Corona treatment in Delhi: Aadhaar, voter ID accepted as residence proof

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that the hospitals run by his government and private entities will only treat Delhiites during the coronavirus crisis

The Delhi government on Sunday outlined the documents city residents are required to furnish to avail treatment at hospitals run by it and those privately run. Delhi government-run hospitals will accept Aadhaar cards made before June 7, voter IDs, bank or post-office passbook, driving licence, income-tax return slips, latest water or telephone bill and postal department’s post as proof of residence in Delhi, it said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that the hospitals run by his government and private entities will only treat Delhiites during the coronavirus crisis while the city’s borders will be reopened from Monday.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: On Day 1 of Unlock 1.0, India records over 9,983 cases

Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said hospitals run by the Centre will have no such restriction, and if people from other states come to the national capital for specific surgeries, they can get medical treatment at private hospitals. “…transplantation, oncology, neurosurgeries will continue to function for all patients, irrespective of the place of residence.””Also, any Medico-Legal victims of road accidents, acid-attack happening within NCT of Delhi will continue for all patients, irrespective of place of residence,” the government said in the order.

Link your PAN to Aadhar by December 31 or it may become inoperative

There are four simple ways to link PAN to Aadhaar; make the most of deadline to avoid hassles later

There are only seven days left for linking your Income-tax permanent account number (PAN) with your Aadhaar–the deadline is December 31. Linking PAN to Aadhar is mandatory if you want to file your income tax return. Says Balwant Jain, a Mumbai-based tax expert:

“Those who have not linked their PAN to their Aadhar by this date will find their PAN becoming inoperative.” Initially, the authorities had proposed to render the PAN invalid for non-linkage by September this year. However, rendering it invalid would have put a question mark on all transactions done using the PAN Card prior to that date as well. Jain says, “In order to protect the validity of the transactions that have already been effected, the PAN will now become inoperative by December 31, if it isn’t linked to Aadhar by this date.” This effectively means that you will no longer be able to use it with prospective effect. All retrospective transactions will remain valid.

That said, an inoperative PAN would most likely be useless for any kind of transactions. After December 31, one will be obliged to quote it along with the Aadhaar number while filing an income tax return (ITR) unless specifically exempted. There are two ways to do do the linking, offline and online.

Here’s the step-by-step procedure:

The first step: Check if your PAN and Aadhar have already been linked. Many might have done this already and forgotten about it. For those who are already registered users of the income tax filing website and have filed returns in the past, there’s a possibility that the PAN and Aadhaar have already been linked. If you aren’t sure…

Aadhaar rules eased: Migrants can change address by giving self-declaration

There was long standing demand to ease address change rule

The government has allowed migrants to change address on Aadhaar by giving self declaration, a move aimed at helping them open bank account and promote financial inclusion. The changes were made by amending the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, according to a gazette notification issued on Wednesday.

It allows a person with Aadhaar number for identification wants to provide address different from what is available in the Central Identities Data Repository, he may give a self-declaration to that effect to the reporting entity, it said. There was long standing demand to ease address change rule.

The decision will help migrant workers who have address of their native place in Aadhaar but wants a bank account with their current address where they are living for work. People may have residential address in their Aadhaar and give work address as current address.There are many cases where people may have their address in Aadhaar and want to give a more functional address for know your customer..

Aadhaar not needed for mobile SIM; passport, voter ID or licence will do

The development comes after the Supreme Count on March 14 issued an interim order indefinitely extending the deadline to link Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobile numbers and passports

 

You no longer need an Aadhaar to get a mobile connection; telecom companies would now also accept other documents like passport, driving licence and voter ID, with the Centre reportedly directing them immediately implement a new rule to this effect.

The development comes after the Supreme Count on March 14 issued an interim order indefinitely extending the deadline for linking Aadhaar to bank accounts, mobile phone numbers, passports and other services, beyond the previous deadline of March 31. A five-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had said there was no need to link Aadhaar to these services until a judgment was pronounced on the constitutionality of the unique identification programme.

Here are the top updates on new rules clarifying whether or not Aadhaar is mandatory for procuring mobile SIMs:

1) Aadhaar no longer mandatory: You no longer need an Aadhaar card to buy a mobile SIM, The Times of India reported on Wednesday. The government had directed telecom companies to accept alternative documents like driving licence, passport and voter ID, the report said. Further, it said quoting Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan that telecom operators had been asked to follow the new rule with immediate effect.

2) SC earlier extended the deadline indefinitely: The Supreme Court on March 14 had extended the March 31 deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail of various services and welfare schemes run by the government until its Constitution Bench delivered its verdict on the validity of the 12-digit biometric number and its enabling law.

3) Deadline extension applies to Aadhaar-mobile number linking: The extension of deadline also applies to the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phone numbers. The Constitution Bench is hearing a batch of petitions that have challenged the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and its enabling Act.

ARTICLE SOURCE : BUSINESS STANDARD

Now, book 12 train tickets with just 1 IRCTC ID if it's Aadhaar-linked!

Indian Railways policy for booking tickets through irctc.co.in have changed. Know IRCTC rules for train ticket 

 

Planning a vacation this summer? If you're excited about taking a train journey, you must know the new rules Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has introduced for booking railways tickets on its online portal. But, before that - link Aadhaar number with your IRCTC account. When IRCTC was launched in 2002, only 29 online tickets were booked on the first day. Today, more than 1.3 million online tickets are booked through IRCTC portal - www.irctc.co.in - the e-ticketing outlet of the national carrier. About 20 million people travel by Indian Railways every day.

Here are some exciting changes Indian Railways has introduced for rail passengers who link their IRCTC account with Aadhaar:

Now users are allowed to book up to 12 tickets in a month if users get themselves verified through their Aadhaar number along with at least one passenger also being verified through Aadhaar.

No Aadhaar Verification required for booking up to 6 tickets in a month, as earlier.

Steps to avail the facility of booking more than 6 tickets and up to 12 tickets in a month on IRCTC:

An IRCTC registered user is required to get himself Aadhaar verified using Aadhaar KYC option in My Profile.

User’s Aadhaar will be verified by sending an OTP on his mobile number linked with his Aadhaar number. On successful submission of OTP, the user will become Aadhaar verified.

At least One (1) passenger on the ticket being booked, beyond 6 tickets in a month, should also be Aadhaar verified.

Users are required to verify the probable passengers through their respective Aadhaar number and store the verified passengers in passenger master list. This should be done before starting the ticket booking process, beyond 6 tickets in a month.

User can add Aadhaar verified passenger from master list at the time of booking to book additional tickets up to 12 tickets in a month.

Step 1: Verify Aadhaar Number

1. Login using your IRCTC User ID and Password on www.irctc.co.in.

2. Click "Aadhaar KYC" link under "My Profile" menu.

3. Enter Your Aadhaar Number and Click on Send OTP button. OTP would be sent by Aadhaar System (UIDAI) on the mobile number registered with Aadhaar. Please keep your Aadhaar registered mobile number ready.

4. Enter the OTP and click on Verify button

5. Click on submit button to verify KYC details. After submission, your user is Aadhaar verified.

Step 2: Add a Passenger with Aadhaar Number

1. Click "Master List" link under "My Profile" menu.

2. While adding new passengers in the Master List, provide correct and complete details i.e. Name, Date of Birth, Gender and Aadhaar number as mentioned in the Aadhaar Card.

3. Click on “submit” button to Add and verify Aadhaar details.

4. Passengers will be added in the Master List with Verification Status as “pending”. No OTP will be sent in case of passenger Aadhaar verification

5. To check the verification status of Aadhaar details, please click on “Click here to check pending Aadhaar verification status” option provided.

6. Verification status of passengers who have been verified with their Aadhaar details successfully will be “Verified” and for failed verification status be “Not Verified”.

7. Passengers already available in the Master list without Aadhaar verification can also be verified by using “Edit” option and submitting complete details including Aadhaar number.

Click here : Aadhar linking with IRCTC ID 

Aadhaar will work as weapon against benami properties: PM Modi at HT Summit

By linking Aadhaar to Mobile and Jan Dhan, we have created a system that could not have been imagined few years back: Modi

 

economy news: Describing Aadhaar as a major "power" to bring about an "irreversible change" in the common man's life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the Unique Identification Number will now be used in cases involving benami properties.

"By linking Aadhaar to Mobile and Jan Dhan, we have created such a system that could not have been imagined few years back.

"In last three years, with the help of Aadhaar, crores of fake names have been removed from the system. Now it is going to be a big weapon against benami properties," Modi said while addressing the inaugural session of the Hindustan Times Summit.

He said that the country saw a "behavioural change" after demonetisation, which helped in converting to a "clean and healthy economy".

"For the first time after Independence the corrupt people are scared of transacting in black money. They are scared of being caught. The black money which was earlier base of parallel economy, has now become part of formal economy," he said.

"Such an irreversible change is getting boost from Aadhaar. Aadhaar is such a power through which this government want to ensure rights of poor. It is also playing a big role in providing subsidised ration, scholarships, medicines, pensions and other government subsidies," he said.

He said the day the country would adopt maximum transactions via digital addresses, "organised crime would come to an end to some extent".

Modi said "big transformations" do not come easily and for it "hauling up of the entire system was needed".

"We can increase our ease of doing business ranking from 142 to 100 only when we take initiatives for big transformation," Modi said.

Don't have Aadhaar? You can still verify your mobile number. Here's how

500 mn mobile numbers registered in Aadhaar database, OTP can be used for verification in all these cases

 

 

economy news: The government will soon put in place a mechanism for authentication of cellphone subscribers who do not have Aadhaar numbers.

It may also explore another method for people unwilling to share their Aadhaar numbers with telecom companies. Such a method will conform with the Supreme Court’s mandate on re-verification of mobile subscribers.

People who did not have Aadhaar numbers might be provided the option of furnishing their passport, driving licence or ration card as proof of address and identity, sources said.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has announced a series of measures for simplifying the re-verification process using Aadhaar numbers by offering the facility at the subscriber’s doorstep and using one-time passwords (OTPs).

Telecom companies have been directed to offer the doorstep facility for the convenience of the old or those with disability and illness. They have also been asked to initiate OTP-based verification using SMS or IVRS on mobile apps.

“It is the government’s endeavour to improve convenience and reduce time and energy spent by consumers in accessing government information,” Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said....READ MORE

All family members' Aadhaar to be linked with ration cards for PDS

Now, Aadhaar numbers of all members of a family and not just the head of a household will be linked

The Aadhaar numbers of all members of a family, not just the head of a household, willAadhar to be linked with their ration card  to ensure an unhindered supply of goods under the public distribution system (PDS), the Uttar Pradesh government informed the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday.(economy news)

The state government placed a copy of a circular, issued to the effect on July 17, before a division bench comprising Chief Justice D B Bhosale and Justice M K Gupta which was hearing a PIL filed by seven members of the Nagar Palika Parishad of Kandhla in the Shamli district.

The petitioners had moved the court contending that Aadhaar enabled PDS was introduced in the state last year wherein ration was to be distributed after scanning the thumb impression of the head of the household.

ALSO READ : Right To Privacy: 9-Judge Bench Will Decide On Aadhaar Issue Today

The petitioners had further contended that in many cases the head of the household happened to be an elderly person, physically incapable of visiting a PDS shop, and such a system deprived the concerned family of the benefits which was in violation of the Food Security Act.

The state government had, on July 11, sought time for taking "appropriate action in the matter".

It placed the circular, issued by principal secretary, civil supplies, to all district magistrates, before the court on Tuesday.

Expressing satisfaction with the move, the court disposed off the petition.

Privacy a fundamental right? Here are 5 concerns with Aadhaar

A centralised and inter-linked database like Aadhaar will lead to profiling and self-censorship

Privacy has been a key focus in the recent debate on Aadhaar. This is a very welcome development. Aadhar Privacy is being interpreted in different, equally valid, ways by different sets of people. But the differences in interpretations are not always obvious to those who participate in the discussions. For instance, when computer scientists use the word privacy, they tend to it interpret from a narrow ‘data security’ perspective, whereas the lawyers in the Supreme Court have been highlighting the civil liberties angle to it. This has resulted in groups talking past each other – the solutions that the computer scientists propose, for instance, (like stronger standards for data security, including encryption) are not satisfactory to those who highlight the civil liberties aspects of privacy. Constructive conversation on the issue requires a more elaborate look ate the different dimensions of privacy.

Five privacy concerns

Possibly the narrowest view of privacy is the technical ‘data security’ point of view. The focus there is on what data need to be secure (the Aadhaar number, demographic information or biometrics), whether data stored in the Classless Inter-Domain Routing is secure (such as the encryption standards or the probability of hacking) and what would the consequences of data breaches be (for instance, some people ask what is the harm if an Aadhaar number is publicly displayed). The response of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and others is that data are encrypted using the highest standards, that access is severely restricted, and that, in any case, there have been no security breaches so far.(economy news)

Experts, however, believe that for centralised databases the question is not whether it can be hacked, but when. For instance, Bruce Schneier told Pranav Dixit, “When this database is hacked – and it will be – it will be because someone breaches the computer security that protects the computers actually using the data.”

A related concern that has been highlighted is that even if data are secure, with Aadhaar-enabled Payments System (AePS), the Aadhaar project has created a vulnerability to identity fraud, even identity theft. The idea behind AePS is, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it, ‘Your thumbprint is your bank’. Fingerprint impressions, however, can be easily reproduced. For instance, recently Hindustan Times reported that 200 students in Mumbai replicated their fingerprints on a widely-used resin to fudge biometric attendance. Easy harvesting of biometrics traits and publicly-available Aadhaar numbers increase the risk of banking fraud. In the light of this emerging financial technology infrastructure which rides on Aadhaar and biometrics, the recent ‘Aadhaar leaks’ scandal (whereby Aadhaar numbers of lakhs of people were displayed on government portals) is significant. The emerging AePS architecture opens the door to identity theft. Even in the absence of data breaches, that is an alarming breach of privacy.

• Why is Aadhaar different?
• Aadhaar and the ‘personal data economy’
• Usual, inadequate responses

(read more)

Aadhaar mandatory for school kids too! Visit your bank to speed up process

Govt has asked states to complete Aadhaar enrollment of school children by August 31

Centre has asked Karnataka and 15 other states to complete Aadhaar enrollment of school children by August 31 and submit the data to ensure serving of the mid-day meal to them "in a seamless manner." According to Deccan Herald, this comes as the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry observed that many of these 16 States were lagging far behind in completion of the task, with Nagaland having enrolled just 15 percent of 1,59,449 students to Aadhaar.

In Karnataka, only 70 percent of the total number of students have so far been enrolled to Aaadhar card. A total of 49,10,765 students enrolled in the Government schools in the State.

“The stipulated date for completing 100% Aadhaar enrollment is August 31, 2017. I earnestly suggest the Aadhaar enrollment campaign be given an added thrust by the Government of Karnataka in a time bound manner,” school education department secretary of the HRD Ministry Anil Swarup stated in his letter to Karnataka Chief Secretary Subhash C Khuntia.

As per date with the Ministry, just 23% of the total school students have been enrolled to Aaadhar in Andhra Pradesh, 26% in Uttar Pradesh, 28% Odisha, 42% in Rajasthan, 61% in Madhya Pradesh and 63% in Bihar.(economy news)

West Bengal Government has not shared any update on the Aadhaar enrollment of school students despite HRD Ministry's “repeated requests and reminders,” an official said.

Aadhaar enrolment centres at banks

To simplify the process, now, one out of 10 bank branches will have Aadhaar enrolment facility. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked private as well as public sector banks to set up Aadhaar enrolment facility in at least one out of 10 branches in the coming weeks, a top official has said.

Suitable changes have been made recently in Aadhaar regulations to facilitate this.

At present, there are 25,000 active enrolment centres across the country but they operate from their own premises. However, none of these centres are being operated from bank premises... read full story 

Aadhaar can be hacked, data leaked, Modi government finally admits

A letter written by the government confirms the data has been leaked online

 

How safe are your biometric data? With Aadhaar, you have given your fingerprints and iris scans to the government. This clearly gives an individual a 'unique' identity. But what if the details of your Aadhaar get leaked? In the recent past, there have been several cases of UID data being compromised with. While the government has constantly denied any possibility of a compromise, The New Indian Express published on Friday a report on how the NDA government has acknowledged that personal identity of individuals, including Aadhaar number and other sensitive information, has been leaked to the public domain.

A letter written by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which the Express claims to have accessed, confirms that data, which the government has been cautiously guarding, has been leaked online. “There have been instances wherein personal identity or information of residents, including Aadhaar number and demographic information and other sensitive personal data such as bank account details etc. collected by various Ministries/Departments... has been reportedly published online and is accessible through an easy online search,” Archana Dureja, a scientist in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, wrote on March 25.

 Jaitley maintained that the only way to prevent hacking is to strengthen the firewalls. “Technology always is a learning experience,” he added.

 

On March 5 the Ministry of Electronics and IT issued a statement assuring that personal data of individuals held by UIDAI is fully safe and secure.

 

With over a billion Indians possessing an Aadhaar card in 2017, data theft issue can turn into a mammoth crisis for Modi government that has been aggressively pushing for its adoption across services and platforms and for the citizens who have linked their bank accounts and other sensitive information with it......(READ MORE)