Is CIA-link throwing up Aadhaar’s true colours?

BS Post : 92, Date : 31.12.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

The Unique Identification Authority of India's (UIDAI) agreement with a New-York based start-up MongoDB is likely to raise many eyebrows if this Economic Times report is to be believed. 

According to an ET report, MongoDB has been funded by the US’ Central Intelligence Agency. 

The firm has approached the UIDAI authorities to assist in capturing and analysing information for Aadhaar. 

MongoDB, founded in 2007, creates module that helps conduct vast databases, generally unstructured data. 

The ET report notes that the firm has lifted $231 million (Rs 1,400 crore) and some of the funding is from In-Q-Tel, a not-for-profit try collateral arm of CIA. 

However, the amount of funding from CIA has not been revealed by MongoDB. The UIDAI has reportedly entered into an agreement with MongoDB and a company’s database module is already being used for analysing a gait during that registration of new beneficiaries is holding place, reports ET. So, why should India be concerned?

Recently, Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower revealed that US comprehension agencies customarily intercepted communication in Europe and Asia, including in India. 

Experts say UID’s centralised pattern could poise a risk, where even a singular mistake can make a whole complement disproportionately vulnerable.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/economy/is-cia-link-throwing-up-aadhaars-true-colours-1263937.html?utm_source=ref_article

Dubai to have Holy Qur’an plant park

BS Post : 91, Date : 31.12.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

The Dh27 million project in Al Khawaneej is to be completed by September next year.

Dubai will have a park that has plants and trees mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. 

The General Projects Department of Dubai Municipality has announced plans to create a Holy Qur’an Park in Al Khawaneej.

All plants mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and available in the UAE will be showcased in the 60 hectare park, such as fig, pomegranate, olive, corn, leek, garlic, onion, lentil, barley, wheat, ginger, pumpkin, watermelon, tamarind, seder, vineyards, bananas, cucumbers and basil.

“There are 54 species mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. We will have 35 of these in the park,” explained Mohammed Noor Mashroom, director of the department. 

The remaining 15 species will be grown in green houses and 20 outside.

The park will also have a tunnel which exhibits the miracles described in the Holy Quran in the form of images and audio material. 

The theme park is intended to educate the public about the Holy Qur’an and its miracles, said Mohammed. 

“These plants are expected to make visitors think about the reason for their names to appear in the Holy Qur’an. We are hoping to attract school excursions to the park,” he added.

The park will have tracks for running, cycling and sand walking besides an Umrah corner, outside theatre, fountains, desert garden, palm oasis and a lake. 

The total cost of the project is estimated at around Dh27 million as per current tenders. Initial site preparation, tracks and service buildings have been completed and work on the second stage of the project will start next month. 

The park is expected to be completed by September 2014.

Mohammed Chand Shaikh

Decision from The Regional Passport Office (RPO) Mumbai, to streamline the passport application process.

BS Post : 90, Date : 12.12.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Applicants living in places like Aurangabad, Beed, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Daman and Dadra-Nagar Haveli, which fall under the jurisdiction of Mumbai RPO, have option of walking-in with their application number, Now, this procedure will be discontinued from December 20, 2013

The Regional Passport Office (RPO) here has decided to streamline the passport application process by making prior online appointment compulsory for the benefit of applicants from distant places.

Henceforth, all the applicants living in these areas would have to obtain prior online appointment before visiting the passport seva kendras.

As per The Regional Passport Office (RPO), after the successful introduction of online payment system, the problem of availability of appointment has been resolved and now appointment slots will be available in bulk.

Mohammed Chand Shaikh

Post offices to take passport application, regional passport office, Madurai region.

BS Post : 89 Date : 01.12.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

TNN | Nov 30, 2013, MADURAI: For those who find it difficult to pay exorbitant charges demanded by internet centres for applying passport, here comes good news. The Tamil Nadu postal circle, southern region, and regional passport office, Madurai region, have initiated a facility to help senior citizens and children below 15 years to apply for passports at post offices.

