Unique Identification Authority of India CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Thursday afternoon got a unique opportunity to make a PowerPoint presentation in the Supreme court to defend the government&#39;s ambitious Aadhaar scheme.

The CJI&#39;s courtroom was the centre of attraction for lawyers, litigants and journalists as probably for the first time, two projectors were installed to enable the UIDAI CEO to make a case in favour of Aadhaar.

Pandey, a 1984-batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre heading UIDAI since 2010, allayed concerns about data security and said the Aadhaar data is protected by a 2048-bit encryption and &quot;once biometrics comes to us, it will never go away&quot;.

Making use of two projectors, he said breaking the Aadhaar encryption may take &quot;more than the age of the universe for the fastest computer on earth&quot;.

The bench questioned the CEO on his plea that Aadhaar was infallible, asking why the UIDAI blacklisted 49,000 registered operators.

Pandey said the agents were blacklisted for indulging in corruption, carelessness and harassment of the public.

&quot;It sounds somehow strange that you blacklisted 49,000 of your operators for harassing people,&quot; the bench asked.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Initially, we trusted these operators, but they ended up registering trees, Lord Hanuman, Jamun trees etc,&quot; Pandey responded.

On the issue of failure of authentication, he said if a biometric authentication does not work, the officers have been instructed to check the Aadhaar card and see that the case is genuine.

&quot;A person should not be denied benefits because there is a failure in authentication,&quot; the CEO, who will continue with his presentation on March 27, said.

The bench then asked him about the death of a woman in Jharkhand after she was denied ration for want of Aadhaar authentication.

The CEO said he was aware of the case and it was not the case of failure of authentication. The authentication was done and Aadhaar details matched, it was a case of dishonesty on part of the shopkeeper of the fair price shop.

It was the &quot;failure of honesty&quot; and not the failure of Aadhaar, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represents UIDAI, said.

The UIDAI CEO said from July 1, Aadhaar would include the face besides the fingerprints and iris for authentication.

At the start of the presentation, a technical snag led to not functioning of one of the projectors facing the lawyers and litigants. The glitch was rectified later.&nbsp;

Pandey, a 1984-batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre heading UIDAI since 2010, allayed concerns about data security

Unique Identification Authority of India CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Thursday afternoon got a unique opportunity to make a PowerPoint presentation in the Supreme court to defend the government's ambitious Aadhaar scheme. The CJI's courtroom was the centre of attraction for lawyers, litigants and journalists as probably for the first time, two projectors were installed to enable the UIDAI CEO to make a case in favour of Aadhaar. Pandey, a 1984-batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre heading UIDAI since 2010, allayed concerns about data security and said the Aadhaar data is protected by a 2048-bit encryption and "once biometrics comes to us, it will never go away". Making use of two projectors, he said breaking the Aadhaar encryption may take "more than the age of the universe for the fastest computer on earth". The bench questioned the CEO on his plea that Aadhaar was infallible, asking why the UIDAI blacklisted 49,000 registered operators. Pandey said the agents were blacklisted for indulging in corruption, carelessness and harassment of the public. "It sounds somehow strange that you blacklisted 49,000 of your operators for harassing people," the bench asked. "Initially, we trusted these operators, but they ended up registering trees, Lord Hanuman, Jamun trees etc," Pandey responded. On the issue of failure of authentication, he said if a biometric authentication does not work, the officers have been instructed to check the Aadhaar card and see that the case is genuine. "A person should not be denied benefits because there is a failure in authentication," the CEO, who will continue with his presentation on March 27, said. The bench then asked him about the death of a woman in Jharkhand after she was denied ration for want of Aadhaar authentication. The CEO said he was aware of the case and it was not the case of failure of authentication. The authentication was done and Aadhaar details matched, it was a case of dishonesty on part of the shopkeeper of the fair price shop. It was the "failure of honesty" and not the failure of Aadhaar, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represents UIDAI, said. The UIDAI CEO said from July 1, Aadhaar would include the face besides the fingerprints and iris for authentication. At the start of the presentation, a technical snag led to not functioning of one of the projectors facing the lawyers and litigants. The glitch was rectified later.

Breaking Aadhaar encryption may take 'more than age of universe': UIDAI CEO

The Supreme Court has allowed the UIDAI CEO to make it a power point presentation on the Aadhaar programme.&nbsp;

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The presentation by the UIDAI CEO, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, will be made today at 2.30 pm today. It is meant to allay people&#39;s fears about the scheme.&nbsp;

The <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/centre-asks-to-give-supreme-court-power-point-presentation-on-aadhaar-36606" target="_blank">request</a> had been made yesterday, with the Chief Justice of India replying to the Government of India&#39;s counsel that he would get back to him after discussing the idea with the other judges on the bench listening to the myriad petitions against the programme.&nbsp;

The Supreme Court has also asked the petitioners opposed to the Aadhaar programme to prepare a questionnaire after the power point presentation.&nbsp;

The Aadhaar programme aims to assign every single Indian citizen a unique identification number. The government says this will streamline its delivery systems, getting aid more efficiently to the people who need it the most.&nbsp;

In reality however&nbsp;there have been reports of people without Aadhaar numbers starving to death because government ration shops have refused to serve them.&nbsp;

A number of petitions were filed against the programme. The petitions were later clubbed together by the Supreme Court.&nbsp;

Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-compulsory-linking-of-aadhaar-with-bank-accounts-mobiles-extended-indefinitely-35673" target="_blank">Compulsory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobiles extended indefinitely, says Supreme Court</a>

The presentation, meant to allay people's fears about the Aadhaar programme, will be made at 2.30 pm today

The Supreme Court has allowed the UIDAI CEO to make it a power point presentation on the Aadhaar programme. × The presentation by the UIDAI CEO, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, will be made today at 2.30 pm today. It is meant to allay people's fears about the scheme. The request had been made yesterday, with the Chief Justice of India replying to the Government of India's counsel that he would get back to him after discussing the idea with the other judges on the bench listening to the myriad petitions against the programme. The Supreme Court has also asked the petitioners opposed to the Aadhaar programme to prepare a questionnaire after the power point presentation. The Aadhaar programme aims to assign every single Indian citizen a unique identification number. The government says this will streamline its delivery systems, getting aid more efficiently to the people who need it the most. In reality however there have been reports of people without Aadhaar numbers starving to death because government ration shops have refused to serve them. A number of petitions were filed against the programme. The petitions were later clubbed together by the Supreme Court. Also read: Compulsory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobiles extended indefinitely, says Supreme Court

Supreme Court allows UIDAI CEO to make it power point presentation on Aadhaar

The government of India has asked to give the Supreme Court a power point presentation on the Aadhaar programme.&nbsp;

The presentation, should the court accept the proposition, will be given by the CEO, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, of the UIDAI. The Unique Identification Authority of India is the body rolling out the programme.&nbsp;

The programme aims to give every single India a unique identification number, but it has gathered plenty of opposition.&nbsp;

The aim of the presentation is to allay those concerns.&nbsp;

The Chief Justice of India responded to the request, saying he would fix a time after discussing the matter with the other judges on the bench hearing the cases against Aadhaar.&nbsp;

&quot;There are technical points related to surveillance, data security and exclusion,&quot; the court said.&nbsp;

There were a number of petitions filed against the Aadhaar programme, with people saying that it is an invasion of privacy, and that it could be misused.&nbsp;

The court had clubbed all the petitions, saying it would hear them together.&nbsp;

Most recently, the court had extended &mdash; indefinitely, until its judgement was out &mdash; the date for the linking of Aadhaar numbers to cell phones, and bank accounts.&nbsp;

The earlier date to do the aforesaid linking was March 31, 2018

The presentation, should the court accept the proposition, will be given by the CEO, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, of the UIDAI. The aim of the presentation is to allay people's fears about Aadhaar

The government of India has asked to give the Supreme Court a power point presentation on the Aadhaar programme. The presentation, should the court accept the proposition, will be given by the CEO, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, of the UIDAI. The Unique Identification Authority of India is the body rolling out the programme. The programme aims to give every single India a unique identification number, but it has gathered plenty of opposition. The aim of the presentation is to allay those concerns. The Chief Justice of India responded to the request, saying he would fix a time after discussing the matter with the other judges on the bench hearing the cases against Aadhaar. "There are technical points related to surveillance, data security and exclusion," the court said. There were a number of petitions filed against the Aadhaar programme, with people saying that it is an invasion of privacy, and that it could be misused. The court had clubbed all the petitions, saying it would hear them together. Most recently, the court had extended — indefinitely, until its judgement was out — the date for the linking of Aadhaar numbers to cell phones, and bank accounts. The earlier date to do the aforesaid linking was March 31, 2018

Centre asks to give Supreme Court power point presentation on Aadhaar

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced the compulsory linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile phones.

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Supreme Court says mandatory <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aadhaar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Aadhaar</a> linking with bank accounts and mobile phones will stand extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced <a href="https://t.co/X8ZzrcjMBC">pic.twitter.com/X8ZzrcjMBC</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/973512942611255296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The latest deadline given by the government for the compulsory linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile phones was March 31.&nbsp;

The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had on March 7 said it may not be possible to decide by March 31 the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act.

The bench, which also comprised justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, had earlier said that since the matter would have implications on financial institutions, like banks and stock exchange, it would create a huge problem of compliance if the deadline was extended at the last moment.

On December 15 last year, the apex court had extended till March 31 the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes.

Former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy had told the apex court on February 22 that several deaths had reportedly taken place due to starvation on account of glitches in the Aadhaar-based public distribution system and the court must consider granting them compensation.

Earlier, the top court had observed that the alleged defect of citizens&#39; biometric details under the Aadhaar scheme being collected without any law could be cured by subsequently bringing in a statute.

It had said that the Centre came out with the law in 2016 to negate the objection that it was collecting data since 2009 without any authorisation, but the issue which needed consideration was what would happen if the data collected earlier, had been compromised.&nbsp;

(With inputs from PTI)

The court said Tuesday that the compulsory linking stood extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced the compulsory linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile phones. Supreme Court says mandatory #Aadhaar linking with bank accounts and mobile phones will stand extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced pic.twitter.com/X8ZzrcjMBC — ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2018 × The latest deadline given by the government for the compulsory linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile phones was March 31. The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had on March 7 said it may not be possible to decide by March 31 the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act. The bench, which also comprised justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, had earlier said that since the matter would have implications on financial institutions, like banks and stock exchange, it would create a huge problem of compliance if the deadline was extended at the last moment. On December 15 last year, the apex court had extended till March 31 the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes. Former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy had told the apex court on February 22 that several deaths had reportedly taken place due to starvation on account of glitches in the Aadhaar-based public distribution system and the court must consider granting them compensation. Earlier, the top court had observed that the alleged defect of citizens' biometric details under the Aadhaar scheme being collected without any law could be cured by subsequently bringing in a statute. It had said that the Centre came out with the law in 2016 to negate the objection that it was collecting data since 2009 without any authorisation, but the issue which needed consideration was what would happen if the data collected earlier, had been compromised. (With inputs from PTI)

Supreme Court: Compulsory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobiles extended indefinitely

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-compulsory-linking-of-aadhaar-with-bank-accounts-mobiles-extended-indefinitely-35673" target="_blank">Supreme Court: Compulsory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobiles extended indefinitely</a>

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced the compulsory linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile phones.

