IISc students boycott UID, don’t want Big Brother to keep watch‏

Nandan Nilekani may be Bangalore’s blue-eyed boy making waves at the national level with his Unique Identification Number (UID), but there’s one part of the city that’s not impressed: A section of students and faculty of Indian Institute of Science (IISc). While many Bangaloreans have started enrolling for UID, the students are in boycott mode and say they will never do so.

Professor Shiv Sethi, astrophysics department, Raman Research Institute, said, “They (the authorities) have moved faster than us by starting the enrolment. It was during the discussion phase that we tried to impress upon them the loopholes of UID. Now that they have started the enrolment, it’s our turn to protest. We will meet and discuss with other like-minded people.”

IIScians say they don’t want to be under surveillance and that they are not comfortable with giving away their personal details since studies have proved how unsafe electronic data can be. The programme has been scrapped in the UK, they said. In fact, when Nilekani visited IISc a few months back to deliver a lecture, the anti-UID group protested with placards and banners that read, ‘Beware, Big Brother is watching you’ and ‘Secure electronic archive is a myth’.

And now, apart from not signing up, some students are even considering burning copies of UID forms, a la team Anna burning copies of the draft Lokpal bill. Prathamesh, a scholar, said: “UID is not going to solve problems of leakages. The government should universalise the PDS system to control misuse of subsidised foodgrain that find their way to restaurants. The project is fraught with loopholes and doesn’t have statutory backing. I will burn copies of the forms.”

Prathamesh added that the UID project was the brainwave of software companies who do not have a regular stream of revenue. Even IISc alumni are putting up a fight. One of them who participated in the protest said, “I will not register. The programme does not have statutory backing. It is still in parliament. First, they said it was voluntary. Now, they are trying to link it to banks, LPG connections and other utilities.”

Sethi added, “A few people have approached the court. We will decide the next course of action.” There are others who have doubts. Consumer activist Chandrasekhar of Malle-swaram feels that he needs to clarify all his doubts before enrolling. “I spoke with the officials. They told me it was voluntary. But now, it looks like they are linking it with other utilities.” Nishant Shah, director, research, Centre for Internet Society, said, “We need to check for three issues: data retention, data protection and data privacy. Only after these issues are resolved can we have a UID for every citizen.” (Sameer Ranjan Bakshi)

The Supreme Court's verdict on ILRP and concerns for Bangladesh‏

Dear Prof. Mohammed Khalequzzaman,

I have seen your comments on the subject of the river-linking project and the Supreme Court's recent oorder on it in Waterwatch Digest No. 1856. You have said that I have not mentioned Bangladesh's concerns in my article in The Hindu of 2 March 2012.  I have in fact not gone into any of the impacts and consequences of the Project in any detail. The focus of the article was on the propriety of the judiciary issuing an order to the executive government to implement a project. That focus is clear from the title of the article ('With All Due Respect, My Lords').

However, the article does forcefully make the point that the project is very controversial; that there are divergent views on it; and that the Supreme Court has relied on one report and ignored the vast literature on the subject. When a proper examination of the merits of the project is undertaken, all aspects, including the concerns expressed by Nepal and Bangladesh, will need to be gone into.

I may add that I was the first person to criticise the project strongly when it was announced in 2002 by the NDA Government, and my very first article mentioned the Bangladesh angle, even before any comment from Bangladesh. I was widely quoted in Bangladesh at that time and that made me very unpopular with the Government of India.

Incidentally, you say: "The people of Bangladesh have expressed their disappointment in various news media over the proposed Tipaimukh dam, lack of Teesta water sharing treaty, and the failure to implement the Ganges Treaty over the last 15 years." I agree that it was very unfortunate that a treaty on the Teesta was not signed when the Indian PM visited Bangladesh, and I can understand the disappointment in Bangladesh over this. As a matter of fact, there was dismay in this country too. Many commentators here criticised that failure. However, I cannot understand your reference to "the failure to implement the Ganges Treaty".

