money.

Appearing before a bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the move was to weed out fake PANs that are being used to divert funds to shell companies.

Three petitions in this regard have been filed by senior Communist Party of India leader Binoy Vishwam, Dalit rights activist Bezwada Wilson and retired army officer S.G. Vombatkere.

Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as introduced by the Finance Act, 2017, provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar / Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form, for filing of return of income and for making an application for allotment of Permanent Account Number with effect from 1st July, 2017.

In August 2015, the apex court in an order made it clear that Aadhaar cards will not be mandatory for availing benefits of the government's welfare schemes.

The Narendra Modi government, which eyes to end the black money menace, had last month made Aadhaar card mandatory for filing the Income Tax returns, for applying for a Pan card, to seek free gas connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

The apex court had last month given green signal to the government for making Aadhaar mandatory for opening bank accounts, getting mobile connections and getting passports.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

11182 - IMF backs GST and Aadhaar push, pegs India’s growth at 8% - Times Now

IMF backs GST and Aadhaar push, pegs India’s growth at 8%

Apr 28, 2017 | 13:41 IST | SOURCE : Times Now, Agencies

Washington: As the nation nears the start of a new tax regime from July 1 under the historic Goods and Services Tax (GST), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has backed the reforms, adding that it would help raise India’s mid-term growth to about 8 per cent.

Tao Zhang, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, said the Indian government has succeeded in making significant progress in implementing economic reforms, which will support strong and sustainable growth in future.

Zhang also praised GST, explaining that it will enhance production and the movement of goods and services across the state.

"We expect that the goods and services tax (GST), which is targeted to be applied starting in July, will help raise India's medium-term growth to above 8 per cent, as it will enhance production and the movement of goods and services across Indian states," the IMF official said.

The deputy director also said that the IMF is “extremely impressed” with the work that is being done by the government of India, adding that GST will help enhance India’s growth unequivocally.

Zhang also believes that India will not slip down in terms of fast-paced economic growth, and with the implementation of GST from July, India will be looking to further improve its growth rate, which was scaled down after the demonetisation move last year, but the situation has improved considerably since November 8.

Adding to his comments on GST, Zhang also highlighted some key factors such as dip in global oil prices that have helped bolster economic activity, apart from lowering inflation.

"The currency exchange initiative led to a slowdown in economic activity. However, there are initial signs of recovery as the currency exchange has been progressing well," said Zhang, who assumed the role of Deputy Managing Director at the IMF on August 22, 2016.

"As India persists with its strong reform efforts, labour market reforms should take priority," he noted.

These would facilitate greater and better quality jobs, raise female labour force participation, and enhance the impact of recent product market reforms, he observed.

"While there has been important progress generally, we see scope to pursue better targeting and greater efficiency of subsidy and social spending programs through greater use of the trio of Aadhaar unique beneficiary identification, direct benefit transfers, and information technology," Zhao  said.

"Finally, more could be done to raise agricultural productivity and enhance market efficiency. This would help increase the supply of high-value foods, enhance returns to farmers, and dampen food inflation pressures," said the IMF official responding to a question.

11181 - Now, Aadhaar must for getting fellowships, scholarships from UGC and AICTE - Hindustan Times

Now, Aadhaar must for getting fellowships, scholarships from UGC and AICTE

Junior Research Fellowship, PG scholarships for rank holders among those that will be given only if students declare Aadhaar numbers

EDUCATION Updated: Apr 27, 2017 23:58 Ist

Neelam Pandey  Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Students seeking government scholarships and fellowships will need to declare Aadhaar numbers by the end of June, the human resources development (HRD) ministry notified on Wednesday, putting yet another of its benefits programme behind the Unique Identity project (UID) wall.

Wednesday’s order covers fellowship schemes implemented by the University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education.

“The use of Aadhaar as identity document for delivery of services or benefits or subsidies simplifies the government delivery processes, brings in transparency and efficiency, and enables beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly in a convenient and seamless manner and Aadhaar obviates the need for producing multiple documents to prove one’s identity,” the government stated in its notification.

Students have till June 30 to declare their Aadhaar numbers, or apply for one and declare the enrolment number, to their colleges.