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US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that that CIA Director was taking over from Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.&nbsp;Trump added that Gina Haspel would lead the CIA.&nbsp;

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Japan is considering seeking a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades ago, a government source who was briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.&#39;

&nbsp;

Supreme Court: Compulsory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobiles extended indefinitely The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended indefinitely till the judgement is pronounced the compulsory linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and mobile phones. Trump ousts Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, CIA director Mike Pompeo to take over from him US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that that CIA Director was taking over from Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Trump added that Gina Haspel would lead the CIA. Nine CRPF jawans killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district At least nine CRPF personnel were killed and three others injured when Maoists blew up an anti-landmine vehicle in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, said a senior police official. Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari re-elected to second term in office Nepal's first woman president Bidya Devi Bhandari was today re-elected for a second term in office. Incumbent President Bhandari defeated Nepali Congress leader Kumari Laxmi Rai with an overwhelming majority in the presidential election. Japan considers seeking summit between PM Abe and North Korea leader: Source Japan is considering seeking a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades ago, a government source who was briefed on the matter said on Tuesday.'

WION Evening News Brief, March 13, 2018

Launching a scathing attack on Modi and BJP, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday said that Aadhaar is being turned into an intrusive instrument of control while the judiciary is in turmoil.&nbsp;

Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Sonia said RTI was brought to bring transparency, but today that law is in &#39;&#39;cold storage&#39;&#39;. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Sonia noted that Congress was out-marketed and added that the party has to develop a new style of connecting with people.

&#39;&#39;We were out-marketed. We have to really develop a new style of connecting with people. We have to look how we project our programs and policies,&#39;&#39; said the Congress leader.&nbsp;

&quot;Was India really a giant black hole before May 16, 2014?&quot; a combative Sonia Gandhi asked, adding, &quot;Is this claim not an insult to the intelligence of our people?&quot;

That claim refers to Modi&#39;s - and the BJP&#39;s - frequent attacks on the Congress, blaming the party for doing nothing in the past 60-70 years that it has been in power.

She also alleged that BJP has managed to persuade people that Congress is a Muslim party.&nbsp;

&#39;&#39;We have always been to temples. When I travelled with Rajiv Gandhi, wherever we used to go, there was always a major temple that we used to visit. But we never made a show of it,&#39;&#39; she noted.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Sonia noted that Congress was out-marketed and added that the party has to develop a new style of connecting with people.

Launching a scathing attack on Modi and BJP, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday said that Aadhaar is being turned into an intrusive instrument of control while the judiciary is in turmoil. Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Sonia said RTI was brought to bring transparency, but today that law is in ''cold storage''. Sonia noted that Congress was out-marketed and added that the party has to develop a new style of connecting with people. ''We were out-marketed. We have to really develop a new style of connecting with people. We have to look how we project our programs and policies,'' said the Congress leader. "Was India really a giant black hole before May 16, 2014?" a combative Sonia Gandhi asked, adding, "Is this claim not an insult to the intelligence of our people?" That claim refers to Modi's - and the BJP's - frequent attacks on the Congress, blaming the party for doing nothing in the past 60-70 years that it has been in power. She also alleged that BJP has managed to persuade people that Congress is a Muslim party. ''We have always been to temples. When I travelled with Rajiv Gandhi, wherever we used to go, there was always a major temple that we used to visit. But we never made a show of it,'' she noted.

Sonia tears into Modi, says Aadhaar being 'turned into intrusive instrument of control'

Despite controversies and reports of data breaches, India&#39;s Aadhaar biometric-based identification system was rolled out nationwide. Today, Aadhaar is considered mandatory even for entering an airport or for applying for subsidised rations. &nbsp;

The day was a historic one when India&#39;s ambitious Aadhaar biometric-based identification system was rolled out. Billed as a citizens welfare measure, its origins were rooted in the Kargil Review Committee report which recommended a uniform national identity card for people living in conflict zones. &nbsp;It was subsequently extended to all citizens. 
&nbsp; 
Some of the past years have seen the debate over Aadhaar intensify.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
-- There have been complaints of incorrect data 
-- Complaints of cyber insecurity and identity theft 
-- Reports of data breaches and misuse

Analysts and experts questioned whether the government is equipped to handle the Aadhaar database and perils associated with it.&nbsp;

Nevertheless, Aadhaar is now required for those seeking to avail of government benefits; it&#39;s mandatory to cite your Aadhaar number while applying for some of the most vital and crucial personal instruments like PAN Card or a passport. &nbsp;

But, the intricate interlinking and meshing of a person&#39;s sensitive information with Aadhaar has deepened security concerns, simply because so much of data is held onto the servers based in the US.

Compared to the Aadhaar, the US social security number is over eight decades old and began as a government device to track the earnings of American workers for administering benefits under the social security programme. The nine-digit number provides information about geographic location, post office details of a US citizen. Here also, there were looming concerns over duplicate social security numbers, while some people thought the more social security cards they had the better it was.&nbsp;

In Russia, all citizens ageing 14 years and above are issued an internal passport which provides identification and facilitates travel within the country. It also details location or residence, conscription, marriage among other information of a citizen. Plans of introducing a biometric-based identity system were scrapped last year. 
&nbsp; 
What other countries do

-- China has a resident identity card issued by the police to all those ageing 16 years and above which provides name, sex, ethnicity and residence details 
-- Pakistan issues a national identity card to all its citizens ageing 18 years and above which must be shown while applying for a driver&#39;s licence, opening a bank account or getting a passport 
-- Saudi Arabia has a national e-identity card scheme for citizens; the card has biometric details, photograph and a digital signature. 
&nbsp; 
The main aim of establishing a national identity card system varies from country to country. Dictatorships see such cards as a national security measure, they can track their citizens, figure out what they are up to and where they go. Democracies, on the other hand, see it as a mode to empower&nbsp;their citizens, giving them their rights. &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
However, in both cases, a large amount of personal data is compiled where people disclose&nbsp;personal information including bank accounts and family details. In the West, where personal privacy is taken seriously, the public is aware and vigilant about how the government uses their information. Countries like India have a large population that identifies government&#39;s involvement in their private space as a symbol of security.&nbsp;

Analysts and experts question whether the government is equipped to handle the Aadhaar database and the perils associated with it

Despite controversies and reports of data breaches, India's Aadhaar biometric-based identification system was rolled out nationwide. Today, Aadhaar is considered mandatory even for entering an airport or for applying for subsidised rations. The day was a historic one when India's ambitious Aadhaar biometric-based identification system was rolled out. Billed as a citizens welfare measure, its origins were rooted in the Kargil Review Committee report which recommended a uniform national identity card for people living in conflict zones. It was subsequently extended to all citizens. Some of the past years have seen the debate over Aadhaar intensify. -- There have been complaints of incorrect data -- Complaints of cyber insecurity and identity theft -- Reports of data breaches and misuse Analysts and experts questioned whether the government is equipped to handle the Aadhaar database and perils associated with it. Nevertheless, Aadhaar is now required for those seeking to avail of government benefits; it's mandatory to cite your Aadhaar number while applying for some of the most vital and crucial personal instruments like PAN Card or a passport. But, the intricate interlinking and meshing of a person's sensitive information with Aadhaar has deepened security concerns, simply because so much of data is held onto the servers based in the US. Compared to the Aadhaar, the US social security number is over eight decades old and began as a government device to track the earnings of American workers for administering benefits under the social security programme. The nine-digit number provides information about geographic location, post office details of a US citizen. Here also, there were looming concerns over duplicate social security numbers, while some people thought the more social security cards they had the better it was. In Russia, all citizens ageing 14 years and above are issued an internal passport which provides identification and facilitates travel within the country. It also details location or residence, conscription, marriage among other information of a citizen. Plans of introducing a biometric-based identity system were scrapped last year. What other countries do -- China has a resident identity card issued by the police to all those ageing 16 years and above which provides name, sex, ethnicity and residence details -- Pakistan issues a national identity card to all its citizens ageing 18 years and above which must be shown while applying for a driver's licence, opening a bank account or getting a passport -- Saudi Arabia has a national e-identity card scheme for citizens; the card has biometric details, photograph and a digital signature. The main aim of establishing a national identity card system varies from country to country. Dictatorships see such cards as a national security measure, they can track their citizens, figure out what they are up to and where they go. Democracies, on the other hand, see it as a mode to empower their citizens, giving them their rights. However, in both cases, a large amount of personal data is compiled where people disclose personal information including bank accounts and family details. In the West, where personal privacy is taken seriously, the public is aware and vigilant about how the government uses their information. Countries like India have a large population that identifies government's involvement in their private space as a symbol of security.

Aadhaar: How countries collect mammoth personal data via biometric-based cards

The Supreme Court today directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all-India exams.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief justice Dipak Misra directed the CBSE to upload the information on their website.

Earlier in the day, UIDAI had told the apex court that it has not authorised CBSE to mandatorily take Aadhaar number of students to get themselves enroled for appearing in NEET 2018 examination.

Attorney General K K Venugopal had said he has instructions from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that like in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam other identity proofs like passport, voter card and ration card can be used by the CBSE for enroling the students in the examination.

The UIDAI&#39;s remarks came on a plea challenging the decision of CBSE seeking mandatorily the Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrolment number from students who are aspiring to take up the NEET 2018 examination.

The Gujarat High Court had dismissed the plea on February 27. 
 
The appeal in Supreme Court challenges the order of Gujarat High Court.&nbsp;

The Supreme Court today directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all-India exams

The Supreme Court today directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all-India exams. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief justice Dipak Misra directed the CBSE to upload the information on their website. Earlier in the day, UIDAI had told the apex court that it has not authorised CBSE to mandatorily take Aadhaar number of students to get themselves enroled for appearing in NEET 2018 examination. Attorney General K K Venugopal had said he has instructions from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that like in Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Assam other identity proofs like passport, voter card and ration card can be used by the CBSE for enroling the students in the examination. The UIDAI's remarks came on a plea challenging the decision of CBSE seeking mandatorily the Aadhaar number or Aadhaar enrolment number from students who are aspiring to take up the NEET 2018 examination. The Gujarat High Court had dismissed the plea on February 27. The appeal in Supreme Court challenges the order of Gujarat High Court.

Aadhaar not mandatory for students taking all-India examinations: Supreme Court

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The attacker, identified by police as Tejharaj Sharma, has been taken into custody by Bengaluru Police.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/aadhaar-not-mandatory-for-all-india-examinations-supreme-court-34993" target="_blank">Aadhaar not mandatory for students taking all-India examinations: Supreme Court</a>

The Supreme Court today directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all-India exams.

 
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The India-China bilateral trade reached $84.44 billion last year, an historic high notwithstanding bilateral tensions over a host of issues including the Doklam standoff.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/sports/cricketer-mohammed-shami-rubbishes-reports-of-extra-marital-affair-34988" target="_blank">Cricketer Mohammed Shami denies torturing wife, having extramarital affairs</a>

Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami has rejected reports of his extramarital affairs, saying that someone is conspiring against him to ruin his career.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/bsf-rescinds-the-order-of-jawans-salary-cut-after-pms-intervention-34997" target="_blank">BSF revokes pay cut of </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/bsf-rescinds-the-order-of-jawans-salary-cut-after-pms-intervention-34997" target="_blank">jawan</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/bsf-rescinds-the-order-of-jawans-salary-cut-after-pms-intervention-34997" target="_blank"> who did not call PM &#39;Shri&#39;</a>

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Border Security Force to withdraw an order against a BSF jawan who was given a penalty of seven days&rsquo; pay for showing disrespect towards Mr Modi.

Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Vishwanath Shetty stabbed thrice in his office, attacker arrested Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Vishwanath Shetty was stabbed three times in his Bengaluru office Wednesday while hearing a case. The attacker, identified by police as Tejharaj Sharma, has been taken into custody by Bengaluru Police. Aadhaar not mandatory for students taking all-India examinations: Supreme Court The Supreme Court today directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all-India exams. India-China bilateral trade hits historic high of $84.44 billion in 2017 The India-China bilateral trade reached $84.44 billion last year, an historic high notwithstanding bilateral tensions over a host of issues including the Doklam standoff. Cricketer Mohammed Shami denies torturing wife, having extramarital affairs Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami has rejected reports of his extramarital affairs, saying that someone is conspiring against him to ruin his career. BSF revokes pay cut of jawan who did not call PM 'Shri' Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Border Security Force to withdraw an order against a BSF jawan who was given a penalty of seven days’ pay for showing disrespect towards Mr Modi.

WION Evening News Brief, March 7, 2018

Arvind Kejriwal-led government has decided to halt its arrangement of giving out rations as Aadhaar-based distribution in Delhi.

According to reports, people were are facing difficulties in procuring commodities from fair price shops under Delhi government&#39;s Aadhaar-based distribution move which was taken up last month.

The Aadhaar-based e-PoS machines make use of Aadhaar biometric identification to make sure that a ration card-holder&nbsp;gets his/her allotted share of grains.

The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier today.

Deputy Chief Minister&nbsp;Manish Sisodia&nbsp;reasoned the implementation of the electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices by the Ration Department to differ with the government&#39;s move of online ration distribution in 2,254 fair price shops.

Sisodia noted that the &quot;faulty implementation of the system&quot; has resulted in problems for the locals who were not able to get their ration.&nbsp;

The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier today

Arvind Kejriwal-led government has decided to halt its arrangement of giving out rations as Aadhaar-based distribution in Delhi. According to reports, people were are facing difficulties in procuring commodities from fair price shops under Delhi government's Aadhaar-based distribution move which was taken up last month. The Aadhaar-based e-PoS machines make use of Aadhaar biometric identification to make sure that a ration card-holder gets his/her allotted share of grains. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier today. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reasoned the implementation of the electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices by the Ration Department to differ with the government's move of online ration distribution in 2,254 fair price shops. Sisodia noted that the "faulty implementation of the system" has resulted in problems for the locals who were not able to get their ration.

Delhi: Government stops Aadhaar-based ration distribution

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear after four weeks a plea seeking implementation of an Aadhaar-based voting system in elections in order to curtail bogus and duplicate voting in the spirit of the election law.

The petition was filed before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud which kept the matter for hearing in March.

The plea, filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has sought direction to the Election Commission of India to take appropriate steps to implement an &#39;Aadhaar-based election voting system&#39; to ensure maximum participation in election and curtail fake, bogus and duplicate voting in the spirit of section 17-18 of the Representation of People Act, 1950.

It sought a direction to the Centre through Ministry of Law and Justice to take appropriate steps to link movable and immovable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar number to curb corruption, black money generation and &#39;benami&#39; transactions.

The plea claimed that duplicate voting was prevalent in the country as the current system has not been able to control booth capturing and bogus voting.

&quot;The current system is better but not the best. Aadhaar based election-voting system has more authentication of voters, better security of voting process, it can protect the voted data and most importantly, the voter can cast his vote from any corner of the country,&quot; the plea said.

The proposed Aadhaar-based voting system involves fingerprint of the voter which is saved in the government&#39;s database with an individual&#39;s Aadhaar number, the petition said.

The petition was filed before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud which kept the matter for hearing in March.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear after four weeks a plea seeking implementation of an Aadhaar-based voting system in elections in order to curtail bogus and duplicate voting in the spirit of the election law. The petition was filed before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud which kept the matter for hearing in March. The plea, filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, has sought direction to the Election Commission of India to take appropriate steps to implement an 'Aadhaar-based election voting system' to ensure maximum participation in election and curtail fake, bogus and duplicate voting in the spirit of section 17-18 of the Representation of People Act, 1950. It sought a direction to the Centre through Ministry of Law and Justice to take appropriate steps to link movable and immovable property documents of citizens with their Aadhaar number to curb corruption, black money generation and 'benami' transactions. The plea claimed that duplicate voting was prevalent in the country as the current system has not been able to control booth capturing and bogus voting. "The current system is better but not the best. Aadhaar based election-voting system has more authentication of voters, better security of voting process, it can protect the voted data and most importantly, the voter can cast his vote from any corner of the country," the plea said. The proposed Aadhaar-based voting system involves fingerprint of the voter which is saved in the government's database with an individual's Aadhaar number, the petition said.

Supreme Court to hear plea for Aadhaar-based voting system

Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday asked state governments to ensure that no one is denied any benefit he or she is entitled to for want of Aadhaar.

&quot;Aadhaar is a big platform which leads to good governance and savings but I would like to say there is a law of Aadhaar. This law says that you cannot deny the benefit to anyone for want of Aadhaar. If the person is not having Aadhaar ask him to get Aadhaar but you should give him benefit using alternative mode,&quot; Prasad told state IT ministers and secretaries today.

He was speaking at state IT ministers conclave here.

&quot;Many times ration is not given at ration shop. It should not happen. You should think about it. No one should deny ration to the poor,&quot; Prasad said.

The statement from Prasad comes within a week of the report that a civil hospital in Gurgaon denied admission to a pregnant woman as she was not carrying her Aadhaar card and she had to deliver the baby outside the hospital.

Prasad said that many times fingerprint of elderlies do not match and he has directed the department to note their Aadhaar number in a register but they should not be denied benefits they are entitled to.

The minister said the government is working to link Aadhaar with motor driving licence and cited an example to explain that the move will help in identifying offenders.

He said that state governments should start using digital technologies in delivering services to people and outsource some of their work to BPOs being opened under India BPO Promotion Scheme.

&quot;We are trying to create USD 1 trillion digital economies in the country in next five years. This will generate jobs for 50-75 lakh people,&quot; Prasad said.

The minister asked the states to focus on cybersecurity and train their personnel as the growth in the use of technology will enhance risk in the cyberspace as well.&nbsp;

The statement from Prasad comes within a week of report that a civil hospital in Gurgaon denied admission to a pregnant woman as she was not carrying her Aadhaar card and she had to deliver baby outside the hospital

Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday asked state governments to ensure that no one is denied any benefit he or she is entitled to for want of Aadhaar. "Aadhaar is a big platform which leads to good governance and savings but I would like to say there is a law of Aadhaar. This law says that you cannot deny the benefit to anyone for want of Aadhaar. If the person is not having Aadhaar ask him to get Aadhaar but you should give him benefit using alternative mode," Prasad told state IT ministers and secretaries today. He was speaking at state IT ministers conclave here. "Many times ration is not given at ration shop. It should not happen. You should think about it. No one should deny ration to the poor," Prasad said. The statement from Prasad comes within a week of the report that a civil hospital in Gurgaon denied admission to a pregnant woman as she was not carrying her Aadhaar card and she had to deliver the baby outside the hospital. Prasad said that many times fingerprint of elderlies do not match and he has directed the department to note their Aadhaar number in a register but they should not be denied benefits they are entitled to. The minister said the government is working to link Aadhaar with motor driving licence and cited an example to explain that the move will help in identifying offenders. He said that state governments should start using digital technologies in delivering services to people and outsource some of their work to BPOs being opened under India BPO Promotion Scheme. "We are trying to create USD 1 trillion digital economies in the country in next five years. This will generate jobs for 50-75 lakh people," Prasad said. The minister asked the states to focus on cybersecurity and train their personnel as the growth in the use of technology will enhance risk in the cyberspace as well.

Do not deny benefits to people for want of Aadhaar: IT minister to state govts

Oxford Dictionaries has chosen &#39;Aadhaar&#39; as the Hindi word of 2017.

The word gained popularity due to Aadhaar card, which was in news last year and is likely to remain in highlight this year as well.

The announcement was made at a session &quot;Oxford Dictionaries&#39; Hindi Word of the Year&quot; during the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here.

Other words such as &#39;Mitron&#39;, &#39;Notebandi&#39;, &#39;Gau-Rakshak&#39; were also considered, but the widespread discussions and debates around &#39;Aadhaar&#39; was the reason it was selected as the word of the year, journalist Saurabh Dwivedi said during the discussion.

Writer Pankaj Dubey said new words like &#39;Sleepawastha&#39; (state of sleeping), &#39;Maukatarian&#39; (opportunist) should be coined to express certain moods. Chitra Mudgal objected to the suggestion and instead advocated for the correct use of languages.

&quot;If a person with lack of proper knowledge coins and expresses such words then it can be understood but this is not acceptable when educated people do this,&quot; Mudgal, an author, said.

Poet and writer Ashok Vajpeyi said politicians use Hindi word &#39;Mitron&#39; (friends) which is not grammatically correct, when in fact the correct word is &#39;Mitro&#39; -- an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who uses the term often in his speeches.

Vajpeyi said the responsibility to conserve language lies with people.

&quot;Changes would come, new words would be coined but ultimately the responsibility to conserve the language is on citizens,&quot; he said.

Talking about the languages used by media, journalist Vinod Dua said that media&#39;s job is to provide news in a simple language for the audience, instead of creating a literature while broadcasting the news.

The word gained popularity due to Aadhaar card which was in news last year

Oxford Dictionaries has chosen 'Aadhaar' as the Hindi word of 2017. The word gained popularity due to Aadhaar card, which was in news last year and is likely to remain in highlight this year as well. The announcement was made at a session "Oxford Dictionaries' Hindi Word of the Year" during the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival here. Other words such as 'Mitron', 'Notebandi', 'Gau-Rakshak' were also considered, but the widespread discussions and debates around 'Aadhaar' was the reason it was selected as the word of the year, journalist Saurabh Dwivedi said during the discussion. Writer Pankaj Dubey said new words like 'Sleepawastha' (state of sleeping), 'Maukatarian' (opportunist) should be coined to express certain moods. Chitra Mudgal objected to the suggestion and instead advocated for the correct use of languages. "If a person with lack of proper knowledge coins and expresses such words then it can be understood but this is not acceptable when educated people do this," Mudgal, an author, said. Poet and writer Ashok Vajpeyi said politicians use Hindi word 'Mitron' (friends) which is not grammatically correct, when in fact the correct word is 'Mitro' -- an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who uses the term often in his speeches. Vajpeyi said the responsibility to conserve language lies with people. "Changes would come, new words would be coined but ultimately the responsibility to conserve the language is on citizens," he said. Talking about the languages used by media, journalist Vinod Dua said that media's job is to provide news in a simple language for the audience, instead of creating a literature while broadcasting the news.