The two departments, which launched the venture, claimed that the initiative is first of its kind in the nation. To apply, minors and elderly people can simply walk into selected post offices in Madurai city. All they need to do is to fill the available application and hand it over to the officials concerned. Once the details are uploaded in the website, the customer would be given the Application Reference Number (ARN) generated after the procedures. People who want to apply for police clearance certificate can also utilise the service and it would costs only Rs 50, said passport officials. "The service has been launched in Madurai as a pilot programme. It would be available at the head post offices in Talakulam, Arasarasi and Madurai. We have plans to expand the service in other southern districts along with postal department," said S Maniswara Raja, regional passport officer, Madurai. J Charukesi, post master general, southern region, Madurai also took part in the inaugural function on Thursday.

Last year, as many as two lakh passport applications were received by Madurai regional passport office and most of the applications were from districts like Ramanathapuram and Sivagangai. Most of the applicants, who wish to work in gulf countries and who do not have internet facility, fall prey to the internet centres which charge high, passport officials said.

What happened in the Supreme Court on Tuesday as the judges heard a public interest litigation that challenged the constitutional validity of Aadhaar?

BS Post : 88 Date : 29.11.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued notices to state governments to explain their stance on making the unique identity (UID) number, Aadhaar compulsory.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) that challenged the constitutional validity of Aadhaar number being issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the apex court opined that it would not want to be in a situation where a state government would later plead that they were not given an opportunity to be heard.

Shyam Divan, the counsel for Maj Gen (retd) SG Vombatkere, cited example of several States which made Aadhaar mandatory for availing of host of services. For instance, he said in Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, admissions to school required students to have Aadhaar. Maharashtra recently made Aadhaar compulsory for government employees to draw their salary and pay slips. Madhya Pradesh followed the Centre’s diktat to make Aadhaar mandatory for receiving pension and provident fund benefits in three districts while Himachal Pradesh linked the Aadhaar scheme to offer scholarships in universities.

The bench of Justices BS Chauhan and SA Bobde was initially of the view that the petitioners are only bothered by the government making UID compulsory. So, the Bench asked Divan, “If we order that it cannot make it mandatory, would you have a case?”

Divan replied that the issues are deeper and he needs time to explain the whole scheme. The Aadhaar project, the senior advocate said, was ultra vires as it did not have a statutory backing. Moreover, no statutory guidance exists on crucial questions such as—who can collect biometric information, how it is to be collected and stored, protection of collected data, who can use the data and when it must be used.

The Supreme Court then asked, “Would you have a case if Parliament passes a law giving UID legal status?” Divan replied that even if  the Constitution is amended, UID would be illegal.

Divan then took the court through the flow chart of how UID enrolments are done, the kind of  Private Companies are involved and the dangers of the scheme. He pointed out how UIDAI signed memorandum of understanding with States which had no legal sanctity. He said, State appoints registrars, who could even be a private person, who engaged private companies to collect biometric data. There is also the fear that the private party which collects the data then stores it in a personal laptop, which does not belong to the government.

The counsel for Maj Gen (retd) Vombatkere, then briefly mentioned some abuses which could be carried out using UID.

He brought out how if a password of an ATM card was compromised, the cardholder could change the password, but if one's fingerprints or iris (biometrics) are the passwords, then the person whose password is compromised has no remedy. The court wanted to know the definition of biometrics in UID and spent some time studying it.

He also told the apex court about how UID changes the relationship between the state and the citizen. Convicted criminals relinquish some privacy rights. They have their fingerprints taken for record. Here the government is treating all people as criminals. One of the judges on the bench was very interested in this line of argument and asked many probing questions.

Interestingly, neither the UIDAI nor union government have filed any counter to the PIL. They have not denied any of the allegations made in the petition by Maj Gen (retd) Vombatkere and Col (retd) Matthew Thomas.

Removed the ‪‎AngolaBansIslam‬ post from my blog

BS Post : 87 Date : 26.11.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

I have removed the ‪‎AngolaBansIslam‬ post from my blog. The authenticity of the report and the newspaper that first published it is becoming increasingly unreliable. I apologize for any misinformation. 

On understanding, parts of the claim were skewed to give a misunderstanding. The Angolan government has clarified its stance to be 'freedom of religion, regardless of religion' (in paraphrase). The part about 'islam being illegal' is only true in-the-sense that there is no national recognition of islam. This is also the case in many western countries such as France and Italy where Islam exists but is not nationally recognized. 

