-Outlook The structural basis is being laid out for future authoritarianism at the behest of foreign biometric and surveillance technology What distinguishes Barack Obama and David Cameron from Narendra Modi? Obama and Cameron oppose biometric identification but Modi supports it. On 11 May 2005 in the US, the Real ID Act for a national ID was rushed through US Congress and the US Senate with utmost urgency, a legacy of George Bush...
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Aadhaar bill is through after Opposition scores a few brownie points
-The Indian Express The process of return of the bill saw an animated debate over why it was brought as a money bill. Since it was a money Bill, it could not be rejected or amended by Rajya Sabha Hours after the Opposition, making most of the NDA’s lack of numbers in Rajya Sabha, pushed through five amendments and returned the Aadhaar Bill to Lok Sabha, the Lower House rejected the changes...
More »The budget’s dangerous philosophy -Harsh Mander
-Livemint.com The government relies on for-profit big business to deliver public goods despite their inability to deliver Can we listen to the budget as an annual public statement by the government of its economic and social philosophy and intent? The centre abandoned five-year plans that earlier laid down a road map of where government policies are headed. The budget, then, is an important reality check of whether the government is literally...
More »Parliament passes Aadhaar Bill amid acrimonious debates -Smita Gupta and Puja Mehra
-The Hindu Rajya Sabha returns Aadhaar Bill to Lok Sabha with Opposition amendments . Even as the Opposition aired its concerns over the possibility of mass surveillance, Parliament passed the controversial Aadhaar Bill, 2016, after acrimonious debates in both Houses. In a day marked by high drama, hours after the Opposition succeeded in pushing through five amendments to the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, they were rejected in the Lok Sabha. The amendments...
More »Why Aadhaar is Niraadhaar: Jairam’s objections to the bill
-GovernanceNow.com Jairam Ramesh questions Aadhaar’s role in plugging subsidy leakages After snubbing the finance minister in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh of Congress questioned the government’s claim of saving Rs 14,000 crore by integrating Aadhaar for the LPG subsidy. Citing a report by International Institute of Sustainable Development, a London-based think tank, which seriously doubts the claim of savings accrued by DBT-LPG, Ramesh asked about the study on the basis of which...
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