The notification, a copy of which is with HT, came into effect from Wednesday, covering all states excluding Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

Activists have criticised the government’s move to make the Aadhaar programme – the enrolment to a national database with biometric information such as fingerprints and iris scans – must for those drawing state benefits. The criticism has centred around a Supreme Court order in September last year, when it said that people without UID numbers must not be denied assistance.

The UGC in July last year asked universities to mandatorily ask fellowship and scholarship beneficiaries to declare their 12-digit UID numbers but backtracked on it two months later, around the same time as the SC order.

Sources said there will be a delay in processing fellowship amount in case students are unable to provide their Aadhaar number.

In addition to the JRF, 17 fellowship schemes — including the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), the Emeritus fellowship, the Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Candidates — will be covered under the rule.

Post graduate scholarship for university rank holder, post graduate scholarship for single girl child and other UGC scholarships will also be awarded only after Aadhaar is declared.

11180 - Within weeks of govt’s Aadhaar Pay launch, Samsung Pay goes live with UPI - Your Story

Within weeks of govt’s Aadhaar Pay launch, Samsung Pay goes live with UPI

Team YS,  27 APRIL 2017

On Monday, Samsung India announced the availability of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its flagship mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, in India.

With the introduction of UPI, Samsung Pay now integrates card payments, mobile wallets and UPI on one app. Moreover, the transactions made by users through UPI on Samsung Pay would be facilitated through Axis Bank.

Samsung Pay was launched in India last month

With the launch of UPI on Samsung Pay, users can create their unique virtual addresses, enabling them to make seamless bank-to-bank transfers.

Further, according to a press statement from the company, a unique benefit of enabling UPI on the Samsung Pay app is the integration with the users’ address book, which then identifies existing accounts on the contact list.

@pingpay is the UPI handle assigned to Samsung Pay.

UPI is a payment system that powers multiple bank accounts on a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund-routing and merchant payments under one hood.

This would also cater to the ‘peer-to-peer’ collect request, where users can request for payments from their contacts, adding to the convenience of Samsung Pay consumers.

At the launch, Dilip Asbe, Chief Operating Officer, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), said,

 “We are excited to magnify UPI’s reach by going live on Samsung Pay. This initiative will surely contribute towards assisting our objective of providing convenience and safety to the customers while they make payments. We congratulate Samsung Pay and Axis Bank for emerging as one of the first UPI adopters in this segment.”

While Rajiv Anand, Executive Director - Retail Banking, Axis Bank, added,

 Samsung Pay is a simple and secure way to pay using the existing point-of-sale (PoS) network. The addition of UPI to Samsung Pay, in association with NPCI, makes it an even more powerful proposition for customers to transfer money and make payments.

Launched in March this year, Samsung Pay, works on three levels of security—fingerprint authentication, card tokenisation, and Samsung’s defense-grade mobile security platform, Samsung KNOX.

At present, Samsung Pay works with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Cards, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank.

To launch Samsung Pay, a user needs to swipe up on an eligible Samsung Galaxy smartphone, select the card, authenticate using a fingerprint or PIN and bring the phone near the Point of Sale terminal.

Samsung Pay works with Samsung’s patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology as well as with Near Field Communication (NFC).

Just this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, launched Aadhaar Pay, BHIM Aadhaar-based mobile app (Aadhaar Pay or BHIM Aadhaar), which will allow consumers to pay through their biometric data, linked to their Aadhaar.

At the same time, Aadhaar Pay doesn’t require the customers to carry their smartphone. Customers just need to input their Aadhaar number, select a bank and put in their biometric to validate the transaction, hence, disrupting the use of smartphones for making payments in the country.

On a side note, the Aadhaar Pay platform might also help merchants reduce their costs of deploying digital payments by disrupting PoS, and requiring only a biometric scanner.

11179 - Why These Rural Women In Rajasthan Want Aadhaar - NDTV

Why These Rural Women In Rajasthan Want Aadhaar

All India | Written by Harsha Kumari Singh | Updated: April 28, 2017 01:02 IST

Bhamashah card is like a social welfare single window card made in the name of woman of the household.

VILLAGE PARA, AJMER:  Rajasthan is among the first few states in the country that has gone almost completely online for the transfer of social security benefits to the poor by linking them with the Aadhaar card and then its own unique card, called Bhamashah.