With all of this in mind, we ask you all to in the future be cautious and careful when reading any materials from (the first website and primary source to have published the article online. Original publication was from a Moroccan News paper).

Passports will have a new security feature 'letter screen image' (LSI).

BS Post : 86, Date : 16.11.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

The ministry of external affairs has recommended the new feature to be implemented in passports to be issued henceforth.

Now, the 'LSI' feature is a minor modification to this image. "Only passport staff and immigration officials can find out about the new feature added to the applicant's photograph." 

The first, second and last two pages of the new passport would be laminated. The applicant's photograph would appear on the second page, while other information such as address, which used to be in the last pages, would now be on page 35. The seal and signature of the authority would be on the first page.

"Nobody can tamper the image of the applicant with the new LSI feature. However, passport and immigration authorities can access the details at the time of passport verification."

"Henceforth, passport applicants, who either apply for regular or tatkal, will get passports with the new security feature,"

Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Bal Keshav Thackeray

BS Post : 85, Date : 17.11.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Bal Keshav Thackeray was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing Marathi ethnocentric party active mainly in the western India's Maharashtra

Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, conferred to Sachin Tendulkar.

BS Post : 84, Date : 16.11.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Congratulations to legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on getting the 'Bharat Ratna' award for his contribution to Indian sports.

Dutch producer of anti-Prophet film finds tranquility in Haj.

BS Post : 83, Date : 17.10.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

The Dutchman, who produced a blasphemous film about Islam and its Prophet (peace be upon him) and who has converted to Islam about a year ago after long enmity, has said he has found peace and tranquility in the Haj. He regretted having been a part in the production of the hateful film Fitna (sedition) and said he came to the Haj to wash out his sins.

"I found my self among these faithful hearts. I hope that my tears of regret will wash out all my sins after my repentance," Arnoud Van Doorn said.

He said, as a token of atonement, he will produce a new film that will show the true essence of Islam and the correct personality of its Prophet.

Doorn, a former leading member of the extreme rightist Dutch political party, Geert Wilders' (Freedom Party) described Fitna as a totally wrong movie film which contained a lot of misleading and incorrect information that had nothing to do with the noble divine religion or its great Prophet (pbuh).

He said since he arrived in this holy land he has been living the best days of his life and hoped that he would spend the rest of his days in Madinah to which he was determined to return after the completion of his Haj rites.

"I felt ashamed standing in front of the Prophet's grave. I thought of the grave mistake which I had made by producing that sacrilegious film. I hope that Allah will forgive me and accept my repentance," he said.

Doorn said he read a lot about Islam before converting to it. He regretted his previous hostility to this great religion. —SG

Goa DGP makes passport verification easy.

BS Post : 82, Date : 01.10.2013,  Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Panaji, Oct 1 (IANS) Police officials will now visit homes of passport applicants for verification after Director General of Police Kishan Kumar Tuesday banned calling applicants to the police station for the process.

The order comes two days after several complaints were received by the regional passport officer during a public interaction, about harassment meted out by the police to passport applicants.

"The (office of the) Director General of Police, Goa has taken a serious view of this practice, and also violation of procedure in handling police verification process for issuance of passport," Kumar said in an official statement.

Kumar said concerned officers in plain-clothes will now first contact the passport applicant on phone, then seek an appointment for a meeting at their residence.

"It is for information of all concerned that henceforth officials of the CID centres will contact the passport applicant over telephone, to seek an appointment with him and visit the residence of the applicant for physical verification of address," Kumar said.

Interested in getting Aadhaar ? Read this.

BS Post : 81, Date : 27.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

UPA government convert operation called UIDAI 

By Srinivasan K. Rangachary  , September 27 th, 2013. 

The Supreme Court ruling stand by for yet another twist in the tale of Aadhaar — that special number supposed to give every Indian citizen a unique identity. And this time, it is a welcome move. The apex court has now stated what was once obvious — that Aadhaar is not mandatory, it is purely voluntary. The government cannot force you to get an Aadhaar card. The government cannot demand that card in order to provide a service to you. Excellent. So we are back to the basics.