Aadhaar is Oxford dictionary's Hindi word of 2017

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/from-aadhaar-to-trade-and-commerce-heres-what-pm-modi-discussed-with-asean-leaders-30752">From Aadhaar to trade and commerce: Here&#39;s what PM Modi discussed with ASEAN leaders</a>

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding bilateral meetings with the leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries who have gathered in New Delhi to join him in the Republic Day celebrations. This will be the biggest ever gathering of foreign leaders at the Republic Day parade that showcases India&#39;s military might and cultural diversity.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/draw-lessons-to-avoid-another-doklam-chinese-military-to-india-30756">Draw lessons to avoid another Doklam: Chinese military to India</a>

The Chinese military on Thursday criticised Army Chief General Bipin Rawat&#39;s recent remarks that Doklam is a disputed territory, asserting that it is very much part of China, and India should draw lessons from the 73-day standoff to avoid similar incidents in the future. Reacting for the first time to General Rawat&#39;s comments, Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Defence, told a media briefing that Doklam is part of China.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/entertainment-padmaavat-releases-amid-high-security-viewers-wonder-whats-the-fuss-about-30748">Padmaavat</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/entertainment-padmaavat-releases-amid-high-security-viewers-wonder-whats-the-fuss-about-30748"> releases amid high security; viewers wonder what&#39;s the fuss about</a>

Sanjay Leela Bhansali&#39;s Padmaavat finally opened today amid tight security and palpable tension but audiences streamed into theatres across the country to watch the film that has the nation agog. Initial reports suggested good business for the film, which has been the focal point of protests by various Rajput groups, which allege that it distorts their history and defames their queen Padmavati.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/unites-states-presidents-and-history-of-sex-scandals-30762">Unites States presidents and history of sex scandals</a>

United States president Donald Trump has been accused of a number of sexual allegations in the recent past. But, Trump was perhaps not the only leader under this loop. In 1998, Bill Clinton was accused of having a continuous affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky from 1995 to 1997. However, two decades ago this week he declared that he &quot;did not have sexual relations with that woman,&quot; under oath.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/entertainment-padmaavat-live-streamed-on-facebook-on-the-first-day-of-its-release-30768">Padmaavat</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/entertainment-padmaavat-live-streamed-on-facebook-on-the-first-day-of-its-release-30768"> live streamed on Facebook on the first day of its release</a>

Sanjay Leela Bhansali&#39;s controversial Padmaavat released in theatres today amid tight security. While four states- Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - have decided not to release the film in their states, heavy security could be seen in almost every cinema hall in cities where the film released. Most morning shows saw 40-60% occupancy and trade analysts have predicted that the long weekend ahead will see more footfall.&nbsp;

From Aadhaar to trade and commerce: Here's what PM Modi discussed with ASEAN leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding bilateral meetings with the leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries who have gathered in New Delhi to join him in the Republic Day celebrations. This will be the biggest ever gathering of foreign leaders at the Republic Day parade that showcases India's military might and cultural diversity. Draw lessons to avoid another Doklam: Chinese military to India The Chinese military on Thursday criticised Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's recent remarks that Doklam is a disputed territory, asserting that it is very much part of China, and India should draw lessons from the 73-day standoff to avoid similar incidents in the future. Reacting for the first time to General Rawat's comments, Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Defence, told a media briefing that Doklam is part of China. Padmaavat releases amid high security; viewers wonder what's the fuss about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat finally opened today amid tight security and palpable tension but audiences streamed into theatres across the country to watch the film that has the nation agog. Initial reports suggested good business for the film, which has been the focal point of protests by various Rajput groups, which allege that it distorts their history and defames their queen Padmavati. Unites States presidents and history of sex scandals United States president Donald Trump has been accused of a number of sexual allegations in the recent past. But, Trump was perhaps not the only leader under this loop. In 1998, Bill Clinton was accused of having a continuous affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky from 1995 to 1997. However, two decades ago this week he declared that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman," under oath. Padmaavat live streamed on Facebook on the first day of its release Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial Padmaavat released in theatres today amid tight security. While four states- Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - have decided not to release the film in their states, heavy security could be seen in almost every cinema hall in cities where the film released. Most morning shows saw 40-60% occupancy and trade analysts have predicted that the long weekend ahead will see more footfall.

WION Evening News Brief, January 25, 2018

A constant critic of Aadhaar, American whistleblower Edward Snowden on Sunday called Aadhaar an &quot;improper gate to services&quot;&nbsp;and suggested that demands to link Aadhaar to bank and telecom services should be criminalised.

While tweeting his comments, Snowden shared an article on Aadhaar written by former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), KC Verma.

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Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India&#39;s RAW writes <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aadhaar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Aadhaar</a> is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity&ndash;an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalized. <a href="https://t.co/rRSn42XLlQ">https://t.co/rRSn42XLlQ</a>
&mdash; Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/955050455490547712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Snowden has spoken against Aadhaar in the past. Earlier in January, he said the database conceived of by the Indian government could be &quot;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/edward-snowden-on-aadhaar-no-matter-the-laws-the-result-is-abuse-28613" target="_blank">misused and abused</a>&quot;.

Snowden also spoke out in support of an English daily journalist who did an investigative piece on Aadhaar data being sold for as little as Rs 500. Snowden said the the journalist deserved <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/edward-snowden-suggest-giving-award-to-journalist-exposing-uidai-flaws-28966" target="_blank">an award, not an FIR</a>.

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It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse. <a href="https://t.co/7HSQSZ4T3f">https://t.co/7HSQSZ4T3f</a>
&mdash; Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/949057892069523459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Snowden is a former CIA employee famously known for leaking classified information that exposed a massive surveillance operation run by the CIA. He is currently living under asylum in Russia.

While tweeting his comments, Snowden shared an article on Aadhaar written by a former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)

A constant critic of Aadhaar, American whistleblower Edward Snowden on Sunday called Aadhaar an "improper gate to services" and suggested that demands to link Aadhaar to bank and telecom services should be criminalised. While tweeting his comments, Snowden shared an article on Aadhaar written by former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), KC Verma. Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India's RAW writes #Aadhaar is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity–an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalized. https://t.co/rRSn42XLlQ — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 21, 2018 × Snowden has spoken against Aadhaar in the past. Earlier in January, he said the database conceived of by the Indian government could be "misused and abused". Snowden also spoke out in support of an English daily journalist who did an investigative piece on Aadhaar data being sold for as little as Rs 500. Snowden said the the journalist deserved an award, not an FIR. It is the natural tendency of government to desire perfect records of private lives. History shows that no matter the laws, the result is abuse. https://t.co/7HSQSZ4T3f — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 4, 2018 × Snowden is a former CIA employee famously known for leaking classified information that exposed a massive surveillance operation run by the CIA. He is currently living under asylum in Russia.

Aadhaar 'improper gate to services': Edward Snowden

The Centre told the apex court that the bill on the protection of Aadhaar details will be ready by March.&nbsp;

The bill is being drafted by a committee of experts headed by retired Justice BN Srikrishna.

The information was released by Attorney General KK Venugopal to the bench of judges including Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AK Sikri, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan.&nbsp;

This bench of judges is hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act as a violation of the right to privacy.

In today&#39;s hearing, petitioner counsel Shyam Divan highlighted the Aadhaar Act provisions to show that under the statue itself the demographic and biometric data of Indian citizens could be shared with private entities.&nbsp;

Earlier the petitioner counsel&nbsp;had argued that the Aadhaar Card may cause the death of citizen&#39;s civil rights.&nbsp;

The hearing will continue on Wednesday.&nbsp;

The bill is being drafted by a committee of experts headed by retired Justice BN Srikrishna

The Centre told the apex court that the bill on the protection of Aadhaar details will be ready by March. The bill is being drafted by a committee of experts headed by retired Justice BN Srikrishna. The information was released by Attorney General KK Venugopal to the bench of judges including Justice Dipak Misra, Justice AK Sikri, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan. This bench of judges is hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act as a violation of the right to privacy. In today's hearing, petitioner counsel Shyam Divan highlighted the Aadhaar Act provisions to show that under the statue itself the demographic and biometric data of Indian citizens could be shared with private entities. Earlier the petitioner counsel had argued that the Aadhaar Card may cause the death of citizen's civil rights. The hearing will continue on Wednesday.

Bill on protection of Aadhaar details will be ready by March: Centre to Supreme Court

Aadhaar will help cultivate a giant electronic leash on all citizens.&nbsp; 

Aadhaar act fails to provide a remedy to citizens in case of a data breach. 

Under aadhaar act, citizens cant file complaints, only UIDAI authorised to lodge complaints. UIDAI, the nodal agency for aadhaar is not an independent body.&nbsp;

In cases of &quot;emergency&quot;, all data, records will be made available to the govt for tracking, profiling.Aadhaar act provides for use of aadhaar beyond subsidies, also extends to corporates.&nbsp;

SC Observations

Does mere furnishing of aadhaar compromise data security. Citizens already share PAN details for various transactions. Biometric data continues to exist with the central depository.&nbsp;

The hearing will continue tomorrow.

Under Aadhaar act, citizens cant file complaints, only UIDAI authorised to lodge complaints. UIDAI, the nodal agency for aadhaar is not an independent body

Aadhaar will help cultivate a giant electronic leash on all citizens. Aadhaar act fails to provide a remedy to citizens in case of a data breach. Under aadhaar act, citizens cant file complaints, only UIDAI authorised to lodge complaints. UIDAI, the nodal agency for aadhaar is not an independent body. In cases of "emergency", all data, records will be made available to the govt for tracking, profiling.Aadhaar act provides for use of aadhaar beyond subsidies, also extends to corporates. SC Observations Does mere furnishing of aadhaar compromise data security. Citizens already share PAN details for various transactions. Biometric data continues to exist with the central depository. The hearing will continue tomorrow.

Aadhaar constitution bench hearing

Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI on Saturday said no essential service or benefit like medical facility, school admission or ration through PDS can be denied for want of the biometric national ID. 
 
In a statement, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asked government departments and state administration &quot;to ensure that no essential service or benefit shall be denied to a genuine beneficiary for the want of Aadhaar whether it is medical help, hospitalisation, school admission or ration through PDS&quot;. 
 
&quot;There are exception handling regulations issued by UIDAI vide its circular dated 24th October 2017, which must be followed to make sure that no beneficiary is denied of benefits for the want of Aadhaar,&quot; it said. 
 
UIDAI said it has taken a serious note of some of the reported cases where want of Aadhaar had resulted in the denial of essential services like hospitalisation or medical help. 
 
&quot;While real facts behind such claims of denial are being investigated by the concerned agencies and strict action will be taken in case denial has occurred,&quot; it said. 
 
UIDAI said Aadhaar is meant to bring transparency and accountability in public service deliveries through effective use of technology and it should not be misused and made an excuse to any denial in the services. 
 
The Cabinet Secretariat had on December 19 last year issue instructions that bonafide beneficiaries are not deprived of their due benefits as alternative provisions have been made in the Aadhaar Act, 2016. 
 
The statement said UIDAI is again writing to Chief Secretaries of all the states/UTs to ensure that Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016 is implemented in its true letter and spirit for all the schemes so that no denial happens due to want of Aadhaar. 
 
Section 7 of Aadhaar Act 2016 has provision for no exclusion - no denials. 
 
&quot;Aadhaar enables people to establish their identity so that they receive their entitlements and exercise their rights without any fear of being excluded. 
 
&quot;However, there have been some media reports that some service providers are denying essential and other services for want of Aadhaar. Such violations are punishable under respective laws of the land. Under no circumstance, anyone can be denied a service just because he/she doesn&#39;t have an Aadhaar,&quot; the statement said. 
 
If one does not have Aadhaar or if Aadhaar online verification is not successful due to some reason, the agency or department has to provide the service using alternate means of identification and recording them in exception registers, which should be audited periodically by the higher authorities. 
 
&quot;If any official of a department denies a service for the lack of Aadhaar or lack of successful verification due to technical or any such reasons, a complaint should be lodged with the higher authorities of those departments for such unlawful denials,&quot; it added.