The Bhamashah card is like a social welfare single window card made in the name of the woman of the household. All rations, healthcare and welfare schemes by the state government are delivered through the Bhamashah card while the Aadhar's UID number, linked to the beneficiary's bank account, is used for online transfer of money for all central welfare schemes.

These online transfers are, however, doing more than eliminating the middlemen. They are giving the poor, especially rural women, a sense of dignity and self-respect.

Shanti Devi's husband has been crippled for 15 years. Her family in Ajmer's Para village has only four bighas of land and three goats. She depends largely on wages earned through MNREGA and a Rs.500 old age pension every month to survive.

Rajasthan has gone online for transfer of social security benefits to poor inking them with Aadhaar

Earlier, the postman would come to her door and hand over her pension to any family member he could find. Now, that has changed. Old age pension for women like Ms Devi is now directly transferred into their accounts using the Aadhar card.

"Earlier we would never know when our pension arrived. If we were not at home they would give it to our son or our daughter-in-law but now I can withdraw the cash R

s.

100 or 200. If my daughter comes home I can offer her a cup of tea from my money," says Ms Devi, who now has a say in how her money is to be spent.

Other women like her, old and vulnerable, have found a new sense of dignity and self-respect.

Kailashi Ram Gopal, a widow adds, "Earlier if a poor woman received money like me, some drunkard or somebody in the family would extract the money from her, but now it can only be taken from the bank and without a card and a finger print, nobody can take it out of your bank, so the money is ours."

Nearly five lakh families have been linked with the Bhamashah card in Rajasthan.

But it's not just pensions and rations, the online transfer of money is also helping doctors work towards bettering health indexes in rural Rajasthan.

At the primary health centre in Para village, linking institutional deliveries to the Aadhar card is helping the government monitor maternal health. Women are given Rs.1,400 after delivery under the Janani Suraksha Yojana, a central government scheme.

But doctors say the mother has to stay at the health centre for 48 hours to be eligible for the dole. Those 48 hours after birth are crucial to prevent both maternal and infant mortality.

"Patients are not given cash or cheques, the money is transferred online to their accounts before they leave the hospital," said Dr Kaislash Chand Mittal, the Chief Medical and Health Officer in Kekdi Block.

The women and their newborns will also be tracked for vaccinations and to ensure their children are enrolled in schools, there are financial incentives at each stage - all transferred online into the mother's account.

"Earlier if you got cash the money could be used by anybody in the family but now it is in the mother's name so it is beneficial for us women," said a new mother, Sonia.

Nearly five lakh families have been linked with the Bhamashah card in Rajasthan and the Aadhar coverage is almost 80 per cent in the state. But there are drawbacks, mainly with the link to bank accounts as more than half the state's  population is yet to be linked to formal banking. 

11178 - Aadhaar Card Becomes Mandatory For Bhopal Gas Victims - NDTV

Aadhaar Card Becomes Mandatory For Bhopal Gas Victims

All India | Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: April 28, 2017 01:16 IST

by Taboola 

Aadhaar became mandatory as welfare schemes are now linked with Direct Benefit Transfer facility

BHOPAL:  The Aadhaar registration card has been made mandatory for Bhopal gas victims to receive any ex gratia payment or compensation, an officer said on Today.

"The Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has issued a notification which necessitates producing Aadhaar card by the beneficiaries before receiving any payments," said Ajay Shrivastava, Registrar (In-charge) in the office of Welfare Commissioner, Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department.

According to Mr Shrivastava, Aadhaar became mandatory as the department has linked all its welfare schemes with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) facility.

On the night of December 2-3, 1984, toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas got leaked from a Union Carbide plant in the state capital, exposing over 500,000 people to its ill effects. Thousands of people are still fighting various diseases caused by the toxic gas.

To ensure relief and rehabilitation, speedy justice and due compensation to the victims and their dependents, the central government in 1992 set up the Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department. All ex gratia payments are dirbursed by this department to the various categories of victims.

11177 - Jobless engineer made over 100 fake Aadhaar cards - TNN

Jobless engineer made over 100 fake Aadhaar cards

Parth Shastri | TNN | Apr 28, 2017, 06.28 AM IST

AHMEDABAD: When Sola police investigators questioned Nilesh Mistry, 36, who was caught from his residence in Sector 6 of Chanakyapuri in Chandlodia on Wednesday evening, they were surprised to learn that Mistry not only faked Aadhaar cards for those volunteering for clinical trials, but himself volunteered for trials. 