Aadhaar or the Unique Identity (UID) number was first introduced to us as a voluntary project. You could, if you so wished, get yourself registered. You could arm yourself with some ID that would make you eligible, stand in queues, obey the pompous barks of unimpressive clerks with impressive equipment, and offer “biometric data”. They would take your fingerprints and photos of your face, their cameras would look deep into your eyes to capture the special pattern of your iris. After all that, they would give you a unique 12 digit number. You would have the pleasure of knowing that the number belonged wholly and entirely to you, that you did not need to share it with anyone. That was about all. The UID did not get you any benefits.

Unlike a ration card that gave you access to subsidised rations, or a voter ID card that allowed you to vote, or a passport that allowed you to travel beyond the borders, or a bank account number that gave you access to banking, or any useful card or number, Aadhaar did not offer you anything besides the satisfaction of having a number. Naturally, not too many flocked to it. What was the point? But Aadhaar was an ambitious project, costing the taxpayer thousands of crores, and projected worldwide as a unique, gigantic, fantastic identification scheme. The government and UID boss Nandan Nilekani could not just sit around waiting for the occasional volunteer to wander in for the fun of it. So it was quickly linked to various government services. The UID may not inherently give you benefits, but it could take away your benefits. Aha! Now are you interested in getting Aadhaar? The government quickly honed its blackmailing skills. You needed Aadhaar to get government subsidies, to get your rations, for payments under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), for direct cash benefits, for salaries, for cooking gas connections and refills, for school admissions of poorer children, for students fee waivers, for scholarships, for marriage registrations, for property transactions, for crop loans, for caste certificates — the list was ever growing. There was even a suggestion — I can’t remember whether it was passed — that Aadhaar would be necessary to file a Right to Information (RTI) petition.

So Aadhaar was the big bully that marches into a playground and gets his way not by offering the kids his own bat and ball, which he does not have, but by threatening to take away the bat and ball that the kids are already playing with. Sure, enrolling with Aadhaar was quite “voluntary”, in a stifling culture of bullies and brazen coercion.

So now that the Supreme Court has brought us back on track and declared that the government has no right to hold back services if you did not have an Aadhaar card, we are back to the original question: what is Aadhaar good for? What happens to the UID project that has already guzzled several thousand crores of our money? Or should we not be concerned about the SC ruling? After all, the government has muscled its way through in the Aadhaar issue, ignoring the voices of reason. Even failing to get parliamentary approval, which would have made it legal, has not deterred it. Would this desperate government, getting increasingly frantic as the polls approach, pay attention to the Court ruling? I certainly hope it does because the UID project is unique among government projects in its bullying, lawless dash for power. First, it dangerously blurs the boundary between government operations and private enterprise in the area of data collection. The government collects personal data from its citizens and hands it over to the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI). Even the National Population Register data, compulsory for all citizens, is automatically shared with the UID. And then, incredibly, this data becomes the property of the UIDAI — to sell or share as it chooses.

So is the UIDAI a government entity? There was no democratic process or law behind it. When years after arbitrarily starting the UID process, the government finally drafted a Bill to convert the UIDAI into a statutory authority, it was rejected by Parliament. Yet Aadhaar flourishes.

Once it has all the data in place, the UIDAI will simply become a profit seeking business enterprise. Unlike a government body, it would not be accountable to the people. It would offer identity authentication as a paid service to both private and government agencies. And every time someone wants a gas connection, a bank account, a PAN card, a passport, a credit card or whatever, the UIDAI would make money, unless the SC ruling is acted upon.

Besides the peculiar logic by which the government gives birth to and incubates a commercial company and then pays good money to use its services, there is a more fundamental problem with this UID model. It is about privacy. Sharing data with the government may still be okay (though I have serious doubts), since there is trust involved and the government is supposed to protect the information on its citizens and not use it to its own benefit. Giving out the information to commercial companies is a breach of trust. It violates the citizen’s right to privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution.

This can be very dangerous, particularly since India does not have specific laws to protect either data or our privacy. Data mining is the new power tool, and all this information — say on caste or religious identities — could be misused politically. And when a private enterprise owns such massive data, there is no state accountability, and information on Indian citizens may be used by any paying customer for their own purposes.

Aadhaar is a unique, gargantuan mess. Its advertised aim of stopping corruption and terrorism may have been respectable, but its methods and chances of success are not. Hopefully, the SC ruling will make the government take a long, hard look at this hugely extravagant project, its relevance and uses, if any.