 
&nbsp;

The Unique Identification Authority of India asked government departments and state administration 'to ensure that no essential service or benefit shall be denied to a genuine beneficiary for the want of Aadhaar whether it is medical help, hospitalisation, school admission or ration through PDS'

Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI on Saturday said no essential service or benefit like medical facility, school admission or ration through PDS can be denied for want of the biometric national ID. In a statement, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asked government departments and state administration "to ensure that no essential service or benefit shall be denied to a genuine beneficiary for the want of Aadhaar whether it is medical help, hospitalisation, school admission or ration through PDS". "There are exception handling regulations issued by UIDAI vide its circular dated 24th October 2017, which must be followed to make sure that no beneficiary is denied of benefits for the want of Aadhaar," it said. UIDAI said it has taken a serious note of some of the reported cases where want of Aadhaar had resulted in the denial of essential services like hospitalisation or medical help. "While real facts behind such claims of denial are being investigated by the concerned agencies and strict action will be taken in case denial has occurred," it said. UIDAI said Aadhaar is meant to bring transparency and accountability in public service deliveries through effective use of technology and it should not be misused and made an excuse to any denial in the services. The Cabinet Secretariat had on December 19 last year issue instructions that bonafide beneficiaries are not deprived of their due benefits as alternative provisions have been made in the Aadhaar Act, 2016. The statement said UIDAI is again writing to Chief Secretaries of all the states/UTs to ensure that Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016 is implemented in its true letter and spirit for all the schemes so that no denial happens due to want of Aadhaar. Section 7 of Aadhaar Act 2016 has provision for no exclusion - no denials. "Aadhaar enables people to establish their identity so that they receive their entitlements and exercise their rights without any fear of being excluded. "However, there have been some media reports that some service providers are denying essential and other services for want of Aadhaar. Such violations are punishable under respective laws of the land. Under no circumstance, anyone can be denied a service just because he/she doesn't have an Aadhaar," the statement said. If one does not have Aadhaar or if Aadhaar online verification is not successful due to some reason, the agency or department has to provide the service using alternate means of identification and recording them in exception registers, which should be audited periodically by the higher authorities. "If any official of a department denies a service for the lack of Aadhaar or lack of successful verification due to technical or any such reasons, a complaint should be lodged with the higher authorities of those departments for such unlawful denials," it added.

No essential service can be denied for want of Aadhaar: UIDAI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the West Bengal government for its stand against the Centre&#39;s Aadhaar scheme, saying what was wrong in having &#39;one-nation, one-identity&#39; for all Indians through the measure. 
 
The Mamata Banerjee government, which had on Tuesday challenged the Aadhaar scheme and its enabling 2016 Act, told a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that Indianness has nothing to do with a particular kind of identity. 
 
The state government has attacked the scheme on grounds including that it would lead to &#39;one-nation, one-identity&#39;. 
 
&quot;Yes, we all are citizens of this country and Indianness has nothing to do with this kind of identity,&quot; it told the bench which also comprised justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. 
 
The court questioned senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, on what he thought about the concept of &#39;one-nation, one-identity&#39;. 
 
&quot;We are proud Indians and are passionately Indians, but everything is wrong with Aadhaar. Indianness has nothing to do with identity. Let us not go into this debate as it is more political than legal. We are more than this Aadhaar. That&#39;s all,&quot; Mr Sibal responded<iframe frameborder="0" height="0" id="google_ads_iframe_/1068322/NDTV_News_ROS_Native_Outstream_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/1068322/NDTV_News_ROS_Native_Outstream_0" scrolling="no" srcdoc="" title="3rd party ad content" width="100%"></iframe>The senior advocate, who resumed arguments, read out the Aadhaar Act to say that it was a wrongly drafted law with respect to &#39;alternatives&#39;, because there was no scope of authentication of identity of an individual except Aadhaar. 
 
The Aadhaar Act deals with no scope of other alternatives to establish identity of an individual, Mr Sibal said, adding banks say that they do not want any other information or card and ask only for Aadhaar number. 
 
Giving an illustration, he said the United Kingdom, which initially started a biometric authentication mechanism, scrapped it because the system was vulnerable. 
 
&quot;I am not saying that the State will misuse my Aadhaar information, but how does this Aadhaar make everyone vulnerable? This vulnerability is where the violation of my right comes in,&quot; he said. 
 
Mr Sibal argued that his first submission is about the centralisation of data and said that Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) claims that it is secure because it is federated -- that is the database is broken and stored in multiple locations. 
 
He cited a recent Reserve Bank of India report circulated among its staffers, which identified Central ID Repository is a &quot;single target&quot; for internal/external/indigenous/foreign attacks and also a &quot;single point of failure&quot;. 
 
The bench said that theoretically every centralised database can be hacked, but this does not necessarily mean that it is vulnerable. 
 
&quot;It is acknowledgement of the fact that you need to take extra care and safeguards should be there to protect it,&quot; Justice Chandrachud said. 
 
Mr Sibal replied, &quot;I need to be assured that my data is protected but in a digital world, there can be no such assurance and once my property (biometric information) is lost then in the physical world you may retrieve it but in the virtual world you cannot. This is the future world we are heading into,&quot; he said and added, &quot;In the digital world one knows more about you than one knows about himself&quot;. 
 
The bench replied, &quot;In the digital world it is not necessarily true what is advertised&quot;. 
 
Mr Sibal said Aadhaar impacts federalism and exclusions caused due to it violates the right to equal treatment. 
 
&quot;It disproportionately impacts people who are aged, those who are engaged in manual labour and disabled people,&quot; he said.

The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue tomorrow. 
 
Yesterday, the West Bengal government used Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s recent speech at the World Economic Forum at Davos that one who controls data would control the world, to assail the ambitious Aadhaar scheme, saying the Centre would control personal information of citizens to have a grip over them.

The state government has attacked the scheme on grounds including that it would lead to 'one-nation, one-identity'

The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the West Bengal government for its stand against the Centre's Aadhaar scheme, saying what was wrong in having 'one-nation, one-identity' for all Indians through the measure. The Mamata Banerjee government, which had on Tuesday challenged the Aadhaar scheme and its enabling 2016 Act, told a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that Indianness has nothing to do with a particular kind of identity. The state government has attacked the scheme on grounds including that it would lead to 'one-nation, one-identity'. "Yes, we all are citizens of this country and Indianness has nothing to do with this kind of identity," it told the bench which also comprised justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. The court questioned senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, on what he thought about the concept of 'one-nation, one-identity'. "We are proud Indians and are passionately Indians, but everything is wrong with Aadhaar. Indianness has nothing to do with identity. Let us not go into this debate as it is more political than legal. We are more than this Aadhaar. That's all," Mr Sibal respondedThe senior advocate, who resumed arguments, read out the Aadhaar Act to say that it was a wrongly drafted law with respect to 'alternatives', because there was no scope of authentication of identity of an individual except Aadhaar. The Aadhaar Act deals with no scope of other alternatives to establish identity of an individual, Mr Sibal said, adding banks say that they do not want any other information or card and ask only for Aadhaar number. Giving an illustration, he said the United Kingdom, which initially started a biometric authentication mechanism, scrapped it because the system was vulnerable. "I am not saying that the State will misuse my Aadhaar information, but how does this Aadhaar make everyone vulnerable? This vulnerability is where the violation of my right comes in," he said. Mr Sibal argued that his first submission is about the centralisation of data and said that Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) claims that it is secure because it is federated -- that is the database is broken and stored in multiple locations. He cited a recent Reserve Bank of India report circulated among its staffers, which identified Central ID Repository is a "single target" for internal/external/indigenous/foreign attacks and also a "single point of failure". The bench said that theoretically every centralised database can be hacked, but this does not necessarily mean that it is vulnerable. "It is acknowledgement of the fact that you need to take extra care and safeguards should be there to protect it," Justice Chandrachud said. Mr Sibal replied, "I need to be assured that my data is protected but in a digital world, there can be no such assurance and once my property (biometric information) is lost then in the physical world you may retrieve it but in the virtual world you cannot. This is the future world we are heading into," he said and added, "In the digital world one knows more about you than one knows about himself". The bench replied, "In the digital world it is not necessarily true what is advertised". Mr Sibal said Aadhaar impacts federalism and exclusions caused due to it violates the right to equal treatment. "It disproportionately impacts people who are aged, those who are engaged in manual labour and disabled people," he said. The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue tomorrow. Yesterday, the West Bengal government used Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent speech at the World Economic Forum at Davos that one who controls data would control the world, to assail the ambitious Aadhaar scheme, saying the Centre would control personal information of citizens to have a grip over them.

What's wrong with 'one nation, one identity' idea: Supreme Court asks West Bengal government

The Centre is in the process of linking driving licences with Aadhaar number to weed out fake licences, and a software for this covering all states on a real time basis is under preparation, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday.

A bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta was informed about it by a court-appointed committee on road safety headed by former Supreme Court judge justice KS Radhakrishnan.

This assumes significance as a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is currently hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the enabling 2016 law.

The committee, in its report filed in the top court, said it had held a meeting on November 28 last year with the joint secretary of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to discuss several issues, including procurement of fake licences and how to eliminate it.

&ldquo;On the issue of fake licences, joint secretary, MoRTH informed that NIC (national informatics centre) is now preparing &lsquo;Sarthi-4&rsquo; under which all the licences would be linked to Aadhaar,&rdquo; the report said.

&ldquo;This software will cover all the states on real time basis and it will not be possible for anyone to get duplicate or fake licence anywhere in the country,&rdquo; it said.

The advocate representing the committee, told the bench that the panel was scheduled to have a meeting with the MoRTH and other authorities concerned on February 22-23 to discuss compliance of directions given by the apex court earlier.

Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the ministry, told the bench that fatalities in road accidents in India have gone down by around three percent in 2017 as compared to 2016.

The bench said it was &ldquo;heartening to know&rdquo; that number of fatalities and injuries in road accidents have come down.

In its report, the committee said it had asked states and union territories (UTs) to forward road accident data for entire 2017.

&ldquo;The committee has since received data from all the states/UTs, except Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Daman and Diu which indicates that in the states/UTs which have submitted data, there has been a reduction of 4,558 fatalities (i.e. 3.0 per cent) and 24,023 injuries (i.e. 5.0 per cent) in 2017 as compared to 2016,&rdquo; the report said.

The committee told the court that through its November 24 last year letter, it had asked all the states to set up a road safety fund which would be non-lapsable, and to have a steady flow of funds by diversion of &ldquo;significant&rdquo; portion of fines collected from traffic violations.

It said some states have already set up road safety fund and the committee was pursuing the issue with remaining states in order to ensure full compliance of the apex court&rsquo;s order which had said that the fund should be established by March 31, 2018.

The report said at the November 28 last year meeting, it was discussed that since driving licences were now in the form of a smart card, its punching in cases of default was likely to damage the data stored in it.

&ldquo;Joint Secretary MoRTH pointed out that presently NIC is in the process of developing central computerised data base and all the states would be covered under the same.

&ldquo;This data base is likely to be effective from October 1, 2018,&rdquo; it said, adding, that all the offences committed by the driver would be recorded in this data base and there would be no necessity for punching of driving licences.

The committee further said that 20-25 per cent fatalities on roads occur due to non-existence of pedestrian facilities, like footpaths, over-head passes, and under-passes and so it has asked the states to provide pedestrian facilities in accordance with the Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines.

The court, while posting the matter for hearing on April 23, said that the committee should ensure compliance of its directions given earlier.

The apex court had in November last year issued a slew of directions on road safety and asked all states and UTs to set up a trauma centre in each district of the country and make safety norms part of school curriculum.

It had also directed that road safety education and counselling be made a part of school curriculum by the state boards by April 1, 2018, and at least one trauma care centre be set up in every district with an ambulance.

The court had issued its directions on a PIL raising the issue of road safety in the country.