Sources said that Mistry claims to have volunteered in clinical trials for past nine months to earn some extra money to supplement his earnings. 

"It was during his tours to different trial facilities that he met a group of youths volunteering for clinical trials. It is believed that he has made over 100 fake Aadhar cards for other volunteers to beat the three-month guideline where they cannot appear for other drug trials," said an investigator. 

"Primary questioning revealed that Mistry is a software engineer. During the 2007-08 economic slump he lost his job. He used to earn about Rs 35,000 at that time," said an investigator. 

"From then onward, it was downward spiral for him. He worked for a government organization on contract for about five years, and later joined a private firm. He was earning about Rs 15,000 in his last job in 2015, after which he started freelancing," the investigator said.

"Members of his peer group have appeared for clinical trials in companies based in Gota, Dholka, Ambli, Changodar, Prahladnagar, Thaltej and Vadodara. It is yet to be ascertained whether he had any role in connecting the youths from different states with the companies," said an investigator. 

"As of now, we got to know of the two pharma companies' trial facilities where he used to volunteer," the investigator said.

Top Comment

Who said Aadhaar cannot be faked and used. If some one can use the fake Aadhaar card, credibility of Aadhaar Card is questionable. GOI should issue Identity Card with security features like Driving Licence Card in North America. Until then stop using Aadhaar cards unless biometric is verified along with it.

Truth Speaker

How Aadhaar cards were faked

Investigators said Mistry used to take a photograph of the original Aadhaar card, upload it on his computer, change the name and sometimes the number of the card and then get its printout on good paper. He would also get it laminated to give it the look of an original. The trick worked, as according to his claim, except a few companies, none went for verification of the card number.

11176 - Aadhaar-based POS transactions raise privacy concerns - TNN

Aadhaar-based POS transactions raise privacy concerns

Rachel Chitra & Ranjani Ayyar | TNN | Apr 28, 2017, 04.00 AM IST

Chennai: The proliferation of Aadhaar-based payments has lead to a lot of questions being raised on privacy. Will your local mobile recharge vendor or a petty shop owner have access to all your data? What if your biometrics get hacked? 

Such questions are among those that the UIDAI has to answer as it steams ahead with facilitating Aadhaar based transactions on India's 25 lakh plus PoS terminals. 

Data Security Council of India CEO Rama Vedashree flagged some concerns, when she told TOI, "When Aadhaar enabled payment systems proliferates, host of data is deployed at merchants of which some can be phone-based, some through PoS devices. When an entire ecosystem is so closely connected, security by design becomes default."

Cyber-security experts have for long held that PoS machines are usually the easiest target for hacks. "For every one ATM hack, we see 20 PoS machine frauds. Many of the complaints we receive are from customers, who had their data compromised, by using their debit cards at petrol bunks, shopping malls and cinema theatres," said P Ravi Sekharan, assistant commissioner, cyber crime cell, Chennai City Police. 

Another issue is that an Aadhaar hack has far more grave implications than a debit card hack. "When debit card data is hacked, there is a considerable financial loss - but it stops there. Your entire life is not in someone else's hands. But with Aadhaar now being linked to PAN, GST registration, civil supplies' amenities, ration card, an Aadhaar data theft could have drastic impact and completely paralyse someone's life," said a cyber crime official, who did not want to be identified. With decoders, skimmers, machine readers stealing customer data has become all too easy. When Aadhaar was conceptualised, it was meant to facilitate direct benefit transfers. However, it has metamorphed into an enabler for digital payments and this has cyber secuirty experts concerned.

"If your Facebook or bank account is hacked, you can reset your password. But when your fingerprints are stolen, there is no reset. They are permanent identification markers, and once snagged, it is out of your control. When your gym, mobile phone company, and doctor all have your biometric details, remediation of the hack will prove difficult, if not impossible," said Nitin Bhatnagar, cyber security consultant.

With NPCI, UIDAI pushing hard for en masse adoption for digital payments, many companies including IT majors like TCS have jumped on the bandwagon with its recent launch of MerchantPay, an Aadhaar based payment solution. And the pro-Aadhar adoption crowd is vehement that all security concerns have been addressed. "We looked at this solution during demonetisation. Existing payment solutions need one to have a debit card or an android phone. MerchantPay is built as a multi channel solution so it can support Aadhaar based payments or the standard gateways," said Ravi Viswanathan, president - south markets, TCS, which has four banks onboard and is piloting the solution with 13 others.

From a security perspective, Viswanathan says these are in the realms of any technology. The system offers multiple levels of authentication to ensure secuirty. We are offering built in control for banks and their customers which will have checks in place," he said.

11175 - SC to continue hearing plea challenging govt’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing I-T returns - Indian Express

SC to continue hearing plea challenging govt’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing I-T returns

Last week, the Centre defended its decision to introduce amendments in the Act saying the move would help to weed out fake and fraudulent financial accounts.

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi |

 Published:April 28, 2017 9:36 am

The Supreme Court on Friday will continue to hear the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the government’s decision to make Aadhaar card mandatory for acquiring a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card and for filing Income Tax returns. On Thursday, the government told the apex court that the PAN will be rendered invalid from July 1 and not from when a person had applied for it, if a user does not link her Aadhaar card details.

Last week, the Centre defended its decision to introduce amendments in the Act saying the move would help to weed out fake and fraudulent financial accounts. “Today, anybody can get a PAN card with any name on it. A person can get several PAN cards — say, as Mukesh Gupta, then another as Mukesh Kumar Gupta, and a third as M K Gupta, so on and so forth,” Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the two-judge bench headed by Justice A K Sikri.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) after procuring biometric data of the citizens. The Centre had introduced section 139AA of the Income Tax (IT) Act through the latest budget and the Finance Act 2017. The section provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of income tax returns and making application for allotment of PAN number with effect from July 1 this year.

The bench is hearing two PILs, filed separately by former Kerala minister Binoy Viswam and retired Army official S G Vombatkere, challenging the validity of an amendment in the I-T Act.

With inputs from ANI

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App now

11174 - Mandatory Aadhaar will make us slaves: PIL in Supreme Court - TNN

Mandatory Aadhaar will make us slaves: PIL in Supreme Court

Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN | Updated: Apr 28, 2017, 11.39 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Countering the Centre's contention that linking of PAN with Aadhaar is needed to curb tax evasion, petitioners opposing the move told the Supreme Court on Thursday that making it compulsory is illegal and would virtually convert citizens into "slaves" as they would be under the government's surveillance all the time. 

Appearing before a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, senior advocate Shyam Divan contended that making Aadhaar mandatory would be violative of the citizens' fundamental rights granted under the Constitution as they would be coerced to give sample of their fingerprints and iris. Divan, appearing for Major General Sudhir Vombatkere (Retd) and Dalit activist Bezwada Wilson, contended that Aadhaar is optional and not mandatory as per the Aadhaar Act and the government could not make it compulsory under the amended Income Tax Act.

• 20 People Run the World—and You Don't Know Most of Them
  Forbes
• She Had No idea Why The Crew Was Staring
  OMG LANE

Recommended By Colombia

The petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act which provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar for filing of income tax returns and while applying for allotment of PAN number from July 1 this year. "Aadhaar is voluntary. The Act creates a right in favour of the resident and duty is not cast upon them to get Aadhaar as it is optional but Income Tax Act makes it mandatory. The I-T Act is in direct confrontation with Aadhaar Act. This is complete collision and mismatch," Divan said while pleading the court to at least read down Section 139AA to make it optional.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

• INDIA
  India, Cyprus ink four pacts, including one for air services
  
• INDIA
  Four Congress MLAs join BJP in Manipur
  

Divan contended that making Aadhaar mandatory would push the country towards a totalitarian state where citizens' rights would be made subservient and the government would keep an eye on every activity of an individual. He said the government is not supposed to keep watch on its citizens in a democratic country and the concept of Aadhaar is antitheses to democratic principles.

Top Comment

There are the people in India who oppose every good bit of work as they hate India.

Omkar Singh

"In our Constitution, we form the government and we have given ourself the right to govern ourselves. The government has limited authority over us. Do not let Section 139AA fetter the citizens. People's consent for Aadhaar should be free and voluntary," he said. "My fingerprints and iris are part of my body and I have absolute right over my body. The state cannot coerce me to give sample of my fingerprints and iris for getting Aadhaar," Divan said.