Aadhaar cards not mandatory for services: Supreme Court of India.

BS Post : 80, Date : 23.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

The Supreme Court today ruled that the Aadhaar is not mandatory to get government benefits and services such as gas connections, vehicle registration, scholarships, marriage registration, salaries, provident fund, etc.

The interim order was passed in a public interest petition moved by a retired judge of the Karnataka high court who alleged that the Unique Identity (UID) or Aadhaar scheme does not have parliamentary sanction and it was rolled out only by the executive without discussion in Parliament.

This could deal a blow to the ambitious direct benefits transfer (DBT) scheme, under which the government is building a system of transferring welfare payments directly into the Aadhaar linked bank accounts of beneficiaries.

It also comes just days after news reports that UID authority Chairman Nandan Nilekani is likely to contest elections from South Karnataka on a Congress ticket. Neither Nilekani nor UIDAI director general Vijay S. Madan were available for a comment immediately.

A bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan, in today’s order in the petition moved last year by retired Justice K S Puttaswamy, stated that the scheme has several shortcomings and should be discontinued. The scheme should not be made compulsory to avail of essential services. Moreover, the number should not be issued to illegal immigrants like those from Bangladesh.

Nikhil Dey, social activist and co-convener of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information said that the order was "much needed." Dey said that the scheme is completely voluntary but there is nothing voluntary about it government is forcing people to enroll for it if they want to avail various services such as cooking gas subsidy etc.

"DBT project should have only been rolled out after the UID legislation was passed in the Parliament." Dey added that Aadhaar was only good as it gave an identity to people who had no way to prove their citizenship, but the Supreme Court has also said that Aadhaar can't be given to illegal migrants putting a question mark on what will happen to all the people who have already got the number without any identity or address proof.

UIDAI has issued numbers to 429.6 million residents so far. The Prime Minister had introduced the National Identity Authority of India Bill in 2010 but it was rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee in 2011. Since then, the government was pushing the scheme through executive action.

A government official, however, said in support of UID said that the whole purpose of Aadhaar is to eliminate duplicates and fakes and it is the only way to check them. "If this country wants leakages, then let there be leakages.

The official who didn't wish to be identified added that it is for the police and not for Aadhaar to check illegal migrants

"Aadhaar is at least trying to put them on the radar, thereafter you can throw them out as Aadhaar doesn't give them identity or legitimacy." The root of the problem is not being addressed, which is how to check illegal migrants, the official added.

The petitioner, on the other hand, argued that apart from the unconstitutionality of the executive acting on its own without legislative sanction, the scheme also impinged on the right to privacy of individuals, as the confidentiality and security of biometric information collected by private agencies were not ensured.

Even non citizens were likely to get benefits like cash transfers and illegal migrants were likely to get legitimised. This would jeopardise national security, it was argued.

The fact whether Aadhaar is mandatory or voluntary has been a point of debate for sometime. While the scheme in itself is voluntary in nature, the linkages with user agencies is making it mandatory in other ways.

The Maharashtra government had insisted recently that marriages could not be registered without the number. The registrar of the Bombay high court is also reported to have insisted for the number for disbursement of salary to the staff.

Similarly, under the DBT scheme, various pensions and scholarship payments are linked to the Aadhaar number. The government has also extended cooking gas subsidy under the scheme to 235 more districts from January 2014 from 20 districts earlier.

According to a statement by DBT Mission Director S Sundareshan earlier this month, the government has credited Rs 480 crore in about nine million transactions so far since the roll-out of the project in January 2013.

New Delhi  September 23, 2013

Theft at Worli passport office, monitors stolen.

BS Post : 79, Date : 13.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

MUMBAI: Three computer monitors were stolen from the passport head office in Worli during the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday from September 8 to 10. While the police said sensitive data was missing from the Passport office, a senior passport official denied it.

"Only the monitors were stolen. of which two were old and two new. Not even the CPUs were taken. No sensitive data is stored here. It is all on a central server, which is also not here," he said. The passport
official said an air conditioner in the waiting hall was being repaired and the hall leads to the regional passport officer's cabin. "The AC had been removed and the opening was closed with a board. The thieves broke it to gain access. We have given the CCTV cameras installed and we have handed over the image to the police.'' He added the cabin had not been broken into.

A source said, "The theft apparently took place on Tuesday. A recce was done two days earlier, shows CCTV footage." Additional commissioner Praveen Salunkhe said an FIR a first information report has been registered.

TNN | Sep 13, 2013

High-tech system to stop illegal pilgrims

BS Post : 78, Date : 09.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Saudi Arabia is determined to make this year’s pilgrimage free of illegal Hajis as senior security officials vowed that they would apply advanced technology to stop individuals trying to sneak into the holy sites without permits.

“We will apply advanced technologies for the first time this year to detect fake Haj permits,” said Maj. Gen. Ayed Al-Harbi, commander of the Passport Department’s Haj force and its assistant director general.

He said the new technologies would help security officers at checkpoints carry out their mission efficiently. “They will also be provided with devices to check fingerprints of illegal pilgrims trying to enter the holy sites,” he said. “Data of violators will be uploaded onto the electronic system to deport them.”

Al-Harbi’s statement follows a stern warning issued by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal that expats violating Haj rules would be deported immediately and banned for 10 years. The governor also warned Saudi drivers carrying illegal pilgrims, saying they would face maximum punishment. Fake Haj service operators will be arrested and face punitive action.

Al-Harbi said adequate number of officers would be deployed at eight Makkah entrances: Shumaysi Saree, Shumaysi Qadeem, Bahitah, Taneem, Kaakiyah, Al-Karr, Husseiniyah and Akishiyah. Helicopters will be used to monitor illegals using desert paths.

“We’ll also deploy female officers at all entry points to check women pilgrims,” said Maj. Gen. Al-Harbi. “We’ll not allow anybody to cross checkpoints without being checked for IDs and Haj permits,” he said, adding that violators would be denied services such as iqama renewal and transfer of sponsorships.

Hundreds of foreign pilgrims have already arrived for Haj which begins on Oct. 13. This year the number of pilgrims will be less than last year’s as the government has slapped a 20 percent cut on foreign pilgrims and 50 percent cut on domestic pilgrims because of ongoing expansion work at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

Investors in the housing sector said they would suffer a loss of SR2 billion as they had signed contracts with hotels for accommodation of pilgrims before the decision to slash the number of pilgrims.

“We have to pay the amount to hotel owners in accordance with the contracts or face imprisonment,” one investor said. Sharief Mansour, head of the real estate committee at Makkah Chamber, urged the government to intervene to offset the losses of investors.

JEDDAH: P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR

Published — Tuesday 10 September 2013

SC to examine validity of Aadhaar card.

BS Post : 77, Date : 01.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

The Supreme Court on Monday decided to examine the usefulness and validity of the Aadhaar card, while several state governments have decided to make it compulsory for availing various public services like marriage registration and direct benefit transfer scheme.

A bench of Justices B S Chauhan and S A Bobde sought response from different parties on the petition challenging the scheme being implemented by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The PIL filed by Justice K S Puttaswamy, a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, sought an immediate stay on the implementation of the scheme.

The PIL held that the scheme was in complete violation of the fundamental rights under Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life and liberty). The government claimed that the scheme is voluntary. But Aadhaar is being made mandatory for purposes like registration of marriages and others. 

The Maharashtra government recently said no marriage will be registered if parties do not possess Aadhaar cards, senior advocate Anil Divan, representing the petitioner, said.

In its reply to the PIL, the Centre claimed that consent of an individual was indispensable for Aadhaar cards, so it was a voluntary project in order to promote inclusion and benefits to the marginalised sections of society having no formal proof of identity.

Maintaining that it was issued only to resident Indians, the response confirmed that Aadhaar did not confer any right of or proof of citizenship or domicile.

The UIDAI was set up under the executive powers under the Constitution and hence not having a law at the moment was not a legal impediment, it claimed.

The court, meanwhile, allowed a plea made by Additional Solicitor General L N Rao seeking transfer of two similar matters from the Bombay and Madras High Courts and decided to hear them along with the PIL.

New Delhi: September 2, 2013 DHNS

No room for politics in mosques, Imams exploiting politics in sermons face the sack.

BS Post : 76, Date : 01.09.2013, Place : Mumbai, By : Mohammed Chand Shaikh.

Makkah, Saudi Arabia.The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance is in the process of imposing penalties on imams and preachers who discuss political issues and matters of creed or those who implicitly or explicitly defame specific individuals or states. Such penalties may include dismissal from job if violations are repeated, say sources.

The ministry has emphasized the fact that their role is confined to preaching and providing guidance in religious spheres and that some of them have given written undertakings pledging that they would not inflame public sentiment by discussing politics during Friday sermons.

The sources said there is a committee at the ministry entrusted with following up on such violations and reporting preachers who have taken advantage of their position to influence public opinion.

The ministry statement follows an incident on Friday at Al-Ferdaous Mosque in Al-Nahda district, Riyadh, where an Egyptian worshipper protested against a preacher denouncing Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, defense minister and army chief of Egypt.

Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Abdulaziz, a former imam and preacher, said that mosques are sanctified areas of worship. He said imams should follow the instructions given to them by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

The prayer against El-Sisi, according to one report, prompted the Egyptian to question the preacher, while he was giving the Friday sermon. This infuriated other worshippers who tried to push the Egyptian out of the mosque.

The ministry said it would investigate the incident on Sunday and take appropriate action against the imam. Abdul Mohsen Al-Asheikh, deputy minister for mosque affairs, said the ministry would not allow using mosques for political motives.

E-gates to prevent illegal pilgrims

MAKKAH — About seven electronic gates will be established at the entrances to Makkah to stop illegal pilgrims sneaking into the holy city during the Haj season.

As many as 31 companies competed to win the contract for the implementation of the project, which has received the approval of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

The Makkah governorate, the Haj Ministry and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Haj Research Center will study the offers and quotes of these companies and pick the winning firm that will implement the project.

Under the project, the pilgrims will be asked to wear smart bracelets that will be automatically scanned at the gate to immediately tell if they are allowed to perform Haj or not.

The buses will be provided with smart chips that will help automatically scan the pilgrims on board when they pass through the gates.

Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar had earlier hinted the project might be trialed during the upcoming Haj season.

Once fully implemented, the electronic scanning of pilgrims will help curb the number of the squatters who sleep under the bridges in Mina, the minister said.

He said the ministry would establish an integrated Haj terminal in Makkah on an area of 1.6 million square meters to provide pilgrims with all the services they may require.

He said the terminal would house all the Tawafa establishments’ field service offices and the offices of all 80 foreign Haj missions.

Meanwhile, Hajjar approved the operations plan of the National Establishment for Pilgrim Guides for the upcoming Haj season during a meeting at the establishment’s headquarters in Madinah on Wednesday night.
 
He stressed the importance of exerting more efforts and using advanced technology to ensure pilgrims receive the best services.

Happy Independence Day 2013

SRA takes stock of slum rehab projects

Naresh Kamath,  H T  Mumbai, 2013

The poor track record of the various slum rehabilitation projects in the city, only 24% of which have been completed, has jolted the Slum Rehabilitation Authority into action. The authority has now started taking stock of the pending projects to expedite them.

 Of the total 2,395 projects approved since the body was set up, only 597 schemes have been executed so far, with 1.53 lakh slumdwellers rehabilitated. The SRA projects aim to give bigger, better homes to slumdwellers, free of cost, but the scheme has invited a lot of opposition, including allegations of being designed to favour builders, and several projects have been either derailed or stuck in litigation.

Chief executive officer of the SRA, Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, said the stock-taking exercise could accelerate the scheme. “It will help us understand why the schemes have not been executed and what difficulties are being faced in implementation of the projects,” he said.  If builders who are assigned the project are found to be disinterested, notices will be issued to them and their permissions will be cancelled.

Officials said  many errant builders, despite getting the mandatory 70% consent from slumdwellers and the SRA, have not begun work on the project for decades. Many of these are small-time builders or brokers, who sell the project to bigger builders. Moreover, infighting among slumdwellers about the project delays execution. The consent clause, in particular, has always been at the centre of controversy, as slumdwellers allege that their signatures are fudged by builders.

Builders too have welcomed the SRA move. “Such steps will force builders to start work and also help increase the housing stock,” said Sunil Mantri, Chairman, Real Estate Committee (Indian Merchants Chambers) and Managing Director, Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd.