Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 03 May 2017
:: National ::
Taking fingerprints is not invasion of citizen’s body says Govt
Taking fingerprints and iris impressions for Aadhaar is not an invasion of a citizen’s body as the right of a person to his own body is not absolute, the government told the Supreme Court.
Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri pointed out that a state can extinguish a person’s life only after following due process of law.
“The state has the duty to maintain the liberty of an individual. The state has, more importantly, the obligation to maintain the dignity of an individual. Dignity is an individual right,” Justice Sikri addressed the Attorney-General.
Mr. Rohatgi defended the legality of a newly-included Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act making Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and PAN card, saying if one has to live in a collective called the ‘state’, one has to submit to its laws.
The AG was replying to arguments made earlier by senior advocate Shyam Divan that the state does not have the right to force a citizen to part with biometric details without free, informed and voluntary consent.
Mr. Rohatgi said the criticism against the biometric system of identification used in Aadhaar enrolment was based on the “myopic viewpoint of the rich who do not anyway use the public distribution system”.
He said the 113.7 crore Aadhaar cards produced so far were proof that people were eager to enroll. He said even in PAN, though 29 crore PAN cards were produced, there were only five crore assessees.
The rest 24 crore PAN card holders had taken PAN to use it as a unique identity proof.He said duplication of Aadhaar is “non-existent” unlike in PAN.
Mr. Rohatgi submitted that the mandatory linkage of PAN with Aadhaar was a step towards a “more orderly world”.“It is to ensure that tax money goes to serve the poor and will create a better world,” he said.
PM concerned over Changes in Australian visa regulations
PM expressed concern about the possible impact of the recent changes in Australian regulations for the skilled professionals’ visa programme. The two PMs agreed that officials from both sides will remain in close touch on the issue.
This was the first telephone conversation since Mr. Turnbull’s visit to Delhi in the first fortnight of April after which he announced the scrapping of the “457” visa policy that benefited skilled Indian IT workers.
As part of the new policy, the tenure of the visas was to be reduced from four to two years. The notification also announced an increase of visa fees.
Soon after the announcement, India had indicated that the move which came almost simultaneously with a similar step by the U.S. government on the H-1B visas, would impact talks on a trade pact.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Turnbull also discussed the follow-up action taken after the visit of the Australian Prime Minister and the steps required to further strengthen the bilateral ties.
Centre planning to strengthen data protection for Aadhaar
Centre is in the process of educating government agencies that sensitive data must not be made public, and is drafting amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Act to strengthen provisions for data protection and security.
Apart from privacy issues, the new IT law will quell security concerns related to digital payments.
Close to 135 million Aadhaar numbers and 100 million bank account numbers could have leaked from official portals dealing with government programmes of pensions and rural employment.
With Aadhaar being used to authenticate and authorise transactions, the financial risks presented by the disclosure of such data are greatly exacerbated.
As per the CIS report, the data in question has not been treated as confidential at all in several cases and the government agencies in question have, in fact, taken pains to publish them.
Some of the amendments we are bringing to the IT Act should take care of the rest of the (privacy and data protection) concerns relating to Aadhaar,” Ms. Sundararajan said.
The key focus of these amendments being drafted, she said, is strengthening data protection provisions and security, particularly in relation to digital payments.
Scientists have unlocked the genome of the tea tree (Register and Login to read Full News)
Extradition process of Mallya started by Govt (Register and Login to read Full News)
:: International ::
Hamas has softened its stance on Israel
Hamas has softened its stance on Israel after long calling for its destruction, but the Palestinian movement must do more to convince the world to end its isolation, analysts and diplomats said.
The Islamist movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, unveiled a new policy document on Monday night ahead of a first face-to-face meeting between U.S. President and Palestinian President, whose Fatah party remains at loggerheads with Hamas.
While still attacking Israel, the document accepts for the first time pre-1967 armistice lines as a matter of “national consensus” — in what many interpreted as implicitly accepting the existence of Israel.
Hamas officials, however, said that it did not amount to a recognition of Israel as demanded by the international community.
The document also says its struggle is not against Jews because of their religion but against Israel as an occupier.