The court was told that software for the purpose, which would cover all states on a real time basis, is under preparation

The Centre is in the process of linking driving licences with Aadhaar number to weed out fake licences, and a software for this covering all states on a real time basis is under preparation, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. A bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta was informed about it by a court-appointed committee on road safety headed by former Supreme Court judge justice KS Radhakrishnan. This assumes significance as a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is currently hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and the enabling 2016 law. The committee, in its report filed in the top court, said it had held a meeting on November 28 last year with the joint secretary of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to discuss several issues, including procurement of fake licences and how to eliminate it. “On the issue of fake licences, joint secretary, MoRTH informed that NIC (national informatics centre) is now preparing ‘Sarthi-4’ under which all the licences would be linked to Aadhaar,” the report said. “This software will cover all the states on real time basis and it will not be possible for anyone to get duplicate or fake licence anywhere in the country,” it said. The advocate representing the committee, told the bench that the panel was scheduled to have a meeting with the MoRTH and other authorities concerned on February 22-23 to discuss compliance of directions given by the apex court earlier. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the ministry, told the bench that fatalities in road accidents in India have gone down by around three percent in 2017 as compared to 2016. The bench said it was “heartening to know” that number of fatalities and injuries in road accidents have come down. In its report, the committee said it had asked states and union territories (UTs) to forward road accident data for entire 2017. “The committee has since received data from all the states/UTs, except Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Daman and Diu which indicates that in the states/UTs which have submitted data, there has been a reduction of 4,558 fatalities (i.e. 3.0 per cent) and 24,023 injuries (i.e. 5.0 per cent) in 2017 as compared to 2016,” the report said. The committee told the court that through its November 24 last year letter, it had asked all the states to set up a road safety fund which would be non-lapsable, and to have a steady flow of funds by diversion of “significant” portion of fines collected from traffic violations. It said some states have already set up road safety fund and the committee was pursuing the issue with remaining states in order to ensure full compliance of the apex court’s order which had said that the fund should be established by March 31, 2018. The report said at the November 28 last year meeting, it was discussed that since driving licences were now in the form of a smart card, its punching in cases of default was likely to damage the data stored in it. “Joint Secretary MoRTH pointed out that presently NIC is in the process of developing central computerised data base and all the states would be covered under the same. “This data base is likely to be effective from October 1, 2018,” it said, adding, that all the offences committed by the driver would be recorded in this data base and there would be no necessity for punching of driving licences. The committee further said that 20-25 per cent fatalities on roads occur due to non-existence of pedestrian facilities, like footpaths, over-head passes, and under-passes and so it has asked the states to provide pedestrian facilities in accordance with the Indian Road Congress (IRC) guidelines. The court, while posting the matter for hearing on April 23, said that the committee should ensure compliance of its directions given earlier. The apex court had in November last year issued a slew of directions on road safety and asked all states and UTs to set up a trauma centre in each district of the country and make safety norms part of school curriculum. It had also directed that road safety education and counselling be made a part of school curriculum by the state boards by April 1, 2018, and at least one trauma care centre be set up in every district with an ambulance. The court had issued its directions on a PIL raising the issue of road safety in the country.

Will link driving licences with Aadhaar to weed out fakes, Centre tells Supreme Court

According to Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla&nbsp;the government has learned about the incidents of fraudulent withdrawal of money through Aadhaar.&nbsp;

Shukla&#39;s written reply to Rajya Sabha noted at least six such cases to have been reported by four Public Sector Banks involving fraud worth Rs 1.5 crore.&nbsp;

Shukla further noted that the government has been taking appropriate measures to prevent such cases from occurring again. Action has also been initiated against the ones involved in the reported cases.

According to reports, two cases were reported in Bank of India involving a sum of Rs 1.37 crore while another two cases surfaced in Syndicate Bank involving Rs 2.26 lakh.

The government noted that in both the cases Aadhaar mapping was carried out by business correspondents or staff.&nbsp;

Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank have also reported similar cases involving Rs 1.95 lakh and Rs 0.49 lakh respectively.

Meanwhile,&nbsp;UIDAI has cautioned people against using plastic, laminated Aadhaar cards stating that their unauthorised printing could render the QR code dysfunctional or even expose personal data without an individual&#39;s informed consent.

UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey urged individuals not to share their Aadhaar number or personal details with unauthorised agencies for getting it laminated or printed on plastic cards.

The nodal body cautioned unauthorised agencies not to collect Aadhaar information from the public for printing of Aadhaar cards saying collecting such information or unauthorised printing of Aadhaar card is a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment under the law.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

&nbsp;

At least six such cases to have been reported by four Public Sector Banks involving fraud worth Rs 1.5 crore

According to Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla the government has learned about the incidents of fraudulent withdrawal of money through Aadhaar. Shukla's written reply to Rajya Sabha noted at least six such cases to have been reported by four Public Sector Banks involving fraud worth Rs 1.5 crore. Shukla further noted that the government has been taking appropriate measures to prevent such cases from occurring again. Action has also been initiated against the ones involved in the reported cases. According to reports, two cases were reported in Bank of India involving a sum of Rs 1.37 crore while another two cases surfaced in Syndicate Bank involving Rs 2.26 lakh. The government noted that in both the cases Aadhaar mapping was carried out by business correspondents or staff. Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank have also reported similar cases involving Rs 1.95 lakh and Rs 0.49 lakh respectively. Meanwhile, UIDAI has cautioned people against using plastic, laminated Aadhaar cards stating that their unauthorised printing could render the QR code dysfunctional or even expose personal data without an individual's informed consent. UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey urged individuals not to share their Aadhaar number or personal details with unauthorised agencies for getting it laminated or printed on plastic cards. The nodal body cautioned unauthorised agencies not to collect Aadhaar information from the public for printing of Aadhaar cards saying collecting such information or unauthorised printing of Aadhaar card is a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment under the law. (With inputs from agencies)

Aadhaar used in fraudulent withdrawal of money: Minister of State for Finance

Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra has said Aadhaar is safe and that people should support it.&nbsp;

Chandra said &quot;the noises&quot; against Aadhaar are instigated by the tech giants since they are the ones that control people&#39;s data &quot;on which they make money&quot;.&nbsp;

Chandra then went on to ask whether people know &quot;the kind of privacy agreement&quot; they sign with the big tech companies? And that they (the people) cannot use their own data. &nbsp;

&quot;The noises against Aadhar is instigated by biggies like google,Facebook etc. as they control your&rsquo;s and my data on which they make money. Do you know the kind of privacy agreement we sign? You can not use ur own data. Aadhar is safe we all should support,&quot; Chandra tweeted.&nbsp;

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
The noises against Aadhar is instigated by biggies like google,Facebook etc. as they control your&rsquo;s and my data on which they make money. Do you know the kind of privacy agreement we sign? You can not use ur own data. Aadhar is safe we all should support
&mdash; Subhash Chandra (@subhashchandra) <a href="https://twitter.com/subhashchandra/status/953818699424784384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The Aadhaar programme aims to assign every single Indian citizen a unique identification number. Aadhaar is also expected to help transfer government benefits more efficiently to the people who need them.&nbsp;

Aadhaar however has come under flak from some quarters who say it invades privacy. There have also been questions asked of how safe the data collected under the programme is.&nbsp;

Chandra said 'the noises' against Aadhaar are instigated by the tech giants since they are the ones that control people's data

Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra has said Aadhaar is safe and that people should support it. Chandra said "the noises" against Aadhaar are instigated by the tech giants since they are the ones that control people's data "on which they make money". Chandra then went on to ask whether people know "the kind of privacy agreement" they sign with the big tech companies? And that they (the people) cannot use their own data. "The noises against Aadhar is instigated by biggies like google,Facebook etc. as they control your’s and my data on which they make money. Do you know the kind of privacy agreement we sign? You can not use ur own data. Aadhar is safe we all should support," Chandra tweeted. The noises against Aadhar is instigated by biggies like google,Facebook etc. as they control your’s and my data on which they make money. Do you know the kind of privacy agreement we sign? You can not use ur own data. Aadhar is safe we all should support — Subhash Chandra (@subhashchandra) January 18, 2018 × The Aadhaar programme aims to assign every single Indian citizen a unique identification number. Aadhaar is also expected to help transfer government benefits more efficiently to the people who need them. Aadhaar however has come under flak from some quarters who say it invades privacy. There have also been questions asked of how safe the data collected under the programme is.

Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra says Aadhaar 'safe, we all should support'

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners in the Aadhaar hearing, told a five-judge Constitution bench Wednesday that &quot;Aadhaar may cause death of citizens&#39; civil rights&quot;.&nbsp;

&quot;A people&#39;s Constitution is being sought to be converted into a State&#39;s Constitution,&quot; &nbsp;he added.&nbsp;

The five-judge constitution bench -- headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and including Justices AM Khanwilkar, Adarsh Kumar Sikri, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan -- began <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-begins-hearing-on-aadhaar-29832" target="_blank">hearing a bunch of petitions against Aadhaar</a> Wednesday.&nbsp;

The petitions question the constitutional validity of linking citizens&#39; Aadhaar cards to government welfare schemes, and the validity of the Aadhaar scheme itself which aims to issue every Indian citizen a unique identification number. There have been a number of reports recently of people starving to death because they did not have Aadhaar cards and were therefore not given government rations at PDS (Public Distribution System) shops.&nbsp; 
 
The validity of Aadhaar and the possible <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/uidai-issues-virtual-id-against-aadhaar-to-strengthen-data-security-29128" target="_blank">leakage of citizens&#39; data</a> collected under the scheme has cropped up time and again. There was also a newspaper report recently of Aadhaar data being sold for as little as Rs 500. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had filed an FIR against the reporter who had filed that story, as well as against her newspaper.&nbsp;

The Supreme Court has also received petitions questioning the linkage of the 12-digit number to mobile phones, bank accounts, and so forth, the last date for which was recently <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/aadhaar-pan-government-shelves-december-31-deadline-for-linking-aadhaar-with-bank-accounts-26646" target="_blank">extended to March 31</a> this year.

If the phones, bank accounts etc are not linked to Aadhaar numbers by then, they will be deactivated.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

'A people's Constitution is being sought to be converted into a State's Constitution,' Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shyam Divan added

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners in the Aadhaar hearing, told a five-judge Constitution bench Wednesday that "Aadhaar may cause death of citizens' civil rights". "A people's Constitution is being sought to be converted into a State's Constitution," he added. The five-judge constitution bench -- headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and including Justices AM Khanwilkar, Adarsh Kumar Sikri, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan -- began hearing a bunch of petitions against Aadhaar Wednesday. The petitions question the constitutional validity of linking citizens' Aadhaar cards to government welfare schemes, and the validity of the Aadhaar scheme itself which aims to issue every Indian citizen a unique identification number. There have been a number of reports recently of people starving to death because they did not have Aadhaar cards and were therefore not given government rations at PDS (Public Distribution System) shops. The validity of Aadhaar and the possible leakage of citizens' data collected under the scheme has cropped up time and again. There was also a newspaper report recently of Aadhaar data being sold for as little as Rs 500. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had filed an FIR against the reporter who had filed that story, as well as against her newspaper. The Supreme Court has also received petitions questioning the linkage of the 12-digit number to mobile phones, bank accounts, and so forth, the last date for which was recently extended to March 31 this year. If the phones, bank accounts etc are not linked to Aadhaar numbers by then, they will be deactivated.

'Aadhaar may cause death of citizens' civil rights': Lawyer for petitioners tells Supreme Court

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday began hearing the matter related to the constitutional validity of linking Aadhaar card to a number of government schemes.

The five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and four other judges Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Adarsh Kumar Sikri, D.Y.Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-to-hear-pils-against-aadhaar-29776"> will hear a number of petitions</a> filed challenging the validity of the identification number.

Since inception, the validity of the Aadhaar and possible leakage of data has cropped up time and again. The top court has also received petitions regarding the linkage of this 12-digit number with mobile phones, bank accounts and so on, the last date for which was extended to March 31 this year.

While data breach has been widely debated in the recent past, the government had refuted all claims of the same.

Most recently, The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) decided to enable &#39;Face Authentication&#39; infusion mode on registered devices by July 1, so that people facing difficulty in other existing modes of verification such as fingerprints, iris, and one-time-password (OTP) could easily authenticate.