So far as I know, water-sharing under that Treaty is proceeding and there is a joint Indian-Bangladeshi team sitting at Farakka to monitor this. Khaleda Zia, who had been critical of the Treaty when it was signed, left it alone when she came to power. At one stage, a Minister in the BNP Government expressed satisfaction with its working. When the Treaty completed 5 years, Bangladesh did not ask for a review. Against that background, it is strange that you casually refer to 'non-implementation of the Treaty' as if it is a well-established fact.

If indeed it has not been implemented for 15 years, what were the Bangldeshi officials in the joint team at Farakka doing? Did they record official protests? Was the issue taken up in the Joint Rivers Commission? Did Khaleda Zia or Sheikh Hasina take up the matter formally with the Government of India? Did the Bangladesh Government ask for a review of the working of the Treaty? If in fact the Ganges Treaty has been a failure, did that failure figure in the talks during the recent visit of the Indian Prime Minister? If so, why were there no media reports to that effect? And if that Treaty has not been implemented, why is Bangladesh interested in signing a treaty on the Teesta?

I may add that I was in Dhaka in November 2010 for a conference and India-Bangladesh issues came up in one of the sessions (the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh was present and spoke), but no one referred to the non-impementation of the Ganges Treaty.

Despite all this, if you are convinced that the Ganges Treaty has not been implemented, you must ask the Government of Bangladesh to take up the matter formally with the Government of India.

Best Wishes. Ramaswamy R Iyer, New Delhi, E-Mail: rriyer@airtelmail.in, ramaswamy.iyer@gmail.com

national media merely Delhi-Noida-Gurgaon media‏

Wanted more regionalization of national media

An obliging media lent a helping hand by mounting a high-decibel television campaign, that made it seem as if a Rahul wave would blow everyone away. As it became clear on Tuesday, the aandhi was felt only in television newsrooms, says T S SUDHIR

On March 5, during the election debate on TV, BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad asked NDTV's Barkha Dutt to introspect on the amount of TV time that all media, her channel included, had given to Rahul Gandhi, compared to the pittance other parties got.

On the afternoon of March 6, by which time it was amply clear that Samajwadi Party was coming to power, SP's Shahid Siddiqui admonished CNN-IBN's Rajdeep Sardesai, telling him that it is strange that even when it is evident the Congress is down in the dumps, the channel was devoting 70 per cent of the discussion to that party.

The two comments in a nutshell tell the story of the media coverage of the Uttar Pradesh elections. Living south of the Vindhyas and only following the election campaign on TV, one would have thought Rahul Gandhi was running away with the election. The media kept their cameras focused on the `family that campaigns together, stays together' theme, airing several of Rahul and Priyanka's speeches live. Damaadji's foray into his Sasural got its fair bit of attention too till Robert's naked political ambitions forced the Congress High command's hand to get him out of Amethi.

In contrast, Mayawati, UP's reigning queen got next-to-nothing national media coverage. Journalist friends in Lucknow said that's because she does not allow any access and treats the media with utter disdain. That translated into a virtual blacking out of the BSP's presence in the electoral arena, barring a covered elephant here and a covered Mayawati there. Compare this with Tamilnadu where an equally imperious Jayalalithaa keeps the media at bay, choosing when to talk and when not to talk, mostly the latter. But that has never meant that the AIADMK's place in Tamilnadu's electoral arena does not get due space.

Looking back, if it was not for Akhilesh Yadav, who was accessible and `connected' to the contingent of young Delhi media crowd, the SP too would have been a footnote in UP's election battle. One has to concede Mulayam Singh Yadav does not make for great television, his soundbites barely clear. The other Yadavs in SP are only extensions of the family tree and none of them interest the national media. No sooner was Akhilesh's ability to articulate was discovered, it became a Rahul vs Akhilesh battle, a clash of personalities, with Mayawati pushed to the sidelines.

The fact that the media chose to virtually reduce the election to this uni-dimensional duel, was its biggest failure in UP Election 2012. Because as the results show, nothing could be farther from the truth.

And lest we forget, there was yet another party in the fray - the BJP - that had ruled UP in the 90s, through one of its most turbulent phases, the Babri Masjid demolition. Its performance finally was just marginally better than the Congress but in terms of the media narrative, it was as if the BJP had been dismissed as a no-hope party at the start line itself, and the presence of its regular spokespersons in its Delhi studios, the only consolation. 

This kind of media coverage for one of the most important elections in recent times, to my mind, is dangerous. The national media, sitting in Delhi, decides the pecking order. From a lay viewer's point of view, it was as if the media was running for Rahul Gandhi, who was clearly carrying a handicap (read Congress organisational weakness). An obliging media lent a helping hand by mounting a high-decibel television campaign, that made it seem as if a Rahul wave would blow everyone away. As it became clear on Tuesday, the aandhi was felt only in television newsrooms.

UP Election 2012 is also symptomatic of the way national media has redefined itself in the last couple of years. Today news that you see is no longer what's happening in a Tamilnadu, a Karnataka, an Orissa or Gujarat. It is the Delhi view of a Bangalore or a Chennai and more importantly, the Delhi identification of personalities from any of these states, that gets them into the rundown. A development surrounding a Kanimozhi will be covered because Delhi `knows' her. Stalin or Vijaykanth will not get that privilege. The articulate face from Orissa Jay Panda would be covered, but Kerala CM Oommen Chandy perhaps wouldn't.

The other issue is the over dominance by the Delhi voices on anything and everything under the sun. Tune into any news channel between 8 and 11 pm, any day, and you will find the usual gallery of suspects on air, offering the same fare. It is like a sometimes cosy, sometimes noisy living room conversation broadcast live every evening.

Issues are no longer relevant, unless they have a Delhi dateline. What you find today is news where a Hyderabad, a Bhopal and a Patna merely reacts to what is happening in Delhi. Dr Pramod Kumar, one of the panellists on CNN-IBN made a very pertinent point in the context of national parties not encouraging regional satraps. He said,``while regional leaders are nationalising themselves, national parties are not going regional.''

The same is true for national media. By reducing the nation to Delhi-Noida-Gurgaon, national media has become just another regional media. And as long as it continues to believe that `India is Delhi, Delhi is India', it will keep shooting itself in the foot.

Rejection of Congress's hand symbol, vote against Aadhaar/UID/NPR & biometric profiling‏

High-risk biometric & surveillance technologies threat to civil liberties & sovereignty

Proposal for FDI & FTAs rejected as well

Delhi, Patna, Chennai & Bangalore: Electorate in Uttar Pradesh have rejected the proposal of the Indian National Congress to allow themselves to be identified with their biometric data like iris scan and thumb impressions. Rahul Gandhi campaigned in UP using the Aadhaar as an election agenda. Now that he has taken responsibility of his party’s defeat, he should call for stopping Aadhaar project because the verdict is against it.

Supporting Home Ministry and Planning Commission’s scheme of uniqueidentity, the party had showcased aadhaar and related National Population Register (NPR) for Multipurpose Identity Card (MNIC), voters in general and poor have given their verdict against it. The party had claimed that the Aadhaar/NPR card will also address the discrepancies in controversial Below Poverty Line (BPL) list by hiding violation of the provisions of Census Act with ulterior motives. It was used like a fish bait to entrap citizens against democratic and legislative mandate. The message for P Chidambaram, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Nandan Nilekani is that UP electorate who were promised Aadhaar/NPR/MNIC has rejected it. This project is applicable to vehicles and animals too through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in later phases.

In our country, a surveillance regime has been proposed by Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance for the people but not for biometric and other intrusive technologies. Besides India’s Parliamentary Standing on Finance, countries like UK, Australia, Philippines and China have rejected aadhaar/NPR/MNIC like projects respecting people’s mandate.

It has reliably been learnt that officials from Infosys company have been giving leadership training to leaders of Indian National Congress. This may have impacted decision making with regard to aadhaar/NPR/MNIC but it has clearly not worked in UP elections.

Recent reports of efforts to put Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister under surveillance reveal that there is paucity of capacity to monitor or regulate these technologies. If this is the plight of the ministers and technologically challenged political class, the threat for citizens can easily be understood.

Post UP elections, government must review its capacity to regulate an emerging technology regime that is undermining democracy and sovereignty and should not be misled by unelected cabinet ranked officials who say, “Technology has no history and no bias, it treats everyone the same way.”History of technologies reveals that it is their owners who are true beneficiaries especially when it is used for social control. There is a compelling need to urgently assess the claims and risks of biometric and

surveillance technology and how some companies made UID/NPR/MNIC politically persuasive for the ruling party and intertwined the systems of technology with crying need for governance.

UP verdict is also a mandate against diluting federal structure of the country, FDI in the retail sector, free trade agreements (FTAs) that were aimed at turning India into a market democracy where executive and legislative decisions are driven by profit mongers not by public interest.

MANIPUR: 16 of the 60 newly elected MLAs are crorepatis

NO MLA has declared pending criminal cases; new Assembly as only 3 women MLAs; avg. asset increase of an MLA (if recontesting post 2007)- 98.43 lacs‏

(Analysis of criminal, financial, ITR, gender and other details about newly elected MLAs of Manipur)

• Out of the 60 newly elected MLAs of the Manipur Assembly, no MLA has declared criminal cases against him/her. In 2007 assembly elections for the whole of Manipur, 2% MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves.
• Out of all 60 MLAs analyzed from Manipur 2012 Assembly Elections, 16 are crorepatis. In 2007 Assembly Election for the whole of Manipur only 1 MLA was crorepati.
• The MLAs with maximum assets in Manipur is of T.N. Haokip of INC from Saikot(ST) constituency with assets worth Rs. 10.07 Crores followed by Ksh. Biren Singh of INC from Lamlai with assets worth Rs. 5.22 Crores and RK IMO Singh of MSCP from Sagoiband constituency with assets worth Rs. 2.72 crores.
• 6 MLAs have declared assets of less than 5 lakhs.
• A total of 5 (8%) MLAs out of 60 analyzed declared liabilities of Rs. 50 Lakhs or above.
• Among major parties, the average asset per candidate for INC is 1.05 Crores, for AITC is 69.8 Lakhs, For MSCP is 97.43 Lakhs, and NPF is 68.5 lakhs
• A total of 49 (82%) MLAs (out of 60 analyzed) are graduate or with higher educational qualification in the Manipur 2012 Assembly Election.
• Only 4 (7%) MLAs (out of 60 analyzed) are 10th pass and below
• Out of 60 MLAs of Manipur Assembly Elections 2012, only 3 (5%) MLAs are women.

(Analysis of asset increase of newly elected MLAs who contested in the 2007 elections also)

• Number of  MLAs for Manipur 2012 Assembly Elections, whose 2007 affidavits are also available–35
• The average asset of these MLAs as declared in 2007 was Rs 20,02,492   (20.02 Lakhs).
• The average asset of these MLAs as declared in 2012 is, Rs 1,18,45,767   (1.18 crore).
• Average asset growth for these re-contesting MLAs is Rs 98,43,274   (98.43 Lakhs).
• Average percentage growth in assets for these MLA is 492%.
• T.N. haokip of INC from Saikot constituency has the highest increase in asset worth Rs.9.77 Crores (from 29.73 Lakhs in 2007 to 10.07 Crores in 2012), followed by Ksh. Biren Singh of INC from Lamlai constituency with an asset increase of Rs. 5.07 Crores (from 14.23 Lakhs in 2007 to 5.22 Crores in 2012) and Kh. Govindas of INC from Bishenpur constituency with an asset increase of Rs. 2.11 Crores (from 38.25 Lakhs in 2007 to 2.49 Crores in 2012)
• The highest percentage increase (7108%) has been for K. Meghachandra of INC from Wangkhem constituency. His assets rose from 2.90 lakhs in 2007 to 2.06 Crores in 2012. He is followed by Akoijam Mirabai Devi of INC from Patsoi constituency with a percentage increase of 4621% (30.5 thousand in 2007 to 14.40 Lakhs in 2012) and K. Ranjit Singh of INC from Sugnoo constituency with an increase of 4351% (3.82 lakhs in 2007 to 1.70 crores in 2012). [N.E.W. Report]

Uttarakhand Elected More Criminal MLAs

Uttarakhand: 27% of newly elected MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves; 46% are crorepatis and only 7% are women; avg asset growth of an MLA who also contested in 2007 - 1.5 crore‏.

(Report on criminal, financial, ITR, gender and other details of new MLAs of Uttarakhand)

• Out of these 70 MLAs analyzed (by the Uttarakhand Election Watch) for Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, 19 (27%) have declared criminal cases against them. In 2007 Assembly elections for the whole of Uttarakhand Pradesh, 24% MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves.


Out of these 19 MLAs who have declared criminal cases against themselves, 5 (7%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
A total of 32 out of 70 MLAs i.e. 46% are crorepatis. In 2007, there are 16% crorepati MLAs.
The MLAs with maximum assets in 2012 Uttarakhand Assembly is Rajesh Shukla of BJP from Kichha constituency with assets worth Rs. 26.63 Crores followed by Amrita Rawat of INC from Ramnagar with Rs. 13.57 Crores and Surendra Singh Jeena of BJP from Salt constituency with assets worth Rs. 7.04 crores.
3 MLAs have declared assets of less than 10 lakh.
A total of 6 (9%) MLAs out of 70 analyzed declared liabilities of Rs. 40 lakhs or above.
Among major parties, the average asset per MLA for INC is 1.87 Crore, for BJP is 2.02 Crore, for BSP is 1.21 crores and for UKD (P) is 1.27 Crores.
71% MLAs (50 of 70 analyzed) are graduates and above.
Out of 70 MLAs in Uttarakhand Assembly Elections 2012, only 5 (7%) MLAs are women.

 (Analysis of asset increase of those newly elected MLAs who also contested in 2007)

• Number of re-contesting MLAs analyzed for Uttarakhand 2012 Assembly Elections– 50
• The average asset of these MLAs as declared in 2007 is Rs 83,34,174 (83.34 Lakhs).
• The average asset of these MLAs as declared in 2012 is, Rs 2,30,46,876 (2.30 Crore).
• Average asset growth for these re-contesting MLAs is Rs 1,47,12,701   (1.47 Crore).
• Average percentage growth in assets for these MLA is 177%.
• Rajesh Shukla of BJP from Kichha constituency has shown the highest increase in asset worth Rs.25.76 Crores (from 87.57 Lakhs in 2007 to 26.63 Crores in 2012), followed by Surendra Singh Jeena of BJP from Salt constituency with an asset increase of Rs. 6.26 Crores (from 78.00 Lakhs in 2007 to 7.04 Crores in 2012) and Yashpal Arya of INC from Bazpur constituency with an asset increase of Rs. 3.71 Crores (from 81.62 Lakhs in 2007 to 4.52 Crores in 2012).
• The highest percentage increase (8433%) has been for Bishan Singh Chuphal of BJP from Didihat constituency. His assets rose from 1.18 Lakhs in 2007 to 1.01 Crores in 2012. He is followed by Mayukh Singh of INC from Pithoragarh constituency with a percentage increase of 4773% (from 6.30 Lakhs in 2007 to 3.07 Crores in 2012) and Banshidhar Bhagat of BJP from Kaladhungi constituency with an increase of 2968% (from 2.38 Lakhs in 2007 to 73.02 Lakhs in 2012). [N.E.W. report]

Suicide of the Human Race

By-Prem P. Verma

The human race in its maddening search for technological success and material comforts has self-willed itself to extinction. According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, ‘species keep on evolving towards the goal of constant survival’, unless, of course, they wish themselves to extinction as happened in the case of the dinosaurs and similar gigantic creatures. Today’s human beings, knowingly or unknowingly, have taken the resolve to a path of suicide and ultimate disappearance from the face of the earth (how much Mother Nature will rejoice at this event!).

Consider the following –• The rich, the powerful, the educated urban elite along with the leaders with vested interest, constituting a minority of the human population, continue to believe that economic development is the cure all for all that is plaguing the humans society despite the stark fact that all this present model of economic development has given us –


a) Hunger – The number of hungry people in the world has gone
up from 843 million in 1990 to more than 1.0
billion
b) Poverty – There have been 270 million deaths due to poverty
in the world since 1990
c) Disparity – The richest 16% of the world’s population receives
84% of the world’s annual income
d) Earnings – 1.2 billion people in the world earn less than $1 per
day
e) Drinking water – 1.1 billion people have no access to safe
drinking water in the world
f) Illiteracy – 1.3 billion people in the world are illiterate
g) War deaths – There have been 4 million war deaths since 1990
in the world and unending wars continue to be
fought
• Despite the green revolution with a second green revolution being planned by the developing nations, we continue to shut our eyes to the fact that –
- The use of fertilizers and pesticides have made our soil infertile
- The hybrid and genetic seeds, promising ever-increase in crop production have led to disappearance of indigenous seeds developed by nature over centuries
- Forced purchase of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides by poor farmers have resulted in indebtedness and consequent suicides in the rural community
- The fertilizer, pesticide and seed Companies have ironically amassed unlimited wealth from the same land from which the farmer has been unable to eke out a living despite 24-hours of physical toil and hard labour
- The hand that produces our food continues to wither away whereas we become fatter and fatter

• We all know that food is a must for our survival, yet we insist on the farmer giving up his fertile land for large and heavy industries, mega-power plants, large dams, highways , airports, etc., thus reducing the acreage for our food production, all this with the false hope that more food can be produced with less land with our ‘brilliant’ technological advancement

• We continue to direct all our so-called development process to urban centres, creating employment opportunities there, resulting in massive migration of rural youth to urban areas. This mirage of development and running after the non-existent golden egg by the rural youth is producing bulging and unmanageable cities with squalid slums which are bursting at the seams and becoming centres of constant discontent and violence.

• We continue to label anger and discontent against the current development process as naxalism, Maoism, terrorism, etc., thus setting up two opposite sides for violent combat intent on destroying each other to produce the silence of peace without human beings. It is interesting to observe that of all the animal species, human beings seem to be the only one who are intent on killing one another through the violent process.

• We are obsessed with the thought that one race is superior to another, one ideology is better for the entire human race, one method of thinking must take precedence over others and consequently wage wars and battles to gain the high ground, sacrificing lives in the process. Paradoxically, we swear by the non-violence of Gautam Budha, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Tolstoy, Rabindranath, Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama and a host of other personalities whom we deify.

• We continue to believe that economic development is far superior to such mundane ideas as social development, moral growth, human values, community involvement, family unity, self-sacrifice, truth and non-violence. Money is our god and he can defeat all other inferior gods. The educated sincerely believe that end justifies any means, lies and dishonesty are all right if they help us to achieve our money goals, there is no such thing as good or bad, self is far more important than others on the planet and so on.

• We refuse to ponder over the above vital issues facing mankind in our mad rush fior increased wealth, power, monopoly, dictatorship, unlimited consumption and insatiable greed. We have no time to pause and ponder over the devastation we have created because our goal continues to be that pot of gold over the horizon.
Incidentally, someone has suggested, perhaps jokingly, I hope, that the human race has evolved into a species with genes that are now programmed to take the human race to extinction and mankind has become unknowingly self-destructive.

If all above is really true, why should not the human race become extinct? If not, why are we afraid to debate the issues openly? Dialogue not silence is the answer. Are you willing?- Author is the founder of Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum