-The Hindu Concern over security features and embedded programmes of handsets; motivated by data leakage to other countries Concerned about instances of Indian mobile phone users’ contact lists, details and text messages being leaked to other countries, including China, the government has asked all firms selling smartphone handsets in the country to share details of the processes they follow to ensure there is no possibility of data thefts or Leakages from their...

-Livemint.com The Aadhaar project is a textbook example of how not to design and execute a public policy initiative in India When it was first launched in 2009, Aadhaar signalled a promise to repair the corroded plumbing of India’s leaky public delivery systems. The unique biometric identity would help reduce duplicate and ghost entries in the list of beneficiaries of government schemes, and pave the way for direct benefit transfers to them...

-The Indian Express Aadhaar doesn’t empower people, only the state Ironically, in the week that the UIDAI revealed its draconian face, serving a legal notice to those who exposed flaws in the Aadhaar eco-system, Ajay Pandey (CEO, UIDAI), wrote, “The critics tend to forget that Aadhaar empowers the people, not the state” (‘Criticisms Without Aadhaar’, IE, May 13). However, government data reveals that Pandey is wrong to believe that “Aadhaar empowers...

-The Hindu Business Line While the idea is reasonable, the issue is so political that it will automatically ring in negative points for the implementer The subject of taxation on farm income has once again taken centre stage not just because there have been some distinguished opinions voiced on this subject but also that this has been recognised as one area where money is channelled to avoid paying taxes. As the focus...

-The Hindu We as citizens are like that... we don’t want to pay taxes, shame on us: Justice Sikri Slamming a tendency in the country to evade taxes, the Supreme Court referred to the mandatory linking of Aadhaar to the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Income Tax returns as an instance of the government’s efforts to bring “new and new laws to stop Leakages.” “When tax evasions are there, the government will try...