While data breach has been widely debated in the recent past, the government had refuted all claims of the same

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday began hearing the matter related to the constitutional validity of linking Aadhaar card to a number of government schemes. The five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and four other judges Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Adarsh Kumar Sikri, D.Y.Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan will hear a number of petitions filed challenging the validity of the identification number. Since inception, the validity of the Aadhaar and possible leakage of data has cropped up time and again. The top court has also received petitions regarding the linkage of this 12-digit number with mobile phones, bank accounts and so on, the last date for which was extended to March 31 this year. While data breach has been widely debated in the recent past, the government had refuted all claims of the same. Most recently, The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) decided to enable 'Face Authentication' infusion mode on registered devices by July 1, so that people facing difficulty in other existing modes of verification such as fingerprints, iris, and one-time-password (OTP) could easily authenticate.

Supreme Court begins hearing on Aadhaar

A five-member constitution bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will hear the various petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar.

The PILs have also been filed regarding the linkage of the 12 digit number with mobile phones, bank accounts and others.&nbsp;

Debates on the validity of Aadhaar&nbsp;have been on the rise since the government introduced the identification number.&nbsp;

A recent media report had revealed a case of a<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/whatsapp-group-sold-aadhaar-details-for-rs-500-uidai-denies-report-28548" target="_blank"> major data breach</a> involving access to personal details of the cardholder&nbsp;with only Rs 500.

The Unique&nbsp;Identification Authority has recently introduced a more secure process for keeping the Aadhaar details safe. The Authority&nbsp;introduced <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/uidai-issues-virtual-id-against-aadhaar-to-strengthen-data-security-29128" target="_blank">virtual IDs </a>for Aadhaar holders which can be used in lieu of a person&#39;s Aadhaar number. It will be a random 16 digit number which will provide limited details like the name, address, and photograph of the holder.&nbsp;

It&nbsp;also said that it would also allow <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/uidai-says-face-recognition-will-be-allowed-to-verify-aadhaar-cardholders-29579" target="_top">Aadhaar cardholders to be verified by face recognition</a>.&nbsp;The facial authentication is expected to add a further layer of security to Aadhaar cardholders.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Expecttoday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Expecttoday</a>: Supreme Court to begin hearing petitions challenging validity of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aadhaar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Aadhaar</a> and its mandatory linkage with several services
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/953443574225317889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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A five-member constitution bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India will hear the various petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar

A five-member constitution bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will hear the various petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar. The PILs have also been filed regarding the linkage of the 12 digit number with mobile phones, bank accounts and others. Debates on the validity of Aadhaar have been on the rise since the government introduced the identification number. A recent media report had revealed a case of a major data breach involving access to personal details of the cardholder with only Rs 500. The Unique Identification Authority has recently introduced a more secure process for keeping the Aadhaar details safe. The Authority introduced virtual IDs for Aadhaar holders which can be used in lieu of a person's Aadhaar number. It will be a random 16 digit number which will provide limited details like the name, address, and photograph of the holder. It also said that it would also allow Aadhaar cardholders to be verified by face recognition. The facial authentication is expected to add a further layer of security to Aadhaar cardholders. #Expecttoday: Supreme Court to begin hearing petitions challenging validity of #Aadhaar and its mandatory linkage with several services — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2018 ×

Supreme Court to hear PILs against Aadhaar

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/haryana-rape-and-murder-class-12th-suspect-found-dead-in-kurukshetra-29852">Haryana rape and murder: Class 12 suspect found dead in Kurukshetra</a>

The Haryana Police found the dead body of the main suspect in the brutal rape and murder case of a 15-year-old Dalit girl.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-crosses-35000-mark-for-first-time-nifty-closes-at-all-time-high-29831">Sensex crosses 35,000 </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-crosses-35000-mark-for-first-time-nifty-closes-at-all-time-high-29831">mark</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-crosses-35000-mark-for-first-time-nifty-closes-at-all-time-high-29831"> for </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-crosses-35000-mark-for-first-time-nifty-closes-at-all-time-high-29831">first</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-crosses-35000-mark-for-first-time-nifty-closes-at-all-time-high-29831"> time, Nifty closes at all-time high Benchmark&nbsp;</a>

Sensex soared over 310 points today to close above the 35,000-mark for the first time ever, while the broader Nifty too ended at a fresh life-time high on unabated buying by participants.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/aadhaar-may-cause-death-of-citizens-civil-rights-lawyer-for-petitioners-29842">&#39;Aadhaar may cause death of citizens&#39; civil rights&#39;: Lawyer for petitioners tells Supreme Court</a>

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners in the Aadhaar hearing, told a five-judge Constitution bench Wednesday that &quot;Aadhaar may cause death of citizens&#39; civil rights&quot;.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/seven-rakhine-killed-as-myanmar-police-fire-on-rioters-29846">Seven ethnic Rakhine killed as Myanmar Police fire on rioters</a>

Seven ethnic Rakhine Buddhists died after Myanmar police opened fire on a crowd trying to seize a government office, officials said Wednesday, in fresh violence in a febrile state already scarred by ethnic and religious hatred.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/czech-government-agrees-to-resign-after-losing-confidence-vote-29845">Czech government agrees to resign after losing confidence vote</a>

The Czech government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis agreed to resign on Wednesday after the minority cabinet lost a confidence vote a day earlier.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/south-africas-cape-town-may-run-out-of-water-in-90-days-29865">South Africa&#39;s Cape Town may run out of water in 90 days</a>

South Africa&#39;s Cape Town, one of the world&#39;s iconic tourist destinations, could run out of water by April as the city&#39;s worst drought in a century risks forcing residents to join queues for emergency rations.

Haryana rape and murder: Class 12 suspect found dead in Kurukshetra The Haryana Police found the dead body of the main suspect in the brutal rape and murder case of a 15-year-old Dalit girl. Sensex crosses 35,000 mark for first time, Nifty closes at all-time high Benchmark Sensex soared over 310 points today to close above the 35,000-mark for the first time ever, while the broader Nifty too ended at a fresh life-time high on unabated buying by participants. 'Aadhaar may cause death of citizens' civil rights': Lawyer for petitioners tells Supreme Court Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners in the Aadhaar hearing, told a five-judge Constitution bench Wednesday that "Aadhaar may cause death of citizens' civil rights". Seven ethnic Rakhine killed as Myanmar Police fire on rioters Seven ethnic Rakhine Buddhists died after Myanmar police opened fire on a crowd trying to seize a government office, officials said Wednesday, in fresh violence in a febrile state already scarred by ethnic and religious hatred. Czech government agrees to resign after losing confidence vote The Czech government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis agreed to resign on Wednesday after the minority cabinet lost a confidence vote a day earlier. South Africa's Cape Town may run out of water in 90 days South Africa's Cape Town, one of the world's iconic tourist destinations, could run out of water by April as the city's worst drought in a century risks forcing residents to join queues for emergency rations.

WION Evening News Brief, 17 January 2018

Former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the government&#39;s proposal to add a fresh layer of security -- a &#39;Virtual ID&#39; to prevent your Aadhaar from being shared -- as it sought to address privacy and security concerns.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/whatsapp-group-sold-aadhaar-details-for-rs-500-uidai-denies-report-28548">The new security layer</a> is like &#39;&#39;locking the stable after horses have bolted&#39;&#39;, he said.

&#39;&#39;Under compulsion, millions of persons have already shared Aadhaar number with many service providers. The new security layer is like locking the stable after horses have bolted,&#39;&#39; Chidambaram tweeted on Thursday morning.

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Under compulsion, millions of persons have already shared Aadhaar number with many service providers. New security layer is like locking the stable after horses have bolted.
&mdash; P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) <a href="https://twitter.com/PChidambaram_IN/status/951290568151154689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Reports said UIDAI&#39;s Virtual ID, which will be issued from March, will allow over 119 crore Aadhaar holders to generate a 16-digit temporary number that can be shared with a bank, insurance company or telecom service provider instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar number. All service providers will have to upgrade their systems to mandatorily allow for the new tool from June. You can opt to use the Virtual ID as many times as you want, or keep generating a new one every time you have to share your unique ID.

Former finance minister&#39;s latest salvo on the BJP led NDA government comes after the government introduced a fresh layer of security following privacy concerns raised by a report in The Tribune. The government filed an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira for her report on an alleged breach in the Aadhaar database which can be accessed for a fee.

American whistleblower Edward Snowden recently targeted the Indian government for filing an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The journalists exposing the #Aadhaar breach deserve an award, not an investigation. If the government were truly concerned for justice, they would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians. Want to arrest those responsible? They are called @UIDAI,&rdquo; Snowden tweeted.

Former'finance minister latest salvo on the BJP led NDA government comes after the government introduced a fresh layer of security following privacy concerns

Former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the government's proposal to add a fresh layer of security -- a 'Virtual ID' to prevent your Aadhaar from being shared -- as it sought to address privacy and security concerns. The new security layer is like ''locking the stable after horses have bolted'', he said. ''Under compulsion, millions of persons have already shared Aadhaar number with many service providers. The new security layer is like locking the stable after horses have bolted,'' Chidambaram tweeted on Thursday morning. Under compulsion, millions of persons have already shared Aadhaar number with many service providers. New security layer is like locking the stable after horses have bolted. — P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) January 11, 2018 × Reports said UIDAI's Virtual ID, which will be issued from March, will allow over 119 crore Aadhaar holders to generate a 16-digit temporary number that can be shared with a bank, insurance company or telecom service provider instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar number. All service providers will have to upgrade their systems to mandatorily allow for the new tool from June. You can opt to use the Virtual ID as many times as you want, or keep generating a new one every time you have to share your unique ID. Former finance minister's latest salvo on the BJP led NDA government comes after the government introduced a fresh layer of security following privacy concerns raised by a report in The Tribune. The government filed an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira for her report on an alleged breach in the Aadhaar database which can be accessed for a fee. American whistleblower Edward Snowden recently targeted the Indian government for filing an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter. “The journalists exposing the #Aadhaar breach deserve an award, not an investigation. If the government were truly concerned for justice, they would be reforming the policies that destroyed the privacy of a billion Indians. Want to arrest those responsible? They are called @UIDAI,” Snowden tweeted.

New security layer in Aadhaar is like locking the stable after horses have bolted: P Chidambaram

Days after a media report that Aadhaar details were being sold for as little as Rs 500, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Wednesday introduced virtual IDs for Aadhar holders which can be used in lieu of a person&#39;s Aadhaar number.&nbsp;

The ID can be generated from UIDAI the website and will&nbsp;eliminate the need to share the 12-digit biometric ID.

The virtual ID will be a random 16 digit number which will provide limited details like the name, address, and photograph of the holder.&nbsp;

The user can generate as many virtual IDs as he or she wants. The previous ID will get deleted once the new one is generated.&nbsp;

UIDAI said Wednesday it would &quot;also introduce limited KYC service that does not return Aadhaar number and only provides an &quot;agency specific&quot;&nbsp;unique UID token to eliminate many agencies storing Aadhaar number while still enabling their own paperless KYC&quot;.

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To further strengthen privacy and security of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aadhaar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Aadhaar</a> number holders, UIDAI to introduce virtual ID for Aadhaar holders to use it in lieu of his/her Aadhaar number to avoid need of sharing of the Aadhaar number at the time of authentication: UIDAI
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/951050245730795520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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UIDAI to also introduce limited KYC service that does not return Aadhaar number and only provides an &#39;agency specific&#39; unique UID token to eliminate many agencies storing Aadhaar number while still enabling their own paperless KYC: UIDAI
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/951050694064156672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The temporary and revocable 16 digit number will be in use from March 1, 2018. It will be mandatory for all agencies that undertake authentication from June 1, 2018.

The UIDAI has advised all agencies using its authentication and eKYC services to ensure Aadhaar holders can provide the 16- digit Virtual ID instead of Aadhaar number within their application.&nbsp;

Agencies not adhering to the new Virtual ID will bear financial disincentives.

Also, agencies undertaking authentication would not be allowed to generate the Virtual ID on behalf of the Aadhaar holder.&nbsp;

The IDs can be given to the agencies along with fingerprint at the time of authentication.&nbsp; 
 
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The virtual ID will be a random 16-digit number which will provide limited details like the name, address, and photograph of the holder

Days after a media report that Aadhaar details were being sold for as little as Rs 500, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Wednesday introduced virtual IDs for Aadhar holders which can be used in lieu of a person's Aadhaar number. The ID can be generated from UIDAI the website and will eliminate the need to share the 12-digit biometric ID. The virtual ID will be a random 16 digit number which will provide limited details like the name, address, and photograph of the holder. The user can generate as many virtual IDs as he or she wants. The previous ID will get deleted once the new one is generated. UIDAI said Wednesday it would "also introduce limited KYC service that does not return Aadhaar number and only provides an "agency specific" unique UID token to eliminate many agencies storing Aadhaar number while still enabling their own paperless KYC". To further strengthen privacy and security of #Aadhaar number holders, UIDAI to introduce virtual ID for Aadhaar holders to use it in lieu of his/her Aadhaar number to avoid need of sharing of the Aadhaar number at the time of authentication: UIDAI — ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2018 × UIDAI to also introduce limited KYC service that does not return Aadhaar number and only provides an 'agency specific' unique UID token to eliminate many agencies storing Aadhaar number while still enabling their own paperless KYC: UIDAI — ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2018 × The temporary and revocable 16 digit number will be in use from March 1, 2018. It will be mandatory for all agencies that undertake authentication from June 1, 2018. The UIDAI has advised all agencies using its authentication and eKYC services to ensure Aadhaar holders can provide the 16- digit Virtual ID instead of Aadhaar number within their application. Agencies not adhering to the new Virtual ID will bear financial disincentives. Also, agencies undertaking authentication would not be allowed to generate the Virtual ID on behalf of the Aadhaar holder. The IDs can be given to the agencies along with fingerprint at the time of authentication.

After report of Aadhar details being sold, UIDAI issues virtual IDs

After a police complaint against a journalist of the Tribune for an expose on the breach of privacy of Aadhaar details, the government today clarified that it is committed to the freedom of the press. 
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Law and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the First Information Report has been filed against &quot;unknown&quot; entities.

Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote on Twitter that he had &quot;suggested to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)&nbsp;to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to the police in investigating the real offenders.&quot;&nbsp;

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Govt. is fully committed to freedom of Press as well as to maintaining security &amp; sanctity of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aadhaar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Aadhaar</a> for India&#39;s development. FIR is against unknown. I&#39;ve suggested <a href="https://twitter.com/UIDAI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UIDAI</a> to request Tribune &amp; it&#39;s journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders.
&mdash; Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) <a href="https://twitter.com/rsprasad/status/950275919855304705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The UIDAI runs the world&#39;s largest biometric identity card scheme called &quot;Aadhaar&quot;,

The UIDAI&nbsp;started investigating a report last week by The Tribune newspaper which said access to the identity database of more than 1 billion citizens was being sold for just 500 rupees, or $8, on social media.

The Delhi Police had registered the FIR on UIDAI complaint over a newspaper report on alleged data breach of Aadhaar details, naming the reporter behind the story, even as the daily said it will defend its freedom to undertake investigative journalism.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Deputy Director B M Patnaik told the police that an input was received from The Tribune that it has purchased a service being offered by anonymous sellers over WhatsApp that provided unrestricted access to details of any of the Aadhaar numbers created in India, the police had said on Sunday.

On January 5, a complaint was received from Patnaik and the FIR was registered the same day, the police said.

The Editors Guild Of India scalled for an &quot;impartial&quot; investigation into the matter and asked the government to intervene in the withdrawal of the case.

The guild had criticised the lodging of the FIR and said it was &quot;deeply concerned&quot; over reports that the UIDAI deputy director had registered a complaint in which the reporter of The Tribune, Rachna Khaira, has been named.

Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote on Twitter that he had 'suggested to the Unique Identification Authority of India to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to the police in investigating the real offenders'

After a police complaint against a journalist of the Tribune for an expose on the breach of privacy of Aadhaar details, the government today clarified that it is committed to the freedom of the press. Law and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the First Information Report has been filed against "unknown" entities. Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote on Twitter that he had "suggested to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to request Tribune and its journalist to give all assistance to the police in investigating the real offenders." Govt. is fully committed to freedom of Press as well as to maintaining security & sanctity of #Aadhaar for India's development. FIR is against unknown. I've suggested @UIDAI to request Tribune & it's journalist to give all assistance to police in investigating real offenders. — Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) January 8, 2018 × The UIDAI runs the world's largest biometric identity card scheme called "Aadhaar", The UIDAI started investigating a report last week by The Tribune newspaper which said access to the identity database of more than 1 billion citizens was being sold for just 500 rupees, or $8, on social media. The Delhi Police had registered the FIR on UIDAI complaint over a newspaper report on alleged data breach of Aadhaar details, naming the reporter behind the story, even as the daily said it will defend its freedom to undertake investigative journalism. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Deputy Director B M Patnaik told the police that an input was received from The Tribune that it has purchased a service being offered by anonymous sellers over WhatsApp that provided unrestricted access to details of any of the Aadhaar numbers created in India, the police had said on Sunday. On January 5, a complaint was received from Patnaik and the FIR was registered the same day, the police said. The Editors Guild Of India scalled for an "impartial" investigation into the matter and asked the government to intervene in the withdrawal of the case. The guild had criticised the lodging of the FIR and said it was "deeply concerned" over reports that the UIDAI deputy director had registered a complaint in which the reporter of The Tribune, Rachna Khaira, has been named.

After FIR against journalist, government says committed to freedom of press

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/aadhaar-data-breach-after-police-complaint-against-journalist-government-says-committed-to-freedom-of-the-press-28889" target="_blank">After FIR against journalist, government says committed to freedom of press</a>

After a police complaint against a journalist of the Tribune for an expose on the breach of privacy of Aadhaar details, the government today clarified that it is committed to the freedom of the press.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/confirmed-padmavat-to-release-on-january-25th-28879" target="_blank">Confirmed: Padmavat to release on January 25</a>

The date is finally confirmed. Sanjay Leela Bhansali&#39;s film&nbsp;Padmavat&nbsp;is all set to release in the theatre on January 25th, 2018. The controversial film got its censor certificate earlier last week and now the makers have planned to release the film in January and cash in on the extended weekend.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/rajasthan-government-says-padmavat-will-not-be-released-in-state-28900" target="_blank">Rajasthan government says &#39;Padmavat&#39; will not be released in state</a>

Sanjay Leela Bhansali&#39;s much-awaited epic period drama Padmavat has been banned from release in Rajasthan. The state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria confirmed the news.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-to-review-its-2013-verdict-on-criminalising-gay-sex-28864" target="_blank">Supreme Court to review 2013 verdict on </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-to-review-its-2013-verdict-on-criminalising-gay-sex-28864" target="_blank">criminalising</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-to-review-its-2013-verdict-on-criminalising-gay-sex-28864" target="_blank"> gay sex</a>

The Supreme Court has decided to &quot;refer&nbsp;to a larger bench&quot; a plea that seeks to decriminalise gay sex.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/opposed-to-us-finger-pointing-at-pak-on-terror-related-issues-china-28887" target="_blank">Opposed to US &#39;finger pointing&#39; at Pakistan on terror-related issues: China</a>

China today said it is opposed to the US &quot;finger pointing&quot; at Pakistan and linking it with terrorism, insisting that the responsibility of cracking down on terror outfits cannot be placed on a particular country.

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After FIR against journalist, government says committed to freedom of press After a police complaint against a journalist of the Tribune for an expose on the breach of privacy of Aadhaar details, the government today clarified that it is committed to the freedom of the press. Confirmed: Padmavat to release on January 25 The date is finally confirmed. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavat is all set to release in the theatre on January 25th, 2018. The controversial film got its censor certificate earlier last week and now the makers have planned to release the film in January and cash in on the extended weekend. Rajasthan government says 'Padmavat' will not be released in state Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much-awaited epic period drama Padmavat has been banned from release in Rajasthan. The state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria confirmed the news. Supreme Court to review 2013 verdict on criminalising gay sex The Supreme Court has decided to "refer to a larger bench" a plea that seeks to decriminalise gay sex. Opposed to US 'finger pointing' at Pakistan on terror-related issues: China China today said it is opposed to the US "finger pointing" at Pakistan and linking it with terrorism, insisting that the responsibility of cracking down on terror outfits cannot be placed on a particular country.

WION evening news brief, January 8, 2018

A day after a media&nbsp;report revealed a case of a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/whatsapp-group-sold-aadhaar-details-for-rs-500-uidai-denies-report-28548" target="_blank">major data breach of Aadhaar details</a>, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has filed an FIR for unauthorised access to Aadhaar data due to the misuse of the grievance redressal facility.

The FIR is filed in Mohali at the Surat district administration in Gujarat as the &quot;purchase&quot; of the access to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/edward-snowden-on-aadhaar-no-matter-the-laws-the-result-is-abuse-28613" target="_blank">Aadhaar data</a> was reported from Mohali.&nbsp;

The UIDAI said that the Demographic information cannot be misused without biometrics.&nbsp;

The officials also said that they will investigate and trace the people involved in making the login ID and password available to a private entity.&nbsp;

A media report had earlier revealed that an anonymous Whatsapp group was selling details of Aadhaar data available with UIDAI.

The WhatsApp group was accessed by the reporter of the media.&nbsp;

The reporter said that after he joined the WhatsApp group and paid Rs 500 via Paytm, the WhatsApp group provided him with an ID, password as an access to details of any Aadhaar number. The reporter said he could enter any Aadhaar number and get access to details relating to name, address, phone number, photo, email.

He also said that with an additional amount of Rs 300, the WhatsApp group offered to give them a software for printing Aadhaar details.

UIDAI had then denied the claims calling it &quot;misreporting&quot;.

The FIR is filed in Mohali at the Surat district administration in Gujarat as the "purchase" of the access to Aadhaar data was reported from Mohali.?

A day after a media report revealed a case of a major data breach of Aadhaar details, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has filed an FIR for unauthorised access to Aadhaar data due to the misuse of the grievance redressal facility. The FIR is filed in Mohali at the Surat district administration in Gujarat as the "purchase" of the access to Aadhaar data was reported from Mohali. The UIDAI said that the Demographic information cannot be misused without biometrics. The officials also said that they will investigate and trace the people involved in making the login ID and password available to a private entity. A media report had earlier revealed that an anonymous Whatsapp group was selling details of Aadhaar data available with UIDAI. The WhatsApp group was accessed by the reporter of the media. The reporter said that after he joined the WhatsApp group and paid Rs 500 via Paytm, the WhatsApp group provided him with an ID, password as an access to details of any Aadhaar number. The reporter said he could enter any Aadhaar number and get access to details relating to name, address, phone number, photo, email. He also said that with an additional amount of Rs 300, the WhatsApp group offered to give them a software for printing Aadhaar details. UIDAI had then denied the claims calling it "misreporting".

UIDAI files FIR for unauthorised access to Aadhaar data

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